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The Various Random Mutterings of Kite
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Kite159
Veteran Member
Your loyalty to easyHotel has been broken!hock:
I scored that S7 pair myself on Monday!
They wanted £40 for a night, vice £22 in Acton.
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Thanks Noddy, out of the "super 6" requirements, the other 387 had no allocation, the 2x 350s were working fast services out of Euston (I think one was first stop Milton Keynes, the other was first stop Leighton Buzzard) with the 465/9 working an Ashford service where it would sit in the sidings at Ashford for a few hours eventually returning into Victoria gone midnight.
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Blindtraveler
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Id have done the easy hotel on the grounds of I know what im getting andm in theory at least, no last train!
Kite159
Veteran Member
21st January Sit Down, Stand Up, A weekend in Edinburgh
I will begin where I left off, with a super-heated room in Acton (which I managed to turn the heater off and open the window to allow some of the hot air out). As I mentioned in the ramblings for Friday I was suffering from some indecision, either do my plan for shack hunting or have a lazy weekend going backwards and forward between Haymarket & Edinburgh. In the end shack attacking won the day, as I wanted to clear the ECML once and for all (or until another station opens).
Checking out of the guest house (ok, putting my room key into the little letter box by reception), it was a short walk in the early morning cold air to Acton Main Line, tapping in with my oyster, and headed down to platform 4, with the sound of a 59 ticking over in the background and a 66 coming past with what sounded like empty coal wagons. A couple HSTs roared past before 387132/387133 successfully managed to become members of my 9 mile 80 chain club. It was an empty service for the leap to Paddington rolling into the enlarged platform 14, with a short walk over to platform 16 to roll onto duds 21355/21356 on a Circle line service, I would have bailed at Great Portland Street but there was no Metropolitan line service so I decided to remain on board to Euston Square.
Why Euston Square you might be asking, well when I was looking to book tickets Virgin East Coast wanted something like £40 for the 08:00 Edinburgh, but putting Via Preston highlighted a move via the West Coast for the bargain price of £20, which rolls in around the same time as the 08:00 service. A quick walk along the road to Euston station itself, picking up a sandwich meal deal from Sainsburys (a very healthy breakfast) before heading over to the ticket office to purchase both a Plusbus for Edinburgh and a Central Scotland Rover. The game was indeed on; as I headed down towards the platform the 07:30 was on, spotting a certain 390...
...working the 08:07 to Liverpool
, and to make things worse a required 350 was sat on the platform opposite, as I boarded dud 390155 for the non-stop run northbound to Warrington Bank Quay, with some excellent tilting action, I remained on board until my booked change over at Preston, as dud 390044 rolled in, with the not-really surprising move of having to ask for some normals to vacant my reserved seat at the table in coach E. A storming run northbound and even slowing right down for the junction at Carstairs, the 390 rolled into Haymarket 10 minutes early, where I alighted for a spot of unit hunting as I had 50-odd minutes to play with before my first planned move of the day.
30 minutes later I was still at Haymarket, a bit hot from jumping between platform 1 and platform 3, as I cut my losses and jumped onto dud 170475 for the first of many trips to Edinburgh Waverley, swinging via Boots for a lunch meal deal heading over to platform 1 where the next North Berwick service would be departing from, after it arrived from Ayr, which itself was around 10 minutes late (wish I had noticed that on RTT as I could have stayed at Haymarket to intercept a required 158 working down from Cowdenbeath). Anyhow eventually a very busy 380018 rolled in emptying out the world and their dog leaving much rubbish behind, as I took a seat as it departed 5 minutes late to my first shack score of the day (and would have been off the year) at Prestonpans
A basic looking station which overlooked a pile of rubble, it wasnt long before an unknown HST dashed past before dud 380112 popped up to say hi to take me back to Musselburgh with a very tight +3 between services with a road bridge (hint be near the rear of the 380), but I made it with some time to spare as 380107 rolled in to take me to my last Long based station (I think) at Longniddry, another footbridge over to the other platform for a short wait for the delayed 380018 to return to take me back towards Edinburgh alighting at Wallyford. An evilish footbridge here (a good 4 minutes I would say) but I had time to relax to note the ID of the 158 dashing to Dunbar (dud) and grab a picture of 91111 crawling through the station caught behind the late running 380.
2+2 always makes 5, as 380112 returned from Edinburgh for the long run to Drem which is a landmark station visit for me, as not only as it means the ECML has been cleared (London to Edinburgh) it is my last EMU served station to visit. Anyhow a couple pictures later (91124 running in reverse formation with the 91 at the London end), a couple HSTs and one of Quinns all time favourite units, before 380112 rolled back in to take me back to Edinburgh, having made the connection at Musselburgh earlier I arrived back around 20 minutes ahead of schedule, which was good, as it was time to check into the Edinburgh Thistle guest house. A place I stayed last January time, so I knew the way and it wasnt a long wait at the bus stop for the first Leith bound bus, which I turned down for a route 25 following it (bus 410).
It was a slow journey as that bus was following the route 20 pretty much all the way along a route which has many bus stops. Eventually I arrived at the bus stop pretty much outside the guest house, picked up my key from reception and dumped some weight from my bag. It was the same room as last time (although I think this place only had 6 rooms), so I was happy with that, returning to the open air for a short wait for another route 25 to take me back to the station, this time on an older bus 911, and it was down the steps to reach Edinburgh station once more
Earlier in the day I had spotted a required 170 which would be on the 16:30 departure to Glasgow, however what took my eye was required 158724 to kick off my red pen as I decided to get ahead of myself with a trip to North Queensferry, going across the Forth bridge for the first time in what must be years (I think the last time was heading back to London on the 6th December 14 on the Aberdeen London HST using up a rewards ticket), anyhow I had a short wait at the northern end of the bridge before winner 158718 rolled in to take me back across the bridge to the southern end at Dalmeny.
The train I was originally going to catch from Edinburgh was dud 158741 which took me to Inverkeithing with a short wait for dud 170457 around the circle towards Dunfermline Queen Margaret, I wish I could say more about the station but I was only there for a few minutes before 158730 (which pops up everytime I head to Scotland!) took me back south to Dunfermline Town, another short wait via the subway before jumping on 170461 to take me onto the hourly served part of the line at Lochgelly.
10 minutes later the next northbound service rolled in, which was dud 158738 for the short run to Cardenden where I had a short 45 minute wait (nothing much around the station which I could see in the dark), thinking of an interesting plan to try and intercept a required 158 working back from Perth, involving a +2 at Cowdenbeath for the next northbound service which I would take to Kirkcarty before that 158 back to Inverkeithing on a fast working. However that plan went into the bin as the next northbound service had been cancelled (bugger it), giving me roughly 30 minutes wait at Cowdenbeath when dud 170431 dropped me off there.
Enough time to visit a nearby pizza takeaway for a takeaway pizza for dinner before I returned to the station to east said pizza, finishing it just before fresh dud 158724 rolled in to take me back south, with the idea of bailing at South Gyle for a mileage grab completely falling to pieces due to signal problems around Rosyth meaning we were around 15 minutes late into Inverkeithing. Due to those issues I decided to ditch Rosyth until the next day, a decision made by winner 158868 taking me back to Haymarket (last of the English 158s at Haymarket depot). Duds 170405/170428 took me back to Edinburgh Waverley where I walked over to the service on the next (21:00 I believe) Glasgow Queen Street, and it was dud 170472 leading winner 170460 for the usual leap to Haymarket.
A short wait at Haymarket before the next Dundee stopping service rolled in formed of dud 158704 & 158712 to take me to Dalgety Bay for one final shack of the evening, my original plan back in June was to head back to Inverkeithing before catching a service to Perth which went via Dunfermline to score the PSUL move over the north curve at Glenrothes With Thornton, however with it being slightly cold (and that I would have to purchase another ticket for the N21) I ditched that plan until May time. Anyhow back to a dark and cold Dalgety Bay, it wasnt long before 170478 rolled in as I decided to bail at Edinburgh Gateway as a service from Inverness was right behind.
A good decision as a few minutes later winner 170456 rolled in to take me back to Haymarket, jumping onto dud 170404 to Edinburgh for a quick scan (options needless to say this time of night were limited), deciding to jump on the next Glasgow service formed of super-fresh dud 170456 & 170478 back to Haymarket, with nothing of note due I headed to the tram platform but sadly the last 2 York Place bound trams were both dud, so I headed back to the main station leaping onto dud 170451 back to Edinburgh.
