Kite159
Veteran Member
Both cleared, 315s by planning (If you can call standing at chadwell heath waiting for an unknown time planning), 379s by accident.
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The Various Random Mutterings of Kite
- Thread starter Kite159
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Both cleared, 315s by planning (If you can call standing at chadwell heath waiting for an unknown time planning), 379s by accident.
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RailUK Forums
47403
Established Member
When I was younger, a guy from the coach trips, I used to go on, sadly no longer with us, gave me these wise words, it doesnt matter, how you get em, just find out where they go and be in the right place and they'll come to you. It certainly helped me last week and by being at Chadwell Heath, you scored your last 379.
Kite159
Veteran Member
At least my cheque for my hour delay getting to Glasgow a couple weeks ago has been approved 
Required 319s are like buses, wait around for ages and 2 comes at once
Required 319s are like buses, wait around for ages and 2 comes at once
Techniquest
Veteran Member
Yes I am jealous before you ask
You've reminded me I have Delay Repay to claim too...
You've reminded me I have Delay Repay to claim too...
Kite159
Veteran Member
12th February - An evening unit hunting in the Thameslink core
At the start of the night I had 10 Thameslink units outstanding, 2 x 319s, 4 x 377s & 4 x 387s, so I think an evening was called for within the Thameslink core, if I could get that 10 down to 4 I would be happy as it gives me something to aim for in the future, so it was a nice drive to Andover where I parked my car in the usual place on the side of the road (I can see where the commuters are parking during the duration of the car-park expansion works, although the question is will they go back once the car park is reopened in May time, or carry on parking on the side of the road in an non-controlled parking area and walking to the station to save parking fees?
Anyhow, as usual the 14:38 was running a couple minutes late, and as usual was formed of 8 carriages, with 158888 leading 159108 with 159013 on the rear, so taking my usual seat in the empty (as it starts from Salisbury) 158 for the nice fast run to Clapham Junction where I decided to bail and head across to the Windsor side of the station, with RTT up and running to give me potential movements, and the 2nd service towards Waterloo via Hounslow was a pair of 458/5s, and dud 458535 was leading with required 458526 leaving me with 7 left, of which only 2 are in service. A quick check of RTT and I bailed at Wandsworth Town and made my way back over with dud 458517 getting another 66 chains under its wheels back to Clapham, followed 10 minutes later with 458520 to Waterloo.
I was in two minds, either straight to Embankment on the Bakerloo or have a quick hop from Waterloo East, and as the peak-time subway at Waterloo was open I decided to head down underground, which I think was a good call for later on, the first Bakerloo service rolled in as I was arriving onto the platform, and dud 3561 was leading 3252 which was required, so I jumped on for the tiny leap to Embankment, eventually finding the way to the eastbound District/Circle line platform and a pair of D stock units were on the platform so I jumped on for another tiny leap to Temple, sadly it was duds 7091 & 7036, but I didnt have long to wait at Temple (as I could see the headlights of the S7 behind) and in rolled required (although as I only currently have Bakerloo & Victoria line requirements on my phone, it was unknown at the time) 21489/490 for the very tiny 14 chain leap to Blackfriars, where I headed up to the main-line station.
First thing which struck me is that blimey my travelcard worked the barriers for a change, and a pair of required 375/3s were sitting in the bay platform working a Dover stopper (first stop Elephant & Castle), and I bumped into BB21 who was waiting for the next northbound service as it would be some red units, sadly running late (which put a connection for a quick hop to City Thameslink and back to Blackfriars to grab those 375/3s out of the question), but in the meanwhile I checked and confirmed that 8 of my 10 requirements were due to run northbound this evening, one of the 387s was unallocated and one of the 377s was working London Bridge Brighton services, but good to know and make a note of the time they were due up. Anyhow as predicted in rolled a pair of red units, the future Gatwick Express 387/2s being used temporary by Thameslink (makes them easier to get into the book at least!) with outright winner 387203 leading dud 387201 for the tiny leap to City Thameslink. Sadly as predicted the southbound service had gone so 375304 & 375310 will have to wait for another day, I probably should have headed back south on the next service as at least Blackfriars is in the open so has fresh air.
Taking a seat to keep an eye out, but I knew I had around a 20 minute wait before a Sevenoaks St Albans service rolled in, before the time came around and in rolled required 319214 attached with required 319436, yep like buses, you wait ages for required 319s and two arrive at the same time, what were the odds of my final 2 required (Thameslink, as I still need 3 Northern units) 319s being on the same working? Anyhow with something which has been bugging me since May last year had finally gone, and I was at Farringdon. Sadly I didnt have enough time to head back to City Thameslink before the first 12 carriage train of the night arrived, with dud 387107 leading dud 387114 with required 387101 on the rear so it was to St Pancras as I could go no further (unless I wanted a nice non-stop ride to St Albans).
I missed the next southbound service so it was a 7 minute wait before duds 377512 & 377509 rolled in where I decided to take a gamble with a +2 at Blackfriars and take them to the river, and a fast walk on the south side of the platforms to P2 just as the next 387 trio rolled in, with required 387104 at the front with 387108 & 387105 making up the other 2 units, for another 14 chain leap to City Thameslink, and a couple minute wait before required 377214 rolled in with dud 377520 back from Beckenham Junction, to take me to Farringdon. The stairs on the southern end of the northbound platform were out of action, so it was either a walk to the northern end of the platform, or using the lift to street level, so it was in the lift, and to the southbound platform to intercept the only evening southbound 12 carriage working, with duds 387122/387123/387115 back to City Thameslink, to wait for the 3rd and final northbound trio of the evening.
In rolled required 387103 followed by 387123 & 387115 back to the future interchange station at Farringdon, with duds 319012 & 319008 taking me back to City Thameslink. A slow walk across to the other platform, with a 7 minute wait before dud 377518 rolled in with winner 377213 on the back to clear the 377/2 subclass, so it was back to Farringdon, with 387112 & 387111 taking me back to Blackfriars to intercept the last northbound working of the evening with winner 377523 attached with 377207 back to City Thameslink (where I could see how much slower the Electrostars are at changing from DC to AC compared to the 319s), and that would be it for the evening as 387121 wasnt out to play and 377519 would be heading towards Brighton not to return that evening, so it was back to Blackfriars on duds 377515 & 377506, to head to Cannon Street for some unit hunting.
Required S7 stock working a District line service (or was it a Circle line service, I cant remember), 21339/340 rolled in for the 45 chain leap to Cannon Street, where I walked up to the concourse to spot a required 465/0 working a slightly delayed loop service, so I jumped onto winner 465012 a few seconds before the whistle went and the doors closed. A few minutes later I alighted at London Bridge to see what the front unit was and I was surprised and happy that it was another required 465, 465930. Happy days indeed, a 465/9 in the bag without even knowing it, across to P3 to see what was heading into Cannon Street, and first up was a pair of 376s, with required 376024 leading dud 376026, so it was back to Cannon Street.
I noticed on RTT a Tunbridge Wells bound service would be leaving in the next few minutes after arrival, and they normally throw up 465/9s (of which I need many), and I noticed winner 465911 was at the front, with dud 465915 on the rear, so it was a quick walk across to bag my 2nd 465/9 of the evening, back to London Bridge. Another fast walk to platform 3, and a short wait before winner 376036 came rolling in, with dud 376023 at the rear, not like Im moaning as one is better than none, so it was back to London Cannon Street, where I hit a dud patch with the next 4 departures all being duds, I was going to give up before I noticed a required 376 had rolled in which was due out 15 minutes later (which is a long turnaround at Cannon Street), so it was onto dud 376006 leading winner 376017 to have a seat and listen to some music awaiting for departure.
15 minutes (which flew by) later I was back moving to London Bridge, and wasnt long before dud 465186 came rolling in with required 465933 on the rear for my final leap to Cannon Street, where I had two options, either underground back to Waterloo via Embankment or to jump on a dud service to London Bridge for some 96 stock noise. The 96 stock won the day as I joined duds 466030/465184/466026 (not as odd as a trio of 466s I saw earlier working a Tunbridge Wells service) to London Bridge, and to the underground with required 96078 & 96053 took me forward to London Waterloo. A quick detour via Tesco for a meal-deal for dinner and it was back onto the concourse to play the usual spot the diesel for the final service heading west of Andover of the evening, and it was 159103 leading 158890 on the 21:20 towards Yeovil Junction, taking a seat on the memory foam seats on 159103, which finally clears it for 500 miles with a nice run to Andover.
End of a productive evening with 17 required units ticked off (OK, all mostly being tiny bus stop leaps, but gets them into the book) plus a handful of required LU units.
