New Spotter looking for some advice

[Paul F]

Hi all

I hope it’s alright to post here, I’m after some advice where possible I’m going down to Manchester Piccadilly and I know I can get the engine numbers from there but I’ve seen that in smiths they sell the Registration books.
My question is for a beginner which of these books would I need to start marking off the units I’ve seen.

Thanks for reading and also you help in advance
Paul

 

[Peter Mugridge]

I would recommend the Platform 5 Combined Volume; it contains all locomotives, units, carriages and track machinery ( excluding road-rail machines ).

 

[Paul F]

Thanks Peter if I can’t find that at smiths out of the platform 5 pocket books what would you recommend out of those

 

[sprinterguy]

Diesel Multiple Units (Book No.3) and Electric Multiple Units (Book No.4) are the most common fodder at Manchester Piccadilly. There are also Locomotives (Book No.1) to be seen intermittently on intermodal trains from Trafford Park (Class 66, primarily) and on a small number of Transport for Wales' Manchester - Cardiff passenger services (Class 67).

 

[12LDA28C]

Thanks Peter if I can’t find that at smiths out of the platform 5 pocket books what would you recommend out of those

The Combined Volume is the only one that contains everything you might see at Piccadilly and nationwide. That's the one you will need. I appreciate it's quite expensive at £30 but the only other option would be to buy the EMU book, the DMU book and the Locomotives book which would set you back £22.50 and you still wouldn't have coaching stock covered.

 

[1D54]

Pocket Book Number 1 - Locomotives.
Pocket Book Number 3 - Diesel Multiple Units.
Pocket Book Number 4 - Electric Multiple Units.

They do me as I'm not bothered with coach numbers. £7.50 each for the 2023 editions.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

The Combined Volume is the only one that contains everything you might see at Piccadilly and nationwide. That's the one you will need. I appreciate it's quite expensive at £30 but the only other option would be to buy the EMU book, the DMU book and the Locomotives book which would set you back £22.50 and you still wouldn't have coaching stock covered.

I think there's still a discount offer for buying the Combined online at Platform 5, unless that expired at the end of February? Offer code LCS23 I think...

 

[Paul F]

Diesel Multiple Units (Book No.3) and Electric Multiple Units (Book No.4) are the most common fodder at Manchester Piccadilly. There are also Locomotives (Book No.1) to be seen intermittently on intermodal trains from Trafford Park (Class 66, primarily) and on a small number of Transport for Wales' Manchester - Cardiff passenger services (Class 67).

I decided on getting the books that you recommended apart from the locomotives one now I just need some help in understanding it am I right in thinking that the engine will be the first number and anything after that forms the train

 

[Andyh82]

There is that Rail123 bookazine that I think is about £10 that might be better for beginners and is available at WHSmith including high street stores

Rail 123

The new edition of Rail 123 includes more than 20,000 changes and updates from the 2021-2022 edition. Every loco, multiple unit HST, IET and coach, either National registered or preserved is given, with every vehicle listing providing name (if applied), fittings, owner, operator, livery, and...

shop.keypublishing.com

Lists just unit numbers rather than unit numbers with individual car/coach numbers that you get with Platform 5

 

[Ken H]

@Paul F a multiple unit will have a unit number on the end with a 6 figure unit number. 1st 3 digits are the class. 2nd 3 digits the unit no. But if there are sub classes the 4th digit will tell you that.
A loco will have a 5 digit number. First 2 digits is the class and the 3 digits the number. 3rd digit can denote a sub class.

Each passenger vehicle has a number. There are different ranges of numbers for different vehicle types. If you look at the numbers it may tell you about vehicles that have been swapped between units.
On the ends of the vehicles you will find a painted panel which will have the vehicle type, weight and other data which may interest you.

 

[sprinterguy]

I decided on getting the books that you recommended apart from the locomotives one now I just need some help in understanding it am I right in thinking that the engine will be the first number and anything after that forms the train

Diesel and Electric Multiple Units don't have an "engine" as such that's distinct from the rest of the train, due to multiple carriages in the train being powered, but yes, as Ken H has also subsequently outlined above, the number you're mostly looking for is the unit number either on the front of the driver's cab, or low down on the side of the cab in the case of Avanti's, Crosscountry's and Transpennine's train fleets that can be seen at Piccadilly.

Worth noting as well that some Northern, Transpennine, Crosscountry and East Midlands services that call at Piccadilly are formed of two different units coupled together, so there'll be a second number to collect from the rear half of the train.

