The Various Random Mutterings of Kite

[Kite159]

Thanks Keith

21st October – Fields of White Roses, Day 0

As I was booked onto the 07:03 London Kings Cross – Leeds service on the Saturday I decided it would have to be an overnight stay in London (the reason for wanting that train will become clear on the report for Saturday). I had no real idea of what to aim for other than a couple 387 operated services and the location of my last 466 which was out doing Victoria – Orpington services. Finished work on time and a drive home (witnessing some idiotic behaviour from a driver overtaking on a blind bend!) and I walked to the station to pick up my tickets for the day.

The 14:59 was the train I was aiming for and today it was formed of 159016 & 159014, and due to half term I would imagine one of the boarding schools in Salisbury finished early as it was full of school kids with various suitcases heading home for the week. Anyhow I got a seat and relaxed for the half hour trip to Basingstoke, where 150001 took me onwards to Reading for some early 150 based thrash. You could probably guess why I was heading to Reading, and that was mainly due to my 12 remaining GWR power-cars, and with a hope I wasn’t going to be festering around Reading for as long as I was back in August.

My wishes came true as the first service which rolled in had dud 43015 on the front and winner 43159 on the rear (won’t be my last one Quinn ) for the speedy run to Slough where due to a late running Slough caller meant it was a crawl for that service to depart before running into Paddington a few minutes late. On route I had an idea to try and grab the 466 earlier, so once into Paddington it was down to the Bakerloo line jumping onto the first available service as it would be quite tight to get to Victoria in time, especially as it was nearing peak-time with the crowds. Duds 3234/3543 took me onwards to Oxford Circus, leaping across the platform to jump onto duds 11075/11076 onwards to Victoria, a very stop-start journey due to following another service on the route to Brixton.

A few minutes attempting to leave Victoria LU station (such an awful design) and it was over to the South Eastern platforms with 5 minutes to spare, locating the next Orpington service, a busy 6 car with 465033 on the rear and 466024 at the front. Happy days, as it means another class was now cleared (and the 466s are quite hard to get as they can pop up nearly anywhere on the SET network) as I took a seat in the motor coach for some extra noise, the idea of heading to Brixton and then onto the Victoria line somewhere. Which is where things went wrong as the train turned left at Brixton to head towards Denmark Hill (Thameslink had collapsed due to 3rd rail issues at Blackfriars, so I’m guessing the signallers decided to turn this service into a Catford loop line service).

Anyhow, Denmark Hill was in a state of panic, the next service out of there had a last minute platform change from P1 to P3, only for it to roll into P1 (with an extra delay as passengers headed back over from P3 to P1). Dud 465929 was leading 466023 to take me back to Victoria, where the queues for the Victoria Line ticket hall was quite long, so I decided to take a walk to the other entrance to the underground station, eventually locating it and headed to the Sub Surface Line platform, jumping onto the first service without really checking. It was duds 21435/436 so I bailed at the next stop of St James Park to await a required S7 (or even a D Stock).

First couple units were dud, before winner 21541/21542 rolled in to take me to Westminster, the next couple were duds with a 7 minute wait (at peak time!) I decided to bail to the Jubilee line platforms to await a required 96 stock. A few duds later before dud 96019 rolled in attached with winner 96106 to take me to Southwark (as I was just killing time without really an aim before needing to be at Paddington for the 19:15 service). I decided to bail at Southwark to head to Waterloo East to see what was floating around (in the hope of a 375 or a 465/9 score). It was outside into the light of Waterloo East, as I regain mobile signal to fire up RTT to give me some ideas of what was due. First 10 minutes there was nothing spotted (only 465s and 376s) as I went across to platform D for a service from Ramsgate, a trio of 375s, which was being led by my last 375/9. 375921 was leading duds 375613 & 375709 for the short trip over the river to Charing Cross.

The next couple highlighted services were dud, so I headed to the Bakerloo ticket office, with one eye on the clock as I jumped onto duds 3531 & 3239 to Edgware Road, a couple dud set later and I was back on the move with duds 3532 & 3238 to Paddington, making my way over to platform 12 where the 19:15 service to Hayes & Harlington was waiting. Winner 387131 was leading winner 387136 on the lightly loaded service, for my first “Great Western Electrics” run to Ealing Broadway. A good bit of acceleration out of both Paddington and Acton Main Line (where due to a short platform only the doors on the front 7 coaches are released), at Ealing Broadway I don’t think I was alone in heading over the footbridge and down to the other platform as this service gives a +5 to the other pair of 387s out currently.

Needless to say it was back to Paddington on winners 387134 & 387133, another lightly loaded service (the WiFi works quite well), and once at Paddington it was over for the long walk to the Hammersmith & City line platform, with an idea of heading to Liverpool Street due to information that a required 90 was on the 20:30 Norwich (thanks to Techni). Winners 21395/21396 took me forward to Great Portland Street, followed by required 21115/21116 to Kings Cross St Pancras. Next up was a dud S8 before 21475/21476 took me onto Farringdon, followed by 21099/21100 to Moorgate. With time ticking down, the next service was dud 21429/21430 for the short leap to Liverpool Street (the next service would be in 6 minutes which would have been a bit too tight for the Norwich train.

Anyhow as expected winner 90003 was sat at the barrier end of the 20:30 (with required DVT 82102 at the front) for the short run to Stratford (yes I know it is pick up only, naughty me). A late running required 321439 took me back to Liverpool Street where I had a couple options to reach Victoria, the quicker Central Line to Oxford Circus, or the indirect Circle line. For some reason I picked the circle line as winners 21057/058 took me to one of the bay platforms at Aldgate (doors opened on the left at Aldgate) which I think might have been a required micro-grice. Anyhow a minute or so later winners 21561/562 rolled in to take me the long trip round to Victoria, arriving with 5 or so minutes to spare to head up towards the high numbered platforms for the 21:20 Brighton service, which is one to remember as it is formed of a trio of 387/2s.

