Your Last Train Journey?

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Re: Your Last Train Journey?

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Well, another month is drawing to a close, so it's time for Pilot's monthly train travel review! I still have another two journey's to go this month, being a train to London and the associated tube move to my hotel near Victoria on Friday, so will edit this when they are known. As per last month, all services where I covered new track will be highlighted in italics, and any winning Class 142s will be highlighted in bold. This month will be the last time I use the Bold for Class 142s, as I travelled on my last ones!

Wednesday 1st May
1549 Rochdale to Leeds on 142071 and 156421, running via Brighouse and Dewsbury. Interestingly, 142071, despite being my last Northern Class 142 that I needed to see, is now my highest mileage Class 142.
1753 Leeds to Harrogate on 142019. As you may have noticed in past months, I would normally take this service to Weeton, however, on this occasion, there was a reason to go that bit further.
1846 Harrogate to Leeds on 142078. And that reason was my final Northern Class 142 for travel. I wasn't fancying a half hour plus wait at Weeton for it, and Harrogate wasn't too much more expensive to go to (extra mileage too!).
1934 Leeds to Manchester Victoria on 185125.

Friday 10th May - Heart of England 3 in 7 Day Ranger (Day 1)
0717 Manchester Piccadilly to Manchester Airport on 156428 and 156440.
0802 Manchester Airport to Crewe on 319376. On this service, I stopped at Styal for the first time in my life, having gained an hourly service stopping in the May 18 timetable (before May 18, the majority of trains sailed through non-stop). We ended up waiting for a good 6/7 minutes, maybe the railway gods were punishing me for all these years of rattling through non-stop :lol:
0949 Crewe to Smethwick Galton Bridge on 350122.
1042 Smethwick Galton Bridge to Stourbridge Junction on 172221 and 172343. On arrival at Stourbridge Junction, I was able to see both Class 139s together out in the open for the first time. For years I had believed having two was a myth, and they just changed the final number sticker every week!
1107 Stourbridge Junction to Smethwick Galton Bridge on 172338.
1123 Smethwick Galton Bridge to Stourbridge Junction on 172336.
1148 Stourbridge Junction to Smethwick Galton Bridge on 172215 and 172335.
1217 Smethwick Galton Bridge to Birmingham Moor Street on 172344.
1255 Birmingham Moor Street to Banbury, propelled by 68009. After some rattling around on the 172s, it was time for some Class 68 bashing.
1410 Banbury to Solihull, hauled by 68015.
1504 Solihull to Banbury on 168218.
1609 Banbury to Leamington Spa on 168001. Okay, maybe a bit of Chiltern bashing instead!
1623 Leamington Spa to Banbury, propelled by 68015. Was quite fortunate to be able to get this set back to Banbury, as it was slightly delayed by a signal fault at Hatton, and meant I was able to avoid the dreaded Voyager.
1708 Banbury to Leamington Spa, hauled by 68014.
1738 Leamington Spa to Banbury on 221119. Wasn't able to avoid the dreaded Voyager this time!
1809 Banbury to Birmingham Moor Street, hauled by 68012.
1904 Birmingham Moor Street to Smethwick Galton Bridge on 172331.
1922 Smethwick Galton Bridge to Birmingham New Street on 158841.
1957 Birmingham New Street to Nuneaton on 170107.
2054 Nuneaton to Leicester on 170518.
2137 Leicester to Derby, powered by 43484 and 43480. One of the East Midlands "short-sets", having been previously used by Grand Central. This particular one was running a First Class carriage as a Standard Class one.

Saturday 11th May - Heart of England 3 in 7 Day Ranger (Day 2) and Explore Cardiff and Valleys Day Ranger
A little background on this day - I had been originally due to be on a Railtour hauled by a Deltic (Class 55) locomotive from Derby, however, it had failed earlier in the year, and wasn't able to be repaired in time. As I now had a non-refundable Hotel, it made sense to utilize this differently.

0636 Derby to Burton-on-Trent on 170108.
0620 Burton-on-Trent to Cheltenham Spa on 220031, running via Tamworth, Birmingham New Street, Selly Oak and Worcester Shrub Hill. This service had been heavily delayed by a signal failure at North Stafford Jn (between Willington and Derby), hence why I'd gotten the 170 to Burton. We were about 30 late leaving Birmingham New Street, and due to this, we had missed our slot through Worcester Shrub Hill, where we had been diverted due to engineering works between Stoke Works Jn and Abbotswood Jn (the mainline that avoids Worcester). We were about 40/45 late by the time we arrived at Cheltenham Spa IIRC.
0845 Cheltenham Spa to Severn Tunnel Junction on 142002.
0946 Severn Tunnel Junction to Cardiff Central on 166207.
1046 Cardiff Central to Caerphilly on 142083.
1125 Caerphilly to Cardiff Central on 142073 and 143623. This was my step-fathers last Class 142 for travel.
1201 Cardiff Central to Penarth on 142085 and 142075. And this was mine! Not a bad showing to have four Class 142s that I required for travel in such quick succession!
1217 Penarth to Cardiff Central on 142075 and 142085.
1236 Cardiff Central to Radyr on 142076, running via Ninian Park.
1253 Radyr to Cathays on 150264.
1303 Cathays to Taffs Well on 150278.
1334 Taffs Well to Cardiff Queen Street on 143601.
1400 Cardiff Queen Street to Cardiff Bay on 142069.
1406 Cardiff Bay to Cardiff Queen Street on 142069.
1411 Cardiff Queen Street to Cardiff Central on 142083.
1425 Cardiff Central to Barry Island on 143625 and 143607.
1453 Barry Island to Barry on 143607 and 143625.
1505 Barry to Bridgend on 150217.
1553 Bridgend to Cardiff Central on 150231.
1626 Cardiff Central to Newport on 800318. The 800s are growing on me in certain aspects. I do like their additional capacity, and their seat reservation systems, and their additional legroom over the HSTs too.
1725 Newport to Cheltenham Spa on 142002. A 51 mile run on the bouncy bus! Don't mind if I do!
1911 Cheltenham Spa to Birmingham New Street on 220029, running via Worcester Shrub Hill and Selly Oak. We got a perfect run in terms of keeping to our path, which was a positive. You'd think that given the reduced service to/from the South West on the day due to the diversions, XC would have tried to increase capacity, but unfortunately not, so a busy 4-car Voyager it was!
2103 Birmingham New Street to Derby, powered by 43207 and 43378. This train was rather amusing. First, between Birmingham and Tamworth, we had a group of lads (about 14/15) faredodging (they had about £3 between four of them), the Guard did what she could to scare them, but didn't get the BTP and no station staff are present at Tamworth at that time of night, so she couldn't hand it on to anyone. After that, a very intoxicated fellow came looking for the bar (those who know XC know that they have a trolley service instead of a buffet, and this isn't supplied at this time of night). When he asked us where the bar was, and we replied there wasn't on, his response was "Well that's a f-ing heresy". I tried not to laugh too much at that point, instead saving it for a chat with the guard instead.

Sunday 12th May - Heart of England 3 in 7 Day Ranger (Day 3)
0756 Derby to Matlock on 153374 and 153355.
0838 Matlock to Derby on 153355 and 153374. Surprising how busy this train was for half 8 on a Sunday morning!
0928 Derby to Cheltenham Spa, powered by 43378 and 43207, running via Lichfield Trent Valley High Level, Birmingham New Street, Stourbridge Junction and Worcester Shrub Hill. The Sunday's only HST via Lichfield was diverted on this day to also run via Stourbridge Junction. With two bits of track I needed on one service (Wichnor Jn to Lichfield TV and Galton Jn to Smethwick Jn) and that service being a HST, I certainly wasn't going to say no! This was a further divert on from the ones the day before. The route via Bromsgrove was still open, however additional services were being diverted away to allow capacity for more engineering trains, which had to be banked up Lickey, and thus were rather slow. Only heavily delayed XC services were running via this route in order to try and make back some time.
1201 Cheltenham Spa to Birmingham New Street on 170101, running via Worcester Shrub Hill and Stourbridge Junction.
1324 Birmingham New Street to Wolverhampton on 158830 and 158819.
1349 Wolverhampton to Stafford on 220032 and 220004, rare to get a pair of CrossCountry Voyagers on this route.
1410 Stafford to Crewe on 350261.
1457 Crewe to Chester on 158834.
1533 Chester to Crewe on 221143 and 221142. At this point, I had one eye on the trains, and another on the football, with it being the last day of the Premier League season, and my team needing a win to seal the title. Fortunately we got the win, despite going a goal down at one point.
1608 Crewe to Longport on 156415.
1638 Longport to Crewe on 153311.
1728 Crewe to Manchester Piccadilly on 175110. Following an accident involving a light aircraft crashing near the railway in Abergavenny, bringing down some National Grid power lines onto the railway (fortunately all survived the crash by the sound of things), there was some uncertainty as to whether this train would run or not. It got through the area however, so wasn't a problem, although was missing 3 of the carriages allocated to it in the morning, the service having been intended to be strengthened due to a Man United vs. Cardiff football match which this would form the return train for a lot of Cardiff fans.

Friday 17th May
0701 Manchester Piccadilly to Crewe on 323223. I was in Manchester about half an hour earlier than intended, so got the slow, all-stops service to Crewe instead of the more express TfW that arrives just 4 mins later than this.
0818 Crewe to Stafford on 350128.
0910 Stafford to Smethwick Galton Bridge on 350232.
0947 Smethwick Galton Bridge to Birmingham Moor Street on 172340.
1055 Birmingham Moor Street to London Marylebone, propelled by 68011. You may think I use the Chiltern services purely from a cranking perspective, however, whilst partially true, I also do it because of how cheap it is. An advanced single with Chiltern can be as cheap as £3.65 (when using a railcard), which, even when factoring in the cost of getting to Birmingham, is still usually cheaper than an advanced with Virgin bought at a similar timescale, so not only is it a better train, but it's also cheaper! I don't mind spending that little bit longer doing it either to be fair.
1253 Baker Street to London Liverpool Street on the Hammersmith and City Line.
1400 London Liverpool Street to Norwich, pushed by 90013. Paid for a cheap advanced First Class ticket on this, and whilst comfortable enough, the first class service was rather poor. We were offered one brew on the entire journey (nearly 2 hours), not long after departure from Liverpool Street, which meant all those getting on at later stations got nothing at all. The First Class lounge at Liverpool Street was also laughable, but maybe I've been spoiled by Virgin and LNER's offerings all this time.
1736 Noriwch to Great Yarmouth, powered by 37405 and 37716. After checking into my hotel and dropping off my bag, it would have been rude not to have a run on the Class 37 diagram Greater Anglia have, especially as this is likely to be my last opportunity for it.
1817 Great Yarmouth to Norwich, powered by 37716 and 37405.
1902 Norwich to Lowestoft, powered by 37405 and 37716.
1955 Lowestoft to Norwich, powered by 37716 and 37405.

Saturday 18th May - EACH Express 3/Class 37 Farewell Charity Railtour
1020 Norwich to Ely, powered by 37405 and 37409. The boarding process was a little bit of a farce, as we were first told that the carriages weren't lettered (despite our tickets saying they would be), then we were told one carriage order, and later, once on the train, another. The train was departing Norwich before the majority of people (myself included) had found their seats!
1135 Ely to Kings Lynn, powered by 37409 and 37405. 37409 was probably the worst loco DRS could have sent for this in my opinion, as it was my highest mileage Class 37, and I've now broken the 1,000 mile barrier with that locomotive alone.
1214 Kings Lynn to London Liverpool Street, powered by 37405 and 37409, running via Cambridge and Tottenham Hale.
1627 London Liverpool Street to Norwich, powered by 37409 and 37405. A quick run back to Norwich, with two unscheduled stops, one just outside Stratford and another at Trowse Jn. Despite these stops, we managed to get back in 9 minutes earlier (we were 11 early at Trowse) after an end to end journey time of 102 minutes, which was quicker than my train on Friday!

Sunday 19th May
0903 Norwich to Cambridge on 170204. Due to Norwich to Ipswich being closed, I had to return via Cambridge.
1032 Cambridge to London Liverpool Street on 379009 and 379016. I take back everything I said about 379s being decent the last time I used one. In my first longer distance run on one, I ended up coming off feeling sick, after being shaken so much. The ride quality was dreadful, and I needed a bus to actually be able to reach the table I was sat at it was that far.
1208 London Liverpool Street to Stratford on 321365 and 321425.
1230 Stratford to Shenfield on 321426.
1302 Shenfield to Colchester on 360111 and 360106.
1330 Colchester to Shenfield 321308 and 321352. I shouldn't have been able to get this train, as it was due to leave before my arrival, however had been held for whatever reason, allowing me to catch it, which also meant that I was able to avoid the part of 321s I had had earlier to Stratford.
1426 Shenfield to Harold Wood on 345017.
1449 Harold Wood to Romford on 345005.
1510 Romford to London Liverpool Street on 321347.
1532 London Liverpool Street to Moorgate on the Metropolitan Line.
1543 Moorgate to Finsbury Park on 313046 and 313018.
1607 Finsbury Park to Highbury and Islington on 313040 and 313039.
1611 Highbury and Islington to London Euston on the Victoria Line.
1717 London Euston to Manchester Piccadilly on 390123, running via Stoke-on-Trent. Due to a CrossCountry not being in front of us, as it was delayed, we ended up about 7 minutes early at Stockport after a clear run, which meant a nice wait there. We actually ended up delaying the CrossCountry service further as we were sat in it's platform!

Wednesday 22nd May
0932 Manchester Victoria to Huddersfield on 185121.
1439 Huddersfield to Manchester Piccadilly on 185109, running via Manchester Victoria and the Orsdall Chord.

Sunday 26th May
1056 Manchester Victoria to Leeds on 150105 and 156475, running via Hebden Bridge and a reversal at Bradford Interchange. This had one of the recently arrived Ex-London Midland sets, which was very green still!
1834 Leeds to Manchester Victoria on 185144.

Monday 27th May
1042 Manchester Piccadilly to Stockport on 158858 and 158852.
1105 Stockport to Manchester Piccadilly on 150146 and 150141.
1122 Manchester Piccadilly to Manchester Oxford Road on 319383.
1125 Manchester Oxford Road to Manchester Piccadilly on 319366.
1138 Manchester Piccadilly to Liverpool Lime Street on 158866 and 156405, running via Warrington Central.
1238 Liverpool Lime Street to Liverpool Central on 508136.
1245 Liverpool Central to Liverpool James Street on 508127.
1249 Liverpool James Street to Moorfields on 507025.
1255 Moorfields to Liverpool Central on 507033 and 508128, running via the Northern Line.
1302 Liverpool Central to Moorfields on 508139.
1306 Moorfields to Liverpool Lime Street on 507019.
1336 Liverpool Lime Street to Chester on 150250, running via the recently returned to regular service Halton Curve.
1450 Chester to Manchester Piccadilly, propelled by 67014, running via Warrington Bank Quay. The return of the outbound Manchester - Holyhead loco-hauled set. This surprisingly runs non-stop from Earlestown to Manchester Piccadilly, whereas normal TfW services call at both Newton-le-Willows and Manchester Oxford Road.

Friday 31st May
1715 Manchester Piccadilly to London Euston on 390121, running via Stoke-on-Trent. This particular Pendolino seemed to have quite the flat on the bogie I was sat over in Coach U, which was making quite the rattle at 125mph!
1927 London Euston to London Victoria on the Victoria Line.

Nearly 2,850 miles this month then.
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Re: Your Last Train Journey?

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Man! :o 8o You travel a lot!
This is AG here from Discord.
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Re: Your Last Train Journey?

Post by Arch9enius »

28.4.2019
Class 159 Salisbury to Clapham Junction, about 40 mnutes late even though it only had to come from round back of the station. A number of excuses were put forward, the most likely being that the crew had to get off a train from London.

Souther n class 377 Clapham Junction to East Grinstead, diverted via Crystal Palace, not the interesting part of the station though, the bit round the back.

SECR H-class with teak coaches out to Horstead Keynes.
Q-class generic black 0-6-0 with a collection of Southern coaches on the way back.

Reverse of the above journey, lots of the new 707 class units in evidence, wonder what they’re doing with the old 455 suburban units. I rode one between Waterloo and Clapham last time I did this journey, (it turns out not every train stops at Clapham Junction) and they were a smooth and quiet ride.


18 MaY 2019, Romsey – Ryde St. Johns

SWR class 158 from Romsey to St. Denys via Chandlers Ford . Class 450 to Portsmouth and Southsea. GWR Networker –type machine ahead of a 158 for the final leg – either filling in or has been cascaded . 1933 tube from Ryde pier head to St. Johns. There appeared to be some work underway, hopefully on the fast bit between Smallbrook and Sandown. There was talk of a loop being installed to increase the service.

Return journey was Class 444 to Fratton, 450 to St. Denys and back the same way to Romsey via 158.

2 June Winchester – Didcot Parkway
cLass 444 to Basingstoke, unexpectedly crowded so rode in the vestibule. GWR class 166 (Networker –type machine) from there to Reading. They seem to have changed the announcements: The robot announcer lady no longer sounds flirtatious, she sounds like shes, talking , extra , slow, to , you, because , you , are, thick.
Rode an 800 to Didcot Parkway, in the aisle, because it was a 10- coach train. Maybe they had to replace the 125s, but they could have replaced them with 12 coaches. The ‘stairways to heaven’ are in evidence between the cars at either end. Maybe they only got rid of them on the ECML units, or decided someone climbing one was collateral damage .

A sand – coloured class 14 and one of the railcars that started the whole DMU thing were giving rides at the railway centre.

Took the stopping train back to Reading, and the shuttle to Basingstoke, which was full. Caught a Cross Country Voyager to Winchester, oddly this was nearly empty.
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Re: Your Last Train Journey?

Post by Ameecher »

A 2x 5 car 800 is longer and provides more seats than an HST whether a 7 car or 8 car HST.
The coaches on each 800 are 3 metres longer than the MK3 coaches on an HST so don't be fooled by the carriage count necessarily.
Anything longer and they wouldn't fit in the vast majority of the stations.
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Re: Your Last Train Journey?

Post by Chrill »

This summer, they are shutting down the train link through Stockholm, so all domestic trains (and those to Oslo and Copenhagen) are either routed around the North of Stockholm or they depart from a local train station South of Stockholm. This causes massive congestion on our local public transport railway link Citybanan which does operate as normal.

In other words, this morning's train from Barkarby to Stockholm City was not a big problem, but leaving Stockholm City heading North in the afternoon was a pain because all the people usually coming to Stockholm by rail was forced to use our local train services instead.
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Re: Your Last Train Journey?

Post by Arch9enius »

"When he asked us where the bar was, and we replied there wasn't on, his response was "Well that's a f-ing heresy". I tried not to laugh too much at that point, instead saving it for a chat with the guard instead."

He's right though.

What are they doing underneath (or over or through) Stockholm?
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Re: Your Last Train Journey?

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Another Month, another bunch of journey's. Not intending on going out tomorrow, but can edit if need be! As usual, services with new track will be listed in italics.

Saturday 1st June - The Curvey Weaver Railtour (UK Railtours)
0551 London Victoria to London Euston on the Victoria Line. Another early start for a railtour!
0642 London Euston to Walton Old Jn, hauled by 66083 with 66078 dead in tow on the rear, running via Northampton, and the Trent Valley. Just before we departed, got a bit of a look at the new Caledonian Mk5s, which look smart at least (shame they don't work that smart as yet!)
1105 Walton Old Jn to Walton Old Jn Yard, hauled by 66078 with 66083 idling on the rear. Apparently the first visit of a train carrying passengers into the yard for 20 years.
1120 Walton Old Jn to Latchford Sidings, hauled by 66083 with 66078 idling on the rear.
1155 Latchford Sidings to Liverpool South Parkway, hauled by 66078 with 66083 on the rear, running via the site of the former Warrington Bank Quay Low Level station, and past the soon to be closed Fiddlers Ferry Power station.
1250 Liverpool South Parkway to Garston Freightliner Terminal, hauled by 66083 with 66078 on the rear.
1350 Garton Freightliner Terminal to Chester South Jn, hauled by 66078 with 66083 on the rear, running via the Halton Curve.
1507 Chester South Jn to Oakleigh NR Boundary, hauled by 66083 with 66078 on the rear. First train down the Oakleigh line in about 2/3 years, with the line being cleared of vegetation especially for this train.
1625 Oakleigh NR Boundary to London Euston. hauled by 66078 with 66083 dead in tow on the rear, running via Middlewich, Crewe, the Trent Valley and Northampton. Interestingly, due to a points failure, this train had to run on the Down (or Northbound) Fast line between Amington Junction, south of Tamworth, and Nuneaton, with all Northbound trains running via Down Slow.
2107 London Euston to London Victoria on the Victoria Line.

Sunday 2nd June
0743 London Victoria to East Croydon on 377127 and 377412.
0810 East Croydon to London Bridge on 700145.
0828 London Bridge to St Mary Cray on 377519 and 377522.
0851 St Mary Cray to Shortlands on 700030.
0907 Shortlands to London Blackfriars on 465021 and 465193. Due to engineering works on the Southeastern side of London Victoria, these services were being diverted to Blackfriars. This train also arrived at Blackfriars before my previous train (albeit, only shortly before, we were side-by-side at Elephant and Castle).
0941 London Blackfriars to London Bridge on 700030.
1004 London Bridge to Orpington on 465904 and 465928.
1026 Orpington to Waterloo East on 375630 and 375601. I had been intending on getting a few more Class 375s in whilst down in the area, as prior to this journey, I had a total of just 2.2 miles travelled on the type. Keep this in mind for later.
1057 London Waterloo to Hampton Court on 707024 and 707026.
1135 Hampton Court to Raynes Park on 5870 and 456009.
1154 Raynes Park to London Waterloo on 5858.
1223 London Waterloo to Tottenham Court Road on the Northern Line.
1233 Tottenham Court Road to London Liverpool Street on the Central Line.
1253 London Liverpool Street to Romford on 321365 and 321447.
1341 Romford to Upminster on 315803.
1407 Upminster to Barking on 357204 and 357010.
1423 Barking to Blackhorse Road on 378232. Was hoping for a 710, got a 378 I'd been on before instead. A 710 was just leaving Blackhorse Road as I was walking up the stairs.
1444 Blackhorse Road to Finsbury Park on the Victoria Line.
1507 Finsbury Park to Highbury and Islington on 313045 and 313044. Perhaps my last journey on the Great Northern 313s - it remains to be seen.
1513 Highbury and Islington to London Euston on the Victoria Line.
1537 London Euston to Manchester Piccadilly on 390010, running via Crewe. Unrestricted by Advance tickets as I would usually be, I was able to get the first train back north on arrival at Euston.

Saturday 8th June
0708 Manchester Piccadilly to Stockport on 150142.
0728 Stockport to Sheffield on 185131.
0829 Sheffield to London St. Pancras on 222004, running via Derby. It pained me to let the HST that was alongside us at Sheffield go, but this train was the only one doing breakfast, and with a £12 upgrade for First Class, it was worth it, especially given the fact that I was never charged for the upgrade!
1042 London St. Pancras to London Blackfriars on 700059.
1059 London Blackfriars to London Bridge on 700109.
1109 London Bridge to Tonbridge on 375828 and 375919, running via Parks Bridge Jn, New Beckenham, Shortlands and Orpington. A diverted Southeastern service as the mainline between Lewisham and Orpington was closed for engineering works.
1222 Tonbridge to Dover Priory on 375609 and 375711.
1342 Dover Priory to Rochester on 395019. Something about this bit felt really, really slow. I don't know if it's because I know the Javelins can do 140mph or if that line is just a drag.
1535 Rochester to Bromley South on 375827 and 375602.
1608 Bromley South to London Victoria on 375909 and 375918, running via Catford and Brixton Junction. Another diverted service due to engineering works, this one would originally terminate at Charing Cross. Because of this diversion, the train was booked the long route, and had about 20 minutes of pathing time prior to Brixton Junction. This meant we had to sit there for about 10 minutes, before we were let into Victoria early.
1644 London Victoria to London Euston on the Victoria Line.
1715 London Euston to Milton Keynes Central on 350248 and 350263. This was the service where I found out the 350/2s had fairly recently been cleared for 110mph, as this service runs fast lines out of London as far as Ledburn Jn, just south of Leighton Buzzard.
1819 Milton Keynes Central to Crewe on 350103 and 350119, running via Kilsby and the Trent Valley.
2012 Crewe to Stockport on 390010.
2035 Stockport to Manchester Piccadilly on 150149 and 150137.

Sunday 9th June
0838 Rochdale to Manchester Victoria on 156426, 142056 and 150123. A positioning move of units from Blackburn to Manchester, with only the front unit (156426) being open for passenger use.
0903 Manchester Victoria to Stalybridge on 142001 and 150140.
0930 Stalybridge to Huddersfield on 185132.
1000 Huddersfield to Leeds on 185143.
1107 Leeds to Doncaster on 800104, running via the Hambleton Curve. My first trip on an LNER "Azuma", the seating is every so slightly better than the seats on the GWR ones, but that's about it. These trains were diverted due to engineering works around Wakefield Westgate
1201 Doncaster to Leeds, powered by 43274 and 43316, again running via the Hambleton Curve.
1316 Leeds to Castleford on 158789. A former Scotrail unit that still has it's old first class seating. This particular one looks like it hasn't had any sort of Interior refurb since the 1990s.
1342 Castleford to Leeds on 144009.
1425 Leeds to Sheffield, powered by 43073 and 43083, running via Wakefield Kirkgate and Barnsley, diverted due to the aforementioned engineering works.
1628 Castle Square to Valley Centertainment on 399206. My first run on one of the Tram-Trains that run between Sheffield and Rotherham, albeit solely on the Tram lines. They weren't too shabby to be fair.
1643 Valley Centertainment to Meadowhall on Supertram 103.
1706 Meadowhall to Sheffield on 142088.
1734 Sheffield to Leeds, powered by 43054 and 43043, running via Barnsley and Wakefield Kirkgate.
1919 Leeds to Rochdale on 142093 and 158794, running via the reversal at Bradford Interchange.
2038 Rochdale to Rochdale Town Centre on M5000 tram 3104.

Saturday 15th June
1109 Rochdale to Salford Crescent on 142043.
1141 Salford Crescent to Preston on 319370.
1247 Preston to Manchester Oxford Road on 350404, running via Bolton.
1326 Manchester Oxford Road to Earlestown on 319374.
1354 Earlestown to Manchester Victoria on 158793 and 153324. Part of Northern's fairly new (May timetable change) Chester - Leeds services, which seem quite quiet beyond Manchester Victoria, although new services do take some time to gain custom.
1426 Manchester Victoria to Wigan Wallgate on 150268 and 150270, running via Atherton.
1438 Wigan North Western to Preston on 390128. This train was quite heavily delayed, allowing me to make this connection.
1532 Preston to Lancaster on 156496.
1629 Lancaster to Preston on 350402.
1655 Preston to Manchester Piccadilly on 319373.
1753 Manchester Piccadilly to Manchester Oxford Road on 175106.
1804 Manchester Oxford Road to Salford Crescent on 319377.
1824 Salford Crescent to Bolton on 150211 and 153301.
1840 Bolton to Hindley on 150275 and 156464.
1856 Hindley to Bolton on 150142 and 150129.
1918 Bolton to Mills Hill on 153304 and 150209.

Saturday 22nd June
1014 Rochdale to Manchester Victoria on 153359 and 150108.
1107 Manchester Victoria to Chester on 150220 and 153351.
1230 Chester to Runcorn on 150262, running via the Halton Curve.
1303 Runcorn to Crewe on 390130.
1358 Crewe to Liverpool Lime Street on 350265 and 350376. Whilst waiting at Crewe, I was able to view the Caledonian Mk5s from failed sleeper the night before. That had terminated at Acton Bridge with a suspected Door Interlock fault, and was preparing to run empty to Wembley Depot.
1500 Liverpool Lime Street to Warrington Bank Quay on 319367.
1627 Warrington Bank Quay to Chester on 175108.
1655 Chester to Crewe on 150254. A connection I shouldn't have been able to make given the delay to my service, but the dispatcher for this was late (walking out the staff room as I was walking down the platform) so just had to quicken my walking to beat him.
1801 Crewe to Stoke-on-Trent on 350234.
1814 Stoke-on-Trent to Kidsgrove on 350101.
1845 Kidsgrove to Crewe on 153384.
1931 Crewe to Liverpool South Parkway on 350237.
2011 Liverpool South Parkway to Warrington Central on 142009 and 150269. Had been hoping to make the connection to the East Midlands at Liverpool South Parkway, but it didn't quite come of. Shame really as one of their 156s was on it.
2045 Warrington Central to Manchester Piccadilly on 156455.
2117 Manchester Piccadilly to Manchester Oxford Road on 319363.
2125 Manchester Oxford Road to Manchester Victoria on 185113.
2158 Manchester Victoria to Rochdale on 158753.

Sunday 23rd June
1003 Rochdale to Manchester Victoria on 150141 and 150204.
1045 Manchester Victoria to Bolton on 153304 and 150113.
1119 Bolton to Preston on 319372.
1204 Preston to Wigan North Western on 390002.
1219 Wigan North Western to Preston on 158860. A busy Windermere-bound train, which bizarrely go non-stop through Lancaster. From Monday, some of these services should be operated by Northern's brand new Class 195 units.
1253 Preston to Lancaster on 390046.
1313 Lancaster to Silverdale on 156463.
1335 Silverdale to Lancaster on 156496. This ex-Scotrail Class 156 has become a bit of a stalker unit for me.
1427 Lancaster to Preston on 350405. My highest mileage 350 - Blegh!
1456 Preston to Blackburn on 142046 and 142052.
1548 Blackburn to Bolton on 150113 and 153304.
1625 Bolton to Salford Crescent on 319364.
1652 Salford Crescent to Rochdale on 142033 and 150255.

Saturday 29th June
0806 Rochdale to Manchester Victoria on 150119 and 156455.
0855 Manchester Piccadilly to Crewe on 390104.
0950 Crewe to Birmingham New Street on 350124 and 350114.
1057 Birmingham New Street to Walsall on 323208, running via Aston.
1138 Walsall to Rugeley Trent Valley on 350266. Thought I'd have my first run on the recently electrified Chase Line since the wires went up.
1225 Rugeley Trent Valley to Stafford on 350368 and 350112.
1240 Stafford to Wolverhampton on 350263.
1301 Wolverhampton to Smethwick Galton Bridge on 350101.
1322 Smethwick Galton Bridge to Birmingham International on 158833.
1400 Birmingham International to Coventry on 390155.
1437 Coventry to Leamington Spa on 172005.
1532 Leamington Spa to Stratford-upon-Avon Parkway on 165021.
1607 Stratford-upon-Avon Parkway to Solihull on 172331, running via Claverdon. The new track was the curve at Hatton to go towards Dorridge, which I had yet to do before.
1624 Solihull to Leamington Spa on 168329 and 168216. Stuff had well and truly gone wrong on the Chiltern route, and this train was 25 minutes late leaving Solihull.
1655 Leamington Spa to Warwick Parkway on 168110. Another heavily delayed Chiltern service, this one being 38 minutes late leaving Leamington.
1732 Warwick Parkway to Birmingham Moor Street on 168004. Due to the heavy delay on the previous train, this was only 4 minutes behind it at Warwick Parkway. We eventually arrived in Moor Street 23 mins late at 1822, but this was far from the end of the chaos!
1804 Birmingham New Street to Crewe on 350231 and 350113, running via Aston, Soho East Jn, Smethwick Galton Bridge then the usual route. Due to a major signalling failure between New Street and Soho, services between Birmingham and Wolves were limited and diverted. This train was actually one of the closest to being on-time, leaving New Street 36 minutes late, although was 50 mins late by Crewe due to the longer route that was taken out of Birmingham. Got me a new curve in too!
2030 Crewe to Manchester Piccadilly on 175114.


Just under 2,675 miles travelled this month, with a fair amount of new track done also, which is a bonus.
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Re: Your Last Train Journey?

Post by Diesel Power »

It always astonishes me how much you get about Pilot! Do you travel that much for work? Or just enjoy train journeys? Good work documenting everything too, you must have a very large note book!
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Re: Your Last Train Journey?

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Diesel Power wrote: 03 Jul 2019 22:37 It always astonishes me how much you get about Pilot! Do you travel that much for work? Or just enjoy train journeys? Good work documenting everything too, you must have a very large note book!
Most of my travel is just because I enjoy travelling. The more mundane stuff (Manchester - Milton Keynes as an example) is usually the only travelling I do for work.

As for the size of my note book, I have been through a couple A6 sized notebooks this year :mrgreen: Fortunately, it all goes onto a spreadsheet pretty quickly too!
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Re: Your Last Train Journey?

Post by JamieLei »

Chrill wrote: 24 Jun 2019 19:01 This summer, they are shutting down the train link through Stockholm, so all domestic trains (and those to Oslo and Copenhagen) are either routed around the North of Stockholm or they depart from a local train station South of Stockholm. This causes massive congestion on our local public transport railway link Citybanan which does operate as normal.

In other words, this morning's train from Barkarby to Stockholm City was not a big problem, but leaving Stockholm City heading North in the afternoon was a pain because all the people usually coming to Stockholm by rail was forced to use our local train services instead.
Was that the same engineering works as last summer when I saw you?
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Re: Your Last Train Journey?

Post by Chrill »

JamieLei wrote: 12 Jul 2019 07:30
Chrill wrote: 24 Jun 2019 19:01 This summer, they are shutting down the train link through Stockholm, so all domestic trains (and those to Oslo and Copenhagen) are either routed around the North of Stockholm or they depart from a local train station South of Stockholm. This causes massive congestion on our local public transport railway link Citybanan which does operate as normal.

In other words, this morning's train from Barkarby to Stockholm City was not a big problem, but leaving Stockholm City heading North in the afternoon was a pain because all the people usually coming to Stockholm by rail was forced to use our local train services instead.
Was that the same engineering works as last summer when I saw you?
Indeed. They suspend them every summer. The work itself will take years, but they'd rather not do it during the year due to lack of other options, so they only work for about one month per summer. They will do so for the coming 4-5 years at least, but by then we'll have the underground all the way to Barkarby! :)
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Re: Your Last Train Journey?

Post by Arch9enius »

Hmm, I wonder what they're up to .

13th July, Salisbury to Paignton.
GWR 158 from Salisbury, through to Bristol as it would have been a hour and a half wait for a connecting train to Paignton (or Exeter) to get to Westbury from London. With the ruin gone from in front of Temple Meads station it was pretty open, and windswept.

9 -car GWR class 802 from Bristol to Newton Abbot. They are doing the Japanese thing at the stations and marking zones for people to stand in for first class, wheelchair space etc. Not yet confident enough to mark where the doors are gonna be though. Previous to this train, an HST in the old FGW blue-with-scribbles colours left on a stopping service to Taunton. So they''re still about if you want a ride on one. The 802 was quiet under Diesel power, though I could have been in a car without an engine under it.

4 car GWR class 150 from Newton Abbot, the displaced class 166s haven't got as far as Exeter St. Davids though there is a great deal of construction going on in the yard . At least I saw no Pacers running in multiple with 153s, when I rode one of thoses setups on a previous trip down that way, it accellerated in a series of jerks, like the two vehicles' acceleration didn't match.

Paignton to Kingswear and back behind Dinmore Manor 7820. Some of the (old mk.1 suburban or DMU trailers) coaches have recieved overhauled seats. S160 6046 was sat in Paignton station. The station bookshop had interesting books on the usual railway stuff like gangsters, the gestapo and the history of slavery.

2 car GWR class 143 Paignton to Exeter St DaVids, ended up stood in the doorway 'cos I couldn't see out the windows. If I'd have waited a bit I could have got on the Cross Country HST that followed it out of Paignton. Anyhow, I boarded that at St. Davids through to Bristol.

2-car GWR class 166 stopping train from Temple Meads to Westbury. Someone had knocked over all the electrical boxes , and there was a hold at an unexplained red light. Fairly long wait at Westbury as the train from Cardiff was delayed. Two class 59s were in the nearest yard, in DB and GBrf colours. They appear to be putting some extra length on the island platforms.

3-car GWR class 158 back to Salisbury.
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Re: Your Last Train Journey?

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Time for my July journey review! Some interesting things this month to talk about!

Monday 1st July - Northern Civity Launch Day
1638 Heald Green to Manchester Piccadilly on 195121. This was the first day of Northern's brand new units in service, with 7 diesel Class 195 and 2 electric Class 331s being introduced into service. A dash from work to Heald Green was required to go and sample them on launch day. Turned up at the station with 2/3 mins to spare, and the ticket office told me to buy my ticket on the train rather than wait for her, so I just made it. Managed to grab one of the fold down seats next to the doors, which are actually quite comfortable, certainly better than the ones on Transpennine's Class 185 units.
1710 Manchester Piccadilly to Warrington Central on 195120 and 195102. In the peaks, one Class 195 diagram runs with a pair of units, with this being the service in question. I believe at 6-carriages and 142.8 metres in length, that these are the longest trains which Northern operate. As Platform 14 at Piccadilly is not well optimised for trains of such length, many people crowded onto the front 4 carriages, leaving the rear two relatively empty, and I was able to grab a Table, with a 2+1 seating layout to enable access to the cab. It was also on this service where I noticed multiple issues with the doors. The Automatic Selective Door Opening (ASDO) system appears to be having teething troubles, the Cab doors appear to have issues with locking, and some external passenger doors appear to have a habit of closing without command very soon after being opened.
1744 Warrington Central to Manchester Piccadilly on 195119. I had been intending on going to Manchester Airport on this one, however, the train was late due to unknown reasons arriving at Warrington, before being further delayed due to some of the door faults noted above. As I wouldn't have made my connection back from the Airport, I instead opted to grab some food at Piccadilly.
1847 Manchester Piccadilly to Manchester Oxford Road on 158787. A quick half mile hop on a 158 that I needed for travel.
1856 Manchester Oxford Road to Manchester Airport on 195116.
1929 Manchester Airport to Manchester Piccadilly on 195116.
1952 Manchester Piccadilly to Warrington Bank Quay on 158835. With time to kill before the next Class 195, I decided to head out towards Warrington. We were delayed at Newton-le-Willows due to a passenger without a ticket refusing to get off after being quite argumentative with the conductor, however, the nearest British Transport Police would have taken a while to turn up, so they instead continued. I had actually just gotten off as the decision was made to continue, but the guard shouted me back on, so a big thanks to him!
2048 Warrington Bank Quay to Newton-le-Willows on 158871. An Ex-Scotrail Class 158 that looked like it hadn't seen a refurb since it was built in the 1990s. These are part of Northern's Leeds-Chester services, which are quite handy trains (these are currently temporarily suspended due to ongoing major engineering works at Acton Grange Jn, just south of Warrington Bank Quay).
2102 Newton-le-Willows to Manchester Piccadilly on 319375.
2149 Manchester Piccadilly to Manchester Airport on 195118. This was the 6th of the seven 195s in service on the day, and the last I was able to get.
2210 Manchester Airport to Manchester Piccadilly on 195118. Surprised how busy this was, however, with it being the last through service to Lancaster, and beyond to stations towards Barrow, perhaps I shouldn't be.
2232 Manchester Piccadilly to Heald Green on 323234. When younger, I used to hate the 323s due to the noise their motors made, however, nowadays, I'm quite a fan.

Saturday 6th July
0606 Rochdale to Leeds on 142094 and 158906, running via a reversal at Bradford Interchange. A choice between a bouncy bus and a 158 across the Pennines to sit in. I was always going to take the 158!
0740 Leeds to Wakefield Westgate, powered by 43050 and 43089. One of the two East Midlands Trains services from Leeds on a Saturday. These are always nice trains to get a ride on.
0756 Wakefield Westgate to Leeds on 322485.
0815 Leeds to Wakefield Westgate, powered by 43312 and 43272.
0836 Wakefield Westgate to Leeds, hauled by 91115. The Leeds-Wakefield run is a very good run for getting HSTs and Class 91s on (at least for the time being), but it does soon get boring going back and forth.
0858 Leeds to Knottingley on 150109 and 144012, running via a reversal at Castleford. Travelled in the 144, with this being the "Evolution" Pacer, a prototype for a potential project to make the Pacer's disability compliant. Fortunately it hasn't been taken up as an option!
0939 Knottingley to Wakefield Westgate on 144012 and 150109. Travelled on the 150, with it being an Ex-London Midland example. It was still rather Green both internally and externally.
1013 Wakefield Westgate to Leeds on 144005.
1015 Leeds to Wakefield Westgate, propelled by 91103. No, I haven't invented time-travelling powers, nor have Pacer's become the first of Elon Musk's Hyperloop. This train was simply around 30 minutes late due to a lineside fire further south at Retford. Interestingly, this train used Platform 1 at Leeds, which resulted in us blocking 4 of Leeds' six western approach lines when departing.
1055 Wakefield Westgate to Leeds on 331106. My first ride on the new CAF EMUs. They're basically a carbon copy of the 195s, just with Electric Motors rather than Diesel Engines. Very busy service too.
1133 Leeds to Ilkley on 321903.
1240 Ilkley to Guiseley on 333006. My intended train had been cancelled, so I had a wait of 30 mins for this one instead, which allowed a nice lunch break in the lovely sunny weather we had on the day.
1305 Guiseley to Shipley on 333003.
1333 Shipley to Keighley on 158782. A very busy 2-car train running to Carlisle. Hopefully those on-board had a lovely scenic journey over the Settle and Carlisle line.
1348 Keighley to Bingley on 322484.
1408 Bingley to Leeds on 321903.
1445 Leeds to Wakefield Westgate, powered by 43320 and 43295.
1501 Wakefield Westgate to Leeds, hauled by 91128.
1524 Leeds to East Garforth on 158872.
1545 East Garforth to Leeds on 158753.
1615 Leeds to Wakefield Westgate on 800112.
1648 Wakefield Westgate to Leeds on 220025 and 220028. A pair of CrossCountry Voyagers. At 8 carriages long, this is the sort of length the bulk of XC services should be, rather than just the 4-5 carriages the majority of them are.
1709 Leeds to Horsforth on 142021 and 150209.
1737 Horsforth to Leeds on 170453.
1755 Leeds to Garforth on 144015.
1815 Garforth to Leeds on 144019. A quick run out to Garforth to get a pair of 144s that I needed for travel in the book.
1842 Leeds to Shipley on 333012.
1908 Shipley to Apperley Bridge on 333006.
1923 Apperley Bridge to Bradford Forster Square on 321902.
1941 Bradford Forster Square to Bingley on 333011. Finally completed the Bradford-Skipton side of the triangle at Shipley.
2008 Bingley to Leeds on 333014.
2039 Leeds to Rochdale on 156438, running via a reversal at Bradford Interchange. A lone 2-car Class 156 is only just big enough for this service, and I think some were standing to Bradford.

Sunday 7th July
0838 Rochdale to Manchester Victoria on 156441, 142053 and 150222. The only other 6-car train I am aware of Northern running, although only the front two carriages (the 156) were open to passengers.
0920 Manchester Victoria to Wigan North Western on 150143 and 142001, running via Bolton.
1024 Wigan North Western to Manchester Oxford Road on 195120. Another 195 run in the book. Despite being a bigger train than the 2-car 158s these replaced, these trains are still full and standing at this point.
1104 Manchester Oxford Road to Preston on 319368, running via Bolton.
1211 Preston to Manchester Oxford Road on 195114, running via Bolton. There is currently a limited number of these units running via Bolton. This one seemed to be riding quite roughly too, which I think was down to the train as the track down there isn't usually that bad.
1305 Manchester Oxford Road to Lancaster on 195121. A proper long run on a 195, including a run up to their full 100mph top speed. As per above, it was full and standing, and these 3-carriage trains really don't seem to be big enough.
1430 Lancaster to Morecambe on 156443.
1457 Morecambe to Lancaster on 156443.
1529 Lancaster to Preston on 350402.
1556 Preston to Bamber Bridge on 150111 and 150215. Not sure why I decided to head to Bamber Bridge, mostly just a time-wasting move.
1619 Bamber Bridge to Kirkham and Wesham on 142030 and 150133.
1656 Kirkham and Wesham to Poulton-le-Fylde on 319379. Quicker to run up to Poulton and get a train back through Kirkham than wait for the next train there.
1706 Poulton-le-Fylde to Preston on 319368.
1742 Preston to Blackburn on 158790.
1812 Blackburn to Rochdale on 142031 and 142036, running via the Todmorden Curve. This train wasn't appearing on any of the passenger information screens at Blackburn, so it was a relief when a traincrew turned up 5 mins before departure.

Saturday 20th July - The Luca Pezzulo Express railtour
0745 Rochdale to Wakefield Kirkgate, hauled by 37521, with 37669 idling on the rear. It's rare a railtour picks up at my nearest station of any size, and it was doing interesting stuff too, so it would have been rude for me not to!
0914 Wakefield Kirkgate to Wrenthorpe Receptions, hauled by 37669.
0943 Wrenthorpe Receptions to Tinsley Yard, hauled by 37521, running via Fitzwilliam and Moorthorpe. The Tinsley Yard is a shadow of it's former self, having once been one of the larger yards in the UK. Now, just 10 tracks remain inside the site, which are mostly used as a dumping ground for unused wagons.
1101 Tinsley Yard to Deepcar (Ellen Cliff Loop), hauled by 37669. Got a run along the remaining Sheffield portion of the Woodhead route, the former Electrified (1.5kV DC) mainline route between Manchester and Sheffield. Upon reaching the Network Rail boundary, we continued (with site owner's permission) as far as Ellen Cliff Loop on the former Steelworks branch off the Woodhead route, now the only reason that part of the route remains open.
1155 Deepcar (Ellen Cliff Loop) to Hull, hauled by 37521, running via Rotherham Central, Thrybergh Junction, Doncaster Avoiding Lines and Goole. We had originally been booked to run via Moorthorpe, Milford Jn and Selby, however, due to a delay at Deepcar, we were diverted via the route described instead.
1509 Hull to West Parade Jn, hauled by 37669.
1512 West Parade Jn to Hull (Station Sidings), hauled by 37521. We headed into the station sidings, and the former Hull platform 14 to allow the carriages to be watered.
1545 Hull (Station Sidings) to Kellingley Colliery, hauled by 37669, running via Goole. The Colliery site had been cleared especially for our train to run onto it, to allow a reversal.
1705 Kellingley Colliery to Rochdale, hauled by 37521, running via Drax Power Station, Knottingley, Wakefield Kirkgate and Brighouse. Permission had been obtained for us to run round the loop of track serving Drax Power Station, a mostly Biomass fired facility, with some Coal firing, and the largest power station in the UK. It generates roughly 6% of the nation's power needs. There was some interesting stuff to see in there, but difficult to get proper photographs due to a rule put in place that all onboard the train must remain seated during the journey through. Window's also had to be closed for the run through the Biomass and Coal offloading facilities, which was uncomfortable as it was a hot day!
2026 Rochdale to Manchester Victoria on 158872. If everything had gone to plan, I would have gotten this train, overtaken the railtour at Thorpes Bridge Jn, and been able to get a couple of pictures at Victoria. However, due to trespassers, we were heavily delayed arriving into Manchester (having overtaken the railtour as planned), and I had to go and get my bus home instead.

Sunday 21st July
0838 Rochdale to Manchester Victoria on 156427, 142036 and 150125. Another trio of units on this move. This time the front two units (the 156 and 142) were both opened for passenger use.
0920 Manchester Victoria to Bolton on 142034 and 142003.
0955 Bolton to Deansgate on 319371. Had a stop at Deansgate to be able to grab a picture of two passing Virgin services there. Wasn't disappointed as a Voyager (the first time I had seen one at that location since 2007) and a Pendolino passed seconds apart.
1024 Deansgate to Manchester Airport on 319361.
1110 Manchester Airport to Manchester Piccadilly on 350408.
1138 Manchester Piccadilly to Manchester Oxford Road on 158812 and 158847.
1202 Manchester Oxford Road to Bolton on 319373.
1237 Bolton to Wigan North Western on 142034 and 142003 (again!). Even ended up in the exact same seat!
1317 Wigan North Western to Stockport on 390134, running via Chat Moss and Manchester Piccadilly. Due to engineering works at Acton Grange Jn, just south of Warrington, these services were being diverted via Manchester, causing a lot of delay potential at the moment. These take the path of one of Manchester's three trains per hour to London, and so stop to pick up passenger's there. However, officially, they do not set down, so I stayed on until Stockport (an unusual stop for the Glasgow-London train that this was)
1427 Stockport to Manchester Oxford Road on 158854 and 158788.
1446 Manchester Oxford Road to Irlam on 150214 and 156451.
1515 Irlam to Manchester Oxford Road on 150142 and 150113. The 150 I was in (113) kept on making a rather loud clunking coming from the Bogie. Certainly didn't sound Healthy! On getting to Oxford Road, Chaos had descended, as a train was stabled in Platform 1, whilst another had broken down in Platform 2, leaving just two platforms (3 and 4) available through the station, both of which are usually used towards Piccadilly and not the most flexible if needed to be used the other way. Fortunately, the train broken down in Platform 2 managed to limp out and back to depot on one engine after a short while.
1539 Manchester Oxford Road to Stockport on 158813 and 156406.
1626 Stockport to Manchester Piccadilly on 158773 and 158810.
1700 Manchester Piccadilly to Bolton on 319376.
1737 Bolton to Wigan North Western on 142046 and 142052. Due to a massive shortage of train crews, this was the only northbound train from Bolton for roughly an hour.
1823 Wigan North Western to Manchester Piccadilly on 195117.
1919 Manchester Airport to Manchester Victoria on 185120. Managed to make the 2 minute connection to this service at the Airport!
1957 Manchester Victoria to Rochdale on 142033. Due to the aforementioned shortage, this train was busy due to the previous service being cancelled.

Wednesday 24th July
1651 Newton Heath and Moston to Manchester Victoria on M5000 tram 3072.
1708 Manchester Victoria to Manchester Piccadilly on M5000 trams 3011 and 3060.
1720 Manchester Piccadilly to Manchester Airport on 185142.
1829 Manchester Airport to Heald Green on 158816. This train was 2 mins late, which allowed me to get it. Had it been on-time, my ticket would have been invalid by 1 minute due to restrictions on the Greater Manchester Day Rangers in the evening peaks (I had only been able to get on the previous train with a cheap TPE only ticket).
1843 Heald Green to Salford Crescent on 319364.
1918 Salford Crescent to Salford Central on 156440 and 156486.
1929 Salford Central to Wigan North Western on 142001 and 142044, running via Atherton.
2021 Wigan North Western to Stockport on 221112 and 221111, running via Chat Moss and Manchester Piccadilly. A similar situation to the one described above, except this was a Birmingham service.
2125 Stockport to Manchester Piccadilly on 158889 and 158783. The Sub-leased South Western 158 was part of the reason I went out, as I had yet to manage a ride on it despite the fact it has been running for East Midlands Trains for the last few years. After arriving at Manchester, this trains runs empty back to Nottingham, taking a route that could be used for diversionary purposes if the main route were to be closed for whatever reason.
2149 Manchester Piccadilly to Manchester Airport on 195114.
2210 Manchester Airport to Manchester Piccadilly on 195114.
2228 Manchester Piccadilly to Stockport on 158854 and 158865. I managed to confuse the guard on this, as my Manchester Day Ranger was printed on a bus ticket (these are usable on the Buses and Trams as well, and so can be printed by these) and she had never seen one before. Explained what it was to her and allowed her to take a picture of it as she asked to so she could research it and educate herself. Always great to see members of staff willing to actually speak to the passenger and learn rather than be dismissive as it's a "bus ticket".
2241 Stockport to Manchester Piccadilly on 150228 and 150111. Got me back into Manchester in just enough time to get the last bus home.

Friday 26th July
1835 Manchester Piccadilly to London Euston on 390006, running via Stoke and the Trent Valley. This train was the wrong way round, with First Class on the block end at Manchester. I was booked into First Class and was walking to the far end on Autopilot. I'd gotten to Coach C before realising and having to walk back!
2325 London Euston to Glasgow Central, hauled by 92014, running via Northampton, the Trent Valley, Crewe, Heald Green, Manchester Piccadilly, Chat Moss, Wigan NW and the WCML from there. Due to the Acton Grange Blockade, this train was diverted via Manchester, and was using the new CAF-built Mark 5 carriages. They were fairly comfortable for the journey, although the footrest is mounted too high to get comfortable enough to sleep whilst using it.

Saturday 27th July
0746 Glasgow Central to Paisley Gilmour Street on 380007.
0803 Paisley Gilmour Street to Glasgow Central on 380018 and 380019.
0817 Glasgow Central to Clarkston on 156430 and 156505. I had been intending on going to East Kilbride, however, due to a signal failure, these were only going as far as Busby. Instead of waiting for 20 minutes there, I changed to the next train back at Clarkston.
0840 Clarkston to Glasgow Central on 156504.
0916 Glasgow Central (Low Level) to Argyle Street on 334023.
0921 Argyle Street to Partick on 320317.
0935 Partick to Westerton on 318266.
0947 Westerton to Anniesland on 320307 and 318264. A bit of travelling about getting a fair few units in.
0953 Anniesland to Milngavie on 318255.
1009 Milngavie to Glasgow Central (Low Level) on 318255.
1045 Glasgow Central to Newton on 320420, running via Maxwell Park.
1124 Newton to Whifflet on 320401, running via Hamilton.
1158 Whifflet to Glagow Central (Low Level) on 320403, running via Carmyle.
1243 Glasgow Central to Barrhead on 156436 and 156506.
1257 Barrhead to Glasgow Central on 156435. The connection at Barrhead is timetabled as 2.5 minutes, and ended up being 2 minutes due to a minor delay. I had to sprint between the two trains, which included down the stairs to the underpass, then back up stairs on the other side, then down to Platform 3. Not a connection I intend to make again!
1325 Glasgow Central to Paisley Gilmour Street on 380008.
1343 Paisley Gilmour Street to Glagow Central on 318267.
1415 Glasgow Central to Crosshill on 318267, running via Maxwell Park.
1443 Crosshill to Whitecraigs on 380113. I had been intending on going to Patterton for the 4 minute connection there, however, we ended up 3 minutes late at Whitecraigs, so I changed there instead. It seemed as though the driver of the train wasn't quite confident on his braking points for the 380s on the line.
1506 Whitecraigs to Glasgow Central on 380103.
1542 Glasgow Central to Paisley Canal on 380020.
1605 Paisley Canal to Glasgow Central on 380020.
1709 Glasgow Central to Manchester Piccadilly on 350402, running via Bolton. Only about 3 people in First Class throughout, myself included. Managed to fall asleep between Penrith and Oxenholme as I hadn't gotten much the night before on the sleeper.

Just over 2,300 miles for the month.
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Re: Your Last Train Journey?

Post by NoMorePacers »

July/August roundup so far.

Bold indicates a new unit.
Italics indicate a new section of track.

8 July
142087 from Hull to York.
91127 from York to Edinburgh Waverley.
91120 from Edinburgh Waverley to Doncaster.
170454 from Doncaster to Hull. (rare Northern service going via Selby instead of via Goole as it usually does)

3 August
170477 from Hull to Scarborough. (170s don't usually go there - only as far as Bridlington, so it was quite a pleasant surprise)
155346 from Scarborough to Hull. (worse than a 170 imo)

15 August (aka channelling my inner Pilot :lol: )
185132 from Hull to Leeds.
322483 from Leeds to Ilkley. (godly motor sounds from them :D )
333001 from Ilkley to Bradford Forster Square. (333s are functional, but I find them dull to be honest)
333007 from Bradford Forster Square to Shipley.
333004 from Shipley to Leeds. (wanted a 321/322 but got a 333 instead - it's why I got off at Shipley)
91107 from Leeds to Wakefield Westgate.
322484 from Wakefield Westgate to Leeds. (after some lunch and more awesome motor sounds)
800103 from Leeds to Wakefield Westgate. (mixed feelings about these to be honest)
331108 from Wakefield Westgate to Leeds. (now these are awesome trains :mrgreen: )
150214 from Leeds to Wakefield Kirkgate (via Normanton - this is the lovely Bentham Line Dementia Friendly version - also had a rather attractive female guard I must say :P )
144016 from Wakefield Kirkgate to Wakefield Westgate
142014 from Wakefield Westgate to Leeds (got off at Westgate in hope of something better and got something worse :lol: )
185125 from Leeds to Hull.

Always wanted to post in this thread.
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Arch9enius
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Re: Your Last Train Journey?

Post by Arch9enius »

It seems 142 / 3 /4 s are going to be around for a while longer, at least on Northern
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NoMorePacers
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Re: Your Last Train Journey?

Post by NoMorePacers »

Arch9enius wrote: 16 Aug 2019 04:06 It seems 142 / 3 /4 s are going to be around for a while longer, at least on Northern
Yeah, they'll survive well into next year I think.
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Re: Your Last Train Journey?

Post by Pilot »

Arch9enius wrote: 16 Aug 2019 04:06 It seems 142 / 3 /4 s are going to be around for a while longer, at least on Northern
If I remember correctly what I heard, the plan is for all Northern 142s to be withdrawn by the end of the year still, with some of the 144s (many of which are three carriages long) sticking around longer.

As for the 143s, the plan is still for them to be gone by the end of the year, and the same for TfWs 142s, although this is wholly dependent on the 319 FLEXX project (now known as the Class 769s) which have had countless problems, which again, if I remember correctly, have caused Northern to send all their 769s back for modification.

Whether Northern actually get their 769s in the end remains to be seen, as strong rumours have been going around about Northern wanting to pull out, but they remain just rumours for the time being.

Of course, each 769 would allow the operator to withdraw two 2-car Pacers, so with eight 769s for Northern and a further nine for Transport for Wales, we would be looking at a large chunk of the fleet withdrawn because of them.
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Re: Your Last Train Journey?

Post by Arch9enius »

Wed 14-08-2019


Tried to take some numbers this time, also channelling the spirit of Pilot. What’s this Derek Acorah sh!t about, he’s typing right up there so we know he’s not dead.

Thought this class 769 was some modern machine with systems on top of systems, nope it's one of the suburban machines being displaced by 707s, I was wondering why you couldn't make something akin to a 'Thumper' with them. Albeit by removing the first bay of seats for one of the MTU engines being fitted to some class 73s.


7am at Romsey , where the gents' toilet is under a water tower (if it doesn't flush you could maybe make a hole in the ceiling as a last resort), surprised to see two cars on their own, 150 266 forming the Cardiff train , I thought the Networker Turbos were replacing them. However, they have opening windows which is a bonus when the person in front of you is pestering a lump of hash with a lighter. (like the first time I travelled on one.) It started to fill up at Warminster, however at Westbury it was attached to a 158 set before anyone was allowed off. After some percussive persuasion.

An 802 non-stop to Taunton, seemed no noisier inside than if it were running off the overhead, until the motors hit maximum revs, probably under braking. However, It cannot be very economical to have seven? five? Diesel motors thrashing away under the floor rather than one or two big ones up front?

Buses of Somerset ADL single decker to Bishops' Lydyard.

53808 All the way to Minehead, after a really slow getaway from Bishops' Lydyard. The weather was damp with most of the surrounding hills hidden in cloud which may explain it, despite the locomotive being eight coupled.

Left Minehead behind the same locomotive, got off at Washford to look at the Somerset & Dorset Railways' base with a small museum on this awkward railway. One of the exhibits is a photo of the aftermath of an S&D 2-8-0 tripping over a train of the Ashcott Peat Tramway. Everyone, including children is stood around the wreckage with huge grins on their faces, because someone is taking their photo.

Returned behind 7823 Odney Manor to Minehead. Here a café was selling ice cream for dogs. The world is on crack.

Headed eastwards to Williton behind pannier 7752 . Picked up 53808 from there to Bishops’ Lydyard. Returned to Taunton on a plain white Scania Omni (First/ Buses of Somerset have a number of unpainted buses running about down here)

At Taunton around 18:30. On boarding the 802 that was in the platform , the group of people in front of me stopped dead and stood there gawping in front of the open doors. Until the doors shut and the train left. I think the OpenTTD forums are too friendly to have the appropriate smiley things. X( :x X( :x is as bad as I can manage.
The 19:30(ish) departure seemed to go direct to Reading so this meant waiting a further hour ‘till the 20:25 departure, 802318.
Got into Westbury with a 158 sitting across the platform making ready to leave, so sprinted across and got on. It soon became apparent the train was going nowhere in a hurry. It turned out the guard either had medical issues on the train, or had called in sick. Ended up returning to Romsey on 158957 another hour later.

Can’t coment on the state of the WSR’s trackwork; it seemed better than the Bluebell Railways’, but then I rode that in older stock than the WSRs Mark Is. New track is in evidence, and it does sound as though the people in charge are trying to run it as an actual P.L.C. . Also there are less rabbit holes than in March last year.
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Re: Your Last Train Journey?

Post by Nawdic »

Last journey (in a while) not travelling for work anyhow...
10 August 2019.
800005 on 0845 Paddington to Pembroke Dock, with the Swansea onward portion in 1st class. My first real run on an 800, surprisingly comfortable but not as good as a traditional HST. There was another set attached on to the front which was left behind at Swansea but I didn't take the number of this one. I'm nowhere near the calibre of Pilot when it comes to anorak-ery or remembering of numbers :lol:
Very much a retired regular poster..... If you can say that :mrgreen:
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Re: Your Last Train Journey?

Post by oberhümer »

Hartford (CT) Union Stn to New Haven Union Stn on CTRail, then New Haven Union Stn to New York (Grand Central Terminal) on Metro-North. Slightly slower than a bus ride and a little more expensive too, but definitely more comfortable and interesting, and still a decent bargain at $25.75 regular off-peak fare. Plus, I likely won't have another chance to ride that route anytime soon.

First leg - stations all freshly rebuilt since the line actually was only set up last year, before there was only Amtrak, but the rolling stock (your usual slow ugly diesel, GP40 I think, + all of 3-4 cars) was obviously just refurbished/repainted, a good job though.

The EMU set on the second leg, after a short and pleasant layover, was a good deal more appealing, not to mention the difference in acceleration. I was surprised to see that it's apparently standard practice on NH-NY MNR trains to make all stops about halfway (up to Stamford) and then run non-stop all the way to 125th Street in Manhattan, even Amtrak has another stop in between.
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