The Various Random Mutterings of Kite

[Techniquest]

9 winners in London, for someone needing so very little (especially now!) is just incredible. The way you're going even Keith will be jealous of you! I don't have to mention just how jealous I am of a full collection of 450s and 456s, that's very good going indeed. To still get them despite a farce, very fortunate!

Certainly an unusual trip in Manchester for you, but it sure paid off by the looks of it. Everytime I read a trip report from Manchester I get jealous and want to go again!

 

[Kite159]

Thanks Techni.

I was happy that both 456s were out in London (rather than being out doing Guildford - Ascot services), similarly I was happy with 450116 being working a service which call at Clapham working towards London, if that ran fast from Woking to Waterloo, then I wouldn't have been able to get that one into the book (even if it's just for the sub 4 mile Clapham - Waterloo leap).

 

[Keith Jarrett]

Kite, you did well with your latest London jaunt - grabbing your last 450 and both of your 456s without really trying is simply pure jam, and spread thickly, very thickly at that.

It was only when I read your report that I realised 458521 was in traffic but that one's been red-penned now so I am only waiting for 458507 to enter traffic along with 458516 (has it even come back from Donny?)

 

[Kite159]

Kite, you did well with your latest London jaunt - grabbing your last 450 and both of your 456s without really trying is simply pure jam, and spread thickly, very thickly at that.

It was only when I read your report that I realised 458521 was in traffic but that one's been red-penned now so I am only waiting for 458507 to enter traffic along with 458516 (has it even come back from Donny?)

Last I heard 516 was still in Donny.

I just need 507 & 516 to enter service, 501 to re-enter service and 529 outright (saw it on Friday heading back to Clapham yard when waiting for that 450 at Clapham) to clear that class, leaving just that 455/7 currently down Bournemouth doing testing.

I'm hoping that when I do the Isle of Wight steam railway next month (on a UK Railtours Ticket to Ryde tour) both my remaining 483s will be out to play

 

[87electric]

Last I heard 516 was still in Donny.

I just need 507 & 516 to enter service, 501 to re-enter service and 529 outright (saw it on Friday heading back to Clapham yard when waiting for that 450 at Clapham) to clear that class, leaving just that 455/7 currently down Bournemouth doing testing.

I'm hoping that when I do the Isle of Wight steam railway next month (on a UK Railtours Ticket to Ryde tour) both my remaining 483s will be out to play

Did you have 458518 with 67618 before its collision and withdrawal?
Just saying. I'm a completist on formations myself.

 

[Keith Jarrett]

winners iThe way you're going even Keith will be jealous of you!

Not at all jealous of Kite's progress. No, simply amazed at how much the respected member of this forum manages to garner. Week in, week out. Top marks there for consistent commitment. And the amount of military planning that goes into some of the more obscure leaps is beyond me. As I have prophecied before, very soon, all that will be on Kite's lists will be obscure rural shacks in Wales and the West Highland /Far North stations. We'll all enjoy reading about how he gets in somewhere like Dunrobin Castle!

But if my experience is anything to go by, the less you need, the harder it gets. Take my last trip to Northern land. I came away with five winners, seven more ten-mile and three shacks. I think it's only Scotland and the provincial tram networks that could provide me with a fistful of winners and nushacks. Otherwise it will probably be a case of picking up something here, something there. Even in London, it's a struggle to string together a decent book full of decent stuff unless I go mileage accumulating on the Central, Piccadilly or DLR.

Then there's other commitments to take into account. Number one of course is Mrs KJ, closely followed by what family I have and then of course there's friends, some of whom have no interest in cranking. I'm sure Tech calls those sort of folk "norms".

But, Kite, good luck in attacking your ever diminishing lists. You are truly a top basher!

 

[Kite159]

Although I couldn't have done Friday without the diagrams to know where the trains were located, to do a rough plan to try and link up movements.

Operation LU commences on Good Friday

 

[FQ]

Blimey! You did amazingly on that London spin! Not jealous at all...

 

[Kite159]

Did you have 458518 with 67618 before its collision and withdrawal?
Just saying. I'm a completist on formations myself.

Nope, only had 458518 post hybrid formation with the undamaged driving coach from 458501.

 

[Techniquest]

Not at all jealous of Kite's progress. No, simply amazed at how much the respected member of this forum manages to garner. Week in, week out. Top marks there for consistent commitment. And the amount of military planning that goes into some of the more obscure leaps is beyond me. As I have prophecied before, very soon, all that will be on Kite's lists will be obscure rural shacks in Wales and the West Highland /Far North stations. We'll all enjoy reading about how he gets in somewhere like Dunrobin Castle!

But if my experience is anything to go by, the less you need, the harder it gets. Take my last trip to Northern land. I came away with five winners, seven more ten-mile and three shacks. I think it's only Scotland and the provincial tram networks that could provide me with a fistful of winners and nushacks. Otherwise it will probably be a case of picking up something here, something there. Even in London, it's a struggle to string together a decent book full of decent stuff unless I go mileage accumulating on the Central, Piccadilly or DLR.

Then there's other commitments to take into account. Number one of course is Mrs KJ, closely followed by what family I have and then of course there's friends, some of whom have no interest in cranking. I'm sure Tech calls those sort of folk "norms".

But, Kite, good luck in attacking your ever diminishing lists. You are truly a top basher!

Amazing results indeed, and aye people who have only interests in non-transport stuff are 'norms'. You know, the sort of people who only have interest in sports and other socially acceptable hobbies.

Kite's trip to the Highlands of Scotland will certainly be an interesting read!

 

[crehld]

A few good days there Kite, and as everyone says very productive (I have come to expect nothing less!). Loved reading the Norfolk bash as I was born there (I used to live right next to the Norwich-Sheringham line) ... I still have to do the stations though!

 

[Kite159]

Am I right in thinking that the 37s only come out to play during the week the whole year, but come out to play on Summer Saturdays as well?

 

[Birdbrain]

Last I heard 516 was still in Donny.