Walking up the stairs to reach the bus stop outside the station I didnt have long to wait before the next route 25 bus, this time 917 to take me back to the guest house for a very good nights kip (my room was at the rear so I had no road noise). 5 required units was a bonus, and it was an early start in the morning for some tramspotting (with the new timetable being every 10 minutes even on Sunday morning) giving me a chance for some winners before my first planned move of the day on a HST.
Some pictures:
Prestonpans:
Mussleburgh (you can see the headlights of the next North Berwick train in the distance):
Longniddry:
Wallyford:
Drem:
North Queensferry:
Some random bridge
Dalmeny:
Inverkeithing:
I will begin where I left off, with a super-heated room in Acton (which I managed to turn the heater off and open the window to allow some of the hot air out). As I mentioned in the ramblings for Friday I was suffering from some indecision, either do my plan for shack hunting or have a lazy weekend going backwards and forward between Haymarket & Edinburgh. In the end shack attacking won the day, as I wanted to clear the ECML once and for all (or until another station opens).
Checking out of the guest house (ok, putting my room key into the little letter box by reception), it was a short walk in the early morning cold air to Acton Main Line, tapping in with my oyster, and headed down to platform 4, with the sound of a 59 ticking over in the background and a 66 coming past with what sounded like empty coal wagons. A couple HSTs roared past before 387132/387133 successfully managed to become members of my 9 mile 80 chain club. It was an empty service for the leap to Paddington rolling into the enlarged platform 14, with a short walk over to platform 16 to roll onto duds 21355/21356 on a Circle line service, I would have bailed at Great Portland Street but there was no Metropolitan line service so I decided to remain on board to Euston Square.
Why Euston Square you might be asking, well when I was looking to book tickets Virgin East Coast wanted something like £40 for the 08:00 Edinburgh, but putting Via Preston highlighted a move via the West Coast for the bargain price of £20, which rolls in around the same time as the 08:00 service. A quick walk along the road to Euston station itself, picking up a sandwich meal deal from Sainsburys (a very healthy breakfast) before heading over to the ticket office to purchase both a Plusbus for Edinburgh and a Central Scotland Rover. The game was indeed on; as I headed down towards the platform the 07:30 was on, spotting a certain 390...
...working the 08:07 to Liverpool
, and to make things worse a required 350 was sat on the platform opposite, as I boarded dud 390155 for the non-stop run northbound to Warrington Bank Quay, with some excellent tilting action, I remained on board until my booked change over at Preston, as dud 390044 rolled in, with the not-really surprising move of having to ask for some normals to vacant my reserved seat at the table in coach E. A storming run northbound and even slowing right down for the junction at Carstairs, the 390 rolled into Haymarket 10 minutes early, where I alighted for a spot of unit hunting as I had 50-odd minutes to play with before my first planned move of the day.30 minutes later I was still at Haymarket, a bit hot from jumping between platform 1 and platform 3, as I cut my losses and jumped onto dud 170475 for the first of many trips to Edinburgh Waverley, swinging via Boots for a lunch meal deal heading over to platform 1 where the next North Berwick service would be departing from, after it arrived from Ayr, which itself was around 10 minutes late (wish I had noticed that on RTT as I could have stayed at Haymarket to intercept a required 158 working down from Cowdenbeath). Anyhow eventually a very busy 380018 rolled in emptying out the world and their dog leaving much rubbish behind, as I took a seat as it departed 5 minutes late to my first shack score of the day (and would have been off the year) at Prestonpans
A basic looking station which overlooked a pile of rubble, it wasnt long before an unknown HST dashed past before dud 380112 popped up to say hi to take me back to Musselburgh with a very tight +3 between services with a road bridge (hint be near the rear of the 380), but I made it with some time to spare as 380107 rolled in to take me to my last Long based station (I think) at Longniddry, another footbridge over to the other platform for a short wait for the delayed 380018 to return to take me back towards Edinburgh alighting at Wallyford. An evilish footbridge here (a good 4 minutes I would say) but I had time to relax to note the ID of the 158 dashing to Dunbar (dud) and grab a picture of 91111 crawling through the station caught behind the late running 380.
2+2 always makes 5, as 380112 returned from Edinburgh for the long run to Drem which is a landmark station visit for me, as not only as it means the ECML has been cleared (London to Edinburgh) it is my last EMU served station to visit. Anyhow a couple pictures later (91124 running in reverse formation with the 91 at the London end), a couple HSTs and one of Quinns all time favourite units, before 380112 rolled back in to take me back to Edinburgh, having made the connection at Musselburgh earlier I arrived back around 20 minutes ahead of schedule, which was good, as it was time to check into the Edinburgh Thistle guest house. A place I stayed last January time, so I knew the way and it wasnt a long wait at the bus stop for the first Leith bound bus, which I turned down for a route 25 following it (bus 410).
It was a slow journey as that bus was following the route 20 pretty much all the way along a route which has many bus stops. Eventually I arrived at the bus stop pretty much outside the guest house, picked up my key from reception and dumped some weight from my bag. It was the same room as last time (although I think this place only had 6 rooms), so I was happy with that, returning to the open air for a short wait for another route 25 to take me back to the station, this time on an older bus 911, and it was down the steps to reach Edinburgh station once more
Earlier in the day I had spotted a required 170 which would be on the 16:30 departure to Glasgow, however what took my eye was required 158724 to kick off my red pen as I decided to get ahead of myself with a trip to North Queensferry, going across the Forth bridge for the first time in what must be years (I think the last time was heading back to London on the 6th December 14 on the Aberdeen London HST using up a rewards ticket), anyhow I had a short wait at the northern end of the bridge before winner 158718 rolled in to take me back across the bridge to the southern end at Dalmeny.
The train I was originally going to catch from Edinburgh was dud 158741 which took me to Inverkeithing with a short wait for dud 170457 around the circle towards Dunfermline Queen Margaret, I wish I could say more about the station but I was only there for a few minutes before 158730 (which pops up everytime I head to Scotland!) took me back south to Dunfermline Town, another short wait via the subway before jumping on 170461 to take me onto the hourly served part of the line at Lochgelly.
10 minutes later the next northbound service rolled in, which was dud 158738 for the short run to Cardenden where I had a short 45 minute wait (nothing much around the station which I could see in the dark), thinking of an interesting plan to try and intercept a required 158 working back from Perth, involving a +2 at Cowdenbeath for the next northbound service which I would take to Kirkcarty before that 158 back to Inverkeithing on a fast working. However that plan went into the bin as the next northbound service had been cancelled (bugger it), giving me roughly 30 minutes wait at Cowdenbeath when dud 170431 dropped me off there.
Enough time to visit a nearby pizza takeaway for a takeaway pizza for dinner before I returned to the station to east said pizza, finishing it just before fresh dud 158724 rolled in to take me back south, with the idea of bailing at South Gyle for a mileage grab completely falling to pieces due to signal problems around Rosyth meaning we were around 15 minutes late into Inverkeithing. Due to those issues I decided to ditch Rosyth until the next day, a decision made by winner 158868 taking me back to Haymarket (last of the English 158s at Haymarket depot). Duds 170405/170428 took me back to Edinburgh Waverley where I walked over to the service on the next (21:00 I believe) Glasgow Queen Street, and it was dud 170472 leading winner 170460 for the usual leap to Haymarket.
A short wait at Haymarket before the next Dundee stopping service rolled in formed of dud 158704 & 158712 to take me to Dalgety Bay for one final shack of the evening, my original plan back in June was to head back to Inverkeithing before catching a service to Perth which went via Dunfermline to score the PSUL move over the north curve at Glenrothes With Thornton, however with it being slightly cold (and that I would have to purchase another ticket for the N21) I ditched that plan until May time. Anyhow back to a dark and cold Dalgety Bay, it wasnt long before 170478 rolled in as I decided to bail at Edinburgh Gateway as a service from Inverness was right behind.
A good decision as a few minutes later winner 170456 rolled in to take me back to Haymarket, jumping onto dud 170404 to Edinburgh for a quick scan (options needless to say this time of night were limited), deciding to jump on the next Glasgow service formed of super-fresh dud 170456 & 170478 back to Haymarket, with nothing of note due I headed to the tram platform but sadly the last 2 York Place bound trams were both dud, so I headed back to the main station leaping onto dud 170451 back to Edinburgh.
Walking up the stairs to reach the bus stop outside the station I didnt have long to wait before the next route 25 bus, this time 917 to take me back to the guest house for a very good nights kip (my room was at the rear so I had no road noise). 5 required units was a bonus, and it was an early start in the morning for some tramspotting (with the new timetable being every 10 minutes even on Sunday morning) giving me a chance for some winners before my first planned move of the day on a HST.