Winners 387216, 387210 & 387212 was on the service on the slow trip to East Croydon, seemed to be very stop start after Thornton Heath, arriving 7 minutes down. For me the network rail part of my evening was other, but after spotting a required tram heading towards Elmers End, I checked into the Easy Hotel, dropped off stuff from my bag and headed back out to the tram stop for some tram hunting. I wasn’t festering for long before required 2554 rolled in to take me to George Street, followed by a bit of a fester before winner 2559 returned from Elmers End to take me round the corner to Centrale, to clear my last Stadler. Another short fester at Centrale before I jumped onto dud 2545 to take me back to East Croydon to call it a night, but the next Wimbledon tram was a minute later and was required 2532 to take me back to George Street.

A short fester before I jumped onto 2549 round the corner to West Croydon before fresh dud 2559 took me back to East Croydon, where I called it a night and headed back to the hotel for an average night, the AC unit kept on making funny noises, even when turned off. A very successful evening scoring 2 locos, 7 LU units, 3 trams (only 3 remain) plus 10 MUs.

 

[noddy1878]

Was a productive evening there. Well done on clearing the 466s.

 

[FQ]

Crazy driver overtaking on a blind bend! I'm sure that you'll get more GWR powercars but probably not with the same mileage as me . Congrats on clearing the 466s too and getting some GWR 387s! Sounds like a great time.

 

[adrock1976]

That seemed a really good warm up session, especially with the bonus of getting your final Class 466.

I can imagine the relief of such an accomplishment - I was able to finally relax when I landed 323238, which was my final one to clear the class being my fifth attempt at doing so.

 

[Cowley]

That was a good read. It's amazing what people turn into once they get behind the wheel of a car...
Such a good feeling picking off the last few winners of a class.

 

[Kite159]

Adam, yes it is relaxing to have cleared the 466s, I just need 6 465/9s to clear the networkers outright (then it be relaxing not to have to worry about them)

22nd October – Fields of White Roses Day 1

After the so-so night at the Easy Hotel, it was to East Croydon station for the 05:47 Thameslink service to Bedford (with a couple back up services to Victoria/London Bridge if it had been cancelled). Thankfully those back up services were not required as duds 377515 & 377516 rolled in for the early morning Thameslink crawl via South London to reach the Bat Hollow pretty much bang on time (which makes a change, although seeing as it sat at Blackfriars for 5 minutes due to arriving early, I would expect an on-time arrival at St Pancras!).

I had time to swing via WH Smiths to exchange another newspaper coupon for the newspaper, and via McDonalds for some breakfast before heading towards the 07:03 Leeds train, noting that the 06:15 (or so) Edinburgh had departed a 25 minutes late (and looking at RTT calls at all the VTEC stations to Newcastle). The platform got announced as I did the long walk to the far end to grab the ID of the 91 which would be hauling me to Leeds and it was dud 91105, with DVT 82214 on the rear. My seat was in coach C, over the wheels so less of a rough ride.

It was a good trip northbound, although it lost time between Stevenage & Peterborough, and between Doncaster & Adwick due to being caught behind an Adwick terminator meaning the service was around 15 minutes late into Leeds. Not like I minded as I had roughly 55 minutes to kill before my first planned move to get Long Preston into the book without a mega fester, on carrying out research I had highlighted that Long Preston is one of those shacks which is better to score heading into Leeds than out of Leeds, apart from on a couple services (the Heysham service being one of them, which just misses the arrival of the 08:03 Leeds service).

Anyhow before I could do anything I headed to the ticket office to exchange a piece of paper and £7 for a Northern Friends and Family rover (many thanks to the kind member of staff who sent me the voucher ), the queue was quite long but eventually it got moving and I got my rover, swinging via Boots for a meal-deal for later on. I had a couple options so decided to kill some time by jumping onto 333012 for a spin to Shipley before joining 333004 from Bradford Forster Square for the run towards Skipton to score P4 (also as a time wasting, pacer reducing move). Such a shame that the 333s don’t really give out that much in the way of motor noise when you are sat inside (good noise when they pull away from stations, but a good sense of speed once in North Yorkshire). A few minutes later dud 144014 rolled in to take me to my first new shack of the day at Long Preston.

Word of warning, it is a good 3 minute walk between platforms, but with 30 minutes to kill I took my time exploring the area (not a lot around) before taking up a seat in the little shelter for the next Leeds service. It was a busy 150276 which I took to Keighley after spotting what unit was on the next Leeds service from Skipton after pulling out of Skipton, a few minutes later dud 322485 rolled in, as I took a seat in the motor coach for some 322 motor noise (just what the doctor ordered, how I wish I bailed from the 150 at Skipton instead for extra thrash on the speedy section). I alighted at Shipley crossing back over to platform 5 for a time wasting move on dud 333003 back to Keighley (which had a beer festival on the “Worth Railway” platforms [another heritage railway to do at some time]).

A short wait in the sunshine before the next Ribblehead service was due (due to engineering works, no services north of Ribblehead this weekend), formed of duds 158790 leading 153331. I took a seat in the 153 for some dog box thrash and relaxed as I headed back out towards Skipton leaving the wires and a couple 322s plus a 333 which had been visited by some paint carrying yobs to reach Gargrave. Short platforms which meant the rear door of the 153 was on the slope bit at the end of the platform, but another pretty little station with an old station house (however like Long Preston it is a good couple minute walk to reach the other platform, going down an unlit lane). I only had 10 or so minutes to fester before winner 158904 rolled in attached with 158784, due to the short platforms it was local door only on my last 158/9 for the near 30 mile run back to Leeds, which the last few miles was a bit slow as the 158s had caught up with a stopping service.

With some time to kill I headed out to pick up a late lunch from Boots (did you know that you can get a “Graze” box as part of the meal deal?) before heading back to the platforms, heading towards platform 1 where a 153 was being detached from a 142 and being reattached to a 150, as it was announced as being the next Knaresbrough short working, I took a seat onto winner 153363 as it was attached with dud 150224 for the nice run onto the Harrogate loop (north of Horsforth I have only done this line once before and that was in the dark so the scenery once back into North Yorkshire was new for me) to Harrogate itself. A brief wonder over the footbridge to the other platform (platform 2 bay appeared to have a 144 stabled in it and faces towards York) as dud 150276 reappeared from York (and from earlier) to take me to Pannal.

A tight connection at Pannal, but a nice bridge at the Harrogate end of the platforms, meant I arrived with time to spare, noting a Co-Op next to the station (useful if anybody can’t make the connection), before the next York service rolled in, formed of duds 158848 & 142024 (the 142 I saw earlier at Leeds) to Hornbeam Park. A basic station with platforms separately across a busy road bridge (traffic lights come in handy for a pedestrian crossing), as I took a seat and waited for the return of 153363 & 150224 from Knaresbrough, to take me back to Leeds, this time sitting in the 150. I would have stayed for longer on the Harrogate loop but I had a date with the once a day service to Goole, and wanted to arrive with time to spare in case it was heavily loaded.

A smile came onto my face as I saw what would be working the service to Goole this evening, winner 144022, my last 144. I got into the bay seats in the leading coach and settled down until departure time (a few seats remaining in the leading coach, no idea about the loadings in rear or middle coaches). The reversal at Castleford and the service kept on losing passengers as I fired up Google Maps for some reason (I think it was to see how far apart my last two stations were), and it brought up a potential bus move to knock both of them on the head. After Knottingley there was around 10 other passengers, a couple getting off at least of the intermediate stations, but I was alone in alighting at Rawcliffe, a basic shack (not like I was expecting much) but I set about on route to the village centre to reach the bus stop by the village green (around a 12 minute walk along pavements) to wait for the final Goole – Selby bus of the evening (departs at 18:35). The double decker rolled in on time (fleet number 1809 of Arriva Yorkshire, operating a route 400), handing over £2.60 for a single ticket to Snaith station and climbed on board joining one other passenger.

10 minutes later I alighted from the bus, crossing the road and onto the platform at Snaith, mission complete as 15 minutes later 144022 returned from Goole (a handful of passengers) getting busier as the service got nearer Leeds, I was still buzzing about my unplanned bus move which meant I didn’t have to return again next year with another overnight stay (as the service from Goole arrives 6 minutes before the last London train on a Saturday which is too close for comfort). A brief break via Boots before I headed over to the bay platforms for the final York (via Harrogate) service of the evening (the remaining services only go as far as Harrogate), which had rolled in with dud 150207 leading winner 150228 (my final Northern 150/2!) back out of Leeds onto the Harrogate line taking me to Weeton, which is a bit of an evil station to change platforms in any sort of hurry.

The platforms are quite basic (made of wood) with various patches being made over time, but it wasn’t a long fester before late running dud 142024 took me back to Leeds, where I was about to head over to see what service was going to be on the next service towards Bradford, catching my eye on the final service towards Sheffield as it was one of my last 4x 142s. A check on RTT saw a connection available at Castleford so I climbed onto a very busy 142019 which had a 153 attached for extra space, scoring me a very rare double win as it was 153378. By the time I bailed at Castleford both units were cleared for 10 miles as I had a 10 minute wait on the single platform for duds 150205 & 142021 to take me back to Leeds. I sat in the rear coach of the pacer as it was empty, and because the service was booked into a “D” portion of the platform at Leeds (right at the far end).

As we were pulling in my eyes caught sight of another required 142, this time on the final Manchester Victoria service, which for me was a required move to take me back to Bradford (by this time Forster Square would have been closed up). Dud 150215 was leading winner 142052 for the short trip to Bradford Interchange, exiting via the barriers and doing a long walk to the hotel (I dislike the ‘night mode’ feature on Google Maps as I kept on making mistakes with many little side roads. This time there was no hassle checking into the Ibis Budget (still a pain to reach by foot having to go round on a big loop), and this time my room overlooked the car-park on the rear of the hotel, so a lot quieter than before.

Relaxing in bed gave me a chance to reflect on clearing out 6 more North Yorkshire shacks, and 2 very limited served East Yorkshire shacks (I bet not many people can say they have cleared Goole to Carlisle via Leeds!), making good use of the rover, getting 7 more Northern units into the book as well (without even trying) was excellent.

Here be some pictures:
Long Preston:


Gargrave:


Harrogate:


Pannal:


A Quinn at Hornbeam Park:


Rawcliffe:


Snaith:


Weeton:


Day 2 to follow

 

[FQ]

Congrats on clearing the 158/9s and the other class that I won't mention. What's a graze box? It makes me simply think of a box filled with grass...

A good read as always and well done at getting the Leeds-Goole shacks done!

 

[Kite159]

Graze Boxes – healty snack boxes (https://www.graze.com/uk/snacks/) (Getting a bit extra value for money with a Boots meal deal)

23rd October – Fields of White Roses, Day 2

After a good night’s sleep, I checked out of the Ibis Budget in Bradford and walked to Forster Square (via McDonalds for some pancakes) for the first service of the day to Leeds (swinging via the ticket office for my West Yorkshire Day Ranger). The 09:00 service to Leeds this morning was 333005 for the speedy run to Leeds calling at all stations. My aim of the day was to visit Marsden which is easier to visit on a Sunday compared to during the week (+15 rather than a +2, bar peak time extras), plus to fester round Leeds on the lookout for anything required.

I had two options to getting to Huddersfield, the first 185 was dud, with a grey 158 spotted in between services (158752) which I required so tracked it down for later. A few minutes later dud 185149 rolled in and I had no issues getting a seat for the run to Huddersfield, dashing through the subway to reach the centre platform where a oddly familiar looking pacer was waiting, for it was no other than 142052 again (the same unit I scored on Saturday heading to Bradford from Leeds), although this time the 142 was locked out of use so it was into 150215 setting off along a pretty line to reach Marsden.

The Manchester bound platform is on a loop away from the main-line (which also has a platform), with evidence of a former line judging by the gap, however this did mean it was a good 4 minute walk over the Huddersfield narrow canal, up a hill and back over the canal and line to reach the other platform, but would be a nice place to spend an hour if so required. Anyhow 10 minutes or so later the Huddersfield bound stopper rolled in formed of duds 142046 & 142044, and a 15 minute fester at Huddersfield before I joined dud 185126 back to Leeds.

