Firstly, you're mental for booking on a 180 and even more mental for flagging a milkfloat from York to Newcastle in favour of a diesel dez
! I can't believe that I got Thirsk over a year before you as well! Sounds like a good first day with a few tough shacks in the bag. Shame you got a couple of pacers too though...
Grand Central was cheaper than Virgin East Coast, and 180s are a much better ride on the ECML than Mk4s. Also it was the first time on a 185 between York & Darlington so I wanted to try it out on a moderately empty 185 rather than an unknown service from London.
Anyhow here comes the next couple days:
11th August Freedom of the North East, Day 2 (Sage)
After a decent nights kip, it was an early start for me, as I walked to West Jesmond metro station, purchasing my day ticket with the aim of getting some more stations before my main FONE ticket became valid. The first service which rolled up was for South Hylton which was good as I was aiming for the stations on the shared line between Pelaw & Sunderland. It was onto duds 4033/4022 for the long run down to
Brockley Whins, with a 12 or so minute wait for duds 4066/4081 to
Seaburn (another station where it appears to be quite a walk between platforms, so I remained on the same side).
Next up was dud 4053 leading winner
4029 to
St Peters which has an interesting glass floor, but on top of an embankment so another linear hop with 4020/4024 taking me to the Batcave of the North, otherwise known as Sunderland. I had time to dash to the daylight and purchase a day return to Seaham to get a semi-awkward shack out of the way (I had originally planned to do it on the Friday but decided to get it out of the way using some peak-time extras). Heading back downstairs to the cave, and I jumped onto 142064 with its lovely bench seating for the short run to
Seaham, where the talk of it being slightly hard to change platforms are correct, a good 5 minutes via a road underpass to reach the other side with time to spare before 142084 rolled in to take me back to the Batcave of the North.
A short wait and my luck finally turned with winners
4080/4046 to the
Stadium of Light, pausing for a moment before
4015/4026 to the level crossing shack at
East Boldon, before duds 4006/4063 took me to Heworth with a fast walk to the National Rail platforms to jump onto dud 142090 to take me to the Metro Centre station. A short wait (via Subway for a sausage baguette) and it was back to Newcastle on dud 142022, a time wasting move to put me into position for my first main move of the day, the 09:45 (or so) East Coast service towards Edinburgh, but it gave me time at Newcastle to visit Sainsburys to pick up lunch items for later.
In rolled winner
91129 hauling some lovely bouncy Mk4 coaches with DVT
82222 at the rear, the DVT being new to me. I managed to find a seat on this busy-ish service for the nice run northbound to the Scottish border at
Berwick-Upon-Tweed, a nice island platform with a grand station building, for my final VTEC managed station. A model of 43300 was being used as a flower-pot which added a touch of colour to the station, but after seeking out information on a HST which was working from Aberdeen, being dud I decided not to risk the +5 at Darlington, and jumped on the next southbound service, dud 221128. I must say the ride quality of this 221 puts the Mk4s to shame, easy enough to get a table seat in coach B as I settled down to watch the scenery heading back down south.
A quick check of RTT saw a delayed VTEC service behind us, so after checking it was on the move (seemed to have got caught at Almouth for a few minutes), I bailed from the super-voyager at Durham, for a wait. I was expecting to see the headlights of a DVT coming into the station; however it was a HST with dud 43311 leading 43319 [which I managed to grab when at Darlington]. The delay meant my connection with the next Saltburn bound service was going to be tight, however I gambled on the signallers wanting to clear the HST from the Darlington station loop before allowing the 142 to depart, and I was proved right. Although it wasnt easy to alight as I got caught behind a normal who decided to stand in the doorway by random and was confused with how to open a Mk3 door.