Some pictures:
Prestonpans:
Mussleburgh (you can see the headlights of the next North Berwick train in the distance):
Longniddry:
Wallyford:
Drem:
North Queensferry:
Some random bridge
Dalmeny:
Inverkeithing:
87electric
Established Member
- Joined
- 27 Jan 2010
- Messages
- 1,243
Nice read that.
I bet the required 350 at Euston played on your mind. So annoying when something is just out of reach. It'll fall eventually.
I bet the required 350 at Euston played on your mind. So annoying when something is just out of reach. It'll fall eventually.
What're you doing taking photos of 221s?!
A good read there, and a huge congrats on clearing the ECML and all EMU served shacks! s that every shack under the wires as well, or just ones that are served by EMUs (for example the ones between Newcastle and Chathill aren't served by EMUs, although I know you've had all of them)?
A good read there, and a huge congrats on clearing the ECML and all EMU served shacks! s that every shack under the wires as well, or just ones that are served by EMUs (for example the ones between Newcastle and Chathill aren't served by EMUs, although I know you've had all of them)?
Kite159
Veteran Member
Not as much as 390128. Part of me is considering a trip to Milton Keynes this evening to grab those pesky 350s (both depart on Euston - Birmingham services 25 minutes apart and both run fast to Leighton Buzzard), however it would be the 22:20 back home and I'm feeling tired as it is now (06:25 alarm tomorrow morning for a drive to Salisbury for the 07:30 GWR to Cardiff) so I might give them a miss (and as a bonus it will give me something to look out for in a couple Saturdays time in Birmingham other than trams)
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Quinn, I think the only station I need which is under the wires is Carnforth, although as far as I'm aware the wires on the branch line are not used by passenger trains (and probably not used by anything). I believe the wires extend onto the platforms and cut out just afterwards.
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87electric
Established Member
- Joined
- 27 Jan 2010
- Messages
- 1,243
Not as much as 390128. Part of me is considering a trip to Milton Keynes this evening to grab those pesky 350s (both depart on Euston - Birmingham services 25 minutes apart and both run fast to Leighton Buzzard), however it would be the 22:20 back home and I'm feeling tired as it is now (06:25 alarm tomorrow morning for a drive to Salisbury for the 07:30 GWR to Cardiff) so I might give them a miss (and as a bonus it will give me something to look out for in a couple Saturdays time in Birmingham other than trams)
Kite- I say do the MK runs and nail them. As both are as you say mere minutes apart it makes it easier. I spent so many days at New Street trying to pick off the 350s and it just got tedious. Some days i got nothing.
Kite- I say do the MK runs and nail them. As both are as you say mere minutes apart it makes it easier. I spent so many days at New Street trying to pick off the 350s and it just got tedious. Some days i got nothing.
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Kite159
Veteran Member
We had a some senior management having their weekly 'wash-up' meeting in the kitchen where I work this afternoon (some plan to be 'seen' to be out in the business rather than being far away in their ivory tower). Sadly it went on and on (as those sort of meetings do) and it wasn't until 16:40 by the time the last of them eventually finished talking about their plans for the weekend and buggered off.
No hope of being able to catch the 16:59 from Grateley. I'm holding out hope that one day they will run a service which calls at Watford Junction (a brucie bonus would be a Sunday service which calls at Harrow & Wealdstone as well).
No hope of being able to catch the 16:59 from Grateley. I'm holding out hope that one day they will run a service which calls at Watford Junction (a brucie bonus would be a Sunday service which calls at Harrow & Wealdstone as well).
Kite159
Veteran Member
22nd January Edinburgh Weekend Trip Day 2
My first train of the day wasnt until 09:10 (ish), which would be the HST to Dundee, with buses replacing trains until 11:00 towards Falkirk meant a heavy reduction of services, I think the only ones beforehand heading west was some 334s which are all dud (it is so nice to completely ignore them at Haymarket when festering for winners). Anyhow I decided to have a little session on the trams making use of the new timetable which is every 10 minutes from the word go (a lot better than every 15 minutes), increasing to every 7 minutes between 09:00 & 17:00 at weekends.
Checking out of the guest house, it was a short walk along the road to the bus stop for a short wait before bus number 568 of the Lothian Buses fleet (route 25) took me to a bus stop near York Place, at one of the bus stops we had stopped behind another bus which was out of service with the driver scrolling through all the various destinations. I had just missed a tram so decided to visit a nearby Tesco Express to pick up a very healthy breakfast and a bottle of water, before heading across to York Place jumping on dud 251 for the run to Princes Street.
As I had spotted a required tram heading towards York Place I bailed and headed back to St Andrew Square on dud 276 with a short fester before winner 274 via the streets (quite fast when the streets are empty) to West End, and like before I had spotted a required tram heading towards York Place, however this time I got lucky with required 252 back to St Andrew Square to await winner 264 to take me to Saughton. Only reason why I bailed at Saughton is that I had missed IDing a tram heading towards the city, so wanted to intercept it, so it was back to St Andrew Square on dud 267.
A good decision I think as it was winner [b[257[/b] to take me to West End (Princes Street), with the return of 251 I hung around as the 7 minute frequency was just about kicking in (note sure if they throw an extra tram out or just decrease the turnaround times at either end), but with one eye on the time it was onto dud 274 back to St Andrew Square, my brief tramspotting session had ended with 4 required trams leaving me a mere 4 left to get. It was time for another tram, this time a red one. Annoyingly it was departing from platform 19 (which in my mind is a rubbish platform for long distance HSTs as the first standard class coaches normally are where the path narrows (so when alighting from a service from Inverness/Aberdeen it can take a few minutes to fight past the normals who ignore the rest of the train and pile on the first door).
Dud 43317 was at the rear, I couldnt quite ID the front power car, and annoyingly when I alighted at Inverkeithing the front power car and half of the front coach was off the platform, however I am led to believe it was dud 43296, both now paid up members of my 9/80 club as I had only previously had both power cars on a Haymarket leap. The main reason for the HST move was to reduce my 170 mileage on the next move, only for dud 158711 to roll in along with dud 170394 to Kinghorn. A lovely station overlooking the bay (not like I could see much this morning due to the fog), but a nice enough place for a few minute fester before duds 158733/170474 rolled in to take me to the very Welsh sounding Aberdour.
15 (or so) minutes later I was back on the move on a cosy 170405 one stop to Burntisland for another short fester before heading back south on duds 170409/170457 to South Gyle, not a required shack but I was doing something I had missed the previous night, and without further delay (well a minute delay) duds 170474/158733 took me to Rosyth with a 20-odd minute gap before the next clockwise service, so with spotting a handy Tesco Metro just down the road I carried out an expert move to grab some lunch. Duds (not having much luck today!) 158741/170401 took me to Haymarket, followed by duds 43308 & 43208 from Inverness for the short leap to Edinburgh Waverley.
It was time for some RTT hunting, so after a quick scan I jumped onto 158712 & 158724 back out to Haymarket to intercept the next HST from Dundee (line towards Aberdeen was closed) which was formed of dud 43299/43318 which I wanted to take to Edinburgh to intercept another HST heading towards Dundee, sadly that was running a few minutes late which allowed me the chance to ID it as it rolled in and it was dud. Duds 170407/170455 took me back out to Haymarket, before a brief wonder to the tram platform deciding to take dud 252 to West End with 266 back to Haymarket as a time wasting move before an unknown unit from Stirling.
It was an unknown unit, but sadly it was dud 158726 which took me back to Edinburgh where I almost made a grave mistake, for some reason I had it in my head I was booked on the 16:00 VTEC to Kings Cross, and after finding it mostly unreserved (coach C was rammed, but a few labels in coach D and nothing in E) I picked up a seat in coach D, as I headed back towards Coach C to remove my seat reservation label to find it wasnt there. A check of my ticket saw that it wasnt the 16:00 I was booked on, but the 16:20 service (sadly not the 16:30 HST), so it was over to the platform where dud DVT 206 was leading dud 91125 on a busy service (completely different to that 16:00, certainly looked like most seats had labels in).
Anyhow, I got my seat (sadly it was on the right hand side, not like I could see much in the fading light) so I fired up the tablet to watch some programs on the way back south, calling at Morpeth, Newcastle, Darlington, Northallerton, York & Grantham (quite an odd calling pattern) arriving roughly on time which on a normal day would be excellent, half an hour to get to Waterloo for the 21:15, however today wasnt normal due to engineering works services were being diverted via Staines, departing Waterloo earlier, so I had around an hour to get back to Waterloo. I decided to pick the Piccadilly line, and a few duds later before dud 133 rolled in with winner 142 attached to Holborn, followed closely by 163/168 to Leicester Square for a quick interchange with the Northern Line. I was meant to be heading south but the appearance of required 51673/51674 meant I was heading north to Tottenham Court Road before heading south on duds 51629/51628.