At the start of the night I had 10 Thameslink units outstanding, 2 x 319s, 4 x 377s & 4 x 387s, so I think an evening was called for within the Thameslink core, if I could get that 10 down to 4 I would be happy as it gives me something to aim for in the future, so it was a nice drive to Andover where I parked my car in the usual place on the side of the road (I can see where the commuters are parking during the duration of the car-park expansion works, although the question is will they go back once the car park is reopened in May time, or carry on parking on the side of the road in an non-controlled parking area and walking to the station to save parking fees?
Anyhow, as usual the 14:38 was running a couple minutes late, and as usual was formed of 8 carriages, with 158888 leading 159108 with 159013 on the rear, so taking my usual seat in the empty (as it starts from Salisbury) 158 for the nice fast run to Clapham Junction where I decided to bail and head across to the Windsor side of the station, with RTT up and running to give me potential movements, and the 2nd service towards Waterloo via Hounslow was a pair of 458/5s, and dud 458535 was leading with required 458526 leaving me with 7 left, of which only 2 are in service. A quick check of RTT and I bailed at Wandsworth Town and made my way back over with dud 458517 getting another 66 chains under its wheels back to Clapham, followed 10 minutes later with 458520 to Waterloo.
I was in two minds, either straight to Embankment on the Bakerloo or have a quick hop from Waterloo East, and as the peak-time subway at Waterloo was open I decided to head down underground, which I think was a good call for later on, the first Bakerloo service rolled in as I was arriving onto the platform, and dud 3561 was leading 3252 which was required, so I jumped on for the tiny leap to Embankment, eventually finding the way to the eastbound District/Circle line platform and a pair of D stock units were on the platform so I jumped on for another tiny leap to Temple, sadly it was duds 7091 & 7036, but I didnt have long to wait at Temple (as I could see the headlights of the S7 behind) and in rolled required (although as I only currently have Bakerloo & Victoria line requirements on my phone, it was unknown at the time) 21489/490 for the very tiny 14 chain leap to Blackfriars, where I headed up to the main-line station.
First thing which struck me is that blimey my travelcard worked the barriers for a change, and a pair of required 375/3s were sitting in the bay platform working a Dover stopper (first stop Elephant & Castle), and I bumped into BB21 who was waiting for the next northbound service as it would be some red units, sadly running late (which put a connection for a quick hop to City Thameslink and back to Blackfriars to grab those 375/3s out of the question), but in the meanwhile I checked and confirmed that 8 of my 10 requirements were due to run northbound this evening, one of the 387s was unallocated and one of the 377s was working London Bridge Brighton services, but good to know and make a note of the time they were due up. Anyhow as predicted in rolled a pair of red units, the future Gatwick Express 387/2s being used temporary by Thameslink (makes them easier to get into the book at least!) with outright winner 387203 leading dud 387201 for the tiny leap to City Thameslink. Sadly as predicted the southbound service had gone so 375304 & 375310 will have to wait for another day, I probably should have headed back south on the next service as at least Blackfriars is in the open so has fresh air.
Taking a seat to keep an eye out, but I knew I had around a 20 minute wait before a Sevenoaks St Albans service rolled in, before the time came around and in rolled required 319214 attached with required 319436, yep like buses, you wait ages for required 319s and two arrive at the same time, what were the odds of my final 2 required (Thameslink, as I still need 3 Northern units) 319s being on the same working? Anyhow with something which has been bugging me since May last year had finally gone, and I was at Farringdon. Sadly I didnt have enough time to head back to City Thameslink before the first 12 carriage train of the night arrived, with dud 387107 leading dud 387114 with required 387101 on the rear so it was to St Pancras as I could go no further (unless I wanted a nice non-stop ride to St Albans).
I missed the next southbound service so it was a 7 minute wait before duds 377512 & 377509 rolled in where I decided to take a gamble with a +2 at Blackfriars and take them to the river, and a fast walk on the south side of the platforms to P2 just as the next 387 trio rolled in, with required 387104 at the front with 387108 & 387105 making up the other 2 units, for another 14 chain leap to City Thameslink, and a couple minute wait before required 377214 rolled in with dud 377520 back from Beckenham Junction, to take me to Farringdon. The stairs on the southern end of the northbound platform were out of action, so it was either a walk to the northern end of the platform, or using the lift to street level, so it was in the lift, and to the southbound platform to intercept the only evening southbound 12 carriage working, with duds 387122/387123/387115 back to City Thameslink, to wait for the 3rd and final northbound trio of the evening.
In rolled required 387103 followed by 387123 & 387115 back to the future interchange station at Farringdon, with duds 319012 & 319008 taking me back to City Thameslink. A slow walk across to the other platform, with a 7 minute wait before dud 377518 rolled in with winner 377213 on the back to clear the 377/2 subclass, so it was back to Farringdon, with 387112 & 387111 taking me back to Blackfriars to intercept the last northbound working of the evening with winner 377523 attached with 377207 back to City Thameslink (where I could see how much slower the Electrostars are at changing from DC to AC compared to the 319s), and that would be it for the evening as 387121 wasnt out to play and 377519 would be heading towards Brighton not to return that evening, so it was back to Blackfriars on duds 377515 & 377506, to head to Cannon Street for some unit hunting.
Required S7 stock working a District line service (or was it a Circle line service, I cant remember), 21339/340 rolled in for the 45 chain leap to Cannon Street, where I walked up to the concourse to spot a required 465/0 working a slightly delayed loop service, so I jumped onto winner 465012 a few seconds before the whistle went and the doors closed. A few minutes later I alighted at London Bridge to see what the front unit was and I was surprised and happy that it was another required 465, 465930. Happy days indeed, a 465/9 in the bag without even knowing it, across to P3 to see what was heading into Cannon Street, and first up was a pair of 376s, with required 376024 leading dud 376026, so it was back to Cannon Street.
I noticed on RTT a Tunbridge Wells bound service would be leaving in the next few minutes after arrival, and they normally throw up 465/9s (of which I need many), and I noticed winner 465911 was at the front, with dud 465915 on the rear, so it was a quick walk across to bag my 2nd 465/9 of the evening, back to London Bridge. Another fast walk to platform 3, and a short wait before winner 376036 came rolling in, with dud 376023 at the rear, not like Im moaning as one is better than none, so it was back to London Cannon Street, where I hit a dud patch with the next 4 departures all being duds, I was going to give up before I noticed a required 376 had rolled in which was due out 15 minutes later (which is a long turnaround at Cannon Street), so it was onto dud 376006 leading winner 376017 to have a seat and listen to some music awaiting for departure.
15 minutes (which flew by) later I was back moving to London Bridge, and wasnt long before dud 465186 came rolling in with required 465933 on the rear for my final leap to Cannon Street, where I had two options, either underground back to Waterloo via Embankment or to jump on a dud service to London Bridge for some 96 stock noise. The 96 stock won the day as I joined duds 466030/465184/466026 (not as odd as a trio of 466s I saw earlier working a Tunbridge Wells service) to London Bridge, and to the underground with required 96078 & 96053 took me forward to London Waterloo. A quick detour via Tesco for a meal-deal for dinner and it was back onto the concourse to play the usual spot the diesel for the final service heading west of Andover of the evening, and it was 159103 leading 158890 on the 21:20 towards Yeovil Junction, taking a seat on the memory foam seats on 159103, which finally clears it for 500 miles with a nice run to Andover.
End of a productive evening with 17 required units ticked off (OK, all mostly being tiny bus stop leaps, but gets them into the book) plus a handful of required LU units.
Keith Jarrett
Member
Temple to Blackfriars is definitely more than 14 chains - are you thinking of Blackfriars to City?
That service is on my radar for a Friday night as I want several 375/3s for 10 miles
Congratulations on clearing your TL 319s and no doubt those last three Northern ones are now firmly in your sights. Pity your last 377 and 387 were not as polite in making themselves available to you.
Kite159
Veteran Member
Indeed, I meant 37 chains between Temple & Blackfriars.
Looking at RTT, the 1655 London Blackfriars to Dover Priory comes back to London as the 1920 Dover Priory to London Victoria, arriving into Bromley South at 21:03.
Cheers for the TL 319s, no longer I need to keep an eye out for them, hopefully that 377 & 387 will fall at some-point, probably another Friday evening job with gem will do the trick
Looking at RTT, the 1655 London Blackfriars to Dover Priory comes back to London as the 1920 Dover Priory to London Victoria, arriving into Bromley South at 21:03.
