andyb2706
Member
4th September
I thought that today I would make use of the WYPTE Train Day Rover ticket to try and get a few Northern fleet that I need before the new rules on off peak tickets came into force on the 8th September on Northern.
So I set off from home and boarded tram 3032 at 0835, I am very restricted on new rides on my tram line (Altrincham) as because of it still being the old style of signalling between Brooklands and Altrincham we are limited to 3001-3060, so it was no suprise that it was a dud tram that I boarded, however it was a Bury tram so I would have to change at St. Peters Square for the Piccadilly tram so there was still a chance.
The ride to St. Peters Square was its usual uneventful journey, if you can say be thrown about the car between Dane Road and Stretford at speed is uneventful. It does make you appreciate the ride quality of a 142!!!! Work at Deansgate-Castlefield appears to be coming on well, with the crossover and points at either end of the platforms now in place and the new inbound platform open for business, although not finished but still looking quite smart with the old inbound platform having been totally demolished the next stop was St. Peters Square.
I left 3032 at St. Peters Square were work is progressing well on the new plaza and the Cenotaph in situ in its new home having had to be moved for the new St. Peters Square tram stop in a few years. The next tram to arrive at St. Peters Square for Manchester Piccadilly was 3079, another dud. This was not a good start of the day but I could not lose sight of the objective of today and that was Northern Rail stock in the Leeds area so anything else was a bonus so I had to grin and bare it and boarded the tram to Manchester Piccadilly.
On arriving at Piccadilly I bought a return to Huddersfield and headed to the platforms and only had 5 minutes to wait for the 0926 to York which was 185130 , another dud, but I just kept my eye on the target of Northern Rail trains and boarded the train to Huddersfield, journey was as smooth as normal on a 185. I do like these units, I think they are one of the best DMUs around.
On arriving at Huddersfield I headed to the ticket office to buy my WYPTE Train Day Rover noting a 3 x 170 working a service to Manchester Piccadilly and a couple of 142s which I photographed. I headed for the 1013 to Selby for my journey to Leeds and when the train pulled in it was formed of 185102 and 185129, both I needed for haulage great!!! What is the saying .nothing and then you get it all at once, so I plumed for 185102 as my steed on the next leg of the journey to Leeds again everything ran smoothly through to Leeds.
On arriving at Leeds it was time to start my Northern bashing of required units and found 142025 waiting to depart for Sheffield. I also decided to do some station bashing at the same time and grab some newbies so I got off 142025 at its first stop at Outwood, I will say from the outset I was surprised. Not only here but throughout the day I was surprised at the stations in the WYPTE area. I always associated Leeds and the surrounding areas as an industrial area but when I arrived at the surrounding station the setting in the station areas are very nice and green, another few photos where taken here as I had 15 minutes to wait for my train back to Leeds. When this train arrived it was 144001, a new one for sighting and of course haulage so I was a very happy person.
On arrival back to Leeds I had a decision to make. EMUs or DMUs. I decided to spend a bit of time trying to grab a few new 333 haulages so boarded 333016 the 1140 to Bradford Forster Square as far as Shipley where I changed onto 333003 the 1153 to Ilkley. On the station front I have to say I am really impressed with Shipley station. The size and style of the station is fantastic for a town station, especially when it is compared to Bradford (a city) and its Foster Square station. Think when I have time I might look into the history of Shipley station. Anyhow I stayed on 333003 through to Burley-in-Wharfedale. I have never travelled along the Ilkley line before so with needing all the stations along that line I used my scientific method to chose which station to get off the train at ..I liked the look of the name!
From here I decided I wanted to go to Bradford Forster Square, but with already having bagged this station in the past I wanted to bag one before reaching Bradford Forster Square so decided to travel on 333009 as far as Frizinghall and then get the next train from there to Bradford.
At Frizinghall I managed to grab a photo of the train I had just alighted and only had 10 minutes to wait for the next train to Bradford F.S. which turned out to be 321901 for the 5 minute journey to Bradford F.S.
My idea was to find a Subway in Bradford before my next journey which I had planned at this stage to be in 20 minutes time at 1330. My apologies for my next comment if any of you reading this is from the Bradford area but I believe first impressions are always important but the area around Bradford F.S. is a mess and not very inviting and by the time I found the Subway and with the queues (okay it was lunchtime) I decided to wait until I was back in Leeds and headed back to the station for the 1330 which was 333005 1330 to Leeds but to maximise my haulage bashing possibilities I only stayed on this until I reached Shipley were I alighted and waited for the next Leeds service a few minutes later.
And it worked 333010 another new one .Bingo!!! I headed back into Leeds and noted two EWS freight trains waiting at Whitehall West Junction 66149 (6E93)and 66005.