The 21:40(ish) service towards Salisbury was formed of 159104 & 159016, taking a seat in 159016 and expecting it to be busy, only to find it was quiet (Im guessing the 21:30/21:35 services would have taken up a lot of the Basingstoke/Woking passengers), however I had forgotten how slow going via Staines can be on 23-metre stock. Eventually something which could be call speed was gained and I was soon heading home, arriving at a very cold and extremely dense fog for a very slow walk home trying to avoid slipping on the ice.
At home I had time to reflect on overall a successful weekend, shame no Scotrail winners on the Sunday (but then I am down to only 12 Scottish DMUs [4 each] and 2x VTEC 43s (plus 390128) so it would be slim pickings. However the Fife Circle has been cleared, the only shacks left within the Central Scotland rover area are Fauldhouse/Breich/Addiewell [hopefully a job for April time if advance fares are cheap enough] and Bridge of Allen (maybe Ladywell as well if that is included within the coverage area).
Anyhow some pictures:
Tram 251 advertising the new timetable:
A poor picture of the fog across the Forth:
Kinghorn Bay:
A speedy 170:
Aberdour:
Rosyth:
My first train of the day wasnt until 09:10 (ish), which would be the HST to Dundee, with buses replacing trains until 11:00 towards Falkirk meant a heavy reduction of services, I think the only ones beforehand heading west was some 334s which are all dud (it is so nice to completely ignore them at Haymarket when festering for winners). Anyhow I decided to have a little session on the trams making use of the new timetable which is every 10 minutes from the word go (a lot better than every 15 minutes), increasing to every 7 minutes between 09:00 & 17:00 at weekends.
Checking out of the guest house, it was a short walk along the road to the bus stop for a short wait before bus number 568 of the Lothian Buses fleet (route 25) took me to a bus stop near York Place, at one of the bus stops we had stopped behind another bus which was out of service with the driver scrolling through all the various destinations. I had just missed a tram so decided to visit a nearby Tesco Express to pick up a very healthy breakfast and a bottle of water, before heading across to York Place jumping on dud 251 for the run to Princes Street.
As I had spotted a required tram heading towards York Place I bailed and headed back to St Andrew Square on dud 276 with a short fester before winner 274 via the streets (quite fast when the streets are empty) to West End, and like before I had spotted a required tram heading towards York Place, however this time I got lucky with required 252 back to St Andrew Square to await winner 264 to take me to Saughton. Only reason why I bailed at Saughton is that I had missed IDing a tram heading towards the city, so wanted to intercept it, so it was back to St Andrew Square on dud 267.
A good decision I think as it was winner [b[257[/b] to take me to West End (Princes Street), with the return of 251 I hung around as the 7 minute frequency was just about kicking in (note sure if they throw an extra tram out or just decrease the turnaround times at either end), but with one eye on the time it was onto dud 274 back to St Andrew Square, my brief tramspotting session had ended with 4 required trams leaving me a mere 4 left to get. It was time for another tram, this time a red one. Annoyingly it was departing from platform 19 (which in my mind is a rubbish platform for long distance HSTs as the first standard class coaches normally are where the path narrows (so when alighting from a service from Inverness/Aberdeen it can take a few minutes to fight past the normals who ignore the rest of the train and pile on the first door).
Dud 43317 was at the rear, I couldnt quite ID the front power car, and annoyingly when I alighted at Inverkeithing the front power car and half of the front coach was off the platform, however I am led to believe it was dud 43296, both now paid up members of my 9/80 club as I had only previously had both power cars on a Haymarket leap. The main reason for the HST move was to reduce my 170 mileage on the next move, only for dud 158711 to roll in along with dud 170394 to Kinghorn. A lovely station overlooking the bay (not like I could see much this morning due to the fog), but a nice enough place for a few minute fester before duds 158733/170474 rolled in to take me to the very Welsh sounding Aberdour.
15 (or so) minutes later I was back on the move on a cosy 170405 one stop to Burntisland for another short fester before heading back south on duds 170409/170457 to South Gyle, not a required shack but I was doing something I had missed the previous night, and without further delay (well a minute delay) duds 170474/158733 took me to Rosyth with a 20-odd minute gap before the next clockwise service, so with spotting a handy Tesco Metro just down the road I carried out an expert move to grab some lunch. Duds (not having much luck today!) 158741/170401 took me to Haymarket, followed by duds 43308 & 43208 from Inverness for the short leap to Edinburgh Waverley.
It was time for some RTT hunting, so after a quick scan I jumped onto 158712 & 158724 back out to Haymarket to intercept the next HST from Dundee (line towards Aberdeen was closed) which was formed of dud 43299/43318 which I wanted to take to Edinburgh to intercept another HST heading towards Dundee, sadly that was running a few minutes late which allowed me the chance to ID it as it rolled in and it was dud. Duds 170407/170455 took me back out to Haymarket, before a brief wonder to the tram platform deciding to take dud 252 to West End with 266 back to Haymarket as a time wasting move before an unknown unit from Stirling.
It was an unknown unit, but sadly it was dud 158726 which took me back to Edinburgh where I almost made a grave mistake, for some reason I had it in my head I was booked on the 16:00 VTEC to Kings Cross, and after finding it mostly unreserved (coach C was rammed, but a few labels in coach D and nothing in E) I picked up a seat in coach D, as I headed back towards Coach C to remove my seat reservation label to find it wasnt there. A check of my ticket saw that it wasnt the 16:00 I was booked on, but the 16:20 service (sadly not the 16:30 HST), so it was over to the platform where dud DVT 206 was leading dud 91125 on a busy service (completely different to that 16:00, certainly looked like most seats had labels in).
Anyhow, I got my seat (sadly it was on the right hand side, not like I could see much in the fading light) so I fired up the tablet to watch some programs on the way back south, calling at Morpeth, Newcastle, Darlington, Northallerton, York & Grantham (quite an odd calling pattern) arriving roughly on time which on a normal day would be excellent, half an hour to get to Waterloo for the 21:15, however today wasnt normal due to engineering works services were being diverted via Staines, departing Waterloo earlier, so I had around an hour to get back to Waterloo. I decided to pick the Piccadilly line, and a few duds later before dud 133 rolled in with winner 142 attached to Holborn, followed closely by 163/168 to Leicester Square for a quick interchange with the Northern Line. I was meant to be heading south but the appearance of required 51673/51674 meant I was heading north to Tottenham Court Road before heading south on duds 51629/51628.
The 21:40(ish) service towards Salisbury was formed of 159104 & 159016, taking a seat in 159016 and expecting it to be busy, only to find it was quiet (Im guessing the 21:30/21:35 services would have taken up a lot of the Basingstoke/Woking passengers), however I had forgotten how slow going via Staines can be on 23-metre stock. Eventually something which could be call speed was gained and I was soon heading home, arriving at a very cold and extremely dense fog for a very slow walk home trying to avoid slipping on the ice.
At home I had time to reflect on overall a successful weekend, shame no Scotrail winners on the Sunday (but then I am down to only 12 Scottish DMUs [4 each] and 2x VTEC 43s (plus 390128) so it would be slim pickings. However the Fife Circle has been cleared, the only shacks left within the Central Scotland rover area are Fauldhouse/Breich/Addiewell [hopefully a job for April time if advance fares are cheap enough] and Bridge of Allen (maybe Ladywell as well if that is included within the coverage area).
Anyhow some pictures:
Tram 251 advertising the new timetable:
A poor picture of the fog across the Forth:
Kinghorn Bay:
A speedy 170:
Aberdour:
Rosyth:
Techniquest
Veteran Member
Aside from the lack of scores with ScotRail on Sunday, one helluva good trip and I see now what you mean about having a better Sunday than you had!
Even so, congratulations on almost conquering Scotland!
Even so, congratulations on almost conquering Scotland!
185143
Established Member
- Joined
- 3 Mar 2013
- Messages
- 5,369
There was a signal failure at Rosyth earlier too! I won 274 before you...
My phot of the fog on the forth bridge.
While I was at the Airport, after a VERY chingy tram ride, I noticed a few flights diverted due to fog.
While I was at the Airport, after a VERY chingy tram ride, I noticed a few flights diverted due to fog.
