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Richard's Trip Reports
- Thread starter Segedunum
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R
RailUK Forums
Problem is, next station was Exeter anyway! We were on diversion so couldn't just tip them out at Taunton and to be honest I think the guard was sick of them as well.
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Kite159
Veteran Member
Not the best trip on the sleeper. 
Kristofferson
Member
- Joined
- 23 Nov 2012
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- 1,132
You're right about those tickets!
Did you happen to call at Cogan during your Welsh adventures? Is it a dump or acceptable? Asking for reasons that will become clear!
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Did you happen to call at Cogan during your Welsh adventures? Is it a dump or acceptable? Asking for reasons that will become clear!
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Did indeed. Seemed okay but no station that way is particularly glamorous.
Putting the late finish to proper use tonight, bashing through to Midnight and getting the sleeper at 0046 from Reading!
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47403
Established Member
Some epic reading there Richard. Took me a good while to get through it.
Plenty winners all round throughout these shores and abroad. Some serious shack scoring your getting through.
Looking forward to reading about the ALR, Id find it hard not to go for the 37s and 68s in Anglia but each to their own.
As usual an entertaining read.
Plenty winners all round throughout these shores and abroad. Some serious shack scoring your getting through.
Looking forward to reading about the ALR, Id find it hard not to go for the 37s and 68s in Anglia but each to their own.
As usual an entertaining read.
Well actually I might yet go for the 37s and 68s! I was meant to today but unfortunately me sleeping in meant that I've only managed to get Braintree, Walton, Clacton, Southend and the last TFL Rail shacks I need in. As you can gather, I didn't sleep in *that* much! In essence I was rather knackered from a weekend away with my girlfriend (for which the ALR was very useful, and I still got some scores in!) so ended up collapsing into bed at 2300 only to emerge out at 0700 vice 0500 and minus a lift to the station.
In the end, I started from Liverpool Street at 1220 instead of the intended 1002.
Glad you enjoyed the read Lord Spoon, indeed this ALR report will be a monster when it does get written!
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In the end, I started from Liverpool Street at 1220 instead of the intended 1002.
Glad you enjoyed the read Lord Spoon, indeed this ALR report will be a monster when it does get written!
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Techniquest
Veteran Member
It's not always that bad in the Valleys, trust me. Your experiences would have put me off too mind, sounds like you'd have been better off in Brixton! 
hock:
Looking forward to the main trip reports when they're ready!
hock:Looking forward to the main trip reports when they're ready!
Techniquest
Veteran Member
ALR- Part 1/14
So it was time to start the ‘daddy of them all’, the All Line Rover. 14 days of being on the rails. That said, it was less like that. I’d booked out 4 days to take my girlfriend to London and Brighton, and had also booked out half a day to meet some friends in Yate. In the end, I also ended up using another two half days and an extra few hours for social purposes too! That said, 14 days of solid bashing without any human interaction was always going to be a challenge, and I was very content with keeping things well balanced.
The previous night I’d quickly changed plans to do a double sleeper move on Sunday and Monday night, so I was well packed with a rucksack as I left in great anticipation for duds 43277/43319 on the 0755 to London Kings Cross, which was to be taken as far as Peterborough, and on diversion via Leeds. It was a rather comfortable start to the adventure, with me being sat in seat B63, the single seat at the back, for the three hour sprint via York, Leeds, Wakefield, and Doncaster. We briefly paused at Leeds for a traincrew change, before unusually passing through Westgate non-stop and rolling into a quiet Doncaster. Soon enough, we were at Peterborough and it was time for a stretch of the legs before a dead dud 158774 (howay man, get a winner going on!) trundled in 6 early, with me securing a table for the run to Norwich.
This was new track as far as Ely, and it was a pleasant quiet trundle via March before the reversal at the aforementioned cathedral city. We eventually rolled into Norwich at 1248 where I was gasping for a drink and some food, so a sausage roll and a coke were picked up from the Co-Op at the station, before I headed for the 1300 to Liverpool Street, with winner 90009 hauling up front. I struggled to find a seat not reserved but eventually found a pair in Coach H, settling myself in for the run south, which was initially quite calm but by the time we reached Ipswich we were standing room only, owing to the football match on at the new stadium for West Ham down by Westfield Stratford City. I was to bail at shack 1 of the trip, Colchester, with the intention of bailing onto the service behind so I could score my first Anglia branch. This required a change onto treble winners 321306/321343/321422 for the run to shack 2, Marks Tey.
This was a rather tight connection but I made it onto the Sudbury platform with winner 153335 ticking over ready for a thrashy little run through some rather pleasant countryside. I even noted the small LCD screen giving weather and news information at the front of the carriage! Sudbury was shack number 3 and we then swapped direction, calling at the very pretty Bures and Chappel stations and filling up quite a bit in the process, arriving back into Marks Tey 45 minutes later. Next mission was to get myself a seated sleeper reservation for tomorrow night, something I couldn’t get the clerk at Marks Tey to issue! He couldn’t persuade his system to allow it so I gave up, and joined winners 321342/321421 to shack 4, Shenfield, where I managed to get myself said reservation! It was also an apt time to swap onto winners 321305/321434 for the stopping run into Stratford, a most odd experience stopping at Gidea Park on a GA service! However that also saw me clear the GEML for track, and I was soon off and walking my way across through a busy Westfield. Ten minutes later I was onto the platform at Overpriced not even Internat-….sorry Stratford International and awaiting winner 395017 into St Pancras where I met up with my girlfriend and her sister for a quiet evening in their hotel room, taking advantage of the shower facilities and making sure I was refreshed enough for a first run on the sleeper!
2230 suddenly appeared and I said my goodbyes, nipping down to Kings Cross for the tube to Paddington, and finding myself a few drinks in the Sainsbury’s tucked away at the back of the station. I then located a quiet coach B to drop my things, and noted winner 57603 heading my train tonight. I was then settled in, thinking ‘ah this is cosy!’ and nodded off by the time we’d ambled our way a few miles down the mainline. Alas this wasn’t to stay the case. Some noisy family had camped out further down the carriage, and the kids were hyper! They smacked into my arm as I was sleeping, waking me up and keeping me awake all the way from Tilehurst onwards! They just wouldn’t stop running around and I was going utterly nuts, giving up by Frome (oh yeah we were diverted via Yeovil Pen Mill!) and seating myself in Coach A instead, giving the family an incredibly dirty look as I picked up my things. Sadly, I could only sit back and try to relax with my eyes shut all the way to Newton Abbot, as I was far too unsettled. 0524 came all too suddenly, and I was off the train strangely wide awake, but in a panic as to how the hell I was going to function for the next eighteen hours.