A short walk and I took a seat on dud 142017 (well, at first it was a stand by the door to grab the ID of the rear powercar of the HST), to bound me the just over 8 mile journey to
Allens West, a level crossing station, where I had a roughly 15 minute wait (5 minute delay caused by waiting for the HST to clear before 142078 took me to the hourly served
South Bank, which is a bit of a bleak station in the former industrial heart of Middlesbrough, overlooks a lovely scrapyard. A station you wouldnt want to be in at night. However my 15 minute fester flew by as 142017 returned from Saltburn to take me to Middlesbrough itself, where I had planned to waste some time by grabbing a Whitby bound service to get one of the stations towards Nunthorpe, however that had been delayed and lost around Great Ayton [going by RTT], so with that plan out of the window I decided to head back east to
Redcar East on 142015, making use of the road subway to cross over to the other side, where I bumped into Adele and she said hello.
My original plan was to walk the rough mile between Redcar stations, however that plan went into the bin due to running early, so it was onto dud 142025 to
Redcar Central, where sadly the number of red cars around wasnt that many. A large Morrisons next to the station with a footbridge between platforms (be at the front of the units). A level crossing at the eastern end of the station was interesting as it featured barriers which were horizontal and came out across the road (rather than the usual barriers which came down). An old station building which looked like it needs a lot of TLC, but my wait wasnt for long before a delayed 142017 took me to
Longbeck.
Over the tall footbridge (good views of the area) and to the other platform, where it wasnt long before 142017 returned to take me to
Marske, sadly the barriers on the level crossing didnt go up in between trains so I had a 20 minute fester before 142025 rolled in to take me to the end of the line at Saltburn, as I changed ends grabbing a good seat at the back of the unit for the 16:30 service towards Bishop Auckland, one of my required moves on this trip as it called at
British Steel Redcar, the station which serves the closed steel works, and as the station is private land, being on a train which calls there counts in my book (rather than walking to the entrance to find it locked closed). I can see British Steel Redcar being reduced even more in frequency to maybe once a week, as it is a station sadly lacking any point (the rails into the steel works are rusting away, vegetation taking over).
Anyhow, after a quick standing on the platform for a photo, it was back onto 142025 for the long run to
Shildon. The line towards Bishop Auckland is normally 2 hourly, but there are some times of the day where it is hourly, so best to make use of the extra services. Shildon is a nice station, next to an outpost of the National Railway Museum, but not a lot else around. 20 or so minutes later 142025 returned to take me to
Heighington, a level crossing shack with a view of the new Hitachi factory.
The next Bishop Auckland bound service was a bit delayed, so I took a seat to read my book, waiting for the sound of the level crossing to come down signalling the arrival of 142017 from the single track section of the line to take me to
Newton Aycliffe, a station with wooden platforms, and not really a lot else (housing mainly, and what appeared to be a cycle path running alongside the main line towards Shildon. A short wait and 142017 reappeared taking me back west, passing the test track of the Hitachi factory to the final station on the Bishop Auckland line,
North Road (Darlington). Next to another railway museum (Head of Steam), the station itself was a basic single platform with an old shed at the eastern end of the platform, but it was time to have a walk.
Passing many pizza takeaways (mmm Pizza), I eventually reached Darlington station, with news that a required 43 was meant to be coming up from London. Darlington station is a bit bleak at 7pm in the evening, everything closed down shop wise. First up was 91101 Flying Scotsman heading northbound, but as that was dud I turned it down to await the Edinburgh fast service. 43308 was leading winner
43313 to zoom me back to Newcastle. The end of a successful day clearing out the majority of shacks between Bishop Auckland & Saltburn, leaving just two to get into my book
But I wasnt finished yet, as I had a short walk to Monument via Sainsburys Local for some dinner, and it was time for some more Tyne & Wear Metro bashing, this time the line towards the airport was in my sight. Winners
4019/4045 took me to
Wansbeck Road, going underneath the road bridge to reach the other platform to catch duds 4063/4006 back one stop to
Regent Centre. Over the footbridge and onto winners
4089/4036 to
Kingston Park using the level crossing to get between platforms to score
4028/4088 back to
Fawdon. Another level crossing shack with a short wait before winners
4087/4039 took me to Bank Foot, where I had a 15 minute wait before winners
4071/4007 took me to the 2nd last shack on the line at
Callerton Parkway, using the level crossing as fresh duds 4039/4087 took me back to West Jesmond.