Blindtraveler
Established Member
- Joined
- 28 Feb 2011
- Messages
- 10,544
Some well known names there Sir. Cudos to you doing Fife on a Sunday with its poor overcrouded services.
The HST you borded on Sunday morning starts in Edinburgh to go North and is usually quiet. Thanks for sharing. Whats the next adventure?
The HST you borded on Sunday morning starts in Edinburgh to go North and is usually quiet. Thanks for sharing. Whats the next adventure?
Well done for getting the tram to Inverkeithing for the 170 forward! I'm jealous of 308 and 208 for sure - 308 is my lowest mileage powercar that I really want to get again (1.25 miles - god!) and 208 is my favourite VTEC powercar, and second favourite overall!
Milkfloat back from Waverley instead of the tram 10 minutes later? Nutter!
Milkfloat back from Waverley instead of the tram 10 minutes later? Nutter!
alexf380
Established Member
A very impressive time up in my neck of the woods by any account, well done!
Kite159
Veteran Member
When the HST costs a lot more for a ticket the 91 will win. It normally comes from Aberdeen so the cheap advance fares from Edinburgh are more limited.
----
Cowley, yep that ECML from Kings Cross to Edinburgh is cleared, including the Hertford & Leeds loop (ok I know Leeds - York via garforth isn't technically the ECML
). Worst are the northern limited served shacks North of morpeth.----
BT, my next trip was to the Welsh Valleys today
Kite159
Veteran Member
How many stations is that Kite? Must be loads. And out of curiosity, how many stations do you need on the WCML?
WCML was finished in December with the scotrail shacks between slateford & kirkewton
Kite159
Veteran Member
28th January Pacer Withdrawal Symptoms -> Onwards to the Welsh Valleys
Firstly if I have misspelt any station name wrong I do apologise in advance, secondary because my unit requirements within ATW land is so little assume all units mentioned are dud unless otherwise stated, and now onto the report. I had decided to have a good couple weekends in South Wales to clear some nearby shacks and to reduce the number of easy ATW shacks required, which apart from the odd gap for freight to Aberdare the three lines north of Pontypridd have an half hourly service. So for the first time in a while it was an early morning drive (in the rain) to Salisbury to await the 07:30 Cardiff Central service.
158959 rolled in to become my first GWR 158 for a fair few months for the peaceful run towards Bristol, spent looking out of the window at a line I havent been along for a few months (excluding the tour a few weeks ago which was in the dark). A large passenger flow at Bath Spa before the usual reversal at Bristol Temple Meads, keeping pretty much bang to time to arrive into Cardiff at 09:40, with some time before my first planned move of the day I headed over towards platform 6 noting that platform 8 is now in use. The first service was a dud 150, followed by a leap to Cardiff (almost put Glasgow there!) Queen Street on dud 153353 to ID another City Line working, and also to see which 153 was working Cardiff Bay shuttles (dud 153303).
My first semi-planned move was on the 10:00 departure towards Pontypridd, formed of 143624/143608 for my first pacer action of the year for the fast run northbound to the junction station, there is one reason why I had this service in my plan because as far as I can tell with a brief look on RTT it is the only service booked to terminate into the bay platform at Pontypridd, so a bit of a microgrice. Pontypridd is a dud station from my previous trip to these parts in April 14 (which IIRC was a forum challenge), and it is an odd layout, ticket barriers protecting platform 2 (southbound) with the northbound platform seemingly dumped on the former freight lines away from the main station building.
Anyhow it wasnt a long wait before my first main move of the day, which felt to 150258 for the short run towards Ystrad Rhondda which is a passing point on the single track route towards Treherbert, where I decided to change my plan as the next southbound service hadnt let arrived, and when I saw a certain pacer roll in I jumped for joy for it was winner 143605, my final 143 and pacer outright. 142075 was attached for the ride to Dinas Rhondda, cant really recall much about the station, for the short wait before 150227 rolled in for the trip to nearly the end of the line at Ynyswen, the track is straight here so I saw the 150 depart to terminate at the platform at Treherbert before it returned on route to Barry Island for the short run to Ton Pentre .
Another basic shack with evidence of the former platform, it wasnt a long wait until 142080 & 142006 bounced in to take me to Treorchy, which has a handy Co-Op located near to the station, which was used to purchase lunch before returning to the station for the return of 142006/142080 to Tonypandy. A station within a cutting and thankfully it wasnt a long fester (with some anti-social behaviour order kids knocking about whose every 3rd word appeared to be swearing) before the return of 142075/143605 to take me to Llwynypia.
142083/142073 became the latest pacers into my moves log of the day as they bounced in to take me to Porth, where I fired up Google Maps to show me the way to the next station, Porth is where the single line comes to an end with services booked to pass between here & Trehafod, a nice enough walk until I came to the main road (A4058) which had signs to prohibit pedestrians, however ignoring the instructions I turned right at the roundabout passing the Rhondda Heritage Park recrossing the River Rhondda, going underneath the railway and walking up a long access path to reach Trehafod arriving with 10 minutes to spare. Nothing much around the station apart from that busy road, and 143605/142075 returned to take me away from the Treherbert line, one down 2 to go.
When on route I noticed the next Merthyr Tydfil was running around 5 minutes late, which gave me a good connection at Trefforest to board 143606 back northbound towards the island platform at Abercynon. A short fester here before the next Aberdare bound service rolled in which was 143623 which I took to the passing point on the single track line at Mountain Ash, where the Aberdare bound service sits for 8 minutes, allowing the connection to be easily made as 150217 rolled in to take me back one stop to Penrhiwceiber. The former platform clearly in evidence, with an enclosed footbridge to the Aberdare end of the station (to protect trains from youths thinking it is funny to launch bricks at trains?).
150237 was up next to take me to Cwmbach, another basic shack without seating [which was dry], and it was soon back to take me to Fernhill, where my original plan was to walk to Mountain Ash but that plan changed when I made that connection earlier on (saves a walk). 142082 bounced in to take me to the passenger terminus at Aberdare, the line continues to Tower but that is freight only at the moment (hopefully I will cover it in a few months time if I book onto the UK Railtours Sunday Trip to this area).
Changing ends on 142082 for the run back towards Pontypridd, I decided to stay on after Abercynon which almost cost me as we were held up for a couple minutes with the junction for a late running train from Treherbert. However the barriers were open and I easily made the connection over the footbridge to platform 2 before 142085 rolled in to take me to Merthyr Vale, which like Mountain Ash is a passing loop on the mostly single track, however it is a good 3 minute connection with ramps which double back on themselves over a road bridge. A short wait before 143608/143624 rolled in to take me back one more stop to Quakers Yard for a 20 (or so) minute fester before 150217 rolled in to take me to Pentre-Bach.
Darkness was beginning to fall for another short fester before 150217 returned to take me to Troed-y-Rhiw, my final shack north of Pontypridd which was the mission of the day (so happy days). 143623 took me for the mileage move to the end of the line at Merthyr Tydfil, before getting quite busy with passengers ignoring the no alcohol rule as I took a ride back down the valleys back towards Cardiff, the train emptying out at Pontypridd, and at Radyr I took a look to my right to see what was on the next City Line departure, it was pacer shaped so I turned it down, and alighted at Queen Street on the off-chance the Bay service had been swapped over (as expected it hadnt).
I witnessed a few busy pacers heading towards the valleys, before 150227 rolled in to take me to Cardiff Central rolling in onto platform 8, proving how useful the new platform is as 143623 plus another unit was on P7 awaiting access towards the depot as both came out of service at Central. 150283 rolled in to complete the microgrice of the new track to take me to Penarth (I was going to bail at Grangetown, but as the next train back towards Cardiff Central would have been this one I decided to aim for the miles). At Penarth I changed ends of 150283 for the run back to Cardiff Central, the last move of the day using my Explore Wales ticket.
Time for some dinner so via a detour I eventually reached Tesco Express (hint, turn left outside Cardiff Central instead of turning right) to grab a meal-deal returning to platform 2 as 158960 rolled in. As usual no reservation labels had been put out for the 20:30 departure to Portsmouth so it was a free for all, as I grabbed a good table seat near the carriage end, and it looked like there was an assistant guard on board as my ticket was checked pretty much straight away after departure. The train picked up a few additional passengers (slightly worse for wear) at Bristol & Bath, but emptied out on route arriving into Salisbury a minute or two late, followed up by a drive home, giving me time to reflect on an overall excellent day. All shacks covered north of Queen Street, only ones left in the valleys are towards Ebbw Vale which will hopefully be done this coming weekend (along with some of the Swanline shacks).
