Richard's Trip Reports

[Kite159]

Yeah, i've had a 142, a 144 and a 153. Admittedly a single 153 did get rather cosy as it got closer to Sheffield!

Got two cheap Doncaster-Peterborough advances for tomorrow so i'm doing some linear bashing on Great Northern with a GN Only Travelcard, should prove productive!

I wish you luck with the linear bashing on GN, it was hard enough doing it in the evening peak northbound (in terms of gaps at stations with nothing much around).

Why not get a VTEC-only super-off peak day return and head all the way to London and do some stuff within London, rather than swearing at the "Great Northern are sorry to announce that the XX:XX service to London Kings Cross has been cancelled, due to a member of train crew being unable" and having an extra 30 minute wait before a single 317 rolls in which is slightly busy

 

[Segedunum]

To be honest the reason why I'm doing it on a GN Only is because I need every GN 317 and 321 and next to all of the 365s whereas I've had dozens and dozens of 313s. I shall be looking out carefully however, and probably sticking to the more frequently served stations like Huntingdon etc as again, I need them all!

 

[Kite159]

To be honest the reason why I'm doing it on a GN Only is because I need every GN 317 and 321 and next to all of the 365s whereas I've had dozens and dozens of 313s. I shall be looking out carefully however, and probably sticking to the more frequently served stations like Huntingdon etc as again, I need them all!

I think apart from the odd extra, most services to/from Peterborough call at all stations between Stevenage & Peterborough alternating south of Stevenage with Cambridge semi-fasts for the likes of Knebworth

 

[Segedunum]

I think apart from the odd extra, most services to/from Peterborough call at all stations between Stevenage & Peterborough alternating south of Stevenage with Cambridge semi-fasts for the likes of Knebworth

In the evening (even on a Saturday) there's a few extras which call Biggleswade, St Neots, Huntingdon only which may prove useful. Do believe they give linear +5s or something like that at one station.

 

[Techniquest]

First day of the FoNE was quite successful all in, fair dos, even with the farce on the Penistone line. That sausage roll was indeed a rip-off but happy days with the bargain in York!

The GN Only Travelcard has me a tad green, what with needing all shacks between Welwyn Garden City and Peterborough with the exception of Stevenage. They'll probably get done in the days of whatever we get for the 365s replacements!

Another enjoyable read, looking forward to the continuation!

 

[Segedunum]

First day of the FoNE was quite successful all in, fair dos, even with the farce on the Penistone line. That sausage roll was indeed a rip-off but happy days with the bargain in York!

The GN Only Travelcard has me a tad green, what with needing all shacks between Welwyn Garden City and Peterborough with the exception of Stevenage. They'll probably get done in the days of whatever we get for the 365s replacements! [emoji38]

Another enjoyable read, looking forward to the continuation!

I must admit that yesterday was a fair bit more productive than it had any right to be.

Why? Because I'd just leapt from Potters Bar to Knebworth then back 1 stop to Welwyn North (my third single stop double back of the day) before realising I'd forgotten that you can't do that (was too preoccupied thinking "ooh a +4!") and that I was meant to have stuck to linear moves (which I did for most of the day) At this point though I only had linear moves so I reminded myself not to do that again, just in case an RPI took serious exception to me having a tired heat induced shack scratching fever moment...

On the plus side, I now need nothing outside the zones south of Hitchin and I only need Sandy and Arlesey south of Peterborough! I still do need Hadley Wood, New Southgate, Oakleigh Park and New Barnet however.

 

[Techniquest]

Tut tut! Well done though, just saw your list on Shack Attack 2016, an impressive list it has to be said. You have reminded me of the existance of Hitchin Flyover too, something that I need to do. Hmm there's something to look up actually for the multi-day August bash...

 

[Segedunum]

Tut tut! [emoji38] Well done though, just saw your list on Shack Attack 2016, an impressive list it has to be said. You have reminded me of the existance of Hitchin Flyover too, something that I need to do. Hmm there's something to look up actually for the multi-day August bash...

Me too. I need the track as well through to Cambridge though! And yeah, Welham Green was the most surreal, considering the hustle and bustle of Potters Bar was only two stops away.

Report on all this soon, as to be honest after yesterday I realise how dire Great Northern are!

 

[Techniquest]

Me too. I need the track as well through to Cambridge though! And yeah, Welham Green was the most surreal, considering the hustle and bustle of Potters Bar was only two stops away.

Report on all this soon, as to be honest after yesterday I realise how dire Great Northern are!

Ah yes, I know what you mean, feels like you've hit the countryside all of a sudden!

GN are better than Southern as a general rule of thumb!

 

[Segedunum]

NE Rover- Day 4/4

You’ll notice I’ve skipped days 2 and 3, and that’s because I thought this was worth a report first. It terms of reliability, it was bad and comically bad at that. Looking back at it on Tuesday I can’t help but giggle, but after the moves at Burscough Bridge, I was ready to well and truly give up.