And that seems an apt place to end for now
So it was time to start the ‘daddy of them all’, the All Line Rover. 14 days of being on the rails. That said, it was less like that. I’d booked out 4 days to take my girlfriend to London and Brighton, and had also booked out half a day to meet some friends in Yate. In the end, I also ended up using another two half days and an extra few hours for social purposes too! That said, 14 days of solid bashing without any human interaction was always going to be a challenge, and I was very content with keeping things well balanced.
The previous night I’d quickly changed plans to do a double sleeper move on Sunday and Monday night, so I was well packed with a rucksack as I left in great anticipation for duds 43277/43319 on the 0755 to London Kings Cross, which was to be taken as far as Peterborough, and on diversion via Leeds. It was a rather comfortable start to the adventure, with me being sat in seat B63, the single seat at the back, for the three hour sprint via York, Leeds, Wakefield, and Doncaster. We briefly paused at Leeds for a traincrew change, before unusually passing through Westgate non-stop and rolling into a quiet Doncaster. Soon enough, we were at Peterborough and it was time for a stretch of the legs before a dead dud 158774 (howay man, get a winner going on!) trundled in 6 early, with me securing a table for the run to Norwich.
This was new track as far as Ely, and it was a pleasant quiet trundle via March before the reversal at the aforementioned cathedral city. We eventually rolled into Norwich at 1248 where I was gasping for a drink and some food, so a sausage roll and a coke were picked up from the Co-Op at the station, before I headed for the 1300 to Liverpool Street, with winner 90009 hauling up front. I struggled to find a seat not reserved but eventually found a pair in Coach H, settling myself in for the run south, which was initially quite calm but by the time we reached Ipswich we were standing room only, owing to the football match on at the new stadium for West Ham down by Westfield Stratford City. I was to bail at shack 1 of the trip, Colchester, with the intention of bailing onto the service behind so I could score my first Anglia branch. This required a change onto treble winners 321306/321343/321422 for the run to shack 2, Marks Tey.
This was a rather tight connection but I made it onto the Sudbury platform with winner 153335 ticking over ready for a thrashy little run through some rather pleasant countryside. I even noted the small LCD screen giving weather and news information at the front of the carriage! Sudbury was shack number 3 and we then swapped direction, calling at the very pretty Bures and Chappel stations and filling up quite a bit in the process, arriving back into Marks Tey 45 minutes later. Next mission was to get myself a seated sleeper reservation for tomorrow night, something I couldn’t get the clerk at Marks Tey to issue! He couldn’t persuade his system to allow it so I gave up, and joined winners 321342/321421 to shack 4, Shenfield, where I managed to get myself said reservation! It was also an apt time to swap onto winners 321305/321434 for the stopping run into Stratford, a most odd experience stopping at Gidea Park on a GA service! However that also saw me clear the GEML for track, and I was soon off and walking my way across through a busy Westfield. Ten minutes later I was onto the platform at Overpriced not even Internat-….sorry Stratford International and awaiting winner 395017 into St Pancras where I met up with my girlfriend and her sister for a quiet evening in their hotel room, taking advantage of the shower facilities and making sure I was refreshed enough for a first run on the sleeper!
2230 suddenly appeared and I said my goodbyes, nipping down to Kings Cross for the tube to Paddington, and finding myself a few drinks in the Sainsbury’s tucked away at the back of the station. I then located a quiet coach B to drop my things, and noted winner 57603 heading my train tonight. I was then settled in, thinking ‘ah this is cosy!’ and nodded off by the time we’d ambled our way a few miles down the mainline. Alas this wasn’t to stay the case. Some noisy family had camped out further down the carriage, and the kids were hyper! They smacked into my arm as I was sleeping, waking me up and keeping me awake all the way from Tilehurst onwards! They just wouldn’t stop running around and I was going utterly nuts, giving up by Frome (oh yeah we were diverted via Yeovil Pen Mill!) and seating myself in Coach A instead, giving the family an incredibly dirty look as I picked up my things. Sadly, I could only sit back and try to relax with my eyes shut all the way to Newton Abbot, as I was far too unsettled. 0524 came all too suddenly, and I was off the train strangely wide awake, but in a panic as to how the hell I was going to function for the next eighteen hours.
And that seems an apt place to end for now
Techniquest
Veteran Member
Welcome to the club of half-asleep bashers! 
Horrid feeling isn't it and you suddenly realise just how long a day actually feels!
Aside from the issue of brats on the NR, it looks like it was an excellent first day. Bring on Day 2!
Horrid feeling isn't it and you suddenly realise just how long a day actually feels!Aside from the issue of brats on the NR, it looks like it was an excellent first day. Bring on Day 2!
alexf380
Established Member
A good start, bar the slight insomnia. You're young thought, can't have been too bad eh?
I did but in reality I had certain aims and all of those except maybe the Norfolk loco hauled services were successfully met. Also, I physically couldn't have taken doing 14 days of only bashing. It was good to have some rest considering my longest day was 5:53 to 1:07! Basically, when I did bash, I went all out.
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ALR- Part 2/14
I wandered over to the London bound platform, expecting the service to be the 0607 to Edinburgh, but I’d somehow made it in time for the 0542 to London Paddington. Excellent, less miles on a Voyager! Winners 43186/43193 rolled in for the run north, with Dawlish being captured in the emerging light. This was an exceptionally quiet run, and I was soon to see why! This was a stopping service that was then looped at Taunton by the XC service, before going forward to run via Weston and call at most stations to Bristol, arriving into London by around 10. The logical in the early services from the west is that there are three ex Plymouth trains: the 0509, the 0530 and the 0553. This was the 0509, the 0530 was a slow stopper via Pewsey, and the 0553 an express via Pewsey! Yes, the 0553 gets in first, followed by the 0530, followed by the 0509
Back to reality and we were departing Exeter just as the sun rose, and I still had a carriage to myself as I got myself ready, washing my face, brushing my teeth and just generally trying to chill out before decided to get off at shack 5, Taunton to swap onto the Voyager. In the short break there I also sourced an Eat Natural bar which became a pre-breakfast so to speak, before taking an unusually busy dud 221136 for shack 6, Bristol Temple Meads. I made a mental note to avoid the Voyagers where possible and stick to the Trams on this section of the route, as it seemed fairly cosy as we blasted our way up to Bristol where I could have joined the Gloucester service and headed to Cardiff via Bristol Parkway. In the end, it was a bit busy for my liking so winner 150106 was instead taken to shack 7, Filton Abbey Wood. We filled up quite a bit at Stapleton Road but everyone seemed to suddenly bail at Filton like me, all filing out of the station one by one as a few of us awaited the Cardiff service. The 0800 service eventually arrived in the form of winner 158950, and I found a spare pair of seats for the trundle west.