I just need 507 & 516 to enter service, 501 to re-enter service and 529 outright (saw it on Friday heading back to Clapham yard when waiting for that 450 at Clapham) to clear that class, leaving just that 455/7 currently down Bournemouth doing testing.

I'm hoping that when I do the Isle of Wight steam railway next month (on a UK Railtours Ticket to Ryde tour) both my remaining 483s will be out to play

Which iow ones do you need?

 

[AJM580]

Am I right in thinking that the 37s only come out to play during the week the whole year, but come out to play on Summer Saturdays as well?

You are correct - the 37's come out to play on Summer Saturdays on 4 return trips which are generally non-stop Norwich - Yarmouth via Reedham. Depending on unit reliability they may work other trains if required. During the week its the following diagram as posted in the Frequently Requested Diagrams thread: i.e


2J67 LWT 0747 - NRW 0831
2P13 GYM 0917 - NRW 0952
2P17 GYM 1117 - NRW 1152
2P21 GYM 1317 - NRW 1352
2J83 LWT 1548 - NRW 1639
2P33 GYM 1817 - NRW 1852
2J91 LWT 1955 - NRW 2045

2P12 NRW 0836 - GYM 0912
2P18 NRW 1036 - GYM 1112
2P20 NRW 1236 - GYM 1312
2J80 NRW 1455 - LWT 1539
2P32 NRW 1736 - GYM 1812
2J88 NRW 1900 - LWT 1950

 

[noddy1878]

Another good couple of reports. Was weird to see you scratch no new shacks though! I like to mix it up and sometimes you just need to go after the units you need!

 

[Kite159]

Which iow ones do you need?

483008 & 483009 For the Isle of Wight units

 

[Birdbrain]

Those two are pretty regular performers so you might be in luck! Good luck with it.

 

[Kite159]

Those two are pretty regular performers so you might be in luck! Good luck with it.

Good news
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
What is slightly unusual about this picture?

 

[hassaanhc]

Good news
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
What is slightly unusual about this picture?

That looks like the bay platform at Mansion House. S Stock can't fit in it so I think it isn't used very often now?

 

[Kite159]

That looks like the bay platform at Mansion House. S Stock can't fit in it so I think it isn't used very often now?

That D stock barely fitted into the rarely used bay, I was in the right place at the right time on Monday to see a Mansion House terminator around South Kensington, so decided to grab the slightly rare micro-grice of the bay platform. Anyhow onto

24th March – Operation LU part 1

I had an idea to try and attempt to clear as much of the London underground/DLR/Tramlink as possible over the long Easter weekend , and with an early finish on the Thursday, I decided to make a start, focusing on a line which was due to be closed for the long weekend. A fast walk to the station to pick up my travel-card to jump onto 159010/159103 forming the 14:59 to Waterloo, and an hour and 15 minutes later we were rolling into Waterloo, a few minutes early which is always a benefit (rather than sitting outside Waterloo for an half empty outer suburban service towards Guildford to roll out)

As it was the early evening, the peak-time subway was open, and as I find it easier to reach the Waterloo & City line using the subway (just to there being less crowds) I soon reach the Waterloo & City line platform, the first departure is dud 65501/65502 so I let that go, which I think was a very good call as the next service was required 65503/65504, my last of the 5 sets working the drain services, so it was to Bank and via the maze of tunnels and passageways I found the DLR platform. First up was a Lewisham bound service formed of winners 97, 52 & 54 which I took to Shadwell, a station I had previously used but had no record of using. A short wait at the island platform before the next service towards either Beckton or Woolwich Arsenal (can’t recall), which was another trio of units, with required 153 leading dud 146 with required 103 on the rear, to take me to my first new outright shack of the day at Blackwell.

A quick crossing of the platforms (watching the traffic below building up), and required 09, 31 & 28 took me to Poplar with a cross platform interchange onto a Canary Wharf bound service formed of 27 & 37 for the short hop around the bend to West India Quay. A short interchange to the other platform and a short wait for 37 & 27 to roll back in, as my target was set on the Stratford line, with a 3-4 minute frequency due to the evening peak, most of the doubles the front unit was busy but the rear unit wasn’t, so my movements were:
37 &27 to All Saints
86 & 48 to Langdon Park
141 & 135 to Devons Road
155 & 110 to Bow Church
62 & 90 to Pudding Mill Lane
78 & 44 to Stratford

I was happy as all were required units (although to be fair I’ve only got a very limited number of units logged so I was expecting to get winners), a slow walk to platform 9 with a couple options to get me to Liverpool Street for a quick Network Rail hop, first up was a trio of 321s, with duds 321442 & 321441 leading required 321443, so it was to Liverpool Street which was probably a bit of a mistake, as by the time I reached the sub-surface line platform, it seemed to have collapsed into itself.

5 minutes before the first service appeared, and it was a metropolitan line service, but followed closely by required 21321/21322 to take me to Stepney Green. No platform information here to say when the next service was due, so it was a couple long(ish) gaps (ok 5 minutes might not sound a lot, but in terms of evening peak on the district line it felt a lot longer. Duds 21421/21422 rolled in to take me to Bow Road, before a good run of required units, with my movements below:
21377/21378 Bow Road to Bromley-by-Bow (Hammersmith & City)
21469/21470 to Plaistow (makes note of the bay platform)
7061/7506 to Upton Park
7518/7046 to East Ham
21429/21430 to Upney
21351/21352 to Becontree
21495/21496 to Dagenham Heathway
7500/7070 to Dagenham East (another bay platform here, the next service terminated there)
7031/7012 to Elm Park
21459/21460 to Hornchurch
7121/7044 to Upminster Bridge
And 21507/21508 finally to Upminster, where I made use of the toilets on platform 1 for a quick PNB before the rain started, most of the stations along this route are basic, mix between island platforms & side platforms with locked toilets & waiting rooms. It was increasing to see the various C2C units roaring pass, but it was now time for a quick check of RTT to highlight possible movements back towards West Ham. First two sets were duds, so it was the 3rd set which would have been used regardless (or have a 20 minute gap). Dud 357041 was leading required 357028 to take me to West Ham, no point doing a linear bash at Barking as there would be that 20 minute gap. I decided to jump down to the DLR platforms as the next Stratford International service was only a minute away, but sadly it was formed of dud units 72 & 76 to take me the 77 chains to Stratford.