Sadly only one winner today, however today was about the shacks as my ATW requirements are 2x 150s (which one I spotted working an Ebbw Vale service), 1x 153 plus 2 x 175/0s so I know these trips to Wales wont be very good for my red pen, anyhow some pictures:
143608/143624 in platform 1 at Pontypridd:
My final pacer @ Dinas Rhondda:
Ynyswen:
Ton Pentre:
(Bridge of) Treorchy:
Tonypandy:
Llwynpia:
What a lovely pacer at Porth:
Trehafod:
Abercynon:
The Ash Mountain:
Penrhiwceiber:
Cwmbach:
Fernhill:
The beast of 142082 at Aberdare:
Merthyr Vale:
Quakers Yard:
The sign at Pentre-Bach (shack 2300!):
Mission complete, Troed-y-Rhiw.
Firstly if I have misspelt any station name wrong I do apologise in advance, secondary because my unit requirements within ATW land is so little assume all units mentioned are dud unless otherwise stated, and now onto the report. I had decided to have a good couple weekends in South Wales to clear some nearby shacks and to reduce the number of easy ATW shacks required, which apart from the odd gap for freight to Aberdare the three lines north of Pontypridd have an half hourly service. So for the first time in a while it was an early morning drive (in the rain) to Salisbury to await the 07:30 Cardiff Central service.
158959 rolled in to become my first GWR 158 for a fair few months for the peaceful run towards Bristol, spent looking out of the window at a line I havent been along for a few months (excluding the tour a few weeks ago which was in the dark). A large passenger flow at Bath Spa before the usual reversal at Bristol Temple Meads, keeping pretty much bang to time to arrive into Cardiff at 09:40, with some time before my first planned move of the day I headed over towards platform 6 noting that platform 8 is now in use. The first service was a dud 150, followed by a leap to Cardiff (almost put Glasgow there!) Queen Street on dud 153353 to ID another City Line working, and also to see which 153 was working Cardiff Bay shuttles (dud 153303).
My first semi-planned move was on the 10:00 departure towards Pontypridd, formed of 143624/143608 for my first pacer action of the year for the fast run northbound to the junction station, there is one reason why I had this service in my plan because as far as I can tell with a brief look on RTT it is the only service booked to terminate into the bay platform at Pontypridd, so a bit of a microgrice. Pontypridd is a dud station from my previous trip to these parts in April 14 (which IIRC was a forum challenge), and it is an odd layout, ticket barriers protecting platform 2 (southbound) with the northbound platform seemingly dumped on the former freight lines away from the main station building.
Anyhow it wasnt a long wait before my first main move of the day, which felt to 150258 for the short run towards Ystrad Rhondda which is a passing point on the single track route towards Treherbert, where I decided to change my plan as the next southbound service hadnt let arrived, and when I saw a certain pacer roll in I jumped for joy for it was winner 143605, my final 143 and pacer outright. 142075 was attached for the ride to Dinas Rhondda, cant really recall much about the station, for the short wait before 150227 rolled in for the trip to nearly the end of the line at Ynyswen, the track is straight here so I saw the 150 depart to terminate at the platform at Treherbert before it returned on route to Barry Island for the short run to Ton Pentre .
Another basic shack with evidence of the former platform, it wasnt a long wait until 142080 & 142006 bounced in to take me to Treorchy, which has a handy Co-Op located near to the station, which was used to purchase lunch before returning to the station for the return of 142006/142080 to Tonypandy. A station within a cutting and thankfully it wasnt a long fester (with some anti-social behaviour order kids knocking about whose every 3rd word appeared to be swearing) before the return of 142075/143605 to take me to Llwynypia.
142083/142073 became the latest pacers into my moves log of the day as they bounced in to take me to Porth, where I fired up Google Maps to show me the way to the next station, Porth is where the single line comes to an end with services booked to pass between here & Trehafod, a nice enough walk until I came to the main road (A4058) which had signs to prohibit pedestrians, however ignoring the instructions I turned right at the roundabout passing the Rhondda Heritage Park recrossing the River Rhondda, going underneath the railway and walking up a long access path to reach Trehafod arriving with 10 minutes to spare. Nothing much around the station apart from that busy road, and 143605/142075 returned to take me away from the Treherbert line, one down 2 to go.
When on route I noticed the next Merthyr Tydfil was running around 5 minutes late, which gave me a good connection at Trefforest to board 143606 back northbound towards the island platform at Abercynon. A short fester here before the next Aberdare bound service rolled in which was 143623 which I took to the passing point on the single track line at Mountain Ash, where the Aberdare bound service sits for 8 minutes, allowing the connection to be easily made as 150217 rolled in to take me back one stop to Penrhiwceiber. The former platform clearly in evidence, with an enclosed footbridge to the Aberdare end of the station (to protect trains from youths thinking it is funny to launch bricks at trains?).
150237 was up next to take me to Cwmbach, another basic shack without seating [which was dry], and it was soon back to take me to Fernhill, where my original plan was to walk to Mountain Ash but that plan changed when I made that connection earlier on (saves a walk). 142082 bounced in to take me to the passenger terminus at Aberdare, the line continues to Tower but that is freight only at the moment (hopefully I will cover it in a few months time if I book onto the UK Railtours Sunday Trip to this area).
Changing ends on 142082 for the run back towards Pontypridd, I decided to stay on after Abercynon which almost cost me as we were held up for a couple minutes with the junction for a late running train from Treherbert. However the barriers were open and I easily made the connection over the footbridge to platform 2 before 142085 rolled in to take me to Merthyr Vale, which like Mountain Ash is a passing loop on the mostly single track, however it is a good 3 minute connection with ramps which double back on themselves over a road bridge. A short wait before 143608/143624 rolled in to take me back one more stop to Quakers Yard for a 20 (or so) minute fester before 150217 rolled in to take me to Pentre-Bach.
Darkness was beginning to fall for another short fester before 150217 returned to take me to Troed-y-Rhiw, my final shack north of Pontypridd which was the mission of the day (so happy days). 143623 took me for the mileage move to the end of the line at Merthyr Tydfil, before getting quite busy with passengers ignoring the no alcohol rule as I took a ride back down the valleys back towards Cardiff, the train emptying out at Pontypridd, and at Radyr I took a look to my right to see what was on the next City Line departure, it was pacer shaped so I turned it down, and alighted at Queen Street on the off-chance the Bay service had been swapped over (as expected it hadnt).
I witnessed a few busy pacers heading towards the valleys, before 150227 rolled in to take me to Cardiff Central rolling in onto platform 8, proving how useful the new platform is as 143623 plus another unit was on P7 awaiting access towards the depot as both came out of service at Central. 150283 rolled in to complete the microgrice of the new track to take me to Penarth (I was going to bail at Grangetown, but as the next train back towards Cardiff Central would have been this one I decided to aim for the miles). At Penarth I changed ends of 150283 for the run back to Cardiff Central, the last move of the day using my Explore Wales ticket.
Time for some dinner so via a detour I eventually reached Tesco Express (hint, turn left outside Cardiff Central instead of turning right) to grab a meal-deal returning to platform 2 as 158960 rolled in. As usual no reservation labels had been put out for the 20:30 departure to Portsmouth so it was a free for all, as I grabbed a good table seat near the carriage end, and it looked like there was an assistant guard on board as my ticket was checked pretty much straight away after departure. The train picked up a few additional passengers (slightly worse for wear) at Bristol & Bath, but emptied out on route arriving into Salisbury a minute or two late, followed up by a drive home, giving me time to reflect on an overall excellent day. All shacks covered north of Queen Street, only ones left in the valleys are towards Ebbw Vale which will hopefully be done this coming weekend (along with some of the Swanline shacks).
Sadly only one winner today, however today was about the shacks as my ATW requirements are 2x 150s (which one I spotted working an Ebbw Vale service), 1x 153 plus 2 x 175/0s so I know these trips to Wales wont be very good for my red pen, anyhow some pictures:
143608/143624 in platform 1 at Pontypridd:
My final pacer @ Dinas Rhondda:
Ynyswen:
Ton Pentre:
(Bridge of) Treorchy:
Tonypandy:
Llwynpia:
What a lovely pacer at Porth:
Trehafod:
Abercynon:
The Ash Mountain:
Penrhiwceiber:
Cwmbach:
Fernhill:
The beast of 142082 at Aberdare:
Merthyr Vale:
Quakers Yard:
The sign at Pentre-Bach (shack 2300!):
Mission complete, Troed-y-Rhiw.