So it was forecast the hottest day of the year, so I decided to make that the last day of the 4 day bash, heading out for the 0744 to Newcastle and rocking up to the Central, purchasing a fruit salad and a bottle of elderflower presse (literally sparkling water with a hint of elderflower, nowt fancy) and heading to Platform 4 where winner 220026 was just arriving. Air con was working perfectly which was absolute bliss considering the rising temperatures. I did however have a dilemma. I had nothing to do. I just had some really faffy shacks where I’d be festering loads (Mainly the S&C, and Barton on Humber) so I decided to get another ticket and go out of area again. But where? Blackpool seemed a good idea, as I could finally get in the Blackpool South branch, and then get in the likes of Layton and Kirkham & Wesham. However time wasn’t on my side for this as I was starting late. Eventually I decided to just get a Lancs Day Ranger, travel via Hebden Bridge and see what took my fancy. There was a +5 onto a Southport train at Manchester Victoria on my intended route, so that was a likely option.

I was dropped off at York bang on time and headed to the 0941 to Liverpool as far as Leeds which had dud (obviously now I’ve finally cleared the 185s!) 185111 working. Again, sheer bliss with the air conditioning as we trundled our way across, and I headed to the ticket office at Leeds, muttering under my breath as I discovered a massive queue. However, I somehow managed to get through the queue fairly quickly and managed to make a runner for the 1018 to Manchester Vic, which had dud (again obviously, cleared this class nearly a year ago!) 155343 working for the thrashy breezy run via Bradford. All was going swimmingly until we hit a problem at Todmorden. Track circuit failure, and that means bye bye +5. Eventually we edged forwards after 10 minutes but we were utterly rammed as the stopping train was sat on the curve waiting for us and the 0951 Manchester had been cancelled. Absolutely horrendous conditions, which just put in a foul mood as we arrived into Manchester late at 1153. What to do now, then? I saw winner 319368 on the Liverpool stopper and just thought ‘eh, whatever’ and jumped on board. I decided to bail at shack 1, Lea Green, and clear as much of the rest of Chat Moss as possible. I was however set in a bad mood for the rest of the afternoon as I knew this wasn’t going to be as productive as I’d have liked, as once I cleared the little line of shacks around here I’d probably have to send myself back to Manchester.

Dud 319374 then carted me back to shack 2, Earlestown, where I had to absolutely leg it for what seemed like forever to dud 319376 for shack 3, St Helens Junction. At least there was a steady stream of shacks to keep me going! A short wait inside the ticket office area in the shade saw me grab winner 319377 back to Earlestown where I managed to score another winner in the form of 319362 . My mood was just starting to pick up again as we rolled into shack 4, the famous Rainhill, at which point I decided that instead of getting Patricroft and doing a pointless move back to Earlestown again, I may as well send myself up to Wigan the fast way, by going via Warrington! I wasn’t 100% if this was a valid move or not (turns out it’s not ) but even then Warrington-Wigan seemed like a perfectly reasonable move on a Lancs Ranger, was hardly trying Warrington-Glasgow Dud 319368 then took me to shack 5, Newton-le-Willows, where I should have had a very nice +15 onto the Arriva TW service to Warrington Bank Quay. Errrr…not quite. Basically I was attempting a -15 onto a delayed Glasgow Pendolino (considering we were due 1425 and it was now due 1430, now exactly an unreasonable attempt) but oh no, every single service was at a stand coming from Manchester and it was 35 minutes for a service TO Manchester!

Plan goes out of the window as I ponder what to do. I then make the very stupid decision of running back to Earlestown and hoping to god that I make the Liverpool-Warrington and also that the Glasgow gets delayed a little more. This was an utterly daft idea considering it was now 31 degrees and climbing, and I was quickly exhausted by such an endeavour. I could feel the sweat running down my face as I managed to nearly fall flat on it tripping on loose paving, too. However, by some horrendous form of luck, I just manage to clamber onto dud 319374 to Warrington Bank Quay, scoring the last side of Earlestown Triangle in the process. This had better be damn worth it! Thankfully, we arrived at 1431 and the 1416 Glasgow was due 1432, giving me 1 minute to leg it under the subway and onto dud 390043 to Wigan North Western. But what to do from there? After picking up a drink, I see that there’s a possible +3 at Pemberton back to Wigan Wallgate and as the Kirkby train was running on time I go for that. It does however arrive 1 late in the form of double duds 142040/150215 and arrives at shack 6, Pemberton, 2 late, leaving me absolutely legging it like you wouldn’t believe up the ramp and over the road bridge (this station is evil!), diving onto dud 150211 just before it leaves. Soon enough, I’m back to Wigan Wallgate, and I see that the next Southport is late, which is good fortune for me. At least it was, because the delay went from 9 late to 25 late while I was there.