A quick check of RTT highlighted a few possible movements, but sadly it was a couple dud single 321s and a dud 90, so it was back to the low level platforms, with required 96102 & 96029 to take me the 20 minutes to Waterloo. Heading via Sainsburys for a meal deal, before the 21:20 service, which tonight was formed of 159009 leading 158886, and as usual was busy (mix between Woking passengers wanting a fast to Woking and passengers for Winchester as the line is closed during the weekday evenings for ballast cleaning). A nice walk home as I reflected on clearing the DLR line towards Stratford, plus a couple other stations, and clearing of the district line.


25th March – Operation LU, part 2

Making use of the bank holiday and the no peak-restriction meant I had a walk to the station to catch the 06:59, a service which on a normal weekday would be the quad set (158-158-159-159), but today was just 159012. After thinking up a possible plan of the day, my idea was to head to Croydon to finish off the Tramlink system, and with the line between Clapham & Victoria closed for engineering works, meant most long distance services were starting from London Bridge, a quick check on route for departure times gave me a 20 minute window before the next departure.

To the jubilee line, and required 96117/96062 was up first for the tiny hop to Southwark, followed by required 96065/96004 to London Bridge, up to the main-line station, where the first service was a “Thameslink” branded service, formed of dud units 377150/377158/377104, yep all 3 Southern units with the onboard PIS saying “this is the Southern Service to Brighton”, why couldn’t GTR just be simple and call it a Southern service to stop confusion as it rolled into Croydon (announced as Thameslink, but some passengers were confused as it said Southern). [I wonder through if you were on a Southern Daysave ticket and were checked by a RPI].

Anyhow it was outside, and via the little Sainsburys Local for a quick bite to eat before heading to the tram stop, due to the line between East Croydon and Reeves Corner being closed for engineering works, trams were terminating & starting at East Croydon, so to platform 2 with dud tram 2552 waiting on the next New Addington service, with my movements as follows:

2552 to Lloyd Park
2540 to Coombe Lane
2547 to Gravel Hill
2546 to Fieldway
2547 to Addington Village (A sneaky double back)
2538 to King Henry’s Drive
2546 to Sandilands

Sadly all those trams were dud, and after a brief moment of rest at Sandilands to see what other trams were out and about, saw nothing required, it was onto 2544 back to East Croydon. All the tram-stops were basic, and the sun was shining with a roughly 8 minute frequency, but all the stops were done (so an idea for a future Sunday will be to fester around Croydon to hunt down my last 20 trams).

I had two ideas to take me back towards the city, either a Thameslink for the slow crawl to Blackfriars and onwards to West Hampstead, however that was formed of a pair of dud 387s and looked quite busy (and if I did that ~ 45 minute journey I would want a seat). Next up was a semi-fast to London Bridge, formed of duds 377451 & 377408 (when you need only 9 Southern 377s, coming across required units are an additional bonus). Sadly it was busy and the toilet was out of order (and I wanted a quick PNB before hitting LU), a plan was formed and dud 96028/96055 took me to Southwark, where I crossed over to Waterloo East, and jumped on the first service towards Charing Cross (making sure it wasn’t a 376).

Duds 465008/465247/466028 were the trio I jumped on to make use of the (thankfully open) toilet on 465247, for the short trip to Charing Cross. Going via the Co-op on the Strand on route to the Bakerloo platforms for lunch, and down to the Bakerloo platforms, luck wasn’t on my side as two dud sets rolled in before I decided to take 3558/3261 to Baker Street, crossing over to the northbound Jubilee line platform as dud 96078/96053 rolled in, with my movements as followed:

96078/96053 to Neasden
96108/96085 to Wembley Park (not a required shack, but this was a Wembley Park terminator and was required)
96006/96019 to Kingsbury
96038/96113 to Queensbury (both dud sets)
96022/96075 to Canons Park

With the jubilee line cleared, I exited the station and headed to the bus stop outside the station for an Edgware bound service, first up was a route 186 to Brent Cross, a Metrolink operated double decker fleet TE992 took me the short distance to Edgware, where I could start with my Northern line stations.

51571/51570 to Burnt Oak
51503/51502 to Colindale
51630/51720 to Brent Cross
51604/51603 to Golders Green (dud units)
51636/51635 to Hampstead (dud units)
51641/51640 to Belsize Park (dud units, and a station which was on my “have visited in the pass, but had no records of” list)
51711/51551 to Camden Town

Crossing over to the High Barnet branch, and jumping on the first set for:
51666/51667 to Tufnell Park
51665/51725 to Archway (dud units, and like Belsize Park, a previously visited station where I had no record of)
51627/51626 to Highgate (being in the fresh air was lovely)
51568/51569 to East Finchley
51684/51683 to West Finchley (making use of the toilet on the platform)
51645/51646 to Woodside Park
51723/51651 to Totteridge & Whetstone

With the northern line now cleared, I headed out of the station and to the bus stop, this time a longer wait (10 minutes) before a bus on route 251 rolled in, heading to Arnos Grove, and was a London Sovereign DE62 single decker for the ~ 3 mile trip to the Piccadilly line, other options were available. At Arnos Grove it was a bit of a fresh air before heading to the platforms to firstly head north

102/149 to Oakwood
132/163 to Southgate
151/856 to Bounds Green
250/171 to Wood Green
245/860 to Turnpike Lane
205/122 to Manor House
225/160 to Holloway Road*
170/219 to Caledonian Road
118/197 to Russell Square
196/159 to Covent Garden

The last 4 stations were on my “have visited, but never recorded” list, so that is the Piccadilly line cleared from Uxbridge to Cockfosters, leaving just the Heathrow branch, all the movements were on required units (I allowed 102/149 & 132/163 to head back south without me). I had finished a lot earlier than I was expecting so it was across the island platform at Covent Garden with required 131 & 112 to Holborn, walking to the Central line, with required 91031/92090/92148/91327 to take me to Stratford for a break (and a quick visit to the shopping centre).