After doing a quick scan of the station, I headed to get some lunch before returning (which I was surprised with the ticket barriers allowing me back so soon after exiting). RTT was in action showing me what movements, but sadly they didn’t reflect with my requirements (although in all fairness Leeds on a Sunday isn’t as good as during the week owing to the reduced frequencies (every 2 hours on the stoppers). With nothing better located it was time to intercept that 158 from earlier, so it was onto the Manchester Victoria service formed of 142094 (ouch!) which featured a lazy cyclist who decided to dump their bike in the foot-well of a doorway, rather than pushing it to the cycle space at the rear of the unit (which at the time was empty).

Anyhow a right time departure and a few miles later I alighted at New Pudsey crossing over the footbridge with the +7 for the Blackburn – York service (would normally have been Blackpool North – York, but engineering works west of Blackburn I assume), and as expected it was winner 158752 which I somehow had managed to bag on its first day of working after being refurbished and in the new Northern colours. It was also my last of the 3-car Northern 158s which was also a bonus, back to Leeds where I alighted and the unit broke down (nothing to do with me honest ), anyhow I returned to the footbridge to keep an eye out, noticing that the London Kings Cross service had changed to “Delayed” with “passengers for London should change at Manchester Piccadilly” being displayed under a couple TPE departures...

...the worst was still to come, a 91 had pulled the wires down south of Doncaster (but at the time I didn’t know that) as I jumped onto winner 185130 for the short run to Dewsbury for a tight connection with dud 185119 back to Leeds, to find the station heading into chaos with the cancellations of the London trains. My booked train home would have been the 17:45 HST from Harrogate (booked because it would be a HST), however after looking at RTT I worked out a plan of heading towards Sheffield to pick up a HST to head up the Midland Main Line, the connection being either a Voyager or a 158, with the voyager getting delayed, caught up in the disputation north of York. I couldn’t even get close to the 158, it departed rather full and standing, similar with the Voyager as it rolled in. So my next plan was a TPE over to Manchester and a choice of 390s south (3x an hour sounded better than the 1x hour from Sheffield which called at most stations).

The first couple TPE 185s which rolled in where rammed with passengers from York, they departed very cosy, however the next 185 came from Hull which I had hopes for, and dud 185140 rolled in, as I managed to board and actually get a seat.... in 1st class, my £6 was on the table for weekend first however the guard didn’t come round to check tickets (hey it was genius and I probably wasn’t the only passenger sitting in the 1st class area to get a seat rather than standing by the doorways). Over the hills and through the tunnel (for only the 2nd ever time!) to reach the west, non-stop through Stalybridge and a crawl into Piccadilly, the next 390 had been delayed (from the looks of RTT the direct line from Colwich to Stone was out of action as it lost some time, I assume going via Stafford). Anyhow dud 390141 rolled in and I managed to guess the door to coach U pretty much bang on, as after passengers alighted I managed to grab a prime table seat (like C9 it isn’t against a wall so extra elbow room, with the downside of the seat opposite being one of those to avoid as it has a view of plastic).

Anyhow I was on board, I had a good seat, it was time for some tilt action, heading to Euston via Crewe, running non-stop after Crewe regaining lost time caused by the late arrival and heavy loading (the coaches nearer the barriers were reported to be rather full). Into Euston pretty much on time, and roughly the same time as the HST from Leeds would have arrived (it had run as the only southbound departure from Leeds, going via Gainsborough and Collingham to rejoin the ECML at Newark, running a good hour late, which I dread to think how crush loaded it would have been)

To kill some time heading back to Waterloo I decided to do some linear hopping on the Northern Line, scoring 51681/51682 to Goodge Street, 51538/51539 to Leicester Square (with some dud sets in the middle) and 51525/51717 to Kennington, yep I forgot to get off at Waterloo (oops). Dud 51619/51620 took me back to Waterloo (feels very speedy that section of the Northern Line). With time still in hand I headed to McDonalds for some dinner before joining the 21:15 Exeter service which tonight was formed of 159005/159108/158890, taking a seat in the 158 for extra thrash (and working Wi-Fi), it was a relaxing trip back to Grateley.

Only two winners today (plus some LU units), but I was happy because scoring Marsden cleared West Yorkshire, and clearing “shacks which TPE pass through, apart from the Edinburgh service after Carstairs and the Hull services after Selby”.

Here be some pictures:

Marsden:


Lazy cyclist!


158752:


------

Next Saturday sees me on the railtour to Hull Docks & Drax, with probably a Sunday session in London [I'm drifting towards heading towards Heathrow for some 332 hops], with the following week being a local railtour to get three branches in Hampshire

 

[noddy1878]

Another good couple of days there. Well done on clearing the 144s. I've got two left to find from memory but haven't attempted them in ages. Must change that and try and get them before they go!

 

[Techniquest]

Some excellent early morning reading there Kite, made an all-shacks 172 journey much more interesting!

Congratulations on clearing the 144s, 466s and all those shacks, a very impressive lot of accomplishments! Slowly but surely you're conquering every corner of the universe!

 

[FQ]

Sounds like a great last day there! Shame about the faff in the evening meaning that you couldn't get a tram but what can you do? The milkfloats seem to have a habit of pulling the wires down between Donny and Retford!

 

[palmersears]

We may have passed each other at Leeds at some point on Sunday, Kite, as I was there most of the morning clearing my head after a wedding reception the night before (I left the missus to look after herself)! Left on the 1153 to Piccadilly.

 

[D841 Roebuck]

Congratulations on West Yorkshire. And also on the Rawcliffe to Snaith bus move. I'll have to remember that one!

 

[Segedunum]

We definitely crossed paths during the day at some point, as I was also on that 153363+150224 pair and to be honest, I think we might have been on the same service as I boarded with my girlfriend at Burley Park around 4:30

Sounds like a good weekend though, especially jealous of Marsden which is, as you say, a bit of a pain to get in!