Eventually, dud 142062 staggered in, and I just opted to take it to the next stop, shack 7, Appley Bridge. I was about to change platforms here and head back but on seeing the giant walk I had on my hands I stayed put and waited for the next service, only 10 minutes behind. Good move too, as this was winner 156472, leaving just 471 and 485 to complete the Northern 156s. Next move was going to be getting Meols Cop in, but we were so late that I decided not to risk it and head to shack 8, Burscough Bridge, and swap for the next train back to Parbold. In the meantime, I slogged it over to Tesco and picked up the last thing on the shelf (literally, but it was a noodle salad which was actually rather nice) and rolled my eyes again on my return as of course, the Parbold train was late and the train I was going to connect to had been caped! In the end, duds 142043/150136 staggered in 10 late and I stayed on to Wigan Wallgate, intending to get the PSUL move to Wigan North Western in next. This involved catching the Huddersfield (142096/150205 as far as I could see) service to Bolton.

Imagine my confusion when dud 142014 bounced in instead! Turns out it was a seriously late service that ran all stations to Manchester Victoria via Bolton. Oh well, it’d do. I then noticed that the North Western train was also late, and in the end I managed to blag the delay all the way to shack 9, Farnworth. Normally a hell on earth connection to make in the off peak as Moses Gate is the only intermediate shack with a reasonable connection! (+2 at Kearsley and +2 at Farnworth) I had about 3 minutes to run around the stupidly long ramps and steps and onto duds 142052/150119 to Bolton, where the train was most annoyingly terminated. No PSUL move for me then. Next service was duds 150206/153351 to Clitheroe, so I jumped on and looked for a move to make off that. Seems I could easily bail at Bromley Cross, change, then go back to Salford Crescent in and get the train to the illusive Clifton! Oh yeah, too easy, isn’t it. I got off at shack 10, Bromley Cross, to find that there was now a 15 minute delay. Bear in mind I had a +27 at Salford, so I wasn’t too fussed. But this grew, and grew, and grew. It eventually staggered in 31 late in the form of duds 150203/153324 and I was again, right royally ticked off.

We were 29 late in Salford which meant no delay repay either! (And I wasn’t about to submit for a delay of 1480 minutes because the only train to Clifton had gone ) so I just thought to myself, whatever, I’ll see what appears on the Atherton Line. Dud 156421 appeared to take me to Moorside, which to be honest didn’t bother me even though it was dud. Why? I’d not had the blighter for haulage in over five years! Indeed, it was my first ever 156 for haulage when for some reason it was working the Hartlepool-Hexham back on April 16, 2011. I was 12! A short wait at Moorside then had me jumping for joy as illusive winner 150269 was leading dud 142042 to take me back to Manchester Victoria, where I called it quits (the service was basically ruined at this point anyway) and headed for the 1848 to Leeds, which was nowhere to be seen. There was a 142+156 combo on the 1857 to Huddersfield which also wasn’t going anywhere, and the crowds were starting to get insane. Eventually at 1915 a service arrived, but it was the 1916 to Leeds at it was very cosy 158904! We all rammed on then the guard announced ‘The train approaching Platform 1 is the 1848 to Leeds and has 3 coaches if you want to get on that’

Sure, why not? Dud 158759 actually had working air conditioning too, making it far more preferable. We left 34 down at 1922, and lost more time at Rochdale, but gradually made up time heading to Leeds, thankfully still keeping above 30 minutes and so I was 32 minutes late, arriving 2043. This also meant I could claim for something eventually! It was then off to Sainsbury’s for a few supplies before absolutely legging it for the delayed 2043 to Newcastle which was dud 185124, and had me into Newcastle for 2224. Just as well too, as the 2052 York was trapped in the platform by our 158 from Vic and the connecting services from York were utterly ruined too
Still, I managed to scrape the barrel of winners on Northern (very difficult these days) and got in a few more shacks, just leaving Whiston, Gatley and Bryn to get on the 319 served network! Believe it or not, it wasn’t even the worst day for disruption. Just wait for the Megabus rant/report

Total Winners: 6+10 shacks
Total cost: £35.39

 

[FQ]

You got caught up in the delays on Tuesday as well then! I'd claim for the Clifton delay just to see what happens...

Delays excepted it seems like a great time was had there. Our paths didn't cross by the looks of it (I was on a Lancs day ranger as well) either. Warrington-Wigan sounds like it should be valid on the Lancs DR, that's for sure!

 

[Segedunum]

You got caught up in the delays on Tuesday as well then! I'd claim for the Clifton delay just to see what happens...

Delays excepted it seems like a great time was had there. Our paths didn't cross by the looks of it (I was on a Lancs day ranger as well) either. Warrington-Wigan sounds like it should be valid on the Lancs DR, that's for sure!