30 or so minutes later I was back at Stratford, fully refreshed after a toilet break & with food inside me, however my plan was either to head on the central line or to do some more DLR, with the Central line suspended due to a “trespasser on the line”, I headed to the DLR platforms, winner 23 & dud 48 took me to Star Lane where I decided to gamble with a Stratford International bound working, but was duds 72 & 76, for the short hop to West Ham. Required 96048/96087 took me to Canning Town where I transferred to the high level DLR platforms to head towards Beckton, my movements as follows (required units highlighted)

133 & 139 to Prince Regent
65 & 07 to Royal Albert
46 & 28 to Beckton Park
114 & 142 to Cyprus
15 & 91 to Gallions Reach
28 & 46 to Custom House for ExCeL, that is the line cleared for shacks, before I did a couple hops to get some units into the book

05 & 26 to Prince Regent
127 & 112 to Royal Albert
38 & 61 to Custom House
131 & 132 to Prince Regent
26 & 05 to Royal Victoria
16 & 22 to Custom House
And finally 112 & 127 to Canning Town

Frequency was every 5 minutes, mix between services to Tower Gateway and short workings to Canning Town Low-level. The Woolwich Arsenal branch was now in my sights, so my movements were

23 & 48 to West Silvertown
51 & 66 to London City Airport
147 & 152 back to Pontoon Dock (very tight connection, only made it due to the train captain keeping the doors open so he could change units)
62 & 92 to King George V
144, 128 &145 to Woolwich Arsenal.

I somehow picked the right unit for a quick interchange at Woolwich Arsenal (only a 15 minute frequency due to engineering works) and a warm 376036 rolled in to take me to Blackheath, before dud 376008 & required 376011 rolled in to take me to Waterloo East, scoring the new viaduct between Waterloo East & London Bridge in the process! Making that +2 at Woolwich allowed me to go via Tesco on Waterloo Road, before dashing up to jump onto 159103 working the 19:50 departure to Salisbury, for a rare non-stop run via Clapham Junction. Arriving on time at Grateley, with a short walk home to put my feet up, a very successful day I would say

 

[Techniquest]

Two very good days indeed! Two excellent reads as well, some good fortune for the Mansion House terminator, I think the Plaistow one is rather unusual these days mind.

Very much a clearout on the DLR, looks like you were getting Red Pen Fever!

 

[Kite159]

Well my requirements on the DLR before the trip was a lot, a quick count and I need 70 units (including the ones scored on Monday doing linear hops from Lewisham). I suspect it will be a Sunday spent on the network trying to knock some of those on the head (I did see Keith's favourite unit, but it was on a Lewisham bound service on Friday)

26th March – A Trip to the Valleys

A complete change of scenery compared to the previous day, a trip to the Welsh Valleys to begin the process of clearing out the Welsh local lines, a couple advances picked up during the GW sale and a “Cardiff and Valleys Explorer” ticket picked up the day before at Waterloo, I opened the windows to see the weather had done a complete 180 from the day before and was wet and windy. Not the nicest of drives to Salisbury station, and I went through the open gate line to platform 4 to await the 07:30. After a brief moment to purchase a newspaper I noticed a 150/9 working a service towards Portsmouth Harbour, doing the usual long fester at Salisbury before 158957 rolled in with 158798 attached to the rear, locked out of use.

Onto coach B on 158957 for the nice trip up the Wessex line, via Warminster, pausing briefly at Westbury for a late running HST towards Paddington to depart first and for 158798 to be removed from the rear, before continuing up calling at the usual stations for the long distance trip (I’m dreading the day the outer suburban 166s replace the 158s on this route as a few passengers do long journeys making use of the tables and nice 2+2 seating with armrests). A right time arrival into Bristol for the reversal and onwards (and backwards) towards the tunnel, the service getting quite busy at this point for the runners, and an early arrival into Cardiff Central was had, only 4 minutes early, but enough to allow me to jump across to platform 6 to catch the Bargoed train 15 minutes before my plan.

Dud 150258 was in charge to take me to my first new shack of the day at Lisvane & Thornhill, and a 15 minute fester was had to await the next arrival which I was going to catch from Central (or Queen Street). Duds 142083 & 142072 on the next service, making sure I took a seat in the front coach of 142083 to call at an hourly served station with tiny platforms, so tiny that a 153 can’t even fit! I think this is the first time I’ve had local door only on a 142 as I was alone in alighting at Gilfach Fargoed. Surprisingly I had full signal so a fire up of google maps and the rain had stopped for the short walk up the line via Greggs for some food, reaching Bargoed with time to spare, 072 & 083 were still in the station waiting to depart, but I was heading north into the hourly section of the line. A rather empty 150208 rolled in to take me to Pontlottyn where I had a 15-odd minute fester hiding underneath the rubbish bus stop (seriously why put a massive gap between the walls and the ceiling?) before a rather busy 150208 rolled back in to take me down a couple stops to Brithdir

30 minutes here, and the rain was still coming down (so no exploring the area today), I could see the remains of the former 2nd platform, as I stood up waiting as a pair of pacers rolled in (Quinn would hate this part of Wales!), duds 143604 & 142069 took me to Tir-Phil, where I had to change platforms via the world’s longest temporary staircase, as network rail has put back in the 2nd platform and a passing loop to allow a 30 minute frequency in the far and distant future. Anyhow with the 4 hourly served shacks on the Rhymney line, I turned my attention to the ones which were slightly easier to get, either 4 trains an hour or (2 trains an hour in the case of Energlyn). I had noticed on RTT services were falling apart, however that meant I bailed from the return of 142069 & 143604 at Hengoed for a -3 onto 142083 & 142072 one stop back up the line to Pengam.

