26th February - The Great Northern end of the East Coast
The aim of today was to clear the shacks on the Great Northern Empire, north of Stevenage towards Huntingdon, all of which (apart from Hitchin) I have been pass many times but have never called at. I might even get lucky with some required units (as I needed 11 units, broken down as 1x 317, 4x 321s and 6 x 365s).
With a drive to Andover, parking in my usual spot I headed over to pick up my tickets and wait for the 14:38 towards Waterloo, formed today of Technis favourite 158, leading 159013 & 159105, and as normal for the 14:38 I took a seat in 158884, as it attaches at Salisbury (whereas one of the 159s comes from Exeter and the other from Bristol so normally are busy). Nice enough run to Waterloo, with the usual hanging around the station throat for an half empty Portsmouth bound service to clear the path ahead, arriving pretty much on time. I had a couple potential linear moves from Kings Cross before the service towards Cambridge, so it was to the Bakerloo line as required sets
3546 &
3234 rolled in, blimey my first double winning Bakerloo service for a while. I decided to bail at Charing Cross, but sadly it didnt pay off with duds 3558 & 3261 to take me to Oxford Circus, and I had no luck with the Victoria line, as the 4th set was dud 11045/046, which I took to Kings Cross St Pancras.
To the suburban lines, the first two potential services were duds (317 & 321s), so it was to platform 11, where dud 317342 was sat with the doors closed before required
317341 rolled in, eventually attaching to 342, so I took a seat at the front of 341 (where it was quieter) for a nice run up the East Coast to my first new shack of the day at
Hitchin. But a nice surprise with clearing the GN 317s, as I only had a short wait at Hitchin before the next Peterborough service rolled in, with required
321403 leading dud 321419 for the short hop up to
Arlesey.
Nothing much around Arlesey other than some housing, a busy sounding road at the northern end of the platform, and a large car-park, so I took a seat and had a nice wait, listening to the sound of various Virgin services rushing passed the station, a highlight being the EMT hire-in set, time ticked by before the next service was due in, so it was time to fire up the Great Northern Random Unit Generator, would it be another pair of 321s, maybe a pair of 365s, but alas it was duds 317343 & 317348 for the 4 mile (and 10 chain) leap up to
Biggleswade.
Two island platforms at this station, so that the Peterborough fasts can call, next service was delayed by 14 minutes and formed of 12 coaches, so instead of a 30 minute fester I had a 44 minute fester, although made better by the glorious noise of 68004 rushing pass with some network rail yellow mk3s and 68002 at the rear. In rolled dud 365515 leading required
365514 and dud 365529 at the rear, so taking a seat in 514 for the near 3 mile trip north to
Sandy. Similar to Arlesey with only having two side platforms on the slow lines, but as nearby Tesco was spotted which killed time with a supply raid. Another delayed 12 coach service was due in, and in rolled dud 321408 with required
321401 in the middle and 321409 at the rear. At least the run to
St Neots cleared both 408 & 409 for 10 miles (as Mr Keith would say).
I didnt have long at St Neots for a delayed fast service, and my luck continued with winners
365530 &
365537 for the first hop north to
Huntingdon. I spotted a bay platform at the station (which RTT seems to suggest it doesnt get used for much during regular service), but didnt have long to explore the station as duds 317348/317343 were waiting for me on platform 2 (where it sits for 5 minutes). Mission complete, with only Retford & Thrisk to do to clear the ECML south of Newcastle (north of Newcastle I need everything to Edinburgh). I looked at RTT and it suggested we would be in front of a late running service from Kings Lynn (which was a stopper this time of the evening rather than a Cambridge flyer), however it must have been put in front of us as we had a short wait north of the flyover before rolling into Stevenage, where I decided to alight.
Sadly the +5 for a VTEC from Newcastle turned into a +20 (which meant the benefit of having a non-stop service to Stevenage rather than a semi-fast was lost). In rolled dud DVT 82206 with required
91115 at the rear, so happy days as I boarded, finding a seat in coach E, moving forward on the final approach to Kings Cross, arriving around 15 minutes down at 20:58, the race was on as I fast walked to the Victoria line platforms, where the first Brixton service was required
11069/070 which I took to Oxford Circus, and another fast walk across to the Bakerloo platforms as I boarded dud 3259 attached with required
3548 for the short run to Waterloo. As it was only 21:14 I decided to take it easy and not fast walk up to the main concourse to board 159007 leading 158888 on the 21:20 towards Yeovil Junction.
75 or so minutes later I was getting off the 159, walking back to the car for the nice drive back to home, quite happy that I managed to do what I was after and get 6 new units (only 2 more 321s and 3 more 365s to clear the Great Northern fleet before the 700s start arriving, hopefully I can clear some of those units when doing a linear bash towards Cambridge and/or towards Kings Lynn later in the month.