A short walk back to the hotel, giving me time to reflect on my day, scoring British Steel Redcar was a highlight, but so was clearing the line towards Bishop Auckland, sadly no winning pacers, just a couple East Coast machines. I was happy, and here are some random pictures:
A mini 43300 as a flower-pot:
A grand old station building at Berwick-Upon-Tweed:
Grey skies crossing the Royal Border Bridge:
Allens West with a invisible pacer
South Bank:
Bluecar East:
142025 departing Redcar Central:
The building needing some TLC:
Beware any station bashers, trains stop right at the end of the platform away from the footbridge:
A modern footbridge at Longbeck:
I can see water!
And the old steel works (
)
Pacers pass at Marske (somehow I don't see Quinn doing this line in any sort of hurry!)
Redcar British Steel:
Freedom at Shildon:
142025 departing Heighington:
The beast of 142017 at Newton Aycliffe:
North Road (Darlington) (Not like you can confuse it with the former Plymouth North Road)
----------------
12th August Freedom of the North East Day 3 (Interlude)
Clever people might have noticed that Im on a Freedom of the North East flexi-rover, which is 4 days out of 8, but I mentioned this was a 5 day trip. Day 3 wasnt going to be on the rover, but on a Network one day ticket covering the Tyne & Wear metro, plus the railway out towards Blaydon, as I had a plan to get Blaydon into the book as it is a slightly annoying station frequency wise (off-peak it is 2 hourly with trains passing nearby giving a tight +4).
But first I had unfinished business with the shared line, so it was another early start with a walk to West Jesmond with duds 4047/4035 taking me down the line to
Fellgate, a station on an embankment involving a long walk to the other platform, took me a good 5 minutes missing a connection. 15 minutes later duds 4071/4007 rolled in to take me to Heworth, where I had an option to catching either the next Northern service to Sunderland, or a metro towards Newcastle Central. The pacer heading towards Sunderland was dud, so it was across to the metro platform as winners
4062/4038 took me to Central Station.
Heading out of the metro and to the main concourse, a short walk took me to dud 142025 back down the line to Heworth, before crossing over to the other platform with dud 142094 taking me back towards Newcastle, out the other side to reach
Blaydon. A handy footbridge meant I made the +5 to a pair of pacers (how rare), with dud 142087 leading 142096 going into Newcastle via the High level bridge, and reversing back out to take me to the Batcave of the North at Sunderland.
With 10 minutes to kill before the next service, I went for a short walk to
Park Lane, for a short wait before duds 4033/4022 took me to
University, but in summary my next moves were:
4045/4019 to Pallion (large footbridge)
4022/4033 to Millfield (roadbridge, nothing else around apart from some grumpy old folks)
4019/4045 to Pelaw (dud station)
4063/4006 to Jarrow (missed the train heading back towards Pelaw, crossing point on a single track section)
4031/4050 to Simonside (embankment station, good +3 to reach other platform)
4006/4063 to Bede (cant actually remember much about this station)
4042/4012 to Chichester (has ticket barriers, and not a lot else)
4012/4042 back to Tyne Dock (looked like a long footbridge)
4003/4055 to Hebburn (another long footbridge)
4074/4065 to Central Station
It was time for a quick toilet break, and also to grab some lunch before visiting the long route via the coast.
4035/4047 to Monument, having just missed a Coast bound train (platform information screen is rubbish as it only starts tracking the next service when it departs St James, so most of the time it is blank).