A short wait before dud 142080 rolled in to take me to the half hourly served Energlyn & Churchill Park, a nice short walk under the subway and to the other platform to await the heavily delayed (was around 10 minutes down at this point) service formed of 150208 to Ystrad Mynach, a short interchange in the pouring rain saw me bagging duds 142074 & 143614 for the short linear hop to Llanbradach. 10 or so minutes later 142072/143083 returned for the third time of my day to take me to Aber, where to pass the time I changed platforms and jumped onto 150258 back up to Llanbradach (every mile counts). 150208 returned from Bargoed to take me down to the heart of the Caerphilly region at Caerphilly for another 15 minute fester, and another downpour saw me staying local to the station as 142073/143625 rolled in to take me to Llanishen for another short 15 minute fester.

150258 rolled in again, to take me to my final shack along this line to Heath High Level, due to a mix of making negative connections and doing that walk faster than expected I was now 45 minutes ahead of myself, the bad news is that the next line is only half hourly and I had a 20 minute wait trying to dry myself out at Heath Low Level to await dud 153303 to roll in to take me to Whitchurch. Slightly shorter platforms at this Whitchurch than the one I normally stop at! It wasn’t long before 153303 returned (you could probably get a bouncy ball and hit the service at it reverses at Coryton from Whitchurch!). Another mile and 55 chain trip under 153303 wheels (fear not, it is a member of the 100 mile club having been attached on a trip to Fishguard Harbour), to take me to Ty Glas. Google maps up for a quick walk back down the line to get Birchgrove in the bag as dud 143610 rolled in for the half mile trip to Rhiwbina.

A quick check of my plan and after 10 minutes 143610 returned (you can see the platforms of Whitchurch & Coryton from here) and I took it for the trip via Cardiff Queen Street (noting a required 153 on the Bay service) and Cardiff Central to Ninian Park, making the connection onto 153303 to take me back to Cardiff Queen Street, where I confirmed that a required 153 was on the Bay service (formed today of two 153s due to the running event). This is where my plan started to fall apart as I boarded, my first winning unit of the day, 142006 to take me to Danescourt, the original plan was to fester for the same unit to return to take me to Fairwater for a short walk to the next station (Waun-gron Park), but the next couple Radyr workings were cancelled, so I had a short walk at Danescourt via a housing estate to Fairwater, before 142006 returned to take me to Cardiff Central.

Earlier in the day I had spotted a couple required units on Aberdare services, and the next service up towards the valleys gave a reasonable +7 at Trefforest, however it rolled into Cardiff Central 5 minutes late and was rammed (I think the previous service towards Pontypridd had been cancelled), and with runners trying to get home or back to where they parked their cars, dud 150278 lost further time out of Cardiff, so deciding that the connection won’t be possible, I bailed at Trefforest Estate, which is a station with nothing on it, just PIS. No shelter, but was nice and relaxing as my required 150 sped past and a dud 143/142 combo going up the other way, with me forming a plan to intercept that 150 on its way back from Barry. But first a couple linear hops with 150217 to Taffs Well, followed by 143624 & 143602 to Cathays.

I scored my 2nd and 3rd winners of the day in the shape of 143616 & 142002 for the short hop to Cardiff Queen Street and a fast walk to platform 1 to jump onto required 153327 leading dud 153312 to Cardiff Bay, and changing ends it was back to Queen Street, having just missed a service by a few seconds. Dud 150283 was up next which was to take me to Grangetown for an easy +8 for that 150. But sadly we were held outside Cardiff Central for a good 10 minutes (or so it felt) awaiting the platform to be cleared of terminator, so I decided it wasn’t worth the risk and bailed at Cardiff Central. Not all was lost as my 3rd last 143 was sitting on platform 6, so it was onto 143608 for a sneaky hop back to Queen Street, followed by 143604 back to Cardiff Central. Sadly a delay in releasing doors meant the required 150 had disappeared, so that 150 will just have to wait for another day.

Heading towards Tesco, I couldn’t help noticing that the shops along the row outside the station (Burger King etc) had all closed, I’m guessing that building is going to be removed and rebuilt in some way to force all the shops to close (I bet Techni won’t be happy with the loss of the Burger King). Grabbing some food and heading back to Central, noticing that unusually the last Portsmouth service was departing from platform 0, so it was to that platform to board 158953 for an uneventful trip back east, with an unknown unit attaching at Bristol. A right time arrival into Salisbury and I checked the unit we crashed into at Bristol, and it was dud 150238 being taken for a day trip to Portsmouth.

Anyhow, 5 required units (leaving my ATW requirements as 1x 142, 2x 143s, 4 x 150s, 2x 153s, 2x 158s & 5 x 175s, so a good result with my limited requirements.

Anyhow here be a picture of a Welsh Quinn at a tiny platform:

 

[PHILIPE]

The row of shops near Cardiff Central is being demolished as part of the Central Square re-development with a BBC HQ to be built there on the site of the former bus station (extremely controversial when the Council knew better than anybody else) A new bus station is to be built where the row of shops was but in the meantime, Cardiff is without a bus station with stops scattered about all over the place.

 

[Techniquest]

I had forgotten how tiny that station is at Gilfach Fargoed!

Some top results there, shame about the 150 but hopefully it'll produce next time

The loss of Burger King at Cardiff is most disappointing, maybe it'll return one day. More likely it'll be taken over by snobby shops though

 

[hassaanhc]

Two very good days indeed! Two excellent reads as well, some good fortune for the Mansion House terminator, I think the Plaistow one is rather unusual these days mind.

Very much a clearout on the DLR, looks like you were getting Red Pen Fever!

I saw an S Stock in the bay at Plaistow earlier (displaying Wimbledon)

 

[Keith Jarrett]

Kite, another excellent read or two. Seems like the London clear out went well. And good to know that my favourite DLR unit is out and about.

Your Welsh trip seemed to go well despite the service appearing to fall over at various points during the day. I've considered walking between the City Line shacks as well - on the map it seems perfectly doable. Have you got all your Coryton shacks yet? A lot of those are walkable.

 

[FQ]

I don't think I'll be venturing to that part of Wales for a while...

Excellent reads as always!

 

[Kite159]

Kite, another excellent read or two. Seems like the London clear out went well. And good to know that my favourite DLR unit is out and about.

Your Welsh trip seemed to go well despite the service appearing to fall over at various points during the day. I've considered walking between the City Line shacks as well - on the map it seems perfectly doable. Have you got all your Coryton shacks yet? A lot of those are walkable.