Techniquest
Veteran Member
2,300 shacks scored? You really are doing well! hock:
Many congratulations on clearing the 'classic' Valley Lines. I find it difficult to count Ebbw Vale as a 'Valley Line' I'm afraid! More so, congratulations on clearing all of the Pacers, something most of us can only dream of!
Good luck next weekend in South Wales!
hock:Many congratulations on clearing the 'classic' Valley Lines. I find it difficult to count Ebbw Vale as a 'Valley Line' I'm afraid! More so, congratulations on clearing all of the Pacers, something most of us can only dream of!
Good luck next weekend in South Wales!
Kite159
Veteran Member
Cowley - Agreed, the railways in that area are a shadow of their former self like Devon so much has been lost.
29th January – Minding those big red doors
After a day which saw very little use of my little red pen (which is actually black for my book, and yellow highlighting on an Excel spreadsheet), I decided a trip to London was in order. Thanks to 37078xotTE for checking the whereabouts of my reducing requirements within London (321s were out due to engineering works, and Thameslink was on a heavily reduced timetable) gave me the location of one of my last 2 350s, which as an extra bonus was due to call at Harrow & Wealdstone.
A quick drive to Andover and a purchase of a travelcard before going underneath the subway to board 159014/159010 on the 07:02 service to London, a nice fast run picking up many more passengers at Woking (some of which were moaning that the train was ‘loud’) before turning left after Byfleet to go around the route via Staines, turning left once more to go via Hounslow, but this was is a protracted meander of a way to Waterloo, as after finishing watching a BBC4 special on the history of plastics by Professor Mark Miodownik. Anyhow a quick plan of the day was formed in my head when we eventually reached Waterloo, which was to sample a Thameslink service out of the high level platforms at St Pancras.
Luck wasn’t on my side with the Northern line with several duds heading both directions so I cut my losses with 51589/51590 to Leicester Square, heading downstairs to the Piccadilly line which was doing the usual 2 services within 3 minutes then a 10 minute gap, the first of these 2 services was dud 230 leading winner 117 to put my day to a winning start on a hop to Holborn, but sadly it was duds 160/872 following to Kings Cross St Pancras, where I headed out of LU and towards the EMT platforms at St Pancras itself, where due to a driver shortage Thameslink was reduced to an hourly service calling all stations (bar Kentish Town) to Bedford departing from platform 1.
Dud 700112 was on the 09:18 departure, and was lightly loaded, my original plan was to bail at Hendon, but I decided to remain on board to Mill Hill Broadway (sadly falling just short of the 9-80 club), heading over to the other platform (has Mill Hill Broadway always had barriers?) as dud 700104 rolled in, expecting for it to be rammed I was surprised that it was busy but easy enough to find a seat for the trip back to platform 1 at St Pancras (my god, these things can shift on AC) awaiting for a HST to clear the junction before the 700 could terminate. It was back via the revenue protection people and via Boots for a mid-morning snack before I headed to the Northern line platforms, discovering that around mid-way down the platform is a little access tunnel between the platforms (which allowed me to keep an eye on movements both sides).
After 20 minutes I was on the move with 51607/51608 taking me to Euston, where I went upstairs returning to the other platform for the Northern line eventually cutting my losses with 51677/51678 to Bank (30 minutes with no joy). It was DLR time, and as always I jumped on the first service which was 84-06-77 to take me to Shadwell, back into the open air and where I could take up a seat to watch both what services were heading towards Bank/Tower Gateway plus what else comes out of the tunnel.
25 (or so) minutes later, my festering paid off with 82-83-53 taking me the leap to Limehouse, where I crossed over to the other platform until 77-06-84 returned so I knew I had seen everything in this part of the network. It was onto 65-56-87 to take me to Canary Wharf where in between Stratford services (6 diagrams on a 5-minute frequency), I visited the toilets and also Tesco Metro. Sadly as I had time to do that meant my final 12 units were staying away. I had a bright idea of jumping on 134-128-113 for the tiny leap to West India Quay to be able to ID an inbound working, which turned out to be dud so I jumped on 130-126 to take me round the bend to Poplar.
A Woolwich bound trio of duds, 151-122-107 took me to Canning Town, where I shifted to the low level platform to try and grab the ID of the sets on Stratford International – Woolwich & Canning Town/Beckton services. Due to engineering works the jubilee was only operating a 5 minute frequency between Waterloo & Stratford, but that gave me time to keep my eyes peeled on that platform as well in case any of my last 3 odd sets were out to play. No luck until the final service which I was going to take anyhow rolled in with dud 70 leading winner 34 which I took to Stratford. 11 more DLR units to go, so slowly coming down they be.
With time to kill before needing to be at Euston for that 350, it was time for some Central Line hunting (thanks to Techni’s suggestion), my moves are as followed:
91271/92266/92114/91315 to Mile End
91195/92078/92116/91063 to Bethnal Green
91061/92206/92084/91141 to Liverpool Street
91133/92212/92194/91209 to Bank
9111111111111111111/92064/92072/91305 to St Paul’s (yep was 91111)
91343/92432/92052/91019 to Chancery Lane
91243/92428/92198/91023 to Holborn
91179/92062/92130/91003 to Tottenham Court Road
Changing to the Northern line via the passageway located near the rear of the Central line platform, and it appeared something had previously happened as the services were all bunched together, but after a few winners 51605/51606 took me to Warren Street, and after 2 more duds I cut my losses with 51710/51560 to Euston itself, heading upstairs for the 14:30(ish) to Birmingham, formed of a quite busy required 350106 & dud 350125 to take me the 11 and a bit miles to Harrow & Wealdstone
Keeping an eye on the Bakerloo in case 3266 was spotted, but alas it wasn’t and 25 minutes later I was onto duds 350124/350239 back to Euston, only 350105 left to clear the 350s so hopefully that will be around next Friday (and hopefully not on a fast to Milton Keynes service like it normally pops up on!). I returned to the Northern line platform (Charing Cross branch), grabbing a location at the southern end where another tunnel gave access to both platforms, and I wasn’t there for long:
51719/51623 to Mornington Crescent
51669/51668 to Camden Town
51705/51609 to Euston (CX branch) (more to escape Camden Town)
51722/51644 to Goodge Street
51602/51716 to Tottenham Court Road (the previous train got wedged out at Warren Street, so I bailed at Goodge Street).
Down to the Central Line with the following:
91067/92254/92442/91053 to Chancery Lane
91013/92038/92026/91091 to Holborn (a very rare quad winner)
91171/92244/92430/91071 to Tottenham Court Road
91051/92050/92188/91159 to Oxford Circus
91181/92086/92452/91109 to Bond Street
91331/92094/92172/91121 to Marble Arch
91143/92004/92164/91213 to Queensway (skipping Lancaster Gate as it be closed)
91105/92088/91183/91035 to Notting Hill Gate (30 minute wait for a winner at Queensway!)
91223/92014/92238/91097 to Holland Park
91209/92194/92212/91133 back to Notting Hill Gate
I exited the Central line and headed to fresh air and jumped on dud 21503/21504 working a circle line service, bailing at High Street Kensington for an Olympia bound 21519/21520 to Earls Court to recover that side of the triangle. An unexpected D78 stock operated service rolled in with dud 7532 leading winner 7016 to take me to Gloucester Road where I had a bright idea of jumping on dud 21527/21528 to South Kensington to make use of the island platform to fester on the lookout for anything required.
15 (or so) minutes later my patience paid off with 21319/21320 taking me to Gloucester Road, returning to South Kensington on 21443/21444 for a slightly shorter fester with 21367/21368 taking me to Gloucester Road, changing over to the Circle line platform with dud 21379/21380 taking me to Paddington. You can probably see what is coming next; I had 4 chances with a HST move to Reading before the next Basingstoke service. The first was to Bristol and I didn’t have to check the other 3 as winner 43192 was at the front with dud 43040 (which I’ve only previously had for less than a mile, I will let you try and work that one out).
I grabbed an airline seat in coach C for the semi-fast run to Reading, felt like we were caught behind a stopper until West Drayton until the HST went into the main lines for a run to Reading. The disadvantage was now I had 25-odd minutes to waste, spent listening to the low growl from a 220 from platform 3. Eventually the Basingstoke train rolled in formed of 165135 with the former first class area at the Reading end (bah humbug!), a right time arrival into Basingstoke and across to platform 2, for a short wait before 159010/159014/159002 rolled in to take me nonstop to Andover.
A drive home via the local Papa John’s for a pizza, giving me time to reflect on a productive day, I think I shall return to South Kensington as that island platform is handy to keeping my eyes peeled on both westbound & eastbound services.
A few pictures:
A lesser spotted 700 at Mill Hill Broadway:
Lots of trains at Canning Town:
A 390 flying:
An unexpected winner:
29th January – Minding those big red doors
After a day which saw very little use of my little red pen (which is actually black for my book, and yellow highlighting on an Excel spreadsheet), I decided a trip to London was in order. Thanks to 37078xotTE for checking the whereabouts of my reducing requirements within London (321s were out due to engineering works, and Thameslink was on a heavily reduced timetable) gave me the location of one of my last 2 350s, which as an extra bonus was due to call at Harrow & Wealdstone.
A quick drive to Andover and a purchase of a travelcard before going underneath the subway to board 159014/159010 on the 07:02 service to London, a nice fast run picking up many more passengers at Woking (some of which were moaning that the train was ‘loud’) before turning left after Byfleet to go around the route via Staines, turning left once more to go via Hounslow, but this was is a protracted meander of a way to Waterloo, as after finishing watching a BBC4 special on the history of plastics by Professor Mark Miodownik. Anyhow a quick plan of the day was formed in my head when we eventually reached Waterloo, which was to sample a Thameslink service out of the high level platforms at St Pancras.
Luck wasn’t on my side with the Northern line with several duds heading both directions so I cut my losses with 51589/51590 to Leicester Square, heading downstairs to the Piccadilly line which was doing the usual 2 services within 3 minutes then a 10 minute gap, the first of these 2 services was dud 230 leading winner 117 to put my day to a winning start on a hop to Holborn, but sadly it was duds 160/872 following to Kings Cross St Pancras, where I headed out of LU and towards the EMT platforms at St Pancras itself, where due to a driver shortage Thameslink was reduced to an hourly service calling all stations (bar Kentish Town) to Bedford departing from platform 1.
Dud 700112 was on the 09:18 departure, and was lightly loaded, my original plan was to bail at Hendon, but I decided to remain on board to Mill Hill Broadway (sadly falling just short of the 9-80 club), heading over to the other platform (has Mill Hill Broadway always had barriers?) as dud 700104 rolled in, expecting for it to be rammed I was surprised that it was busy but easy enough to find a seat for the trip back to platform 1 at St Pancras (my god, these things can shift on AC) awaiting for a HST to clear the junction before the 700 could terminate. It was back via the revenue protection people and via Boots for a mid-morning snack before I headed to the Northern line platforms, discovering that around mid-way down the platform is a little access tunnel between the platforms (which allowed me to keep an eye on movements both sides).
After 20 minutes I was on the move with 51607/51608 taking me to Euston, where I went upstairs returning to the other platform for the Northern line eventually cutting my losses with 51677/51678 to Bank (30 minutes with no joy). It was DLR time, and as always I jumped on the first service which was 84-06-77 to take me to Shadwell, back into the open air and where I could take up a seat to watch both what services were heading towards Bank/Tower Gateway plus what else comes out of the tunnel.
25 (or so) minutes later, my festering paid off with 82-83-53 taking me the leap to Limehouse, where I crossed over to the other platform until 77-06-84 returned so I knew I had seen everything in this part of the network. It was onto 65-56-87 to take me to Canary Wharf where in between Stratford services (6 diagrams on a 5-minute frequency), I visited the toilets and also Tesco Metro. Sadly as I had time to do that meant my final 12 units were staying away. I had a bright idea of jumping on 134-128-113 for the tiny leap to West India Quay to be able to ID an inbound working, which turned out to be dud so I jumped on 130-126 to take me round the bend to Poplar.
A Woolwich bound trio of duds, 151-122-107 took me to Canning Town, where I shifted to the low level platform to try and grab the ID of the sets on Stratford International – Woolwich & Canning Town/Beckton services. Due to engineering works the jubilee was only operating a 5 minute frequency between Waterloo & Stratford, but that gave me time to keep my eyes peeled on that platform as well in case any of my last 3 odd sets were out to play. No luck until the final service which I was going to take anyhow rolled in with dud 70 leading winner 34 which I took to Stratford. 11 more DLR units to go, so slowly coming down they be.
With time to kill before needing to be at Euston for that 350, it was time for some Central Line hunting (thanks to Techni’s suggestion), my moves are as followed:
91271/92266/92114/91315 to Mile End
91195/92078/92116/91063 to Bethnal Green
91061/92206/92084/91141 to Liverpool Street
91133/92212/92194/91209 to Bank
9111111111111111111/92064/92072/91305 to St Paul’s (yep was 91111)
91343/92432/92052/91019 to Chancery Lane
91243/92428/92198/91023 to Holborn
91179/92062/92130/91003 to Tottenham Court Road
Changing to the Northern line via the passageway located near the rear of the Central line platform, and it appeared something had previously happened as the services were all bunched together, but after a few winners 51605/51606 took me to Warren Street, and after 2 more duds I cut my losses with 51710/51560 to Euston itself, heading upstairs for the 14:30(ish) to Birmingham, formed of a quite busy required 350106 & dud 350125 to take me the 11 and a bit miles to Harrow & Wealdstone
Keeping an eye on the Bakerloo in case 3266 was spotted, but alas it wasn’t and 25 minutes later I was onto duds 350124/350239 back to Euston, only 350105 left to clear the 350s so hopefully that will be around next Friday (and hopefully not on a fast to Milton Keynes service like it normally pops up on!). I returned to the Northern line platform (Charing Cross branch), grabbing a location at the southern end where another tunnel gave access to both platforms, and I wasn’t there for long:
51719/51623 to Mornington Crescent
51669/51668 to Camden Town
51705/51609 to Euston (CX branch) (more to escape Camden Town)
51722/51644 to Goodge Street
51602/51716 to Tottenham Court Road (the previous train got wedged out at Warren Street, so I bailed at Goodge Street).
Down to the Central Line with the following:
91067/92254/92442/91053 to Chancery Lane
91013/92038/92026/91091 to Holborn (a very rare quad winner)
91171/92244/92430/91071 to Tottenham Court Road
91051/92050/92188/91159 to Oxford Circus
91181/92086/92452/91109 to Bond Street
91331/92094/92172/91121 to Marble Arch
91143/92004/92164/91213 to Queensway (skipping Lancaster Gate as it be closed)
91105/92088/91183/91035 to Notting Hill Gate (30 minute wait for a winner at Queensway!)
91223/92014/92238/91097 to Holland Park
91209/92194/92212/91133 back to Notting Hill Gate
I exited the Central line and headed to fresh air and jumped on dud 21503/21504 working a circle line service, bailing at High Street Kensington for an Olympia bound 21519/21520 to Earls Court to recover that side of the triangle. An unexpected D78 stock operated service rolled in with dud 7532 leading winner 7016 to take me to Gloucester Road where I had a bright idea of jumping on dud 21527/21528 to South Kensington to make use of the island platform to fester on the lookout for anything required.
15 (or so) minutes later my patience paid off with 21319/21320 taking me to Gloucester Road, returning to South Kensington on 21443/21444 for a slightly shorter fester with 21367/21368 taking me to Gloucester Road, changing over to the Circle line platform with dud 21379/21380 taking me to Paddington. You can probably see what is coming next; I had 4 chances with a HST move to Reading before the next Basingstoke service. The first was to Bristol and I didn’t have to check the other 3 as winner 43192 was at the front with dud 43040 (which I’ve only previously had for less than a mile, I will let you try and work that one out
).I grabbed an airline seat in coach C for the semi-fast run to Reading, felt like we were caught behind a stopper until West Drayton until the HST went into the main lines for a run to Reading. The disadvantage was now I had 25-odd minutes to waste, spent listening to the low growl from a 220 from platform 3. Eventually the Basingstoke train rolled in formed of 165135 with the former first class area at the Reading end (bah humbug!), a right time arrival into Basingstoke and across to platform 2, for a short wait before 159010/159014/159002 rolled in to take me nonstop to Andover.
A drive home via the local Papa John’s for a pizza, giving me time to reflect on a productive day, I think I shall return to South Kensington as that island platform is handy to keeping my eyes peeled on both westbound & eastbound services.
A few pictures:
A lesser spotted 700 at Mill Hill Broadway:
Lots of trains at Canning Town:
A 390 flying:
An unexpected winner:
Blindtraveler
Established Member
- Joined
- 28 Feb 2011
- Messages
- 10,544
A very productive weekend there Sir. Well done on clearing all 14x units and those shacks, your london moves sound productive too.
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