Cheers for the TL 319s, no longer I need to keep an eye out for them, hopefully that 377 & 387 will fall at some-point, probably another Friday evening job with gem will do the trick
Kite159
Veteran Member
Sadly I still have some 319s left to hunt in Northern land, a job for a Liverpool day me thinks
Techniquest
Veteran Member
No, not I'm not jealous whatsoever...
An excellent read as always, I think you need to create a list for your S stock needs
I need to bear that move off Blackfriars in mind, as I only need a couple of 375/3s. Trios of 387s, oh my I really do need to get down there and get on with a serious session in the core, my 387 needs have gone up to 51 with the 387/2s now entering service! Yes that does mean I need 24 387/1s...
You and me both regarding Merseyside, too many 319 needs for my liking!
An excellent read as always, I think you need to create a list for your S stock needs
I need to bear that move off Blackfriars in mind, as I only need a couple of 375/3s. Trios of 387s, oh my I really do need to get down there and get on with a serious session in the core, my 387 needs have gone up to 51 with the 387/2s now entering service! Yes that does mean I need 24 387/1s...
You and me both regarding Merseyside, too many 319 needs for my liking!
Kite159
Veteran Member
13th February A day on the Great Northern Electrics
A nice relaxing (compared to the usual) Saturday for me, visiting some of the shacks on the Great Northern route south of Stevenage, some of which Ive passed through many times but have never been on a train which called, before attending a musical concert in Brixton in the evening. With the line being closed around Salisbury this weekend, meant buses between Andover & Salisbury, so I had a nice little drive to Andover to avoid the bus, and walked to board 159106 which was working the stopper to Basingstoke (where it would terminate due to reduced platforms at Waterloo).
Heading across to platform 3 to await the next Waterloo bound service as the connections werent always the best (the Poole stopper was only running as far as Winchester and the Portsmouth via Fareham was only working to Basingstoke, so sometimes the only connection from Andover would be onto the stopper (and in that case it would be quicker to delay and catch the service half an hour later). Anyhow, busy duds 444035 & 444043 rolled in, and after asking someone with a bag on the seat under the Pan well to move their bag (huffing and puffing that someone dared to sit next to them), and on the other table was some semi-posh person attending to chat up some ladies by telling them how great his life is (in an annoying voice which I could still hear with my earphones in). Anyhow a nice fast run calling only at Clapham Junction (poor people of Woking having to use a semi-fast) and into Waterloo where we arrived a few minutes early (probably helped by having a clear run).
Before I headed to Kings Cross, I had unfinished business on the Marston Vale line, mainly a station called Millbrook, which is a lot easier to grab on a Saturday than a weekday evening, so it was down to the Bakerloo line (via grabbing something to eat and a newspaper from Tesco), like the day before a train rolled in just as I reached the platform, with dud 3551 leading required 3232 I stayed on for the usual trip to Oxford Circus, where required 11035/036 took me to Euston and 11055/056 for the extra hop to Kings Cross St Pancras (as I had time to kill before the Corby train would depart, so a good chance to grab some required 2011 stock units). At Kings Cross St Pancras, I crossed over to St Pancras itself and headed up to the EMT level for the 10:01 Corby stopper, formed this morning of winner 222008.
38 minutes and nearly 50 miles later, I arrived into Bedford, and after checking the Thameslink services for anything required (nothing spotted apart from the pair of red 387/2s rolling into Bedford later on), so I headed across to platform 1A as 150107 rolled in, and I took a seat. I dont know what came over me but I decided to check RTT, only to find that the 153 which I would connect with at Millbrook was cancelled, so I quickly bailed from the 150 as I didnt really fancy spending 75 minutes at Millbrook, as it isnt really in a location with much around (like some of the other shacks on the Marston Vale line). Anyhow I decided to ditch that move, and head back to platform 1 as a single 377 was working a service formed of 8 coaches (which I can imagine will get busy later on), but as its a case that the EMT services take around 40 minutes to cover the 50 miles and the Thameslink services take longer, most passengers from Bedford (and probably Luton) wait for the half hourly diesel service, so the platform was quite busy as winner 222015 rolled in. I managed to get a seat (another huff & puffy lady having to shift her bag), so it was a nice enough trip down South on the service which started at Nottingham.
Into St Pancras pretty much on time, so a quick diversion via Boots at Kings Cross for some lunch before heading over to platform 10, unusually a Grand Central 180 was sat on platform 11 (first time Ive seen that happen) and it was onto dud 317340 (well the chance of my last 317/3 just happening to pop up for my first shack attack of the afternoon would have been low), a quick check of RTT saw a timetabled +5 at Knebworth but the southbound service was running 4 minutes down put it to a +9, so I decided to make the most of the time heading north and bailed at Knebworth. Nice enough station with two island platforms for the 4 tracks (of which the inner two platforms were fenced off as I would imagine non-stop trains would fly by if not calling at Stevenage). The wind had picked up and it was lightly raining so it was a case of hiding in the bus shelters with many other passengers as super dud 317347 rolled in, it was very busy standing room only as I bailed (like several others did) at Welwyn Garden City a station where to get between platforms you need to use the ticket gates (as I suspect the footbridge across the tracks is a public right of way). I wanted to hit Welwyn from the north for one particular reason, a required bit of track on the flyover to the south of the station used by the stoppers heading to Moorgate to get from platform 4 to the up slow track.
Duds 313048 & 313040 rolled in a few minutes late and my connection at Welham Green looked to be in doubt (as it was a +4) as we departed 4 minutes down, thankfully it looked like the next northbound 313s were running 5 minutes late, so it was over the flyover (Looks to be a reversal chord from the Up Slow which goes up part of the embankment to meet the flyover line, which I can only imagine sees ECS movements to platform 1 at WGC) and back down south where I bailed at the very basic Welham Green, which has many old signs for previous TOCs and a little portacabin for a ticket office located in a corner underneath the road bridge. Wasnt long waiting in the rain before (do I really need to say dud when the class is cleared?) 313053 & 313052 rolled in for a nice 2 mile (& 9 chain) spin up to Hatfield which has platforms set apart, and strangely no fence to protect the down main track (as again I would imagine non-stop services would fly pass), although for me it was a same platform change for a late running Cambridge stopper so I didnt see if any ticket barriers were in operation.
Since when did 321s work to Cambridge at the weekends, I asked myself as winner 321408 rolled in running a few minutes late, held at the Garden City for a Grand Central HST to roar pass, and onto the 2-track section over Digswell Viaduct to Welwyn North, thankfully I did Knebworth beforehand as no way would I have made that +5. It was time to give the Great Northern Random Unit Generator (GNRUG) a spin, what would be next, a 317, a 321 or a 365. In rolled dud 365506 to take me back south to Potters Bar, with a fast platform change before 313134 & 313062 rolled in to take me one stop north at Brookmans Park, a station which I had planned a 31 minute fester as there is only a +1 between services. However thankfully that 31 minute fester wasnt required as 313039 & 313061 were running a couple minutes late, so it was onto 313061 to get some motor noise and have a good run (as a lot of 313s were grabbed on bus stop leaps on the Northern City Line section).
I alighted at Alexandra Palace where I noticed some notices that soon it will have ticket barriers, which I would imagine will either be like the ones at Welwyn Garden City being at the bottom of the stairs, or being like Potters Bar on the bridge itself. Anyhow I wasnt around for long before 313047 & 313061 rolled in to take me onto the Hertford loop, a quick check of RTT saw that the 153 from earlier was back working on the Marston Vale line, but sadly if I wanted to get Millbrook in, would mean missing out on Cuffley (the first station outside the zones on the loop). Decision time as I sped north up the loop stopping at every station to arrive into the bay platform (so micro-grind) at Hertford North, where the service terminated (well it couldnt really go any further in that bay).
Across to the other platform to jump onto 313035 & 313032 heading south from Stevenage to take me to the very basic Bayford, where it felt like I was the only living being around the station for the 10 minutes before 313030 & 313027 rolled in heading to Stevenage to take me to the hourly served Watton-At-Stone, which was another very basic station with some (slightly drunk) locals going look its a train (like they havent seen one before). Hourly served so I had 25 or so minutes to kill before 313027 & 313030 returned from Stevenage for the nice run back south to Finsbury Park where connections are a bit rubbish with a Kings Cross bound service arriving at the same time on platform 4 (we rolled in onto platform 2), so meant a 15 minute fester before the next Kings Cross bound service (as the 313s work down to Moorgate at weekends now).