Issue is that I couldn't go to both Clifton and Leeds as that'd mean walking to Swinton and catching the 1859 Vic for the 1926 Leeds. Impossible when I've claimed for the 1848 off Vic Either way I'm not fussed. I currently have 4 pending delay claims and a £10 voucher due off ATW for the foul mouthed guard.

Aye I saw we were both in Lancashire! I was a miserable git all day though, wouldn't have been the best company

 

[Kite159]

Issue is that I couldn't go to both Clifton and Leeds as that'd mean walking to Swinton and catching the 1859 Vic for the 1926 Leeds. Impossible when I've claimed for the 1848 off Vic Either way I'm not fussed. I currently have 4 pending delay claims and a £10 voucher due off ATW for the foul mouthed guard.

Aye I saw we were both in Lancashire! I was a miserable git all day though, wouldn't have been the best company

Hopefully you might get something from Northern at some point, as they are very slow with communication due to the new contractor.

Anyhow, at least you pulled something out of the bag for a day of delays, several winners and shacks

 

[alexf380]

A very well handled series of unfortunate events there, Richard. Well done

 

[Segedunum]

Cheers lads, and indeed Kite, I do hope Northern actually reply. Waiting on replies from TPE, GTR and them at the moment!

 

[FQ]

Hopefully you might get something from Northern at some point, as they are very slow with communication due to the new contractor.

Darn; I've still got to send Northern a delay repay form for Tuesday when I was delayed by 2 hours.

 

[Techniquest]

I've waited nearly a year to hear back from Northern following last year's Blackpool South cancellations!

I too would have lost my cool in that situation Richard, all those cancellations and significant delays would have got to me too! Glad you managed to get some scores out of it, good news indeed there. Looking forward to Days 2 and 3 now, but perhaps in hindsight it would have been better to do the shacks in the FoNE area?

 

[Segedunum]

I've waited nearly a year to hear back from Northern following last year's Blackpool South cancellations! [emoji38]

I too would have lost my cool in that situation Richard, all those cancellations and significant delays would have got to me too! Glad you managed to get some scores out of it, good news indeed there. Looking forward to Days 2 and 3 now, but perhaps in hindsight it would have been better to do the shacks in the FoNE area?

In hindsight maybe, but I wasn't up for the tedium of the same Dogbox on the Barton branch. Time yet though, as I have another FoNE pencilled in for next week!

I'll probably try and get 144023 out of the way, then who knows, as all I'll need are Voyagers and Dogboxes in the area! Should probably sweep up the shacks from Sheffield to Worksop, and maybe finish what I started on the Penistone Line. Thing is though, out of the 4 days on this one I have 1 1/2 free in the Rover area as it's mainly being used as a cheap way of getting further south. So on Tuesday, I should hopefully be trying one of these new fangled 700s!
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Freedom of the (Great) North(ern)- Day 2/4

This was a highly spontaneous trip, as in all honesty I had no plans to go bash Great Northern, but with the weather looking up and me bagging two cheap advances Donny-Peterborough, a GN Only TC was only £16.60. And with me needing every GN 321, every GN 317, and most GN 365s, I decided to give it a go. Having had a late night the previous evening (My girlfriend was going away but the family had sadly booked with Low Cost Holidays who went bust last Friday night) so once I knew they had their problems at least temporarily rectified for going away on the Saturday night, I hit the hay at around 0030, getting up again at 0435, hastily getting ready and heading to the ticket office at the Central to buy a GN Only Travelcard (seems they’ve started opening at 0500 again!). I was also informed we had a few intoxicated passengers on board so to be aware of them, and indeed we had a few passengers urinating all over the station who were randomly kicked off at Doncaster of all places It was duds 43208/43310 for the run to Peterborough this morning, and I was aiming for a nice +5 onto the 0818 to London Kings Cross. This didn’t happen of course, because the rail network has a vendetta against me, as the utter moron of a signaller put it in Platform 3, ie where we were booked into!

We were however 4 late anyway, so I wouldn’t have made it, and I resigned myself to a wait for the 0846 to London, which was formed of winner 365536 trailing dud (I’ve only had 4 of these blighters?!) 365519. This was meant to be taken to St Neots but shortly after leaving Peterborough we came to a stand, cue the driver running off out of his cab. The perks of DOO, eh? Having only one member of staff doing everything meant that we were left in the dark for quite a while (15 minutes or so) and when I asked the GN twitter they pretended we were on time!! The driver then ran back to his cab, mumbled something about a safety system fault, and away we went, 12 late into Huntingdon. We then sat there for a further 15 minutes before the driver decided it was going to be next stop Stevenage. Off I bailed then, and I called Huntingdon shack number 1, in the brief wait for dud 365516 (really?!) trailing winner 365525 to shack 2, St Neots, where I nipped out for a drink, and also noted that as a Peterborough-St Neots journey, that’d be a half hour delay, so I put in a claim for that soon after! I returned fairly quickly for an empty winner 365541 all the way to shack 3, Stevenage.

It was quiet until Sandy, as of course it was the first service for an hour! (1P53 had skipped it due to being late and 1P11 was St Neots, Biggleswade, London only) And I must say, 4 coaches only on the stoppers is an utterly illogical! It’s not like any of the stations have short platforms, and the sidings at Peterborough were chocka! I did however only have a short wait for winner 321420 back to shack 4, Hitchin, which was the first of my accidentally naughty double backs (I was miles away and the heat didn’t help either) It was then another short wait back to Stevenage on double winners 321405/321409. Directly behind us was winner 317338 which was taken to shack 5, Welwyn Garden City, where duds 313040/313050 were ready and waiting on the Moorgate stopper. They were then duly taken to the rural abyss that is shack 6, Welham Green! It was a very peaceful few minutes wait until we had double winners 313032/313134 rock up to take me to shack 7, Hatfield. This is where the fun stopped, so to speak. At least for 45 minutes or so

Winner 317345 arrived in on the Kings Cross stopper from Cambridge, and seriously Great Northern? 4 coaches was absurd. It was full and standing on departure from Hatfield, with some being unable to board at Potters Bar. The train was also horrendously warm, as I felt myself getting a little faint as we pressed south through the tunnels into the London Zones. In the end I forced my way off at Finsbury Park, no way was I putting up with that any longer! I then decided to do some easy bashing, jumping on the Piccadilly Line and realising I needed every shack to Kings Cross. Some easy linear moves here as I hopped to shacks 8, 9, and 10. That is, Arsenal, Holloway Road, and Caledonian Road respectively. I then continued on the line to Holborn where I decided I needed a walk as it was now too warm to be jumping between trains! In the end, I ended up taking a stroll down Oxford Street, before curving around towards Trafalgar Square, good placement for Charing Cross, and that’s where I jumped on winners 375617/375812 to Waterloo East. There did however seem to be a lack of winning units on the Windsor side at Waterloo, so in the end I gave up and took dud 458524 to Clapham Junction, and again found a winning unit void there. Dud 377704 was taken out to Battersea Park, and dud 455814 back to Clapham.

Thankfully, winner 377614 then appeared for the short hop to Balham, where I was going to continue on the train behind to Crystal Palace, a shack that I bizarrely require, despite having had every single other shack around it! However, winner 377114 then appeared going back to Clapham so I made a dash for that instead, and made the realisation that my best chance at winners was on Mainline services. Very true, as double winners 377202/377428 then arrived to take me to East Croydon. Soon after I arrived, winner 377141 turned up for London Bridge, so it was duly taken to Norwood Junction, where dud 377404 soon appeared to take me back to East Croydon. With time starting to get on (I’d only finished with GN at 1215 and I needed to start again at 1605!) I then opted for winners 377147/377472 to Clapham Junction, where I dived over onto an unadvertised service to London Waterloo, which had winner 450010 leading dud 450038. Two tubes later, I then stocked up on food and waited for the 1605 to Cambridge, which had winner 321410 working.

I took this to Potters Bar, shack number 11, and took a pew in the waiting room, watching the rather insane number of fast services come belting through before double duds 313040/313050 appeared again to take me the 1 stop to shack 12, Brookmans Park. This was a tight +3, as soon as I was up and over the footbridge, dud 313060 leading winner 313036 was trundling in to take me back to Potters Bar! It was then time for another fun squashy time journey on dud 321420. I mean, come on, seriously? A 4 coach 365 might have been tolerable but I was pressed up against a door and had to get off at Hatfield and Welwyn GC to let people get off themselves! I was just about gasping for air as I forced my way off at shack 13, Knebworth, and waited a few minutes for dud 365541 to take me back to the rather peaceful Welwyn North, shack number 14. This was again a rather surreal experience, with the silence being cut every few minutes for a fast service to pass. Eventually though, winner 317344 rolled in, only for me to board and nearly fall over a piece of the ceiling which had fallen off!

This was what made me decide to cut a day on GN from my ALR (although I only need Arlesey and Sandy on the ECML now anyway) and that was that the condition of some of these trains is absolutely disgusting! I parked myself on a seat, before deciding to nip to the loo. Of course that was too easy, and I lifted the lid to have it come crashing off and nearly crush my hand in the process! Instead, it landed upside down next to my foot. The damn thing wasn’t even attached, which isn’t only funny, it’s just downright dangerous! I bailed at Stevenage, thankful to be joining winners 365513/365521 behind. At least the 365s resemble a train and not a circus! This was a good move of choice as it also meant that the fast service would catch up, and indeed by shack 15, Biggleswade, I was able to jump off and join double winners 317342/317346 back to Peterborough. And I’ll admit it, 100mph in these is quite fun If only they were a little better looked after! I was then booked on the 1924 to Skipton, which required a 40 minute wait or so until duds 43307/43317 rolled in.

Why on earth was I on this service? Well, on a Saturday night, the 2119 XC service to York runs via Methley and Castleford. I need this track, and while it can also be done on an earlier TPE service to Hull, it seems that every single Sunday, it’s bypassed this and gone direct via Garforth. (Although on Sunday 17/7, it did actually run as booked!) As a result, I decided to go get it while I had the chance. It was a rather peaceful journey into Leeds, where we arrived at 2047, and I went and stocked up on some more dinner (it was starting to get rather late!) and awaited the CrossCountry service. Bingo, as winner 220034 rolled in, and the crew jumped out to change direction. I took up a seat in Coach F to find that not only was I alone in the carriage, I appeared to be alone in the train! That was a stark contrast with the 2052 to York, 20 late and formed of 2 153s, ie rammed! We gently made the route out of the platform, being coming to a stand awaiting a signal. Eventually, we got going around 5 late and trundled our way to just outside Castleford where we came to a stand to let a late running Pacer out of the platform. But we still didn’t move, and it took another 5 minutes for a freight train to get out of the way. This had me rather anxious as it was only a +11 onto the second to last Newcastle service, the last being the 2313 service which was guaranteed to have some pretty awful clientele

Thankfully we then absolutely hammered it through to York, being let ahead of 1N33 (my connection) and arriving into York 5 late at 2200. This meant a swift connection onto dud 91106 working the 2206 to Newcastle, and because I moved so far back into Coach F, I had a relatively undisturbed journey back, with a 2307 arrival meaning that I was pretty much ready to head straight to bed

A successful day, but one that certainly didn’t give me any further faith in the mess that is GTR

Total Mileage: 627mi 14ch
Total Winners: 28+15 shacks
Total Cost: £55.05

 

[FQ]

The GN trains sounds like t=horrid things in an awful condition! I'm guessing you've complained? A bit of the ceiling on the floor though!

Other than that it sounds like a good time was had.

 

[Segedunum]

The GN trains sounds like t=horrid things in an awful condition! I'm guessing you've complained? A bit of the ceiling on the floor though!

Other than that it sounds like a good time was had.

Indeed, I sent a rather long delay claim/general complaint in last week!

 

[Kite159]

One of the reasons for only being 4 cars is that the units interwork, so a service from Peterborough will then work a service to Cambridge, and if that service to Cambridge is an all-station caller, calling at the Cambridgeshire villages (Foxton, Shepreth, that other one) they can only hold a single unit, hence why come the likes of Knebworth they are very cosy.

GN have probably stopped maintaining the 317s (and 321s) as they go off-lease soon, I saw a 317 at Cambridge yesterday, in FCC colours and it looked like someone had taken some sandpaper to the outside.

 

[Segedunum]

One of the reasons for only being 4 cars is that the units interwork, so a service from Peterborough will then work a service to Cambridge, and if that service to Cambridge is an all-station caller, calling at the Cambridgeshire villages (Foxton, Shepreth, that other one) they can only hold a single unit, hence why come the likes of Knebworth they are very cosy.

GN have probably stopped maintaining the 317s (and 321s) as they go off-lease soon, I saw a 317 at Cambridge yesterday, in FCC colours and it looked like someone had taken some sandpaper to the outside.

One hopes that platform lengthening at Foxton, Shepreth and Meldreth is high on the agenda then! And to be honest the 321s didn't seem that bad. Seemed to be in relatively decent nick.

 

[Kite159]

One hopes that platform lengthening at Foxton, Shepreth and Meldreth is high on the agenda then! And to be honest the 321s didn't seem that bad. Seemed to be in relatively decent nick.

I think it's on the agenda for when the 700s take over, either SDO where the platform can't be extended or platform extensions.

Agreed with the 317 thrash at high speed, I had a 317 when doing the shacks which was non-stop Kings Cross - Stevenage, felt strange speeding like a bullet through Finsbury Park

 

[Techniquest]

Wow, GN have clearly let themselves go lately then! My experience of them is great, as it was in FCC days (I was clearly lucky!) but I, well, don't know what's happened to them. I am gutted though as I had a lot of respect for them.

Good news on the routing via Castleford (done on a 185 in First Class, which I'd prefer to a 220 in Standard ) happening for you, think I've done it twice all in. Probably both times on a 185 on an overnight adventure!

Shame that the Mrs and her family lost their holiday though, mega ouch! I hear compensation being offered is virtually worthless, so I hope they had good travel insurance! Long day for you with virtually no sleep there, which must have been more than infuriating as it was!

 

[Segedunum]

Wow, GN have clearly let themselves go lately then! My experience of them is great, as it was in FCC days (I was clearly lucky!) but I, well, don't know what's happened to them. I am gutted though as I had a lot of respect for them.

Good news on the routing via Castleford (done on a 185 in First Class, which I'd prefer to a 220 in Standard ) happening for you, think I've done it twice all in. Probably both times on a 185 on an overnight adventure!

Shame that the Mrs and her family lost their holiday though, mega ouch! I hear compensation being offered is virtually worthless, so I hope they had good travel insurance! Long day for you with virtually no sleep there, which must have been more than infuriating as it was!

Indeed they have, I blame GTR

To be honest I'd rather me, as I know what overnight services you mean and hey, at least I saw the route in daylight, albeit fading daylight [emoji38] That and I'd rather a 2119 off Leeds than nonsense like the 0138 off York

And they didn't but they had to fork out again for it in the hope of claiming it back. Thankfully they've had a lovely week out there!

 

[Techniquest]

Thank Goodness they've had a good holiday

0138 off York? Meh, I've started out from Manchester Airport towards Middlesborough at that time (well, roughly, it was 2008 so memory's hazy!) before now. Trust me, that's a long journey overnight, especially when it's part of a late night departure from Hereford to Crewe or Manchester Piccadilly before continuing onwards to Middlesborough via Darlington then onto Whitby. Oh I don't miss the bleary-eyed arrivals in the North after many hours of travel through the night, don't get me wrong I've achieved a lot through use of TPX overnight but, ouch, it's so tiring when you tend to be awake the whole darn night thanks to the super cold air-con in winter...

 

[37038]

And don't forget the rather useful 0325 ex Sheffield which goes via the world! Can't complain as it got me to an 05blah railtour without the need for a hotel and I bagged the avoiding line at Wakefield Kirkgate in the process!

 

[Segedunum]

As you can judge by the shack attacks thread, I'm currently in Portugal! I shall be reporting on this in due course (might be difficult as I'm away here then getting back and going straight to London the next day) but I'll give you a bit of context.

UK Health and safety would have a fit. The tracks on my end of the line (Lagos to Faro, the Western Algarve) are barely barriered at all. Walking on the tracks is a fairly normal thing, and one particular station near the Spanish end (Castro Marim) is too short for the train. What happens? All doors open of course, as I found out by jumping down onto the tracks...

Many platforms are also stupidly low which means that you've normally got to use multiple steps or simply haul yourself up onto the train. The trains on the line sound like a sickly class 172, ride like a class 150, and are seated like a 142!

The conductors and drivers are very very laid back, most are clearly on friendly terms with the locals and three days after checking my ticket the first time, some just greet me without asking for a ticket! The drivers seem rather chilled too, with cab doors staying unlocked, and we've had a few curious kids wandering in and being warmly greeted. Imagine that happening here!

However, platform information, on train announcements and screens are unheard of. At Faro, it's a case of guessing which train is yours (the frequency is sporadic so it's not too hard to guess). However it's worse at stations further out where your platform indicator is which signal has cleared on which track! Thankfully I've not yet been caught out, and in most cases a simple dash across the track has you in the right place.


Sent from my F3311 using Tapatalk

 

[Kite159]

It's a whole different world.

At least you are topping up your tan

 

[Segedunum]

Portugal Bash- Day 1/7

I must admit that I went into Portugal with very low expectations of the Algarve railway line, and indeed Portuguese railways in general. I’d be staying in Lagos, arguably the worst yet probably also the best place to be on the line. The worst, as it was the furthest you could be from a train to Lisbon, with the possible exception of the furthest fringe of the line to Vila Real de Santo Antonio. (55 minutes from a connecting train at Tunes, VR is about 1hr 05 from the Lisbon train at Faro), and generally because it would take nearly take a six hour round trip to the other end of the line. The line to Lagos is also a little bit…forgotten. Most intermediate stops have stupidly low platforms and one does get the distinct impression that CP have sort of given up on most of them. The exceptions are the bigger stations, and those closer to Faro, and bizarrely, Lagos. Yes, Lagos probably is the best station on the network. Why? It’s actually got a brand new station building and a rather decent sized ticket office. It’s all well air conditioned and a world away from sitting on the disused platform roasting to death at other shacks en route. The service to/from Lagos is also rather random, having departures to Faro at 6:16, 6:59 and 7:48, then nothing until 11:14, 13:10, 14:18 and another gap until 17:05. There are however two return trips to Portimao (only 25 minutes down the line) at 9:03 and 15:17 to break up the gaps, although they remain lightly used for obvious reasons.