It was a remarkably sprightly trundle at that, with us only taking 40 minutes or so to reach the capital through the joys of the Severn Tunnel, stopping at Newport only on the way. On bailing at shack 8, Cardiff Central, I was tempted to get straight into Valley Lines bashing mode, but I was starving and needed food to wake me up! A McDonald’s call was made and I opted for pancakes, sausage and a nice big cuppa to perk me up for what was going to be a very busy day! In the end, it was the 0934 to Penarth that was my first service, formed of double winners 143607/143623. It was a pleasant 15 minute bounce to the end of the line, shack 9, Penarth, where there was a brief pause before we swapped direction and I got off at shack 10, Dingle Road. There was a whole lot of nothing here but thankfully there wasn’t long until winner 150280 arrived to take me back to Penarth, and subsequently back into Cardiff. This time it was to Queen Street, shack number 11. Now was time for the obligatory run to the Bay, and today it was winner 153323 in charge for the short trundle. I jumped off at shack 12, Cardiff Bay, before jumping back on to Queen Street and catching a 142+143 combo in my sights. I absolutely legged it under the subway, before making it onto double winners 142075/143605. Excellent, first ATW 142 of the trip.
I ended up taking them to shack 13, Llanishen, where there was a nice short wait for double winners 142085/143609 back over to shack 14, Heath High Level. In the wait here, I nipped over to shack 15, Heath Low Level, noting that a Coryton service was due. In the end, I went back to High Level and took winners 143602/143616 to shack 16, Caerphilly. A most annoying change is had here, as you have to run through the ticket office in order to swap platforms! The access straight to the platform is bizarrely blocked off. Dud 150281, my only one of two ATW 150s I’d had before today, then decided to annoyingly arrive for the short run to shack 17, Lisvane and Thornhill. Connections here are…tough. I had a +1 and it was only just pulled off as the rain started to fall. My reward however was winner 142077 for the run to shack 18, Hengoed. This was as far as I ended up going on the line (bizarre considering Bargoed was the next stop, but it would have taken up too much time getting that extra mile or so in). The rain also got a lot heavier here, as I ended up seeking shelter until fresh duds 143602/143616 were taken to shack 19, Ystrad Mynach. A 66 was also copped here running around the back of the station, and the boards also bizarrely started insisting that everything was delayed due to a signal failure!
Winners 142081/150250 did turn up 4 late, but that wasn’t much as all, as it just reduced my fester in the rain at shack 20, Pengam. A station where bizarrely, every single station sign was faded to being barely readable Dud 142077 then turned up 3 early for some reason, and took to me shack 21, Energlyn and Churchill Park. The service pattern here is just plain stupid. There’s a 15 minute gap then a 45 minute one?! I was also rather confused by the chav sat in the shelter staring blankly at the train as it pulled in then pulled out again, while I ran down the stairs and into the other shelter in order to await dud 150281 for shack 22, Llanbradach. Duds 142085/143609 then took me back to Heath High Level where I wandered over to the Low Level again. 142006 was noted on the Radyr service, good to know for later, and it was winner 143624 for me to Coryton, shack 23. I’m sorry but this line is a bit daft! As in, the stations are stupidly close together. I was indeed tempted to run back to Whitchurch (Cardiff) but I ended up a bit lost so gave up and let the 143 take me back to Queen Street.
The Barry Island line was next, as winner 150258 turned up for the run to shack 24, Eastbrook. This wasn’t the nicest of lines, clearly, as some chavvy kids set up home in the waiting shelter. Thankfully I didn’t have to wait long for winner 142076 for the short hop to shack 25, Cogan. The luck then continued with the 142s as double winners 142074/142080 appeared for the bounce to shack 26, Barry Docks, followed by winner 150229 back to shack 27, Cadoxton. This was where my issues with the locals started. During the wait at Cadoxton, two lads of about 15 decided to openly discuss how easily they could punch me in the face and kick me onto the tracks. This was just a bit unnerving and I took pleasure in avoiding them all I could by sitting in winner 150240 while they sat in winner 143614 for the run to the end of the line at shack 28, Barry Island. I’m sure the place is lovely, but to me on a drab rainy day it looked like a small tackier Blackpool with barely any visitors! It was nonetheless a change of scenery from a similarly grey Cardiff (I’m sorry, I just really don’t like what I saw of it. Maybe I missed the nicer parts?)
I went back out to shack 29, Barry, where it was barely any time at all before winners 142082/143601 trundled me back to the Island and subsequently back through the suburbs to shack 30, Grangetown. Duds 142085/143609 were then soon filing in behind to Cardiff Central, where the evening peak was just starting to kick off. For me however, it was the other side of the quieter City Line as winner 142069 was taken through to shack 31, Radyr. Somehow, I made a connection onto two unknown units to shack 32, Llandaf, and it was a double tick from me as they turned out to be winners 142010/143625! A linear bash turned out to be most efficient here, and it was a 5 minute wait until another lovely winning pair of 143610/143622 rolled in to take me further down the line to shack 33, Cathays. The following dud 142076 was far cosier though, as I was taken to Queen Street where I picked up some sort of spicy potato cake and a can of energy drink to keep me awake!
Dud 150281 was taken out to Central, before dud 143624 followed in for the run to shack 34, Ninian Park. Why was I doing this move? Well a few minutes later, winner 142006 appeared, and that got me 3/3 of the diagrams on the City Line that day, meaning that I could leave that line alone completely now! It was also good timing for the WAG out to Newport, which was….delayed. I stood around for a while before giving up and taking winner 150260 out to Queen Street, returning on duds 142074/142080. All of a sudden I caught a 67 at platform and I absolutely legged it and onto the MK3 set, standing in the back vestibule for the noise. It seems that both windows were reserved by two regular bashers, one of whom was an old bloke who seemed very intent on getting whacked by an oncoming HST as he didn’t even flinch when it sped past his head! The guard however wasn’t bothered and seemed more interested in a catch up with the two fellas. All good to me then, I guess. They did however block up the vestibule, and when we arrived at Newport, shack 35, they gestured to people to come past, so I squeezed through and jumped.
This clearly disgruntled one woman, who believed that she should have got off first (I didn’t even see her and was rather tired at this point anyway, so was barely paying attention) who came right up to my face on the platform and called me a tw*t! ‘Aren’t you a pleasant one’ I say after her, as I ID the loco as a lovely looking DB Red winner 67013, a last minute swap it seemed! I was now however getting a little irritated at the attitudes of the locals, as people were just generally a bit unpleasant all day. Maybe it’s just a Geordie thing but I’m used to people cracking smiles every now and then? Never mind, as winner 150252 took me back to Cardiff Central. Keeping the Queen Street hops going, duds 142074/142080 were taken out to Queen Street, and I managed to return on winner 150284. However, the next moves were rather fruitless, being on duds 143605, 143610/143622, and 150281. This wasn’t my main concern though.
You see, a rather unnerving, clearly mentally challenged man was on board the double 143s, and he would not stop staring at me! He kept making weird gestures and to be honest, I just let him be. The alarm bells however started to ring when he followed me onto the 150 back to Queen Street, and he gave me the most terrifying evil grin I’ve ever seen in my entire life. He wouldn’t stop pointing, staring, the lot. And when we reached Queen Street, he followed me off again. So I walked off and stood behind the platform buildings for a few minutes before heading out for dinner. Bloody hell, there he was again, however the sight of the ticket gates had clearly thrown him and he didn’t have a clue what to do with the excess fares window. By now just plain sick of what was clearly bad luck with the locals, I picked up my food, and noted it to be a good time to jump on double winners 142083/143608 (this was intentional by the way, that’s why I left the station and got food, to kill time until they came back from Treherbert!) and head over to winner 158954.
Back to Filton Abbey Wood for me, with me getting off and spotting a chance to get in some extra units en route. Winner 150102 filed in behind, and I intended to bail onto the ex Avonmouth at Stapleton Road, but RTT showed it as being unreported for the whole of its journey, so I played it safe and stayed on to Temple Meads. Good move, as the board showed it as cancelled. It was by now 2030 anyway and I needed to be on the 2354 from Plymouth, so I awaited the 2040 service, formed of dud 221120 down to Taunton, where I bailed to kill some time and got myself a cuppa from the machine. Dud 220024 was next in, and this was taken to shack 36, Tiverton Parkway. It was by now very very quiet (It was getting on for 10pm!) so the next service was taken through to Plymouth. This was formed of winners 43070/43094 and it was an exceptionally peaceful journey, with me having Coach B to myself! The guard took great interest in my ticket and asked what I was up to, wishing me luck getting some sleeper on the Night Riviera and waving me off as I arrived at shack 37, Plymouth, at a time of 2314. I was rather concerned by the sight of two drunks riding a luggage trolley down the platform, but it seems that they were moved on, as by the time I’d been to the loo they’d vanished.
The sleeper was also annoyingly delayed, with the wait in the passenger lounge going on seemingly forever, but eventually it trundled in at 0009, with winner 57605 leading, and I found a table before getting ready to sleep. The guard had a very soothing voice as she practically whispered over the PA our calling points, and that was the last thing I remember until Exeter where we had a new guard who insisted on yelling at the top of his voice. Thankfully, I was asleep again until Reading where I was dozing my way to Paddington, where once more I was woken up by ‘WE’RE NOW ARRIVING AT PADDINGTON, PLEASE LEAVE THE TRAIN HERE!’ which was incredibly misleading as we were all turfed off at 0521, despite being allowed on until 0700. Not that I was fussed, I had a certain early morning PSUL move in my sights…
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Exactly! That did make it much easier.
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Indeed, by Day 11 I was absolutely exhausted and was very glad that 13 and 14 were a semi break to so speak!Slowly turning from a human being into a zombie was always a feature of ALRs
A good start, I'm looking forward the next thirteen instalments.
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To be honest I wasn't all that bothered. It did start getting very tiring though!
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ALR- Part 2/14
I wandered over to the London bound platform, expecting the service to be the 0607 to Edinburgh, but I’d somehow made it in time for the 0542 to London Paddington. Excellent, less miles on a Voyager! Winners 43186/43193 rolled in for the run north, with Dawlish being captured in the emerging light. This was an exceptionally quiet run, and I was soon to see why! This was a stopping service that was then looped at Taunton by the XC service, before going forward to run via Weston and call at most stations to Bristol, arriving into London by around 10. The logical in the early services from the west is that there are three ex Plymouth trains: the 0509, the 0530 and the 0553. This was the 0509, the 0530 was a slow stopper via Pewsey, and the 0553 an express via Pewsey! Yes, the 0553 gets in first, followed by the 0530, followed by the 0509
Back to reality and we were departing Exeter just as the sun rose, and I still had a carriage to myself as I got myself ready, washing my face, brushing my teeth and just generally trying to chill out before decided to get off at shack 5, Taunton to swap onto the Voyager. In the short break there I also sourced an Eat Natural bar which became a pre-breakfast so to speak, before taking an unusually busy dud 221136 for shack 6, Bristol Temple Meads. I made a mental note to avoid the Voyagers where possible and stick to the Trams on this section of the route, as it seemed fairly cosy as we blasted our way up to Bristol where I could have joined the Gloucester service and headed to Cardiff via Bristol Parkway. In the end, it was a bit busy for my liking so winner 150106 was instead taken to shack 7, Filton Abbey Wood. We filled up quite a bit at Stapleton Road but everyone seemed to suddenly bail at Filton like me, all filing out of the station one by one as a few of us awaited the Cardiff service. The 0800 service eventually arrived in the form of winner 158950, and I found a spare pair of seats for the trundle west.
It was a remarkably sprightly trundle at that, with us only taking 40 minutes or so to reach the capital through the joys of the Severn Tunnel, stopping at Newport only on the way. On bailing at shack 8, Cardiff Central, I was tempted to get straight into Valley Lines bashing mode, but I was starving and needed food to wake me up! A McDonald’s call was made and I opted for pancakes, sausage and a nice big cuppa to perk me up for what was going to be a very busy day! In the end, it was the 0934 to Penarth that was my first service, formed of double winners 143607/143623. It was a pleasant 15 minute bounce to the end of the line, shack 9, Penarth, where there was a brief pause before we swapped direction and I got off at shack 10, Dingle Road. There was a whole lot of nothing here but thankfully there wasn’t long until winner 150280 arrived to take me back to Penarth, and subsequently back into Cardiff. This time it was to Queen Street, shack number 11. Now was time for the obligatory run to the Bay, and today it was winner 153323 in charge for the short trundle. I jumped off at shack 12, Cardiff Bay, before jumping back on to Queen Street and catching a 142+143 combo in my sights. I absolutely legged it under the subway, before making it onto double winners 142075/143605. Excellent, first ATW 142 of the trip.
