Kite159
Veteran Member
Reading has a lot of crossovers and various options, at least 3 different routes from the Reading West to Reading direction, as well as the lesser used connections at the eastern ends [to/from the Wokingham direction]
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How difficult is it to arrive or leave at all timetabled platforms. 5 year project to achieve this.
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All platforms
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Day 331: Friday 15/03/2024 - Upton to Bidston - £1.90 - Anytime Return. CP Off Nocturum Avenue Upton - Free (odd name though)
Total time today 43mins - time on trains 9 mins and time waiting 43 mins. A new bit of track only today...
Just an impulse visit on a quick out and back to Upton (40 mins away for me) to sample the one train a day currently arriving at Bidston P1 (from Upton), rather than P2 which everything else has done pretty much for years now. Whilst there have been short notice cancellations noted it has been solid all week so decided to chance my arm. It was also a chance to sample the new class 230 which TFW will be using on this line going forward. Sample is the operative word as a total of 9 mins was spent - oh and a few minutes dwell time at Upton Northwards so as to cross with the Southbound service just South of the Bidston Dee Junction. First impressions were good although it did seem a little bouncy - not dissimilar to the Pacer experience of old. A cut above the Marston Vale line stock i would wager (pre Vivarail demise).
There were a dozen or so passengers that alighted at Bidston, where the unit would depart up the line to the local depot i understand. Within seconds a lady returned on board and seemed to be looking through the train. it transpires she got off the train without her case and returned mere seconds later to retrieve it by which time it was gone. No idea if she was reunited with it. Theft? or a kind soul about to hand it in? Probably the former as no one came into the ticket office. Maybe reunited with it outside thinking further. Anyway a talking point for the seated to offer advice all and sundry..
A very short outing today with success on an almost local bit of track - so its a good start to the weekend. I was a bit startled to hear that parts of the M25 will be closed for the next 2 days but then remembered i am basing myself in Basingstoke tomorrow so will be taking a route via Oxford instead. It promises to be a varied weekend in fact so back in a few days with my reports.
Total time today 43mins - time on trains 9 mins and time waiting 43 mins. A new bit of track only today...
Just an impulse visit on a quick out and back to Upton (40 mins away for me) to sample the one train a day currently arriving at Bidston P1 (from Upton), rather than P2 which everything else has done pretty much for years now. Whilst there have been short notice cancellations noted it has been solid all week so decided to chance my arm. It was also a chance to sample the new class 230 which TFW will be using on this line going forward. Sample is the operative word as a total of 9 mins was spent - oh and a few minutes dwell time at Upton Northwards so as to cross with the Southbound service just South of the Bidston Dee Junction. First impressions were good although it did seem a little bouncy - not dissimilar to the Pacer experience of old. A cut above the Marston Vale line stock i would wager (pre Vivarail demise).
There were a dozen or so passengers that alighted at Bidston, where the unit would depart up the line to the local depot i understand. Within seconds a lady returned on board and seemed to be looking through the train. it transpires she got off the train without her case and returned mere seconds later to retrieve it by which time it was gone. No idea if she was reunited with it. Theft? or a kind soul about to hand it in? Probably the former as no one came into the ticket office. Maybe reunited with it outside thinking further. Anyway a talking point for the seated to offer advice all and sundry..
A very short outing today with success on an almost local bit of track - so its a good start to the weekend. I was a bit startled to hear that parts of the M25 will be closed for the next 2 days but then remembered i am basing myself in Basingstoke tomorrow so will be taking a route via Oxford instead. It promises to be a varied weekend in fact so back in a few days with my reports.
| Upton | Depart | 13.18 | ***** | AW | stations | platforms | ||
| Bidston | Arrive | 13.23 | P1 | AW | wait 43m | completed | completed | |
| Bidston | Depart | 14.06 | P2 | AW | ||||
| Upton | Arrive | 14.10 | ***** | AW |
Last edited:
All platforms
Member
Saturday 16/03/2024 - Basingstoke to Eastleigh - £11.05 - Off-peak Return. Basingstoke to Hersham - £18.15 - Off-peak Return. Weybridge to Addlestone - £3.00 - Off-peak Return. Basingstoke to Southampton Central - £10.00 - Evening Out Return. Woking to Haslemere - £8.05 - Off-peak Return. Basingstoke to London Waterloo - £16.60 - Evening Out Return. Basingstoke to Overton - £3.10 - Evening Out Return. CP Basingstoke £5.00
Total time today 790 mins - time on trains 413 mins and time waiting 377 mins. Stations complete today 8. Total completed 1705. Platforms completed at completed stations 3966.
"This may be the most expensive day of the lot (so far!)"
This is an expensive part of the rail network with no Rovers, Rangers or other discounted options to ease the pain, and probably a main reason why i have deferred doing this part of the network for so long. I plumped for Basingstoke as my base for the day because it would be a short hop to my (cheap for a saturday) hotel later on, and also with the M25 closed for the weekend near Guildford i thought it best to keep West of there. Another reason i have so far avoided the main line down to Basingstoke is that UTtracker my main means of keeping a record of my achievements etc has not done any segmentation of the main lines down to Basingstoke yet, and its a bit (lot) of a pain to keep a proper record without it. Cue printing my own paper records and procuring a suitable coloured pen device to do it the old fashioned way for now. It went somewhat to plan, but i am glad i don't have to do this sort of thing more often.
I arrived with plenty of time to spare so had an extra 30 mins kippage before starting the day proper which was going to be catching the same service i did 3 weeks previously, albeit me starting from Basingstoke not Woking. This is a service that promises to use the Slow line into and out of Shawford on its way to Eastleigh (and then Portsmouth) but once again it kept to the main line, which it invariably does apparently. Very few of the promised services for the P3 line either side of Shawford actually do it, and after doing a deep dive as to why this may be, i am none the wiser unfortunately. It does get used at least once most (but not every) weekday but it can be very random and so whilst it may be possible to camp out on the station for a few hours to get lucky, it will be even harder to predict which one and so the full loop itself is a complete lottery. Things may change of course so its in the "keep an eye on" pile. A tricky part of the country this!
Using the RTT id code and then changing the date on the url query i was able to work out the service has only used the Slow Line twice all year so far, so it can work... I still needed P3 at Eastleigh so it was a shot to nothing by turning there and reversing going all the way to Woking using the Slow line and alighting at P1 there for a station completion. As the service i had been on switched to the fasts afterwards i wanted to stay on the slow so i could safely complete the non segmented portion which i did by taking the stopper as far as Weybridge, where i would be then getting the normal track up to Addlestone and back to complete the curve both ways there. For the most part i would confine myself to stations today with the weather not quite warm or dry enough to warrant full on exploration mode. Initial supplies were sourced at Basingstoke before i started and so was content to find a corner and get on with my latest book after exploring each station environ.
With the bay platform at Weybridge ticked off i wanted to go have a look at what Jimmy Pursey was singing about all those years ago and see if i could see me some "Hersham Boys" at err Hersham. Very peaceful actually upon arrival and a half hour hiatus before returning West and another tick in the book. Over £30 to do those few journeys - and that's with my Railcard too. I had bought most of my tickets before travelling but for some reason i had missed one so had to purchase one on the day. Another lesson learnt after the event, with me not putting time of travel into the machine and so ending up with an Off-peak not Evening Out Return which can be used after 12pm Saturdays in a vain attempt to stop my Bank Account hemorrhaging. I get ahead of myself once more....
Back on the train at Hersham i would be doing a linear to/from Weybridge P3 before doing the same at Fleet and ticking off all parts of the Slow line at the same time. Ordinarily i would do more around here but i had spotted a short term opportunity at Southampton which is more than a hop skip and a jump away, but with one eye on track/moves that would be disappearing in the June timetable i wanted to take advantage of this one in particular. First i had to get there so i did this via Eastleigh. This service was not scheduled to use the Slow line after Winchester and it didn't disappoint in this regard. The next service South from Eastleigh would be stopping at P3b in Southampton and then a Southern Service was scheduled to be hard on its heels and terminating in P3a, whereupon it would do a quick turnaround and return East via Eastleigh. This return move will be no more from June but the real reason was that it would be reversing at Eastleigh and using P2S (see RTT) to do so, a variation which appears to be unique to this service. In the end it didn't turn out quite as expected but not all was lost. The Southern unit was turned in P2a at Southampton and then proceeded to use P3b at Eastleigh not P2s. Not sure why RTT uses the s suffix and the station uses the b suffix for the south end of the platforms but there we go. Bonus crossovers for me either way though. So, do i return for a go at P2b (or is it P2s) on another occasion? Hmm - not sure yet. There is a lot in my diary and not sure if it could be fitted in even if i wanted to.
Another Slow line run all the way back to Woking followed (from Basingstoke) after witnessing some young football hooligans in the making at Eastleigh trying (and failing spectacularly) to goad the Police into chasing them for some very obscure reason. I also noted a Travelodge outside the station which maybe helpful at some future visit. Once back at Woking I waited for the next Haslemere service as this was the terminus point on the line down to Havant today with a blockade to the South. This meant i could also complete the top half of this line so it was a linear hop at both Farncombe and Godalming before travelling to Haslemere P1 and a bonus crossover upon returning and my final linear hop of the day at Farncombe to complete the station. the best part of the day had now well and truly disappeared and it was time to get some fast line running done in the dark and start getting more things the other side of Clapham Junction in the completed column. So many lines to keep track of but thankfully the trip into P7 and then out again from P8 at Waterloo was an easy one to manage. I did go exploring a little uponm arrival and made my way over to P24 and back keeping on the platform side of the barriers. It kept me out of mischied in any event but by golly i will need to spend a lot of time here before too long so it was good to get a sense of the scale of things prior to planning anything further here.
Next up was an out and then back to base on the fast lines via a little station called Overton. Fast lines because i needed them and today was all about getting over the segmentation maps issue. I am pretty sure i will not be straying so far from my base for that day on future visits as i can then concentrate on the platforms, platform ends, missing track bits and crossovers that may present rather than go too far afield. Variety is the spice of life they say and today was an antidote to just noodling about on the same stretch of track. Loved it even though my Bank account didn't quite so much. A short ride back to the cheapest Premier Inn i could find and a couple of beers before heading off for some well earned sleep. Tomorrow promises to be different again.
Total time today 790 mins - time on trains 413 mins and time waiting 377 mins. Stations complete today 8. Total completed 1705. Platforms completed at completed stations 3966.
"This may be the most expensive day of the lot (so far!)"
This is an expensive part of the rail network with no Rovers, Rangers or other discounted options to ease the pain, and probably a main reason why i have deferred doing this part of the network for so long. I plumped for Basingstoke as my base for the day because it would be a short hop to my (cheap for a saturday) hotel later on, and also with the M25 closed for the weekend near Guildford i thought it best to keep West of there. Another reason i have so far avoided the main line down to Basingstoke is that UTtracker my main means of keeping a record of my achievements etc has not done any segmentation of the main lines down to Basingstoke yet, and its a bit (lot) of a pain to keep a proper record without it. Cue printing my own paper records and procuring a suitable coloured pen device to do it the old fashioned way for now. It went somewhat to plan, but i am glad i don't have to do this sort of thing more often.
I arrived with plenty of time to spare so had an extra 30 mins kippage before starting the day proper which was going to be catching the same service i did 3 weeks previously, albeit me starting from Basingstoke not Woking. This is a service that promises to use the Slow line into and out of Shawford on its way to Eastleigh (and then Portsmouth) but once again it kept to the main line, which it invariably does apparently. Very few of the promised services for the P3 line either side of Shawford actually do it, and after doing a deep dive as to why this may be, i am none the wiser unfortunately. It does get used at least once most (but not every) weekday but it can be very random and so whilst it may be possible to camp out on the station for a few hours to get lucky, it will be even harder to predict which one and so the full loop itself is a complete lottery. Things may change of course so its in the "keep an eye on" pile. A tricky part of the country this!
Using the RTT id code and then changing the date on the url query i was able to work out the service has only used the Slow Line twice all year so far, so it can work... I still needed P3 at Eastleigh so it was a shot to nothing by turning there and reversing going all the way to Woking using the Slow line and alighting at P1 there for a station completion. As the service i had been on switched to the fasts afterwards i wanted to stay on the slow so i could safely complete the non segmented portion which i did by taking the stopper as far as Weybridge, where i would be then getting the normal track up to Addlestone and back to complete the curve both ways there. For the most part i would confine myself to stations today with the weather not quite warm or dry enough to warrant full on exploration mode. Initial supplies were sourced at Basingstoke before i started and so was content to find a corner and get on with my latest book after exploring each station environ.
With the bay platform at Weybridge ticked off i wanted to go have a look at what Jimmy Pursey was singing about all those years ago and see if i could see me some "Hersham Boys" at err Hersham. Very peaceful actually upon arrival and a half hour hiatus before returning West and another tick in the book. Over £30 to do those few journeys - and that's with my Railcard too. I had bought most of my tickets before travelling but for some reason i had missed one so had to purchase one on the day. Another lesson learnt after the event, with me not putting time of travel into the machine and so ending up with an Off-peak not Evening Out Return which can be used after 12pm Saturdays in a vain attempt to stop my Bank Account hemorrhaging. I get ahead of myself once more....
Back on the train at Hersham i would be doing a linear to/from Weybridge P3 before doing the same at Fleet and ticking off all parts of the Slow line at the same time. Ordinarily i would do more around here but i had spotted a short term opportunity at Southampton which is more than a hop skip and a jump away, but with one eye on track/moves that would be disappearing in the June timetable i wanted to take advantage of this one in particular. First i had to get there so i did this via Eastleigh. This service was not scheduled to use the Slow line after Winchester and it didn't disappoint in this regard. The next service South from Eastleigh would be stopping at P3b in Southampton and then a Southern Service was scheduled to be hard on its heels and terminating in P3a, whereupon it would do a quick turnaround and return East via Eastleigh. This return move will be no more from June but the real reason was that it would be reversing at Eastleigh and using P2S (see RTT) to do so, a variation which appears to be unique to this service. In the end it didn't turn out quite as expected but not all was lost. The Southern unit was turned in P2a at Southampton and then proceeded to use P3b at Eastleigh not P2s. Not sure why RTT uses the s suffix and the station uses the b suffix for the south end of the platforms but there we go. Bonus crossovers for me either way though. So, do i return for a go at P2b (or is it P2s) on another occasion? Hmm - not sure yet. There is a lot in my diary and not sure if it could be fitted in even if i wanted to.
Another Slow line run all the way back to Woking followed (from Basingstoke) after witnessing some young football hooligans in the making at Eastleigh trying (and failing spectacularly) to goad the Police into chasing them for some very obscure reason. I also noted a Travelodge outside the station which maybe helpful at some future visit. Once back at Woking I waited for the next Haslemere service as this was the terminus point on the line down to Havant today with a blockade to the South. This meant i could also complete the top half of this line so it was a linear hop at both Farncombe and Godalming before travelling to Haslemere P1 and a bonus crossover upon returning and my final linear hop of the day at Farncombe to complete the station. the best part of the day had now well and truly disappeared and it was time to get some fast line running done in the dark and start getting more things the other side of Clapham Junction in the completed column. So many lines to keep track of but thankfully the trip into P7 and then out again from P8 at Waterloo was an easy one to manage. I did go exploring a little uponm arrival and made my way over to P24 and back keeping on the platform side of the barriers. It kept me out of mischied in any event but by golly i will need to spend a lot of time here before too long so it was good to get a sense of the scale of things prior to planning anything further here.
Next up was an out and then back to base on the fast lines via a little station called Overton. Fast lines because i needed them and today was all about getting over the segmentation maps issue. I am pretty sure i will not be straying so far from my base for that day on future visits as i can then concentrate on the platforms, platform ends, missing track bits and crossovers that may present rather than go too far afield. Variety is the spice of life they say and today was an antidote to just noodling about on the same stretch of track. Loved it even though my Bank account didn't quite so much. A short ride back to the cheapest Premier Inn i could find and a couple of beers before heading off for some well earned sleep. Tomorrow promises to be different again.
| Basingstoke | Depart | 8.00 | ***** | SW | stations | platforms | ||
| Eastleigh | Arrive | 8.29 | P3 | SW | wait 21m | completed | completed | |
| Eastleigh | Depart | 8.50 | P3 | SW | 1 | 3 | ||
| Woking | Arrive | 9.45 | P1 | SW | wait 13m | |||
| Woking | Depart | 9.58 | P1 | SW | 1 | 6 | ||
| Weybridge | Arrive | 10.04 | P2 | SW | wait 29m | |||
| Weybridge | Depart | 10.33 | P1 | SW | ||||
| Addlestone | Arrive | 10.36 | P2 | SW | wait 28m | |||
| Addlestone | Depart | 11.04 | P1 | SW | ||||
| Weybridge | Arrive | 11.08 | P1 | SW | wait 5m | |||
| Weybridge | Depart | 11.13 | P2 | SW | ||||
| Hersham | Arrive | 11.19 | P1 | SW | wait 33m | |||
| Hersham | Depart | 11.52 | P2 | SW | 1 | 2 | ||
| Weybridge | Arrive | 11.58 | P3 | SW | wait 14m | |||
| Weybridge | Depart | 12.12 | P3 | SW | 1 | 3 | ||
| Fleet | Arrive | 12.38 | P2 | SW | wait 13m | |||
| Fleet | Depart | 12.51 | P2 | SW | ||||
| Eastleigh | Arrive | 13.30 | P3 | SW | wait 31m | |||
| Eastleigh | Depart | 14.01 | P2 | SW | ||||
| Southampton Central | Arrive | 14.13 | P3b | SW | wait 12m | |||
| Southampton Central | Depart | 14.25 | P2a | SN | ||||
| Eastleigh | Arrive | 14.37 | P3b | SN | wait 14m | |||
| Eastleigh | Depart | 14.51 | P2 | SW | ||||
| Woking | Arrive | 15.44 | P1 | SW | wait 38m | |||
| Woking | Depart | 16.22 | P5 | SW | ||||
| Farncombe | Arrive | 16.38 | P2 | SW | wait 6m | |||
| Farncombe | Depart | 16.44 | P2 | SW | ||||
| Godalming | Arrive | 16.46 | P2 | SW | wait 23m | |||
| Godalming | Depart | 17.09 | P2 | SW | 1 | 2 | ||
| Haslemere | Arrive | 17.22 | P1 | SW | wait 7m | |||
| Haslemere | Depart | 17.29 | P1 | SW | 1 | 3 | ||
| Farncombe | Arrive | 17.47 | P1 | SW | wait 41m | |||
| Farncombe | Depart | 18.28 | P1 | SW | 1 | 2 | ||
| London Waterloo | Arrive | 19.16 | P7 | SW | wait 33m | |||
| London Waterloo | Depart | 19.49 | P8 | SW | ||||
| Overton | Arrive | 20.45 | P2 | SW | wait 16m | |||
| Overton | Depart | 21.01 | P1 | SW | 1 | 2 | ||
| Basingstoke | Arrive | 21.10 | ***** | SW |
Last edited:
All platforms
Member
Day 333: Sunday 17/03/2024 - London Day Travelcard Zones 1-6 - £10.40 - Off-peak. Boundary Zone 6 to Meopham - £6.25 - Off-peak Return. CP Fownes Street Battersea Park - free (on a Sunday).