Yep, my Coryton line shacks are done

Walking between Ty Glas & Birchgrove is certainly doable, I think Whitchurch to Rhiwbina is doable as well, but tight if I recall

Phil, at least Cardiff is getting a new bus station, the bus station in Salisbury closed a couple years ago with no replacement, just bus stops dotted over the city centre.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
27th March – A trip to AGA land

The idea of today was to get a certain station out of the way which sees no trains stopping during the week, and only a small handful of trains calling (by request) at weekends. Plus when I’m up in the area I might as well try and knock off a couple on the line between Ely & Peterborough which are not covered by a rover. It was another early start to drive to Andover for the 07:03 Andover to Waterloo service, formed this morning of 159022, which is good because that particular 159 is bottom of my mileage table.

An on time arrival into Waterloo (although sitting at Clapham Junction for 5 minutes probably helps the time keeping some-what) and it was to the Jubilee line, and it was dud 96071 & 96094 to take me to Canary Wharf (another one of those stations “I’ve used but had no record of using”) and dud 96075/96022 getting an extra 4 miles to Stratford, in the time I had I decided to jump on the first Central line service, formed of winners 91305, 92064, 92118 & 91253 to Leyton and a brief wait before another set formed of 91211, 92250 92460 & 91093 for the mile hop to Leytonstone. It was back to Stratford on 91259, 92040, 92142 & 91105 and across a completely deserved station (nothing on the GEML this weekend, nor any 378s for North London Line services, the only heavy-rail services were the half hourly Hertford East trains.

My plan was to check the 317 on the next departure and in the likely event it was dud (as I only needed 5) was to get back to the Central line to head to Liverpool Street to join the Cambridge semi-fast at Liverpool Street, thankfully my Central line trip wasn’t needed as it was required 317504 sitting on platform 11, so taking a seat in the 1st class section (for services on Hertford East are standard class only) for the nice trip up the line to Broxbourne, clearing my final 317/5 for 15 miles. A brief wait at Broxbourne before 379028 rolled in and as expected as quite busy, so I decided to bail at Whittlesford Parkway to await the service from the airport, which was 379004. Always nice to get a nice run on a 379, and an on time arrival into Cambridge, after allowing a HST to clear the platform, it was a short crossing of the footbridge to get to one of the north facing bay platforms for the service to Norwich.

Formed of winning 170208 and in an advertising livery for the Breckland line, I took a seat in the rearmost coach to await the guard to request my request stop. No guard in sight (unlike the service a couple weeks ago when the guard did a full ticket check in between Cambridge & Ely), but thankfully the service stopped at Lakenheath. This station is closed during the week and is only open to serve the nearby bird watching area as the station is quite far away from the village it is meant to serve, I was the only person getting off, but it looked like someone boarded. The platform on the Norwich bound platform has a couple benches, but nothing apart from a bus shelter was on the Ely bound platform, so after waiting for a pair of 158s to rush pass on route towards Nottingham, the barriers were lifted and I had a quick look around, before returning to the Ely bound platform, to relax to await the arrival of the Cambridge bound service.

A quite busty dud 170273 rolled in (busy for it was a 2-coach unit instead of a 3-coach unit), which took me back towards Ely, 5 minutes after boarding the rain started and it was a fine storm as I alighted at Ely (sounded like someone had missed the last Cambridge bound service for 45-odd minutes as they were having an argument afterwards). I had two options, the first was a dud XC 170 towards March, which I decided to give it a miss, sadly the nearby Tesco was closed due to some event, so it was a bit of a fester to await the next Peterborough bound GA service from Ipswich, having seen 170270 earlier which reduced my options of a required 170/2, which were reduced even further with the appearance of winner 170272

Surprisingly busy as I found a seat in the leading coach as we set off heading West across the fens, rushing through Manea which is closed on Sundays, pausing at March before I alighted at the 2nd last station in the shape of Whittlesea. This station is quite basic, featuring manually operated level crossing gates and platforms which are quite far apart, involving a non-signposted walk, but as the weather looked like it was going to be another storm, I decided to stay close to the station, although good thing as the village centre appeared to be around a 15 minute walk away. After watching a few movements (couple XC 170s, an EMT 158), the rain started so I hid into the little bus shelter to await the return of fresh dud 170272, this time sitting in the other coach back to March.

The rain had come to a stop, however I didn’t fancy my chances (who would?) so after an explore of this fine old station, with platforms for the former line towards Wisbach cut off due to disabled access (and going by signs the only access due to the pending closure of the footbridge), I settled down watching the rain before noticing that the PIS said the next Stansted Airport bound service was formed of 4 coaches, and as my XC 170 requirements are mostly 2-car units it meant I could get lucky. Pretty much bang on time required 170518 rolled in attached to winner 170111, two winners for the price of one, and on a required move, happy days.

During my Ely fester I noticed that the 170/2 which was due back from Norwich would have been 170201 which I had a couple weeks ago, so I stayed on the pair of 170s all the way to Cambridge, where I worked out I had 3 options to get back to London, either a fast GN, a semi-fast GN or a semi-fast GA. The semi-fast GN was already in the south facing bay and was formed of a pair of dud 365s, the front unit of the fast service was also a dud, and sadly the unit which arrived to attach was also dud, so I took a seat on 365503 which was attached to 365520, sadly no bay seats in the motor coaches, as I kept an eye on the semi-fast GA, and it was a 379 so it was a non-stop run to Kings Cross for me (“This train runs non-stop to Kings Cross” as per the announcements a few times before departure). The only good thing is that both units only appeared once before in my log as Finsbury Park leaps, so the near 58 mile trip was a welcome bonus, strangely we headed over the flyover as we would be heading into the suburban platforms, only to be shifted on the approve to platform 6 to attach to another 365 waiting in the platform.