4042/4012 to Byker (racing a 156 on route to Morpeth)
4074/4065 to Manors (another missed connection giving me a 12 minute wait, yep, same pair of units I had earlier to Central)
4065/4074 to Chillingham Road
A short walk along the road passing a bus depot and workshop for Siemens to reach Walkergate station
4037/4023 to Hadrian Road (think it was a footbridge)
4078/4067 to Wallsend (nice Latin signs, pedestrian underpass)
4079/4030 to Percy Main (road underpass to other platform)
4088/4028 to Howdon (level crossing)
4057/4048 to Meadow Well, for a 12 minute rest
4067 & 4078 to North Shields.
A short break at North Shields, as I went in search for a toilet, failing in my quest, nice little shopping centre, but infested by Chuggers (I counted at least 3 different charity causes wanting you to sign up to pay them lots of money in commission).
4028/4088 to Tynemouth (a short break at a very nice station building, I could tell this is former BR)
4073/4060 to Whitley Bay, with a short walk back along the road to Cullercoates (connection is a +1 or so, with a footbridge, bit tight for my liking).
4041/4061 to West Monkseaton, a fast walk to the other platform using the footbridge
4003/4055 to Monkseaton (road bridge)
4025/4049 to Northumberland Park (island platform, with freight line towards the coast running alongside)
4023/4037 to Shiremoor (think it was a footbridge)
4013/4075 to Benton
4048/4057 to Palmersville
4063/4006 to Longbenton
4015/4026 to Four Lane Ends
And I had done it, all stations visited on the Tyne & Wear Metro, and in a lot shorter time than I was expecting, as it was only just past 4pm. Four Lane Ends bus interchange had toilets, however they wanted 50p to use them, so I refused (as I dont pay for toilets as they should be a free service, especially at a bus station). I was thinking what to do, so through to go Metro unit hunting in the core section between South Gosforth & Pelaw, where the 3 minute frequencies had just started kicking out units from the depot, so a good chance for some linear hopping.
4042/4012 to South Gosforth (where I didnt have long to wait)
4069/4051 to Illford Road
4001/
4040 to West Jesmond
4017/4005 to Jesmond
4034/4085 to Haymarket
4009/
4068 to Monument
4082/4054 to Central Station (a good fester here due to a few dud units showing up)
4086/4090 to Gateshead
4056/4044 to Gateshead Stadium (quite busy this service, and another short fester due to dud units, keeping an eye on the time, not helped with dodgy PIS)
4058/4008 to Felling
4072/4004 back to Gateshead Stadium, for a 20 minute wait (as a lot of the Pelaw short workings were coming back)
4069/4051 to Felling
4067/4078 to Heworth, where I had a couple choices of northern units, although I was following the crowds exiting the station via a manual gate, although the member of staff could learn some manners as he barked that the manual gate was only for season tickets, daily tickets must go via the barriers. Like a tourist was meant to know that rule, following the crowd.
Anyhow the next service towards Sunderland was dud, so over to the other platform to board dud 156443 heading towards Newcastle, and I felt much better after using the toilet. A quick check of RTT highlighted a +5 or so at Metro Centre, with the train getting busy (as it was bound for Carlisle) at Newcastle, but it looked like a lot of passengers were alighting at Metro Centre as it pulled in, however one passenger who made use of the toilet after Newcastle was inpatient and forced his way back through the crowd waiting to alight to get back to their seat (wouldnt it have been better to wait a minute for the passengers standing to clear?).
Dud 142087 took me back to Heworth, where after 20 or so minutes of festering keeping an eye out for any required metro units not yet spotted, I called it a day with 156469 taking me back to Newcastle. Nothing of interest floating around the station (not like I could do much with my day rover ticket), so after grabbing some food, it was down to the metro for one last trip on 4089/4036 back to West Jesmond, the end of a long and productive day, all the stations cleared on the system, and a mere 14 Metro units remain.
It was a quick shower before heading to bed, as it was another early start for the Saturday morning, with a certain limited service station on my wish-list.
