This is my first attempt at a trip report. Apologies if it is is too long winded. Some of the pictures are frame grabs from video.
20 September 2021 - Rambling around Cheshire.
Having a week in Chester was too good a chance to do a day out on a Cheshire Day Ranger. I was let off the leash at 10:40 ‘ish after meeting somebody off the 1A23 from Chester.
So, with a late start, the objectives were simple:
Travel from Chester to Piccadilly via the WCML to Earlestown.
Take the train from Piccadilly to Glossop/Hadfield and back
Anything else that arose would be a bonus.
The first train was a TfW service from Chester to Manchester Airport via Earlestown and the Chat Moss line. This was signed to depart from platform 7a. There was a 4-car train comprising two class 175s at the b end of the platform and one of the staff confirmed that the ensemble would move along, detach the rear unit (175001 –see pic. below) and the front unit then moved away. It duly did move along and then sat there. By the due time there was a change of platform announcement (now P3a), and as I took to the footbridge, the four car consist pulled out and disappeared into the distance.
So by 11:00, nothing arrived at platform 3a. There was however a 6-car set of 175s at the b end of platform 3. It sat there for a while longer then just before 11:10, the rearmost unit (175006)shuffled along the platform and was announced as the MIA train.
So seated on this train, (the first time on a 175), I was pleasantly surprised at the ambience of it. En route it was smooth, the engine was not obtrusive and had a fair acceleration for a DMU. The route onto the WCML was via Warrington Bank Quay and the route off was Winwick Junction and round the SE chord at Earlestown. The train reached Piccadilly at about 12:15, - here’s a pic of it leaving P13 on it’s way to MIA.
So, off to find where the Glossop trains depart from, but stopping off at the Avanti ticket office to try and get the seat reservations for the journey back home changed from facing wrong direction and different coaches to something a bit nearer to what we asked for.
The Glossop train was sitting in platform 1. Here it is 323225 ready as 2G14 to leave at 12:32.
The ride out from Piccadilly was quiet and smooth, the view from Ardwick onwards was reminiscent of my commuting days on the GEML, heavy ‘A’ framed gantries supporting a compound catenary much thicker than even the heaviest trafficked 25kV routes with no obvious tensioning arrangements. Once it was past Godley the countryside opened up to show just how near the centre of Manchester is to open countryside. From next station there was the real treat, the views of the foothills of the high peak district, first from Broadbottom viaduct, continuing on an embankment to Dinting Viaduct.
At dinting, the train crawled round the south chord to the Glossop branch. Once again the view was great over the last few hundred metres and whilst waiting to change direction at Glossop station.
The climb back to Dinting and run to Hyde was less interesting. There was of course a second viewing of the route on the way back down to Piccadilly. A thoroughly enjoyable hour and a half on the train.
Back at Piccadilly I was browsing through Real Time Trains pages (far more useful than a public timetable) to see where I could travel next. I noticed that there was a TPE class 802 service leaving Victoria at 15:22 for Lime Street. That looked interesting. That gave me time for lunch at Piccadilly followed by a trip on the free bus to Victoria. It was interesting to see how much Manchester has changed since I first went there in 2015. Clearly it is being set up as the dominant city in the north and communications that have improved so much since I was last there, it will go from strength to strength.
I made Victoria in time to see the TPE train rolling down Miles Platting gradient. That slope really is overdue for electrification, even if it is only for electric running to Stalybridge. If the wires were continued to say Newton Heath the 802s could swap to Diesel after the steepest section of the climb had been climbed under electric power, rather than push out CO2 and NOx up the 1:59/1:47 to Queen St. bridge. They would be able to reach a fair speed (subject to linespeed limits) there and the rest of the climb to Summit Tunnel is much more compatible with a diesel powered train.
OK after that thought, back to the journey, - here’s 802218 drawing into Victoria P3. Interestingly it was running as a class 9 train, presumably as it needs priority passage through major urban areas to avoid getting entangled with local services.
Nothing special about an 80x for me, I’ve been on them under diesel in Cornwall and Electric between Reading and Paddington, but the TPE stock has different décor, - much lighter, maybe to compensate for their operating at higher latitudes.
They were on electric for the remainder of their journey of course and really moved along the Chat Moss line. It was noticeable how quickly they accelerated after the Newton-le-Willows stop back to linespeed or near enough (90mph) before stopping at Lea Green. The journey was very smooth, none of the oft reported here suspension banging going on. There was however a slight sway along some of the line, - maybe the track across Chat Moss itself.
So arriving at Lime Street, all that was left to do was get Merseyrail 508103 back to Chester, - not particularly pleasant but on time.
A good day out for not much money.
Total distance travelled: 118miles
Cost of tickets £17.1 for Cheshire Day Rover and £5.10 for a Merseyrail Anytime Day Single
Normal cost of cheapest tickets for journeys taken £32.50.