Dud 365503 was next up, so it was down to Kings Cross, where a Hull Trains 180 was sat on P10 (again, first time seeing a Hull Trains 180 in the suburban side of the station), the ticket barriers were wide open (which seems a bit surprising) and I headed back over to St Pancras for a busy Lincoln bound fresh dud 222015 back to Bedford, for another fester (noting that the service towards Corby was required).
150107 rolled into the bay platform, and I took a seat and relaxed as we set off, around the corner pausing at the other Bedford station before entering the wilderness, where I alighted at my final required shack on the line at Millbrook, and as predicted it was another shack with nothing much around, some houses and that is about it, the village of Millbrook is around a mile away. Over the level crossing and to the other side where I sat in the little bus shelter to finish my book as mega dud 153366 (really, does 366 live on this line as every time Ive been on it has been 153366?) rolled in to take me back to Bedford (Midland), the train emptied out a lot at St Johns.
Certainly felt strange being at Bedford with no Thameslink services around (as it had gone down to half hourly at this point), a dud 222 rolled in which looked busy and allowed it to go, my focus was on a 222/1 I saw heading towards Corby earlier. Firing up Google Maps and it suggested a Tesco Metro (yeah baby) was located a ~ 10 minute walk from the station, so it was a short walk to grab something to munch on before returning, with a brief 5 minute wait before required (and rather empty) 222101 rolled in to take me back down south to St Pancras.
To the Victoria line, with required 11087/088 taking me all the way down to Brixton, where I alighted for my musical show (if anybody is interested it was the band Hurts). An hour and a half later I was back at Brixton underground, with an hour and 10 minutes to kill before needing to be back at Waterloo, so with a hop to Stockwell on required 11015/016 I transferred to the Northern line. 51513 & 51514 took me down to Clapham Common, followed closely by duds 51524 & 51523 to Tooting Bec. 2 minutes later 51675 & 51676 rolled in for the 54 chain leap to Tooting Broadway with 51583/51582 following a minute behind to Colliers Wood and last but not least 51592 & 51591 to South Wimbeldon to clear the southern end of the northern line, just the northern branches to go. It was back to Stockwell (as it would have been a bit tight to get back to Waterloo if there was a delay at Kennington for a Waterloo branch service), and required Victoria line 11005/006 took me onwards to Vauxhall.
A fast walk to P8 as I jumped onto duds 450546 & 450098 working towards Windsor & Eden Riverside to Clapham Junction, where I had 10 minutes before the 23:47 would depart, and feeling a tad hungry I headed to Sainsburys to grab a pasta pot meal deal before heading back to P9 to await the 23:47 to Basingstoke
That sounds a bit strange I through to myself as announcements came on that it would terminate at Basingstoke and not call at Overton, Whitchurch or Andover this evening, a last minute rail replacement bus, for fish sake I through on hearing that announcement, as 159018 & 159007 rolled in for the fast run to Woking, where we went into the slow lines following an Eastleigh bound 444 arriving into Basingstoke where the train terminated (I joked that it was running low on fuel), around 50 passengers were outside Basingstoke station with the guard and a member of station dispatch staff on the phone asking where the bus was. 15 minutes later (in the cold and wet) a coach was spotted, a nice 2014 coach from an Uxbridge coach company called Hamilton. Quite nice inside (beats having a regular service bus drafted in), however going via Overton & Whitchurch adds a lot of time to the journey (the stations are located down little side streets away from the main-road) for the benefit of one person who got off at Overton and the 2 people who got off at Whitchurch.
Eventually we reached Andover around 35 minutes later than I was expecting, and I got home around 2:05. A busy and productive day and with nothing planned (or booked) for Sunday it was a nice lazy day catching up with some odd jobs around the house and bird watching.
A nice relaxing (compared to the usual) Saturday for me, visiting some of the shacks on the Great Northern route south of Stevenage, some of which Ive passed through many times but have never been on a train which called, before attending a musical concert in Brixton in the evening. With the line being closed around Salisbury this weekend, meant buses between Andover & Salisbury, so I had a nice little drive to Andover to avoid the bus, and walked to board 159106 which was working the stopper to Basingstoke (where it would terminate due to reduced platforms at Waterloo).
Heading across to platform 3 to await the next Waterloo bound service as the connections werent always the best (the Poole stopper was only running as far as Winchester and the Portsmouth via Fareham was only working to Basingstoke, so sometimes the only connection from Andover would be onto the stopper (and in that case it would be quicker to delay and catch the service half an hour later). Anyhow, busy duds 444035 & 444043 rolled in, and after asking someone with a bag on the seat under the Pan well to move their bag (huffing and puffing that someone dared to sit next to them), and on the other table was some semi-posh person attending to chat up some ladies by telling them how great his life is (in an annoying voice which I could still hear with my earphones in). Anyhow a nice fast run calling only at Clapham Junction (poor people of Woking having to use a semi-fast) and into Waterloo where we arrived a few minutes early (probably helped by having a clear run).
Before I headed to Kings Cross, I had unfinished business on the Marston Vale line, mainly a station called Millbrook, which is a lot easier to grab on a Saturday than a weekday evening, so it was down to the Bakerloo line (via grabbing something to eat and a newspaper from Tesco), like the day before a train rolled in just as I reached the platform, with dud 3551 leading required 3232 I stayed on for the usual trip to Oxford Circus, where required 11035/036 took me to Euston and 11055/056 for the extra hop to Kings Cross St Pancras (as I had time to kill before the Corby train would depart, so a good chance to grab some required 2011 stock units). At Kings Cross St Pancras, I crossed over to St Pancras itself and headed up to the EMT level for the 10:01 Corby stopper, formed this morning of winner 222008.
38 minutes and nearly 50 miles later, I arrived into Bedford, and after checking the Thameslink services for anything required (nothing spotted apart from the pair of red 387/2s rolling into Bedford later on), so I headed across to platform 1A as 150107 rolled in, and I took a seat. I dont know what came over me but I decided to check RTT, only to find that the 153 which I would connect with at Millbrook was cancelled, so I quickly bailed from the 150 as I didnt really fancy spending 75 minutes at Millbrook, as it isnt really in a location with much around (like some of the other shacks on the Marston Vale line). Anyhow I decided to ditch that move, and head back to platform 1 as a single 377 was working a service formed of 8 coaches (which I can imagine will get busy later on), but as its a case that the EMT services take around 40 minutes to cover the 50 miles and the Thameslink services take longer, most passengers from Bedford (and probably Luton) wait for the half hourly diesel service, so the platform was quite busy as winner 222015 rolled in. I managed to get a seat (another huff & puffy lady having to shift her bag), so it was a nice enough trip down South on the service which started at Nottingham.
Into St Pancras pretty much on time, so a quick diversion via Boots at Kings Cross for some lunch before heading over to platform 10, unusually a Grand Central 180 was sat on platform 11 (first time Ive seen that happen) and it was onto dud 317340 (well the chance of my last 317/3 just happening to pop up for my first shack attack of the afternoon would have been low), a quick check of RTT saw a timetabled +5 at Knebworth but the southbound service was running 4 minutes down put it to a +9, so I decided to make the most of the time heading north and bailed at Knebworth. Nice enough station with two island platforms for the 4 tracks (of which the inner two platforms were fenced off as I would imagine non-stop trains would fly by if not calling at Stevenage). The wind had picked up and it was lightly raining so it was a case of hiding in the bus shelters with many other passengers as super dud 317347 rolled in, it was very busy standing room only as I bailed (like several others did) at Welwyn Garden City a station where to get between platforms you need to use the ticket gates (as I suspect the footbridge across the tracks is a public right of way). I wanted to hit Welwyn from the north for one particular reason, a required bit of track on the flyover to the south of the station used by the stoppers heading to Moorgate to get from platform 4 to the up slow track.
Duds 313048 & 313040 rolled in a few minutes late and my connection at Welham Green looked to be in doubt (as it was a +4) as we departed 4 minutes down, thankfully it looked like the next northbound 313s were running 5 minutes late, so it was over the flyover (Looks to be a reversal chord from the Up Slow which goes up part of the embankment to meet the flyover line, which I can only imagine sees ECS movements to platform 1 at WGC) and back down south where I bailed at the very basic Welham Green, which has many old signs for previous TOCs and a little portacabin for a ticket office located in a corner underneath the road bridge. Wasnt long waiting in the rain before (do I really need to say dud when the class is cleared?) 313053 & 313052 rolled in for a nice 2 mile (& 9 chain) spin up to Hatfield which has platforms set apart, and strangely no fence to protect the down main track (as again I would imagine non-stop services would fly pass), although for me it was a same platform change for a late running Cambridge stopper so I didnt see if any ticket barriers were in operation.