 

[Kite159]

We definitely crossed paths during the day at some point, as I was also on that 153363+150224 pair and to be honest, I think we might have been on the same service as I boarded with my girlfriend at Burley Park around 4:30

Sounds like a good weekend though, especially jealous of Marsden which is, as you say, a bit of a pain to get in!

Probably was on the same service heading back to Leeds (would have been around 16:30 heading southbound)

Marsden is a pain, but if you need that plus Slaithwaite then I believe it is only a 2 and a bit mile walk along the canal towpath through some nice scenery.

That bus move I think might be used by other bashers in the future, to get two limited served shacks out of the way (with the other two being doable with a walk).

Palmersears, I think I arrived back into Leeds around that time so probably might have crossed paths all but briefly (I returned on the 185 heading to Newcastle, I was probably standing on the main over-bridge watching the 185 rolling in, slowly laughing at the 'normals' bunching around the middle carriage rather than spreading out

 

[Segedunum]

Had Slaithwaite already, was a nice +7 or something from what I remember. Pain to change platforms though.

Sent from my F3311 using Tapatalk

 

[Kite159]

Had Slaithwaite already, was a nice +7 or something from what I remember. Pain to change platforms though.

Sent from my F3311 using Tapatalk

Aye, that is true with Slaithwaite being slightly awkward to change platforms via a road underpass
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
28th October – An evening in London

With an early start with a rail-tour on the Saturday I decided it would be worth staying overnight in London, and with a forum meal planned for the same night it would be only a short mini evening hunt of nothing really in particular, in the end I decided to hunt for some of the newer 171s (the former Scottish 170s). A nice drive to Andover put me onto the station where a new voice for the PA system was being installed (farewell Phil Sayer) with some testing (did you know that Mary had a little lamb?). The 14:38 was running late, and was formed of the usual 8 coaches. 158883 was leading 159009 & 159018 and unusually the 158 was quite busy (sat opposite a dodgy looking character, with several cheap phones, who looked shifty when a member of the BTP boarded at Basingstoke).

Anyhow the delay was recovered enough to arrive into Waterloo pretty much bang on time giving me time to walk over to Waterloo East to jump on the first service to London Bridge (sadly I don’t have that many options), the first service was a pair of Evil-Stars, 376011 & 376018 getting an extra mile and 8 chains for the trip over the new track to London Bridge, exiting to the concourse and heading up to the platform where the first 10-coach 171 service was waiting to take many passengers home (or to East Croydon as a Thameslink service which followed this 171 service was cancelled). Sadly my luck wasn’t with me as it was duds 171722, 171803 & 171802, as I took a seat in the 171/7 for the short trip towards East Croydon where the train was due to pause briefly at Norwood Junction for a driver change.

5 minutes at waiting at Norwood Junction later, it was announced that the new driver hadn’t turned up, so the existing driver was going to take the units to East Croydon where sadly it would terminate. I dread to have been on the single 171/8 which departed towards Uckfield a little later (which I believe forms shuttle services to/from Oxted). Anyhow the next London Bridge bound 171 set were all duds, along with the next Bedford bound 700, so with time to kill for the next service from Uckfield I decided to ditch some weight from the bag to check into the Easy Hotel and do a bit of tram hunting. Once more I had been upgraded to a single room with a window; this time a room which overlooked the rear of the hotel, although it did look like the room had been in a fight (a few patches on the wall, no soap in the bathroom and the coat hooks removed).

Back to the tram stop, only needing 3 trams I knew it would be unlikely to score something, and I was proved correct as the trams seemed to very bunched up (nothing for 10 minutes then 3 trams in the shape of a couple minutes). Anyhow it was soon back to the platforms at East Croydon for the 3rd set on Uckfield services, with 171728 leading winner 171402 and dud 171806 bringing up the rear. I took up a seat in the leading coach of 171402 for the very slow run to London Bridge, where the service sat outside for a good 5 minutes before running into the station. A long walk to the underground where I knew it was very unlikely I would make the LO service towards Walthamstow, but I was very close arriving into Liverpool Street a minute after it departed. No luck with the LU side as it was duds 51614/51615 on the Northern Line to Moorgate followed by 21057/21058 to Liverpool Street. I decided to ignore the Stansted Express to jump onto 317662, which was attached to 317511 for some 317 motor noise on a Broxbourne terminator to Tottenham Hale, heading down to the Victoria line with 11041/11042 taking me to the end of the line at Walthamstow Central.

After a good meet-up with fellow forum members in a pub in Walthamstow, I said farewell and headed back to Walthamstow Central with jumping onto 11011/11012 just as the alarm sounded, checked that it was dud and bailed at Blackhorse Road, walking forward to be in the leading coach of 11009/11010 when it rolled in a couple minutes later (easier to exit Victoria that way). A nice enough run down to Victoria (I do like the speed the Victoria Line picks up during the long station gaps that end of the line) and I was heading to the 21:20 service to Brighton, formed of dud 387202 leading winners 387221 & 387219 to get 2 more 387/2s into the book on a speedy run down to East Croydon rather than heading to Gatwick was nice. I decided to swing via Sainsburys for some supplies for the Saturday morning and to stick around the tram stop in case any of my last 3 trams popped up when waiting for the return of the other trio of 387s from Brighton.

I wasn’t festering for long (3rd tram I think) before winner 2551 popped up on a Therapia Lane service which I took for a tiny leap to George Street, popping into the Tesco for a couple more supplies which I couldn’t get from Sainsburys. Back out to the platform, it was another short wait before winner 2541 rolled in on a Wimbledon bound tram which I took to Church Street. Due to some youths hanging around the stop I decided to have a short walk round the corner to Centrale, which I think was a very good decision as the next tram which rolled in from Wimbledon was no other than 2531 my last tram. I couldn’t believe my luck, never did I think I would get all 3 trams within 30-odd minutes, so it was back to East Croydon with a smile on my face, as I headed down towards platform 1 to wait for the delayed service from Brighton.