Seeing I never got my lunch at Bradford the plan was to get lunch at Leeds, however I saw 150210 in the station and thought lunch can wait so I hopped aboard for a trip out to Wakefield Kirkgate and what a drag it was! It ended up following the late running 6E93 and ended up being about 10 minutes late arriving at Wakefield Kirkgate as the next service to Leeds was just pulling out, how annoying. So with 20 minutes to spend at Wakefield I decided to have a wander and all I can say about the area around the station is who in the right mind in the 1960s built such monstrous buildings around such a attractive station...okay, at the moment it is run down but with the Wakefield Kirkgate station regeneration that is going on it should be another stunning station building once completed. So I made sure I was back at Wakefield Kirkgate in time for the 1450 to Leeds which turned out to be 144023, another new one for me and headed back to Leeds.
Arriving at Leeds I could wait no longer so headed to M&S for some food before returning to the station for my next bit of haulage where I saw 150141 waiting to form the 1639 to Morecambe which was another unit I needed but I figured out I could do a run out to Menston, then to Shipley to pick up the Morecambe service. So I boarded 333007 to Menston which was another newbie for me where I then crossed to the other platform and picked up 333014 which was a dud to get to Shipley where I would pick up 105141 for a short run to Bingley and everything worked out.
At Bingley I knew this was my last trip back to Leeds as I had planned to get the 1737 to Manchester Piccadilly, I also knew I was now down to needing 3330012 only for haulage and guess what rolled into the platform ..333013!
When I got back to Leeds I headed over to platform 17, well there was a platform there somewhere as there was just a sea of humans and no platform visible as the last Piccadilly service was running 20 minutes late so of course when the train pulled in there was the passengers for that service plus passengers who had turned up for the train I was waiting for, luckily most of them piled onto the late running train and it looked like it was a game of sardines and by the way this was a 2 x185. So I stood there and let the train go, followed by the Liverpool via Manchester Victoria service and when my train pulled in the platform was only about 30% full so success! What was more of a success was that the train was formed of 185102 and 185129, the same two that I travelled on to get to Leeds and I still needed 185129 for haulage so I jumped on that unit back to Manchester Piccadilly which was a chilled out service.
From Manchester Piccadilly I boarded the Media City UK tram as far as Deansgate-Castlefield which was 3083, my first new tram for the day, and then I picked up 3057 from Deansgate-Castlefield back to Brooklands. Over all an excellent day.
I thought that today I would make use of the WYPTE Train Day Rover ticket to try and get a few Northern fleet that I need before the new rules on off peak tickets came into force on the 8th September on Northern.
So I set off from home and boarded tram 3032 at 0835, I am very restricted on new rides on my tram line (Altrincham) as because of it still being the old style of signalling between Brooklands and Altrincham we are limited to 3001-3060, so it was no suprise that it was a dud tram that I boarded, however it was a Bury tram so I would have to change at St. Peters Square for the Piccadilly tram so there was still a chance.
The ride to St. Peters Square was its usual uneventful journey, if you can say be thrown about the car between Dane Road and Stretford at speed is uneventful. It does make you appreciate the ride quality of a 142!!!! Work at Deansgate-Castlefield appears to be coming on well, with the crossover and points at either end of the platforms now in place and the new inbound platform open for business, although not finished but still looking quite smart with the old inbound platform having been totally demolished the next stop was St. Peters Square.
I left 3032 at St. Peters Square were work is progressing well on the new plaza and the Cenotaph in situ in its new home having had to be moved for the new St. Peters Square tram stop in a few years. The next tram to arrive at St. Peters Square for Manchester Piccadilly was 3079, another dud. This was not a good start of the day but I could not lose sight of the objective of today and that was Northern Rail stock in the Leeds area so anything else was a bonus so I had to grin and bare it and boarded the tram to Manchester Piccadilly.
On arriving at Piccadilly I bought a return to Huddersfield and headed to the platforms and only had 5 minutes to wait for the 0926 to York which was 185130 , another dud, but I just kept my eye on the target of Northern Rail trains and boarded the train to Huddersfield, journey was as smooth as normal on a 185. I do like these units, I think they are one of the best DMUs around.
On arriving at Huddersfield I headed to the ticket office to buy my WYPTE Train Day Rover noting a 3 x 170 working a service to Manchester Piccadilly and a couple of 142s which I photographed. I headed for the 1013 to Selby for my journey to Leeds and when the train pulled in it was formed of 185102 and 185129, both I needed for haulage great!!! What is the saying .nothing and then you get it all at once, so I plumed for 185102 as my steed on the next leg of the journey to Leeds again everything ran smoothly through to Leeds.