I ended up taking them to shack 13, Llanishen, where there was a nice short wait for double winners 142085/143609 back over to shack 14, Heath High Level. In the wait here, I nipped over to shack 15, Heath Low Level, noting that a Coryton service was due. In the end, I went back to High Level and took winners 143602/143616 to shack 16, Caerphilly. A most annoying change is had here, as you have to run through the ticket office in order to swap platforms! The access straight to the platform is bizarrely blocked off. Dud 150281, my only one of two ATW 150s I’d had before today, then decided to annoyingly arrive for the short run to shack 17, Lisvane and Thornhill. Connections here are…tough. I had a +1 and it was only just pulled off as the rain started to fall. My reward however was winner 142077 for the run to shack 18, Hengoed. This was as far as I ended up going on the line (bizarre considering Bargoed was the next stop, but it would have taken up too much time getting that extra mile or so in). The rain also got a lot heavier here, as I ended up seeking shelter until fresh duds 143602/143616 were taken to shack 19, Ystrad Mynach. A 66 was also copped here running around the back of the station, and the boards also bizarrely started insisting that everything was delayed due to a signal failure!
Winners 142081/150250 did turn up 4 late, but that wasn’t much as all, as it just reduced my fester in the rain at shack 20, Pengam. A station where bizarrely, every single station sign was faded to being barely readable
Dud 142077 then turned up 3 early for some reason, and took to me shack 21, Energlyn and Churchill Park. The service pattern here is just plain stupid. There’s a 15 minute gap then a 45 minute one?! I was also rather confused by the chav sat in the shelter staring blankly at the train as it pulled in then pulled out again, while I ran down the stairs and into the other shelter in order to await dud 150281 for shack 22, Llanbradach. Duds 142085/143609 then took me back to Heath High Level where I wandered over to the Low Level again. 142006 was noted on the Radyr service, good to know for later, and it was winner 143624 for me to Coryton, shack 23. I’m sorry but this line is a bit daft! As in, the stations are stupidly close together. I was indeed tempted to run back to Whitchurch (Cardiff) but I ended up a bit lost so gave up and let the 143 take me back to Queen Street.The Barry Island line was next, as winner 150258 turned up for the run to shack 24, Eastbrook. This wasn’t the nicest of lines, clearly, as some chavvy kids set up home in the waiting shelter. Thankfully I didn’t have to wait long for winner 142076 for the short hop to shack 25, Cogan. The luck then continued with the 142s as double winners 142074/142080 appeared for the bounce to shack 26, Barry Docks, followed by winner 150229 back to shack 27, Cadoxton. This was where my issues with the locals started. During the wait at Cadoxton, two lads of about 15 decided to openly discuss how easily they could punch me in the face and kick me onto the tracks. This was just a bit unnerving and I took pleasure in avoiding them all I could by sitting in winner 150240 while they sat in winner 143614 for the run to the end of the line at shack 28, Barry Island. I’m sure the place is lovely, but to me on a drab rainy day it looked like a small tackier Blackpool with barely any visitors! It was nonetheless a change of scenery from a similarly grey Cardiff (I’m sorry, I just really don’t like what I saw of it. Maybe I missed the nicer parts?)
I went back out to shack 29, Barry, where it was barely any time at all before winners 142082/143601 trundled me back to the Island and subsequently back through the suburbs to shack 30, Grangetown. Duds 142085/143609 were then soon filing in behind to Cardiff Central, where the evening peak was just starting to kick off. For me however, it was the other side of the quieter City Line as winner 142069 was taken through to shack 31, Radyr. Somehow, I made a connection onto two unknown units to shack 32, Llandaf, and it was a double tick from me as they turned out to be winners 142010/143625! A linear bash turned out to be most efficient here, and it was a 5 minute wait until another lovely winning pair of 143610/143622 rolled in to take me further down the line to shack 33, Cathays. The following dud 142076 was far cosier though, as I was taken to Queen Street where I picked up some sort of spicy potato cake and a can of energy drink to keep me awake!
Dud 150281 was taken out to Central, before dud 143624 followed in for the run to shack 34, Ninian Park. Why was I doing this move? Well a few minutes later, winner 142006 appeared, and that got me 3/3 of the diagrams on the City Line that day, meaning that I could leave that line alone completely now! It was also good timing for the WAG out to Newport, which was….delayed. I stood around for a while before giving up and taking winner 150260 out to Queen Street, returning on duds 142074/142080. All of a sudden I caught a 67 at platform and I absolutely legged it and onto the MK3 set, standing in the back vestibule for the noise. It seems that both windows were reserved by two regular bashers, one of whom was an old bloke who seemed very intent on getting whacked by an oncoming HST as he didn’t even flinch when it sped past his head! The guard however wasn’t bothered and seemed more interested in a catch up with the two fellas. All good to me then, I guess. They did however block up the vestibule, and when we arrived at Newport, shack 35, they gestured to people to come past, so I squeezed through and jumped.
This clearly disgruntled one woman, who believed that she should have got off first (I didn’t even see her and was rather tired at this point anyway, so was barely paying attention) who came right up to my face on the platform and called me a tw*t! ‘Aren’t you a pleasant one’ I say after her, as I ID the loco as a lovely looking DB Red winner 67013, a last minute swap it seemed! I was now however getting a little irritated at the attitudes of the locals, as people were just generally a bit unpleasant all day. Maybe it’s just a Geordie thing but I’m used to people cracking smiles every now and then? Never mind, as winner 150252 took me back to Cardiff Central. Keeping the Queen Street hops going, duds 142074/142080 were taken out to Queen Street, and I managed to return on winner 150284. However, the next moves were rather fruitless, being on duds 143605, 143610/143622, and 150281. This wasn’t my main concern though.
You see, a rather unnerving, clearly mentally challenged man was on board the double 143s, and he would not stop staring at me! He kept making weird gestures and to be honest, I just let him be. The alarm bells however started to ring when he followed me onto the 150 back to Queen Street, and he gave me the most terrifying evil grin I’ve ever seen in my entire life. He wouldn’t stop pointing, staring, the lot. And when we reached Queen Street, he followed me off again. So I walked off and stood behind the platform buildings for a few minutes before heading out for dinner. Bloody hell, there he was again, however the sight of the ticket gates had clearly thrown him and he didn’t have a clue what to do with the excess fares window. By now just plain sick of what was clearly bad luck with the locals, I picked up my food, and noted it to be a good time to jump on double winners 142083/143608 (this was intentional by the way, that’s why I left the station and got food, to kill time until they came back from Treherbert!) and head over to winner 158954.
Back to Filton Abbey Wood for me, with me getting off and spotting a chance to get in some extra units en route. Winner 150102 filed in behind, and I intended to bail onto the ex Avonmouth at Stapleton Road, but RTT showed it as being unreported for the whole of its journey, so I played it safe and stayed on to Temple Meads. Good move, as the board showed it as cancelled. It was by now 2030 anyway and I needed to be on the 2354 from Plymouth, so I awaited the 2040 service, formed of dud 221120 down to Taunton, where I bailed to kill some time and got myself a cuppa from the machine. Dud 220024 was next in, and this was taken to shack 36, Tiverton Parkway. It was by now very very quiet (It was getting on for 10pm!) so the next service was taken through to Plymouth. This was formed of winners 43070/43094 and it was an exceptionally peaceful journey, with me having Coach B to myself! The guard took great interest in my ticket and asked what I was up to, wishing me luck getting some sleeper on the Night Riviera and waving me off as I arrived at shack 37, Plymouth, at a time of 2314. I was rather concerned by the sight of two drunks riding a luggage trolley down the platform, but it seems that they were moved on, as by the time I’d been to the loo they’d vanished.
The sleeper was also annoyingly delayed, with the wait in the passenger lounge going on seemingly forever, but eventually it trundled in at 0009, with winner 57605 leading, and I found a table before getting ready to sleep. The guard had a very soothing voice as she practically whispered over the PA our calling points, and that was the last thing I remember until Exeter where we had a new guard who insisted on yelling at the top of his voice. Thankfully, I was asleep again until Reading where I was dozing my way to Paddington, where once more I was woken up by ‘WE’RE NOW ARRIVING AT PADDINGTON, PLEASE LEAVE THE TRAIN HERE!’ which was incredibly misleading as we were all turfed off at 0521, despite being allowed on until 0700. Not that I was fussed, I had a certain early morning PSUL move in my sights…
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alexf380
Established Member
Lovely, Pacer-heavy day to get the blood pumping there, Rich! Slightly odd with the Gentleman following you, don't know what i'd have done in that situation, probably something similar.
Very much looking forward to the rest
Very much looking forward to the rest
Glad you enjoyed! Indeed a good Pacer heavy day. I only need 3 ATW 142s and 2 143s now!Lovely, Pacer-heavy day to get the blood pumping there, Rich! Slightly odd with the Gentleman following you, don't know what i'd have done in that situation, probably something similar.
Very much looking forward to the rest
Apart from the awful locals, pacers and the voyager, it sounds like a great day out! I would probably have found some station staff if that guy followed me. That or BTP at Central. Loads of winners there - had you had any GWR HSTs before the ALR?
I was doing it for the Pacers so all part of the fun! And nope, not a single one beforehand. I had 26 over the course of the ALR.
Kite159
Veteran Member
Locals aside sounded like a good day in Wales for winning pacers
45135
Member
- Joined
- 15 Dec 2014
- Messages
- 107
Yep, if at the end of it you didn't stagger back through the door, pulling the ice axe from your leg, spindrift stinging your remaining eye, you just weren't trying. Having said that, reading the report is providing inspiration for possible future moves...Slowly turning from a human being into a zombie was always a feature of ALRs
And all i've done so far as is sit on farting Pacers to the likes of Ystrad Mynach
I did nearly pass out at Reading from the heat and lack of sleep, and by Day 8 I was nodding off basically anywhere (I was woken up by the guard on 1E64 [the 2247 arrival at Newcastle from Reading] as i'd nodded off into a deep sleep!)Glad the report is providing inspiration though.
Techniquest
Veteran Member
Wow you sure did well there with shacks and red penners!
Trust me, the folk around South Wales aren't always that nasty, although I do base that on when I lived in Swansea in 2005. I did encounter some nasty, vile scum a couple of times admittedly. One was under the influence of something and he started fighting me at 06-bungle while waiting for a bus into town, having asked him what time the bus was due! Another time I was walking home and three yobs were walking up a street towards my main road route. Having clocked them as I crossed the junction, a few moments later I saw a can of what memory tells me was Stella flying over my head. I certainly didn't hang about in getting my feet and legs racing me up the hill!
Despite those occurances, I never had any issues. I just reckon some of them don't like the English! I don't blame you not wanting to return any time soon as a result of your experiences though, un-nerving for anyone!
Those early HSTs aren't entirely there for anyone in Devon wanting a fast run to London, they're more about linking places and giving some of the stations a direct link to London. An endurance fest if on ones like the 0509 from Plymouth and on all the way to London! Similar for the 0330 Swansea to Paddington used to be, booked via Leckwith Curve, but if it didn't use it then you'd be festering at Cardiff Central for 25 minutes! On Saturdays it used to reverse at Bristol Parkway, head to Bristol Temple Meads then reverse again and go to London via Chippenham. I think if you did that run end to end (and I don't want to try and count how many times I used the 0330 at the time!) it took something like 4 hours on a Saturday, which is fine if you're sleeping but I was always wide awake on that run! I really must stop this nostalgia fest I'm going into...
55013 and 45135 are right, unless you feel completely drained at the end of an ALR you didn't do enough. An ALR these days for me would involve flying up and down the WCML, ECML and GWML, oh and cruising up and down the GEML, more than anything else. Got to get those HST and 90 mileages up before they go!
Another excellent instalment young sir!
Trust me, the folk around South Wales aren't always that nasty, although I do base that on when I lived in Swansea in 2005. I did encounter some nasty, vile scum a couple of times admittedly. One was under the influence of something and he started fighting me at 06-bungle while waiting for a bus into town, having asked him what time the bus was due! Another time I was walking home and three yobs were walking up a street towards my main road route. Having clocked them as I crossed the junction, a few moments later I saw a can of what memory tells me was Stella flying over my head. I certainly didn't hang about in getting my feet and legs racing me up the hill!
Despite those occurances, I never had any issues. I just reckon some of them don't like the English! I don't blame you not wanting to return any time soon as a result of your experiences though, un-nerving for anyone!
Those early HSTs aren't entirely there for anyone in Devon wanting a fast run to London, they're more about linking places and giving some of the stations a direct link to London. An endurance fest if on ones like the 0509 from Plymouth and on all the way to London! Similar for the 0330 Swansea to Paddington used to be, booked via Leckwith Curve, but if it didn't use it then you'd be festering at Cardiff Central for 25 minutes! On Saturdays it used to reverse at Bristol Parkway, head to Bristol Temple Meads then reverse again and go to London via Chippenham. I think if you did that run end to end (and I don't want to try and count how many times I used the 0330 at the time!) it took something like 4 hours on a Saturday, which is fine if you're sleeping but I was always wide awake on that run! I really must stop this nostalgia fest I'm going into...
