I had a go at writing up a report after my ALR in July/August last year but I've never got round to creating a thread to have a go at writing up my various bashes! Anyway, here's my first:
28/02/2015 - WYDR Red Pen Bash
Something I've being meaning to do for some considerable time: a West Yorkshire Day Rover! I've done plenty in the past but it's been a good 18 months or so since I did my last one. Having cleared all the available track and PSUL moves on said rover a while ago, today was based on finding and scratching in those last few pesky units.
As I live in Sheffield currently, I've been using my spare time to clear units and track in Manchester which is usually a bit of a cheaper day out (15 quid at most) compared to a WYDR (at least 20 quid). Never really done stations either but seeing as I don't need particularly many on the WYDR, it was an ideal time filling exercise!
I'd planned to get up extremely early and get straight up to Leeds and get cracking with things. I was therefore rather irritated to be reminded by friends that I'd agreed to go out on the Friday night in Sheffield. So, after arriving back in the flat and getting 2 hours kip, I was up and packing and away to the station for the 0606 northern service to Leeds.
I grabbed a Starbucks double espresso from the stand near the northbound bays [bleurghh, never again - Ed] but the caffeine gave me the kickstart I so desperately needed! Super dud 144018 was in charge for the hour and 20 run up to Leeds. I spent most of it catching up on sleep and woke just as the train was passing Midland Road depot just to the south.
My friend who has "access" had agreed to drop me an email listing the first working of a list of units I'd asked for so I could work out what diagrams they were on. I'd opted to ask for units such as the 155s and 333s which are solely used out of Leeds but also a couple of others such as 144s and 158s.
Anyway, I'd parked myself on a bench to begin to work out my moves in a notepad when all of a sudden, 158906 rolls into the platform in front of me to form the 0751 to Man Vic. It took me a few moments to register that it was in fact my last 158/9 required! So on I jumped with 10 minutes before departure and this allowed me to work out my next few moves along the line to Bradford Interchange. So...
158906 was taken the short distance to Bramley where I thought I'd easily make the +3 across the winner station onto the 2E35. I hadn't banked on it being a very staggered platform... As we were slightly late in, the +3 was down to a +2 and I had to leg it down the very long ramp, under the bridge and back up the other side which well and truly wiped me out but I made it with 30 seconds to spare. Super dud 150133 was my next unit back into Leeds. I fought my way through the enormous crowds on the escalators to make it over the platforms for the 0818 back along the Bradford line. I parked myself in a window seat and started to get my moves and notations scribbled down while I had the chance. 0818 passed, as did 0820 and 0830 and we eventually left 13 down at 0831. Winning 155347 was my unit and I had planned to connect onto a returning 150 at Bramley again. Unfortunately, said train passed me near Holbeck Jn and I opted to stay on through to New Pudsey for the simple connection across the footbridge. I hadn't worked out all my moves at this point so I was most pleased to see winning 155343 appear round the corner for the run back to Leeds. So, not even 9am and three winners in the bag!
Next on the list, required station on the Wharfedale line for a winning 333 back. I leapt off the train at Leeds and once again made my way to the boards to find out where my train was. Imagine my confusion when I looked around the station to find it completely devoid of any EMUs with 5 minutes before departure, oh oh.... I decided to head over to the platform listed to see what was going on. To my surprise, I found (super dud) 158848 waiting on the Ilkley service! First time I've ever heard of a DMU in recent years on either the Airedale or Wharfedale services! Anyway, it managed to keep to time up the gradients of the Ilkley branch and arrived into Guiseley on time. As expected, winning 333003 arrived about 10 minutes later and whisked me back down to Leeds. Nothing more than the usual DMUs and EMUs were noted around and about in the station and I grabbed an Upper Crust latte on my way to the 0952 Selby train. The coffee was very much appreciated and I leapt aboard a toasty warm 144020. Next station on the list for ticking off was East Garforth where a chilly 15 minute fester had to be suffered. Getting this station leaves only Micklefield on this part of the map to rake in.
As diagrammed, 144002 trundled round the corner on the Selby-Huddersfield service which I would take all the way round the block to Huddersfield via Bradford Interchange. I didn't see much of the delights of urban West Yorkshire on this trundle as I'd folded myself into one of the seats and gone to sleep, only waking up on leaving Brighouse due to a rather loud announcement by the guard!
I had a nice +25 connection at Huddersfield and so I used this time to grab myself a couple of cans of red bull to perk myself up and a magazine to entertain me for the rest of the day. The 1213 Sheffield service across the Penistone line was in the hands of required 144013, leaving only 144005 from the class to clear them. Unfortunately, said unit was buried in Neville Hill somewhere and wasn't diagrammed to come out at any point during the course of the day. I had the option of jumping off at any station between Huddersfield and Stocksmoor in order to meet the unit coming in the other direction. I opted for Brockholes for no reason in particular, just seemed like a nice station with a decent connection time. The others will be slightly longer festers or man of steel moves across the platforms. Super super dud arrived heading in the other direction to take me back to Huddersfield. 185128 was waiting in the far platform to take me onto Leeds. I didn't get a seat as it was absolutely wedged and so the floor had to suffice...
EMUs were next on the agenda and a return to Bradford Forster Square split at Shipley in both directions would allow me to scratch in two of my last three remaining 333s. 333013 took me along to Shipley where a mad dash was made to platform 4, through the car park and over the footbridge for required 333010 to Bradford and back. This run and the fester at Forster Square allowed me to catch up once again with my notes and moves before 333010 silently brought me back along to Shipley. Another quick dash across the station to the eastbound platform from Skipton for required 333006 back to Leeds. Excellent, only one more to go and it was next on the agenda. Once again, a run up the Ilkley branch was in the offing and another required station to leap at. For the third time in a day, 333010 took me up the Ilkley branch but this time as far as Menston [typical isn't it, never produces then three times in a day - Ed] where I bailed and jumped across the footbridge for the return service.
Bagging Menston leaves only Ben Rydding for a future bash on this branch and the trickier Baildon on the spur to Shipley. That'll mean a bit of a fester to get that in. Anyway, I was pleased to see 333014 come round the corner and I jumped aboard for the run back down to Leeds. I celebrated with a Twix and a can of irn bru bought in Huddersfield
I got a phone call from a mate inviting me along to Keighley for a night out and a kettle bash at the KWVR the next day so I planned my next few hours on getting to Keighley for 5pm-ish. I'd got in every available unit that was working in the area during the day and the next few hours would have been dedicated to stations and mileage so I thought what the hell!
I still had an hour or so before my unit across to Keighley which would arrive shortly after 5. I decided on a run down the ECML aboard one of the units from the 321/9 and 322 pool. I'd never had the opportunity to bash these before [what I mean is I can never be bothered :roll: - Ed] so 322484 was a winner and I took this as far as Sandal & Agbrigg. Bit of a desolate place but my connection was only 10 minutes so I wasn't too bothered. Things started to go downhill slightly as the heavens opened and my incoming unit started to lose time. I was a bit soggy but winning 321903 arrived at last and whisked me back up to Leeds. Not of this motor coach nonsense, its only an EMU.
At this point I made a bit of a mistake in thinking that Bingley was that particular station on the Skipton line I needed to scratch off. Should have brought a bloody list with me as what I actually needed to do was bail at Crossflatts... I'd cleared the rest of the stations between Leeds and Skipton on a North East Round Robin about a year ago where I just bailed at every station I required and waited for the following train along towards Skipton. So I bailed at Bingley and only realised my mistake on arriving back home to check it off the list. Keep Crossflatts for another day I suppose!
Anyway, dud 333012 took me along to actually dud Bingley station where 333009 followed up to take me onto Keighley. I'll leave the details of the rest of the night out but it was an enjoyable one and it finished the day on a high! Needless to say, I think I spent most of the day at KWVR on the Sunday recovering
Day 1 Mileage: 245mi 21ch
Day 1 Winners: 11
- DMUs: 144002 144013 155343 155347 158906
- EMUs: 321903 322484 333003 333006 333010 333014
Winning Stations: 6
- Bramley, Guiseley, East Garforth, Brockholes, Menston, Sandal & Agbrigg
Leaves me with a single 144 and 155, 2 158s, 2 321s and 4 322s to scratch at some point in the future. Not a great deal of interest on Day 2 but the stats below anyway:
Day 2 Mileage: 71mi 53ch
Day 2 Winners: 6
- Kettles: 1054 1704 5820 34092 75078 90733
Winning Stations: 3
- Haworth, Oakworth, Ingrow
Hope I made a decent fist of this and comments welcome as always
28/02/2015 - WYDR Red Pen Bash
Something I've being meaning to do for some considerable time: a West Yorkshire Day Rover! I've done plenty in the past but it's been a good 18 months or so since I did my last one. Having cleared all the available track and PSUL moves on said rover a while ago, today was based on finding and scratching in those last few pesky units.
As I live in Sheffield currently, I've been using my spare time to clear units and track in Manchester which is usually a bit of a cheaper day out (15 quid at most) compared to a WYDR (at least 20 quid). Never really done stations either but seeing as I don't need particularly many on the WYDR, it was an ideal time filling exercise!
I'd planned to get up extremely early and get straight up to Leeds and get cracking with things. I was therefore rather irritated to be reminded by friends that I'd agreed to go out on the Friday night in Sheffield. So, after arriving back in the flat and getting 2 hours kip, I was up and packing and away to the station for the 0606 northern service to Leeds.
I grabbed a Starbucks double espresso from the stand near the northbound bays [bleurghh, never again - Ed] but the caffeine gave me the kickstart I so desperately needed! Super dud 144018 was in charge for the hour and 20 run up to Leeds. I spent most of it catching up on sleep and woke just as the train was passing Midland Road depot just to the south.
My friend who has "access" had agreed to drop me an email listing the first working of a list of units I'd asked for so I could work out what diagrams they were on. I'd opted to ask for units such as the 155s and 333s which are solely used out of Leeds but also a couple of others such as 144s and 158s.
Anyway, I'd parked myself on a bench to begin to work out my moves in a notepad when all of a sudden, 158906 rolls into the platform in front of me to form the 0751 to Man Vic. It took me a few moments to register that it was in fact my last 158/9 required! So on I jumped with 10 minutes before departure and this allowed me to work out my next few moves along the line to Bradford Interchange. So...
158906 was taken the short distance to Bramley where I thought I'd easily make the +3 across the winner station onto the 2E35. I hadn't banked on it being a very staggered platform... As we were slightly late in, the +3 was down to a +2 and I had to leg it down the very long ramp, under the bridge and back up the other side which well and truly wiped me out but I made it with 30 seconds to spare. Super dud 150133 was my next unit back into Leeds. I fought my way through the enormous crowds on the escalators to make it over the platforms for the 0818 back along the Bradford line. I parked myself in a window seat and started to get my moves and notations scribbled down while I had the chance. 0818 passed, as did 0820 and 0830 and we eventually left 13 down at 0831. Winning 155347 was my unit and I had planned to connect onto a returning 150 at Bramley again. Unfortunately, said train passed me near Holbeck Jn and I opted to stay on through to New Pudsey for the simple connection across the footbridge. I hadn't worked out all my moves at this point so I was most pleased to see winning 155343 appear round the corner for the run back to Leeds. So, not even 9am and three winners in the bag!
Next on the list, required station on the Wharfedale line for a winning 333 back. I leapt off the train at Leeds and once again made my way to the boards to find out where my train was. Imagine my confusion when I looked around the station to find it completely devoid of any EMUs with 5 minutes before departure, oh oh.... I decided to head over to the platform listed to see what was going on. To my surprise, I found (super dud) 158848 waiting on the Ilkley service! First time I've ever heard of a DMU in recent years on either the Airedale or Wharfedale services! Anyway, it managed to keep to time up the gradients of the Ilkley branch and arrived into Guiseley on time. As expected, winning 333003 arrived about 10 minutes later and whisked me back down to Leeds. Nothing more than the usual DMUs and EMUs were noted around and about in the station and I grabbed an Upper Crust latte on my way to the 0952 Selby train. The coffee was very much appreciated and I leapt aboard a toasty warm 144020. Next station on the list for ticking off was East Garforth where a chilly 15 minute fester had to be suffered. Getting this station leaves only Micklefield on this part of the map to rake in.
As diagrammed, 144002 trundled round the corner on the Selby-Huddersfield service which I would take all the way round the block to Huddersfield via Bradford Interchange. I didn't see much of the delights of urban West Yorkshire on this trundle as I'd folded myself into one of the seats and gone to sleep, only waking up on leaving Brighouse due to a rather loud announcement by the guard!
I had a nice +25 connection at Huddersfield and so I used this time to grab myself a couple of cans of red bull to perk myself up and a magazine to entertain me for the rest of the day. The 1213 Sheffield service across the Penistone line was in the hands of required 144013, leaving only 144005 from the class to clear them. Unfortunately, said unit was buried in Neville Hill somewhere and wasn't diagrammed to come out at any point during the course of the day. I had the option of jumping off at any station between Huddersfield and Stocksmoor in order to meet the unit coming in the other direction. I opted for Brockholes for no reason in particular, just seemed like a nice station with a decent connection time. The others will be slightly longer festers or man of steel moves across the platforms. Super super dud arrived heading in the other direction to take me back to Huddersfield. 185128 was waiting in the far platform to take me onto Leeds. I didn't get a seat as it was absolutely wedged and so the floor had to suffice...
EMUs were next on the agenda and a return to Bradford Forster Square split at Shipley in both directions would allow me to scratch in two of my last three remaining 333s. 333013 took me along to Shipley where a mad dash was made to platform 4, through the car park and over the footbridge for required 333010 to Bradford and back. This run and the fester at Forster Square allowed me to catch up once again with my notes and moves before 333010 silently brought me back along to Shipley. Another quick dash across the station to the eastbound platform from Skipton for required 333006 back to Leeds. Excellent, only one more to go and it was next on the agenda. Once again, a run up the Ilkley branch was in the offing and another required station to leap at. For the third time in a day, 333010 took me up the Ilkley branch but this time as far as Menston [typical isn't it, never produces then three times in a day - Ed] where I bailed and jumped across the footbridge for the return service.
Bagging Menston leaves only Ben Rydding for a future bash on this branch and the trickier Baildon on the spur to Shipley. That'll mean a bit of a fester to get that in. Anyway, I was pleased to see 333014 come round the corner and I jumped aboard for the run back down to Leeds. I celebrated with a Twix and a can of irn bru bought in Huddersfield
I got a phone call from a mate inviting me along to Keighley for a night out and a kettle bash at the KWVR the next day so I planned my next few hours on getting to Keighley for 5pm-ish. I'd got in every available unit that was working in the area during the day and the next few hours would have been dedicated to stations and mileage so I thought what the hell! I still had an hour or so before my unit across to Keighley which would arrive shortly after 5. I decided on a run down the ECML aboard one of the units from the 321/9 and 322 pool. I'd never had the opportunity to bash these before [what I mean is I can never be bothered :roll: - Ed] so 322484 was a winner and I took this as far as Sandal & Agbrigg. Bit of a desolate place but my connection was only 10 minutes so I wasn't too bothered. Things started to go downhill slightly as the heavens opened and my incoming unit started to lose time. I was a bit soggy but winning 321903 arrived at last and whisked me back up to Leeds. Not of this motor coach nonsense, its only an EMU.
At this point I made a bit of a mistake in thinking that Bingley was that particular station on the Skipton line I needed to scratch off. Should have brought a bloody list with me as what I actually needed to do was bail at Crossflatts... I'd cleared the rest of the stations between Leeds and Skipton on a North East Round Robin about a year ago where I just bailed at every station I required and waited for the following train along towards Skipton. So I bailed at Bingley and only realised my mistake on arriving back home to check it off the list. Keep Crossflatts for another day I suppose!
Anyway, dud 333012 took me along to actually dud Bingley station where 333009 followed up to take me onto Keighley. I'll leave the details of the rest of the night out but it was an enjoyable one and it finished the day on a high! Needless to say, I think I spent most of the day at KWVR on the Sunday recovering
Day 1 Mileage: 245mi 21ch
Day 1 Winners: 11
- DMUs: 144002 144013 155343 155347 158906
- EMUs: 321903 322484 333003 333006 333010 333014
Winning Stations: 6
- Bramley, Guiseley, East Garforth, Brockholes, Menston, Sandal & Agbrigg
Leaves me with a single 144 and 155, 2 158s, 2 321s and 4 322s to scratch at some point in the future. Not a great deal of interest on Day 2 but the stats below anyway:
Day 2 Mileage: 71mi 53ch
Day 2 Winners: 6
- Kettles: 1054 1704 5820 34092 75078 90733
Winning Stations: 3
- Haworth, Oakworth, Ingrow
Hope I made a decent fist of this and comments welcome as always
Looks likely now that second WYDR won't happen, other things to do that day I'd completely forgotten about