It was worth the wait as it was formed of winners 387227 & 387217 leading dud 387201 for the short run to Clapham Junction, which was in a bit of a mess, as due to the late running of that service (was around 25 minutes down) and with the following Brighton being cancelled meant passengers for Brighton were advised to travel on the next service and change at East Croydon (although unusually the return service of those 387s didn’t skip any stations). The next service was a single 377113 which eventually departed rather full and standing to East Croydon where it emptied out (from the screens it suggested a Gatwick Express was due to call at East Croydon for Gatwick only).

Anyhow, it was a short walk to the hotel to fall into darkness and rest before the tour, happy that I got my first 171/4 into the book, 4 more 387/2s and all 3 trams (although that is before 2564 & 2565 enter service)

----------------

29th October – The Humber Vogue Tour

A “forgotten tracks” railtour to visit ABP Hull & Drax Power Station, two required sections of track for me, an early start (although in future I might look into doing advance tickets to avoid the long drag on the ECML) from Finsbury Park meant a 05:25 start for the 05:47 Thameslink service towards the Bat Hollow. Would I get lucky with a 700 this week (was a pair of 377s last week)?

Nope, as 387116 & 387126 rolled in, as I took up a seat, thankful for the power socket & table as it allowed me to pass the time watching the latest episode of “No Such Thing as the News” on my tablet device for the usual slow crawling round the houses to reach St Pancras. A short walk over the road to Kings Cross and onto 317347 for my first Finsbury Park leap in many months, the coaches were already on platform 8 allowing me to ID the front loco as 66030, before tapping out and heading to Tesco for some supplies and a newspaper.

Sadly checking my log sheet, 66030 is dud for me as hauling me on the Doctor Hoo railtour back in November 14, anyhow I took up my backwards facing aisle seat near the coach end (the coach smelt very ‘sicky’ with the door being quite loud when it opened. I had forgotten how much I dislike the seats on these coaches (to say I would prefer the seats on a 387 would be an understatement, as least those give back support). Anyhow, pickups were at Potters Bar, Stevenage, Peterborough and finally Doncaster (3 hours later), turning right at the junction to head towards Kirk Sandall, before heading towards Goole, pausing briefly before the swing-bridge and onto the “main-line” towards Hull.

Before Hull was reached the train turned left onto the line towards the docks, and onto my first new track of the day (after the junction where you could head back towards Hull), a nice enough line (not great scenery) passing junctions of former lines and into the docks (which looked like not a lot happens on Saturdays), the destination was the Kingston Coal loading terminal, reaching to the end of the line, with the old coal pile pretty much gone (leaving just a sea of black where it used to be). A quick reversal back out towards the Biomass loading area, but not going through the loading area itself (due to very tight clearances).

An unscheduled stop to re-tank the water tanks, meant the service was delayed leaving the docks area and held at Hessle Road junction for a couple services before being allowed out, arriving into Goole a mere 62 minutes late. Anyhow we got given a revised departure time of 15:20 so had half an hour to grab supplies, as I joined up with some forum members also on the trip to head to Tesco for lunch, and back to watch the level crossing as some 144s were spotted on Doncaster – Hull services. Also at Goole I managed to grab the ID of the 66 at the other end, which was dud 66168, previously had last August on the Yorkshire Byways tour.

Fun and games at loading at Goole, as due to short platforms only the front 4 coaches were on the platform, which happened to be the 1st class dining coaches, so it took a while for everybody to board, eventually departing around 15:25 turning right onto the Knottingley line, passing such dud stations as Snaith, pausing briefly at Hensall for a member of security to board “to check IDs” (which didn’t really happen), onwards to reverse at the Sudforth Lane siding (between Whitley Bridge & Knottingley), heading backwards towards Goole, but turning left onto the Drax branch.

Drax is a large power station, and the cooling towers are massive up close, passing the Biomass offloader and onto the “Flue Gas Desulphurisation” area, passing through the building used for such a process, before shunting back to the “loop” to continue around the coal stockpile, heading back towards the exit via the Oil Discharge line and back onto NR metals. A speedy run via the Knottingley east curve and onto the Shalfholme line (a very boring slow line), rejoining the ECML. The train emptied out at Doncaster, but for me London was another 3 hours away, as I settled down to read a book when having a chat with a forum member (the rest bailed at Doncaster). Due to a cancellation of a Moorgate 313 meant we arrived into Finsbury Park 10 minutes early, so it was onto LU for some stock hunting.

Duds on the Victoria line, and the first few 73 stocks on the Piccadilly were dud, before finally my run ended with dud 102 leading winner 133 to Caledonian Road, another couple duds and with a gap in service frequency (looked like a Heathrow T5 service was cancelled) I jumped onto duds 880/248 to the safety of Kings Cross St Pancras. 5 minutes later a pair of winners of 105/238 rolled in to take me to Leicester Square, where after a long walk I reached the Northern line platforms, with a short wait before winners 51567/51552 took me forward to Charing Cross followed with 51577/51578 to Waterloo (where I remembered to get off this week!).

I had enough time to grab a McDonalds before the 22:20 rolled in, and I was surprised as it was a pair of units tonight, with 159014 leading 159009 to take me back to Grateley to walk home, the end of a long day with some new track scored and a handful of LU stock. Shame both 66s were dud, but ah well what can you do (other than to try and book advance fares to avoid long drags on the ECML)

Anyhow a couple pictures:
66030 arriving back into Goole:


Member of crew on 66168 saying when to stop after clearing the level crossing:

 

[Cowley]

Looked interesting. I don't really know that area very well.

 

[Blindtraveler]

Sounds like a good couple of days. Hope this isnt the end of Phill Sayer on SWT?

Thanks for sharing
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Oh and enjoyed your last few trips to Yorkshire too, how can you stand the dullness of the ECML so much?

 

[Techniquest]

An excellent read as always, rather you than me on the 3 hour trek from Finsbury Park to Doncaster!

 

[FQ]

Congrats on the Croydon trams and score on the couple of 387s as well! Shame neither of the red deaths were winners though - at least you got some new track! Anyway, a great read as always.

 

[Keith Jarrett]

Just as I am about to clear every Tramplink for 10 miles, they go and get another two to chase after. Something else to look out for on home turf.

Rant over. Kite, another successful weekend even if it was filling the Baker's rather than shack scratching or chasing loads of winners. I am with you; these days I'd say stuff the three hour totter along the East Coast when a cheap advance will give you an extra hour or so in bed and a speedier journey. But years ago when it would have been rateable motive power such as 40xxx, then a three hour totter would be good to rack up the miles.

 

[Kite159]

Agreed there Keith, just as I thought I had cleared all the trams, I find out the next two have arrived with 2564 entering service, a trip to Croydon on a Sunday I think is needed, just to fester to see if either roll up

It probably wasn't as bad if we got caught behind the Moorgate stopper as I've done that before and it gets boring knowing that the end is so close, but so far away

I think it will be something to look into the next ECML/WCML tour which is pretty much the long drag at advance fares, although those come with a risk of the tour running late or the timings change, whenever one of those tours come up next.

Anyhow:
30th October – Lost Broadcast

A nice easy day in London was the plan for me, with no real plans where to head for, other than wanting a trip to Heathrow to see if I could get some more 332s into the book. A nice walk to Grateley station where I picked up my travelcard for the day and awaited the arrival of the 07:34 (ish) service to Waterloo, formed this morning of 159006 “Seaton Tramway”, which becomes member number 2 of the 2,000 mile club (and overtakes 159004 as my most travelled 159, cue screams from Quinn).

A good run towards London, the train getting rather busy at Basingstoke and departing Woking pretty much full & standing, a bit of a crawl after Rayners Park but arriving into Waterloo pretty much bang on time (due to timetable padding). I decided to head over to Waterloo East to make use of the station toilets (located on the platform B/C island and are free to use for passengers), when crossing over the bridge I noted a pair of 465/9s heading towards Charing Cross, and with nothing else due to head that direction for 20 minutes I popped to the loo for my business and had a mild fester. A dud 375 was working a Hastings service (which seemed to be diverted via Lewisham onto the Hayes line to use that rare curve towards Beckenham Junction then using the fast line chord to rejoin the SEML at Petts Wood). My fester was worth the wait as in rolled winner 465910 attached with dud 465914 for the short run to London Bridge.

Heading towards London Bridge I passed a pair of 375s heading towards Waterloo East from Hastings, the rear unit catching my eye as one of my remaining 6x 375s, so the chase was on (ITV). But first I noticed how massive the new underbelly of London Bridge is when rather quiet (only having previously used it when the station was busy). To the new platform 8/9 island for the 4 services within 10 minutes (then nothing for 20 minutes) just in case something required popped up (although only needing 5 more 465/9s, 3x 375/3s and 2 more 375/8s the odds weren’t really in my favour). Sadly the first three were pairs of regular 465s and the 4th was duds 375913 & 375922, back to Waterloo East, and over to platform C for a short fester before winner 375830 rolled in with dud 375622, so it was back to London Bridge (as I didn’t quite fancy a 30 minute diversion via South East London to reach Petts Wood). Once more the first three services were 465s so I jumped onto the next service from Hastings which was duds 375901 & 375627 back to Charing Cross, pausing for a good 5 minutes for the platform to become available.

Swinging via Co-Op for a late breakfast (Co-Op Sausage Rolls are the best, and a bargain at £1) it was down to the Bakerloo ticket hall (is it just me who thinks that LU should have closed the Northern line platforms at Charing Cross forcing any passengers wanting Charing Cross to exit at Embankment, as that is probably a shorter walk compared to the Northern Line platforms to the Bakerloo ticket office due to the closure of the northern line ticket office?) Anyhow sadly luck wasn’t on my side as the first few Bakerloo sets were duds, so I called it a day and jumped onto 3533/3235 for the short run to Piccaddily Circus, making my way down stairs to the Piccadilly line platform, up first was a service to Rayners Lane formed of winners 188/203 which I took to Green Park before waiting a couple minutes on a rather busy platform for the next Heathrow Terminal 5 service. It was duds 163 & 886 for the long trip out west, but I got a seat (and that all that counts).

The train emptied out on route to make it a bit better to seeing out of the window on some high speed sections reaching the LU platforms at Terminal 5. A quick exit and walk to the “HEX” platforms as I noted it was single units (for I had arrived roughly 2 hours before RTT suggests the double units start around 3pm) Doh! Anyhow dud 332004 was on one platform and dud 332012 spotted rolling into the other platform I quickly dived onto 004 for the short trip to Heathrow Central (or Terminal 2/3). The next T5 bound service was also a dud 332, with 360204 spotted working the T4 shuttles, so to kill time I went for a little walk to exit before returning around 10 minutes later for the 4th set (from a working out on RTT it suggests there are 5 diagrams on a Sunday), and in rolled winner 332011 for the short run to T5. I exited the platforms in search of a toilet and I’ve never really been in T5 before (only ever flown from T3 or T4 at Heathrow) and blimey it is quite massive.

Anyhow, a visit via Boots for some lunch and I was back down to the HEX platforms to see what was the 5th unit, and I was in luck as it was winner 332007 (leaving just 2 more 4-car units to get). A quick run to Central where the service looked like it will be quite cosy, and I had a short walk (thankfully not as long as the walk between LU & HEX at T4) to the LU platform. Another short wait as duds 148/161 rolled in surprisingly empty (I had a private car until Hounslow) for the run to Acton Town, deciding to focus on some District line S-stocks and any other Piccadilly Line units which might pop up. My fester didn’t last for long before winner 876 rolled in attached with dud 193 to take me on the fast run to Hammersmith, with a brief cross-platform change to score 21313/314 heading to Earls Court.

My moves for the next couple hours (involving a couple lengthy festers due to hitting a ‘dud’ run, especially at St James’s Park & Temple where I was there for what felt like 20 minutes before I scored another winner (frequency was roughly every 2-3 minutes):
235/870 to Earls Court
21423/424 to Gloucester Road
21509/510 to South Kensington
21537/538 to Sloane Square
7534/7030 to Victoria (D-stock thrash!)
21477/478 to St James’s Park
21517/518 to Westminster
21549/550 to Embankment
21521/522 to Temple
51545/546 to Blackfriars (working a Circle Line service)
21567/568 to Mansion House (the old platform 2 has been removed, that was fast of LU)
21551/552 to Cannon Street
21343/344 to Monument
21455/456 to Tower Hill

I had enough of S7 action and decided to head to nearby Fenchurch Street to make use of a toilet on a 357, also for some fresh air. A smile broke out when I spotted which 357 was on a Greys service as it was one of my last 4 (and last 357/3) but first I hopped onto 357026/357044 to carry out my business for a short run to West Ham, just as a time wasting move to intercept two more Fenchurch Street workings, the first being a double unit (both dud) followed by 357033 (dud) to Limehouse, crossing over to the other platform, for a short wait before winner 357324 rolled in for the short hop back to West Ham.

Darkness had fallen and I had spotted a couple required S7s heading towards Barking so plan B if the next couple Fenchurch Street services were dud was to head over for some more S7 hunting. However that plan wasn’t needed as the first service was winner 357014 leading dud 357010 to Limehouse, with dud 357201 taking me back to Fenchurch Street to ID the unit I saw earlier from Greys (it was a dud 357/3), so I decided to head out and was going towards Tower Hill but decided to head to Tower Gateway instead for some DLR action, with the first set being dud unit 38 leading winner 82 with dud 59 at the rear, to Shadwell. A couple minutes later the next service from Bank rolled in formed of dud 36 leading required 98 with 09 on the rear. A short hop to Limehouse crossing over to the NR platforms (eventually, once the member of staff who was supervising the gateline on the link bridge allowed me through), sadly the next two inbound workings were both dud (however unlikely it would have been to score either of my last two I had to check).

Back to the DLR and onto a Bank bound service, formed of a trio of duds 75, 95 & 48 (with the theory that it would be easier to reach Waterloo from Bank rather than Tower Hill). In the maze of passageways within bank station eventually coming across the northern line island platform with duds 51502/51503 taking me to London Bridge with another walk to grab a Jubilee line service to Southwark formed of 96082/96085, bailing at Southwark for a “the next service is a minute or so behind and I had time” move. Sadly that move didn’t pay off with duds 96100/96065 for the tiny leap to Waterloo, exiting LU and heading upstairs to the main concourse for the 18:15 service to Honiton/Bristol & Salisbury (due to the engineering works on the Windsor lines side the XX:45 Andover/Salisbury Express services weren’t running, causing just a bit of overcrowding).

I shouldn’t have rushed as the units for the 18:15 rolled into Waterloo 20 minutes late at 18:14 (engineering works west of Salisbury forcing the services via a diversion via a reversal at Westbury and down the Heart of Wessex line to Yeovil Pen Mill). 159107 was leading 159019 & 159012, as I got a seat in the leading coach of 159019 for the trip back to Andover, pushing 159012 over the thousand mile mark (meaning that all 159s have been cleared for a thousand miles). Clever readers might have picked up something with the reports from Friday/Saturday in which I drove to Andover on the Friday afternoon, but walked home from Grateley on the Saturday night, that was all in the plan as I walked back to my car and had a little drive home from Andover, swinging via the local Pizza takeaway.

I was happy, 6 new units into the book, 1 more D-Stock into the book, a couple more DLR & 1973 stock, but 13 more S7s pairs into the book, with the feeling that it is only going to get harder hunting down those remaining S-stocks, I can see my deckchair coming out to play again on the District line ‘core’, maybe also around between Liverpool Street & Great Portland Street, maybe heading to the wilds of Harrow on the Hill. Going out to Heathrow without having doubles out was a bit of an epic fail, but at least I scored 2 more 332s.

A nice ‘easy’ Saturday coming up for me with another Railtour, this time around some freight lines in Hampshire, so no overnight stay in Croydon instead a delayed start onto the 06:59 Waterloo service. With a trip to Birmingham on Sunday to score some ‘rare’ track with the Bromsgrove diversions (with maybe a HST back from Worcester to Reading).

 

[FQ]

Shame you didn't get to Heathrow during the double units but it sounds like a great day apart from:

A nice walk to Grateley station where I picked up my travelcard for the day and awaited the arrival of the 07:34 (ish) service to Waterloo, formed this morning of 159006 “Seaton Tramway”, which becomes member number 2 of the 2,000 mile club (and overtakes 159004 as my most travelled 159, cue screams from Quinn).

Screams!

 

[185143]

Finishing Goole to Carlisle via Leeds... that was a while ago now

As was Scarborough to Whitby via Leeds! (Or Barrow for that matter)
Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

 

[Techniquest]

Wow you did well, I'm surprised Sundays are still so productive for you in London, given your needs list must be tiny by now!

I hadn't noticed that about your driving to Andover on the Friday. Well done on clearing all 159s for 1,000 miles and for getting 2 of them over 2,000 which is quite the achievement!

As always an excellent read, just what I needed after a difficult day. I still haven't figured out if I can join you on my patch this Sunday, but it is increasingly likely. By the end of Saturday I'll probably be more than ready to get back on the rails, even if it means 170 mileage! I will of course confirm off-forum soon.

 

[Kite159]

Needs list on the mainline within London is coming down

12x 321s, 5x 375s, 5x 465s, 2x 357s, 2x 171s, 14x 387/2s, 4x GWR 387/1s, 6x 350s

Plus 2x 332s, 3x390s, 1x 91, 13x 43s, 9x 395s (and lots of 700s)

LU on the other hand, I could still have a red pen fest, especially on the northern & Piccadilly line

 

[iantherev]

I think it's rail replacement bus next weekend between Brum and Gloucester.

 

[Kite159]

I think it's rail replacement bus next weekend between Brum and Gloucester.

My plan is a 170 from New Street towards Hereford to Worcester (via Kidderminster) then via middle earth back to Oxford on a service booked HST

 

[noddy1878]

Have you had quite a lot of red sheds then? I seem to recall you getting duds before. I feel your pain on LU festers. Seems like ages but trains are so frequent it isn't actually that bad! My festers underground are getting longer as you'd expect as things slowly get knocked off!