Since when did 321s work to Cambridge at the weekends, I asked myself as winner 321408 rolled in running a few minutes late, held at the Garden City for a Grand Central HST to roar pass, and onto the 2-track section over Digswell Viaduct to Welwyn North, thankfully I did Knebworth beforehand as no way would I have made that +5. It was time to give the Great Northern Random Unit Generator (GNRUG) a spin, what would be next, a 317, a 321 or a 365. In rolled dud 365506 to take me back south to Potters Bar, with a fast platform change before 313134 & 313062 rolled in to take me one stop north at Brookmans Park, a station which I had planned a 31 minute fester as there is only a +1 between services. However thankfully that 31 minute fester wasnt required as 313039 & 313061 were running a couple minutes late, so it was onto 313061 to get some motor noise and have a good run (as a lot of 313s were grabbed on bus stop leaps on the Northern City Line section).
I alighted at Alexandra Palace where I noticed some notices that soon it will have ticket barriers, which I would imagine will either be like the ones at Welwyn Garden City being at the bottom of the stairs, or being like Potters Bar on the bridge itself. Anyhow I wasnt around for long before 313047 & 313061 rolled in to take me onto the Hertford loop, a quick check of RTT saw that the 153 from earlier was back working on the Marston Vale line, but sadly if I wanted to get Millbrook in, would mean missing out on Cuffley (the first station outside the zones on the loop). Decision time as I sped north up the loop stopping at every station to arrive into the bay platform (so micro-grind) at Hertford North, where the service terminated (well it couldnt really go any further in that bay).
Across to the other platform to jump onto 313035 & 313032 heading south from Stevenage to take me to the very basic Bayford, where it felt like I was the only living being around the station for the 10 minutes before 313030 & 313027 rolled in heading to Stevenage to take me to the hourly served Watton-At-Stone, which was another very basic station with some (slightly drunk) locals going look its a train (like they havent seen one before). Hourly served so I had 25 or so minutes to kill before 313027 & 313030 returned from Stevenage for the nice run back south to Finsbury Park where connections are a bit rubbish with a Kings Cross bound service arriving at the same time on platform 4 (we rolled in onto platform 2), so meant a 15 minute fester before the next Kings Cross bound service (as the 313s work down to Moorgate at weekends now).
Dud 365503 was next up, so it was down to Kings Cross, where a Hull Trains 180 was sat on P10 (again, first time seeing a Hull Trains 180 in the suburban side of the station), the ticket barriers were wide open (which seems a bit surprising) and I headed back over to St Pancras for a busy Lincoln bound fresh dud 222015 back to Bedford, for another fester (noting that the service towards Corby was required).
150107 rolled into the bay platform, and I took a seat and relaxed as we set off, around the corner pausing at the other Bedford station before entering the wilderness, where I alighted at my final required shack on the line at Millbrook, and as predicted it was another shack with nothing much around, some houses and that is about it, the village of Millbrook is around a mile away. Over the level crossing and to the other side where I sat in the little bus shelter to finish my book as mega dud 153366 (really, does 366 live on this line as every time Ive been on it has been 153366?) rolled in to take me back to Bedford (Midland), the train emptied out a lot at St Johns.
Certainly felt strange being at Bedford with no Thameslink services around (as it had gone down to half hourly at this point), a dud 222 rolled in which looked busy and allowed it to go, my focus was on a 222/1 I saw heading towards Corby earlier. Firing up Google Maps and it suggested a Tesco Metro (yeah baby) was located a ~ 10 minute walk from the station, so it was a short walk to grab something to munch on before returning, with a brief 5 minute wait before required (and rather empty) 222101 rolled in to take me back down south to St Pancras.
To the Victoria line, with required 11087/088 taking me all the way down to Brixton, where I alighted for my musical show (if anybody is interested it was the band Hurts). An hour and a half later I was back at Brixton underground, with an hour and 10 minutes to kill before needing to be back at Waterloo, so with a hop to Stockwell on required 11015/016 I transferred to the Northern line. 51513 & 51514 took me down to Clapham Common, followed closely by duds 51524 & 51523 to Tooting Bec. 2 minutes later 51675 & 51676 rolled in for the 54 chain leap to Tooting Broadway with 51583/51582 following a minute behind to Colliers Wood and last but not least 51592 & 51591 to South Wimbeldon to clear the southern end of the northern line, just the northern branches to go. It was back to Stockwell (as it would have been a bit tight to get back to Waterloo if there was a delay at Kennington for a Waterloo branch service), and required Victoria line 11005/006 took me onwards to Vauxhall.
A fast walk to P8 as I jumped onto duds 450546 & 450098 working towards Windsor & Eden Riverside to Clapham Junction, where I had 10 minutes before the 23:47 would depart, and feeling a tad hungry I headed to Sainsburys to grab a pasta pot meal deal before heading back to P9 to await the 23:47 to Basingstoke
That sounds a bit strange I through to myself as announcements came on that it would terminate at Basingstoke and not call at Overton, Whitchurch or Andover this evening, a last minute rail replacement bus, for fish sake I through on hearing that announcement, as 159018 & 159007 rolled in for the fast run to Woking, where we went into the slow lines following an Eastleigh bound 444 arriving into Basingstoke where the train terminated (I joked that it was running low on fuel), around 50 passengers were outside Basingstoke station with the guard and a member of station dispatch staff on the phone asking where the bus was. 15 minutes later (in the cold and wet) a coach was spotted, a nice 2014 coach from an Uxbridge coach company called Hamilton. Quite nice inside (beats having a regular service bus drafted in), however going via Overton & Whitchurch adds a lot of time to the journey (the stations are located down little side streets away from the main-road) for the benefit of one person who got off at Overton and the 2 people who got off at Whitchurch.
Eventually we reached Andover around 35 minutes later than I was expecting, and I got home around 2:05. A busy and productive day and with nothing planned (or booked) for Sunday it was a nice lazy day catching up with some odd jobs around the house and bird watching.
Kristofferson
Member
- Joined
- 23 Nov 2012
- Messages
- 1,132
That must have been an enjoyable Thameslink bash, congrats on your many winners as usual
I must check out Hurts, as my brother was at the same concert...
I must check out Hurts, as my brother was at the same concert...
Kite159
Veteran Member
Would have been the 17:12 from Finsbury (15:55 from Cambridge), so could have well been working an earlier service from Peterborough to Kings Cross, then worked a Cambridge express, then a stopper back.
Techniquest
Veteran Member
Excellent read, I don't think I have to mention that I'm jealous of many of those shack scores! At least you didn't get my last 313/0, 313035, otherwise I'd be more than green with envy!
Didn't envy the late arrival home mind!
Didn't envy the late arrival home mind!
Keith Jarrett
Member
What, no Sunday leap for Kite?
Seriously, the GN bash on Saturday seemed to go well along with sorting out that last shack on the Marston Vale. And top drawer read as ever.
Seriously, the GN bash on Saturday seemed to go well along with sorting out that last shack on the Marston Vale. And top drawer read as ever.
Kite159
Veteran Member
Only sight issue is having to go back to try and get Cuffley in the bag which might be a job for a weekday evening (and a BZ6 ticket) to avoid having a 28-odd minute wait (half hourly at weekends and the 313s pass each other just south of the station).
Although it will be a lot easier than Millbrook, which for a couple services in the evenings has a +3 and a +1 for connections, and with the level crossing the +3 would be very tight [as I can't imagine the barriers will be raised in between services].
This coming Sunday will probably be another lazy day, as it appears the main-line is closed between Basingstoke & Surbiton
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An excellent couple of moves.
It's a long time since I went to school, so my maths might be a bit rusty, but I believe the odds of both your last required Thameslink 319s turning up on the same service were 1 in 2145, or 2144 to 1.
It's a long time since I went to school, so my maths might be a bit rusty, but I believe the odds of both your last required Thameslink 319s turning up on the same service were 1 in 2145, or 2144 to 1.
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Kite159
Veteran Member
So quite long odds then
Another Saturday night, another bus
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
19th February – A return to the Marston Vale for some 153 hunting
My original plan for today was to do a nice linear bash up the ECML to clear those shacks north of Stevenage towards Peterborough, which apart from Hitchin I have never called at, however when I heard my 2nd last London Midland 153 was working Bedford to Bletchley services this week, my plan changed to head to Bedford to link up, and also a slight detour on the way home to grab Cuffley. I had a seat reservation on the 17:00 St Pancras – Sheffield/Corby which calls at Bedford and connected with a Bletchley bound service, but if I hadn’t already purchased my tickets I would have gone straight back home.