 

[12LDA28C]

I decided on getting the books that you recommended apart from the locomotives one now I just need some help in understanding it am I right in thinking that the engine will be the first number and anything after that forms the train

May I ask why you are going to start train spotting?

It's quite unusual for someone who has never done it before to go straight into deciding which books to buy and so on. When I was young, kids would have an interest in railways / trains and probably just hang around their local station and watch them for a while before starting to write numbers down on a notepad / notebook and then purchase a Platform 5 book or Locoshed book to mark them off or underline them some time afterwards. I mean, it's not something they would consciously think about - 'should I start trainspotting, how do I go about it' - it just came about as a natural progression from watching trains with their mates.

 

[Ken H]

May I ask why you are going to start train spotting?

It's quite unusual for someone who has never done it before to go straight into deciding which books to buy and so on. When I was young, kids would have an interest in railways / trains and probably just hang around their local station and watch them for a while before starting to write numbers down on a notepad / notebook and then purchase a Platform 5 book or Locoshed book to mark them off or underline them some time afterwards. I mean, it's not something they would consciously think about - 'should I start trainspotting, how do I go about it' - it just came about as a natural progression from watching trains with their mates.

We just used one of these. Books of numbers were outside pocket money range back then. Sold them in Woolies.

 

[sprinterguy]

May I ask why you are going to start train spotting?

It's quite unusual for someone who has never done it before to go straight into deciding which books to buy and so on. When I was young, kids would have an interest in railways / trains and probably just hang around their local station and watch them for a while before starting to write numbers down on a notepad / notebook and then purchase a Platform 5 book or Locoshed book to mark them off or underline them some time afterwards. I mean, it's not something they would consciously think about - 'should I start trainspotting, how do I go about it' - it just came about as a natural progression from watching trains with their mates.

Indeed - For me and I suspect many others the purchase of the Platform 5 book came a bit later as a logical means of quantifying what I'd seen and gaining a greater understanding of fleet sizes and variations.

 

[12LDA28C]

We just used one of these. Books of numbers were outside pocket money range back then. Sold them in Woolies.

I still have some of those from the 1980s, although I preferred a hardback book like a good old Black'n'Red - more robust and hardwearing. Think they sold them in Smiths.

 

[Paul F]

May I ask why you are going to start train spotting?

It's quite unusual for someone who has never done it before to go straight into deciding which books to buy and so on. When I was young, kids would have an interest in railways / trains and probably just hang around their local station and watch them for a while before starting to write numbers down on a notepad / notebook and then purchase a Platform 5 book or Locoshed book to mark them off or underline them some time afterwards. I mean, it's not something they would consciously think about - 'should I start trainspotting, how do I go about it' - it just came about as a natural progression from watching trains with their mates.

I told an interest in the trains when I was speaking to a local spotter within my local library as they where doing some work on the steam engines (writing a trip report) for one of the bi monthly magazines that they write for.

As for wanting to know which books to get for the marking down the numbers of the engines coming from a background of spotting aircraft I thought that I’d give the train spotting a go which I am enjoying using the likes of real train times to pull off the schedule for the time that I am there then writing the unit numbers against the trip that they are making or has made when they come in to the station if they are terminating at the station I am at.
Once home I write up a trip report for myself giving final destination where it’s come from etc I also wanted another way of marking off what I’ve seen too

May I ask why you are going to start train spotting?

It's quite unusual for someone who has never done it before to go straight into deciding which books to buy and so on. When I was young, kids would have an interest in railways / trains and probably just hang around their local station and watch them for a while before starting to write numbers down on a notepad / notebook and then purchase a Platform 5 book or Locoshed book to mark them off or underline them some time afterwards. I mean, it's not something they would consciously think about - 'should I start trainspotting, how do I go about it' - it just came about as a natural progression from watching trains with their mates.

 

[swt_passenger]

@Paul F
…But if there are sub classes the 4th digit will tell you that.

However it might not be if there are 100 or more units in a class, eg 450001- 450127…

 

[D365]

However it might not be if there are 100 or more units in a class, eg 450001- 450127…

If you think multiple units are bad, don't even attempt to try to understand the ex-BR diesels!

 

[birchesgreen]

I still have some of those from the 1980s, although I preferred a hardback book like a good old Black'n'Red - more robust and hardwearing. Think they sold them in Smiths.

They still do, i bought a new one a few months ago.