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13th August Freedom of the North East Day 4 (Rosemary)
A frankly silly early start (Im looking forward to my late start on the Sunday), as I walked to West Jesmond, picking up a zone A day ticket, and jumped on the first service southbound, formed of 4076/4010 to Monument, for a short wait before 4047/4035 took me to Central Station. Swinging via Sainsburys for an early breakfast before walking to platform 1 to join 2 other passengers on the 05:55 service to Chathill, formed this morning of 142022 for a very thrashy run as the early morning northbound service runs fast from Morpeth to Alnmouth. Both the other passengers alighted at Morpeth, but a couple cyclists boarded for the run to
Chathill, the northernmost point of the Northern empire, and a station which caused me a couple issues thinking wise at what is the station Ive passed through the most without ever stopping at.
Anyhow, after falling over a flowerpot (oops), I crossed over to the other platform, with a family joining me at the colourful station (well looked after for its two trains a day). A 91 rushed through on route to Edinburgh and a voyager rushed through on route to Plymouth (probably), before the level crossing closed a good 4 minutes before 142022 returned from a loop. It was a short run down to the next stop at
Alnmouth for Alnwick, with a couple photos before the next southbound service, due 5 or so minutes afterwards.
Winner (not like I knew at the time) DVT
82209 was leading dud 91112, as I took a seat for the southbound run to Newcastle, calling at Morpeth (I had never previously called at this station prior to this week, and now Ive called on Northern, XC & VTEC!). A short walk at Newcastle to platform 1, where I jumped onto 142078 for the tiny distance to
Manors, for a 10 minute wait for dud 142022 to roll in (shocking the guard) back to Newcastle. A 5 minute connection as I walked over to dud 156475 heading towards Carlisle for the run towards
Stocksfield, a station with a rather nice footbridge, and a nearby shop (used to purchase a newspaper for later on).
My aim for the rest of the day was to clear my remaining shacks between Hexham & Nunthorpe, so it wasnt a long wait before winner (blimey a required Northern unit popping up, how rare)
156451 took me the 2 and a half miles to
Prudhoe, a level crossing shack with another lovely footbridge (in terms of the design of the metalwork). It was a short wait at Prudhoe before 142025 rolled in to take me to
Corbridge which didnt look like it had much around (although I see evidence where this line had a landslip earlier in the early). A short wait (looked like the station building has been turned into an Indian restaurant) before 142025 returned to take me to
Riding Mill another station which didnt look like it had much around.
I was hoping the next service would be a 156 as I would be on it for a while, but that would be in another 30 or so minutes, and this station has WiFi provided by Northern (which cut down the fester time by checking up on the news and other stuff). My wish came true as dud 156469 rolled in to take me to
Hexham. A quick visit to the toilet before re-boarding the 156 in the other carriage, as I settled down for the long service down the Durham coast to
Gypsy Lane, so pretty much the entire service, bar a few chains at the end (as you can see the platforms at Nunthorpe from the single platform at Gypsy Lane).
20 minutes later, 156469 started moving, the level crossing barriers came down (the lane itself had been blocked to road traffic), and it took me just over a mile to
Marton. Full of football fans as it appeared Middlesbrough were at home. In theory you can walk the short distance to the next station with enough time to spare, but why walk as a service from Whitby was due. A busy dud 156487 rolled in to take me the tiny distance to
James Cook University Hospital Station (says James Cook on the signs, but the station announcements are for the full name). A modern platform serving the hospital complex, but with no car stop boards it was a job trying to figure out where the next service would stop.
142087 was the next unit which popped up to take me to
Nunthorpe a modest two platform station on a crossing loop. The pacer soon disappeared to reverse back to the other platform, however I disappeared to a local Spar to pick up a couple bits of eat (ended up with some pork pies) and some cold drink, before I rejoined a busy 142087 heading back northbound. The guard had his work cut out selling tickets as well as doing dispatch duties as none of the small stations around here had TVMs, and are quite close together. Add in a lot of football supporters trying to get a free ride, I hoped there was some sort of revenue block at Middlesbrough to make sure everybody had a ticket. After Middlesbrough the train emptied out, the stations became further apart and another guard joined. A bouncy slow run up the Durham coast as I arrived at
Hartlepool.