20 September 2021 - Rambling around Cheshire.
Having a week in Chester was too good a chance to do a day out on a Cheshire Day Ranger. I was let off the leash at 10:40 ‘ish after meeting somebody off the 1A23 from Chester.
So, with a late start, the objectives were simple:
Travel from Chester to Piccadilly via the WCML to Earlestown.
Take the train from Piccadilly to Glossop/Hadfield and back
Anything else that arose would be a bonus.
The first train was a TfW service from Chester to Manchester Airport via Earlestown and the Chat Moss line. This was signed to depart from platform 7a. There was a 4-car train comprising two class 175s at the b end of the platform and one of the staff confirmed that the ensemble would move along, detach the rear unit (175001 –see pic. below) and the front unit then moved away. It duly did move along and then sat there. By the due time there was a change of platform announcement (now P3a), and as I took to the footbridge, the four car consist pulled out and disappeared into the distance.
So by 11:00, nothing arrived at platform 3a. There was however a 6-car set of 175s at the b end of platform 3. It sat there for a while longer then just before 11:10, the rearmost unit (175006)shuffled along the platform and was announced as the MIA train.
So seated on this train, (the first time on a 175), I was pleasantly surprised at the ambience of it. En route it was smooth, the engine was not obtrusive and had a fair acceleration for a DMU. The route onto the WCML was via Warrington Bank Quay and the route off was Winwick Junction and round the SE chord at Earlestown. The train reached Piccadilly at about 12:15, - here’s a pic of it leaving P13 on it’s way to MIA.
So, off to find where the Glossop trains depart from, but stopping off at the Avanti ticket office to try and get the seat reservations for the journey back home changed from facing wrong direction and different coaches to something a bit nearer to what we asked for.
The Glossop train was sitting in platform 1. Here it is 323225 ready as 2G14 to leave at 12:32.
The ride out from Piccadilly was quiet and smooth, the view from Ardwick onwards was reminiscent of my commuting days on the GEML, heavy ‘A’ framed gantries supporting a compound catenary much thicker than even the heaviest trafficked 25kV routes with no obvious tensioning arrangements. Once it was past Godley the countryside opened up to show just how near the centre of Manchester is to open countryside. From next station there was the real treat, the views of the foothills of the high peak district, first from Broadbottom viaduct, continuing on an embankment to Dinting Viaduct.
At dinting, the train crawled round the south chord to the Glossop branch. Once again the view was great over the last few hundred metres and whilst waiting to change direction at Glossop station.
The climb back to Dinting and run to Hyde was less interesting. There was of course a second viewing of the route on the way back down to Piccadilly. A thoroughly enjoyable hour and a half on the train.
Back at Piccadilly I was browsing through Real Time Trains pages (far more useful than a public timetable) to see where I could travel next. I noticed that there was a TPE class 802 service leaving Victoria at 15:22 for Lime Street. That looked interesting. That gave me time for lunch at Piccadilly followed by a trip on the free bus to Victoria. It was interesting to see how much Manchester has changed since I first went there in 2015. Clearly it is being set up as the dominant city in the north and communications that have improved so much since I was last there, it will go from strength to strength.
I made Victoria in time to see the TPE train rolling down Miles Platting gradient. That slope really is overdue for electrification, even if it is only for electric running to Stalybridge. If the wires were continued to say Newton Heath the 802s could swap to Diesel after the steepest section of the climb had been climbed under electric power, rather than push out CO2 and NOx up the 1:59/1:47 to Queen St. bridge. They would be able to reach a fair speed (subject to linespeed limits) there and the rest of the climb to Summit Tunnel is much more compatible with a diesel powered train.
OK after that thought, back to the journey, - here’s 802218 drawing into Victoria P3. Interestingly it was running as a class 9 train, presumably as it needs priority passage through major urban areas to avoid getting entangled with local services.
Nothing special about an 80x for me, I’ve been on them under diesel in Cornwall and Electric between Reading and Paddington, but the TPE stock has different décor, - much lighter, maybe to compensate for their operating at higher latitudes.
They were on electric for the remainder of their journey of course and really moved along the Chat Moss line. It was noticeable how quickly they accelerated after the Newton-le-Willows stop back to linespeed or near enough (90mph) before stopping at Lea Green. The journey was very smooth, none of the oft reported here suspension banging going on. There was however a slight sway along some of the line, - maybe the track across Chat Moss itself.
So arriving at Lime Street, all that was left to do was get Merseyrail 508103 back to Chester, - not particularly pleasant but on time.
A good day out for not much money.
Total distance travelled: 118miles
Cost of tickets £17.1 for Cheshire Day Rover and £5.10 for a Merseyrail Anytime Day Single
Normal cost of cheapest tickets for journeys taken £32.50.
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