The SWT network on Friday was in a state of chaos, delays, cancellations, caused by numerous issues, as I walked to Andover station I noticed the 14:40 departing “that was running late” I thought to myself (at 14:55), as I picked up the tickets to hear “we are sorry to announced the 14:00 service to Yeovil Pen Mill is delayed by 1 hour 20 minutes”, and the PIS on the London bound platform showing “Basingstoke”. My brain went into thinking mode, catch the 159s to Basingstoke to connect with the Reading stopper to give me a half hopeful chance of a HST to Paddington (although 15 minutes to get from Paddington to St Pancras would be pushing it).
159018 & 159008 rolled in, the guard was thinking we were going to Waterloo, but we terminated at Basingstoke after a few minute wait outside the station for the platform to become available, rolling in just as the GWR service was rolling out, so that plan went into the bin and I joined a lot of other passengers, to await the next service which was going forward to Waterloo, a single 450 from Portsmouth Harbour which was due to call at several intermediate stations (Fleet, Farnborough) and when it rolled in was wedged. I foolishly gave it up for the service from (would have been) Weymouth behind which normally would have run fast to Clapham, but was calling additionally at Woking (or Chaving as I’m going to nickname it after a display on Saturday evening).
In rolled 444030, and I managed to get a seat at a table in the leading coach, however the automatic selective door opening function decided that it didn’t want to open all the doors at Basingstoke, and after a few minutes the guard managed to turn it off to change to manual, causing a 10 minute delay before we got going (annoyingly missing a pair of 220s heading towards Manchester, although I have no idea if either would have been required). A nice fast run before slowing at Woking and around Surbiton area and into the P7 loop at Clapham Junction, where I decided to bail and do a Vauxhall move, the odds of making the 17:00 being pretty much zero now (for it was now 16:38). Duds 455910 & 455874 had the 2 and a bit mile trip to Vauxhall, arriving into a station in chaos, the next Clapham bound service wasn’t due until 17:10 going by the PIS, and the island was busy.
Eventually I reached the sunny Victoria line, but as it was now 16:46 and it takes 15 minutes to reach Kings Cross St Pancras on average, decided to go for plan B, the 17:30 departure with a fester at Bedford. With time to kill and the Victoria line in full 30+ trains per hour mode, I decided to try and grab some required 2011 stock sets. First up with a dud set, before required 11081/082 rolled in for the short hop to Pimlico, 1 minute later required 11067/068 rolled in, and I stayed on as it was peak time and the train got very busy at Victoria (well the rear coach did, the front half was probably empty). Bailing at Warren Street, it was another minute wait before 11044/043 rolled in for another bus stop leap to Euston, where my luck ran out, 4 dud sets in a row and I decided to cut my losses and jumped on the 5th dud in a row with 11035/036 to Kings Cross St Pancras.
To platform 2 at St Pancras, after speaking with the gate-line staff (as I was travelling on the outward part of a super off-peak day return to Stewartby) he eventually allowed me to travel after showing my seat reservation for the 17:00 which showed that my ticket was valid on the 17:30 to Bedford, and it was a double set, with mega mile dud 222013 at the rear and required 222104 at the front. The doors were released and I joined the masses boarding, where I grabbed a table seat to charge my phone and to read my book for a busy service, non-stop to Bedford.
RTT suggested I would have a 20 minute wait for the 150 to show up, I was tempted as I spotted my last Thameslink 387 departing inside 10 minutes on route to Brighton, but I turned that down, just in case the units had been swapped around, and after a short wait dud 150105 rolled in, at least I will be clearing that 150 for 10 miles tonight, as I took a seat and waited for departure time. On time the 150 departed around the corner and onwards, where I alighted at Stewartby for a 20 minute wait (owing to the timetable, the service I would have caught if I made the 17:00 pass just west of Millbrook, so would have been a +6 (or so)), another passenger alighted with me and nobody got on for the station in the middle of nowhere (with the village being a good half mile away going by the station map).
18 minutes later I heard the level crossing sound as the barriers went down and I went up the ramp to join the ghosts at the exposed platform, as required 153334 rolled in to take me back to Bedford, where as usual the timetable padding between the two Bedford stations meant an early arrival allowing me to catch the next southbound EMT service from Nottingham (I think), what would it be I was pondering to myself and in rolled quiet dud 222102 for the nice fast run to St Pancras, where a short walk across the road saw me at Kings Cross where the next Cambridge stopper would connect with the next Hertford loop service at Finsbury Park, and was a 321, would I get lucky with a required GN 321?
Nope, it was dud 321418, at least the run to Finsbury Park pushes it over 5 miles, where I waited for a Welywn Garden City service to depart first before the next Hertford North bound service, which was “formed of 3 carriages”, and in rolled 313029 (at least I will be adding to it’s bus stop mileage), and as expected for a 3 car service it departed Finsbury Park rather cosy (with myself taking up a middle seat next to someone who decided they wanted to attempt to read one of those massive broad-sheet newspapers (looked like the Telegraph) and was annoyed someone dared sit next to them. Thankfully after a few stops the train emptied out, and it rolled on outside the zones to Cuffley.
Nice enough station at Cuffley, like the other shacks up the loop a bit on the basic side with closed up buildings, but with 8 minutes to kill to get across to the other platform via the handy subway, I took my time before 313027 & 313060 rolled in, taking a seat in 313060 which was at bus stop mileage (compared to 027 which was at 35-odd miles) for the nice enough run back to Finsbury Park, never again do I need to visit the Hertford loop. A dud 365 was the option to take me back to Kings Cross, which I turned down and headed down the spiral staircase to the southbound Victoria line platform. First couple services were duds, but I was rewarded with 11057/058 for the trip to Oxford Circus, jumping onto a Waterloo bound (Bakerloo line sounded like it was in a mess due to signal issues) 3240 and dud 3549, to head up to the main concourse, which was still in a state of chaos, which after diverting via Tesco Express on Waterloo Road (Sainsburys is closed for refit), I headed to see what would happen with the 22:20.
The good news is that it wasn’t running massively late like some services, so chances are it would run all the way to Waterloo (to pick up 158888 which was sat on one of the platforms), and at around 22:15, 159007 rolled up, emptying out before the doors were closed and the attachment took place, with the doors being released at around 22:30. The 22:25 Alton service had been cut back to start from Woking, so we had some extra passengers, for the nice enough run back to Andover, the driver giving it some speed to try and regain some lost time.
An hour later than I hoped to be, but the two aims for my little evening bash was complete (getting that 153 in & Cuffley), hopefully the only time I will have to return to the Marston Vale line is when 153365 decides to pop up one week (and it being a week where I’m able to grab it on a Friday evening)
Another Saturday night, another bus
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
19th February – A return to the Marston Vale for some 153 hunting
My original plan for today was to do a nice linear bash up the ECML to clear those shacks north of Stevenage towards Peterborough, which apart from Hitchin I have never called at, however when I heard my 2nd last London Midland 153 was working Bedford to Bletchley services this week, my plan changed to head to Bedford to link up, and also a slight detour on the way home to grab Cuffley. I had a seat reservation on the 17:00 St Pancras – Sheffield/Corby which calls at Bedford and connected with a Bletchley bound service, but if I hadn’t already purchased my tickets I would have gone straight back home.
The SWT network on Friday was in a state of chaos, delays, cancellations, caused by numerous issues, as I walked to Andover station I noticed the 14:40 departing “that was running late” I thought to myself (at 14:55), as I picked up the tickets to hear “we are sorry to announced the 14:00 service to Yeovil Pen Mill is delayed by 1 hour 20 minutes”, and the PIS on the London bound platform showing “Basingstoke”. My brain went into thinking mode, catch the 159s to Basingstoke to connect with the Reading stopper to give me a half hopeful chance of a HST to Paddington (although 15 minutes to get from Paddington to St Pancras would be pushing it).
159018 & 159008 rolled in, the guard was thinking we were going to Waterloo, but we terminated at Basingstoke after a few minute wait outside the station for the platform to become available, rolling in just as the GWR service was rolling out, so that plan went into the bin and I joined a lot of other passengers, to await the next service which was going forward to Waterloo, a single 450 from Portsmouth Harbour which was due to call at several intermediate stations (Fleet, Farnborough) and when it rolled in was wedged. I foolishly gave it up for the service from (would have been) Weymouth behind which normally would have run fast to Clapham, but was calling additionally at Woking (or Chaving as I’m going to nickname it after a display on Saturday evening).
