notabasher
Member
- Joined
- 29 Mar 2013
- Messages
- 31
Other commitments usually get in the way of me doing much active in the way of gricing as a hobby, but below is a brief report of a day out using a West Midlands Day Ranger on 28 October 2018.
Services caught and unit types (sorry, don't take numbers) were as follows:
0833 TfW Shrewsbury - Birmingham NS (2 x 158) on time
0955 WMt Birmingham NS - Lichfield TV (323) generally 2-3mins late
1113 LNW Lichfield TV - Tamworth (350) On time but v busy as previous train cancelled
1133 XC Tamworth - Birmingham NS (3-car 170) Held outside Birmingham New Street [BHM] and thus arrived a few minutes late
1239 WMt Birmingham MS - Stourbridge Junction (2-car 172) generally 2-3mins late
1315 WMt Stourbridge Junction - Stourbridge Town and return (139)
1329 WMt Stourbridge Junction - Kidderminster (2-car 172) about 10 late
1418 WMt Kidderminster - Droitwich Spa (3-car 172) on time
1433 WMt Droitwich Spa - Birmingham NS (2x2-car 170) on time
1533 XC Birmingham NS - Nuneaton (2-car 170) on time
1614 WMt Nuneaton - Coventry (2 x 153)* on time
1642 VWC Coventry - Wolverhampton (2 x 5-car 221) on time
1744 TfW Wolverhampton - Shrewsbury (2 x 158) on time
*As they were connected by the small cab end technically was this a 155?
The original plan was to get the 0833 ex-Salop as far as Smethwick Galton Bridge and change there for the loco-hauled Chiltern service as far as Leamington Spa. On checking the live departure board once en route I realised I perhaps should have planned better as engineering works meant there were no Chiltern services between Solihull and Leamington. I also wanted to do the Chase Line but again engineering works (finishing the electrification?) got in the way there.
I still had a good day out, Birmingham MS - Droitwich (and Stourbridge shuttle), Coventry-Nuneaton, and the cross city line north of Aston were all new to me, as were classes 172 and 139. I don't think I have done Tamworth - Birmingham this century, and the only previous time I have done Lickey was in a front coach full of bashers in the dying days of the cross-country duffs.
Generally I was very impressed with the interior of all the units I travelled on, particularly the 158s and 170s which I can remember being in a real state in the days of Central Trains. Even the 153 wasn't bad, and the Voyagers have stood up very well to what is now 15-17yrs hard use without major refurbishment (and the one I caught didn't smell either).
It was damp but even so the 170s really struggled up Lickey. That said, as a passenger they were pretty quiet in their struggle.
I've done the 139. It reminded me of "Velo-Rail".
Only complaint was the 172s. I don't think I have travelled on a unit with gears like a bus since I was a child and was looking forward to a novel experience, but they were extremely rattly with a lot of harsh vibrations.
The cross-city line northwards was a bit like going from London Waterloo. Some grotty inner-city bits and then you are in very affluent looking surburbia.
Birmingham - Nuneaton was further and more rural than I remember.
I got off at Kidderminster and had a look around the Severn Valley Railway terminus. The weather was utterly miserable and it is not the most appealingly location for the terminus of a heritage line. A kettle of some description was running round a rake of LNER teak coaches. I bough some old pr0n magazines for 10p from the station (Modern Railways).
I was thinking what a good value day out I had had (£26.50) when I discovered that in 1983 I could have had a similar ranger offering 7-days consecutive travel over a slightly larger area for the princely sum of £12!
Services caught and unit types (sorry, don't take numbers) were as follows:
0833 TfW Shrewsbury - Birmingham NS (2 x 158) on time
0955 WMt Birmingham NS - Lichfield TV (323) generally 2-3mins late
1113 LNW Lichfield TV - Tamworth (350) On time but v busy as previous train cancelled
1133 XC Tamworth - Birmingham NS (3-car 170) Held outside Birmingham New Street [BHM] and thus arrived a few minutes late
1239 WMt Birmingham MS - Stourbridge Junction (2-car 172) generally 2-3mins late
1315 WMt Stourbridge Junction - Stourbridge Town and return (139)
1329 WMt Stourbridge Junction - Kidderminster (2-car 172) about 10 late
1418 WMt Kidderminster - Droitwich Spa (3-car 172) on time
1433 WMt Droitwich Spa - Birmingham NS (2x2-car 170) on time
1533 XC Birmingham NS - Nuneaton (2-car 170) on time
1614 WMt Nuneaton - Coventry (2 x 153)* on time
1642 VWC Coventry - Wolverhampton (2 x 5-car 221) on time
1744 TfW Wolverhampton - Shrewsbury (2 x 158) on time
*As they were connected by the small cab end technically was this a 155?
The original plan was to get the 0833 ex-Salop as far as Smethwick Galton Bridge and change there for the loco-hauled Chiltern service as far as Leamington Spa. On checking the live departure board once en route I realised I perhaps should have planned better as engineering works meant there were no Chiltern services between Solihull and Leamington. I also wanted to do the Chase Line but again engineering works (finishing the electrification?) got in the way there.
I still had a good day out, Birmingham MS - Droitwich (and Stourbridge shuttle), Coventry-Nuneaton, and the cross city line north of Aston were all new to me, as were classes 172 and 139. I don't think I have done Tamworth - Birmingham this century, and the only previous time I have done Lickey was in a front coach full of bashers in the dying days of the cross-country duffs.
Generally I was very impressed with the interior of all the units I travelled on, particularly the 158s and 170s which I can remember being in a real state in the days of Central Trains. Even the 153 wasn't bad, and the Voyagers have stood up very well to what is now 15-17yrs hard use without major refurbishment (and the one I caught didn't smell either).
It was damp but even so the 170s really struggled up Lickey. That said, as a passenger they were pretty quiet in their struggle.
I've done the 139. It reminded me of "Velo-Rail".
Only complaint was the 172s. I don't think I have travelled on a unit with gears like a bus since I was a child and was looking forward to a novel experience, but they were extremely rattly with a lot of harsh vibrations.
The cross-city line northwards was a bit like going from London Waterloo. Some grotty inner-city bits and then you are in very affluent looking surburbia.
Birmingham - Nuneaton was further and more rural than I remember.
I got off at Kidderminster and had a look around the Severn Valley Railway terminus. The weather was utterly miserable and it is not the most appealingly location for the terminus of a heritage line. A kettle of some description was running round a rake of LNER teak coaches. I bough some old pr0n magazines for 10p from the station (Modern Railways).
I was thinking what a good value day out I had had (£26.50) when I discovered that in 1983 I could have had a similar ranger offering 7-days consecutive travel over a slightly larger area for the princely sum of £12!
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