Total time today 736 mins - time on trains 467 mins and time waiting 269 mins. Stations completed today 1. Total completed 1726. Platforms completed at completed stations 3968.
"All the Stewart Lanes"
The main reason for today was to do the Stewart Lanes lines in daylight and see what i could craft around that. Quite a lot it would seem and i completed a whole bunch of track today even if only one station made it into the book as a completed item. Also a little easier on the wallet. Just as important to me today however was the added bonus of the Point Pleasant Junction to Wimbledon lines in daylight which i have been waiting to do for a very long time. The down side to this was it would need a starting point of Clapham Junction. Where on earth could i park up without taking a second mortgage out? It took me a long time and a thorough search courtesy of Google's Streetview, but i found a free zone only 5 minutes walk away - Sundays only though as it was a residential area. Plenty of space too so not taking up a residents spot, which is a good thing i guess. A few fun and games getting there however as my Satnav insisted on taking me directly to the closed section of M25 so i had to wing it on the fly with very little wriggle room timewise to keep stopping and perusing maps... Good job i invariably have a good sense of direction and after heading for Weybridge for 10 minutes my Satnav eventually relented on insisting i turnaround and plotted a new course - and at the cost of only 5 minutes on the original one. Phew.
No time for supplies at this early hour but there would be many opportunities before too long for this so i settled down for the 5 minute wait on P6 at Clapham Junction - or CJ as i wll call it now. It was certainly light enough as we set off and just ambled our way along with no sense of urgency present and eventually we turned off the main line and up a surprisingly high incline and a curve off to the left where East Putney on the District Line has its home. Interestingly there is a platform edge (with tactile paving) here for the big trains side of the station just before the lines merge, but why this has been done i couldn't say. Optional terminating point for the Underground?? Does it even have power?? Anyway it seemed an oddity to me as i passed through. Two more District line stations - Southfields and Wimbledon Park passsed by before we emerged at the other end and into P7 at Wimbledon. i did notice that P4 on the Underground side had power for the third rail installed so can this ever get used i wonder. I still need P6 here which is itself an engineering only option but it does get me thinking about potential P4 use too.
Only a few minutes wait and i was on the return leg starting from P5 and did it all over again. Good stuff... I would be travelling to Waterloo for track purposes and turned in P15 there before returning to CJ and a new platform in the shape of P16 where a Southern service would be shuttling all day up to Shepherds Bush and back. Not forgetting the bonus crossover there too in the process. CJ was very quiet so early in the morning but i wouldn't be returning now until i was finished for the day when it was much much busier.
A short hop to Victoria station - which has been one i have been avoiding if possible so far as its one of two London terminii UTT has yet to map in detail and keeping track in those circumstances wouldn't be easy. Cue my own patent pending blowup map of the station approaches to assist meantime. I will be a happy man when this one drops on the website. The rest of the morning and early afternoon will be spent traversing the Stewart Lanes lines into and out of Victoria. They do get occasional use but for the most part these are at the anti social hours end of things so i have been waiting for full daylight offerings - which is all day today!
I also have more bits of track missing from my London portfolio than i would like and have therefore crafted an itinerary that covers at least something on the wanted list each traverse. Not very exciting just to list each of these but suffice it to say i am very pleased with the outcomes and i will mention that i now have every option completed at Shortlands Junction for example after all this traipsing about. Most of the services would be long distance ones so essentially first stop Bromley South and then into Kent. So then, a combo of visiting different platforms at Victoria, and a few different variations of getting to/from Bromley South was to be the order of the day pretty much but first of all i decided to venture into Kent and turn at Meopham where a couple of vintage Motorcycles were in the Car Park with an appreciative audience of perhaps 6 folk chewing the cud over these blasts from the past. One thing i noticed was the station didn't have the BR red and white totem signs one might normally expect and this got me thinking as to just how many are missing from the network for whatever reason. I know there are some Regional variants as well - Greater Manchester have a few of these and a couple of other areas have there own variant i seem to remember. Something to have a look at when/if i have time. They are normally situated at or near the entrance to NR property and some are therefore quite a distance from the actual station itself. I remember the oddity that is Llangynllo on the Heart of Wales being an exception in that it is next to the platform but over shadowed by trees now and completely invisible from the roadside. You can work out how to get off the platform OK but getting on without the prior knowledge of having to open a very private looking wooden gate and go across the open courtyard (its not but its similar) and down the side of one of the houses with zero signage to assist can be a bit daunting. I think i am going to keep an eye open for the totem signs from now on if i have time to do so. Has anyone done a survey of these previously i wonder?
One other bonus i can mention is that the local stopping service also terminated at Bromley South P2 and so another bonus crossover was ticked for the return leg. Talking of bonus crossovers i got another one after i had exhausted the available options via Stewarts Lane by taking a trip to Crystal Palace once back at Victoria. Another terminating service there today so a lesser used crossover was utilised to regain the correct line. I had one more (two actually) things up my sleeve but i knew the first of these was not going to work. P1 is always promised to be in use all day Sundays but more often than not it turns out to be P2 so it wasn't a surprise to learn today was a P2 day. Not difficult to get on weekdays so it wasn't an issue but the return would see the use of the link into P4 at Purley which isn't often seen. This is because there was a shuttle to Tattenham Corner sitting in P5 there today. Happy days and apart from a bit of track into CJ following a final visit to Victoria (P18) that would be it. It has taken ages to map out my achievements today and i think i need to turn my attention to the London terminii now given just how much needs to be done with those. There are still more than 60 stations in London to be completed but that sounds better than the near 290 i started with. I have made a start on over 30 of the remaining 60 but its still going to be a while....
Total time today 736 mins - time on trains 467 mins and time waiting 269 mins. Stations completed today 1. Total completed 1726. Platforms completed at completed stations 3968.
"All the Stewart Lanes"
The main reason for today was to do the Stewart Lanes lines in daylight and see what i could craft around that. Quite a lot it would seem and i completed a whole bunch of track today even if only one station made it into the book as a completed item. Also a little easier on the wallet. Just as important to me today however was the added bonus of the Point Pleasant Junction to Wimbledon lines in daylight which i have been waiting to do for a very long time. The down side to this was it would need a starting point of Clapham Junction. Where on earth could i park up without taking a second mortgage out? It took me a long time and a thorough search courtesy of Google's Streetview, but i found a free zone only 5 minutes walk away - Sundays only though as it was a residential area. Plenty of space too so not taking up a residents spot, which is a good thing i guess. A few fun and games getting there however as my Satnav insisted on taking me directly to the closed section of M25 so i had to wing it on the fly with very little wriggle room timewise to keep stopping and perusing maps... Good job i invariably have a good sense of direction and after heading for Weybridge for 10 minutes my Satnav eventually relented on insisting i turnaround and plotted a new course - and at the cost of only 5 minutes on the original one. Phew.
No time for supplies at this early hour but there would be many opportunities before too long for this so i settled down for the 5 minute wait on P6 at Clapham Junction - or CJ as i wll call it now. It was certainly light enough as we set off and just ambled our way along with no sense of urgency present and eventually we turned off the main line and up a surprisingly high incline and a curve off to the left where East Putney on the District Line has its home. Interestingly there is a platform edge (with tactile paving) here for the big trains side of the station just before the lines merge, but why this has been done i couldn't say. Optional terminating point for the Underground?? Does it even have power?? Anyway it seemed an oddity to me as i passed through. Two more District line stations - Southfields and Wimbledon Park passsed by before we emerged at the other end and into P7 at Wimbledon. i did notice that P4 on the Underground side had power for the third rail installed so can this ever get used i wonder. I still need P6 here which is itself an engineering only option but it does get me thinking about potential P4 use too.
Only a few minutes wait and i was on the return leg starting from P5 and did it all over again. Good stuff... I would be travelling to Waterloo for track purposes and turned in P15 there before returning to CJ and a new platform in the shape of P16 where a Southern service would be shuttling all day up to Shepherds Bush and back. Not forgetting the bonus crossover there too in the process. CJ was very quiet so early in the morning but i wouldn't be returning now until i was finished for the day when it was much much busier.
A short hop to Victoria station - which has been one i have been avoiding if possible so far as its one of two London terminii UTT has yet to map in detail and keeping track in those circumstances wouldn't be easy. Cue my own patent pending blowup map of the station approaches to assist meantime. I will be a happy man when this one drops on the website. The rest of the morning and early afternoon will be spent traversing the Stewart Lanes lines into and out of Victoria. They do get occasional use but for the most part these are at the anti social hours end of things so i have been waiting for full daylight offerings - which is all day today!
I also have more bits of track missing from my London portfolio than i would like and have therefore crafted an itinerary that covers at least something on the wanted list each traverse. Not very exciting just to list each of these but suffice it to say i am very pleased with the outcomes and i will mention that i now have every option completed at Shortlands Junction for example after all this traipsing about. Most of the services would be long distance ones so essentially first stop Bromley South and then into Kent. So then, a combo of visiting different platforms at Victoria, and a few different variations of getting to/from Bromley South was to be the order of the day pretty much but first of all i decided to venture into Kent and turn at Meopham where a couple of vintage Motorcycles were in the Car Park with an appreciative audience of perhaps 6 folk chewing the cud over these blasts from the past. One thing i noticed was the station didn't have the BR red and white totem signs one might normally expect and this got me thinking as to just how many are missing from the network for whatever reason. I know there are some Regional variants as well - Greater Manchester have a few of these and a couple of other areas have there own variant i seem to remember. Something to have a look at when/if i have time. They are normally situated at or near the entrance to NR property and some are therefore quite a distance from the actual station itself. I remember the oddity that is Llangynllo on the Heart of Wales being an exception in that it is next to the platform but over shadowed by trees now and completely invisible from the roadside. You can work out how to get off the platform OK but getting on without the prior knowledge of having to open a very private looking wooden gate and go across the open courtyard (its not but its similar) and down the side of one of the houses with zero signage to assist can be a bit daunting. I think i am going to keep an eye open for the totem signs from now on if i have time to do so. Has anyone done a survey of these previously i wonder?
One other bonus i can mention is that the local stopping service also terminated at Bromley South P2 and so another bonus crossover was ticked for the return leg. Talking of bonus crossovers i got another one after i had exhausted the available options via Stewarts Lane by taking a trip to Crystal Palace once back at Victoria. Another terminating service there today so a lesser used crossover was utilised to regain the correct line. I had one more (two actually) things up my sleeve but i knew the first of these was not going to work. P1 is always promised to be in use all day Sundays but more often than not it turns out to be P2 so it wasn't a surprise to learn today was a P2 day. Not difficult to get on weekdays so it wasn't an issue but the return would see the use of the link into P4 at Purley which isn't often seen. This is because there was a shuttle to Tattenham Corner sitting in P5 there today. Happy days and apart from a bit of track into CJ following a final visit to Victoria (P18) that would be it. It has taken ages to map out my achievements today and i think i need to turn my attention to the London terminii now given just how much needs to be done with those. There are still more than 60 stations in London to be completed but that sounds better than the near 290 i started with. I have made a start on over 30 of the remaining 60 but its still going to be a while....
| Clapham Junction | Depart | 6.22 | ***** | SN | stations | platforms | ||
| Wimbledon | Arrive | 6.35 | P7 | SN | wait 6m | completed | completed | |
| Wimbledon | Depart | 6.41 | P5 | SN | ||||
| London Waterloo | Arrive | 7.03 | P15 | SN | wait 14m | |||
| London Waterloo | Depart | 7.17 | P15 | SN | ||||
| Clapham Junction | Arrive | 7.26 | P11 | SN | wait 5m | |||
| Clapham Junction | Depart | 7.31 | P16 | SN | ||||
| Shepherds Bush | Arrive | 7.46 | P1 | SN | wait 6m | |||
| Shepherds Bush | Depart | 7.52 | P1 | SN | ||||
| Clapham Junction | Arrive | 8.04 | P17 | SN | wait 28m | |||
| Clapham Junction | Depart | 8.32 | P14 | SN | ||||
| London Victoria | Arrive | 8.40 | P11 | SN | wait 30m | |||
| London Victoria | Depart | 9.10 | P6 | SE | ||||
| Meopham | Arrive | 9.59 | P2 | SE | wait 31m | |||
| Meopham | Depart | 10.30 | P1 | SE | 1 | 2 | ||
| London Victoria | Arrive | 11.23 | P5 | SE | wait 3m | |||
| London Victoria | Depart | 11.26 | P3 | SE | ||||
| Bromley South | Arrive | 11.57 | P2 | SE | wait 7m | |||
| Bromley South | Depart | 12.04 | P2 | SE | ||||
| London Victoria | Arrive | 12.35 | P3 | SE | wait 4m | |||
| London Victoria | Depart | 12.39 | P2 | SE | ||||
| Bromley South | Arrive | 13.00 | P4 | SE | wait 31m | |||
| Bromley South | Depart | 13.31 | P3 | SE | ||||
| London Victoria | Arrive | 13.47 | P2 | SE | wait 8m | |||
| London Victoria | Depart | 13.55 | P4 | SE | ||||
| Bromley South | Arrive | 14.11 | P4 | SE | wait 8m | |||
| Bromley South | Depart | 14.19 | P3 | SE | ||||
| London Victoria | Arrive | 14.39 | P4 | SE | wait 10m | |||
| London Victoria | Depart | 14.49 | P10 | SN | ||||
| Crystal Palace | Arrive | 15.18 | P2 | SN | wait 8m | |||
| Crystal Palace | Depart | 15.26 | P2 | SN | ||||
| London Victoria | Arrive | 15.54 | P10 | SN | wait 27m | |||
| London Victoria | Depart | 16.21 | P15 | SN | ||||
| East Croydon | Arrive | 16.44 | P6 | SN | wait 16m | |||
| East Croydon | Depart | 17.00 | P5 | SN | ||||
| Caterham | Arrive | 17.25 | P2 | SN | wait 4m | |||
| Caterham | Depart | 17.29 | P2 | SN | ||||
| East Croydon | Arrive | 17.54 | P4 | SN | wait 14m | |||
| East Croydon | Depart | 18.08 | P1 | SN | ||||
| London Victoria | Arrive | 18.23 | P18 | SN | wait 9m | |||
| London Victoria | Depart | 18.32 | P18 | SN | ||||
| Clapham Junction | Arrive | 18.38 | ***** | SN |
I have used a passenger train from Wimbledon P4 (have a picture somewhere), but it is very rare. P1-4 all have 4 rails (one being the 3rd rail!), so could be used in theory?
Was you able to catch a train into Victoria P2 via Stewarts Lane?... one little crossover on the approach that would only get used into this platform from the slow lines. Conversely, P1-P2 starts from Victoria to the slow lines are rare and use little used crossovers.
The weather on Sunday morning was less than impressive, but it looks like you made the best of it
Was you able to catch a train into Victoria P2 via Stewarts Lane?... one little crossover on the approach that would only get used into this platform from the slow lines. Conversely, P1-P2 starts from Victoria to the slow lines are rare and use little used crossovers.
The weather on Sunday morning was less than impressive, but it looks like you made the best of it
All platforms
Member
Day 334: Tuesday 19/03/2024 - Strathclyde Roundabout - £7.40 - Valid after 9.00AM. CP Newton - free.
Total time today 491 mins - time on trains 190 mins and time waiting 301 mins. Stations completed today 8. Total completed 1734. Platforms completed at completed stations 3984.
"Nae Cry Babies"
With the shackles somewhat removed as to when and how often i can do this exploring mularkey i really wanted to combine my enforced business visit to Glasgow with some more train and station action today. With business concluded a little earlier than originally anticipated i was at Newton station ahead of schedule to await a service up to Drumchapel, a station i didn't have enough time to visit last time i was here at the end of January, although that was a visit purely for pleasure. A good 40 minutes journey then to start my train day and off at Drumchapel for a short visit. I would be doing the short hop to Anniesland before using the bay on the service to/from Glasgow Queen Street, which for many years was my commute point back in the 1990's. I just missed the connection (as I expected i would) so had time to go outside and see if the area was still as i remembered. Access work was going on at the station and it took a few minutes to get fully off site as a result. To be honest not much had changed from what i remembered of the area - just a different type of shop to be honest. I counted 4 Turkish barbers in the immediate vicinity for example. I also spotted a tattoo parlour which had a red neon sign inside with the wonderful legend - "Nae Cry babies" lit up like a Christmas tree. Not something you would miss if passing by for sure. Wonderful stuff and entirely a Glaswegian thing. It rather made my day did that.
After the hour had passed it was a back and to affair for the next 4 station before breaking off to visit Queen Street for the first time in almost 25 years. Summerston, Kelvindale (single platform), Gilshochill (pronounced more like Gilshyhill and another of the place names in Glasgow that trap the uninitiated and triggering an unintended visit from the mispronounciation Police), and Maryhill were the 4 in question.
Queen Street looks a lot smarter than i remember but in the mists of time i cannot place in my minds eye just how grotty it was back then. Perhaps that's a good thing. I had my eye on a particular service a little later but for now i had just enough time to visit Ashfield and tick off some track and platforms at Queen Street, as i would be doing for the next few hours. A short wait on my return before boarding the Oban service and thus i was able to tick off some track between Maryhill and Drumchapel not otherwise used by local services. I would be turning at Dalmuir and fortuitously the wait was just over 30 mins before i could board a service from Oban to get the return track. One more station remained the oddly named Possilpark and Parkhouse, before returning one last time to Queen Street. Unfortunatley the return service was cancelled so i had to wait it out and this meant i wasn't able to do the relocating excercise i had hoped to do, not wanting to check in after 10pm!