In rolled 444030, and I managed to get a seat at a table in the leading coach, however the automatic selective door opening function decided that it didn’t want to open all the doors at Basingstoke, and after a few minutes the guard managed to turn it off to change to manual, causing a 10 minute delay before we got going (annoyingly missing a pair of 220s heading towards Manchester, although I have no idea if either would have been required). A nice fast run before slowing at Woking and around Surbiton area and into the P7 loop at Clapham Junction, where I decided to bail and do a Vauxhall move, the odds of making the 17:00 being pretty much zero now (for it was now 16:38). Duds 455910 & 455874 had the 2 and a bit mile trip to Vauxhall, arriving into a station in chaos, the next Clapham bound service wasn’t due until 17:10 going by the PIS, and the island was busy.
Eventually I reached the sunny Victoria line, but as it was now 16:46 and it takes 15 minutes to reach Kings Cross St Pancras on average, decided to go for plan B, the 17:30 departure with a fester at Bedford. With time to kill and the Victoria line in full 30+ trains per hour mode, I decided to try and grab some required 2011 stock sets. First up with a dud set, before required 11081/082 rolled in for the short hop to Pimlico, 1 minute later required 11067/068 rolled in, and I stayed on as it was peak time and the train got very busy at Victoria (well the rear coach did, the front half was probably empty). Bailing at Warren Street, it was another minute wait before 11044/043 rolled in for another bus stop leap to Euston, where my luck ran out, 4 dud sets in a row and I decided to cut my losses and jumped on the 5th dud in a row with 11035/036 to Kings Cross St Pancras.
To platform 2 at St Pancras, after speaking with the gate-line staff (as I was travelling on the outward part of a super off-peak day return to Stewartby) he eventually allowed me to travel after showing my seat reservation for the 17:00 which showed that my ticket was valid on the 17:30 to Bedford, and it was a double set, with mega mile dud 222013 at the rear and required 222104 at the front. The doors were released and I joined the masses boarding, where I grabbed a table seat to charge my phone and to read my book for a busy service, non-stop to Bedford.
RTT suggested I would have a 20 minute wait for the 150 to show up, I was tempted as I spotted my last Thameslink 387 departing inside 10 minutes on route to Brighton, but I turned that down, just in case the units had been swapped around, and after a short wait dud 150105 rolled in, at least I will be clearing that 150 for 10 miles tonight, as I took a seat and waited for departure time. On time the 150 departed around the corner and onwards, where I alighted at Stewartby for a 20 minute wait (owing to the timetable, the service I would have caught if I made the 17:00 pass just west of Millbrook, so would have been a +6 (or so)), another passenger alighted with me and nobody got on for the station in the middle of nowhere (with the village being a good half mile away going by the station map).
18 minutes later I heard the level crossing sound as the barriers went down and I went up the ramp to join the ghosts at the exposed platform, as required 153334 rolled in to take me back to Bedford, where as usual the timetable padding between the two Bedford stations meant an early arrival allowing me to catch the next southbound EMT service from Nottingham (I think), what would it be I was pondering to myself and in rolled quiet dud 222102 for the nice fast run to St Pancras, where a short walk across the road saw me at Kings Cross where the next Cambridge stopper would connect with the next Hertford loop service at Finsbury Park, and was a 321, would I get lucky with a required GN 321?
Nope, it was dud 321418, at least the run to Finsbury Park pushes it over 5 miles, where I waited for a Welywn Garden City service to depart first before the next Hertford North bound service, which was “formed of 3 carriages”, and in rolled 313029 (at least I will be adding to it’s bus stop mileage), and as expected for a 3 car service it departed Finsbury Park rather cosy (with myself taking up a middle seat next to someone who decided they wanted to attempt to read one of those massive broad-sheet newspapers (looked like the Telegraph) and was annoyed someone dared sit next to them. Thankfully after a few stops the train emptied out, and it rolled on outside the zones to Cuffley.
Nice enough station at Cuffley, like the other shacks up the loop a bit on the basic side with closed up buildings, but with 8 minutes to kill to get across to the other platform via the handy subway, I took my time before 313027 & 313060 rolled in, taking a seat in 313060 which was at bus stop mileage (compared to 027 which was at 35-odd miles) for the nice enough run back to Finsbury Park, never again do I need to visit the Hertford loop. A dud 365 was the option to take me back to Kings Cross, which I turned down and headed down the spiral staircase to the southbound Victoria line platform. First couple services were duds, but I was rewarded with 11057/058 for the trip to Oxford Circus, jumping onto a Waterloo bound (Bakerloo line sounded like it was in a mess due to signal issues) 3240 and dud 3549, to head up to the main concourse, which was still in a state of chaos, which after diverting via Tesco Express on Waterloo Road (Sainsburys is closed for refit), I headed to see what would happen with the 22:20.
The good news is that it wasn’t running massively late like some services, so chances are it would run all the way to Waterloo (to pick up 158888 which was sat on one of the platforms), and at around 22:15, 159007 rolled up, emptying out before the doors were closed and the attachment took place, with the doors being released at around 22:30. The 22:25 Alton service had been cut back to start from Woking, so we had some extra passengers, for the nice enough run back to Andover, the driver giving it some speed to try and regain some lost time.
An hour later than I hoped to be, but the two aims for my little evening bash was complete (getting that 153 in & Cuffley), hopefully the only time I will have to return to the Marston Vale line is when 153365 decides to pop up one week (and it being a week where I’m able to grab it on a Friday evening)
Techniquest
Veteran Member
I reckon there's a good chance of 153365 being next to go down that way
As always, an excellent read and several steps closer to conquering the South East!
As always, an excellent read and several steps closer to conquering the South East!
Kite159
Veteran Member
I reckon there's a good chance of 153365 being next to go down that way
As always, an excellent read and several steps closer to conquering the South East!
153371 is down this week
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20th February A day in Nottingham
The Nottingham Express Transit is one light rail system which remains uncleared for me, my only prior use of the system was back in April 2014 with a one way trip from the now closed Station Street stop all the way to Hucknall, so the Phoenix Park branch and the southbound loop remained uncovered even before the extensions was opened up, so with a forum day out it was into the diary.
With a nice walk to Grateley for the 05:27 (which I must admit I didnt sleep that well the night before, so was a bit of a zombie), which was formed this morning of 159009, which I decided to bail at Clapham Junction as I spotted a pair of 450s working a suburban service and misread the number of the front unit, as it was duds 450078 & 450564 for the short leap to Vauxhall, we paused for a couple minutes before the station, and when I left on duds 458534 & 458505 from the other platform, the pair of 450s was still sat on the platform (and a look at RTT suggested that they remained there for a further 8 minutes). The SWT £15 day return wasnt on this week (due to half term) so I was on a regular ticket to London Terminals, which meant a short walk over to Waterloo East, with 4 options to get to Charing Cross.
First up was a pair of dud 376s, followed by a pair of 465s, before required 465909 rolled in attached to 465161, wasnt expecting a 465/9 to tip up this morning, but I wasnt going to turn it down for the 61 chain leap across the mighty Thames to Charing Cross, and heading via the Co-Op outside the station I went down to the Bakerloo platform, with time to kill I decided to do a spot of linear hopping, and 3545 rolled in with dud 3231 for the tiny distance to Piccadilly Circus, followed 4 minutes later with dud 3535 leading required 3235 to Oxford Circus. Luck was on my side this morning as required 11079/080 was up second for a Warren Street leap, followed by a couple dud sets before 11028/027 to Euston followed a minute (or 2) later with 11083/084 to Kings Cross St Pancras, arriving with a good 20 minutes to go before departure time of the HST to Nottingham.
The 08:15 to Nottingham this morning was formed of required 43076 leading dud 43054 (last seen in January bringing me back from Edinburgh) so I was happy one of my required EMT 43s was on this service, and as I was in 1st class, I had a nice single seat for the trip northbound to Nottingham, arriving pretty much on time (maybe a couple minutes early), alighting at Nottingham where I headed towards the tram platform (anybody else thing that the ticket barriers at Nottingham are the biggest waste of time, seeing as the side gate is wide open and you can exit the station via the tram platform if you really wanted to dodge paying), anyhow with my Kangaroo ticket purchased and 15 or so minutes to kill before the next Matlock service, I jumped onto my 2nd NET tram (the 1st I didnt grab the number of, so a lot of required trams today). It was one of the original Incentro trams, 203 for the short leap to Lace Market with Citadis tram 230 taking me back to Nottingham Station.