On route to Kings Cross I was thinking to myself, what I should do next, which part of the LU network and after a quick play with RTT saw a potential Chiltern move to South Ruislip, so it was the western end of the Central line for me. Heading via Boots to get some reduced sandwiches (which was very required), and to the sub-surface lines for a spot of linear hopping, with three winners in a row:

21457/21458 to Euston Square
21001/21002 to Great Portland Street
21411/21412 to Baker Street

Down to the Bakerloo platforms, where my luck didn’t hold out as a couple duds passed and I had to get the 3rd service for a reasonable walk at Marylebone, and it was duds 3557/3246 for the 25 chain leap to Marylebone, and it was to platform 6 for the stopping service to Gerrards Cross, annoyingly I spotted my last 3-car 165 on the Banbury service, but the Gerrards Cross service was strangely formed of 168002, I had the rear coach pretty much to myself, but another 168 into the 10 mile club as I alighted at South Ruislip and headed over to the Central line platforms for a bit of a fester as not all the services make it this far west, and I remembered how hard it is to try and log the set numbers, anyhow my movements were:

91343-92044-91341-91141 to Ruislip Gardens (annoyingly just missing an eastbound service)
91315-92156-92012-91097 to Northolt
91141-91341-92044-91343 to Greenford (I’ve previously used this station but only on a GW 165)
91047-92020-92446-91057 to Perivale
91211-2250-92460-91093 to Hanger Lane
91083-92170-92016-91175 to North Acton, for a quick platform change
91327-92148-92090-91031 to West Acton, for another quick platform change
91229-92464-92180-91323 to White City, where I exited the station

Most of the stations were island platforms, and it was slightly chilly with the breeze, but a short walk took me to Wood Lane, passing the old BBC Television centre, onto a part of the network which has no platform displays and a service frequency which is a mystery (posters said 5-6 minutes, but was between 5-15 minutes). The only way you could tell a train was coming was with the announcers that “The next westbound service had just departed Paddington and will be at station X in 2 minutes, Y in 4 minutes, Z in 5 minutes” Anyway my movements to clear the Hammersmith branch was as followed:
21361/21362 to Goldhawk Road
21411/21412 to Shepherd’s Bush Market
21362/21361 to Ladbroke Grove
21465/21466 to Latimer Road
21303/21304 to Westbourne Park
21375/21376 to Ladbroke Grove
21427/21428 to Royal Oak (Paddington looked rather empty)
21465/21466 to Baker Street (decided it would be easier to change to the Bakerloo line here, rather than Paddington)
To the Bakerloo platforms where required 3299 rolled in attached to 3543 which I took to Charing Cross, only for the next service to be dud 3247/3538 which I took to Waterloo. Heading via McDonalds for some dinner, I went up to board 159001/159018/159010 on a Yeovil Junction working, sitting in the 4th coach to make use of the free onboard Wi-Fi (did I mention that 159s now have Wi-Fi fitted?

Anyhow with the western end of the Central line cleared, and the Sub-Surface lines cleared, leaving me with just the Heathrow branch of the Piccadilly line, the Hainault loop and the eastern end of the Central line, and the DLR line from Lewisham towards Canary Wharf, should be doable on the Monday.

Some pretty pictures:
Explore the Breckland line branded 170208 getting ready to depart from Lakenheath:

Storm clouds gather:


158733 and friend on route to Nottingham (yes the other platform is that narrow):


Manually operated level crossing gates at Whittlesea:


Seemingly a random signal box:


170104 rushing through on route to the Bat Cave:


158864 rushing through on route to Norwich:


170272 departing March on the 27th March:


The view from the footbridge:


170638 awaiting departure from March:


-----------

28th March – Operation LU Day 4

After a bit of a rough night with Storm Katie, I was thankful the rain had stopped (but that was a cold wind) as I walked to the station for the 06:59 service, not really knowing what was happening. The TVM decided it didn’t like bank holidays and refused to sell me anything other than the full price travelcard (£75!) so I had to board 159009 without purchasing my ticket as it rolled in a few minutes down. Most likely due to the storm we were running at caution arriving into Waterloo only 15 minutes down, which is a lot better than some of the delays (at Basingstoke the 06:51 Voyager rolled in 51 minutes late)).

It was over to Waterloo East, my plan of doing a couple leaps to Charing Cross put to bed as the South Eastern network was similar to SWT and in a stake of chaos, a few minutes later and dud 465238 & 465012 rolled in to take me over the new viaduct and towards Lewisham, where I had a quick walk to the DLR platforms to make a start with clearing the shacks out, with a 5 minute frequency and all triple units, it should be easy enough to do within an hour or so:

138-134-102 to Elverson Road
131-132-148 to Deptford Bridge
103-146-153 to Greenwich (I’ve previously used the DLR form this station, but not recorded it)
118-127-112 to Cutty Sark for Maritime Greenwich
33-02-69 to Island Gardens
86-88-48 to Mudchute
135-141-147 to Crossharbour (making a quick dash to the nearby Tesco Express knowing the next service would also be a trio of duds)
83-12-73 to South Quay
106-149-150 to Heron Quays (like Greenwich, used before but never recorded)
140-107-125 to Westferry
130-143-124 to Shadwell
61-46 to Tower Gateway (another station I’ve previously used but not recorded)

It was a quick walk over to Fenchurch Street, but the C2C network was in a bit of chaos with cancelled trains left, right and centre, and as I took a seat on a service I spotted a pair of 357/3s rolling in with a required unit on the rear so I decided to give myself a 15 minute break as I took a seat on 357323 (for renumbering) and winner 357327. This service didn’t call at Limehouse and when I saw another required 357 on the next departure I decided to put a pause to my LU hunt and alight from 323 at West Ham, for a 5 minute wait before winner 357032 rolled in (attached with 357037) for the short run to Barking.

