elarchibaldo
Member
So, waking up at 0600 I thought, I'll stay local.
Leaving the house at 0700 walking to Urmston station (only a few minutes) I start to think about the exceptional value this ticket offers. As I pay child rate, it costs £2.40.
I get to the ticket office (which should be open) and find it's closed. I walk down to the platform and wait for the train. 150110 rolls in with the 0717 to Manchester Oxford Road. I'm a fan of these 150's, so I jump on and get a good seat. The guard comes shortly after Trafford Park. Most of the duties down here are from Lime St depot (although I know there are Piccadilly duties). He says "I've never sold one of these before mate, so I may be a bit slow". Eventually he finds the ticket I'm after, so we're both happy!
So I need a Greggs breakfast, so I make my way to Piccadilly from Oxford Rd on 158785 (East Midlands), which also has a friendly guard. I leave this and go over to Greggs on the station approach. I get my Bacon & Sausage butty and Hot Chocolate for a cracking £2!
Off to Stockport now on 221126, and after a quick turnaround there I'm on my way back to Piccadilly. I like getting haulages on units, so this will further explain why I'm not in places long! 185119 takes me to Piccadilly, then I choose to follow it to the Airport, but on 142028+142034, with some nice thrash!
Back out to Piccadilly on 185104, then a tram across the city, 3016, to Victoria. Here I jump on Northern 158910, to Rochdale. I like these Northern 158's, they are comfortable, and are generally nice to ride on. When I get to Rochdale I have a look at the Metrolink stop to see what it's like. Now I'm waiting for a service back to Victoria, and this comes in the form of 155344. I'm not a massive fan of these units, as the windows are so high compared to the seating position.
Upon arrival at Victoria, I take a quick picture of the unit, as I don't have many of this class. I take a walk over to platform 5 for the Clitheroe service. This 1200 train should be formed of three coaches (usually 150+153) but today I've only got 150114. I take this to Salford Crescent, and then jump on a 150 to Piccadilly. I've got no idea of this one's number, however I do recall it was a 150/2 ex LM.
I make a trip to Subway now, for a Spicy Italian sub and a coke. This again is fantastic value, for only £3. I now head to Stockport (again) but this time for a reason! There's a Network Rail test train at the time I went, and to my surprise it was a class 31 and 37 Top-and-Tailed. Taking pictures of this classic traction, I notice how good a condition the locomotives are, especially 31106. This wears BR Blue, and I must say that this livery suits the class 31's very well. I filmed this out, with a friendly wave and some nice thrash from the driver. Back to Piccadilly now, aboard 221127.
I'm a massive Class 185 fan, so a pair of them to Bolton wouldn't go a miss! 185131 and 185143 are my pair to Bolton, but unfortunately the very rear car the engine turns off, and it seems eerily quiet. Upon arrival at Bolton I get a quick snack from the station buffet, and I'm off on 156482+150118 to Salford Crescent. These class 156's are very nice, and this one has new seat covers so it looks nice inside!
Jumping off at Salford Crescent, I decide some more Pacer haulage is needed! 142009 rolls in with a Rochdale service, so I jump on this. I was surprised to see the Northern seat covers aren't on this one, as it still wears FGW ones. Arriving about 30 minutes later, there's not much time until 150137 rolls in with an express to Manchester. This was a nice run, but I'm surpised Northern use 150's on this Leeds to Manchester via Halifax run.
I jump on a tram to Piccadilly, which was 3045. I go for another Airport bash, aboard 156459! I like this Airport run, as it's at speed. Arriving at the Airport, I look at the departure screens, and I see there is a Middlesborough train due to leave. I get a seat and enjoy the ride aboard 185129.
Next it's another ride to Stockport! I go on the delayed 1738 Alderley Edge service, which left 20 minutes late! I like these units aswell, and I take a seat in the Pantograph car. I'm surprised at how quiet this service was, but then it occurred to me that most passengers are lost at Levenshulme and Heaton Chapel, so they obviously caught the 1752 Buxton service. This unit was 323231.
I see a 185 which is about 15 minutes late in Platform 4 and it's almost empty! I ask the guard whether the train is going forward to Manchester. He replies "Yes mate, jump on, be nice and quiet for you!". I thought he was exaggerating, but on the whole unit there must have been about 8 people! I'm not sure of the delay to 185112's journey.
So arrival at Piccadilly and I'm now out of ideas of where to go. So I make my wat to the end of P8/9 are start taking pictures. I got some nice results out of this. I depart on the 1916 TPE departure to Barrow, formed of 185107. I jumped off at Oxford Road, and then wait for my 1944 service back to Urmston.
To my surprise, the 1944 was formed of 151110! The train left on-time, and a few more joined at Deansgate. We stop at Trafford Park as usual, but then we don't move. I look down the back of the train to see what is going on, and I see that there is some sort of disagreement between two passengers, and the guard is talking them out of this. Eventually he talks them out of their feud, and well done to him! I jump off at Urmston, and that's my day over, I was shattered!
I hope you enjoyed this trip report, I look forward to any replies you may have
Leaving the house at 0700 walking to Urmston station (only a few minutes) I start to think about the exceptional value this ticket offers. As I pay child rate, it costs £2.40.
I get to the ticket office (which should be open) and find it's closed. I walk down to the platform and wait for the train. 150110 rolls in with the 0717 to Manchester Oxford Road. I'm a fan of these 150's, so I jump on and get a good seat. The guard comes shortly after Trafford Park. Most of the duties down here are from Lime St depot (although I know there are Piccadilly duties). He says "I've never sold one of these before mate, so I may be a bit slow". Eventually he finds the ticket I'm after, so we're both happy!
So I need a Greggs breakfast, so I make my way to Piccadilly from Oxford Rd on 158785 (East Midlands), which also has a friendly guard. I leave this and go over to Greggs on the station approach. I get my Bacon & Sausage butty and Hot Chocolate for a cracking £2!
Off to Stockport now on 221126, and after a quick turnaround there I'm on my way back to Piccadilly. I like getting haulages on units, so this will further explain why I'm not in places long! 185119 takes me to Piccadilly, then I choose to follow it to the Airport, but on 142028+142034, with some nice thrash!
Back out to Piccadilly on 185104, then a tram across the city, 3016, to Victoria. Here I jump on Northern 158910, to Rochdale. I like these Northern 158's, they are comfortable, and are generally nice to ride on. When I get to Rochdale I have a look at the Metrolink stop to see what it's like. Now I'm waiting for a service back to Victoria, and this comes in the form of 155344. I'm not a massive fan of these units, as the windows are so high compared to the seating position.
Upon arrival at Victoria, I take a quick picture of the unit, as I don't have many of this class. I take a walk over to platform 5 for the Clitheroe service. This 1200 train should be formed of three coaches (usually 150+153) but today I've only got 150114. I take this to Salford Crescent, and then jump on a 150 to Piccadilly. I've got no idea of this one's number, however I do recall it was a 150/2 ex LM.
I make a trip to Subway now, for a Spicy Italian sub and a coke. This again is fantastic value, for only £3. I now head to Stockport (again) but this time for a reason! There's a Network Rail test train at the time I went, and to my surprise it was a class 31 and 37 Top-and-Tailed. Taking pictures of this classic traction, I notice how good a condition the locomotives are, especially 31106. This wears BR Blue, and I must say that this livery suits the class 31's very well. I filmed this out, with a friendly wave and some nice thrash from the driver. Back to Piccadilly now, aboard 221127.
I'm a massive Class 185 fan, so a pair of them to Bolton wouldn't go a miss! 185131 and 185143 are my pair to Bolton, but unfortunately the very rear car the engine turns off, and it seems eerily quiet. Upon arrival at Bolton I get a quick snack from the station buffet, and I'm off on 156482+150118 to Salford Crescent. These class 156's are very nice, and this one has new seat covers so it looks nice inside!
Jumping off at Salford Crescent, I decide some more Pacer haulage is needed! 142009 rolls in with a Rochdale service, so I jump on this. I was surprised to see the Northern seat covers aren't on this one, as it still wears FGW ones. Arriving about 30 minutes later, there's not much time until 150137 rolls in with an express to Manchester. This was a nice run, but I'm surpised Northern use 150's on this Leeds to Manchester via Halifax run.
I jump on a tram to Piccadilly, which was 3045. I go for another Airport bash, aboard 156459! I like this Airport run, as it's at speed. Arriving at the Airport, I look at the departure screens, and I see there is a Middlesborough train due to leave. I get a seat and enjoy the ride aboard 185129.
Next it's another ride to Stockport! I go on the delayed 1738 Alderley Edge service, which left 20 minutes late! I like these units aswell, and I take a seat in the Pantograph car. I'm surprised at how quiet this service was, but then it occurred to me that most passengers are lost at Levenshulme and Heaton Chapel, so they obviously caught the 1752 Buxton service. This unit was 323231.
I see a 185 which is about 15 minutes late in Platform 4 and it's almost empty! I ask the guard whether the train is going forward to Manchester. He replies "Yes mate, jump on, be nice and quiet for you!". I thought he was exaggerating, but on the whole unit there must have been about 8 people! I'm not sure of the delay to 185112's journey.
So arrival at Piccadilly and I'm now out of ideas of where to go. So I make my wat to the end of P8/9 are start taking pictures. I got some nice results out of this. I depart on the 1916 TPE departure to Barrow, formed of 185107. I jumped off at Oxford Road, and then wait for my 1944 service back to Urmston.
To my surprise, the 1944 was formed of 151110! The train left on-time, and a few more joined at Deansgate. We stop at Trafford Park as usual, but then we don't move. I look down the back of the train to see what is going on, and I see that there is some sort of disagreement between two passengers, and the guard is talking them out of this. Eventually he talks them out of their feud, and well done to him! I jump off at Urmston, and that's my day over, I was shattered!
I hope you enjoyed this trip report, I look forward to any replies you may have