So, Tuesday came along and I toddled down to the station, which was basically shack number 1 of the trip, and went to the ticket office to find the clerk half asleep not really paying attention. It took a solid 5 minutes of tapping on the glass and saying hello in a few different languages before he eventually turned around (having been interrupted in his plight to stare at the wall) and sold me the 30,70EUR ticket for three days unlimited travel on the 139km long line (That’s £26 or thereabouts). Having reassured him that I do indeed know what three days looks like, and that three days means today, tomorrow and the next day (he even wrote 2 3 4 on a piece of paper), he printed my ticket with my passport number on, and I headed to the platform to obvious winner 0463. The trains are second hand from Spain and they’re actually rather well looked after, albeit rather well coated in graffiti. I found my seat in the front coach and we slowly got underway, being the 0903 to Portimao. The conductor took interest in my ticket, and was rather bemused when I stated my destination as being Mexilhoeira Grande, and I could see why when I alighted there, shack number 2.

0463, Mexilhoeira Grande by Richard Green, on Flickr

Station, Mexilhoeira Grande by Richard Green, on Flickr

In essence, it was an abandoned station building with two low platforms, slightly staggered, and with two rather naff shelters. The platforms were also open backed, so I killed some time by climbing off the back of them and having a look at the surrounding area. After exactly 45 seconds, I realised there was absolutely nothing, just dirt tracks and farmland, so I went back and sat down for the +33 awaiting now dud 0463 to take me back to shack 3, Meia Praia. This served the beach in Lagos and it was just as well, the next service was 95 minutes away! I took myself for a stroll down the rather lovely beach, picking up a few drinks and strolling a good mile or so before turning back and heading to the platform. Surprise surprise, the 1118 to Faro was dud 0463 and it was taken a good distance down the line, passing the popular tourist destination of Albufeira and the not so popular destinations of Poco Barreto and Algoz. I alighted at shack 4, Boliqueme, mainly because the next station was Loule and that was the passing point.

0463, Meia Praia by Richard Green, on Flickr

Beach, Meia Praia by Richard Green, on Flickr

What a dump! It appeared to serve an MOT place and that was it. Hilariously, despite only having one station sign, it actually had a working clock and help point. But the bigger shock came when I looked at the second platform. It had no signs, no anything! It was merely a stack of sleepers or something. Bemused for a while, I stood on what was essentially not even a platform, before realising the signal had cleared for the one that, you know, actually resembled something that was part of a railway station! I made a quick dash across the tracks (not something I’m encouraging anyone to do, but it’s basically the Portuguese way and the platforms were basically track level anyway. It was that or the not even level (it literally had steps on it [emoji38] ) level crossing. That, and the track was a dead flat straight for a mile either side, and the trains love blasting their horns quite a lot, so I’d not be in any danger. It’s not quite going for a stroll off the end of the platform at Doncaster [emoji38]

Platform, Boliqueme by Richard Green, on Flickr

Winner 0464, with a carriage coated in graffiti, trundled in, taking me to shack 5, Silves. We were delayed at Tunes by 10 minutes awaiting an Intercity service from Lisbon (these trains have never ran on time the whole time I’ve been here!), meaning that it was delayed at Silves where I bailed, awaiting my next service formed of winner 0462, which was taken to shack 6, Poco Barreto. You see, the problem now was that there was no service from Faro for 4 hours, meaning that the best option was a linear move, still entailing a +68. So, stupidly, I walked 3.6km to the next station to avoid a fester. And, while it was a lovely scenic route, part of it was down a very busy road without a path, and it was torturous at points in the heat! I was very glad of the sight of shack 7, Alcantarilha, which was made of up of a shaded area next to the station building, and two elevated exposed platforms. Thankfully, it wasn’t long until winner 0466 made an appearance, taking me to shack 8, Parc das Cidades, which serves the Algarve stadium.

0464, Silves by Richard Green, on Flickr

0462, Poco Barreto by Richard Green, on Flickr

Railway line, Poco Barreto by Richard Green, on Flickr

It also served the suburbs of Faro, but it was completely dead! There was nobody around as I crossed to the other platform (the most awkward crossing on the network, down various sets of stairs and under a subway) only to find that CP were being daft and had decided to use the exact some platform today. Thankfully, I deduced this from the platform signal being cleared, rather than to the sight of an approaching train! Winner 0454 rolled in, and it was taken to shack 9, Albufeira, where I took a +60 linear move on the chin and went in search of food and drink. A warning to any potential visitors, this station is 6.8km from the resort itself and actually serves Ferrerias! A walking time was quoted as being 1hr 45, so not something you really want to do in the heat, though there is a bus service (conveniently without a timetable, just a sign that says that the estimated waiting time is 30 minutes). Winner 0468 then arrived and trundled me back to Lagos for 1907, where I called it a day, having cleared over half of the shacks of the Lagos side.

0466, Parque das Cidades by Richard Green, on Flickr

0454, Albufeira by Richard Green, on Flickr