On arriving at Leeds it was time to start my Northern bashing of required units and found 142025 waiting to depart for Sheffield. I also decided to do some station bashing at the same time and grab some newbies so I got off 142025 at its first stop at Outwood, I will say from the outset I was surprised. Not only here but throughout the day I was surprised at the stations in the WYPTE area. I always associated Leeds and the surrounding areas as an industrial area but when I arrived at the surrounding station the setting in the station areas are very nice and green, another few photos where taken here as I had 15 minutes to wait for my train back to Leeds. When this train arrived it was 144001, a new one for sighting and of course haulage so I was a very happy person.
On arrival back to Leeds I had a decision to make. EMUs or DMUs. I decided to spend a bit of time trying to grab a few new 333 haulages so boarded 333016 the 1140 to Bradford Forster Square as far as Shipley where I changed onto 333003 the 1153 to Ilkley. On the station front I have to say I am really impressed with Shipley station. The size and style of the station is fantastic for a town station, especially when it is compared to Bradford (a city) and its Foster Square station. Think when I have time I might look into the history of Shipley station. Anyhow I stayed on 333003 through to Burley-in-Wharfedale. I have never travelled along the Ilkley line before so with needing all the stations along that line I used my scientific method to chose which station to get off the train at ..I liked the look of the name!
From here I decided I wanted to go to Bradford Forster Square, but with already having bagged this station in the past I wanted to bag one before reaching Bradford Forster Square so decided to travel on 333009 as far as Frizinghall and then get the next train from there to Bradford.
At Frizinghall I managed to grab a photo of the train I had just alighted and only had 10 minutes to wait for the next train to Bradford F.S. which turned out to be 321901 for the 5 minute journey to Bradford F.S.
My idea was to find a Subway in Bradford before my next journey which I had planned at this stage to be in 20 minutes time at 1330. My apologies for my next comment if any of you reading this is from the Bradford area but I believe first impressions are always important but the area around Bradford F.S. is a mess and not very inviting and by the time I found the Subway and with the queues (okay it was lunchtime) I decided to wait until I was back in Leeds and headed back to the station for the 1330 which was 333005 1330 to Leeds but to maximise my haulage bashing possibilities I only stayed on this until I reached Shipley were I alighted and waited for the next Leeds service a few minutes later.
And it worked 333010 another new one .Bingo!!! I headed back into Leeds and noted two EWS freight trains waiting at Whitehall West Junction 66149 (6E93)and 66005.
Seeing I never got my lunch at Bradford the plan was to get lunch at Leeds, however I saw 150210 in the station and thought lunch can wait so I hopped aboard for a trip out to Wakefield Kirkgate and what a drag it was! It ended up following the late running 6E93 and ended up being about 10 minutes late arriving at Wakefield Kirkgate as the next service to Leeds was just pulling out, how annoying. So with 20 minutes to spend at Wakefield I decided to have a wander and all I can say about the area around the station is who in the right mind in the 1960s built such monstrous buildings around such a attractive station...okay, at the moment it is run down but with the Wakefield Kirkgate station regeneration that is going on it should be another stunning station building once completed. So I made sure I was back at Wakefield Kirkgate in time for the 1450 to Leeds which turned out to be 144023, another new one for me and headed back to Leeds.
Arriving at Leeds I could wait no longer so headed to M&S for some food before returning to the station for my next bit of haulage where I saw 150141 waiting to form the 1639 to Morecambe which was another unit I needed but I figured out I could do a run out to Menston, then to Shipley to pick up the Morecambe service. So I boarded 333007 to Menston which was another newbie for me where I then crossed to the other platform and picked up 333014 which was a dud to get to Shipley where I would pick up 105141 for a short run to Bingley and everything worked out.
At Bingley I knew this was my last trip back to Leeds as I had planned to get the 1737 to Manchester Piccadilly, I also knew I was now down to needing 3330012 only for haulage and guess what rolled into the platform ..333013!
When I got back to Leeds I headed over to platform 17, well there was a platform there somewhere as there was just a sea of humans and no platform visible as the last Piccadilly service was running 20 minutes late so of course when the train pulled in there was the passengers for that service plus passengers who had turned up for the train I was waiting for, luckily most of them piled onto the late running train and it looked like it was a game of sardines and by the way this was a 2 x185. So I stood there and let the train go, followed by the Liverpool via Manchester Victoria service and when my train pulled in the platform was only about 30% full so success! What was more of a success was that the train was formed of 185102 and 185129, the same two that I travelled on to get to Leeds and I still needed 185129 for haulage so I jumped on that unit back to Manchester Piccadilly which was a chilled out service.
From Manchester Piccadilly I boarded the Media City UK tram as far as Deansgate-Castlefield which was 3083, my first new tram for the day, and then I picked up 3057 from Deansgate-Castlefield back to Brooklands. Over all an excellent day.