The Matlock service was in Nottingham East, behind a required XC service (first stop Derby), behind a required Northern 158, the far end of platform 4, but it was worth the walk as it was required 156406 which I was going to take to the mostly hourly served Attenborough, which has a +3, and a footbridge which makes it easier to get across to the other platform (although finding the entrance to the platform was hard work as it isnt sign posted), but I made it to be rewarded with winner 153355 for the short run back to Beeston. I decided to purchase a day return and headed to East Midlands Parkway on dud 158852. Wow those cooling towers of the Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station are massive, and the station itself isnt much to shout about. 7 minutes later dud 156411 rolled in to take me back to Beeston, followed by an extended wait for a delayed 222 from St Pancras, which was dud 222012.
To Nottingham, where I met up with other forum members who arrived around the same time, and a quick visit to the Tesco outside to pick up lunch and tickets before meeting on the platform, after introductions we jumped onto tram 213 for the long trip down the first of the southern extensions to Clifton South, nice enough tram ride, mix between road running and own space. At Clifton South, we crossed over the road to meet up with a double decker bus working a route 48 (bus 970) to head back towards the City, going in a different way. Back to the station and with a short fast walk we jumped onto tram 220 for the run down the other branch towards Toton Lane.
I think the original plan had us walking to the bank overlooking Toton depot, but as the weather wasnt the best we jumped back onto the same tram to double back to Beeston Central for a walk crossing many roads to Beeston. Half of us jumped onto dud 156473 heading towards Lincoln, the other half stayed to wait for the 222. We arrived on time, the 222 was late (seemed like most of the Nottingham stoppers yesterday from St Pancras were running late), but after a much needed toilet break on the 156 we headed from Nottingham East (far end of platform 1) and headed to the tram platform to see the system in a bit of a chaos, something had happened earlier which meant there was delays floating around. After everybody else joined us, the next Phoenix Park tram wasnt due for 20-odd minutes, so it was onto tram 211 for the run to Hucknall, nice bit of speed when alongside the Robin Hood line.
Like at Toton, we stayed on the same tram to head back towards Highbury Vale. The next Phoenix Park tram was approaching with another a minute behind, so me and Starmill decided for a quick shack attack and jumped onto tram 221 for the short run to Cinderhill before tram 235 closely followed as I rejoined the rest of the gang to Phoenix Park, the single track section causing chaos as 221 was soon out followed by us, as we went into the double track section at Highbury Vale, there was already another couple trams waiting to head down the branch. I stayed on 235 down the southbound loop to The Forest where I said farewell to the rest of the gang and I went back north on tram 219 to Basford which was closely followed by tram 231 for a nano leap to David Lane.
Tram 224 was up next to take me to Bulwell Forest where the island platform allowed me to score tram 212 to Bulwell NET. A few minutes at the joint station later and I joined tram 201 to Moor Bridge, before joining tram 224 back to Bulwell, annoyingly it means one stop remains at this end of the line, but I met up with Mr Quinn as I crossed over to the hourly served Bulwell national rail station and winner 158865 rolled in to take us back to Nottingham station itself. After spotting an old friend (the SWT 158) I said farewell to Quinn as I jumped onto required 156404 bound for Skegness. The line between Nottingham and Skegness has quite a few very limited service shacks, some are every 2 hours, some have a tiny handful of services calling daily and some are like Elton & Orston which only see one service. Basically it is a line which will take a lot of planning and bike riding, but I might as well start as I alighted at Netherfield, the first stop which is an island platform (although looked like it might have had a bay platform in the past). Unsurprisingly I was the only person alighting, but I saw someone else boarding.
Netherfield is probably the easiest of the limited service shacks, as there is a nearby station a mere 5 minute walk away, bit more as I went via a Co-Op for some food, before arriving at a basic Carlton. A pair of required dog-boxes were spotted heading towards Lincoln, as dud 156411 reappeared running a few minutes late to take me back to Nottingham. Just under 2 hours to kill, but as I spotted a required XC 170 working towards Birmingham which called at Beeston, I couldnt turn it down, so it was to Beeston on winner 170522. An inbound service from Matlock was running late and was formed of a required 153, which I turned down, before seeing a HST roll pass, noting that both power-cars were needed and it should form the 18:32, first stop East Midlands Parkway. A quick check of BR Fares found a day return wasnt that much, so after a dud 170 and a 156 I joined dud 222017 back to Nottingham, running 7 minutes late. A quick hop to the TVM, waiting for someone to collect tickets that didnt have either card or reference number at hand, purchasing my ticket before taking a seat on 43064 leading 43050 for the nice enough trip to East Midlands Parkway.
I turned down the Nottingham bound HST as I knew it would form the 19:32 which I was booked on, and I knew if I caught it into Nottingham it would be pretty much game over in terms of potential leaps. So it was onto dud 156411 for the 3rd time of the day to Beeston, and after a while dud 222005 working to Lincoln rolled up to take me to Nottingham. Dud 43061 was leading dud 43052 for the 19:32, so taking a seat in the 1st class coach (this time at the rear of the train on departure), I settled back and relaxed for the nice enough trip, before Leicester there was only me and someone else in the coach, so was nice and peaceful.
Arriving into St Pancras pretty much on time, I headed to the Victoria Line (before loading up departures from Charing Cross), and the 2nd service was required 11001/002 (13 sets remain) so happy days as I took it to Oxford Circus, and duds 3231/3545 (same pair as I had in the morning) on the Bakerloo took me down to Charing Cross, and I exited via the subway and entered into Charing Cross by the main entrance. RTT in hand to highlight departures, first up was a pair of 465s from P5 (and a pair of 375s from P6), I didnt go through the gateline to see what was on the front but the rears were duds, so I went across to the P1-P4 barriers, and spotted a required blue 375. Leading was dud 375827 with required 375617 behind for the short hop to Waterloo East. Changing to RTT for Waterloo, where I noticed the inbound Exeter service was delayed by around 45 minutes, which got me thinking that it will most likely be capped at Woking, and with me being a bit hungry I jumped onto duds 450545/450081 for the non-stop run to Woking. As 450545 has Wi-Fi I checked RTT and yep the 22:20 was starting from Woking tonight, so a good call I reckon, as I headed out of the station to grab a McDonalds, witnessing some chavastic behaviour from some locals, before heading back to Woking station to have a seat to await the 159 to roll in from wherever it was sent to keep out of the way).
159001 rolled in around 22:40, so I took a nice table seat and was expecting not to get away until the 22:30 towards Portsmouth arrived, not sure what was displayed at Waterloo for passengers to board, but it must have been the 22:12 Basingstoke stopper (which appeared to have been held up to depart at 22:20 going by RTT). Not a lot of passengers boarded after that 450 rolled in (although I was in the rear coach so the front 2 coaches could have been busy), but we were away on time which is always a bonus. Nice enough run to Andover where the train terminated for some engineering works, so it was out of the station to join a rail replacement bus, a regular Stagecoach service bus a ADL Dart SLF going by the fleet number of 35254, a bit shake rattle and roll as it got up to speed to drop me off at Grateley, where I had a nice walk home to relax for another Sunday off, although this time it is due to engineering works in the Woking area.
Anyhow, here be a picture of 156404 running away from the rather bare bones Netherfield:
Techniquest
Veteran Member
Jealous of 3 of my last 5 Derby 156s producing on your trip!
Keith Jarrett
Member
Another couple of excellent reads there, Kite. You certainly do get around a bit. Those LM Tin Rockets (some folk call them Skateboards, others Dogboxes) are definitely bugging you.
The intermediate shacks on Nottingham to Grantham route are going to be difficult to clear out, same goes for some of the lesser shacks beyond Grantham. It will be interesting to see how you end up dealing with them.
The intermediate shacks on Nottingham to Grantham route are going to be difficult to clear out, same goes for some of the lesser shacks beyond Grantham. It will be interesting to see how you end up dealing with them.
Guess what my last two required LM 153s are. 153334 and 153365! 
Sounds like you got loads of winners in Notty too. I obviously did something slightly different but I now only need one NET tram because of it.
Sounds like you got loads of winners in Notty too. I obviously did something slightly different but I now only need one NET tram because of it.
adrock1976
Established Member
You've got a lot further than me regarding the Nottingham Trams, as I've yet to get off the mark.
Regarding the stations between Nottingham - Grantham, I intend doing Elton & Orston on a Saturday morning in April, then walking back to Aslockton to head back to Nottingham and onward to London.
Regarding the stations between Nottingham - Grantham, I intend doing Elton & Orston on a Saturday morning in April, then walking back to Aslockton to head back to Nottingham and onward to London.
Techniquest
Veteran Member
Aye the shacks east of Nottingham towards Grantham and Skegness are going to be a challenge for all of us who partake of shack scratching. Yes even the mighty Kite159 is going to need several visits to get them in!
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