A run-down seaside down is the best way to describe it, I headed out of the station and the street was a bit of a let-down, the busiest place was the gambling shop. However as I didnt want to be mistaken for a French Spy, I returned to the single platform (plus a bay platform used mostly by those Sunday services from Darlington), passing the real ale bar, and joined fresh dud 156451 on the run down to
Stockton, the birthplace of the railways. 142095/142068 were up next back up the coast to
Seaton Carew, with a Grand Central HST rushing pass as the pacers departed, however I had spotted a little Sainsburys on the other side of a busy road, with no means of crossing said road (no traffic lights that I could see) so I had to wait for a break in traffic to grab a late lunch. Back to the basic platform, for a short wait before 142025 returned from Hexham to take me to
Billingham. Which is a nice island platform with a nearby Tesco (useful for anybody wanting to use it for a supply raid), but not a lot else that I could see. I didnt explore for long because I had one last station in my target.
156451 returned wanting an entry into the 156 50-mile club, where I had the choice of either a tight +3 at Metro Centre, or a fester at Newcastle. I decided to fester in Newcastle (my original plan was to now walk the short distance to Manors, but I got that earlier on). Instead it was a short wait for the next Morpeth bound service, formed of a busy 156454 to take me to
Cramlington, busy due to the football, and with the ticket gates at Newcastle wide open gave all those lovely football fans a free ride home (as the guard couldnt get through checking/selling tickets). Anyhow with Cramlington done, that is the ECML cleared from London Kings Cross all the way to Dunbar, with all stations called at.
The usual 30 minute fester at Cramlington, watching a couple Virgin services zooming pass, thinking that the station Ive gone through the most without ever calling at is probably Broomfleet (at 9 passes). Anyhow 156454 soon returned to take me back to Newcastle platform 1, where I spotted a required 156 on the dry Carlisle service from platform 2, with passengers only being allowed on via the local door with security checking for any alcohol and tickets. I was soon on board winner
156490 for the run to Metro Centre, with a delayed Spotty 156 due I went for a walk to grab some food from KFC inside the Metro Centre itself (quite a large shopping centre). It was a trip via the High Level bridge which made a chance.
156454 came and went with a Metro Centre Middlesbrough service, soaking up most of the crowd from the platform, but sadly my wait wasnt for anything required as dud 156512 rolled in to take me back to Newcastle, again via the high level bridge, the end of a successful day. With nothing else around the station of interest, I headed down to the metro and duds 4065/4074 took me back to West Jesmond, for a lazy night, packing my bag back up for the going home the following day.
Anyhow, some more pretty pictures of Pacers and other stuff:
142022 departs Chathill heading to the loop:
I think someone might be waiting for a long time to catch a train for Berwick and the North from that platform!
A lovely station building:
An unknown Voyager dashing through on route to the sunny South West:
Whereas 91102 is heading to Scotland:
Good news Quinn, the next train is a 156... you only have to wait 11 and a half hours for it
142022 at Alnmouth for Alnwick:
The quite bleak Manors:
What a lovely footbridge, 156475 departing Stocksfield:
156451 at Prudhoe:
Another nice footbridge:
156481 dashing through Corbridge as 142025 gets ready to depart:
The countryside:
Its 142025 again, this time running away from Riding Mill:
Gyspy Lane:
156469 departing Marton:
James Cook:
142087 at Nunthorpe:
The disused platform at Hartlepool with the little used bay on the right hand side:
Stockton, The birthplace of the railway:
Seaton Carew... Has a pacer:
And a HST:
The view from the footbridge at Billingham:
We are Northern branded 156454 at Cramlington:
91110 For the Fallen rushes pass:
As 43315 comes the other way from Aberdeen:
I also pick up bits and bobs too mind, although I do forget a lot of the useful bits when I'm out and about 
hock:
