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The Various Random Mutterings of Kite
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Kite159
Veteran Member
Sounds like a productive trip, and congrats on only needing one dez!
As for 43040, did it fail just after leaving a station?
Nope.
Along with 43002 its only previous entry into my log is the tiny leap from Totnes to Torre
Torquay to Torre was gonna be my second guess, unless Totnes has moved?Nope.
Along with 43002 its only previous entry into my log is the tiny leap from Totnes to Torre
Sent from my SM-A310F using Tapatalk
Keith Jarrett
Member
Kite, well done on your latest efforts to conquer all of the national rail network - I particularly enjoyed your account of your antics in the Welsh Valleys and while winners may have been thin on the ground, at least you did manage one very significant one. That tour to Ebbw Vale and Tower colliery sounds interesting - I'm hoping to go so as it would kill two significant bits of track for me. But it's going to need approval in triplicate from the highest authority in the land
As for that micro mileage HST move with 43040, I was going to suggest some warped move from Reading to Reading West.
As for that micro mileage HST move with 43040, I was going to suggest some warped move from Reading to Reading West.
Kite159
Veteran Member
Torquay to Torre was gonna be my second guess, unless Totnes has moved?
Sent from my SM-A310F using Tapatalk
It has moved in my memory :P
Keith - In case you were wondering here be the link: http://www.ukrailtours.com/product/the-valley-legend/
Techniquest
Veteran Member
I'm also looking to do that tour, although whether I can make it all fit with an 0800 start at work on the Monday remains to be worked out.
Another fantastic read Kite, loved the recurring 1s in 91111, made me giggle
Ouch to the long wait at Queensway, and well done on the quadruple winners. Very much a rare event for you now, and getting challenging for me too these days. Did you get fed up of hearing "This is a Central line train to Epping" while you were on that session? Me and BT sure did, didn't help we had a couple of long runs which involved Epping trains!
Certainly you're doing better than me, I really need to go to London for a multi day madness down there.
Another fantastic read Kite, loved the recurring 1s in 91111, made me giggle
Ouch to the long wait at Queensway, and well done on the quadruple winners. Very much a rare event for you now, and getting challenging for me too these days. Did you get fed up of hearing "This is a Central line train to Epping" while you were on that session? Me and BT sure did, didn't help we had a couple of long runs which involved Epping trains!Certainly you're doing better than me, I really need to go to London for a multi day madness down there.
Kite159
Veteran Member
I guess you could probably bail at Newport for a service train back to Hereford?
Techniquest
Veteran Member
Will investigate that, hopefully it will be possible
If the timetable is similar to the current timetable, you'd even have time to bail at Reading, get the 21:14 back to Newport and change for the 23:35 to Hereford. Although finishing at 00:35, is probably a dire move
Kite159
Veteran Member
A brief overlook in January
Blatantly stealing Technis idea to do a monthly rolling review saw me starting 2017 with a red pen fest, heading to London to score many LU/DLR units, a trip to Gatwick Airport to score a couple additional 387/2s for haulage, with the best part of the day clearing the two latest Croydon trams at the 3rd attempt at a fester for them to roll up.
It wasnt long before I was back out on the rails and heading to Anglia for some loco hauled action, scoring both a 90 and my 2nd last GA 156 before a pair of 37s to Lowestoft (and back to Brundall) with a pair of 68s to Yarmouth then back to Norwich before a nice trip back to London then home to Grateley, all ready for the working week ahead.
I was back on the rails on the 7th January with a little trip to Manchester with the goal of scoring some my remaining units, plus some trams. An additional bonus was scoring Manchester United Football Ground as I had overlooked a FA Cup match between Man Utd & Reading. A lot of trams fell, but sadly only 3 units, but that is the way the cookie crumbles. A day of rest followed on the Sunday due to a late finish that Saturday.
The 14th January saw my first railtour of the year in the shape of the Mersey Weaver 2, scoring 2 DBC 66s plus some new track around Warrington. It was a long day involving a 45 minute drive each way to Westbury, but it was worth it, however it did mean I had another Sunday being lazy (although the closure of the line around Farnborough might have had something to do with that).
After a hard week at work, I was more than ready to get away from it all, feeling a bit under the weather both physically & mentally, with my first overnight stay in Edinburgh for my first real shack hunting session. Due to engineering works on the Saturday I stayed overnight in London scoring a couple more 387/2s plus a S7 on a quiet evening. A storming run to Haymarket via the West Coast soon made me happier, especially as visiting the local shacks on the North Berwick services meant I had cleared the ECML and all stations served by EMUs. The rest of the day spent around the Fife Circle, picking up a few required units
Sunday morning saw a tram hunting session before continuing with my Fife Circle hunting to clear those services, sadly an couple hours at Haymarket produced nothing required as I headed back to England in front of a 91, eventually scoring some winners with the Piccadilly line, heading home via Staines meant an extended journey time.
The last weekend in January saw me heading to Cardiff to complete the core valley lines, mainly the three routes north of Pontypridd, thankfully the weather was kind to me and a couple quick interchanges meant I only had one walk vice 3 which I had in my plan. Only 1 winner in terms of haulage, but it was a big-one, my final pacer, in a very pacer-heavy day. As my red pen wanted to come out to play I ended the month like I began a trip to London, with a time wasting hop to Mill Hill Broadway to sample a 700 out of the EMT platforms at St Pancras.
The highlight of that Sunday trip would have been finally grabbing 350106, leaving just one more 350 left, a highlight as because whenever I ask for its whereabouts it normally avoids London or works those peak time services which run non-stop to Milton Keynes, so to grab it on a travelcard move to Harrow was very nice. As way scoring another GWR 43 on a Staines avoiding move via Reading, bringing me down to 10 left (GWR ones, 2 more VTEC ones).
Scores
Winners (Mainline): 25
Winners (Other Trams, LU, DLR): 144
Shacks: 36
Mileage: 3578 Miles
I would do money, but Im not the king of budgeting!
My target for February is to clear the remains of my fab 4, that is 350105, 465917 & 387225, plus hopefully getting a trip to Heathrow in on one Sunday to try and grab my last 3x 332s.
My rough calendar is another trip to Wales this coming Saturday (with the aim of Ebbw Vale and hopefully some of the Swanline shacks), a trip to Birmingham the following Saturday for some unit/tram hunting and a trip to the new Bromsgrove. My 2nd railtour of the year to Stratford-on-Avon on the 18th March to score some track, with the final Saturday of February being a trip to Leeds where hopefully I will complete the Harrogate loop before some hunting.
Blatantly stealing Technis idea to do a monthly rolling review saw me starting 2017 with a red pen fest, heading to London to score many LU/DLR units, a trip to Gatwick Airport to score a couple additional 387/2s for haulage, with the best part of the day clearing the two latest Croydon trams at the 3rd attempt at a fester for them to roll up.
It wasnt long before I was back out on the rails and heading to Anglia for some loco hauled action, scoring both a 90 and my 2nd last GA 156 before a pair of 37s to Lowestoft (and back to Brundall) with a pair of 68s to Yarmouth then back to Norwich before a nice trip back to London then home to Grateley, all ready for the working week ahead.
I was back on the rails on the 7th January with a little trip to Manchester with the goal of scoring some my remaining units, plus some trams. An additional bonus was scoring Manchester United Football Ground as I had overlooked a FA Cup match between Man Utd & Reading. A lot of trams fell, but sadly only 3 units, but that is the way the cookie crumbles. A day of rest followed on the Sunday due to a late finish that Saturday.
The 14th January saw my first railtour of the year in the shape of the Mersey Weaver 2, scoring 2 DBC 66s plus some new track around Warrington. It was a long day involving a 45 minute drive each way to Westbury, but it was worth it, however it did mean I had another Sunday being lazy (although the closure of the line around Farnborough might have had something to do with that).
After a hard week at work, I was more than ready to get away from it all, feeling a bit under the weather both physically & mentally, with my first overnight stay in Edinburgh for my first real shack hunting session. Due to engineering works on the Saturday I stayed overnight in London scoring a couple more 387/2s plus a S7 on a quiet evening. A storming run to Haymarket via the West Coast soon made me happier, especially as visiting the local shacks on the North Berwick services meant I had cleared the ECML and all stations served by EMUs. The rest of the day spent around the Fife Circle, picking up a few required units
Sunday morning saw a tram hunting session before continuing with my Fife Circle hunting to clear those services, sadly an couple hours at Haymarket produced nothing required as I headed back to England in front of a 91, eventually scoring some winners with the Piccadilly line, heading home via Staines meant an extended journey time.
The last weekend in January saw me heading to Cardiff to complete the core valley lines, mainly the three routes north of Pontypridd, thankfully the weather was kind to me and a couple quick interchanges meant I only had one walk vice 3 which I had in my plan. Only 1 winner in terms of haulage, but it was a big-one, my final pacer, in a very pacer-heavy day. As my red pen wanted to come out to play I ended the month like I began a trip to London, with a time wasting hop to Mill Hill Broadway to sample a 700 out of the EMT platforms at St Pancras.
The highlight of that Sunday trip would have been finally grabbing 350106, leaving just one more 350 left, a highlight as because whenever I ask for its whereabouts it normally avoids London or works those peak time services which run non-stop to Milton Keynes, so to grab it on a travelcard move to Harrow was very nice. As way scoring another GWR 43 on a Staines avoiding move via Reading, bringing me down to 10 left (GWR ones, 2 more VTEC ones).