The next service towards Fenchurch Street was formed of 357314 & 357317, dud units as I had them as 214 & 217, but needed for their new numbering, back to West Ham, where I gambled and scored DLR units 113 & 119 on a quick leap to Stratford, before turning my focus on the Central line, where I decided to do the Epping branch first on grounds the first service was heading that way (if it had been a service towards Hainault, it would have been the loop first!), anyhow my movements were:
91201-92006-92200-91167 to Snaresbrook
91031-92090-92148-91327 to South Woodford
91263 – 92168 – 92430 – 91279 to Loughton (already had Woodford in the bag, and there was a reason for skipping Buckhurst Hill)
91309-92174-92132-91051 to Debden
91325-92110-91219-91185 to Theydon Bois

This is where I just missed a westbound service and things started to fall apart with a 10 minute wait for the same service to come back, giving it a miss as I noted the following service had needed units on, but that was “held”, with eastbound services starting to queue before 91349-92154-92078-91003 rolled in to take me to Buckhurst Hill. Google Maps fired up as I did a quick walk toRoding Valley on the part of the network which sees a 20 minute frequency. I had a 10 minute wait before the next service which was OK, could have been worst.

91181-92082-92414-91005 to Grange Hill
91039-91311-92192-91125 to Chigwell
91093-92460-92250-91211 to Hainault
91011-92104-92164-91045 to Fairlop
91057-92446-92020-91047 to Barkingside
91125-92192-91311-91039 to Newbury Park (where things started to get busy with the Great Eastern RRBs coming into play, and as I said goodbye to the sunlight)
91239-92070-92022-91331 to Gants Hill
91261-92222-92182-91143 to Redbridge
91151-92184-92260-91335 to Wanstead (line cleared)
91191-92056-92458-91207 to Liverpool Street
21043-21044 to Barbican (another one of those stations I’ve used before but never recorded)
21445-21446 to Edgware Road
21339-21340 to Paddington (Praed Street).

I had purchased a Heathrow Express single when the prices were reduced due to the 360s running instead of the 332s, which was a good way to get a good 332 run in and to save a double back from Heathrow, heading via Sainsburys (looks like the bug where the self service tills applied multiple discounts when buying two meal-deals has finally been fixed, and I was hungry). First service was a pair of dud 332s, with the following service half an hour later having a required 332, so I decided to have a break, sitting on 332006 and dud 332013. Phone on charge making use of the Wi-Fi to check up on some stuff, watching the service getting busier, and noting that 360205 was out of the tunnels and doing Heathrow Connect duties and a required 332 was spotted on the next Heathrow Express (which by my reckoning is the 3 diagrams for the half hourly service).

Someone sat near me got caught without a ticket (ignored the various “oyster isn’t valid on this service” announcements) and got charged the full priced ticket (ouch!). Nothing of note in North Pole (apart from a sledge on bricks) and 15 minutes later we had arrived at Heathrow Central. I waited on the platform in the hope that a 332 would be on the T4 shuttle service (seeing as the 360 which normally works it was outside), sadly it was super-dud 360201 to take me to Terminal 4. A quick walk (as fast you can walk at Heathrow) and I located the Piccadilly line platform at Heathrow Terminal 4, and was in luck as I had a 5 minute wait, and required 176 & dud 241 was in charge of this service to Heathrow Terminals 1,2 &3, making use of the island platform with duds 856 & 151 to take me to Terminal 5 to link up with the next Heathrow Express (if it had been dud I would have waited at T1,2&3 for the next London bound service).

Of all the Heathrow terminals, the walk between Heavy Rail & Light Rail platforms was the shortest, as I boarded dud 332009 leading required 332010 for the short hop back to Heathrow Central, where I set on the long walk to the Piccadilly line platforms, detouring via the loos. Eventually I reached Heathrow Terminals 1,2 & 3 (which should really be renamed as “Heathrow Terminals 2 & 3” as terminal 1 closed last year). It was a simple linear bash, the trains from T5 were quite busy, but the ones from T4 weren’t as much.

880-248 to Hounslow West (so nice to see the sun again)
159-196 to Hounslow Central
152-886 to Hounslow East
868-144 to Osterley
173-116 to Boston Manor
112-131 to Northfields
118-197 to South Ealing. My challenge was complete, London Underground was completely cleared
200-870 to Acton Town, where I bailed onto an empty service from Rayners Lane direction
157-110 to Hammersmith, with a cross platform interchange to the district line
7075-7530 to Gloucester Road
21317-21318 to Sloane Square, where I noticed the service after the next Circle line service was heading to Mansion House, a quite rare move as S-stock don’t fit into the bay, the circle line service was dud, so as expected it was a pair of D-stock units, 7095 & 7018 to the bay platform at Mansion House. Bit of an unexpected micro-grind,dud 21377/21378 took me to Blackfriars with required 21415-21416 to Temple followed by the return of 21317-21318 to Embankment. A short walk to Charing Cross, but sadly I hit a “duff” time with few departures, and nothing required spotted, so it was out on 465007 & 465012 to Waterloo East. A quick detour via the stairs of doom to pick up dinner and it was onto Waterloo concourse for the 19:50 to Salisbury, formed tonight of 159010.

Arriving into Grateley pretty much on time (might have been a minute or two down), the end of a successful day and a successful long weekend as I walked home.

Rainbow at Hounslow East:


1973-stock set 197 at South Ealing, my final LU shack:


D-stock in the bay at Mansion House, right place right time:

 

[Keith Jarrett]

Kite, another couple of excellent days out and many, many congratulations on the clearout of London Underground shacks. That's at least two of us now who have the lot "in the bag"! Are you clear now on the DLR as well? And Tramplink?

I'll have to bear in mind the weekend calls at Lakenheath whenever I get around to sorting out all of the East Anglian shacks - -there's just so many to get!

 

[Kite159]

O

Kite, another couple of excellent days out and many, many congratulations on the clearout of London Underground shacks. That's at least two of us now who have the lot "in the bag"! Are you clear now on the DLR as well? And Tramplink?

I'll have to bear in mind the weekend calls at Lakenheath whenever I get around to sorting out all of the East Anglian shacks - -there's just so many to get!

Lakenheath is possible with a 30 minute fester, but if I recall the 10:52 Cambridge to Norwich is the only time the fester works from Cambridge. On a Sunday, it's not worth aiming for it on other days as it's quite remote

One of the very limited service stations on that line done, 4 to go (plus the regular service ones). In theory you could grab lakenheath head back to Ely and aim for a +3 onto the next Norwich service which connects with a Berney Arms service

Everything within zones 1-9 is done now