I decided to have an earlier start in the morning to do the missing bits from this evening and so it was down to the Low Level Station and a short hop to Partick to await a Newton service. A stress free day and platforms 1 to 5 are in the bag at Queen street too. Another corner of the Glasgow Network is also duly completed. I do like a pint of Tennants when in Glasgow so that was my nightcap upon checking in. Where was i staying? East Kilbride - another cheap Premier Inn.
Total time today 491 mins - time on trains 190 mins and time waiting 301 mins. Stations completed today 8. Total completed 1734. Platforms completed at completed stations 3984.
"Nae Cry Babies"
With the shackles somewhat removed as to when and how often i can do this exploring mularkey i really wanted to combine my enforced business visit to Glasgow with some more train and station action today. With business concluded a little earlier than originally anticipated i was at Newton station ahead of schedule to await a service up to Drumchapel, a station i didn't have enough time to visit last time i was here at the end of January, although that was a visit purely for pleasure. A good 40 minutes journey then to start my train day and off at Drumchapel for a short visit. I would be doing the short hop to Anniesland before using the bay on the service to/from Glasgow Queen Street, which for many years was my commute point back in the 1990's. I just missed the connection (as I expected i would) so had time to go outside and see if the area was still as i remembered. Access work was going on at the station and it took a few minutes to get fully off site as a result. To be honest not much had changed from what i remembered of the area - just a different type of shop to be honest. I counted 4 Turkish barbers in the immediate vicinity for example. I also spotted a tattoo parlour which had a red neon sign inside with the wonderful legend - "Nae Cry babies" lit up like a Christmas tree. Not something you would miss if passing by for sure. Wonderful stuff and entirely a Glaswegian thing. It rather made my day did that.
After the hour had passed it was a back and to affair for the next 4 station before breaking off to visit Queen Street for the first time in almost 25 years. Summerston, Kelvindale (single platform), Gilshochill (pronounced more like Gilshyhill and another of the place names in Glasgow that trap the uninitiated and triggering an unintended visit from the mispronounciation Police), and Maryhill were the 4 in question.
Queen Street looks a lot smarter than i remember but in the mists of time i cannot place in my minds eye just how grotty it was back then. Perhaps that's a good thing. I had my eye on a particular service a little later but for now i had just enough time to visit Ashfield and tick off some track and platforms at Queen Street, as i would be doing for the next few hours. A short wait on my return before boarding the Oban service and thus i was able to tick off some track between Maryhill and Drumchapel not otherwise used by local services. I would be turning at Dalmuir and fortuitously the wait was just over 30 mins before i could board a service from Oban to get the return track. One more station remained the oddly named Possilpark and Parkhouse, before returning one last time to Queen Street. Unfortunatley the return service was cancelled so i had to wait it out and this meant i wasn't able to do the relocating excercise i had hoped to do, not wanting to check in after 10pm!
I decided to have an earlier start in the morning to do the missing bits from this evening and so it was down to the Low Level Station and a short hop to Partick to await a Newton service. A stress free day and platforms 1 to 5 are in the bag at Queen street too. Another corner of the Glasgow Network is also duly completed. I do like a pint of Tennants when in Glasgow so that was my nightcap upon checking in. Where was i staying? East Kilbride - another cheap Premier Inn.
| Newton | Depart | 11.34 | ***** | SR | stations | platforms | ||
| Drumchapel | Arrive | 12.12 | P2 | SR | wait 11m | completed | completed | |
| Drumchapel | Depart | 12.23 | P1 | SR | 1 | 2 | ||
| Anniesland | Arrive | 12.29 | P1 | SR | wait 61m | |||
| Anniesland | Depart | 13.30 | P3 | SR | 1 | 3 | ||
| Summerston | Arrive | 13.36 | P1 | SR | wait 39m | |||
| Summerston | Depart | 14.15 | P2 | SR | 1 | 2 | ||
| Kelvindale | Arrive | 14.19 | Single | SR | wait 11m | |||
| Kelvindale | Depart | 14.30 | Single | SR | 1 | 1 | ||
| Gilshochill | Arrive | 14.35 | P1 | SR | wait 38m | |||
| Gilshochill | Depart | 15.13 | P2 | SR | 1 | 2 | ||
| Maryhill | Arrive | 15.15 | P2 | SR | wait 14m | |||
| Maryhill | Depart | 15.29 | P1 | SR | 1 | 2 | ||
| Glasgow Queen Street | Arrive | 15.49 | P4 | SR | wait 13m | |||
| Glasgow Queen Street | Depart | 16.02 | P4 | SR | ||||
| Ashfield | Arrive | 16.08 | P2 | SR | wait 8m | |||
| Ashfield | Depart | 16.16 | P1 | SR | 1 | 2 | ||
| Glasgow Queen Street | Arrive | 16.24 | P1 | SR | wait 9m | |||
| Glasgow Queen Street | Depart | 16.33 | P5 | SR | ||||
| Dalmuir | Arrive | 16.56 | P1 | SR | wait 35m | |||
| Dalmuir | Depart | 17.31 | P2 | SR | ||||
| Glasgow Queen Street | Arrive | 17.46 | P2 | SR | wait 17m | |||
| Glasgow Queen Street | Depart | 18.03 | P1 | SR | ||||
| Possilpark & Parkhouse | Arrive | 18.11 | P2 | SR | wait 36m | |||
| Possilpark & Parkhouse | Depart | 18.47 | P1 | SR | 1 | 2 | ||
| Glasgow Queen Street | Arrive | 19.02 | P3 | SR | wait 5m | |||
| Glasgow Queen Street | Depart | 19.07 | P8 | SR | ||||
| Partick | Arrive | 19.13 | P2 | SR | wait 4m | |||
| Partick | Depart | 19.17 | P1 | SR | ||||
| Newton | Arrive | 19.45 | ***** | SR |
All platforms
Member
Hi. Good to know that Wimbledon P4 is a possibility albeit hens teeth rare. Hell will probably freeze over before P1 P2 P3 ever get used then...I have used a passenger train from Wimbledon P4 (have a picture somewhere), but it is very rare. P1-4 all have 4 rails (one being the 3rd rail!), so could be used in theory?
Was you able to catch a train into Victoria P2 via Stewarts Lane?... one little crossover on the approach that would only get used into this platform from the slow lines. Conversely, P1-P2 starts from Victoria to the slow lines are rare and use little used crossovers.
The weather on Sunday morning was less than impressive, but it looks like you made the best of it
I did get a P2 arrival at Victoria from the Up Slow, but hadn't appreciated how rare this might be. I had a feeling that today might be an excellent opportunity to get the unusual but without being able to quantify it. I have left Victoria to the end essentially and so have done so little prep work to know what i should be looking for. I agree the weather was less than ideal on Sunday morning but at least i was undercover for the most part (after Meopham that is).
On departure from Victoria all my services (P6, P3, P2 and P4) made a bee line straight for the Down Chatham Fast before branching left just over the river and onto the Down Stewarts Lane. I have still to look at the Battersea Reversible line to see how/if that ever gets used - so adjacent to Stewart Lane!
Kite159
Veteran Member
A few good days out and about
London Victoria in terms of platforms is probably one of the easiest of the main big* London terminals in terms of cost as other than the 2 platforms used by Gatwick Express everything should call within the zones (Clapham/Bromley/Denmark Hill etc)
(* In terms of number of platforms)
London Victoria in terms of platforms is probably one of the easiest of the main big* London terminals in terms of cost as other than the 2 platforms used by Gatwick Express everything should call within the zones (Clapham/Bromley/Denmark Hill etc)
(* In terms of number of platforms)
All platforms
Member
Day 335: Wednesday 20/03/2024 - Hairmyres to Busby - £1.65 - Anytime Return. Thorntonhall to Clarkston - £1.50 - Anytime Return. Hairmyres to East Kilbride - £1.45 - Anytime Return. Hairmyres to Glasgow Central - £3.10 - Anytime Return. Strathclyde Roundabout - £7.40 - Valid after 9.00AM. CP Hairmyres - £1.00
Total time today 563 mins - time on trains 298 mins and time waiting 265 mins. Stations completed today 11. Total completed 1745. Platforms completed at completed stations 4004.
"Glasgow Central day after a play on the East Kilbride line"
Up a bit earlier than intended as i want to do the few moves that would have been done last night if time allowed, so i was at Hairmyres not long after 6.00am and feeding a whole one pound coin into the car park ticket machine - like something of a bygone age these days with cash the only option and not something i am complaining about. Hairmyres is a single platform and i was on the first service of the day which was heading into Glasgow. I had barely got settled before alighting at Busby and hopping smartish over the bridge for a return service with a nominal 3 minute gap. Not an issue in the end but a very short stay here before going back one stop to Thorntonhall which gets my vote as the most rural of stations nearest to Glasgow. Not all services stop here so it was a good job that the earliest services do stop. I do love an early morning rural station all to myself so a very pleasant 20 minutes stay was enjoyed before hopping on board omce more - this time for Clarkston and and another sporty changeover, though again there was no need to rush as it happens. I just had time at East Kilbride to jump off and take a couple of pictures before it filled up with commuters. This would be a very busy standing in the aisles job before we reached Glasgow Central for my first visit of the day. Work on electrifying the line has just started and both Giffnock and Pollokshaws West are having platforms rebuilt which means only 4 car sets can be used rather than the more normal 6 car sets. I wanted to use this particular service into Glasgow as it one of the few that uses the Hairmyres loop (some peak services use this). Interestingly this loop will be extended as part of the electrification works which means i will have to return! Not due to be completed until the end of 2025 however.
The rest of the day would be spent bouncing between Central and the rest of the line before heading up to Barrhead and Nitshill mid afternoon. The line descriptors for Central are really clear and obvious on RTT with very few alternate possibilities, but i did keep a beady eye on proceedings as i went to and fro. As you may have gathered by now, i do want to complete all lines at major stations as well as all platforms so this will take longer to do as a result. Looking at the completed lines after today it looks quite promising that this can be do this without having to return too many times. So i bounced between GC and Giffnock, Thornliebank, Pollokshaws West, and then Crossmyloof before a bounce between Barrhead and Nitshill to complete those stations before a final visit to Central and the use of P11f and P10f. No descriptors on RTT but every announcement at the station referred to the front of or rear of each platform to my surprise. I will have to think about how i do this going forward, but for now i have recorded the use of front platforms where used today i.e. another complete set sat between that service and the buffers.
An earlier finish than is usual but this is a busy week (aren't they all?) and home cooked food was long overdue too. Just enough time to write this up before i am off again tomorrow, this time for a penultimate visit to the Northern bit of East Anglia. I still have 2 core targets to complete here but frustrastingly i cannot do them both in one day so it is what it is. I have however a very full day lined up with fancy crossovers, bits of platform ends and odd lengths of track all in the mix as well as a completion of one of my core targets. This one is very weather dependant as i don't want to get rained on in the middle of nowhere (there's a big clue) but it is still a bit of a gamble looking at the forecast. I just want to complete the Anglian grind as i have called it for many months.
Total time today 563 mins - time on trains 298 mins and time waiting 265 mins. Stations completed today 11. Total completed 1745. Platforms completed at completed stations 4004.
"Glasgow Central day after a play on the East Kilbride line"
Up a bit earlier than intended as i want to do the few moves that would have been done last night if time allowed, so i was at Hairmyres not long after 6.00am and feeding a whole one pound coin into the car park ticket machine - like something of a bygone age these days with cash the only option and not something i am complaining about. Hairmyres is a single platform and i was on the first service of the day which was heading into Glasgow. I had barely got settled before alighting at Busby and hopping smartish over the bridge for a return service with a nominal 3 minute gap. Not an issue in the end but a very short stay here before going back one stop to Thorntonhall which gets my vote as the most rural of stations nearest to Glasgow. Not all services stop here so it was a good job that the earliest services do stop. I do love an early morning rural station all to myself so a very pleasant 20 minutes stay was enjoyed before hopping on board omce more - this time for Clarkston and and another sporty changeover, though again there was no need to rush as it happens. I just had time at East Kilbride to jump off and take a couple of pictures before it filled up with commuters. This would be a very busy standing in the aisles job before we reached Glasgow Central for my first visit of the day. Work on electrifying the line has just started and both Giffnock and Pollokshaws West are having platforms rebuilt which means only 4 car sets can be used rather than the more normal 6 car sets. I wanted to use this particular service into Glasgow as it one of the few that uses the Hairmyres loop (some peak services use this). Interestingly this loop will be extended as part of the electrification works which means i will have to return! Not due to be completed until the end of 2025 however.
The rest of the day would be spent bouncing between Central and the rest of the line before heading up to Barrhead and Nitshill mid afternoon. The line descriptors for Central are really clear and obvious on RTT with very few alternate possibilities, but i did keep a beady eye on proceedings as i went to and fro. As you may have gathered by now, i do want to complete all lines at major stations as well as all platforms so this will take longer to do as a result. Looking at the completed lines after today it looks quite promising that this can be do this without having to return too many times. So i bounced between GC and Giffnock, Thornliebank, Pollokshaws West, and then Crossmyloof before a bounce between Barrhead and Nitshill to complete those stations before a final visit to Central and the use of P11f and P10f. No descriptors on RTT but every announcement at the station referred to the front of or rear of each platform to my surprise. I will have to think about how i do this going forward, but for now i have recorded the use of front platforms where used today i.e. another complete set sat between that service and the buffers.
An earlier finish than is usual but this is a busy week (aren't they all?) and home cooked food was long overdue too. Just enough time to write this up before i am off again tomorrow, this time for a penultimate visit to the Northern bit of East Anglia. I still have 2 core targets to complete here but frustrastingly i cannot do them both in one day so it is what it is. I have however a very full day lined up with fancy crossovers, bits of platform ends and odd lengths of track all in the mix as well as a completion of one of my core targets. This one is very weather dependant as i don't want to get rained on in the middle of nowhere (there's a big clue) but it is still a bit of a gamble looking at the forecast. I just want to complete the Anglian grind as i have called it for many months.
| Hairmyres | Depart | 6.23 | ***** | SR | stations | platforms | ||
| Busby | Arrive | 6.29 | P1 | SR | wait 5m | completed | completed | |
| Busby | Depart | 6.34 | P2 | SR | 1 | 2 | ||
| Thorntonhall | Arrive | 6.36 | Single | SR | wait 21m | |||
| Thorntonhall | Depart | 6.57 | Single | SR | 1 | 1 | ||
| Clarkston | Arrive | 7.02 | P1 | SR | wait 5m | |||
| Clarkston | Depart | 7.07 | P2 | SR | 1 | 2 | ||
| East Kilbride | Arrive | 7.20 | Single | SR | wait 4m | |||
| East Kilbride | Depart | 7.24 | Single | SR | 1 | 1 | ||
| Glasgow Central | Arrive | 8.05 | P3 | SR | wait 10m | |||
| Glasgow Central | Depart | 8.15 | P3 | SR | ||||
| Hairmyres | Arrive | 8.46 | Single | SR | wait 15m | |||
| Hairmyres | Depart | 9.01 | Single | SR | 1 | 1 | ||
| Glasgow Central | Arrive | 9.30 | P5 | SR | wait 17m | |||
| Glasgow Central | Depart | 9.47 | P5 | SR | ||||
| Giffnock | Arrive | 10.02 | P2 | SR | wait 11m | |||
| Giffnock | Depart | 10.13 | P1 | SR | 1 | 2 | ||
| Glasgow Central | Arrive | 10.31 | P3 | SR | wait 16m | |||
| Glasgow Central | Depart | 10.47 | P3 | SR | ||||
| Thornliebank | Arrive | 10.59 | P2 | SR | wait 18m | |||
| Thornliebank | Depart | 11.17 | P1 | SR | 1 | 2 | ||
| Glasgow Central | Arrive | 11.31 | P7 | SR | wait 26m | |||
| Glasgow Central | Depart | 11.57 | P8 | SR | ||||
| Pollokshaws West | Arrive | 12.05 | P2 | SR | wait 15m | |||
| Pollokshaws West | Depart | 12.20 | P1 | SR | 1 | 2 | ||
| Glasgow Central | Arrive | 12.30 | P4 | SR | wait 17m | |||
| Glasgow Central | Depart | 12.47 | P4 | SR | ||||
| Crossmyloof | Arrive | 12.52 | P2 | SR | wait 17m | |||
| Crossmyloof | Depart | 13.09 | P1 | SR | 1 | 2 | ||
| Glasgow Central | Arrive | 13.17 | P10f | SR | wait 10m | |||
| Glasgow Central | Depart | 13.27 | P10f | SR | ||||
| Barrhead | Arrive | 13.47 | P1 | SR | wait 8m | |||
| Barrhead | Depart | 13.55 | P2 | SR | ||||
| Nitshill | Arrive | 13.58 | P1 | SR | wait 19m | |||
| Nitshill | Depart | 14.17 | P2 | SR | 1 | 2 | ||
| Barrhead | Arrive | 14.21 | P3 | SR | wait 7m | |||
| Barrhead | Depart | 14.28 | P3 | SR | 1 | 3 | ||
| Glasgow Central | Arrive | 14.52 | P11f | SR | wait 24m | |||
| Glasgow Central | Depart | 15.16 | P10f | SR | ||||
| Hairmyres | Arrive | 15.46 | ***** | SR |
Last edited:
All platforms
Member
Probably another reason i have not been too fussed about doing Victoria before now, although the all lines in/out attempt may prove more challenging. (all as part of the main challenge of course - lets see) I think i have already done one of the Gatwick Express platforms on another engineering day but i will take a trip on that service at some point. A side quest is to travel on each TOC at least once so this will mean Heathrow Express (amongst others) as well from Paddington. A station i have shockingly ignored for over 2 years now.A few good days out and about
London Victoria in terms of platforms is probably one of the easiest of the main big* London terminals in terms of cost as other than the 2 platforms used by Gatwick Express everything should call within the zones (Clapham/Bromley/Denmark Hill etc)
(* In terms of number of platforms)
Kite159
Veteran Member
All the Scottish stations
All platforms
Member
Day 336: Saturday 23/03/2024 - Colchester to Manningtree - £4.40 - Super Off-peak Return. Anglia Plus Day Ranger - £18.70 - Valid all day at Weekends. Cambridge to Shelford - £2.80 - Super Off-peak Return. Cambridge to Foxton - £2.55 - Super Off-peak Return. Cambridge to Royston - £3.75 - Super Off-peak Return. Littleport to Ely - £2.15 - Super Off-peak Single. CP Claremont Heights Colchester free. Cambridge North £4.20.
Total time today 705 mins - time on trains 253 mins and time waiting/driving 452 mins. Stations completed today 1. Total completed 1746. Platforms completed at completed stations 4006.
"Noodling about at Cambridge before taking down Shippea Hill"
I had always promised myself i would complete Shippea Hill the first time i could this year, after failing miserably to return there last year after my initial visit in August. Always too many fish to fry and more productie opportunities always seemed to present. That walk out would have to be done in proper daylight as that A Road is busier than one might expect and there is no pavement and precious little verge at times. Today was the first time it was possible daylight wise this year and with the weather Gods promising me a rain free experience i went for it. But what to do for the rest of the day given that all other platform targets are now in the bag round here? All except one at Norwich which is also normally available on a Saturday but frustratingly not today (you win some you lose some with engineering works). I cast my net wide on the Greater Anglia Network and came up with quite a few minor targets that have so far escaped, so todays itinerary was the result.
First of all was a couple of missing crossovers at Colchester, which would complete that station for all available lines, with a few services departing from P4 up to Ipswich early doors and utilising a couple of crossovers to gain the Down Main. The down side was another very early alarm call and a 4 hour drive to my start point. I was a bit cheeky by parking where i perhaps strictly shouldn't have, but i used a visitor not resident spot and i was only there for about 40 mins early Saturday. Swathes of free spaces so bite me. I always try and play to the rules but got a bit bendy with that one.
Next it was time to retrace my steps to Cambridge which i had passed on my way down but Mr SatNav decreed i take an alternate route (probably saved me 30 seconds maybe) and then had to wrestle with my Parking Apps for a bit, so unsuccessfully it turns out i resorted to the pay online after departure (but before midnight) option that thankfully presented in the small print. I am no stranger to Cambriuge and its near neighbours on this journey but i had noticed quite a few loose ends including platform ends etc in common use at the planning stage so with many hours before i could attempt Shippea Hill i decided to go for as much as i could. My first journey here however was a short hop up to Ely, arriving in P3a from the South which oddly i have never achieved previously. A really common move but one that had escaped me so far.
With that safely ticked, i returned to Cambridge and awaited the next Liverpool Street service that normally uses P8 and another very common piece of track which is departing South from P8. I turned at Shelford with an inconsequential wait there. I did go looking for the totem pole sign, but found the sign stuck on the side of the ticket office building rather than up on high on a pole. Back at Cambridge it was time to switch to GN and a P3 departure which netted me another common crossover and a short trip to Foxton where i had a short turnaround so made sure i was towards the front of the train so i could scoot across the crossing immediately after the train departed. Having done so it was only a minute later that the barriers came down again. No chance for me if i had been at the back of the train... The use of the Slow Line into P3 at Cambridge does get timetabled when there is a potential conflict with the through lines going North, and if services are a few minutes different than intended this use does not happen. so, i was a little on tenterhooks as we approached Cambridge again on this promised trajectory. Another look at the ongong work for Cambridge South which has the majority of the platform faces installed but little else so far. I haven't checked but there appear to be 4 platforms in the making and the placing of the overhead stanchions suggests extra track is going in to/from Cambridge as well. Interesting. Something to return for of course. Did we do the Slow line into P3? Yes we did. Another service caught us up on the main line as we slowly made our way along. That was a good one to get in the bag due to the randomness of it actually happening.
Another couple of common crossovers was all that remained for me today and i get both of them on an out and back to Royston on the Thameslink services which were utilising P1 as the turn point today. Crossover to gain the Up Main then, and a small piece of connecting track into p1 on my return after a turn at Royston. I still have to do the P7 line Southwards as time to do so was not there today but this is an easy one. I will return when Cambridge South is open. As said earlier i do have one isolated platform at Norwich to do but for now the grind can be paused.
A trip to Wymondham allowed me to get some shuteye as the early start was making its presence felt. Please let me not miss my stop though as the return West is the once a week stopper (Saturday only) that calls at Shippea Hill. Not a request stop now, but i did double check!! I woke up at Attleborough so a big phew! I had oodles of time to walk back to Littleport. Keen hikers may be able to make it there for an earlier train but i will only press on these days if i absolutely have to, and to be honest with no pavement and a busy road you have to have your wits about you so cars passing both ways in your vicinity needs a preplanned move to hop onto the precarious verge to avoid being totalled. I had to stop so many times, and risk taking after a long day did not appeal, so i took it steady. Once again the highlight of the walk was the sign to the Drainage museum! It was that featureless otherwise.
Taking into account the pics at Shippea Hill i made it back in just over 2 hours. I reckoned i would have to make up 20 mins to have caught the previous service. it did stay light enough for me to get to Littleport and as i gained the platform there the last of the sun was just visible. Result. Another issue on the walk was that i was into the teeth of a, well i can't call it a gale on a technicality, but it did cause occasional unsteadiness and i was super glad when it was done. That is a big tick for sure.
I am away for a few days now for birthday celebrations, and whilst i have nothing planned in detail there are a number of Easter targets next weekend that interest me including Soho East/North both ways on the Sunday. I have done this from Wolverhampton twice now (both unplanned too) but i have not seen it timetabled towards Wolverhampton before so that may be a priority. The UTT site is down as i write for the weekly data upload so i can't check properly.
Total time today 705 mins - time on trains 253 mins and time waiting/driving 452 mins. Stations completed today 1. Total completed 1746. Platforms completed at completed stations 4006.
"Noodling about at Cambridge before taking down Shippea Hill"
I had always promised myself i would complete Shippea Hill the first time i could this year, after failing miserably to return there last year after my initial visit in August. Always too many fish to fry and more productie opportunities always seemed to present. That walk out would have to be done in proper daylight as that A Road is busier than one might expect and there is no pavement and precious little verge at times. Today was the first time it was possible daylight wise this year and with the weather Gods promising me a rain free experience i went for it. But what to do for the rest of the day given that all other platform targets are now in the bag round here? All except one at Norwich which is also normally available on a Saturday but frustratingly not today (you win some you lose some with engineering works). I cast my net wide on the Greater Anglia Network and came up with quite a few minor targets that have so far escaped, so todays itinerary was the result.
First of all was a couple of missing crossovers at Colchester, which would complete that station for all available lines, with a few services departing from P4 up to Ipswich early doors and utilising a couple of crossovers to gain the Down Main. The down side was another very early alarm call and a 4 hour drive to my start point. I was a bit cheeky by parking where i perhaps strictly shouldn't have, but i used a visitor not resident spot and i was only there for about 40 mins early Saturday. Swathes of free spaces so bite me. I always try and play to the rules but got a bit bendy with that one.
Next it was time to retrace my steps to Cambridge which i had passed on my way down but Mr SatNav decreed i take an alternate route (probably saved me 30 seconds maybe) and then had to wrestle with my Parking Apps for a bit, so unsuccessfully it turns out i resorted to the pay online after departure (but before midnight) option that thankfully presented in the small print. I am no stranger to Cambriuge and its near neighbours on this journey but i had noticed quite a few loose ends including platform ends etc in common use at the planning stage so with many hours before i could attempt Shippea Hill i decided to go for as much as i could. My first journey here however was a short hop up to Ely, arriving in P3a from the South which oddly i have never achieved previously. A really common move but one that had escaped me so far.
With that safely ticked, i returned to Cambridge and awaited the next Liverpool Street service that normally uses P8 and another very common piece of track which is departing South from P8. I turned at Shelford with an inconsequential wait there. I did go looking for the totem pole sign, but found the sign stuck on the side of the ticket office building rather than up on high on a pole. Back at Cambridge it was time to switch to GN and a P3 departure which netted me another common crossover and a short trip to Foxton where i had a short turnaround so made sure i was towards the front of the train so i could scoot across the crossing immediately after the train departed. Having done so it was only a minute later that the barriers came down again. No chance for me if i had been at the back of the train... The use of the Slow Line into P3 at Cambridge does get timetabled when there is a potential conflict with the through lines going North, and if services are a few minutes different than intended this use does not happen. so, i was a little on tenterhooks as we approached Cambridge again on this promised trajectory. Another look at the ongong work for Cambridge South which has the majority of the platform faces installed but little else so far. I haven't checked but there appear to be 4 platforms in the making and the placing of the overhead stanchions suggests extra track is going in to/from Cambridge as well. Interesting. Something to return for of course. Did we do the Slow line into P3? Yes we did. Another service caught us up on the main line as we slowly made our way along. That was a good one to get in the bag due to the randomness of it actually happening.
Another couple of common crossovers was all that remained for me today and i get both of them on an out and back to Royston on the Thameslink services which were utilising P1 as the turn point today. Crossover to gain the Up Main then, and a small piece of connecting track into p1 on my return after a turn at Royston. I still have to do the P7 line Southwards as time to do so was not there today but this is an easy one. I will return when Cambridge South is open. As said earlier i do have one isolated platform at Norwich to do but for now the grind can be paused.
A trip to Wymondham allowed me to get some shuteye as the early start was making its presence felt. Please let me not miss my stop though as the return West is the once a week stopper (Saturday only) that calls at Shippea Hill. Not a request stop now, but i did double check!! I woke up at Attleborough so a big phew! I had oodles of time to walk back to Littleport. Keen hikers may be able to make it there for an earlier train but i will only press on these days if i absolutely have to, and to be honest with no pavement and a busy road you have to have your wits about you so cars passing both ways in your vicinity needs a preplanned move to hop onto the precarious verge to avoid being totalled. I had to stop so many times, and risk taking after a long day did not appeal, so i took it steady. Once again the highlight of the walk was the sign to the Drainage museum! It was that featureless otherwise.
Taking into account the pics at Shippea Hill i made it back in just over 2 hours. I reckoned i would have to make up 20 mins to have caught the previous service. it did stay light enough for me to get to Littleport and as i gained the platform there the last of the sun was just visible. Result. Another issue on the walk was that i was into the teeth of a, well i can't call it a gale on a technicality, but it did cause occasional unsteadiness and i was super glad when it was done. That is a big tick for sure.
I am away for a few days now for birthday celebrations, and whilst i have nothing planned in detail there are a number of Easter targets next weekend that interest me including Soho East/North both ways on the Sunday. I have done this from Wolverhampton twice now (both unplanned too) but i have not seen it timetabled towards Wolverhampton before so that may be a priority. The UTT site is down as i write for the weekly data upload so i can't check properly.
| Colchester | Depart | 7.47 | ***** | LE | stations | platforms | ||
| Manningtree | Arrive | 7.54 | P3 | LE | wait 7m | completed | completed | |
| Manningtree | Depart | 8.01 | P2 | LE | ||||
| Colchester | Arrive | 8.08 | ***** | LE | drive + | |||
| Relocate to | ****** | ***** | ***** | ***** | wait 122m | |||
| Cambridge North | Depart | 10.10 | ***** | GN | ||||
| Ely | Arrive | 10.27 | P3a | GN | wait 26m | |||
| Ely | Depart | 10.53 | P2 | GN | ||||
| Cambridge | Arrive | 11.12 | P7 | GN | wait 8m | |||
| Cambridge | Depart | 11.20 | P8 | LE | ||||
| Shelford | Arrive | 11.24 | P1 | LE | wait 19m | |||
| Shelford | Depart | 11.43 | P2 | LE | ||||
| Cambridge North | Arrive | 11.57 | P3 | LE | wait 15m | |||
| Cambridge North | Depart | 12.12 | P3 | LE | ||||
| Cambridge | Arrive | 12.17 | P8 | LE | wait 9m | |||
| Cambridge | Depart | 12.26 | P3 | GN | ||||
| Foxton | Arrive | 12.35 | P1 | GN | wait 5m | |||
| Foxton | Depart | 12.40 | P2 | GN | ||||
| Cambridge | Arrive | 12.51 | P3 | GN | wait 42m | |||
| Cambridge | Depart | 13.33 | P1 | TL | ||||
| Royston | Arrive | 13.51 | P1 | TL | wait 5m | |||
| Royston | Depart | 13.56 | P2 | TL | ||||
| Cambridge | Arrive | 14.09 | P1 | TL | wait 11m | |||
| Cambridge | Depart | 14.20 | P4 | LE | ||||
| Wymondham | Arrive | 15.22 | P1 | LE | wait 11m | |||
| Wymondham | Depart | 15.33 | P2 | LE | ||||
| Shippea Hill | Arrive | 16.14 | ***** | LE | walk + | 1 | 2 | |
| walk to | ****** | ***** | ***** | ***** | wait 172m | |||
| Littleport | Depart | 19.06 | ***** | GN | ||||
| Cambridge North | Arrive | 19.32 | ***** | GN |
Last edited:
Kite159
Veteran Member
A productive day in Anglia
Were you alone at Shippea Hill?
Were you alone at Shippea Hill?
All platforms
Member
Not a sole was there.... and no platform number signs either... Both visits i have been the only one boarding or alighting. Hardly surprising i guess - it really is in the middle of nowhere.A productive day in Anglia
Were you alone at Shippea Hill?
Just Pilning requires a walk in and out now of the lesser served stations still to do (10 in total depending how you quantify lesser served) so that element is ahead of schedule.
All platforms
Member
I have just checked and it appears the East to North direction at Soho Junction(s) is not in use after all this Sunday. The early morning New Street to Liverpool Lime Street no longer shows on RTT so i am probably going to look at the Down Ilford Avoider instead which clashed time wise. The North to East Junction direction is still there however with 2 services from Wolverhampton to Milton Keynes indicating usage. The turn out appears to be at North Junction itself and not by way of the Up Soho Curve if this is of interest to anyone. Ex Wolverhampton 8.52 and 9.46.
All platforms
Member
Day 337: Saturday 30/03/2024 - Woking to Boundary Zone 6 - £8.25 - Off-peak Return. London Day Travelcard Zones 1-6 - £10.40 - Off-peak. Boundary Zone 6 to Wokingham - £7.25 - Evening Out Return. Martins Heron to Bracknell - £1.70 - Evening Out Return. Sunningdale to Ascot (Berks) - £2.00 - Evening Out Return. Virginia Water to Longcross - £2.00 - Evening Out Return. Woking to Guildford - £3.10 - Evening Out Return. Guildford to Clandon - £3.10 - Evening Out Return. Woking to Guildford - £3.10 - Evening Out Return. Woking to Surbiton - £5.50 - Evening Out Return. CP Woking Long Stay- £6.40.
Total time today 976 mins - time on trains 408 mins and time waiting 568 mins. Stations completed today 7. Total completed 1753. Platforms completed at completed stations 4022.
"May you live in interesting times - (Old Chinese curse)"
This promised to be an interesting London and thereabouts weekend, but interesting can be a good and bad thing, and so it turned out when you combine engineering works and signalling issues and come up with - the unexpected.
A bit of a dawdle down to Woking early doors, and the earlier dawns and good weather combined to make this one of the more enjoyable journeys of the year so far. With petrol prices creeping up again there was no point in engaging full throttle at any stage. Supplies were obtained courtesy of the ever pricy M&S, so perhaps negating any petrol savings haha.... As ever these days i had crafted the day around a few engineering rarities whilst still maintaining a beady eye on the main prize, but first i wanted to bag a few new platforms in London and then hoped to complete a couple of stubborn stations either side of Bromley South. Bit of a trek to get there but it would be worth it? perhaps not so much in the end, but i did get P12 at Clapham Junction in the book and then its counterpart at Victoria in the first couple of moves to get there. On saturdays there is a Thameslink service that most unusually stops at Bickley P3 and then Shortlands P3 before using the Catford Loop. RTT said it would be the same this weekend (and maintained this stance right up until it didn't), but with the line through Catford closed it stayed on the Fast Line through to Beckenham Junction. No matter, whilst in the area a couple of crossovers at St Mary Cray Junction were also in play. The first of these was a nope too but i did succeed with the second and i returned to Victoria. It was gone 12.30 already and not much to show, but the rest of the day would make up for it, starting with another new platform upon departure - P16.
The Reading service via Staines was being routed via Weybridge before a double call at Virginia Water (don't see too may of those!) and regaining the normal route. A triple crossover set at Weybridge saw me on the Up Chertsey, and a bit of a two step shuffle at Virginia Water as we would stop on P3, dwell, then proceed before stopping at signal 2217, dwelling again before reversing into P2 at VG for a double call and another lengthy dwell. All timed to coincide with the reverse services of course. I decided to stay on for the ride, and new crossovers and track of course before alighting at Wokingham.
Thereafter it was a zig zag back the way we came calling at Martins Heron (i really should look up why its called that - is it that abvious i wonder) Bracknell, Sunningdale, Ascot (Berks) and a ganders at the line coming in from Frimley, before returning to VWater for the P1 and P2 platforms there and an over long pause at Longcross. All stations bar the last one were well patronised and with my coat well and truly removed by now i had a ludicrously expensive coke at a local pub opposite the station at Wokingham, where you also had to pay to park your car it transpires. Possibly offset at the bar but i didn't ask.
Longcross is a real oddity with no access by car and whilst in the end i would have had time (if i had known the extend of the next service delays in advance) to walk out and see how far off the beaten track it really was. I vaguely remembered a least used station video where there was but one way in, but that was quite some time ago now and the private no access path which was a continuation of the way in is now a proper path and not overgrown. With my Totem Pole sign hat on i also wanted to go see if there was one of those, but the video clearly indicated there was no signage whatsover until you were on the platforms. Also a turnstile entrance to Longcross Films (is this right?). On the other side there is a very old padlocked gate that once gave access to the Golf Club at Sunningdale i believe (Wentworth?) but there was no evidence of golfists when i was there. Delayed by i know not what, the return service eventually appeared, but because of the slack timing at VWater we were on time again although we did spend an awful long time at the signal before reversing. This was because a train had failed in Weybridge Station and was blocking the line. The way round this was to traverse the Byfleet Curve and head into Woking before reversing and back up the fast line. I had hoped to get two unusual crossovers at Werybridge so that was the downside of this. The upside was that by being turned in P4 at Woking and by staying on the Slow Line all the way, there was the lesser used crossover into P4 at the last second rather than the more usual way which was to transfer to the fast so as to have the choice of P3 or P4.
This would help my end of day manoeverings and ensure an earlier night. The line South of Guildford was blockaded (till Haslemere) so lots of unusual moves into/out of Guildford today too - more of that later. Anyway, back up the line into Waterloo with only 8 minutes lost in the end and a brace of new platforms in P16 and P17. I am also getting a bit more adept at recording exactly what bit of track has been used in getting in/out of Waterloo which helps keep interest up. Just how much track can i score in these big terminii?
