It's time I started doing trip reports...

[Peter Mugridge]

05/06/21

A walk with the wife today... we had decided to do the Stort Valley and Lea Valley trail, as detailed in the walking thread in General, and this was part one of the four sections we split it in to.

From Epsom, 377 311 + 377 322 + 377 464 to London Bridge, then knowing the Circle and Met were closed, 51549 + 51550 to Moorgate and walk from there to Liverpool Street followed by 745 104 to Bishop's Stortford.

The usual few hours, miles and sore feet later we boarded 379 016 + 379 020 at Harlow Mill and took that to Cheshunt where we took the opportunity to get a bit of track in her atlas, so 710 108 to Edmonton Green and 710 121 to Enfield Town, staying with it back to Liverpool Street. This was followed by the sort walk back to Moorgate for 51563 + 51564 to London Bridge and the same trio of 377s that we started out on took us home.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

More images from 05/06/21...

 

[Peter Mugridge]

12/06/21

It having rained heavily in the preceeding couple of days, we decided not to do stage 2 of the long walk as the towpaths might have been somewhat muddy, so we instead visited Felixstowe - thus also neatly completing my wife's Anglian national network track.

This time we knew in advance that the top half of the Circle was closed and also that the Bank branch of the Northern was closed for engineering works, so we set out from Epsom on 455 712 + 456 011 + 456 014 to Waterloo, from which we used 51575 + 51576 to Tottenham Court Road and then 92117 + 92190 + 92244 + 92133 to Liverpool Street.

Our train to Ipswich was 745 001 and en route I noted 66 077 at Chelmsford and 90 042 + 90 041 at Colchester; while heading off down the branch on 755 333 I had time to record 66 532, 66 555 and 90 005.

After the usual amount of plodding around Felixstowe for several hours, we returned on 755 335 and while at Ipswich I added the following to my notebook: 66 593, 66 534, 66 550, 90 014 and 90 013. Our return to London was on board 745 010 and when we got back we found that the Met had been got up and running, so we were able to return the easier way with 21079 + 21080 to Farringdon, 700 108 to London Bridge and 377 432 + 377 438 to Epsom.

 

[Techniquest]

A lot of time spent in Anglia there!

How you didn't get bored of the GEML I have no idea, kudos however on having an almighty clear out!

 

[Peter Mugridge]

14/06/21

This time, a London end haulage hunt combined with the knowledge that the third 387/3 was out on the Newbury shuttles, which afforded an opportunity to get that off the photo hit list.

Hence to start with, 455 712 + 456 014 + 456 018 from Epsom to Wimbledon, 21311 + 21312 from there to Paddington and 800 001 out to Reading. Acton yard was full as usual, with 66 076, 66 069, 66 030, 66 547 and 66 793 all present. A short distance further along and 66 777 was spied at Hayes and Harlington and 59 102 at Maidenhead.

Getting a portrait of 387 302 was a formality ( although earlier disruption had led to the diagrams being swapped round ) and then it was straight onto 800 014 to get back to Paddington, once again taking the opportunity to see whether or not any required 345s were out. Passing Hanwell, I noted 66 044 and at Acton 66 617 had been added to the residents.

A couple of required 345s were indeed out, so a positioning move called for dud 345 062 to Hayes and Harlington, allowing me also to note 66 522 and 66 732 at Southall, and before long required 345 002 turned up to take me back to Southall from Hayes, 66 155 also being noted. From Southall, where 59 206 was seen passing, required 345 060 was my ride back to Paddington. On this leg I noted 66 589 had joined the throng at Acton.

I could have hung around for another 345 or two, but I had more pressing matters - such as good gen on my last "Catfish" over the other side of London... this meant 21331 + 21332 from Paddington to Liverpool Street and the first train available, dud 345 014, out to Stratford.

Moments later I had 745 110 in the bag, thus clearing the type for both haulage and photo. Once back off that at Liverpool Street I caught required pair 720 540 + 720 562 out to Romford, passing a mini convoy of 66 537 dragging 90 045 + 90 0xx towards London and minutes later a successful interception of required 345 023, which I had seen heading out to Shenfield while chasing the 745, as a move back to London. While passing Ilford, both resident shunters, 08 588 and 08 700, were seen.

This was followed by a short hop to Tower Hill with 21305 + 21306 and then 357 042 + 357 210 out to Limehouse to intercept the remaining c2c 387s for photo, knowing that I definitely could get two of the three as they work in a 12 car rake. Sure enough, within a few minutes I had 387 303 and 387 305 in the camera and I then rode out to Barking on 357 037 + 357 035; my intention was to see what 357/3s were at East Ham as these were my next photographic target, having just done 357 319 and 357 316 while waiting for the 387s at Limehouse, but there was a quick change of plan when I noticed required 710 272 was in the platform... so that was taken one stop out to Woodgrange Park, where it was duly photographed as well, and dud 710 258 ridden back to Barking.

Being short on time now, the only thing to do was get 357 006 + 357 324 + 357 023 to Fenchurch Street, 21531 + 21532 from Tower Hill to Blackfriars, 700 137 to London Bridge and 377 318 + 377 310 + 377 467 home to Epsom.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

A lot of time spent in Anglia there!

How you didn't get bored of the GEML I have no idea, kudos however on having an almighty clear out!

A deliberate strategy to clear as much as possible of the new Anglian stuff while the engineering at King's Cross giving a severely reduced service combined with the then still present compulsory reservation policy on LNER meant the IETs off King's Cross would be an awkward target...

 

[Peter Mugridge]

19/06/21

Another walk with the wife, this time around King's Lynn as the weather looked a bit too dodgy further south to do the next stage of the river walk.

The usual outbound route was taken with 377 445 + 377 318 + 377 321 from Epsom to London Bridge then 700 148 to St Pancras for the short walk across the road to King's Cross; the next move was 387 201 + 387 108 direct to King's Lynn. I was able to grab a picture of 755 327 on the curve approaching Ely from the Soham direction. In both directions, needless to say, some images of the storage location were also done...

After the usual hours, files, aching feet... 387 110 + 387 105 back to King's Cross, 700 016 to London Bridge and 377 466 + 377 306 + 377 309 home to Epsom.

I'll try to get the rest of June done over the weekend.

 

[Techniquest]

Fair enough, certainly worse places to go on a massive clearance mission! I'm back in Anglia myself on Monday, Cambridgeshire this time, and hoping to clear some of the many 387/1s I need. Quite, I'm also hoping to find some of my last 7 (I think) 379s, as well as of course getting plenty of cycling going on. My journeys to/from London appear to feature a change at Cambridge onto GA, which should mean 2 chances to score 755s

 

[HSP 2]

Go on I'm going to ask, what is a catfish (I know the catfish Pway wagons, but not the units)?

 

[MDB1images]

Keep em coming Peter, always a good read.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Go on I'm going to ask, what is a catfish (I know the catfish Pway wagons, but not the units)?

Someone a year or so ago posted a picture of a 745 on the internet adjacent to a picture of a catfish with its mouth open and the resemblance was startling and it stuck in the mind... These aren't the exact same pictures, but it's obvious where that person was coming from...

 

[HSP 2]

Get it now.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

26/06/21

Part two of the long walk; the Harlow Mill to Broxbourne section this time... 377 304 + 377 325 + 377 128 from Epsom to London Bridge, 700 123 to Farringdon and 21559 + 21560 to Liverpool Street for the way out. We did, however, divert on the way out so that my wife could get the Statford to Tottenham Hale bit in her atlas, and also to have a quick look at the plinthed steam locomotive outside Stratford. Which means the rest of the way out was required pair 720 517 + 720 522 to Stratford then 317 347 + 317 342 across to Tottenham Hale and finally 379 021 + 379 016 forwards to Harlow Mill.

During the walk I photographed 317 506 + 317 341 at Roydon.

After the walk, our return was with 379 001 + 379 018 from Broxbourne to Liverpool Street, 21105 + 21106 to Farringdon, 700 017 to Sutton and then concluding with 377 705 for the short hop to Epsom.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

28/06/21

Early on, I received gen that my last two Hull Trains IET haulages were available and were perfectly timed as well... a quick trip to Grantham would get me one on the way out and the other on the way back without an excessively long fester either.

Starting out on the usual route I had 377 313 + 377 308 + 377 153 from Epsom to London Bridge and then 700 150 to St Pancras for the short walk next door in order to collect 802 301 on the outbound. There was not much lurking at Peterborough; just 66 747, 66 759, 66 716 and 66 719. While at Grantham, 66 044 passed through to add a bit of interest, and before long 802 305 turned up as expected to whisk me back to London.

It was only early afternoon, so my next move was to utilise 21113 + 21114 to get to Liverpool Street and straight away I landed on required 710 273 + dud 710 263 to Bethnal Green where I spent some time making heavy inroads into my 710/1 photo hit list before boarding 710 109 + 710 123 back to Liverpool Street for required pair 720 539 + 720 547 to Stratford and a further required pair, 720 536 + 720 546, back again.

More bashing would have been nice, but i was mindful of the need to do some food shopping on the way home so it was 21059 + 21060 across to Farringdon for 700 123 to East Croydon and then 455 825 + 455 812 to Thornton Heath. After shopping I went a longer way round than usual because my usual route of a cross platform connection at Tulse Hill for Sutton was not available owing to a slight incident in a garage underneath Elephant and Castle station. The easiest way was to go to London Bridge on 455 809 + 455 813 and then direct to Epsom on 377 205 + 377 326 + 377 327.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

03/07/21

The weather was too threatening for a walk, plus my wife had care cover in the morning, so we did a straight out and back trip with a lunchtime start - which we could just fit in without being too late - to allow her to claim the Oxford to Great Malvern route for her atlas.


The first move was 455 861 + 455 857 from Epsom to Wimbledon then 21493 + 21494 to Paddington and our chariot to Great Malvern was 802 007.

Acton Yard was very full and as we zoomed past I observed 66 006, 66 124, 66 078, 66 149, 66 524 and 66 106 with 66 507 added at West Drayton. A trio at Reading consisted of 57 306, 57 310 and 57 605 while 66 770 and 66 755 were lurking just below Oxford. Beyond there, the next sighting of note was 50 007 + 50 049 ( the former in disguise as 50 034 ) with the Orient Express stock at Worcester Shrub Hill.

We had the same IET on the way back, having in the interim grabbed a few pictures of Great Malvern station while the unit ran round, and the only things of note on the return leg were 66 054, 66 102, 66 104 and 66 569 at Acton. Our District back to Wimbledon was the same one that we had out earlier on and we finished off with 455 702 + 455 901 back to Epsom.

I only did the one picture on the day, grabbed from on board the 802, and no surprises as to the subject:

 

[Peter Mugridge]

08/07/21

Another foray into East Anglia... this time the traction from Epsom was 377 324 + 377 321 + 377 426 and parked outside Selhurst was a freshly restored 377 442. This was photographed, and a moment earlier I had done a picture of 387 225 on the flyovers. From London Bridge it was 700 140 to Farringdon and 21011 + 21012 to Liverpool Street. This time I would take the 09.30, formed of 745 010, all the way through to Norwich.

On the way, sightings at Ipswich were 720 515 + 720 562, 90 014 + 90 015, 66 512 and 66 603 whereas at Stowmarket 37 402 and 37 425 were present. Immediately upon arrival at Norwich, I saw required 755 419 on the Stansted that was about to depart, so a quick dash got me on that as far as Attleborough and fortuitously the return was also required, in this case 755 417.

A speculative move followed on dud 755 338 to Hoveton and Wroxham, but the return was an equally dud 755 335. Nothing else required turned up so I caught 745 110 to relocate myself to Ipswich, where I noted 66 040, 90 007 + 90 049, 66 547, 66 534 and 66 540 but no required haulages were anywhere to be seen on a complete cycle of arrivals, so 745 009 swiftly conveyed me back to Norwich, still nothing required in sight so time to call it a day and ride 745 105 back to London.

Colchester had 66 558 present but nothing else of note was seen on the whole journey; my next move was 21005 + 21006 back to Farringdon for 700 110 to London Bridge and hence 377 307 + 377 318 + 377 138 home to Epsom, from which I snapped 171 724 with the Croydon skyline as a backdrop.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

09/07/21

This time, a London based haulage hunt and a further chunk of the 710/1s targeted for photography.

Usual route from Epsom with 377 327 + 377 317 + 377 137 to London Bridge, 700 103 to Farringdon and 21391 + 21392 over to Liverpool Street with 710 121 + 710 125 taking me on to Bethnal Green for the photography and to wait for, not for long as it turned out, required 710 259 + dud 710 273 to fall to my haulage collection.

My next move was required pair 720 543 + 720 558 to Stratford and required pair 720 511 + 720 537 on to Romford literally four minutes behind, with 66 606 sighted into the bargain. The priority now was getting back to the London end quickly, so it was the first available train, which was 321 333 + 321 328. This time 66 151 was at Stratford as we passed and a required plus dud pairing of 720 515 + 720 562 was an immediate bounce back out to Stratford.

Two locomotives, 66 504 and 66 531 provided some intermediate interest before required pair 720 550 + 720 542 took me back to Liverpool Street, after which I caught 710 125 to Bethnal Green to get a few more photos in, followed by 710 113 back again once I'd got a sensible number off my list.

It was then time to act on information received that a fresh unit was on the Watford run, so 21051 + 21052 to Euston Square and 710 262 to South Kenton was the positioning move. While at South Kenton 66 592 trundled past, to complement the sighting of 325 015 a few moments earlier at North Wembley.

Before long, as expected, requited 710 377 turned up to take me back to London; while on this leg I noted 92 006, 92 018, 92 020, 92 044, 43296, 43308, 43423 and 43467 at the Wembley / Willesden complex. After that it was 21381 + 21382 to Paddington as I had been advised that a few of my required 345s were out.

A quick dash to Hayes and Harlington on the first train available, 387 165 + 387 170, was the plan but that quickly changed after one of the target units passed me at Acton Main Line ( where I noted 66 507 + 66 616 and 59 202 ) so I bailed out at Ealing Broadway and managed to make a -2 back to Paddington on dud 345 002 - thank you RTT for revealing the late running which made the connection possible - and a skin of the teeth dash across the footbridge at Paddington to the adjacent platform put me on required 345 065 just as the door tones sounded. Proper hard bashing there!

Passing Acton again, 66 572 had materialised and once again a required unit came past!!! This time another tight, but slightly positively timed, connection onto dud 345 052 got me back to Paddington in time to catch required 345 070 back out. This time nothing required came past which meant I knew everything to the east of me was dud so it was a case of bailing out at Ealing Broadway for a third time and picking up 345 026 a few minutes later on the next up working.

Another two locomotives had turned up at Acton by then, 66 097 and 66 003, but I was out of time and so it was 21311 + 21312 to Wimbledon from Paddington and then 456 012 + 456 009 + 455 719 onwards to Epsom.

 

[Kite159]

A busy few trips there

 

[Peter Mugridge]

10/07/21

A day out with the wife again, but again the weather was looking too dodgy to continue the long waterside walk, so we instead visited Oxleas Wood from Falconwood having used 377 305 + 377 319 + 377 116 from Epsom to London Bridge and then 465 917 + 465 241; after visiting the woods and having a quick lunch at the café there, we walked back across to New Eltham, in the course of which I grabbed a picture of 465 185 at Falconwood, made a one stop hop to Mottingham on 465 007 + 465 190 and visited The Tarn next door to the station. That's a small nature reserve, not a pub, in case anyone is wondering...

From Mottingham we caught 465 915 + 465 918 back to London Bridge and then, having a bit of time, we decided to scratch the Hertford East branch for her atlas. This meant 700 056 to Farringdon, 21111 + 21112 to Liverpool Street and 379 012 + 379 005 to Hertford East and back again, retracing our steps ( wheels? ) with 21017 + 21018 and 700 121 before returning to Epsom on 377 401 + 377 301 + 377 328.

Yes, the Tower Bridge photo was taken from on board a train...

 

[Peter Mugridge]

A busy few trips there

Yes, and it's nice - if a bit exhausting - to still be able to do some hard bashing at my age!!

As you've probably guessed, I am starting another determined effort to try to get properly caught up with these reports!

 

[Peter Mugridge]

12/07/21

Looking on RTT, I could see that I had a confluence of two of my required IETs on LNER plus a neat coincidence of four of my remaining six 450s for photo all passing Wimbledon within the space of half an hour or so - and at a time that I could just about get there in time off my return IET... so... what would you do?!

With time being of the essence I needed a faster way of getting to King's Cross this time, so Epsom to Victoria on 377 401, then into mole mode with 11079 + 11080 to King's Cross and required 800 107 out to Grantham. That was the first thing you'd do. Then you'd collect required 800 103 back to London again, snapping 66 753 at Peterborough on the way, and rush across to St Pancras for 700 141 to Farringdon and then 700 006 to Wimbledon - which would give me barely enough time to get to the footbridge. We're talking about only a ten to fifteen minute margin here!

Why not wait at St Pancras? Mobile phone signal, that's why... important to check the timings were still valid before committing... They were, so the game was on!

Unfortunately the weather had ideas about intervening and a torrential cloudburst broke moments before the first 450 was due past. Nevertheless, with four out of six required all passing within minutes of each other, I was not about to give up and I hastily rigged up a way of using my coat to shelter my camera, which looked a bit silly but it worked!

At the expected times, 450 065, 450 046, 450 055 and 450 054 all passed by and some rather rainy pictures resulted. As a bonus, I caught the first one alongside 456 004...

Having got the pictures, and with the rain still pelting down, I decided to return home on 455 708 + 455 904 before the service started to go up the creek because of the weather - which in fact it did shortly afterwards...

 

[Techniquest]

Good to see you've had a busy time, and that you're catching up on the trip reports again Certainly fair to say you had some productive trips there!

 

[Peter Mugridge]

17/07/21

The weather was better, so we did the Broxbourne to Ponder's End section of the long walk. Starting with 377 310 + 377 309 + 377 426 from Epsom, after having taken a picture of 377 618 and getting one of 378 153 at Sydenham en route, we had 700 103 from London Bridge to Farringdon but then found that the Circle / Met / H&C had closed literally ten minutes before we got there because of their infamous shortage of control room staff. This meant walking from there to Liverpool Street.

That actually benefited me because while waiting on board 379 003 + 379 008, one of my final two 710/1s for photo, 710 123, pulled in at an adjacent platform... snapped! In the Broxbourne area at teh start of the walk I obtained photographs of 379 018 and 745 101 On the way back we had 379 021 + 379 016 from Ponder's End and this time we only walked as far as Moorgate and took 51506 + 51507 to London Bridge and returned to Epsom on the same trio of 377s that we had started on.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

24/07/21

The weather was slightly off again, but drier to the south, so instead of completing the long walk we instead went to Battle in Sussex to do a circular walk clockwise from the railway station which involved orbiting the battlefield area and then visiting the Battle Great Woods before returning to the station.

Our best connection was from Waterloo East, so we began the day with 455 909 + 455 873 from Epsom to Waterloo, noting that 701 011 was still present in Clapham Yard and then catching 375 827 + 375 809 from Waterloo East to Battle. After the walk we had the same pair back, but this time we changed at London Bridge as the connection back to Epsom was better that way; this turned out to be 377 309 + 377 319 + 377 142.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

26/07/21

Realising that I hadn't done any haulages in the north for a while, it was time for a longer trip!

Usual route across London to start with... 377 106 + 377 322 + 377 315 from Epsom to London Bridge then 700 143 to St Pancras before trotting across next door for the first off peak service to York, which turned out to be dud 801 227. Well, I wasn't going to wait for anything required later - no point in surrendering multiple haulages for a single haulage is there...?!

Peterborough had quite a collection of locomotives on this date; 66 724, 66 794, 66 757, 66 719, 66 768 plus a convoy of four: 66 568 + 66 548 + 66 544 + 66 951 passing through. Another significant collection at Doncaster consisted of 66 720, 66 566, 66 532, 56 049, 70 808 and 67 007. On arrival at York, I noted 37 402, 68 026 and 68 030. Having had gen en route that all three of the Scarborough 68 shuttles were required, as were their rakes, I knew I could get two quickly with a simple return to Malton.

Thus it was that I set off from York with 68 027 in combination with 12806 + 12718 + 12717 + 12716 + 11506 and returned with 68 020 in combination with 12811 + 12733 + 12732 + 12731 + 11511, which I followed up with a return to Micklefield as both Leeds shuttle units were known to be required: 195 125 on the way out and 195 023 on the way back.

Required 801 215 was available southbound, and en route I added 66 079 to the Doncaster tally and 66 710, 66 761, 66 714, 66 786 and 66 063 to the Peterborough collection.From St Pancras my unit to London Bridge was 700 151 and I finished off with 377 305 + 377 324 + 377 434 back to Epsom.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Further pictures from 26/07/21...

 

[Peter Mugridge]

31/07/21

Finally, there was a window of weather opportunity to complete the long walk with the Ponder's End to Stratford section, meaning a single walk in four sections all the way from Bishop's Stortford...!!

The start from Epsom was with 377 467 + 377 306 + 377 309. Hmm.... that latter one is following me around isn't it...?! London Bridge to Farringdon was 700 118 and 21081 + 21082 provided the sideways movement to Liverpool Street where we caught 317 340 + 317 883, ironically diverted via Stratford so we went over the route from there to Tottenham Hale for a second time, having previously gone that way specially...

During the walk ( you have to say that in a Buster Merryfield voice!!! ) I snapped 710 271 and 710 272 in the Tottenham area where the canal passes underneath the railway and from Stratford we had double dud 720 536 + 720 558 to Liverpool Street, 21017 + 21018 to Farringdon and 700 105 to London Bridge. The subsequent trip back to Epsom was on 377 459 + 377 301 + 377 322.

 

[Kite159]

That walk is on my list to do next year hopefully. Sounds like you had a productive month

 

[Peter Mugridge]

That walk is on my list to do next year hopefully. Sounds like you had a productive month

Do you mean the whole distance, Bishop's Stortford to Stratford like we did? It'll be good - are you going to split it into the same four portions that we did?

 

[Kite159]

Do you mean the whole distance, Bishop's Stortford to Stratford like we did? It'll be good - are you going to split it into the same four portions that we did?

It will probably be split into different sectors. Although I've not looked into it in much detail yet