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27th February A Greater Manchester Wayfarer Day
The main aim of today was getting some required stations under my belt within the Wayfarer area, mainly my remaining 323 shacks within the Wayfarer area, plus the line from Salford towards Preston, which I couldnt do last year due to the tunnel works. For a change (ok the lack of advance fares on the 05:27 might have played a big part in the decision) I decided to go via Birmingham, so a slightly later start for me with the 05:59 towards Waterloo. A nice walk to Grateley and a short wait before 159015 rolled in to take me to Basingstoke.
Once at Basingstoke, I went via the shop on platform 4 to pick up a newspaper before boarding 165120 working a Reading stopper, for no reason other than I wanted to grab some breakfast in the 10 minutes I had at Reading, as one of the shops on the bridge does lovely sausage baps. It was to one of the higher numbered platforms for the 07:15 to Manchester Piccadilly, formed this morning of dud 220022, after evicting someone from my seat at one of the tables in coach D. I sat backwards to relax, looking out of the window at the various stages of the GWML electrification works towards Didcot.
A couple hours later, we rolled into Macclesfield pretty much bang on time (we actually stood at Stoke for 5 minutes as we arrived early), the Norton Bridge flyover works looks good, that cant be long before that comes into use (and no more waiting at the platform of the former Norton Bridge station for a delayed 390 to come pass). After making use of the worlds smallest toilet at Macclesfield, I awaited dud 323228 to roll in to take me to my first new shack of the day at
Adlington.
A very basic shack, but with a Toby pub located pretty much straight outside the station (useful for anybody wanting food/drink to pass the time). I noticed on the station signage little white tape covering up the Northern logo, which I can only assume is in preparation for when Arriva Rail North takes over in April. 40 minutes later (sat listening to my iPod, reading my book, passing the time) dud 323225 rolled in to take me one stop south to
Prestbury, which is a nice enough station. I knew the next service would be dud as I saw it at Macclesfield earlier, and in rolled 323239 to take me to Stockport.
I worked out I would have 5 attempts at scoring a required unit towards Piccadilly, which was reduced to 4 as the TPE from Cleethorpes was running hopelessly late (was around 20 minutes down at this point, and getting later as the stopper was put out first). First up was a dud 150 from Hazel Grove, next was a dud 220, followed by a dud 390, but thankfully my wait wasnt in vain as required
175102 rolled in, so happy days to Manchester Piccadilly, rolling in alongside a 319 working an Airport stopper. I had a spare 7 minutes so it was a dash to Sainsburys, and blimey its changed (since the last time I was here).
Grabbing some lunch, I jumped onto dud 319368 to
East Didsbury, the trains are timetabled to pass here, and like all the stations on this line, it is a long walk between platforms, but thankfully I had a couple choices, either walking the mile or so back towards Burnage, or catching a bus. I picked the bus, so it was to the bus stop outside the leisure park, and took a seat on a route 50 bus, a Stagecoach hybrid double decker, fleet number 12233, only for a short ride and a short walk to
Burnage. A 66 rushed passed as a light engine and a dud 323 (I would have been annoyed if that had been 227 or 229, although I did see 227 floating around earlier working on a Crewe service and 229 last thing at Macclesfield). Fresh super-dud 319368 returned to take me back to Piccadilly, where I had a short walk towards platform 14, the airport line complete, leaving only 2 x 323 served shacks, both which are outside the wayfarer area (Sandbach & Congleton).
At platform 14, the next service before a Southport semi-fast was a TPE towards Glasgow Central & Barrow-in-Furness (so something which wont be happening come April), and in rolled required
185105 attached with dud 185149 to get 105 into my book with the 43 chain leap to Oxford Road (the next stop being Wigan). I didnt have long to wait at Oxford Road before required
156487 rolled in, heading to Southport via Bolton, so I managed to get the new track layout through the enlarged tunnel, and to score
Westhoughton. A semi-fast walk over the road bridge and to the other platform to await the next service towards Manchester, which was formed of required
150276 &
142007, which I took to Bolton.
A football special was up next, which I was considering taking to Horwich Parkway (not a required shack as I had it in December 14 on the Christmas Loco hauled specials), however it was a pair of dud 142s, so I gave it a miss (so did many other passengers as it departed with hardly any passengers on). Next Blackpool North semi-fast was next (the ones which used to only run as far as Preston from Hazel Grove, but got extended to Blackpool when the service from Liverpool got capped at Preston due to it being a 319). My luck had run out as duds 150135 & 150103 rolled in to take me to
Lostock.
A very strange station is Lostock, or Lostock Parkway as its sometimes known as, the tracks towards Westhoughton & Wigan pass behind the station, but has no platforms for those lines, very similar to Carnforth, my pondering wasnt for long before dud 150145 rolled in to take me to
Adlington, this time the one in Lancashire, a quite basic station, but it wasnt that long to wait before dud 150207 rolled in. I was in two minds, either bail at Horwich for a pair of 185s towards Bolton, or bail at Lostock for another Blackpool bound service, I decided to bail at Horwich Parkway, and 5 (or so) minutes later the gamble was worth it, as winners
185113 &
185128 rolled in to take me to Bolton, happy days.