55013 and 45135 are right, unless you feel completely drained at the end of an ALR you didn't do enough. An ALR these days for me would involve flying up and down the WCML, ECML and GWML, oh and cruising up and down the GEML, more than anything else. Got to get those HST and 90 mileages up before they go!
Another excellent instalment young sir!
Cheers Tech, I am under the impression that I simply had very bad luck!
And yeah I did notice that with the HSTs from Plymouth. And I think the 0509 probably serves as a rush hour relief for the stations into Bristol (think it's all shacks Taunton-Bristol except Weston Milton, Parson Street and Bedminster)
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
ALR- Part 3/14
And with that, I wandered off into the tube, having just missed a service, very annoyingly. Eventually, what I do believe what the 0536 Circle via Victoria rolled in, and that was the service I took around to Victoria, making it in just in time to make the 0600 to Epsom, having meant to make the 0606 service. This was made up of treble winners 377310/377324/377152, and we departed slightly late at 0602, making me glad Id chosen this service over the 0606, as the 0606 ended up departing at 0611! Why was this? I made the rarely possible cross platform interchange onto the 0618 to Dalston Junction, formed of dud 378215. Only passenger this morning, and I took the chance to get ready, brush my teeth and all, before we departed via those rare curves, over Stewarts Lane depot and into Wandsworth Road. One PSUL complete, and that was me changing onto dud 378145 to Clapham Junction. But where next?
The next service was a 0645 to Weymouth, so I shrugged and got on board winner 444043, bailing at shack 1, Basingstoke.
Nice morning for a spot of shack scratching I guess! I wandered over to treble winners 450028/450090/450564 which were duly taken to shack 2, Winchfield, where I had a leisurely wander over the bridge and onto winner 450097 to shack 3, Hook. Thing was, this was already feeling unproductive as I was hitting all of the single unit operated services [emoji38] Next up was winner 444001 down the line to Fleet, shack number 4, where I made a linear move onto winner 444029 to shack 5, Farnborough Main, where I decided that this wasnt really going anywhere and that I fancied a change of scenery. A leisurely walk was made to shack 6, Farnborough North, and I had a short wait for winner 165106 working a service to Shalford. I stayed on until shack 7, Guildford, where I went in search of breakfast. The cheapest thing around was Costa, so I forked out £5.45 for a breakfast bloomer and a tea. Expensive, but very much needed as it was hitting 0900!
After that, it was straight onto some track bashing instead and onto treble winners 450075/450552/450569 which were terminating at Haslemere, so that was shack number 8. It was very nice having a whole rear unit to myself, I will admit [emoji38] Another lovely treble winning pair in the form of 450012/450073/450116 then filed in behind, and I spent ages finding a carriage not totally rammed! I ended up right up front and was most amused by the guard heading to the trolley and asking for milk. In the end he was given a good hundred or so sachets! [emoji38] On arrival at Havant, the announcement was made that were arriving into Havant, passengers for Havant please change by getting off at the next stop I suppose. This station has no Pokemon available. Me, I was getting off here and heading to a poisonous Southern service [emoji14] Thankfully not so poisionous, as winner 377401 was bang on time and took me through to shack 9, Fareham. I was only bailing here as I would have had a stupidly long connection at Southampton otherwise, so it was a time killing move well played as winner 158960 was in next, and I secured a table with some lovely soft springy seats for the actually very pleasant run to Southampton!
Southampton Central was shack 10, and I had a quick leg stretch before an utterly rammed winner 444026 trundled into the platform. Seems Weymouth was popular today as I spent the journey pressed against the door before breathing a sigh of relief when I managed to get off at shack 11, Brockenhurst, and headed over to winner 158881 which was in charge of the Lymington service today. Time to sink into another lovely soft 158 service and trundle down an actually very pretty branch! I wasnt sure whether Id get a 450 or a 158 and Im glad I got the latter, was a bit sick of Desiros [emoji38] We arrived at shack 12, Lymington Pier, where I had another leg stretch, before plonking myself back down and going back to Brockenhurst. Where next then? One option was to jump on the waiting Poole service and go to Sway, but in the end I opted for winner 444011 back to Southampton. Why? I wanted to focus on new track, not random shacks. It was a short wait for winner 158886 to Salisbury via Mottisfont and Dunbridge, and what a lovely run it was! Very nice and scenic, few passengers, a top notch guard and a comfy little train to boot. I was however slightly worried about the mess that was a signal failure at Tisbury.
On arrival at shack 13, Salisbury, I just saw winners 159002/159008 and dived on. They were busy, and it took a good while to find a seat, but it turns out that it was a 1Zxx service which was essentially the Exeter service from the previous hour (ie an hour earlier than what it was running in the path of) and was ready to leave straight away, calling only at Andover en route to Basingstoke. After passing the Kite famous Grateley, I stupidly nodded off. Why stupidly? Because I felt absolutely dire when I woke up, and felt ready to pass out in the heat of Basingstoke once Id bailed. I persevered though and headed for winner 165132 to Reading. Thankfully the run was short and sweet, and I went straight for food and a lot of cold drinks from Boots, taking half an hour out to nurse myself back to a human state!
I decided to go back to London and have a little stab at something more relaxed, so I took winners 43071/43159 back to Paddington where the short walk was made to Marylebone. What was greeting me when I arrived was winner 165030, bizarrely quiet for a start of peak service, and this was taken up to shack 14, Gerrards Cross. It truly is a pleasure to bash Chiltern services, the stations are immaculate, the trains are all excellent, and heck theyre honestly really quiet even in rush hour! Winner 165007 was taken back to the decidedly rural shack 15, Denham Golf Club, where I starting playing with the PERTIS which didnt feel like working. I mumbled under my breath well arent you a bit useless? which some bloke heard, prompting him to walk as far away as possible from me as he thought I was a bit nuts! [emoji38] Very nicely, I had winner 168113 to Beaconsfield, shack 16, as it was a Mainline 168, all decked out with a much needed socket!