Scores
Winners (Mainline): 25
Winners (Other Trams, LU, DLR): 144
Shacks: 36
Mileage: 3578 Miles
I would do money, but Im not the king of budgeting!
My target for February is to clear the remains of my fab 4, that is 350105, 465917 & 387225, plus hopefully getting a trip to Heathrow in on one Sunday to try and grab my last 3x 332s.
My rough calendar is another trip to Wales this coming Saturday (with the aim of Ebbw Vale and hopefully some of the Swanline shacks), a trip to Birmingham the following Saturday for some unit/tram hunting and a trip to the new Bromsgrove. My 2nd railtour of the year to Stratford-on-Avon on the 18th March to score some track, with the final Saturday of February being a trip to Leeds where hopefully I will complete the Harrogate loop before some hunting.
Kristofferson
Member
- Joined
- 23 Nov 2012
- Messages
- 1,132
I'm guilty of following your monthly reviews instead of individual reports because you're so prolific and my forum time has been limited! This month is no different - some super productive trips, and I'm sure the railtours were most enjoyable.
Techniquest
Veteran Member
I'm glad you liked my Rolling Review thread enough to steal the idea! The King of Budgeting will come out in you next, although I'm having to re-find the Yorkshire blood and revive the tight-fistedness in me!
An excellent start to 2017 for you too Kite, let's hope the rest of 2017 is as good!
An excellent start to 2017 for you too Kite, let's hope the rest of 2017 is as good!
Kite159
Veteran Member
3rd February – Baking a Networker
I had news that 4 out of my 5 units on my London Most Wanted list were out and about, with my final 350 presenting itself on a service which even called at Harrow & Wealdstone... Sadly I couldn’t get away as early as I liked from work so the plan to get that 350 was knocked on the head. I had to decide to either head to Watford Junction to intercept it working back from Milton Keynes or to intercept my final 465, and that 465 had been annoying me the longest!
Due to the rather poor wet weather (which I was tempted to stay in for the night), I drove to Andover, noting that services west of Salisbury were in a bit of chaos due to speed restrictions from Auntie Doris (the evening peak extras which carry forward to terminate at the likes of Yeovil had been pulled), however thankfully 159019 & 159010 were starting from Salisbury so weren’t hit with the delays, arriving into Waterloo pretty much bang on time.
My travelcard was buggered from the word go and wouldn’t operate any ticket gates, as I fast walked it via the peak time subway to reach the Bakerloo line, with duds 3557/3255 taking me to Paddington where I had an appointment with Doctor Electrostar, and with a couple minutes before departure I managed to board winners 387138 & 387139 for the short run out to Acton Main Line (for this service is a +0 at Ealing Broadway, I think when 140 comes into play I will take it to score the bay platform at Hayes & Harlington for a decent run). 387134/387136 were the other two units out to play this evening which took me back to Paddington in double quick time. A big thanks for postye for giving me the info that these 2 were out today
I had around 90 (or so) minutes to kill before the 465 would be back from Gillingham, so I decided to go after another annoying itch on my requirements log, Bakerloo set 3266. Thankfully Paddington is one of the few island platforms on the Bakerloo line (within the tunnel section), and I would say I broke out the deckchair but I spent the next 25 (or so) minutes walking between the platforms, grabbing the ID of the set rolling in and if dud quickly escaping back to the central passageway to avoid the crowds, eventually my pacing worked as a set led by 3558 rolled in with 3266 on the rear.
A trip to Maida Vale was in order to celebrate clearance (what remains) of the 1972 stock. A quick interchange saw me onto duds 3246/3544 for the run to Baker Street, where I decided to jump on the first Jubilee line service to the island platform at Green Park, and 96075/96100 did the speedy run. I decided to pick Green Park as it is an island platform giving easy views of both platforms, with a handy passageway near the ‘Stratford’ end to be able to jump between platforms. Sadly none of my 3 required sets rolled in and with one eye on the clock I decided to jump on the next ‘eastbound’ service to London Bridge to give me a good 10 minute cushion in case that 465 was running a few minutes early.
The next eastbound service rolled in, and it was required 96095 leading dud 96086 for the run to London Bridge, going via the maze to reach the gateline, I fired up RTT which suggested my service was running a couple minutes late, so it was to the toilets for a quick PNB before heading out into the freezing cold February air, as time ticked down for the 20:38 arrival, arriving a minute or two late. Dud 466031 was leading 465022, my heart skipped a mild beat in seeing the yellow stripes on the rear unit and on the rear was winner 465917 my final 465 (and member of the Networker Family), a big thank you for 37078xotTE for the allocation of this 465. In celebration I sat in the First Class area for the run to Charing Cross, having a little look to see the calling pattern of the 21:13 Euston – Birmingham service which would feature 350105...
...first call Leighton Buzzard!
Not tonight then, if it had been Watford I would have gone for it, but didn’t fancy a late late finish. Anyhow once at Charing Cross I walked down the road to Embankment where I ended up on the Northern line platform, sadly no luck with the 95 stock tonight so I jumped on the 4th set formed of 51677/51678 for the bus stop leap underneath the river to reach Waterloo, swinging via Tesco for a meal deal and firing up RTT which suggested the 159 which would attach to the 158 on the platform was running around 30 minutes late. So to kill time I visited the ticket office to pick up an “Explore Cardiff & Valleys” ranger for the following day. 159016 eventually rolled in to join up with 158890, departing around 10 minutes late.
A good run from the driver had cut that delay down to 2 minutes when I alighted at Andover, the rain had stopped but it was quite cold in the air walking back to the car to drive home. Another 3 units into the book, along with 2 more LU units, which included this:
I had news that 4 out of my 5 units on my London Most Wanted list were out and about, with my final 350 presenting itself on a service which even called at Harrow & Wealdstone... Sadly I couldn’t get away as early as I liked from work so the plan to get that 350 was knocked on the head. I had to decide to either head to Watford Junction to intercept it working back from Milton Keynes or to intercept my final 465, and that 465 had been annoying me the longest!
Due to the rather poor wet weather (which I was tempted to stay in for the night), I drove to Andover, noting that services west of Salisbury were in a bit of chaos due to speed restrictions from Auntie Doris (the evening peak extras which carry forward to terminate at the likes of Yeovil had been pulled), however thankfully 159019 & 159010 were starting from Salisbury so weren’t hit with the delays, arriving into Waterloo pretty much bang on time.
My travelcard was buggered from the word go and wouldn’t operate any ticket gates, as I fast walked it via the peak time subway to reach the Bakerloo line, with duds 3557/3255 taking me to Paddington where I had an appointment with Doctor Electrostar, and with a couple minutes before departure I managed to board winners 387138 & 387139 for the short run out to Acton Main Line (for this service is a +0 at Ealing Broadway, I think when 140 comes into play I will take it to score the bay platform at Hayes & Harlington for a decent run). 387134/387136 were the other two units out to play this evening which took me back to Paddington in double quick time. A big thanks for postye for giving me the info that these 2 were out today
I had around 90 (or so) minutes to kill before the 465 would be back from Gillingham, so I decided to go after another annoying itch on my requirements log, Bakerloo set 3266. Thankfully Paddington is one of the few island platforms on the Bakerloo line (within the tunnel section), and I would say I broke out the deckchair but I spent the next 25 (or so) minutes walking between the platforms, grabbing the ID of the set rolling in and if dud quickly escaping back to the central passageway to avoid the crowds, eventually my pacing worked as a set led by 3558 rolled in with 3266 on the rear.
A trip to Maida Vale was in order to celebrate clearance (what remains) of the 1972 stock. A quick interchange saw me onto duds 3246/3544 for the run to Baker Street, where I decided to jump on the first Jubilee line service to the island platform at Green Park, and 96075/96100 did the speedy run. I decided to pick Green Park as it is an island platform giving easy views of both platforms, with a handy passageway near the ‘Stratford’ end to be able to jump between platforms. Sadly none of my 3 required sets rolled in and with one eye on the clock I decided to jump on the next ‘eastbound’ service to London Bridge to give me a good 10 minute cushion in case that 465 was running a few minutes early.
The next eastbound service rolled in, and it was required 96095 leading dud 96086 for the run to London Bridge, going via the maze to reach the gateline, I fired up RTT which suggested my service was running a couple minutes late, so it was to the toilets for a quick PNB before heading out into the freezing cold February air, as time ticked down for the 20:38 arrival, arriving a minute or two late. Dud 466031 was leading 465022, my heart skipped a mild beat in seeing the yellow stripes on the rear unit and on the rear was winner 465917 my final 465 (and member of the Networker Family), a big thank you for 37078xotTE for the allocation of this 465. In celebration I sat in the First Class area for the run to Charing Cross, having a little look to see the calling pattern of the 21:13 Euston – Birmingham service which would feature 350105...
...first call Leighton Buzzard!
Not tonight then, if it had been Watford I would have gone for it, but didn’t fancy a late late finish. Anyhow once at Charing Cross I walked down the road to Embankment where I ended up on the Northern line platform, sadly no luck with the 95 stock tonight so I jumped on the 4th set formed of 51677/51678 for the bus stop leap underneath the river to reach Waterloo, swinging via Tesco for a meal deal and firing up RTT which suggested the 159 which would attach to the 158 on the platform was running around 30 minutes late. So to kill time I visited the ticket office to pick up an “Explore Cardiff & Valleys” ranger for the following day. 159016 eventually rolled in to join up with 158890, departing around 10 minutes late.
A good run from the driver had cut that delay down to 2 minutes when I alighted at Andover, the rain had stopped but it was quite cold in the air walking back to the car to drive home. Another 3 units into the book, along with 2 more LU units, which included this:
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Kite159
Veteran Member
4th February Swanning it up the Ebbw
For the 2nd Saturday in a row I was off to South Wales, this time with the goal of clearing the Ebbw Vale line, plus later on to visit some of the 2 hourly served local shacks on the Swanline between Bridgend & Swansea. Once more I was booked onto the 07:30 service from Salisbury to the Welsh capital, so it was a relaxing drive to Salisbury station, where the service was unusually down to depart from platform 3 and was formed of 6 coaches with the rear 3 coming out of service at Westbury.
A green 158957 rolled in with 158955 on the rear, and as expected it was locked out of use. No seat reservations this morning due to the set having started from Fareham due to engineering works in the Fratton area so it was to any seat, picking a seat on the right hand side (as last week I was on the left hand side). A good run to Bristol spotting my last GWR 150/1 heading towards Weymouth, and onwards to Cardiff arriving pretty much bang on time which is always a bonus, although today it didnt matter that much as I had a 50 minute wait before the next Ebbw Vale departure, so I headed over to platform 6, jumping on 143623 working a City Line service to Queen Street in order to ID the 153 on the bay services.
That 153 turned out to be dud, and after a couple more dud services I decided to head back to Cardiff Central on 143607/142083, passing required 150285 heading towards Aberdare, giving me something to roughly plan its diagram for the day using RTT. Anyhow with nothing else to do I headed over to platform 0 where winner 150229 was sitting attached with 150278 to form the next Ebbw Vale service, so a nice bit of 150 thrash from 229 along the main line, turning left onto the branch to take me to my first station of the day at Risca & Pontymister. I guess the timetable is written for the slower speeds of a pacer as it felt like we sat at Pye Corner for a good few minutes for departure time.
You really need a good 4 minutes here, be at the rear of the set as to get to the other side involves a subway and a couple long paths, however I made the connection with ease for the next southbound service. When I saw this service earlier dashing eastwards I spotted a 153 on the rear, so was expecting a 150+153 combo as it was formed of 3-carriages. In rolled dud 153303, with winner 153323 sandwiched in the middle with dud 153353 on the rear, a triple dogbox! Taking a seat on my final ATW 153 for the short run to Pye Corner where I had a 40 minute wait at a station which doesnt have much around.
It was newspaper time, listening to some music when awaiting duds 150227/150264 to roll in, taking a seat in 150264 for the slow run northbound to Llanhilleth, the future double track north of Crosskeys was coming along slowly, although who knows when it will actually see use with this line getting a much needed half hourly service? Another short fester before 150264/150227 returned from Ebbw Vale to take me two stops down the line to Crosskeys, which is another tight connection (be at the rear of the unit and hope for the best on the stairs down to the road), but I somehow made it with time to spare as the dog box trio rolled in (353/323/303) to my final shack on this line at Newbridge
A handy Co-Op located next to the station (A Greggs also appeared to be available) was visited for some lunch to waste the 45 minute fester, but I was happy as the Valleys had been completed. The trio of 153s returned, and this time I took a seat in a busy 153353 for the run south, with some decent dog box thrash once we reached the main-line. I popped out of the new exit by P8 to purchase my Bridgend Swansea ticket on grounds that the ticket office queue at that ticket office would probably be shorter, with the backup being HST to Bridgend to pick up the ticket from there.
No issue with issuing the ticket, and within a few minutes I was back on platform 3 to await the next HST to Swansea, with 60001 rolling though the station coming to a stop with a signal giving a 142 a run for the nosiest brakes. Dud 43079 rolled in as I took a seat in an empty coach B for the run westwards to do something I hadnt done on a GWR HST in quite a few months, as I alighted at Port Talbot Parkway, to ID the rear 43 was dud 43136. A handy island platform at Port Talbot, but it wasnt used as dud 175112 soon appeared to take me to Neath in a time wasting move to await the next stopping service.
The stopping service towards Llanelli was formed of dud 150279 to take me two stops to Llansamlet, a basic shack. However I fired up RTT which said it was a 1.9 mile walk along pavements back up the line towards Skewen with 75 minutes to do it in, so I took my time passing many hand car wash places, and also many buses. 40 or so minutes later I had reached Skewen, and it was another basic shack, so I took a seat to continue reading a magazine to pass the time as darkness arrived bringing along it the rain.
150279 returned from Llanelli to take me back towards Cardiff to Baglan, where I had a +10 to get to the other platform for a service from Manchester heading to Pembroke Dock, which for some reason was forming the next Swanline stopping service, so I got the honour of taking a busy 175109 to Briton Ferry for an half hour fester for a service from Ebbw Vale Town. Another basic station without much around, but my 30 minutes turned to 40 minutes as the dog box trio rolled in for extra DBT from 153303/323/353 to Neath.
Over the footbridge and my plan to ID the rear 43 failed due to a short platform (the rear power-car overhangs so no chance of getting an ID on a regular blue 43). Dud 43098 was leading the service back towards Cardiff, getting some charge for my phone and some relaxing, Cardiff was reached sooner than expected as I bailed, grabbing the rear 43 as dud 43088 as I made my way over to platform 6 jumping on 143624/143608 to Queen Street.
Annoyingly I had also spotted required 150265 on the off-pattern 19:54 departure to Bristol, if it had been 20:00 I would have been laughing, however the appearance of winner 150285 was a suitable replacement for my final ATW 150 (leaving just 2x 175/0s to clear ATW for units) for the bus stop leap to Cardiff Central. A quick visit to Tesco Express for a pasta salad to watch chaos unfold as a service from Milford Haven was running 40-odd minutes late, with the final train to Manchester (a pair of 150s on the 20:10) being held back to allow the return of the Dog Box Trio from Swansea for any Swansea/Neath/Port Talbot passengers to make the connection.
Anyhow the chaos meant 158961 rolled in late and as usual there was no seat reservations put out for the final train towards Romsey/Southampton, a few minutes late in departing but a spirited run from the driver meant a rough right time arrival into Bristol, where we were delayed awaiting the new driver to take the unit forward to Fareham, eventually departing 20 minutes late for the run back to Salisbury, my only real delay of the day.
I was quite happy to score 3 out of my 5 remaining ATW units today (although I guess it would mean a case of leaving the red pen at home for my potential South Wales trip in the May bank holiday weekend) with 11 shacks scored, leaving just Pyle to get on the main-line from Paddington to Swansea. A station I am unsure that I have ever been on a train which has called there, the only candidate would be a Sunday service back in June 2014 departing Carmarthen at 14:30 towards Newport. If indeed I have never called it would replace Broomfleet as station passed through the most times without stopping list.
Anyhow, sorry for some random pondering, here be some pictures of sprinters and stuff:
A sunny day at Risca & Pontymister:
A trio of dogboxes at Pye Corner:
Llanhileth:
Crosskeys:
Newbridge:
60001:
A Quinn approved method of visiting Port Talbot Parkway
175112 at Neath:
Llansamlet:
Skewen:
Baglan:
A 175 at a wet Briton Ferry:
For the 2nd Saturday in a row I was off to South Wales, this time with the goal of clearing the Ebbw Vale line, plus later on to visit some of the 2 hourly served local shacks on the Swanline between Bridgend & Swansea. Once more I was booked onto the 07:30 service from Salisbury to the Welsh capital, so it was a relaxing drive to Salisbury station, where the service was unusually down to depart from platform 3 and was formed of 6 coaches with the rear 3 coming out of service at Westbury.
A green 158957 rolled in with 158955 on the rear, and as expected it was locked out of use. No seat reservations this morning due to the set having started from Fareham due to engineering works in the Fratton area so it was to any seat, picking a seat on the right hand side (as last week I was on the left hand side). A good run to Bristol spotting my last GWR 150/1 heading towards Weymouth, and onwards to Cardiff arriving pretty much bang on time which is always a bonus, although today it didnt matter that much as I had a 50 minute wait before the next Ebbw Vale departure, so I headed over to platform 6, jumping on 143623 working a City Line service to Queen Street in order to ID the 153 on the bay services.
That 153 turned out to be dud, and after a couple more dud services I decided to head back to Cardiff Central on 143607/142083, passing required 150285 heading towards Aberdare, giving me something to roughly plan its diagram for the day using RTT. Anyhow with nothing else to do I headed over to platform 0 where winner 150229 was sitting attached with 150278 to form the next Ebbw Vale service, so a nice bit of 150 thrash from 229 along the main line, turning left onto the branch to take me to my first station of the day at Risca & Pontymister. I guess the timetable is written for the slower speeds of a pacer as it felt like we sat at Pye Corner for a good few minutes for departure time.
You really need a good 4 minutes here, be at the rear of the set as to get to the other side involves a subway and a couple long paths, however I made the connection with ease for the next southbound service. When I saw this service earlier dashing eastwards I spotted a 153 on the rear, so was expecting a 150+153 combo as it was formed of 3-carriages. In rolled dud 153303, with winner 153323 sandwiched in the middle with dud 153353 on the rear, a triple dogbox! Taking a seat on my final ATW 153 for the short run to Pye Corner where I had a 40 minute wait at a station which doesnt have much around.
It was newspaper time, listening to some music when awaiting duds 150227/150264 to roll in, taking a seat in 150264 for the slow run northbound to Llanhilleth, the future double track north of Crosskeys was coming along slowly, although who knows when it will actually see use with this line getting a much needed half hourly service? Another short fester before 150264/150227 returned from Ebbw Vale to take me two stops down the line to Crosskeys, which is another tight connection (be at the rear of the unit and hope for the best on the stairs down to the road), but I somehow made it with time to spare as the dog box trio rolled in (353/323/303) to my final shack on this line at Newbridge
A handy Co-Op located next to the station (A Greggs also appeared to be available) was visited for some lunch to waste the 45 minute fester, but I was happy as the Valleys had been completed. The trio of 153s returned, and this time I took a seat in a busy 153353 for the run south, with some decent dog box thrash once we reached the main-line. I popped out of the new exit by P8 to purchase my Bridgend Swansea ticket on grounds that the ticket office queue at that ticket office would probably be shorter, with the backup being HST to Bridgend to pick up the ticket from there.
No issue with issuing the ticket, and within a few minutes I was back on platform 3 to await the next HST to Swansea, with 60001 rolling though the station coming to a stop with a signal giving a 142 a run for the nosiest brakes. Dud 43079 rolled in as I took a seat in an empty coach B for the run westwards to do something I hadnt done on a GWR HST in quite a few months, as I alighted at Port Talbot Parkway, to ID the rear 43 was dud 43136. A handy island platform at Port Talbot, but it wasnt used as dud 175112 soon appeared to take me to Neath in a time wasting move to await the next stopping service.
The stopping service towards Llanelli was formed of dud 150279 to take me two stops to Llansamlet, a basic shack. However I fired up RTT which said it was a 1.9 mile walk along pavements back up the line towards Skewen with 75 minutes to do it in, so I took my time passing many hand car wash places, and also many buses. 40 or so minutes later I had reached Skewen, and it was another basic shack, so I took a seat to continue reading a magazine to pass the time as darkness arrived bringing along it the rain.
150279 returned from Llanelli to take me back towards Cardiff to Baglan, where I had a +10 to get to the other platform for a service from Manchester heading to Pembroke Dock, which for some reason was forming the next Swanline stopping service, so I got the honour of taking a busy 175109 to Briton Ferry for an half hour fester for a service from Ebbw Vale Town. Another basic station without much around, but my 30 minutes turned to 40 minutes as the dog box trio rolled in for extra DBT from 153303/323/353 to Neath.
Over the footbridge and my plan to ID the rear 43 failed due to a short platform (the rear power-car overhangs so no chance of getting an ID on a regular blue 43). Dud 43098 was leading the service back towards Cardiff, getting some charge for my phone and some relaxing, Cardiff was reached sooner than expected as I bailed, grabbing the rear 43 as dud 43088 as I made my way over to platform 6 jumping on 143624/143608 to Queen Street.
Annoyingly I had also spotted required 150265 on the off-pattern 19:54 departure to Bristol, if it had been 20:00 I would have been laughing, however the appearance of winner 150285 was a suitable replacement for my final ATW 150 (leaving just 2x 175/0s to clear ATW for units) for the bus stop leap to Cardiff Central. A quick visit to Tesco Express for a pasta salad to watch chaos unfold as a service from Milford Haven was running 40-odd minutes late, with the final train to Manchester (a pair of 150s on the 20:10) being held back to allow the return of the Dog Box Trio from Swansea for any Swansea/Neath/Port Talbot passengers to make the connection.
Anyhow the chaos meant 158961 rolled in late and as usual there was no seat reservations put out for the final train towards Romsey/Southampton, a few minutes late in departing but a spirited run from the driver meant a rough right time arrival into Bristol, where we were delayed awaiting the new driver to take the unit forward to Fareham, eventually departing 20 minutes late for the run back to Salisbury, my only real delay of the day.
I was quite happy to score 3 out of my 5 remaining ATW units today (although I guess it would mean a case of leaving the red pen at home for my potential South Wales trip in the May bank holiday weekend) with 11 shacks scored, leaving just Pyle to get on the main-line from Paddington to Swansea. A station I am unsure that I have ever been on a train which has called there, the only candidate would be a Sunday service back in June 2014 departing Carmarthen at 14:30 towards Newport. If indeed I have never called it would replace Broomfleet as station passed through the most times without stopping list.
Anyhow, sorry for some random pondering, here be some pictures of sprinters and stuff:
A sunny day at Risca & Pontymister:
A trio of dogboxes at Pye Corner:
Llanhileth:
Crosskeys:
Newbridge:
60001:
A Quinn approved method of visiting Port Talbot Parkway
175112 at Neath:
Llansamlet:
Skewen:
Baglan:
A 175 at a wet Briton Ferry:
Nice, some nice photos too Kite, love all the hills behind Risca & Pantymeister (I think that's what it was called), including the trip from Salisbury up through the Avon Valley that looked like quite a scenic day out.
87electric
Established Member
- Joined
- 27 Jan 2010
- Messages
- 1,243
It's a Vale so it's a Valley. So says my girl who lives in the Valleys.......and I'm not going to argue with her!
Kite159
Veteran Member
Score on clearing your ATW 153s and 150s! Getting a tram to Port Talbot is certainly the best way to get it, but you should have stayed on that to Neath instead of getting a 175 forward
Sadly if I did that then Port Talbot wouldn't have been scored
Kite159
Veteran Member
5th February – Revenge of those big red doors
I had to decide, either a trip to London for some more LU hunting or to visit the Hampshire Potato Festival, it didn’t need the ghost of Cilla Black to jump out with “Surprise Surprise” to have a guess which I went for. Unusually for a Sunday I walked to Grateley station (decided to give my car a little rest) for the 07:35(ish), which today was running all the way to Waterloo via the main-lines. 159016 & 159017 had the honour of taking me the 68 miles to Clapham Junction, where I decided to hang out over the Southern platforms on the off-chance 387225 was out to play.
Although I confess to making a big mistake as I was assuming it would be 3 sets out with the half hourly service as there was last month, however I was wrong, it was 4 sets out (doh!). A time wasting leap to Victoria was taken on 377432 (where I noticed my mistake) before 455825 took me back out to Clapham Junction, the 3rd set was a trio of duds (with the 387/1 in the middle) so it was back to Victoria on 377611, escaping to the underground where I had my deckchair with me with 11031/11032 wizzing me to Green Park, I was soon on the Jubilee line platforms, where you can probably guess where this is heading based on Friday.
20 minutes later 96063 entered my book attached with 96022 taking me to Waterloo to keep up my festering in the hope that 045 was out and about today, but alas after around an hour (a rough guess that apart from maybe one or two sets which passed between Green Park & Waterloo I had seen everything) I called it a day with 96117/96062 to London Bridge, crossing over to the Northern Line for a short fester. 5th set which rolled in (on both platforms) and I was on the move with winners 51656/51657 to Bank, heading downstairs to the DLR platforms leaping onto the first service to get into fresh air at Shadwell. 128/139 did the honours for that trip and I made a note of the first Lewisham bound & Beckton bound service as well (in case you are wondering they all return to Shadwell pretty much at the same time).
In the fresh air of Shadwell, I took a seat (and I want one of those S-stock money boxes if such a thing exists from the “weekly travelcard – can be cheaper with PAYG” posters) and waited... 30 minutes of festering later I had spotted a required unit at long last and it was a short wait for it to return around the same time as the last of the “first 3” returned so it was to Canary Wharf on winner 74 leading duds 44 & 82. I employed a similar technique to last week in visiting the toilets in the upmarket shopping centre, swinging back to ID the next Stratford working before grabbing some lunch from the Tesco Metro.
Sadly the sets identified were all dud so it was to West India Quay on 104/126/130 before 59/79 took me to Poplar. A minute or two wait at Poplar before 106/133/113 took me to Canning Town, where sadly my luck didn’t improve with duds 63/31 taking me to Stratford to end my DLR hunting for the day (whilst keeping an eye out on the Jubilee line just in case). It was to the Central Line for some linear hopping, the summary of my moves are below:
91169/92032/92126/91127 to Mile End
91165/92030/92234/91307 to Bethnal Green
91021/92028/92042/91175 to Liverpool Street
91025/92218/92226/91007 to Bank
91045/92076/92068/91263 to St Paul’s
91321/92246/92122/91049 to Chancery Lane
91005/92202/92104/91339 to Holborn
91155/91311/92136/91187 to Tottenham Court Road
91329/92098/92152/91101 to Oxford Circus
Bakerloo sets 3536/3263 took me to Paddington where I exited LU once more into the fresh air. I was quite pleased with that run on the Central Line, the worst wait was 4 duds in a row at Bethnal Green and was a better average than normal (31 driving sets and 30 trailer sets left in case anybody is wondering). The worst station for festering is probably Tottenham Court Road, followed by St Paul’s owing to the position of the main entrances, but the rest have seats at the eastern end to rest my feet between trains.
Anyhow back to the report, I was at Paddington and was feeling like wasting some money, dud 332006 was on the next Heathrow service where it was waiting for a 2nd unit to come in from the depot, I was at a position to try and ID the 2nd unit and if required making a quick dash to the TVM to pick up an eye-watering expensive Heathrow Express ticket. In rolled required 332003 so it was to the TVM to purchase a ticket heading to 003. It was around 4 minutes late in departing so it was full speed ahead, and my god I forgot how fast these things can shift.
I alighted at Heathrow Central (Terminals 2 & 3), the next service was a dud solo unit, before something happened on the main-line as the following service was 10 minutes late (pair of duds), with the next service being 332007 leading winner 332002 (a bit thank you to Techni for texting me the carriage numbers as it is pretty much impossible to ID the rear unit due to the position of the number. Exiting the HEX platforms at terminal 5, I wasted some time before heading back to the platforms for a late running 332009/332012 to roll in, departing somewhat 10 minutes late, back to Heathrow Central.
I had my fingers crossed as the 20-minute late (from the announcements something had broken down on the outside world) duds 332013/332005 back to Terminal 5. Sadly the 332s join the club of only one unit required (as I require 332014 which I fear might be another expensive ticket depending on time of day). A quick interchange to the Piccadilly line saw me jumping on winner 137 leading dud 215 to Northfields, where noting another Piccadilly line service was waiting to come out of the depot, I jumped onto duds 892/245 scoring myself an empty carriage on route to Hammersmith passing no S7s but some busy platforms.
No luck with waiting for a S7 at Hammersmith or any required Piccadilly line services, I jumped onto duds 251/148 to Earl’s Court, heading upstairs to the sub-surface lines. First service was to Edgware Road followed by a High Street Kensington terminator, eventually an Embankment terminator rolled in formed of 21451/21452 as I grabbed a seat on an increasingly busy service, bailing at Westminster for some more 96 action with 96111/96112 taking me to Waterloo, where I exited via McDonalds for dinner.
The 19:15 back towards Salisbury tonight was formed of a trio of 159s, with 159017/159016 from this morning joined with 159020 for the speedy run back to Grateley, having a bit of fun with the announcement that the lighting had failed in one of the coaches of 159020 so it was being locked out of use at Basingstoke with any passengers to move forward to one of the other coaches. Overall a good day in London, a good number of LU stuff ticked off with one more 96 stock set to find. I will probably be back in London this Sunday, and I think the Piccadilly line is calling.
I had to decide, either a trip to London for some more LU hunting or to visit the Hampshire Potato Festival, it didn’t need the ghost of Cilla Black to jump out with “Surprise Surprise” to have a guess which I went for. Unusually for a Sunday I walked to Grateley station (decided to give my car a little rest) for the 07:35(ish), which today was running all the way to Waterloo via the main-lines. 159016 & 159017 had the honour of taking me the 68 miles to Clapham Junction, where I decided to hang out over the Southern platforms on the off-chance 387225 was out to play.
Although I confess to making a big mistake as I was assuming it would be 3 sets out with the half hourly service as there was last month, however I was wrong, it was 4 sets out (doh!). A time wasting leap to Victoria was taken on 377432 (where I noticed my mistake) before 455825 took me back out to Clapham Junction, the 3rd set was a trio of duds (with the 387/1 in the middle) so it was back to Victoria on 377611, escaping to the underground where I had my deckchair with me with 11031/11032 wizzing me to Green Park, I was soon on the Jubilee line platforms, where you can probably guess where this is heading based on Friday.
20 minutes later 96063 entered my book attached with 96022 taking me to Waterloo to keep up my festering in the hope that 045 was out and about today, but alas after around an hour (a rough guess that apart from maybe one or two sets which passed between Green Park & Waterloo I had seen everything) I called it a day with 96117/96062 to London Bridge, crossing over to the Northern Line for a short fester. 5th set which rolled in (on both platforms) and I was on the move with winners 51656/51657 to Bank, heading downstairs to the DLR platforms leaping onto the first service to get into fresh air at Shadwell. 128/139 did the honours for that trip and I made a note of the first Lewisham bound & Beckton bound service as well (in case you are wondering they all return to Shadwell pretty much at the same time).
In the fresh air of Shadwell, I took a seat (and I want one of those S-stock money boxes if such a thing exists from the “weekly travelcard – can be cheaper with PAYG” posters) and waited... 30 minutes of festering later I had spotted a required unit at long last and it was a short wait for it to return around the same time as the last of the “first 3” returned so it was to Canary Wharf on winner 74 leading duds 44 & 82. I employed a similar technique to last week in visiting the toilets in the upmarket shopping centre, swinging back to ID the next Stratford working before grabbing some lunch from the Tesco Metro.
Sadly the sets identified were all dud so it was to West India Quay on 104/126/130 before 59/79 took me to Poplar. A minute or two wait at Poplar before 106/133/113 took me to Canning Town, where sadly my luck didn’t improve with duds 63/31 taking me to Stratford to end my DLR hunting for the day (whilst keeping an eye out on the Jubilee line just in case). It was to the Central Line for some linear hopping, the summary of my moves are below:
91169/92032/92126/91127 to Mile End
91165/92030/92234/91307 to Bethnal Green
91021/92028/92042/91175 to Liverpool Street
91025/92218/92226/91007 to Bank
91045/92076/92068/91263 to St Paul’s
91321/92246/92122/91049 to Chancery Lane
91005/92202/92104/91339 to Holborn
91155/91311/92136/91187 to Tottenham Court Road
91329/92098/92152/91101 to Oxford Circus
Bakerloo sets 3536/3263 took me to Paddington where I exited LU once more into the fresh air. I was quite pleased with that run on the Central Line, the worst wait was 4 duds in a row at Bethnal Green and was a better average than normal (31 driving sets and 30 trailer sets left in case anybody is wondering). The worst station for festering is probably Tottenham Court Road, followed by St Paul’s owing to the position of the main entrances, but the rest have seats at the eastern end to rest my feet between trains.
Anyhow back to the report, I was at Paddington and was feeling like wasting some money, dud 332006 was on the next Heathrow service where it was waiting for a 2nd unit to come in from the depot, I was at a position to try and ID the 2nd unit and if required making a quick dash to the TVM to pick up an eye-watering expensive Heathrow Express ticket. In rolled required 332003 so it was to the TVM to purchase a ticket heading to 003. It was around 4 minutes late in departing so it was full speed ahead, and my god I forgot how fast these things can shift.
I alighted at Heathrow Central (Terminals 2 & 3), the next service was a dud solo unit, before something happened on the main-line as the following service was 10 minutes late (pair of duds), with the next service being 332007 leading winner 332002 (a bit thank you to Techni for texting me the carriage numbers as it is pretty much impossible to ID the rear unit due to the position of the number. Exiting the HEX platforms at terminal 5, I wasted some time before heading back to the platforms for a late running 332009/332012 to roll in, departing somewhat 10 minutes late, back to Heathrow Central.
I had my fingers crossed as the 20-minute late (from the announcements something had broken down on the outside world) duds 332013/332005 back to Terminal 5. Sadly the 332s join the club of only one unit required (as I require 332014 which I fear might be another expensive ticket depending on time of day). A quick interchange to the Piccadilly line saw me jumping on winner 137 leading dud 215 to Northfields, where noting another Piccadilly line service was waiting to come out of the depot, I jumped onto duds 892/245 scoring myself an empty carriage on route to Hammersmith passing no S7s but some busy platforms.
No luck with waiting for a S7 at Hammersmith or any required Piccadilly line services, I jumped onto duds 251/148 to Earl’s Court, heading upstairs to the sub-surface lines. First service was to Edgware Road followed by a High Street Kensington terminator, eventually an Embankment terminator rolled in formed of 21451/21452 as I grabbed a seat on an increasingly busy service, bailing at Westminster for some more 96 action with 96111/96112 taking me to Waterloo, where I exited via McDonalds for dinner.
The 19:15 back towards Salisbury tonight was formed of a trio of 159s, with 159017/159016 from this morning joined with 159020 for the speedy run back to Grateley, having a bit of fun with the announcement that the lighting had failed in one of the coaches of 159020 so it was being locked out of use at Basingstoke with any passengers to move forward to one of the other coaches. Overall a good day in London, a good number of LU stuff ticked off with one more 96 stock set to find. I will probably be back in London this Sunday, and I think the Piccadilly line is calling.
Techniquest
Veteran Member
I was going to leave the read until the morning, but couldn't wait!
As always a beast of a read, and well done on getting your last ATW 150 and 153. My trumpeters are waiting to welcome you to the ATW Cleared Club, bit lonely in it at the moment! 100% Cleared is a long way off for us both, but without a doubt you'll get there before me!
Certainly a welcome to the club on clearing the Valley Lines for shacks, even though Ebbw Vale just doesn't seem right classing it as that. I guess that's down to nostalgia if nothing else for the mid-2000s, when Ebbw Vale was still a long way from getting its rail service back!
London was sure good to you too, major congratulations on clearing the enormous amounts of 465s! Equally so for the Bakerloo line sets, quite an achievement I believe only you and Keith have achieved out of the regular trip reporters!
As always a beast of a read, and well done on getting your last ATW 150 and 153. My trumpeters are waiting to welcome you to the ATW Cleared Club, bit lonely in it at the moment! 100% Cleared is a long way off for us both, but without a doubt you'll get there before me!
Certainly a welcome to the club on clearing the Valley Lines for shacks, even though Ebbw Vale just doesn't seem right classing it as that. I guess that's down to nostalgia if nothing else for the mid-2000s, when Ebbw Vale was still a long way from getting its rail service back!
London was sure good to you too, major congratulations on clearing the enormous amounts of 465s! Equally so for the Bakerloo line sets, quite an achievement I believe only you and Keith have achieved out of the regular trip reporters!
Kite159
Veteran Member
I believe Noddy has also cleared the bakerloo stock
Indeed I have!
Techniquest
Veteran Member
Kite159
Veteran Member
10th February Hunting for Dusties
It was another Friday evening trip to London, today I was after getting of my last remaining 321s into the book, as I needed 11 of them at the start of the evening. Sir Postye came to the rescue in looking up the magic box with the location of 6 of them and 4 of them were on Southend services, so I decided on a nice easy day return to Wickford. The first was on the 17:32(ish) towards Clacton, so with finishing work around 14:40 (I now work 08:00 17:00 Mondays to Thursday which allows me to finish at 14:30 on Friday), I went home, got changed and drove to Andover.
I need to make a note to try and reach Andover station via another method if aiming for the 15:38 as the roads were quite busy with school kicking out time, but I made it time to spare, even to pick up tickets for my trip on the Saturday. As expected the 15:38 was running a couple minutes late and was formed of 159101/159018 & 159017 with the rear unit looking quite busy as I did my usual move to reach the empty front unit for the ride towards Waterloo, spotting a 707 in the Wimbledon depot area and with announcements on the approach to Waterloo about the forthcoming August Waterloo works, it was a right time arrival into the busiest station in the UK.
The easiest way to get from Waterloo to Liverpool Street is via the W&C line, then one stop one the Central Line, however I decided against that due to wanting some 96 tunnel noise, so it was to the Jubilee line with a busy 96015/96072 taking me to London Bridge, doing the short walk to the Northern line platform with a busy 51626/51627 for a couple stops to Moorgate, exiting onto the eastbound Sub-Surface line platform, I checked the clock and decided to hang back waiting if anything required would show itself. After watching a metropolitan line service getting diverted to terminate into the Moorgate bay and a fast service (doing one of those Fast Metropolitan line services is on my wish-list, although I know I would need to board at Aldgate to get a decent seat). Anyhow I decided to call it a day with dud 21019/21020 to Liverpool Street where I exited LU and headed over to the trio of 321s on the 17:32 (ish) service.
Dud 321331 was on the rear with 321353 in the middle and winner 321434 on the front, 1 down. I took a position of standing near the rear door on 434 [seemed First Class was at the front] ready to make a fast interchange at Stratford from platform 10 to platform 10 and ¾s, judging by previous trips the entrance to one of the subways would be near the door (and I was right, as it only took a minute to reach platform 10A). I walked all the way to Maryland (or what it felt like) in order to be in the front unit of the next Southend Victoria service (the theory being the front unit would be quieter).
Winner 321333 rolled in and my theory was correct as it was easy enough to locate a seat in the motor coach (where else would I sit?) for the fast run out towards Shenfield, slowing right down to a crawl after Brentwood due to congestion (Im guessing the temporary loss of the Southend dive-under line due to the rebuild at Shenfield causes delays with services towards Southend (and Southminster) having to cross the London bound line on the flat). Anyways once off at Shenfield, I walked back in the snow [had I previously mentioned it was snowing?] to grab the ID of the middle and rear as 321352 and (the ex-GN) 321419 [they look good in plain purple].
10 (or so) minutes later the next Southend service arrived, with 321429 leading winner 321337 with 321327 on the rear to become my 3rd winner of the evening to Billericay, with another short wait before winner number 4 got entered into my log with 321315 leading 321420 & 321354 to Wickford, quickly jumping back to Billericay on duds 321336/321314 for a short wait as the next required 321 should be 30 minutes behind 315, so I took shelter in the Car park exit (the barriers being wide open for that extra bit of revenue protection) as 321422 rolled in with 321316 in the middle and winner 321365 on the rear. Another unit into the book and I was feeling happy as I alighted at Wickford, and took a seat as I knew another required 321 was due into Shenfield from Clacton in around 45 minutes. The first service was from Southend and was dud, which I turned down in exchange for the units from Southminster which was falsely advertised as being formed of 4 coaches (it was 8 coaches), which got me in the wrong place as I took a seat on 321341 back to Shenfield where it terminated (with announcements from the platform staff that this train is not in public use, please do not board this train, probably easier when it used to terminate on platform 5 away from the crowds.
On the rear was an unexpected bonus, winner 321317 making it 6 winners of the evening. A quick visit to the nearby Co-Op to acquire something to munch on, and I returned to the station, noting that how different it felt with no 315s ticking over, as I located the little waiting room which featured a couple comfy sofas (and padded seats). Although with the arrival of the next service from Southend soaking up the passengers, one left their suitcase in the waiting room which caused the few people remaining to be kicked out as a member of BTP was called to deal with the security alert. I wasnt out in the cold for long before winner 7 rolled in, 321349 leading 321359, back into the motor coach for the run back to Liverpool Street. Only 4 more 321s remain which Im quite pleased about, 303/304/448 which I believe are currently at Doncaster, and 321344.
At Liverpool Street I decided to head towards the westbound sub surface line with a dud S7 coming in first, which I turned down as the headlights of the following S8 were visible in the tunnel, as winner 21003/21004 rolled in to take me to Baker Street. You could probably guess what was in my mind as I headed to the southbound Jubilee platform turning down the first service before boarding duds 96125/96126 for the fast run to Waterloo (mmm 96 motor noise at high speed). Once more I exited LU and headed to the outside world, to locate a seat on the 21:20 service towards Yeovil Junction formed tonight of 159001 leading 158888 with a fare dodger getting caught after Clapham Junction (I have no idea where he was going but got charged £40-odd for an anytime single, the guard wasnt having any excuses and refused to apply the railcard discount.
I alighted at Grateley with a short walk home to sort out my bag for an early start for the Saturday, but I was very happy with scoring 7 out of my last 11 today, my most wanted super-six has been restored to 6 units.
---------------
11th February A trip to the West Midlands
The idea of today was a lazy day trip to the West Midlands, mainly to get the new Bromsgrove station into the book and for a brief tram/unit hunt, so compared to previous Saturdays it was a return to an early start and potentially could be an early finish. The light snow from Friday evening had settled so it was an interesting walk to the station trying to avoid slipping over on the pavement, but I made it in plenty of time for the 05:59 to sneak into the station. I was happy as it was 159012 which is my lowest mileage 159 for the run to Basingstoke, spent finishing reading the latest issue of Todays Railways.
After randomly turning down the unit on the GWR Reading service (cant remember why), it was a short wait before dud 220034 rolled in, as I took my reserved seat in coach D, I couldnt help noticing that a lot of the seats were showing reserved from Oxford, so I had time to relax for the run to Reading, reversing in direction for a speedy run towards Didcot, turning right onto the Oxford line, the usual delay before arriving into Oxford as a turbo terminated and headed into the sidings, where as expected the train got quite busy.
15 minutes later I bailed at Banbury for a short wait before 168219 & 168107 rolled in (I preferred it when this service was a 168+172) for the slow journey northbound, giving a wave to Quinn (and I assume Nat) at Leamington where they were awaiting their late running 68 service towards London, it wasnt soon before we were held at Tyseley for a late running 172 from the other line to go ahead, as we terminated at Snow Hill a minute or two late. A quick hop upstairs via the wide-open gateline and my Daytripper was issued without any issues from the ticket office before I returned to the platform as 172340 rolled in on the next Worcester bound service which I took to Rowley Regis. Rowley is one of those stations I have visited in the past but had no record of my visit due to poor note taking when I first started in 2014.
A quick walk over the road bridge and down to the other platform for a short wait as DVT 82302 arrived with dud 68015 on the rear to take me back to Moor Street. Sadly I didnt spot Mr Quinns friend [the pulse guy who talks rubbish], but how much I want another fast run with a 68 (as the route from Rowley towards Moor Street is very slow, even with skipping Jewellery Quarter). On route I had managed to gather from Twitter that my final 390 was hanging out of Manchester (boo), but my final LM 170 was on Shrewsbury services and 350105 was doing its usual avoidance of London on Crewe services, which got me thinking about a plan of interception (made easier when I found out which service it was due out of Crewe on!). For lack of a better idea I joined duds 170502 & 170510 on the next Shrewsbury service, taking both 170s over 10 miles on the run to Wolverhampton, where I hung back with a busy looking 350/1 taking up most of the passengers from Liverpool, a pair of Voyagers arrived from Scotland as winner 170632 rolled in.
I was happy as it meant the sub-class had finally been cleared for my last LM 170 (leaving 4 Scottish examples to clear the class). A short run back to New Street I got the news that my favourite 350 was on the 12:XX departure from Crewe, a quick work on RTT formed a rough plan to intercept it at Nuneaton with a purchase of a Bedworth Rugby day return (along with a Coventry Arena Bedworth single to plug the gap) which turned out to be cheaper than a Coventry Milton Keynes day return. Anyhow once at New Street I had around an hour to go tram hunting, so after IDing the 1st tram as dud 20, with the 2nd tram as another dud, I headed to Tesco to pick up food for an early lunch returning to the tram stop wasting time purchasing my tickets for later on (and picking them up).
Eventually winner 17 rolled in, and when it returned from the usual reversing move I noted another required tram rolling in alongside. I was lucky to make the connection onto winner 27 at Bull Street as the conductor ran out of paper roll for the ticket machine and wanted to grab a spare roll from that tram. I bailed a few chains later at Corporation Street, crossing the road as winner 37 rolled in to take me back to Bull Street, where I took a seat, with one eye on the clock I decided to bail onto dud 31 back to Grand Central, working out that I still had 3 (or 4) unknown trams out to play on the 8 minute frequency, but I had more important things to deal with as I took a seat on 221118 (leading 221115) on the next service from Scotland to Coventry.
I had my fingers crossed as the dogboxes from Nuneaton rolled in, but sadly it was 153366 & 153356 to take me the 10 miles to Nuneaton (dog box thrash!) where I had around 30 minutes to kill before the next service from Crewe arrived, so I popped out to Asda to have a look at some bits and pieces. After that little trip I headed to platform 5 and settled down to await the arrival of the 350 from Crewe, my fingers and toes were crossed as in rolled 350105. Woohoo x 105, the bugger had finally fallen, the 350s have been cleared. As an extra bonus I even got a seat for the 14 and a half mile run to Rugby, where I decided to be naughty (slap my hand if you can work it out) and jumped onto late running 390008 back to New Street (as it saved waiting around 25 minutes for the next London Midland service which was one which called at most stations from Coventry to New Street).
Once at New Street, I had around 25 minutes before the next Hereford service was due to depart so I headed outside walking to Corporation Street jumping onto dud 17 back down the hill, knowing that it would be 37 up next followed by 27 it wasnt worth hanging around, so I went down to take a seat on a busy 170503/170513 on the next Hereford. A ticket check took place between New Street & University, the guard happy with me using a ticket from Alvechurch to Bromsgrove (well changing at University is pretty much the only way to go from Barnt Green to Bromsgrove at the moment). I alighted at the new Bromsgrove station with a 30 minute wait before the next service back to the big city, I popped to the nearby Co-Op for a pasta salad.
As for the station itself, it be a bit bleak with small waiting shelters at the bridge end (and smaller ones at the other end), the returning 170 was delayed waiting for a late running HST to zoom past, before 170635 rolled in to take me back to New Street, the delay meant it had missed its path after Kings Norton so was caught behind a stopper. After arrival I decided on a rough exit plan, but first I had some unfinished business with the trams, so it was to the tram platforms at Grand Central for the slightly unusual sight of being no trams in sight. An announcement was made that the next tram would be departing from platform 1 as a late running 17 rolled in, the driver changing ends and using the crossover located at the Corporation Street end of the platform [probably a rare move!] as I sat back and relaxed on the run on the former GWR line to Wolverhampton.
My eyes were on the trams heading towards Grand Central and when I saw tram 31 I knew I was in unknown trams and bailed at Kenrick Park. My theory was correct and my 2nd last tram, 30 rolled in to take me to Winson Green Outer Circlee, crossing over to board 27 back to Handsworth Booth Street. My fingers were crossed but 100% clearance wasnt to be as it was dud 19 back to Winson Green Outer Circle. Dud 35 took me to the Hawthorns and the return of tram 20 meant I had seen all the trams out, leaving 28 as the only tram left.
Swinging via the Bull Ring to visit a couple shops, before I headed over to Moor Street, where I decided I had enough 168/170 grumble already so it was onto mega-superdud 165014 for the run to Leamington Spa, scoring the Dorridge Up Passenger Loop as a XC service overtook the 165 before it arrived into Dorridge, where thankfully some football fans alighted and the train returned to peace & quiet for the run to Leamington Spa. I had previously noted that the next London Marylebone service was a pair of 168/3s, so it was onto dud 168324 leading winner (as a 168/3) 168321 to Banbury (wasnt as bad as I was expecting) where I alighted from the train and sat back to relax to await the next Bournemouth service.
Once more it wasnt as bad as expected as low mileage (Southampton Central Southampton Airport) 221122 rolled in and it was easy to locate a table in coach B for the run towards Reading along the relief lines diving under the flyover to come up into platform 8 before a fast reversal to take me back to Basingstoke. In the 30 minutes I had at Basingstoke I visited Tesco Metro for some supplies, made use of the TVMs to pick up some tickets for April time before waiting for the 20:38 back towards Salisbury. 159012 found itself into my book for the 2nd time of the day, as I bailed at Andover to collect my car (which I had left on the Friday night), giving her a good run heading back home (as I could feel her needing a good speedy run to clear the rubbish from the DPF).
The highlight for me today was clearing my 350s, plus getting that 170 means the only unit left with London Midland is the Bletchley hating 153365. Getting 4 out of my 5 remaining trams was also a big brucie bonus as well. A couple random pictures:
Grateley in the (very light) snow:
An unknown XC HST dashing through Bromsgrove:
A random crossover on the Midland Metro:
Next week sees a return to the West Midlands, this time behind a 67, with an overnight stay in London on the Friday. I feel like a 700 hunting session coming along unless 321344/387225 are out to play (with keeping an eye out if those other 321s re-enter service in the meanwhile.
It was another Friday evening trip to London, today I was after getting of my last remaining 321s into the book, as I needed 11 of them at the start of the evening. Sir Postye came to the rescue in looking up the magic box with the location of 6 of them and 4 of them were on Southend services, so I decided on a nice easy day return to Wickford. The first was on the 17:32(ish) towards Clacton, so with finishing work around 14:40 (I now work 08:00 17:00 Mondays to Thursday which allows me to finish at 14:30 on Friday), I went home, got changed and drove to Andover.
I need to make a note to try and reach Andover station via another method if aiming for the 15:38 as the roads were quite busy with school kicking out time, but I made it time to spare, even to pick up tickets for my trip on the Saturday. As expected the 15:38 was running a couple minutes late and was formed of 159101/159018 & 159017 with the rear unit looking quite busy as I did my usual move to reach the empty front unit for the ride towards Waterloo, spotting a 707 in the Wimbledon depot area and with announcements on the approach to Waterloo about the forthcoming August Waterloo works, it was a right time arrival into the busiest station in the UK.
The easiest way to get from Waterloo to Liverpool Street is via the W&C line, then one stop one the Central Line, however I decided against that due to wanting some 96 tunnel noise, so it was to the Jubilee line with a busy 96015/96072 taking me to London Bridge, doing the short walk to the Northern line platform with a busy 51626/51627 for a couple stops to Moorgate, exiting onto the eastbound Sub-Surface line platform, I checked the clock and decided to hang back waiting if anything required would show itself. After watching a metropolitan line service getting diverted to terminate into the Moorgate bay and a fast service (doing one of those Fast Metropolitan line services is on my wish-list, although I know I would need to board at Aldgate to get a decent seat). Anyhow I decided to call it a day with dud 21019/21020 to Liverpool Street where I exited LU and headed over to the trio of 321s on the 17:32 (ish) service.
Dud 321331 was on the rear with 321353 in the middle and winner 321434 on the front, 1 down. I took a position of standing near the rear door on 434 [seemed First Class was at the front] ready to make a fast interchange at Stratford from platform 10 to platform 10 and ¾s, judging by previous trips the entrance to one of the subways would be near the door (and I was right, as it only took a minute to reach platform 10A). I walked all the way to Maryland (or what it felt like) in order to be in the front unit of the next Southend Victoria service (the theory being the front unit would be quieter).
Winner 321333 rolled in and my theory was correct as it was easy enough to locate a seat in the motor coach (where else would I sit?
) for the fast run out towards Shenfield, slowing right down to a crawl after Brentwood due to congestion (Im guessing the temporary loss of the Southend dive-under line due to the rebuild at Shenfield causes delays with services towards Southend (and Southminster) having to cross the London bound line on the flat). Anyways once off at Shenfield, I walked back in the snow [had I previously mentioned it was snowing?] to grab the ID of the middle and rear as 321352 and (the ex-GN) 321419 [they look good in plain purple].10 (or so) minutes later the next Southend service arrived, with 321429 leading winner 321337 with 321327 on the rear to become my 3rd winner of the evening to Billericay, with another short wait before winner number 4 got entered into my log with 321315 leading 321420 & 321354 to Wickford, quickly jumping back to Billericay on duds 321336/321314 for a short wait as the next required 321 should be 30 minutes behind 315, so I took shelter in the Car park exit (the barriers being wide open for that extra bit of revenue protection) as 321422 rolled in with 321316 in the middle and winner 321365 on the rear. Another unit into the book and I was feeling happy as I alighted at Wickford, and took a seat as I knew another required 321 was due into Shenfield from Clacton in around 45 minutes. The first service was from Southend and was dud, which I turned down in exchange for the units from Southminster which was falsely advertised as being formed of 4 coaches (it was 8 coaches), which got me in the wrong place as I took a seat on 321341 back to Shenfield where it terminated (with announcements from the platform staff that this train is not in public use, please do not board this train, probably easier when it used to terminate on platform 5 away from the crowds.
On the rear was an unexpected bonus, winner 321317 making it 6 winners of the evening. A quick visit to the nearby Co-Op to acquire something to munch on, and I returned to the station, noting that how different it felt with no 315s ticking over, as I located the little waiting room which featured a couple comfy sofas (and padded seats). Although with the arrival of the next service from Southend soaking up the passengers, one left their suitcase in the waiting room which caused the few people remaining to be kicked out as a member of BTP was called to deal with the security alert. I wasnt out in the cold for long before winner 7 rolled in, 321349 leading 321359, back into the motor coach for the run back to Liverpool Street. Only 4 more 321s remain which Im quite pleased about, 303/304/448 which I believe are currently at Doncaster, and 321344.
At Liverpool Street I decided to head towards the westbound sub surface line with a dud S7 coming in first, which I turned down as the headlights of the following S8 were visible in the tunnel, as winner 21003/21004 rolled in to take me to Baker Street. You could probably guess what was in my mind as I headed to the southbound Jubilee platform turning down the first service before boarding duds 96125/96126 for the fast run to Waterloo (mmm 96 motor noise at high speed). Once more I exited LU and headed to the outside world, to locate a seat on the 21:20 service towards Yeovil Junction formed tonight of 159001 leading 158888 with a fare dodger getting caught after Clapham Junction (I have no idea where he was going but got charged £40-odd for an anytime single, the guard wasnt having any excuses and refused to apply the railcard discount.
I alighted at Grateley with a short walk home to sort out my bag for an early start for the Saturday, but I was very happy with scoring 7 out of my last 11 today, my most wanted super-six has been restored to 6 units.
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11th February A trip to the West Midlands
The idea of today was a lazy day trip to the West Midlands, mainly to get the new Bromsgrove station into the book and for a brief tram/unit hunt, so compared to previous Saturdays it was a return to an early start and potentially could be an early finish. The light snow from Friday evening had settled so it was an interesting walk to the station trying to avoid slipping over on the pavement, but I made it in plenty of time for the 05:59 to sneak into the station. I was happy as it was 159012 which is my lowest mileage 159 for the run to Basingstoke, spent finishing reading the latest issue of Todays Railways.
After randomly turning down the unit on the GWR Reading service (cant remember why), it was a short wait before dud 220034 rolled in, as I took my reserved seat in coach D, I couldnt help noticing that a lot of the seats were showing reserved from Oxford, so I had time to relax for the run to Reading, reversing in direction for a speedy run towards Didcot, turning right onto the Oxford line, the usual delay before arriving into Oxford as a turbo terminated and headed into the sidings, where as expected the train got quite busy.
15 minutes later I bailed at Banbury for a short wait before 168219 & 168107 rolled in (I preferred it when this service was a 168+172) for the slow journey northbound, giving a wave to Quinn (and I assume Nat) at Leamington where they were awaiting their late running 68 service towards London, it wasnt soon before we were held at Tyseley for a late running 172 from the other line to go ahead, as we terminated at Snow Hill a minute or two late. A quick hop upstairs via the wide-open gateline and my Daytripper was issued without any issues from the ticket office before I returned to the platform as 172340 rolled in on the next Worcester bound service which I took to Rowley Regis. Rowley is one of those stations I have visited in the past but had no record of my visit due to poor note taking when I first started in 2014.
A quick walk over the road bridge and down to the other platform for a short wait as DVT 82302 arrived with dud 68015 on the rear to take me back to Moor Street. Sadly I didnt spot Mr Quinns friend [the pulse guy who talks rubbish], but how much I want another fast run with a 68 (as the route from Rowley towards Moor Street is very slow, even with skipping Jewellery Quarter). On route I had managed to gather from Twitter that my final 390 was hanging out of Manchester (boo), but my final LM 170 was on Shrewsbury services and 350105 was doing its usual avoidance of London on Crewe services, which got me thinking about a plan of interception (made easier when I found out which service it was due out of Crewe on!). For lack of a better idea I joined duds 170502 & 170510 on the next Shrewsbury service, taking both 170s over 10 miles on the run to Wolverhampton, where I hung back with a busy looking 350/1 taking up most of the passengers from Liverpool, a pair of Voyagers arrived from Scotland as winner 170632 rolled in.
I was happy as it meant the sub-class had finally been cleared for my last LM 170 (leaving 4 Scottish examples to clear the class). A short run back to New Street I got the news that my favourite 350 was on the 12:XX departure from Crewe, a quick work on RTT formed a rough plan to intercept it at Nuneaton with a purchase of a Bedworth Rugby day return (along with a Coventry Arena Bedworth single to plug the gap) which turned out to be cheaper than a Coventry Milton Keynes day return. Anyhow once at New Street I had around an hour to go tram hunting, so after IDing the 1st tram as dud 20, with the 2nd tram as another dud, I headed to Tesco to pick up food for an early lunch returning to the tram stop wasting time purchasing my tickets for later on (and picking them up).
Eventually winner 17 rolled in, and when it returned from the usual reversing move I noted another required tram rolling in alongside. I was lucky to make the connection onto winner 27 at Bull Street as the conductor ran out of paper roll for the ticket machine and wanted to grab a spare roll from that tram. I bailed a few chains later at Corporation Street, crossing the road as winner 37 rolled in to take me back to Bull Street, where I took a seat, with one eye on the clock I decided to bail onto dud 31 back to Grand Central, working out that I still had 3 (or 4) unknown trams out to play on the 8 minute frequency, but I had more important things to deal with as I took a seat on 221118 (leading 221115) on the next service from Scotland to Coventry.
I had my fingers crossed as the dogboxes from Nuneaton rolled in, but sadly it was 153366 & 153356 to take me the 10 miles to Nuneaton (dog box thrash!) where I had around 30 minutes to kill before the next service from Crewe arrived, so I popped out to Asda to have a look at some bits and pieces. After that little trip I headed to platform 5 and settled down to await the arrival of the 350 from Crewe, my fingers and toes were crossed as in rolled 350105. Woohoo x 105, the bugger had finally fallen, the 350s have been cleared. As an extra bonus I even got a seat for the 14 and a half mile run to Rugby, where I decided to be naughty (slap my hand if you can work it out) and jumped onto late running 390008 back to New Street (as it saved waiting around 25 minutes for the next London Midland service which was one which called at most stations from Coventry to New Street).
Once at New Street, I had around 25 minutes before the next Hereford service was due to depart so I headed outside walking to Corporation Street jumping onto dud 17 back down the hill, knowing that it would be 37 up next followed by 27 it wasnt worth hanging around, so I went down to take a seat on a busy 170503/170513 on the next Hereford. A ticket check took place between New Street & University, the guard happy with me using a ticket from Alvechurch to Bromsgrove (well changing at University is pretty much the only way to go from Barnt Green to Bromsgrove at the moment). I alighted at the new Bromsgrove station with a 30 minute wait before the next service back to the big city, I popped to the nearby Co-Op for a pasta salad.
As for the station itself, it be a bit bleak with small waiting shelters at the bridge end (and smaller ones at the other end), the returning 170 was delayed waiting for a late running HST to zoom past, before 170635 rolled in to take me back to New Street, the delay meant it had missed its path after Kings Norton so was caught behind a stopper. After arrival I decided on a rough exit plan, but first I had some unfinished business with the trams, so it was to the tram platforms at Grand Central for the slightly unusual sight of being no trams in sight. An announcement was made that the next tram would be departing from platform 1 as a late running 17 rolled in, the driver changing ends and using the crossover located at the Corporation Street end of the platform [probably a rare move!] as I sat back and relaxed on the run on the former GWR line to Wolverhampton.
My eyes were on the trams heading towards Grand Central and when I saw tram 31 I knew I was in unknown trams and bailed at Kenrick Park. My theory was correct and my 2nd last tram, 30 rolled in to take me to Winson Green Outer Circlee, crossing over to board 27 back to Handsworth Booth Street. My fingers were crossed but 100% clearance wasnt to be as it was dud 19 back to Winson Green Outer Circle. Dud 35 took me to the Hawthorns and the return of tram 20 meant I had seen all the trams out, leaving 28 as the only tram left.
Swinging via the Bull Ring to visit a couple shops, before I headed over to Moor Street, where I decided I had enough 168/170 grumble already so it was onto mega-superdud 165014 for the run to Leamington Spa, scoring the Dorridge Up Passenger Loop as a XC service overtook the 165 before it arrived into Dorridge, where thankfully some football fans alighted and the train returned to peace & quiet for the run to Leamington Spa. I had previously noted that the next London Marylebone service was a pair of 168/3s, so it was onto dud 168324 leading winner (as a 168/3) 168321 to Banbury (wasnt as bad as I was expecting) where I alighted from the train and sat back to relax to await the next Bournemouth service.
Once more it wasnt as bad as expected as low mileage (Southampton Central Southampton Airport) 221122 rolled in and it was easy to locate a table in coach B for the run towards Reading along the relief lines diving under the flyover to come up into platform 8 before a fast reversal to take me back to Basingstoke. In the 30 minutes I had at Basingstoke I visited Tesco Metro for some supplies, made use of the TVMs to pick up some tickets for April time before waiting for the 20:38 back towards Salisbury. 159012 found itself into my book for the 2nd time of the day, as I bailed at Andover to collect my car (which I had left on the Friday night), giving her a good run heading back home (as I could feel her needing a good speedy run to clear the rubbish from the DPF).
The highlight for me today was clearing my 350s, plus getting that 170 means the only unit left with London Midland is the Bletchley hating 153365. Getting 4 out of my 5 remaining trams was also a big brucie bonus as well. A couple random pictures:
Grateley in the (very light) snow:
An unknown XC HST dashing through Bromsgrove:
A random crossover on the Midland Metro:
Next week sees a return to the West Midlands, this time behind a 67, with an overnight stay in London on the Friday. I feel like a 700 hunting session coming along unless 321344/387225 are out to play (with keeping an eye out if those other 321s re-enter service in the meanwhile.
A great couple of trips by the sound of it! Well done on only needing 4 dusty bins too - you certainly did well! You'll have been glad that you didn't bump into pulse guy, that's for sure . Congrats on clearing LM's 170s and, of course, 350s.
What's the plan for next weekend then?
. Congrats on clearing LM's 170s and, of course, 350s.What's the plan for next weekend then?
Techniquest
Veteran Member
Very much congratulations on almost completely clearing LM, getting your last 350 is quite a satisfying feeling isn't it! Nice work on nearly clearing your 170s too, not far behind me now on those
Incredible performance on getting down to just 4 more 321s to get, I am incredibly jealous of that!
Incredible performance on getting down to just 4 more 321s to get, I am incredibly jealous of that!
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