At Bolton, it was over the footbridge (again) to platform 4 (just what happened to platform 2?), and dud 156425 rolled in to take me to
Blackrod, before 150269 rolled in to take me back the mile and a half to Horwich Parkway, where there was a lot of police floating around and crowd control barriers (as Bolton were at home). Sadly this time the gamble didnt pay off as duds 156420 & 156441 rolled in working a TPE service from Blackpool, so it was back to Bolton, where I was trying to work out the best method to attack the three tiny stations between Bolton & Salford (excluding Clifton). In the end I decided to bail from duds 142026 & 150224 at
Farnworth (nice new platforms built on the new alignment just to the west of the new tunnel), before winner
142049 rolled in to take me the 55 chains to
Moses Gate.
Similar to East Didsbury/Burnage, I had a choice of either a walk or a bus (and walk), so with time to kill I headed to the bus stop for a route 8 bus, a First double decker, fleet number 33712 for a few stops via Farnworth town, and a short walk to lead me to
Kearsley, and first impressions were what a dump (sorry for anybody who lives in that area). I knew it would be the same 142 working the next Victoria service, and I had 20-odd minutes to kill. In the meantime I spotted a required 153 attached with a 156 heading towards Victoria, and a quick check of RTT saw a tight +2 was possible at Salford Central to get that dog-box in the book. Fresh dud 142049 returned to take me to Salford Central, where a rapid platform change saw me coming up the ramp before dud 156489 rolled in attached with required
153328. So it was another mile to the small total of 156489 to Salford Crescent, to await the next Wigan North Western service from Huddersfield, one which I was sure it would have been the return working of 150207.
But it wasnt 150207, but it was dud 150140 instead, working a particular service, which to be honest I didnt think would be running on Saturdays (and when I found out, my plan soon changed), as it called at
Clifton, I was the only person getting off (causing a shock from the guard as Im the first he has ever let off here), and it appeared someone else got on. But it was finally done, and with just shy of 30 minutes, and a mile and a half to walk to Swinton, the closest station (there is a bus, but its hourly), and it made me wonder why on earth that station remains open as there isnt a lot around the area. Anyhow I made it to Swinton with time to spare, before dud 150226 appeared to take me to Salford Crescent, where I decided to jump onto dud 156425 to Salford Central in the hope of a winner coming out, sadly it was dud 150203 to Salford Crescent.
Next Southport Manchester Airport service was dud 156455 which I took to Deansgate in the hope of getting a winner from Liverpool via Warrington, sadly that was another dud, this time 156461, which terminated into the bay platform at Oxford Road. My luck changed as the next Piccadilly service was an EMT towards Nottingham, which had dud 158852 on the front, but required
158799 on the rear, so a quick trip to Piccadilly saw that 158 ticked off in my book, with 4 options to getting back to Oxford Road, and sadly all were dud. Boo.
My luck continued with 6 options to get to Stockport, the first 5 were all dud, but thankfully the last option was a required 175, so heading via Sainsburys for some food, I joined winner
175109 for the short run to Stockport, before dud 390152 rolled in working the final Euston service from Manchester. My reserved seat was in coach C, but you know its bad when the train manager said if you want a quiet journey, I recommend going to another coach as there is a party of slightly jolly ladies celebrating a 50th birthday, so I found a spare table seat in Coach U, handy to plug my phone up and to relax. I was meant to alight at Watford Junction to take the Southern service towards Clapham Junction, but sadly Southern were doing their usual self and deleting services, so I stayed on until Euston.
At least it gave me a chance for some Northern line linear bashing, so it was
51526/51527 to Goodge Street, followed by
51725/51665 to Leicester Square,
51558/51559 followed to Embankment, but sadly duds 51553/51709 took me to Waterloo, where I located the diesel and took a seat in 159102 leading 159011 for the nice run back to Andover, where the train terminated for engineering works, so it was a lovely stagecoach service bus, fleet number 34602, which I believe was a Transbus Dart SLF formally with Stagecoach Merseyside. Arriving at Grateley, with a short walk home, to relax and sleep.
Only 2 stations remain within the TfGM area, so Im slowly clearing that part of the Northern Empire, with some rather random pictures:
323228 departing Adlington (Cheshire)
Stoke bound 323239 running away from Prestbury, probably didnt want to pay £2 to park on the side of an access road:
Northern Electrics 319368 passing a 323 at East Didsbury:
66742 rushing through Burnage
156487 dashing away full of party goers from Westhoughton:
150103 heading away from Lostock, to Blackpool, poor thing:
Another 150 heading to Blackpool at Adlington in Lancashire, didnt Northern get the memo that only pacers are to be sent to Blackpool?
156425 departing from Blackrod:
The new tunnel and platform at Farnworth:
A delightful 142049 dashing away to Wigan from the rebuilt Moses Gate:
Kearsley...
150140 pausing at Clifton, next service early Monday morning:
