East Midlands Day Ranger 11 July
As I had my quarterly meeting in London, I decided to have an attempt at reducing my East Midlands powercar requirements (43046, 047, 055, 082, and 089) plus former Great Western dogbox 153368. With Serco having mucked up the introduction of the Mk V stock for the overnight Highlander Caledonian Sleeper again, with very extortionate fares I had decided to slum it in the seats from Falkirk Grahamston to Crewe as the fare was reasonable in comparison to the berth (or rooms on the Mk V stock). Furthermore, as I would be at Crewe first thing in the morning, this meant that I could score the visits of Hartford and Prees as the timings work out better than doing those before the 20:09 ex Euston – Glasgow Central which is the last direct train on Sundays to Fridays. Also, while in the East Midlands and depending on timescales, I would attempt the visit of either Ilkeston or Langley Mill, and would see if any required Crosscountry Class 170s are around.
Having set out the previous night just after 23:00 for the short walk to Springburn, it was onboard required 385006 on the 23:17 Springburn – Falkirk Grahamston (as platform lengthening works are taking place at Glasgow Queen Street high level, the Edinburgh via Cumbernauld and Anniesland via Maryhill Park have been curtailed to Springburn and Ashfield respectively) for the run to Grahamston. After a 30 minute fester it was on the 00:34 ex Inverness– London Euston sleeper with this portion being hauled by required 67020 as far as Edinburgh Waverley. Of note, the train was using Platforms 7 and 11 at Edinburgh Waverley with the electric loco that would be hauling all three coupled portions to London having been spotted was dud 90042 – the third or fourth time I’ve had this loco to London. I did manage to get a couple of naps after the train left Edinburgh 19minutes or so behind schedule at 01:59, with arrival into Platform 6 at Crewe being a couple of minutes ahead of schedule at 05:36.
After nipping outside for some fresh air to try to help me wake up slightly and to collect a bundle of tickets from the machine, it was a hike over to Platform 12 for the 06:33 Liverpool Lime Street formed of dud 350258 for a run to Hartford, then 15 minutes later it was on the 07:02 ex Liverpool LS – London Euston via Birmingham and Northampton formed of dud 350265 for the run back to Crewe. Having got some tea from the Upper Crust on the Platforms 6 to 11 island, 331006+103 were spotted arriving into Platform 6 before returning north at 07:24. It was another hike to Platform 12 for the unusual route 07:34 Birmingham International via Shrewsbury formed of dud 158821 for a run to the request stop of Prees. Caledonian Sleeper locos 92033 and 92006, and 57003 and 68009 were some of the locos that were spotted at Gresty Bridge soon after departing Crewe. I returned back to Crewe after a 20 minute or so fester on the 08:20 ex Llandrindod Wells formed of dud 153303, with one other passenger who boarded the train with me and nobody alighting.
Making my way over to Platform 4 it was onboard the 09:02 London Euston via Stoke-on-Trent, Birmingham, and Northampton formed of dud 350369 (so as to give my phone some charge) for a run to Kidsgrove spotting 66029 at the back of the Arriva Traincare depot as well as uncoupled coaches of the Pretendolino set, then 5 minutes or so later onboard the 09:23 ex Crewe – Derby formed of required 158773 (which I had surprisingly saw at Crewe as I was expecting a dogbox) straight to Derby, spotting dud dogboxes on the other 2 Derby – Crewe diagrams during the journey. Also, during the course of this leg of the trip (and with many thanks to forum member 37078xotTE) I had news that 4 out of 5 powercars had allocations, and even though 153368 was mainly over in Lincoln and Grimsby, it would be in Nottingham later on working the Ivanhoe Project (Part 1) this evening.
I made my way to Nottingham on the 10:41 ex Cardiff Central – Nottingham onboard dud 170114, and being as I had a big gap for one of the required powercars, I worked out that I could have a run to either Langley Mill or Ilkeston and back. Having attempted the hike to Platform 4, it was onboard dud 150124 on the 11:17 Leeds via Sheffield and Barnsley for a run to Ilkeston, where I decided to bail as the train had lost a few minutes along the way and with the southbound from Leeds running more or less to time, I did not want to hang around for 60 minutes at Langley Mill as there are only a few minutes between trains in opposite directions. I returned to Nottingham onboard dud 158904 on the few minutes delayed 11:45 ex Leeds, making another hike from Platform 4 to Platform 5 for my next move as although I still had a lot of time, I had spotted something required.
I hopped onboard required 170106 that was on the 12:07 Cardiff Central for a run to Beeston, returning to Nottingham on the 12:33 ex Matlock – Newark Castle onboard required pair of dogboxes 153326+310. Having made another hike from Platform 4 to Platform 7, it was onboard the 12:45 London St Pancras which had dud 43064+ required 43047 for a run to East Midlands Parkway to meet my second required powercar to return to Nottingham. A few minutes later after the Norwich train passed through on diversion, it was back to Nottingham on the 13:00 ex St Pancras which had First Class at the front with the powercars being dud 43050+ required 43089. Due to a combination of having a big gap for my next intended target and having spotted a required Crosscountry Class 170, my next port of call was to nip to the Tesco store to pick up some provisions before my next move.
Making my way to Platform 6 after returning to the station, it was onboard required 170519 on the 13:41 Birmingham New Street for a run to Wilnecote (Staffordshire). 40 minutes or so later I returned east on a very busy and required 170109 that was on the 10 minutes delayed 15:05 ex Cardiff Central – Nottingham as far as Beeston, spotting 57305 south of Platform 1 at Derby, and 37605, 37198, 82129, 82126, 57310, 97302, and 43013+014 on the New Measurement Train on the London side of the tracks opposite Etches Park depot. Being as my next 2 required powercars are on northbound workings later on and finish the day at at the depot immediately afterwards, I would be making my way to Leicester. I hopped on required 170520 on the 16:12 Cardiff for a run to Long Eaton, and around 20 minutes later it was on a very busy and required 222018 straight to Leicester. As the train was busy and being as I was not standing next to the door as other passengers were there, I was unable to see what was in the yard at Humberstone Road. While I was here at Leicester, I decided to take a run to Narborough on dud pair 170116+398 on the 17:18 Birmingham New Street, returning back to Leicester on the 17:36 ex Birmingham – Cambridge onboard required 170636 having visited all of the Crosscountry only served stations except Water Orton between Birmingham and the Derby/Nottingham/Leicester triangle (I did Burton upon Trent back in 1989).
While checking online to see if I could do a run to Melton Mowbray and back, I realised that I have hit a bogie gap now as it was not possible for me to take a run east and back, and also I would have had to rely on the ex Stansted – Birmingham running on time with the 18:47 ex London due at Leicester being a minimum of 10 minutes late that had one of my required powercars on that. As I had around a 50 minute gap before the previously mentioned 18:47 ex London – Nottingham, I went for a wander to search for something cold and wet and stumbled upon a Wetherspoons. I returned back to the station for the slightly delayed 18:47 Nottingham that had dud 43058+ required 43055 for the run to Beeston, having seen required 222009 on the 19:18 London just departing. Having switched to my alternative plan so as not to let my fourth required powercar and 153368 slip away (my preferred plan was to head to Loughborough to meet the London – Sheffield that had the required powercar), it was onboard dud 156498 on the 19:25 ex Newark Castle – Matlock for a run to Long Eaton for a 20 minute fester or so to await the 19:59 ex London – Sheffield which had required 43082+ dud 43049 for the run to Derby.
Making my way over to Platform 6 for the 20:15 ex Matlock – Nottingham, it was onboard dud pair from earlier 153326+310 for the run to Beeston, then onboard dud 153355+ required 153368 (still retains the Great Western seat cushions) that was on the 20:42 ex Nottingham – Leicester for some dogbox thrash to Loughborough. A little over 15 minutes later, it was straight to London onboard required 222023 on the 21:15 ex Nottingham, spotting 66555 hauling DB ballast wagons northbound at Leicester. Upon arrival at St Pancras, it was downstairs to the Thameslink platforms for the 23:05 Gatwick Airport onboard required 700133 to Blackfriars, to wait for the 6 minutes delayed 23:21 ex St Albans City – Sutton via Wimbledon onboard required 700055 to Elephant & Castle. It was a short walk along Walworth Road to check into the Safestay hostel to settle down for the night.
Overall, I am happy with today’s efforts in that I have managed to get round to scoring Hartford, Prees, Ilkeston, Wilnecote, and Narborough, reducing my East Midlands formerBritish Rail requirements down to 1 powercar, 3 dogboxes, 1 Class 156, and 10 Class 158s. I have also reduced my Crosscountry Class 170 requirements down to 4 remaining.