Interest was now being transferred to Guildford which would hopefully include some more stations and lesser used crossovers - both here and at Woking. Its only a fe days ago bit its a tad hazy as to the exact order of things but after arriving back in Woking in P5 rather than P4 as promised this gave a hint as to later troubles as i headed won to Guildford. I had some moves lined up the first of which was to Clandon from P1. The return would be a bit tight time wise so i asked the guard where the bridge was on the platform there - which stumped him for a bit. Anyway halfway was the answer which was as well as the return was incoming as i headed over it. Except it wasn't - it was a late running service albeit only by a few minutes. I jumped on just in case as i couldn't be sure and alighted at London Road when i was sure. Bonus platform and this enabled me to return into P2 at Guildford. Time to return to Woking and check in to my very reasonably priced Travelodge there before having a quick cold one before returning to the station to find that some signals were out meaning the only 2 platforms for through trains were P1 and P5. This made sense and would ensure i got certain options but not others. Once back at Guildford it became clear that the reduced capacity at Woking meant that my return was cancelled. Thankfully i did get back to Woking but only after an hour and ensured i missed my last intended move hence a wasted ticket to Surbiton. The bonus at the end was to utilise 2 crossovers frpm P6 Guildford that will not be in use once the summer timetable is upon us.
The ying and the yang then. A funny old day and nothing too vital was missed in the end. Lots of new stuff and my reward was another early start in the morning especially when you consider the clocks would be going forward, and an hours run up to Cheshunt for an Easter Sunday in the company of Greater Anglia.
Total time today 976 mins - time on trains 408 mins and time waiting 568 mins. Stations completed today 7. Total completed 1753. Platforms completed at completed stations 4022.
"May you live in interesting times - (Old Chinese curse)"
This promised to be an interesting London and thereabouts weekend, but interesting can be a good and bad thing, and so it turned out when you combine engineering works and signalling issues and come up with - the unexpected.
A bit of a dawdle down to Woking early doors, and the earlier dawns and good weather combined to make this one of the more enjoyable journeys of the year so far. With petrol prices creeping up again there was no point in engaging full throttle at any stage. Supplies were obtained courtesy of the ever pricy M&S, so perhaps negating any petrol savings haha.... As ever these days i had crafted the day around a few engineering rarities whilst still maintaining a beady eye on the main prize, but first i wanted to bag a few new platforms in London and then hoped to complete a couple of stubborn stations either side of Bromley South. Bit of a trek to get there but it would be worth it? perhaps not so much in the end, but i did get P12 at Clapham Junction in the book and then its counterpart at Victoria in the first couple of moves to get there. On saturdays there is a Thameslink service that most unusually stops at Bickley P3 and then Shortlands P3 before using the Catford Loop. RTT said it would be the same this weekend (and maintained this stance right up until it didn't), but with the line through Catford closed it stayed on the Fast Line through to Beckenham Junction. No matter, whilst in the area a couple of crossovers at St Mary Cray Junction were also in play. The first of these was a nope too but i did succeed with the second and i returned to Victoria. It was gone 12.30 already and not much to show, but the rest of the day would make up for it, starting with another new platform upon departure - P16.
The Reading service via Staines was being routed via Weybridge before a double call at Virginia Water (don't see too may of those!) and regaining the normal route. A triple crossover set at Weybridge saw me on the Up Chertsey, and a bit of a two step shuffle at Virginia Water as we would stop on P3, dwell, then proceed before stopping at signal 2217, dwelling again before reversing into P2 at VG for a double call and another lengthy dwell. All timed to coincide with the reverse services of course. I decided to stay on for the ride, and new crossovers and track of course before alighting at Wokingham.
Thereafter it was a zig zag back the way we came calling at Martins Heron (i really should look up why its called that - is it that abvious i wonder) Bracknell, Sunningdale, Ascot (Berks) and a ganders at the line coming in from Frimley, before returning to VWater for the P1 and P2 platforms there and an over long pause at Longcross. All stations bar the last one were well patronised and with my coat well and truly removed by now i had a ludicrously expensive coke at a local pub opposite the station at Wokingham, where you also had to pay to park your car it transpires. Possibly offset at the bar but i didn't ask.
Longcross is a real oddity with no access by car and whilst in the end i would have had time (if i had known the extend of the next service delays in advance) to walk out and see how far off the beaten track it really was. I vaguely remembered a least used station video where there was but one way in, but that was quite some time ago now and the private no access path which was a continuation of the way in is now a proper path and not overgrown. With my Totem Pole sign hat on i also wanted to go see if there was one of those, but the video clearly indicated there was no signage whatsover until you were on the platforms. Also a turnstile entrance to Longcross Films (is this right?). On the other side there is a very old padlocked gate that once gave access to the Golf Club at Sunningdale i believe (Wentworth?) but there was no evidence of golfists when i was there. Delayed by i know not what, the return service eventually appeared, but because of the slack timing at VWater we were on time again although we did spend an awful long time at the signal before reversing. This was because a train had failed in Weybridge Station and was blocking the line. The way round this was to traverse the Byfleet Curve and head into Woking before reversing and back up the fast line. I had hoped to get two unusual crossovers at Werybridge so that was the downside of this. The upside was that by being turned in P4 at Woking and by staying on the Slow Line all the way, there was the lesser used crossover into P4 at the last second rather than the more usual way which was to transfer to the fast so as to have the choice of P3 or P4.
This would help my end of day manoeverings and ensure an earlier night. The line South of Guildford was blockaded (till Haslemere) so lots of unusual moves into/out of Guildford today too - more of that later. Anyway, back up the line into Waterloo with only 8 minutes lost in the end and a brace of new platforms in P16 and P17. I am also getting a bit more adept at recording exactly what bit of track has been used in getting in/out of Waterloo which helps keep interest up. Just how much track can i score in these big terminii?
Interest was now being transferred to Guildford which would hopefully include some more stations and lesser used crossovers - both here and at Woking. Its only a fe days ago bit its a tad hazy as to the exact order of things but after arriving back in Woking in P5 rather than P4 as promised this gave a hint as to later troubles as i headed won to Guildford. I had some moves lined up the first of which was to Clandon from P1. The return would be a bit tight time wise so i asked the guard where the bridge was on the platform there - which stumped him for a bit. Anyway halfway was the answer which was as well as the return was incoming as i headed over it. Except it wasn't - it was a late running service albeit only by a few minutes. I jumped on just in case as i couldn't be sure and alighted at London Road when i was sure. Bonus platform and this enabled me to return into P2 at Guildford. Time to return to Woking and check in to my very reasonably priced Travelodge there before having a quick cold one before returning to the station to find that some signals were out meaning the only 2 platforms for through trains were P1 and P5. This made sense and would ensure i got certain options but not others. Once back at Guildford it became clear that the reduced capacity at Woking meant that my return was cancelled. Thankfully i did get back to Woking but only after an hour and ensured i missed my last intended move hence a wasted ticket to Surbiton. The bonus at the end was to utilise 2 crossovers frpm P6 Guildford that will not be in use once the summer timetable is upon us.
The ying and the yang then. A funny old day and nothing too vital was missed in the end. Lots of new stuff and my reward was another early start in the morning especially when you consider the clocks would be going forward, and an hours run up to Cheshunt for an Easter Sunday in the company of Greater Anglia.
| Woking | Depart | 7.45 | ***** | SW | stations | platforms | ||
| Clapham Junction | Arrive | 8.08 | P7 | SW | wait 33m | completed | completed | |
| Clapham Junction | Depart | 8.41 | P12 | SN | ||||
| London Victoria | Arrive | 8.49 | P12 | SN | wait 8m | |||
| London Victoria | Depart | 8.57 | P3 | SE | ||||
| Bickley | Arrive | 9.29 | P2 | SE | wait 20m | |||
| Bickley | Depart | 9.49 | P1 | TL | ||||
| Shortlands | Arrive | 9.53 | P1 | TL | wait 11m | |||
| Shortlands | Depart | 10.04 | P2 | TL | ||||
| St Mary Cray | Arrive | 10.13 | P2 | TL | wait 40m | |||
| St Mary Cray | Depart | 10.53 | P3 | TL | ||||
| Bromley South | Arrive | 10.58 | P3 | SE | wait 7m | |||
| Bromley South | Depart | 11.05 | P4 | SE | ||||
| St Mary Cray | Arrive | 11.11 | P4 | SE | wait 58m | |||
| St Mary Cray | Depart | 12.09 | P1 | SE | ||||
| London Victoria | Arrive | 12.37 | P4 | SE | wait 9m | |||
| London Victoria | Depart | 12.46 | P16 | SE | ||||
| Clapham Junction | Arrive | 12.51 | P13 | SE | wait 9m | |||
| Clapham Junction | Depart | 13.00 | P9 | SW | ||||
| Wokingham | Arrive | 14.25 | P2 | SW | wait 29m | |||
| Wokingham | Depart | 14.54 | P1 | SW | 1 | 2 | ||
| Martins Heron | Arrive | 15.02 | P1 | SW | wait 15m | |||
| Martins Heron | Depart | 15.17 | P2 | SW | 1 | 2 | ||
| Bracknell | Arrive | 15.19 | P2 | SW | wait 10m | |||
| Bracknell | Depart | 15.29 | P1 | SW | 1 | 2 | ||
| Sunningdale | Arrive | 15.39 | P1 | SW | wait 29m | |||
| Sunningdale | Depart | 16.08 | P2 | SW | 1 | 2 | ||
| Ascot (Berks) | Arrive | 16.11 | P2 | SW | wait 27m | |||
| Ascot (Berks) | Depart | 16.38 | P1 | SW | ||||
| Virginia Water | Arrive | 16.51 | P1 | SW | wait 9m | |||
| Virginia Water | Depart | 17.00 | P2 | SW | 1 | 4 | ||
| Longcross | Arrive | 17.04 | P2 | SW | wait 18m | |||
| Longcross | Depart | 17.22 | P1 | SW | 1 | 2 | ||
| London Waterloo | Arrive | 18.39 | P16 | SW | wait 20m | |||
| London Waterloo | Depart | 18.59 | P17 | SW | ||||
| Guildford | Arrive | 19.33 | P5 | SW | wait 12m | |||
| Guildford | Depart | 19.45 | P1 | SW | ||||
| Clandon | Arrive | 19.53 | P1 | SW | wait 2m | |||
| Clandon | Depart | 19.55 | P2 | SW | 1 | 2 | ||
| London Road (Guildford) | Arrive | 19.59 | P2 | SW | wait 7m | |||
| London Road (Guildford) | Depart | 20.06 | P2 | SW | ||||
| Guildford | Arrive | 20.10 | P2 | SW | wait 9m | |||
| Guildford | Depart | 20.19 | P5 | SW | ||||
| Woking | Arrive | 20.34 | P1 | SW | wait 111m | |||
| Woking | Depart | 22.25 | P5 | SW | ||||
| Guildford | Arrive | 22.34 | P5 | SW | wait 75m | |||
| Guildford | Depart | 23.49 | P6 | SW | ||||
| Woking | Arrive | 0.01 | ***** | SW |
Last edited:
All platforms
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Day 338: Sunday 31/03/2024 - Cheshunt London Day travelcard Zones 1-6 - £11.20 - Off-peak. Boundary Zone 6 to Shenfield - £5.50 - Off-peak Return. Brentwood to Shenfield - £3.00 - Off-peak Return. Boundary Zone 6 to Shenfield - £5.50 - Off-peak Return. Shenfield to Southminster - £10.05 - Super Off-peak Return. Althorne (Essex) to Burnham-on-Crouch - £3.60 - Super Off-peak Return. Battlesbridge to South Woodham Ferrers - £3.50 - Super Off-peak Return. CP Cheshunt - £6.00
Total time today 549 mins - time on trains 298 mins and time waiting 251 mins. Stations completed today 5. Total completed 1758. Stations completed at completed stations 4027.
"More unexpected moves, this time at Shenfield"
Thinking back it took about an hour to get to Cheshunt and then a bunch of time to get up to Shenfield via Liverpool Street, but the big prize i was going for today meant i needed to be in Liverpool Street by 8am. Again juggling competing offerings and it took almost a full day to work out what i wanted to do with what was available, and try not to set too many expectations. The Suburban Line into Liverpool Street was embargoed today so everything was running via Tottenham Hale and Stratford, and despite all services being squeezed onto the high numbers, the platforms i needed were not in use. However there was a win straight out of the gate with the use of the full Bow Line from Stratford P11 and i got to complete this in full finally. Time enough for supplies to be obtained once at Liverpool Street, this time from Waitrose i think. Oh and Greggs.
Crossrail was going to take me all the way to Shenfield, with the 8.03 being the only service timetabled to use the Down Passenger Avoider at Ilford as a one shot deal. Very satisfying to see that this worked a charm after previous disappointment. Lots of track at Shenfield today which is why i doubled back to Brentwood to secure this before returning to Shenfield. The line to Colchester was shut today so everything was going via P4 and P5 although for a while only P5 was in operation both ways which meant the platform staff had to constantly intervene to ensure everyone boarded the right service. Very confusing it was too. It settled down later but with P4 and P5 switched from what was originally timetabled, this meant a bonus bits of track and attendant crossovers for me as i headed off back to London. Another day of win some lose some but again i think i was better off the way it panned out.
The rest of the day would be spent playing on the Southminster Line, but not before another nugget of rarity with half the trains turning at Wickford P3 so a bonus crossover there too. Lots of information on all the stations about the line/station/area so no wasted time. Also The totems were all in place - all except at Wickford, and i did go for a good old search here. Southminster, Althorne (very quiet station this one) Burnham-on-Crouch, Battlesbridge and South Woodham Ferrers were all in the book by 2.30pm. A fascinating corner of the country this with open marshland being the order of the day and one of the saltiest rivers in England - namely the Blackwater at Burnham. Not sure what to do with that nugget of info, so take it with a pinch of err salt. The Bank Holiday weekend had brought out lots of surly teenagers but not sure if any had tickets, an assumption i was sure was correct when a ticket seller turned up on one of the services. Cue mass exodus at the next station. Don't think she was revenue though...
A shorter day than usual as i had my birthday tea to get back to so after one final new crossover at Bow Junction i was up the road to Cheshunt and in the car well before 4.30. Pedal to the speed limit all the way back for this one and i arrived back a good 40 minutes earlier than it took to get to Woking on the Saturday despite not much being in it mileage wise. What's next? Another business/pleasure trip to Glasgow this weekend but lots of options to consider so nothing set in stone yet. I have my eye on something a little different though.
Total time today 549 mins - time on trains 298 mins and time waiting 251 mins. Stations completed today 5. Total completed 1758. Stations completed at completed stations 4027.
"More unexpected moves, this time at Shenfield"
Thinking back it took about an hour to get to Cheshunt and then a bunch of time to get up to Shenfield via Liverpool Street, but the big prize i was going for today meant i needed to be in Liverpool Street by 8am. Again juggling competing offerings and it took almost a full day to work out what i wanted to do with what was available, and try not to set too many expectations. The Suburban Line into Liverpool Street was embargoed today so everything was running via Tottenham Hale and Stratford, and despite all services being squeezed onto the high numbers, the platforms i needed were not in use. However there was a win straight out of the gate with the use of the full Bow Line from Stratford P11 and i got to complete this in full finally. Time enough for supplies to be obtained once at Liverpool Street, this time from Waitrose i think. Oh and Greggs.
Crossrail was going to take me all the way to Shenfield, with the 8.03 being the only service timetabled to use the Down Passenger Avoider at Ilford as a one shot deal. Very satisfying to see that this worked a charm after previous disappointment. Lots of track at Shenfield today which is why i doubled back to Brentwood to secure this before returning to Shenfield. The line to Colchester was shut today so everything was going via P4 and P5 although for a while only P5 was in operation both ways which meant the platform staff had to constantly intervene to ensure everyone boarded the right service. Very confusing it was too. It settled down later but with P4 and P5 switched from what was originally timetabled, this meant a bonus bits of track and attendant crossovers for me as i headed off back to London. Another day of win some lose some but again i think i was better off the way it panned out.
The rest of the day would be spent playing on the Southminster Line, but not before another nugget of rarity with half the trains turning at Wickford P3 so a bonus crossover there too. Lots of information on all the stations about the line/station/area so no wasted time. Also The totems were all in place - all except at Wickford, and i did go for a good old search here. Southminster, Althorne (very quiet station this one) Burnham-on-Crouch, Battlesbridge and South Woodham Ferrers were all in the book by 2.30pm. A fascinating corner of the country this with open marshland being the order of the day and one of the saltiest rivers in England - namely the Blackwater at Burnham. Not sure what to do with that nugget of info, so take it with a pinch of err salt. The Bank Holiday weekend had brought out lots of surly teenagers but not sure if any had tickets, an assumption i was sure was correct when a ticket seller turned up on one of the services. Cue mass exodus at the next station. Don't think she was revenue though...
A shorter day than usual as i had my birthday tea to get back to so after one final new crossover at Bow Junction i was up the road to Cheshunt and in the car well before 4.30. Pedal to the speed limit all the way back for this one and i arrived back a good 40 minutes earlier than it took to get to Woking on the Saturday despite not much being in it mileage wise. What's next? Another business/pleasure trip to Glasgow this weekend but lots of options to consider so nothing set in stone yet. I have my eye on something a little different though.
| Cheshunt | Depart | 7.03 | ***** | LE | stations | platforms | ||
| London Liverpool Street | Arrive | 7.37 | P7 | LE | wait 26m | completed | completed | |
| London Liverpool Street | Depart | 8.03 | P16 | XR | ||||
| Shenfield | Arrive | 8.47 | P6 | XR | wait 9m | |||
| Shenfield | Depart | 8.56 | P6 | XR | ||||
| Brentwood | Arrive | 8.59 | P3 | XR | wait 17m | |||
| Brentwood | Depart | 9.16 | P4 | XR | ||||
| Shenfield | Arrive | 9.20 | P6 | XR | wait 11m | |||
| Shenfield | Depart | 9.31 | P5 | LE | ||||
| London Liverpool Street | Arrive | 9.57 | P13 | LE | wait 9m | |||
| London Liverpool Street | Depart | 10.06 | P13 | LE | ||||
| Wickford | Arrive | 10.46 | P3 | LE | wait 20m | |||
| Wickford | Depart | 11.06 | P1 | LE | ||||
| Southminster | Arrive | 11.35 | Single | LE | wait 31m | |||
| Southminster | Depart | 12.06 | Single | LE | 1 | 1 | ||
| Althorne (Essex) | Arrive | 12.15 | Single | LE | wait 11m | |||
| Althorne (Essex) | Depart | 12.26 | Single | LE | 1 | 1 | ||
| Burnham-on-Crouch | Arrive | 12.30 | Single | LE | wait 41m | |||
| Burnham-on-Crouch | Depart | 13.11 | Single | LE | 1 | 1 | ||
| Battlesbridge | Arrive | 13.24 | Single | LE | wait 36m | |||
| Battlesbridge | Depart | 14.10 | Single | LE | 1 | 1 | ||
| South Woodham Ferrers | Arrive | 14.14 | Single | LE | wait 12m | |||
| South Woodham Ferrers | Depart | 14.26 | Single | LE | 1 | 1 | ||
| Wickford | Arrive | 14.35 | P1 | LE | wait 9m | |||
| Wickford | Depart | 14.44 | P3 | LE | ||||
| London Liverpool Street | Arrive | 15.26 | P14 | LE | wait 19m | |||
| London Liverpool Street | Depart | 15.45 | P5 | LE | ||||
| Cheshunt | Arrive | 16.17 | ***** | LE |
Highly recommend using openstreetmap.org for finding the whereabouts of footbridges and underpasses on stations... has much more detail than google/etc. Looks like you had a good time in my neck of the woods on Saturday. If all goes to plan, I'll be in Glasgow next Saturday as well... you have been warned 
Kite159
Veteran Member
Sounded like two good days
All platforms
Member
Sounds like a good shout that - i always seem to overlook Openstreetmaps in the planning stage, but this time i plain forgot to look at Clandon until i was boarding the train there. No matter how much you plan there is nearly always something overlooked... As for Glasgow, my original intention was to do some missing track on the Stranraer line but with the demolition of the Station Hotel at Ayr taking forever i have had to resort to plan B which is perhaps a jaunt up to Oban on the Sunday and see if i can bag both platforms there (Sunday afternoon only possibility) before finding a decent curry house back in Glasgow. Monday was planned to be an early morning trek up to Kilmarnock for some key track before pausing for my business appointment and then having an afternoon on the lines either side of Paisley Gilmour Street and then heading for home before the rush hour traffic was up and running.Highly recommend using openstreetmap.org for finding the whereabouts of footbridges and underpasses on stations... has much more detail than google/etc. Looks like you had a good time in my neck of the woods on Saturday. If all goes to plan, I'll be in Glasgow next Saturday as well... you have been warned
Sorry i won't be in Glasgow on the Saturday...
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Member
Day 339:Thursday 04/04/2024 - West Yorkshire DaySaver Train - £9.50 - Valid Off-peak Hours. CP Merchant Gate CP Wakefield - £4.50
Total time today 236 mins - Time on trains 117 mins and time waiting 119 mins. No new platforms or stations today but new track pretty much eveyr move...
"Lesser used track in and around Leeds"
This was very much a bonus day. I found i had some free time unexpectedly and having been keeping my open to unusual moves i remembered that there are two unicorns in Leeds this week. i spent an hour to see if i could incorporate other unfinished bits and bobs and i found a couple so happy days.
A post rush hour jaunt up to Wakefield then where there was an hourly service to/from Leeds/Pontefract Monkhill with an embargo just beyond the station due to the landslip. My timings were that i had to do this element later on but the run into Leeds netted me a new crossover before landing in P12b. The other gensheet move today was to/from Dewbury where the services have been utilising the crossover at Batley East before calling at Batley P1 and Dewsbury P1. UTT has this crossover as clipped and padlocked out of use but i guess with all the Transpennine Upgrades there has been a rethink. Probably not been used for some time previously then so a good one to have as a tick. The return was by all the P1's back into Leeds and my second new crossover there as we landed in P16b. A lot of traffic using the high numbered platforms at Leeds and i noticed 3 possibly 4 uses of the through road to get to P12/P13 variants whilst i waited for the next Monkhill service.
3 (yes count them!) platform alterations for this service before it settled on P12d and a very quiet service left a few minutes down and utilising the crossover onto the Through Road before continuing without further deviation onto the wakefield Line. Also utilising the curve down to Kirkgate and across the lines via P3 there. A conventional arrival into Monkhill and a half hour wait before returning from P2 there onto the correct line on the crossover halfway to Tanshelf. Another rarity i am sure. I understand the line will be back open next week, but there was an awful lot of activity and heavy plant in evidence still. And that was that - apart from a final non rare bit of track that was missing from my book as we arrived at Kirkgate P1. Just 4 hours out and about today but i think a decent enough haul for the time spent. I don't miss that M62 afternoon crawl however on the return drive. I do hope to be in Glasgow Sunday/Monday but this will be a more leisurely visit than previous ones.
Total time today 236 mins - Time on trains 117 mins and time waiting 119 mins. No new platforms or stations today but new track pretty much eveyr move...
"Lesser used track in and around Leeds"
This was very much a bonus day. I found i had some free time unexpectedly and having been keeping my open to unusual moves i remembered that there are two unicorns in Leeds this week. i spent an hour to see if i could incorporate other unfinished bits and bobs and i found a couple so happy days.
A post rush hour jaunt up to Wakefield then where there was an hourly service to/from Leeds/Pontefract Monkhill with an embargo just beyond the station due to the landslip. My timings were that i had to do this element later on but the run into Leeds netted me a new crossover before landing in P12b. The other gensheet move today was to/from Dewbury where the services have been utilising the crossover at Batley East before calling at Batley P1 and Dewsbury P1. UTT has this crossover as clipped and padlocked out of use but i guess with all the Transpennine Upgrades there has been a rethink. Probably not been used for some time previously then so a good one to have as a tick. The return was by all the P1's back into Leeds and my second new crossover there as we landed in P16b. A lot of traffic using the high numbered platforms at Leeds and i noticed 3 possibly 4 uses of the through road to get to P12/P13 variants whilst i waited for the next Monkhill service.
3 (yes count them!) platform alterations for this service before it settled on P12d and a very quiet service left a few minutes down and utilising the crossover onto the Through Road before continuing without further deviation onto the wakefield Line. Also utilising the curve down to Kirkgate and across the lines via P3 there. A conventional arrival into Monkhill and a half hour wait before returning from P2 there onto the correct line on the crossover halfway to Tanshelf. Another rarity i am sure. I understand the line will be back open next week, but there was an awful lot of activity and heavy plant in evidence still. And that was that - apart from a final non rare bit of track that was missing from my book as we arrived at Kirkgate P1. Just 4 hours out and about today but i think a decent enough haul for the time spent. I don't miss that M62 afternoon crawl however on the return drive. I do hope to be in Glasgow Sunday/Monday but this will be a more leisurely visit than previous ones.
| Wakefield Westgate | Depart | 11.15 | ***** | NT | stations | platforms | ||
| Leeds | Arrive | 11.30 | P12a | TP | wait 22m | completed | completed | |
| Leeds | Depart | 11.52 | P13 | TP | ||||
| Dewsbury | Arrive | 12.10 | P1 | TP | wait 7m | |||
| Dewsbury | Depart | 12.17 | P1 | NT | ||||
| Leeds | Arrive | 12.35 | P16b | NT | wait 63m | |||
| Leeds | Depart | 13.38 | P12d | NT | ||||
| Pontefract Monkhill | Arrive | 14.17 | P2 | NT | wait 27m | |||
| Pontefract Monkhill | Depart | 14.44 | P2 | NT | ||||
| Wakefield Westgate | Arrive | 15.11 | ***** | NT |
Last edited:
Kite159
Veteran Member
A little productive day in West Yorkshire
1D53
Established Member
- Joined
- 2 Apr 2006
- Messages
- 2,704
Batley East was installed Feb 2023 and padlocked out of use then and commissioned in June 2023 and has been in working order since. It'll get plenty of use over the next 5 years.
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Ah.. that makes sense. The approach signage for the crossover did look rather shiny and new!
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Day 340: Monday 08/04/2024 - Glasgow Central to Kilmarnock - £5.80 - Anytime Return. Stewarton to Kilmaurs - £1.75 - Anytime Return. Johnstone (Strathclyde) to Kilwinning - £4.65 - Anytime Return. Strathclyde Roundabout - £7.40 - Valid adter 9.30AM Weekdays. CP Bishopton - free.
Total time today 571 mins - time on trains 202 mins and time waiting 369 mins. Stations completed today 9. Total completed 1767. Platforms completed at completed stations 4046.
"Partial accompaniment for the first time"
I had intended to have an hour or two near Stirling on the Sunday but best laid plans and all that meant this was not possible, and i had time to reminisce instead by visiting old haunts North of Glasgow from when i lived (or stayed in Glaswegian) there in the late 1980's and 1990's. Fundamentally the same of course but lots of small changes from what i remember. I still got the very decent curry i was expecting in the evening with my partner and we had a very pleasant evening.
Having parked up in the City centre overnight i was very handily placed to walk to Glasgow Central for an early jaunt up the line to Kilmarnock for track into P4 and out of P3 there from/to the North. I would be doing this via a linear hop at Dunlop as i was waiting for the Carlisle service to do these moves, and very handily (for once) the return would then be a sub 10 minute wait. A long hike up to the very front of P9 saw me board with only a minute or two to spare after thinking i had plenty of time. Technically a P9F departure then. but under my first service rules this does not count. There were also 2 other sets on the platform, so does the middle one become P9F again or remain as P9M i wonder. The station announcements always seem to refer to rear or front platforms, but i have heard the occasional middle as well. Perhaps Middle is only pertinent when this departs closely after the front? No idea but i will see if i can come to any conclusions on future visits.
Dunlop is a small village but a fair few passengers were on the Glasgow platform for the morning commute as i arrived, but i quickly went off station on a wander. Not a lot to see to be honest but i did poke my head in the Newsagents to see if i could source supplies. It was the most sparsely stocked shop i think i have come across. 3 different sorts of crisps, a very small confectionery selection, newspapers and a few cans, and that's your lot. I declined the offer to make up a roll - i wasn't inspired enough to say yes. Probably plain cheese or plain ham would have been the options. This whiled away some time and after taking some pics i didn't have long to wait for the Carlisle service. One thing of note however was that at Barrhead, just before Dunlop, we called at P2 not P1 as one might expect. the line singles shortly after and i guess being so early the usual crossing of services here hadn't commenced yet for the day. Slighlty irksome as i still need the North part of P1 now, something i hadn't bargained on. I still have a couple of Kilmarnock rarities to consider so hopefully these can all be combined efficiently..
I never seem to have a lot of time at Kilmarnock and this proved to be the case again with a short wait before returning down the line on a service originating at Carlisle. I would be turning at Stewarton, and then at Kilmaurs before the second linear hop at Dunlop and then a Glasgow Central arrival and back to the hotel to pick up my partner and the car. There was a small chance i could quickly swap platforms at Stewarton but with the layout and transfer points not intuitively placed i had no time to do so, and a visit to Lidl and Sainsburys was able to take place instead. Hunger was starting to creep up on me and i had ample supplies in my bag before long. If my life had depended on it and i had prior knowledge of the station layout i may have been able to make a quick transfer, but i wasn't on the clock today and happy to just go with the flow. i was less happy i had't picked up my coat however - not freezing by any means but those exposed platforms were making their presence felt.
With the car retrieved from storage it was off to Bishopton next after transacting some quick business/paperwork meantime and for the next leg i would be accompanied for the first time. There would be no sporty changeovers and a leisurely 2 hours was spent together in the Paisley area. I was a bit flummoxed by the ticket machine charging £8.00 for the Roundabout however (extra ticket now required of course) rather than the official price of £7.40 which i was correctly charged for earlier. Only 60p of course but its not the first time i have been overcharged by a ticket machine. I avoid them when i can as a result.
Paisley St James was the first port of call before returning to Bishopton much to the amusement of my partner. I did explain but not sure i got my point across haha. I can also commend the shop at Bishopton where bespoke sandwiches can be obtained if required. Next was the fading star of Hillington West which had an abandoned Industrial vibe to it. Didn't manage the East version of Hillington today but i can't think it would be much different. Not much action on the people watching front other than once again observing the West of Scotland trait of smoking/vaping on platforms. Very tedious!
I had planned this quite well i thought as the trip into Paisley Gilmour Street was via the last 2 crossovers into P2, before returning on the Up Gourock and Up Ayr all the way into Central station and a berth in P15, which was a tick. Also a tick was the track in and out of P15 as we would be returning to Gilmour Street via the earlier of the crossovers from the Down then Up Ayr Lines into P2 again. My partner was returning to the car from here, but i was off to Kilwinning for two tiny bits of track, orphaned from previous visits before returning via Johnstone and then Milliken Park. I got lucky at Kilwinning as the incoming into P3 was a few seconds late, so i could scoot over the bridge and through the doors just in time. Phew. I have no real recollection of Johstone or Milliken Park to be honest and with arrival into Gilmour Street P3 the day was almost done. A decent haul of 9 stations then, and a whole bunch of track including some quite awkward bits too so i was more than happy with this. A short journey took me back to my origin point this afternoon and a crawl on the M8 was my reward, although it wasn't as bad as it can be.
Looking ahead i hope to be be in SE London again on Saturday before returning a few days later for my 3 day Kent extravaganza. The Kent trip is already planned but i need to work out what i can do best on the Saturday. The Saturday morning timetabled for P3 at Bickley and Shortlands seems to be platform alterations currently so i need an alternative. It may still pay to go for for a 3 day Kent ticket (£30) for the Saturday only, but i am not sure yet. If i can knock out more awkwardness South of the Thames i may prefer that option. Lets see.
Total time today 571 mins - time on trains 202 mins and time waiting 369 mins. Stations completed today 9. Total completed 1767. Platforms completed at completed stations 4046.
"Partial accompaniment for the first time"
I had intended to have an hour or two near Stirling on the Sunday but best laid plans and all that meant this was not possible, and i had time to reminisce instead by visiting old haunts North of Glasgow from when i lived (or stayed in Glaswegian) there in the late 1980's and 1990's. Fundamentally the same of course but lots of small changes from what i remember. I still got the very decent curry i was expecting in the evening with my partner and we had a very pleasant evening.
Having parked up in the City centre overnight i was very handily placed to walk to Glasgow Central for an early jaunt up the line to Kilmarnock for track into P4 and out of P3 there from/to the North. I would be doing this via a linear hop at Dunlop as i was waiting for the Carlisle service to do these moves, and very handily (for once) the return would then be a sub 10 minute wait. A long hike up to the very front of P9 saw me board with only a minute or two to spare after thinking i had plenty of time. Technically a P9F departure then. but under my first service rules this does not count. There were also 2 other sets on the platform, so does the middle one become P9F again or remain as P9M i wonder. The station announcements always seem to refer to rear or front platforms, but i have heard the occasional middle as well. Perhaps Middle is only pertinent when this departs closely after the front? No idea but i will see if i can come to any conclusions on future visits.
Dunlop is a small village but a fair few passengers were on the Glasgow platform for the morning commute as i arrived, but i quickly went off station on a wander. Not a lot to see to be honest but i did poke my head in the Newsagents to see if i could source supplies. It was the most sparsely stocked shop i think i have come across. 3 different sorts of crisps, a very small confectionery selection, newspapers and a few cans, and that's your lot. I declined the offer to make up a roll - i wasn't inspired enough to say yes. Probably plain cheese or plain ham would have been the options. This whiled away some time and after taking some pics i didn't have long to wait for the Carlisle service. One thing of note however was that at Barrhead, just before Dunlop, we called at P2 not P1 as one might expect. the line singles shortly after and i guess being so early the usual crossing of services here hadn't commenced yet for the day. Slighlty irksome as i still need the North part of P1 now, something i hadn't bargained on. I still have a couple of Kilmarnock rarities to consider so hopefully these can all be combined efficiently..
I never seem to have a lot of time at Kilmarnock and this proved to be the case again with a short wait before returning down the line on a service originating at Carlisle. I would be turning at Stewarton, and then at Kilmaurs before the second linear hop at Dunlop and then a Glasgow Central arrival and back to the hotel to pick up my partner and the car. There was a small chance i could quickly swap platforms at Stewarton but with the layout and transfer points not intuitively placed i had no time to do so, and a visit to Lidl and Sainsburys was able to take place instead. Hunger was starting to creep up on me and i had ample supplies in my bag before long. If my life had depended on it and i had prior knowledge of the station layout i may have been able to make a quick transfer, but i wasn't on the clock today and happy to just go with the flow. i was less happy i had't picked up my coat however - not freezing by any means but those exposed platforms were making their presence felt.
With the car retrieved from storage it was off to Bishopton next after transacting some quick business/paperwork meantime and for the next leg i would be accompanied for the first time. There would be no sporty changeovers and a leisurely 2 hours was spent together in the Paisley area. I was a bit flummoxed by the ticket machine charging £8.00 for the Roundabout however (extra ticket now required of course) rather than the official price of £7.40 which i was correctly charged for earlier. Only 60p of course but its not the first time i have been overcharged by a ticket machine. I avoid them when i can as a result.
Paisley St James was the first port of call before returning to Bishopton much to the amusement of my partner. I did explain but not sure i got my point across haha. I can also commend the shop at Bishopton where bespoke sandwiches can be obtained if required. Next was the fading star of Hillington West which had an abandoned Industrial vibe to it. Didn't manage the East version of Hillington today but i can't think it would be much different. Not much action on the people watching front other than once again observing the West of Scotland trait of smoking/vaping on platforms. Very tedious!
I had planned this quite well i thought as the trip into Paisley Gilmour Street was via the last 2 crossovers into P2, before returning on the Up Gourock and Up Ayr all the way into Central station and a berth in P15, which was a tick. Also a tick was the track in and out of P15 as we would be returning to Gilmour Street via the earlier of the crossovers from the Down then Up Ayr Lines into P2 again. My partner was returning to the car from here, but i was off to Kilwinning for two tiny bits of track, orphaned from previous visits before returning via Johnstone and then Milliken Park. I got lucky at Kilwinning as the incoming into P3 was a few seconds late, so i could scoot over the bridge and through the doors just in time. Phew. I have no real recollection of Johstone or Milliken Park to be honest and with arrival into Gilmour Street P3 the day was almost done. A decent haul of 9 stations then, and a whole bunch of track including some quite awkward bits too so i was more than happy with this. A short journey took me back to my origin point this afternoon and a crawl on the M8 was my reward, although it wasn't as bad as it can be.
Looking ahead i hope to be be in SE London again on Saturday before returning a few days later for my 3 day Kent extravaganza. The Kent trip is already planned but i need to work out what i can do best on the Saturday. The Saturday morning timetabled for P3 at Bickley and Shortlands seems to be platform alterations currently so i need an alternative. It may still pay to go for for a 3 day Kent ticket (£30) for the Saturday only, but i am not sure yet. If i can knock out more awkwardness South of the Thames i may prefer that option. Lets see.
| Glasgow Central | Depart | 6.27 | ***** | SR | stations | platforms | ||
| Dunlop | Arrive | 7.02 | P1 | SR | wait 30m | completed | completed | |
| Dunlop | Depart | 7.32 | P1 | SR | ||||
| Kilmarnock | Arrive | 7.45 | P4 | SR | wait 9m | |||
| Kilmarnock | Depart | 7.54 | P3 | SR | ||||
| Stewarton | Arrive | 8.03 | P2 | SR | wait 35m | |||
| Stewarton | Depart | 8.38 | P1 | SR | 1 | 2 | ||
| Kilmaurs | Arrive | 8.42 | Single | SR | wait 20m | |||
| Kilmaurs | Depart | 9.02 | Single | SR | 1 | 1 | ||
| Dunlop | Arrive | 9.11 | P2 | SR | wait 31m | |||
| Dunlop | Depart | 9.42 | P2 | SR | 1 | 2 | ||
| Glasgow Central | Arrive | 10.21 | ***** | SR | drive + | |||
| Relocate to | ***** | ***** | ***** | ***** | wait 110m | |||
| Bishopton (Strathclyde) | Depart | 12.11 | ***** | SR | ||||
| Paisley St James | Arrive | 12.16 | P1 | SR | wait 7m | |||
| Paisley St James | Depart | 12.23 | P2 | SR | 1 | 2 | ||
| Bishopton (Strathclyde) | Arrive | 12.27 | P2 | SR | wait 12m | |||
| Bishopton (Strathclyde) | Depart | 12.39 | P1 | SR | 1 | 2 | ||
| Hillington West | Arrive | 12.51 | P1 | SR | wait 25m | |||
| Hillington West | Depart | 13.16 | P2 | SR | 1 | 2 | ||
| Paisley Gilmour Street | Arrive | 13.20 | P2 | SR | wait 13m | |||
| Paisley Gilmour Street | Depart | 13.33 | P1 | SR | ||||
| Glasgow Central | Arrive | 13.44 | P15 | SR | wait 5m | |||
| Glasgow Central | Depart | 13.49 | P15 | SR | ||||
| Paisley Gilmour Street | Arrive | 13.59 | P2 | SR | wait 11m | |||
| Paisley Gilmour Street | Depart | 14.10 | P4 | SR | ||||
| Kilwinning | Arrive | 14.27 | P4 | SR | wait 2m | |||
| Kilwinning | Depart | 14.29 | P3 | SR | ||||
| Johnstone (Strathclyde) | Arrive | 14.42 | P1 | SR | wait 18m | |||
| Johnstone (Strathclyde) | Depart | 15.00 | P2 | SR | 1 | 2 | ||
| Milliken Park | Arrive | 15.03 | P2 | SR | wait 19m | |||
| Milliken Park | Depart | 15.22 | P1 | SR | 1 | 2 | ||
| Paisley Gilmour Street | Arrive | 15.29 | P3 | SR | wait 22m | 1 | 4 | |
| Paisley Gilmour Street | Depart | 15.51 | P2 | SR | ||||
| Bishopton (Strathclyde) | Arrive | 15.58 | ***** | SR |
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Kite159
Veteran Member
A nice little day in the greater Glasgow area, I remember visiting Milliken Park well, an area you don't want to be hanging around after hours.
(BTW, I gather you have noticed that the bay platform at Fareham gets booked use from the June timetable change with a morning Fareham - Southampton stopper, rather than being used for engineering works or on an ad-hoc basis if GWR is running late that control spin it at Fareham instead of Portsmouth)
(BTW, I gather you have noticed that the bay platform at Fareham gets booked use from the June timetable change with a morning Fareham - Southampton stopper, rather than being used for engineering works or on an ad-hoc basis if GWR is running late that control spin it at Fareham instead of Portsmouth)
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All platforms
Member
It has not been a wholly enjoyable experience travelling all over the West of Scotland, as the ratio of questionables using the trains there climbs as high as anywhere. I will certainly not be using any but the largest stations on any evening jaunt in the Central belt too when i eventually move further East. I loved my time staying there for 14 years and made many friends in the process, but some stations are in areas non locals might feel uncomfortable with of an evening...
I am fairly sure i had noticed this when planning my trip to Southampton some weeks back but thanks for reminding me. Not done a whole lot about it yet which is why i am a bit fuzzy on detail currently. I am absolutely swamped with ideas now the weather is improving and have spent much time looking at the weird and the wonderful parts of the network with a view to not missing the highly unusual track opportunities, but there seems to be an abundance of this stuff on offer - for the next 3 months at least.
I am going to have a crack at Richmond P7 Saturday night/Sunday morning as my notes say this platform is only "theoretically possible." The line itself is shut on the Sunday so there will be no overground or underground trains that day, with the underground trains all going back to depot late Saturday, with the overground stabling there until first services on Monday. So two shots are available - the last incoming service 00.24 Sun, and first outgoing service 05.58 on Monday. P4 P5 P6 and P7 are all used for stabling. (Didn't look for P3). I will be coupling this with a day in Kent (the 3 day Rover still makes sense to use as a day ticket) before checking in at my cheap for saturday hotel before having a go at the Eton Riverside line as its fairly close to Richmond - and its still on my to do list.
A relaxed Sunday will follow on the MML taking in Brent Cross West and a bunch of unusual track moves and crossovers that will keep me busy the rest of the time. Kent follows for 3 days next week and i am still seeing if i can make it back to London on the Saturday for a daylight run on the Down Goods Loop at Finsbury. No rest for the wicked..
All platforms
Member
Day 341: Saturday 13/04/2024: (and 41 mins of the Sunday) Kent 3 Day Rover - £30.00 - Valid all day at Weekends. Staines to Windsor & Eton Riverside - £4.45 - Off-peak Return. Windsor & Eton Riverside to Datchet - £2.35 - Off-peak Return. Wraysbury to Sunnymeads - £2.35 - Off-peak Return. Staines to Egham - £2.90 - Off-peak Return. Staines to South Acton - £6.45 - Off-peak Return. CP Swanley £6.10. Riverside CP Staines - free (6pm to 7am).
Total time today 986 mins - time on trains 328 mins and time waiting 658 mins. Stations completed today 11. Total completed 1778. Platforms completed at completed stations 4072.
"Sweltering at Swale" and then "Winning the Richmond lottery"
This is a bonus couple of days (kinda) with todays itinerary designed to complement my itinerary later in the week when i will be spending 3 full days in Kent and hopefully adding to my station tally quite considerably during that time. Todays itinerary may therefore look a little (a lot) random, and not helped by a delayed service later in the afternoon which meant a slight change of plan. Notwithstanding this, it is not possible to spend much time in Kent without ticking off lots of platforms and by my usual standards, double figures in terms of stations completed is a lot these days.
With a late finish today i thought it best not to go too mad too early and in the car at 3.30am almost felt like a lie in for me compared with other London trips of late. It was still almost 2 hours before i would see daylight in any meaningful sense but no rain and quiet roads made the travel down uneventful (always the best descriptor). There is always the radio and old school CD's to keep me occupied and i also burn audio books and music in mp3 format so perhaps old school but not ancient school technology. I have little enough time normally to indulge in such things overmuch, and is another thing that keeps the interest high in what would otherwise be repetitive and/or monotonous journeys for some. I will probably have had my fill of the M6 by the time i complete this however!
My first target today was a little used crossover at Canterbury East (yay for engineering) and i chose a starting point of Swanley so as to maximise trainage with the Rover covering as far West as Swanley. Why the 3 day Rover for just the one day? Because it still offers extraordinary value by being multiple times cheaper than if i had bought separate tickets. This maybe the best value Rover of them all at £10 per day. My first service would be to Gillingham (Kent) and pretty quiet it was too and a carriage all to myself to start with, but it did start to fill beyond Rochester. My first platform therefore was the bay platform at Gillingham where the service terminates (der!). I did wander outside briefly to see if there were any supply type establishments and ended up with some confectionery which was not my first choice, but i needed something at that point, having been up for well over 5 hours already. I really enjoyed the trip down to Canterbury, and was something i had been looking forward to ever since holidaying not far from there some 5 or 6 years ago, and i had always wanted to return to explore further. With a fleet of RR coaches awaiting our arrival with the line to Dover out of action today it was no surprise to see the platform thronged as we arrived. Enough time to take some pics and wander outside again to look for the totem signage (didn't see any, but not enough time for a thorough explore) before returning to the platform and a gawk at the quite tall old signal box just off to the East of the platform. I will have to return again for P1 due to the arrival and departure via P2 but this is no onerous task.
The crossover duly completed it was off to have a first ganders at Faversham which boasts 4 platforms due to its proximity with the line to Ramsgate via Whitstable and Margate. There was a motley array of units stabled at the station including a Javelin set, and was my first close up encounter of such, with only fleeting glimpses at St Pancras previously. I would see a couple of these in action later in the day waiting for other services. One presumes these can be used with the Rover within the designated boundaries, and extra tickets needed for North of Gravesend/Ashford and use of the high speed lines to/from St Pancras. Keeping note of track into/out of Faversham i was off to Selling next, and my first station tick of the day was there. The countryside abounds with the blossom from the Hops grown in abundance here (and much of Kent it seems), and was an idyllic sight when travelling today - i do like this time of year - in fact late April/early May maybe my favourite period of all, and it was sooo good to be out and about without the need for a coat once again after the long winter.
Gradually making my my back in a Westerly direction i decided to have a look at the line up to Sheerness which meant alighting at Sittingbourne P1 and boarding the unit in P3. This is not a bay but the Eastern end gets little use, so becomes a secondary target of course. A surprisingly busy 3 car set then for the trip onto the Isle of Sheppey, but i would be turning at Queenborough first, where i was again surprised just how busy this station was with an array of likely sorts inhabiting both platforms. As its a quick turnaround at Sheerness i didn't have long to wait for my 4 minute trip back down the line where i would be alighting at Swale. Long, the least used station in Kent, i was surprised to see it had been supplanted by Kemsing one further stop down the line (according to Geoff Marshall's website). I haven't looked up the most recent stats but on my two passes of Kemsing today there was a double figures use by passengers each time whereas Swale was only 2 or 3. It was blooming hot at this Kent outpost, with possibly the least amount of amenities i have ever seen. No seat of any sort and only a dot matrix to keep you company. The sun was in full force, and with no shade i was forced off the station to seek some respite. there was a bus stop outside but that too faced the sun. There is a raised (overhead really) dual carriageway nearby which crosses onto Sheppey itself although the old road with a swing bridge is still there too. I remember there was an awful incident some years ago when thick fog on the bridge combined with vehicles at speed to caused one of the biggest pileups i can recall, and i wonder if the memory of this remains in the forefront still because the old road was in constant use, which is a far cry from when i was passing through about 15 years ago in the daytime when it was almost deserted. I was staying at Chatham on business at that time and i am an inveterate explorer and seek out the less travelled byways. I digress...
Sheerness-on-Sea was my next goal and crikey the service in and out was busy with pretty much all seats taken. The decent weather had brought out the masses, but with a 5 minute turnaround i had no time to look outside on this occasion. I did have a good look around all those years ago and i don't think there was much to excite me. The Adlestrop map shows a couple of short freight routes close to the station but i would be amazed if they are still in use with so much overgrown and (very) rusty rails the order of the day. Perhaps i should mention that all services use P1 at Sheerness although P2 does also exist with a display board still in use and the surface in decent(ish) condition. I remember seeing an afternoon service on Christmas eve last year using this platform, but that would have been a cheeky ask to come and do. It also used the curve back to Rainham (rather than the one to Sittingbourne) so that really would have been a clapping of hands day for anyone looking for that.
Back at Sittingbourne, it was a short wait before the hop to Rainham, which has 3 platforms, one of which is a platform zero, and is used by Thameslink terminators. One for another day that one. I would be returning east to take in my 4th and last Kent station completion for today at Newington. The platform lines are longish loops from almost as far back as Rainham itself before returning to 2 track just beyond the station. This was another quietish station in terms of today but with a 10 car due to take me West again there were huge gaps between punters on the platform. It seems they are well versed at spacing themselves out here unlike other parts of the network. It was always going to be a linear hop at Rochester, to get me back on the line to Swanley, but a rare delay on the service from Ramsgate meant i didn't have enough time to turn at Longfield, instead deciding to linear hop at Sole Street where services cross timewise. I was planning to return here in early May when the line East from here is closed and P1 is in use all day with a bonus crossover to boot. All is not lost then. Longfield will be an easy one to do at that time too. It was also perfect timing to call at the station Pub as the Grand National was about to start (my only foray into horse racing) and a cold one as a bonus. One of the better races of recent years to my mind and before i knew it i was back on the platform and waiting for the return to Swanley. Only marred by an impossibly thin teenager placing the soles of her shoes in a myriad of positions on the 3 seats available as she interrogated her phone. She was probably oblivious she was doing it but even so......
Time for a change of scenery and a check-in at my hotel which was in Staines this evening. With free parking commencing at 6pm i was in no hurry to get there, and to cut a boring story short i was there when i needed to be. No rest for the wicked and straight out again for this evenings entertainment. The station itself was a few minutes away, but even so it was a bit further than it looked on paper. The pathway was full so i just went with it, and arrived in good order nevertheless. It was time to do the Windsor and Eton Riverside branch, and for whatever reason i had been placing further down the London priority list, perhaps subconciously. Oh yes that's right - the timings at the far end of the line are rubbish and 4 stations take a good few hours to complete!! The terminus uses P1 and P2 in turn for the most part and with a lengthy dwell the next incoming is only a few minutes after a departure which means almost 2 hours just to do both platforms as well as Datchet. The castle is very much in evidence when you exit the station and a whole bunch of related themes for most of the retail outlets in the vicinity are much in evidence. Windsor is a place i have visited a couple of times, but the area around the station (well both of them come to think of it) is new to me. I had time to have a good old mooch so that's what i did on both visits this evening. I had more time to kill at Datchet, which is picture postcard pretty, but the pub in the centre had seen (much) better days upon poking my head in - all in the interests of science dontcha know...
Tha last stations were done in the dark and only took 20 mins or so after all the hanging about at the top of the line. Wraysbury, and then Sunnymeads which has an island platform arrangement. Totems in evidence on both occasions. Which reminds me the one at Swanley is so far from the actual station it has to be a contender for the "furthest away" award. Google maps suggests it is about 200metres away! Back at Staines and then on to Egham which completes this part of the world for stations. Just a one station hop , but it took me past the 10pm mark. The pedstrian flows were starting to slow by this time (not unexpectedly) and i was looking forward to spending some time at Richmond to assess my last moves of the day.
I have no idea how many times P7 at Richmond gets used but its something i have never seen timetabled before tonight. It has always been a semi mythical platform when i have tried to research how feasible it might be with little info available. I had some confidence it would work because the Underground sets were all going back to the depot according to RTT and the last few Overground services would be stabling there over the rest of the weekend with P3 being left empty. They would empty first thing Monday with the first few services of the day being used for that purpose. No trains at all on the line on the Sunday. Would it work? and could i ensure getting back to Staines if something went wrong? Armed with the knowledge that the last incoming had left Stratford i took the last outbound Overground service with the bonus of being able to tick off an outlying station on the line - South Acton, which i had deliberately left for this (slim) possibility actually occurring. I was glad of the wriggle room for all this as the last service was late departing, but that was fine as that reduced the time at South Acton, which was still manned at Midnight i was to learn. Totem found, it was the last of a long series of waits today before boarding the final Richmond service. This also lost time as it slowly made its way to its destination. Would it end up in P7 though?? Eventually i was put out my misery and we did indeed do that last bit of track and crossed over into P7 for a most welcome win. This must be a top 5 achievement for me i think, certainly so far anyway. Again i have no idea how easy or difficult this may have been to achieve in previous years but for now its a rarity for sure. I still have a P6 departure for track purposes and one last station on the line (Acton Central) to have a go at, but Richmond is complete for platforms. With the delays it was a bit of a squeeze to get across to P1 for my preferred service back to Staines but there was a back up service also available so it wasn't super important. I was kinda surprised to see M&S still open on first arriving at Richmond and so i was able to gather in some bonus early supplies for tomorrow.
Back at Staines it was another slightly longer than expected walk back to the hotel and a promised 5 hours sleep before starting it all again in the morning.
Total time today 986 mins - time on trains 328 mins and time waiting 658 mins. Stations completed today 11. Total completed 1778. Platforms completed at completed stations 4072.
"Sweltering at Swale" and then "Winning the Richmond lottery"
This is a bonus couple of days (kinda) with todays itinerary designed to complement my itinerary later in the week when i will be spending 3 full days in Kent and hopefully adding to my station tally quite considerably during that time. Todays itinerary may therefore look a little (a lot) random, and not helped by a delayed service later in the afternoon which meant a slight change of plan. Notwithstanding this, it is not possible to spend much time in Kent without ticking off lots of platforms and by my usual standards, double figures in terms of stations completed is a lot these days.
With a late finish today i thought it best not to go too mad too early and in the car at 3.30am almost felt like a lie in for me compared with other London trips of late. It was still almost 2 hours before i would see daylight in any meaningful sense but no rain and quiet roads made the travel down uneventful (always the best descriptor). There is always the radio and old school CD's to keep me occupied and i also burn audio books and music in mp3 format so perhaps old school but not ancient school technology. I have little enough time normally to indulge in such things overmuch, and is another thing that keeps the interest high in what would otherwise be repetitive and/or monotonous journeys for some. I will probably have had my fill of the M6 by the time i complete this however!
My first target today was a little used crossover at Canterbury East (yay for engineering) and i chose a starting point of Swanley so as to maximise trainage with the Rover covering as far West as Swanley. Why the 3 day Rover for just the one day? Because it still offers extraordinary value by being multiple times cheaper than if i had bought separate tickets. This maybe the best value Rover of them all at £10 per day. My first service would be to Gillingham (Kent) and pretty quiet it was too and a carriage all to myself to start with, but it did start to fill beyond Rochester. My first platform therefore was the bay platform at Gillingham where the service terminates (der!). I did wander outside briefly to see if there were any supply type establishments and ended up with some confectionery which was not my first choice, but i needed something at that point, having been up for well over 5 hours already. I really enjoyed the trip down to Canterbury, and was something i had been looking forward to ever since holidaying not far from there some 5 or 6 years ago, and i had always wanted to return to explore further. With a fleet of RR coaches awaiting our arrival with the line to Dover out of action today it was no surprise to see the platform thronged as we arrived. Enough time to take some pics and wander outside again to look for the totem signage (didn't see any, but not enough time for a thorough explore) before returning to the platform and a gawk at the quite tall old signal box just off to the East of the platform. I will have to return again for P1 due to the arrival and departure via P2 but this is no onerous task.
The crossover duly completed it was off to have a first ganders at Faversham which boasts 4 platforms due to its proximity with the line to Ramsgate via Whitstable and Margate. There was a motley array of units stabled at the station including a Javelin set, and was my first close up encounter of such, with only fleeting glimpses at St Pancras previously. I would see a couple of these in action later in the day waiting for other services. One presumes these can be used with the Rover within the designated boundaries, and extra tickets needed for North of Gravesend/Ashford and use of the high speed lines to/from St Pancras. Keeping note of track into/out of Faversham i was off to Selling next, and my first station tick of the day was there. The countryside abounds with the blossom from the Hops grown in abundance here (and much of Kent it seems), and was an idyllic sight when travelling today - i do like this time of year - in fact late April/early May maybe my favourite period of all, and it was sooo good to be out and about without the need for a coat once again after the long winter.
Gradually making my my back in a Westerly direction i decided to have a look at the line up to Sheerness which meant alighting at Sittingbourne P1 and boarding the unit in P3. This is not a bay but the Eastern end gets little use, so becomes a secondary target of course. A surprisingly busy 3 car set then for the trip onto the Isle of Sheppey, but i would be turning at Queenborough first, where i was again surprised just how busy this station was with an array of likely sorts inhabiting both platforms. As its a quick turnaround at Sheerness i didn't have long to wait for my 4 minute trip back down the line where i would be alighting at Swale. Long, the least used station in Kent, i was surprised to see it had been supplanted by Kemsing one further stop down the line (according to Geoff Marshall's website). I haven't looked up the most recent stats but on my two passes of Kemsing today there was a double figures use by passengers each time whereas Swale was only 2 or 3. It was blooming hot at this Kent outpost, with possibly the least amount of amenities i have ever seen. No seat of any sort and only a dot matrix to keep you company. The sun was in full force, and with no shade i was forced off the station to seek some respite. there was a bus stop outside but that too faced the sun. There is a raised (overhead really) dual carriageway nearby which crosses onto Sheppey itself although the old road with a swing bridge is still there too. I remember there was an awful incident some years ago when thick fog on the bridge combined with vehicles at speed to caused one of the biggest pileups i can recall, and i wonder if the memory of this remains in the forefront still because the old road was in constant use, which is a far cry from when i was passing through about 15 years ago in the daytime when it was almost deserted. I was staying at Chatham on business at that time and i am an inveterate explorer and seek out the less travelled byways. I digress...
Sheerness-on-Sea was my next goal and crikey the service in and out was busy with pretty much all seats taken. The decent weather had brought out the masses, but with a 5 minute turnaround i had no time to look outside on this occasion. I did have a good look around all those years ago and i don't think there was much to excite me. The Adlestrop map shows a couple of short freight routes close to the station but i would be amazed if they are still in use with so much overgrown and (very) rusty rails the order of the day. Perhaps i should mention that all services use P1 at Sheerness although P2 does also exist with a display board still in use and the surface in decent(ish) condition. I remember seeing an afternoon service on Christmas eve last year using this platform, but that would have been a cheeky ask to come and do. It also used the curve back to Rainham (rather than the one to Sittingbourne) so that really would have been a clapping of hands day for anyone looking for that.
Back at Sittingbourne, it was a short wait before the hop to Rainham, which has 3 platforms, one of which is a platform zero, and is used by Thameslink terminators. One for another day that one. I would be returning east to take in my 4th and last Kent station completion for today at Newington. The platform lines are longish loops from almost as far back as Rainham itself before returning to 2 track just beyond the station. This was another quietish station in terms of today but with a 10 car due to take me West again there were huge gaps between punters on the platform. It seems they are well versed at spacing themselves out here unlike other parts of the network. It was always going to be a linear hop at Rochester, to get me back on the line to Swanley, but a rare delay on the service from Ramsgate meant i didn't have enough time to turn at Longfield, instead deciding to linear hop at Sole Street where services cross timewise. I was planning to return here in early May when the line East from here is closed and P1 is in use all day with a bonus crossover to boot. All is not lost then. Longfield will be an easy one to do at that time too. It was also perfect timing to call at the station Pub as the Grand National was about to start (my only foray into horse racing) and a cold one as a bonus. One of the better races of recent years to my mind and before i knew it i was back on the platform and waiting for the return to Swanley. Only marred by an impossibly thin teenager placing the soles of her shoes in a myriad of positions on the 3 seats available as she interrogated her phone. She was probably oblivious she was doing it but even so......
Time for a change of scenery and a check-in at my hotel which was in Staines this evening. With free parking commencing at 6pm i was in no hurry to get there, and to cut a boring story short i was there when i needed to be. No rest for the wicked and straight out again for this evenings entertainment. The station itself was a few minutes away, but even so it was a bit further than it looked on paper. The pathway was full so i just went with it, and arrived in good order nevertheless. It was time to do the Windsor and Eton Riverside branch, and for whatever reason i had been placing further down the London priority list, perhaps subconciously. Oh yes that's right - the timings at the far end of the line are rubbish and 4 stations take a good few hours to complete!! The terminus uses P1 and P2 in turn for the most part and with a lengthy dwell the next incoming is only a few minutes after a departure which means almost 2 hours just to do both platforms as well as Datchet. The castle is very much in evidence when you exit the station and a whole bunch of related themes for most of the retail outlets in the vicinity are much in evidence. Windsor is a place i have visited a couple of times, but the area around the station (well both of them come to think of it) is new to me. I had time to have a good old mooch so that's what i did on both visits this evening. I had more time to kill at Datchet, which is picture postcard pretty, but the pub in the centre had seen (much) better days upon poking my head in - all in the interests of science dontcha know...
Tha last stations were done in the dark and only took 20 mins or so after all the hanging about at the top of the line. Wraysbury, and then Sunnymeads which has an island platform arrangement. Totems in evidence on both occasions. Which reminds me the one at Swanley is so far from the actual station it has to be a contender for the "furthest away" award. Google maps suggests it is about 200metres away! Back at Staines and then on to Egham which completes this part of the world for stations. Just a one station hop , but it took me past the 10pm mark. The pedstrian flows were starting to slow by this time (not unexpectedly) and i was looking forward to spending some time at Richmond to assess my last moves of the day.
I have no idea how many times P7 at Richmond gets used but its something i have never seen timetabled before tonight. It has always been a semi mythical platform when i have tried to research how feasible it might be with little info available. I had some confidence it would work because the Underground sets were all going back to the depot according to RTT and the last few Overground services would be stabling there over the rest of the weekend with P3 being left empty. They would empty first thing Monday with the first few services of the day being used for that purpose. No trains at all on the line on the Sunday. Would it work? and could i ensure getting back to Staines if something went wrong? Armed with the knowledge that the last incoming had left Stratford i took the last outbound Overground service with the bonus of being able to tick off an outlying station on the line - South Acton, which i had deliberately left for this (slim) possibility actually occurring. I was glad of the wriggle room for all this as the last service was late departing, but that was fine as that reduced the time at South Acton, which was still manned at Midnight i was to learn. Totem found, it was the last of a long series of waits today before boarding the final Richmond service. This also lost time as it slowly made its way to its destination. Would it end up in P7 though?? Eventually i was put out my misery and we did indeed do that last bit of track and crossed over into P7 for a most welcome win. This must be a top 5 achievement for me i think, certainly so far anyway. Again i have no idea how easy or difficult this may have been to achieve in previous years but for now its a rarity for sure. I still have a P6 departure for track purposes and one last station on the line (Acton Central) to have a go at, but Richmond is complete for platforms. With the delays it was a bit of a squeeze to get across to P1 for my preferred service back to Staines but there was a back up service also available so it wasn't super important. I was kinda surprised to see M&S still open on first arriving at Richmond and so i was able to gather in some bonus early supplies for tomorrow.
Back at Staines it was another slightly longer than expected walk back to the hotel and a promised 5 hours sleep before starting it all again in the morning.
| Swanley | Depart | 8.15 | ***** | SE | stations | platforms | ||
| Gillingham (Kent) | Arrive | 8.47 | P1 | SE | wait 14m | completed | completed | |
| Gillingham (Kent) | Depart | 9.01 | P3 | SE | ||||
| Canterbury East | Arrive | 9.40 | P2 | SE | wait 10m | |||
| Canterbury East | Depart | 9.50 | P2 | SE | ||||
| Faversham | Arrive | 10.04 | P1 | SE | wait 24m | |||
| Faversham | Depart | 10.28 | P3 | SE | ||||
| Selling | Arrive | 10.33 | P2 | SE | wait 26m | |||
| Selling | Depart | 10.59 | P1 | SE | 1 | 2 | ||
| Sittingbourne | Arrive | 11.17 | P1 | SE | wait 7m | |||
| Sittingbourne | Depart | 11.24 | P3 | SE | ||||
| Queenborough | Arrive | 11.37 | P2 | SE | wait 17m | |||
| Queenborough | Depart | 11.54 | P1 | SE | 1 | 2 | ||
| Swale | Arrive | 11.58 | Single | SE | wait 34m | |||
| Swale | Depart | 12.32 | Single | SE | 1 | 1 | ||
| Sheerness-on-Sea | Arrive | 12.41 | P1 | SE | wait 5m | |||
| Sheerness-on-Sea | Depart | 12.46 | P1 | SE | ||||
| Sittingbourne | Arrive | 13.06 | P3 | SE | wait 12m | |||
| Sittingbourne | Depart | 13.18 | P1 | SE | ||||
| Rainham | Arrive | 13.26 | P1 | SE | wait 33m | |||
| Rainham | Depart | 14.09 | P2 | SE | ||||
| Newington | Arrive | 14.13 | P2 | SE | wait 9m | |||
| Newington | Depart | 14.22 | P1 | SE | 1 | 2 | ||
| Rochester | Arrive | 14.39 | P1 | SE | wait 47m | |||
| Rochester | Depart | 15.26 | P1 | SE | ||||
| Sole Street | Arrive | 15.35 | P1 | SE | wait 57m | |||
| Sole Street | Depart | 16.32 | P1 | SE | ||||
| Swanley | Arrive | 16.48 | ***** | SE | drive + | |||
| Relocate to | ***** | ***** | ***** | ***** | wait 113m | |||
| Staines | Depart | 18.41 | ***** | SW | ||||
| Windsor & Eton Riverside | Arrive | 18.56 | P1 | SW | wait 26m | |||
| Windsor & Eton Riverside | Depart | 19.22 | P1 | SW | ||||
| Datchet | Arrive | 19.26 | P1 | SW | wait 59m | |||
| Datchet | Depart | 20.25 | P2 | SW | 1 | 2 | ||
| Windsor & Eton Riverside | Arrive | 20.29 | P2 | SW | wait 24m | |||
| Windsor & Eton Riverside | Depart | 20.53 | P2 | SW | 1 | 2 | ||
| Wraysbury | Arrive | 21.02 | P1 | SW | wait 16m | |||
| Wraysbury | Depart | 21.18 | P2 | SW | 1 | 2 | ||
| Sunnymeads | Arrive | 21.20 | P2 | SW | wait 10m | |||
| Sunnymeads | Depart | 21.30 | P1 | SW | 1 | 2 | ||
| Staines | Arrive | 21.38 | P1 | SW | wait 15m | |||
| Staines | Depart | 21.53 | P2 | SW | ||||
| Egham | Arrive | 21.58 | P2 | SW | wait 23m | |||
| Egham | Depart | 22.21 | P1 | SW | 1 | 2 | ||
| Richmond | Arrive | 22.43 | P2 | SW | wait 54m | |||
| Richmond | Depart | 23.37 | P5 | LO | ||||
| South Acton | Arrive | 23.47 | P2 | LO | wait 19m | |||
| South Acton | Depart | 0.06 | P1 | LO | 1 | 2 | ||
| Richmond | Arrive | 0.20 | P7 | LO | wait 4m | 1 | 7 | |
| Richmond | Depart | 0.24 | P1 | SW | ||||
| Staines | Arrive | 0.41 | ***** | SW |
All platforms
Member
Day 342: Sunday 14/04/2024: Luton Airport Parkway to West Hampstead Thameslink - £8.25 - Super Off-peak Return. Luton Airport Parkway to Bedford - £5.65 - Super Off-peak Return x2. Luton Airport Parkway to Brent Cross West - £7.30 - Super Off-peak Return. CP Luton Airport Parkway £3.20
Total time today 267 mins - time on trains 171 mins and time waiting 96 mins. No stations were completed today. 2 new platforms however.
"Midland Mainline Misery" or "the Yin and the Yang"
I wanted to be home no later than 6.30pm tonight so thought it best to concentrate my efforts North of London today and with a number of promised new track moves for me and a first visit to Brent Cross West to look forward to i amde my way up to Luton Airport Parkway for the first service of the day. the Mainline was supposed to be out of action today (at least in the Luton area) and all EM services would be using P1 and P2 so quite a lot of scope for crossovers either side of here. With the core also unavailable first thing Thameslink were going as far as West Hampstead Thameslink for early Southbound services before turning in P2 utilising a rare crossover to do so.
So far so good aand this first move went off without a hitch. however that was about the extent of my good fortune today (used it all up last night) and right from the first EM services they were reverting to fast line running. I could see the writing on the wall back at Parkway with EM sitting in P4 and bang goes a bunch of track i needed. I took the ride anyway as i had tickets already and you never know..... There were platform alterations at Bedford and i did take advantage of one of these for a bit of normal track and a return to Parkway. I was slightly incredulous at the scruffy teenager repeatedly vaping not 5 yards from the gateline, so much so i actually pointed out to time that it wasn't allowed and perhaps he should make sure of that fact by asking the station staff not 2 yards away. It gradually dawned on the vacant fellow that it might be a good thing to move and he made his way outside, presumably to keep his vaping momentum average in the stratosphere.
Having checked on RTT i realised the rest of my day was not going to be of much use to me so i made my way to Brent Cross West via Parkway (where else) and i alighted to see another service just arriving on the opposite side of the island platform. With "Should i stay or should i go now" playing in my head i admitted defeat and immediately boarded this return. I will have to come back for the fast platforms and hopefully have more time to have a good look around this new station, but my first impression was of darkness, which may have swayed my decision a little. This is no open platform/station and most definitely one of if not the most substantial new station i have seen so far. I was back home by 4pm and my attention now turns towards Wednesday when i will be back in Kent.
Total time today 267 mins - time on trains 171 mins and time waiting 96 mins. No stations were completed today. 2 new platforms however.
"Midland Mainline Misery" or "the Yin and the Yang"
I wanted to be home no later than 6.30pm tonight so thought it best to concentrate my efforts North of London today and with a number of promised new track moves for me and a first visit to Brent Cross West to look forward to i amde my way up to Luton Airport Parkway for the first service of the day. the Mainline was supposed to be out of action today (at least in the Luton area) and all EM services would be using P1 and P2 so quite a lot of scope for crossovers either side of here. With the core also unavailable first thing Thameslink were going as far as West Hampstead Thameslink for early Southbound services before turning in P2 utilising a rare crossover to do so.
So far so good aand this first move went off without a hitch. however that was about the extent of my good fortune today (used it all up last night) and right from the first EM services they were reverting to fast line running. I could see the writing on the wall back at Parkway with EM sitting in P4 and bang goes a bunch of track i needed. I took the ride anyway as i had tickets already and you never know..... There were platform alterations at Bedford and i did take advantage of one of these for a bit of normal track and a return to Parkway. I was slightly incredulous at the scruffy teenager repeatedly vaping not 5 yards from the gateline, so much so i actually pointed out to time that it wasn't allowed and perhaps he should make sure of that fact by asking the station staff not 2 yards away. It gradually dawned on the vacant fellow that it might be a good thing to move and he made his way outside, presumably to keep his vaping momentum average in the stratosphere.
Having checked on RTT i realised the rest of my day was not going to be of much use to me so i made my way to Brent Cross West via Parkway (where else) and i alighted to see another service just arriving on the opposite side of the island platform. With "Should i stay or should i go now" playing in my head i admitted defeat and immediately boarded this return. I will have to come back for the fast platforms and hopefully have more time to have a good look around this new station, but my first impression was of darkness, which may have swayed my decision a little. This is no open platform/station and most definitely one of if not the most substantial new station i have seen so far. I was back home by 4pm and my attention now turns towards Wednesday when i will be back in Kent.
| Luton Airport Parkway | Depart | 7.59 | ***** | TL | stations | platforms | ||
| West Hampstead Thameslink | Arrive | 8.30 | P2 | TL | wait 12m | completed | completed | |
| West Hampstead Thameslink | Depart | 8.42 | P2 | TL | ||||
| Luton | Arrive | 9.20 | p3 | TL | wait 16m | |||
| Luton | Depart | 9.36 | P5 | EM | ||||
| Bedford | Arrive | 9.48 | P4 | EM | wait 29m | |||
| Bedford | Depart | 10.17 | P2 | TL | ||||
| Luton Airport Parkway | Arrive | 10.43 | P1 | TL | wait 36m | |||
| Luton Airport Parkway | Depart | 11.19 | P1 | TL | ||||
| Brent Cross West | Arrive | 11.51 | P1 | TL | wait 3m | |||
| Brent Cross West | Depart | 11.54 | P2 | TL | ||||
| Luton Airport Parkway | Arrive | 12.26 | ***** | TL |
Kite159
Veteran Member
A good day in Kent. Pretty sure it's a loop platform at Gillingham rather than a bay, although like at Sittingbourne the section of track heading east is very rarely (if at all) used in passenger service.
I can remember when that crossover at Canterbury East was easier to do on a Sunday before Covid struck as there was a 2nd train an hour which spun at Canterbury (Monday - Saturdays continued to Dover nonstop).
Shame all the track around Luton on the Sunday was missed out on due to the engineering works finishing early. Well done on P7 at Richmond with the Overground
I can remember when that crossover at Canterbury East was easier to do on a Sunday before Covid struck as there was a 2nd train an hour which spun at Canterbury (Monday - Saturdays continued to Dover nonstop).
Shame all the track around Luton on the Sunday was missed out on due to the engineering works finishing early. Well done on P7 at Richmond with the Overground