A quick swap at Beaconsfield saw me take double winners 165002/165005 to shack 17, South Ruislip. Nice move here too, as it was only 10 minutes before winner 165025 came in to trundle me back to Marylebone where it was by now 1745. I nipped over to Baker Street, took the tube to Kings Cross and met up with my girlfriend and her sister for a quick bite to eat before heading off for the 1900 back to Newcastle. Dud 91124 for today it was, and I was out cold for most of the journey [emoji38] We were into Newcastle prompt at 2149 though, leaving me free to sleep in a bed for one night, and await the fun of Wednesday and its 0525 start.
And yeah I did notice that with the HSTs from Plymouth. And I think the 0509 probably serves as a rush hour relief for the stations into Bristol (think it's all shacks Taunton-Bristol except Weston Milton, Parson Street and Bedminster)
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
ALR- Part 3/14
And with that, I wandered off into the tube, having just missed a service, very annoyingly. Eventually, what I do believe what the 0536 Circle via Victoria rolled in, and that was the service I took around to Victoria, making it in just in time to make the 0600 to Epsom, having meant to make the 0606 service. This was made up of treble winners 377310/377324/377152, and we departed slightly late at 0602, making me glad Id chosen this service over the 0606, as the 0606 ended up departing at 0611! Why was this? I made the rarely possible cross platform interchange onto the 0618 to Dalston Junction, formed of dud 378215. Only passenger this morning, and I took the chance to get ready, brush my teeth and all, before we departed via those rare curves, over Stewarts Lane depot and into Wandsworth Road. One PSUL complete, and that was me changing onto dud 378145 to Clapham Junction. But where next?
The next service was a 0645 to Weymouth, so I shrugged and got on board winner 444043, bailing at shack 1, Basingstoke.
Nice morning for a spot of shack scratching I guess! I wandered over to treble winners 450028/450090/450564 which were duly taken to shack 2, Winchfield, where I had a leisurely wander over the bridge and onto winner 450097 to shack 3, Hook. Thing was, this was already feeling unproductive as I was hitting all of the single unit operated services [emoji38] Next up was winner 444001 down the line to Fleet, shack number 4, where I made a linear move onto winner 444029 to shack 5, Farnborough Main, where I decided that this wasnt really going anywhere and that I fancied a change of scenery. A leisurely walk was made to shack 6, Farnborough North, and I had a short wait for winner 165106 working a service to Shalford. I stayed on until shack 7, Guildford, where I went in search of breakfast. The cheapest thing around was Costa, so I forked out £5.45 for a breakfast bloomer and a tea. Expensive, but very much needed as it was hitting 0900!
After that, it was straight onto some track bashing instead and onto treble winners 450075/450552/450569 which were terminating at Haslemere, so that was shack number 8. It was very nice having a whole rear unit to myself, I will admit [emoji38] Another lovely treble winning pair in the form of 450012/450073/450116 then filed in behind, and I spent ages finding a carriage not totally rammed! I ended up right up front and was most amused by the guard heading to the trolley and asking for milk. In the end he was given a good hundred or so sachets! [emoji38] On arrival at Havant, the announcement was made that were arriving into Havant, passengers for Havant please change by getting off at the next stop I suppose. This station has no Pokemon available. Me, I was getting off here and heading to a poisonous Southern service [emoji14] Thankfully not so poisionous, as winner 377401 was bang on time and took me through to shack 9, Fareham. I was only bailing here as I would have had a stupidly long connection at Southampton otherwise, so it was a time killing move well played as winner 158960 was in next, and I secured a table with some lovely soft springy seats for the actually very pleasant run to Southampton!
Southampton Central was shack 10, and I had a quick leg stretch before an utterly rammed winner 444026 trundled into the platform. Seems Weymouth was popular today as I spent the journey pressed against the door before breathing a sigh of relief when I managed to get off at shack 11, Brockenhurst, and headed over to winner 158881 which was in charge of the Lymington service today. Time to sink into another lovely soft 158 service and trundle down an actually very pretty branch! I wasnt sure whether Id get a 450 or a 158 and Im glad I got the latter, was a bit sick of Desiros [emoji38] We arrived at shack 12, Lymington Pier, where I had another leg stretch, before plonking myself back down and going back to Brockenhurst. Where next then? One option was to jump on the waiting Poole service and go to Sway, but in the end I opted for winner 444011 back to Southampton. Why? I wanted to focus on new track, not random shacks. It was a short wait for winner 158886 to Salisbury via Mottisfont and Dunbridge, and what a lovely run it was! Very nice and scenic, few passengers, a top notch guard and a comfy little train to boot. I was however slightly worried about the mess that was a signal failure at Tisbury.
On arrival at shack 13, Salisbury, I just saw winners 159002/159008 and dived on. They were busy, and it took a good while to find a seat, but it turns out that it was a 1Zxx service which was essentially the Exeter service from the previous hour (ie an hour earlier than what it was running in the path of) and was ready to leave straight away, calling only at Andover en route to Basingstoke. After passing the Kite famous Grateley, I stupidly nodded off. Why stupidly? Because I felt absolutely dire when I woke up, and felt ready to pass out in the heat of Basingstoke once Id bailed. I persevered though and headed for winner 165132 to Reading. Thankfully the run was short and sweet, and I went straight for food and a lot of cold drinks from Boots, taking half an hour out to nurse myself back to a human state!
I decided to go back to London and have a little stab at something more relaxed, so I took winners 43071/43159 back to Paddington where the short walk was made to Marylebone. What was greeting me when I arrived was winner 165030, bizarrely quiet for a start of peak service, and this was taken up to shack 14, Gerrards Cross. It truly is a pleasure to bash Chiltern services, the stations are immaculate, the trains are all excellent, and heck theyre honestly really quiet even in rush hour! Winner 165007 was taken back to the decidedly rural shack 15, Denham Golf Club, where I starting playing with the PERTIS which didnt feel like working. I mumbled under my breath well arent you a bit useless? which some bloke heard, prompting him to walk as far away as possible from me as he thought I was a bit nuts! [emoji38] Very nicely, I had winner 168113 to Beaconsfield, shack 16, as it was a Mainline 168, all decked out with a much needed socket!
A quick swap at Beaconsfield saw me take double winners 165002/165005 to shack 17, South Ruislip. Nice move here too, as it was only 10 minutes before winner 165025 came in to trundle me back to Marylebone where it was by now 1745. I nipped over to Baker Street, took the tube to Kings Cross and met up with my girlfriend and her sister for a quick bite to eat before heading off for the 1900 back to Newcastle. Dud 91124 for today it was, and I was out cold for most of the journey [emoji38] We were into Newcastle prompt at 2149 though, leaving me free to sleep in a bed for one night, and await the fun of Wednesday and its 0525 start.
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