 

[Intercity110]

If you want train times use real-time trains on ‘detailed mode’ and for specifics use the urgent TOPS request thread on the forum

 

[Ken H]

If you want train times use real-time trains on ‘detailed mode’ and for specifics use the urgent TOPS request thread on the forum

And get the national rail timetable from Network Rail downloaded to your phone. Its a pdf. Get used to it before you try and reference it when out spotting. There is a lot of it.

Electronic national rail timetable - Network Rail

The electronic National Rail Timetable (eNRT) is a long-term timetable for planners that covers services on the national rail network.

www.networkrail.co.uk

 

[43096]

I still have some of those from the 1980s, although I preferred a hardback book like a good old Black'n'Red - more robust and hardwearing. Think they sold them in Smiths.

If you want a notebook that’s rail-related, 125 Group do a couple, with pen included:

InterCity 125 Notebook and Pen – 125 Group

www.125group.org.uk

Notebook and Pen featuring Swallow logo

This notebook and pen set is a practical item for writing down observations and notes whilst travelling around. Both items feature the much loved Swallow logo in silver on them.

www.125group.org.uk

 

[Big Jumby 74]

When I was young, kids would have an interest in railways / trains and probably just hang around their local station and watch them for a while before starting to write numbers down on a notepad

Likewise....

We just used one of these.

The old 'memo books'. Blimey, that brings back many memories! Have a feeling they are still around (new) care of Rymans?

My first actual purchase, shed book wise, was the 74 edition. Think you can probably guess which copy went to school with me every day ready for the escape up to the station as early as poss! The other copy I acquired many years later as a mint, unmarked copy, as it remains to this day!

Edited: forgot to say that the edition shown still listed all locos with their pre TOPS numbers in brackets, which interested me at the time, particularly as where I was located we were still seeing quite a few Brush 4's still in their original two tone green, albeit with their Dxxxx number now showing as 47xxx. The 'economical' way this renumbering had taken place was very evident on some of these locos, and it intrigued me about other classes (eg 04's, 15s, 16, 17 etc) that I had hitherto had no knowledge of.

 

[Ken H]

The old 'memo books'. Blimey, that brings back many memories! Have a feeling they are still around (new) care of Rymans?

Made by Sinclairs in Otley

 

[Western Sunset]

Still remember getting my first "Combined Volume" in 1964 from WHSmith's bookstall on Derby Midland station... Oh the luxury of it, when only previously had the LMR regional book.

 

[Mollington St]

As Western Sunset highlights - The Combined Volume a real luxury , in many cases never to leave the house
The British Rail Motive Power Combined Volume ran from 1978 till 1989 ( last every issue ) and before that it was called 1964-1977 it was British Railways Locomotives and other Motive Power with the pre 1964 just known as British Railways Locomotives Combined Volume .

I have just completed scanning and listing 1978 -1989 issues on my site - Transport Past Times , all the copies i have are all unmarked , no underlining etc , so if anyone wants to reminisce those glory years of Blue Diesels and Electrics i can help .
I will next start on the 1964-1977 years - the end of steam and the start of green .

North West of England - Rail and Transport Collectors Fair - Saturday 24th June - Crewe - 22 Dealers /Traders and yes plenty of abcs

 

[cadder toad]

It's quite unusual for someone who has never done it before to go straight into deciding which books to buy and so on. When I was young, kids would have an interest in railways / trains and probably just hang around their local station and watch them for a while before starting to write numbers down on a notepad / notebook and then purchase a Platform 5 book or Locoshed book to mark them off or underline them some time afterwards. I mean, it's not something they would consciously think about - 'should I start trainspotting, how do I go about it' - it just came about as a natural progression from watching trains with their mates.

Nope - not me - I found an Ian Allan Diesel volume in the station bookshop (nearly 50 years ago) and realised there was a whole new world of locos and numbers out there. Started ticking them off in the book that day

 

[12LDA28C]

Nope - not me - I found an Ian Allan Diesel volume in the station bookshop (nearly 50 years ago) and realised there was a whole new world of locos and numbers out there. Started ticking them off in the book that day

That's fine, but if you just do that instead of actually writing any numbers down, then you have no record of where and when you have seen anything. If you then lose your Ian Allan / Platform 5 book, you'd struggle to remember what you'd previously seen, unless of course you had a notebook with everything written down in which case you could just buy a new book and update it from your written notes.

 

[birchesgreen]

I never wrote down where and when i'd seen stuff, never seen the point. I just underlined what i saw in the Ian Allan ABC. I think there are many ways to enjoy the hobby, and you just need to find the way that suits you.

Here is my last ABC i bought before i fell out of the hobby for a bit in my teens to chase girls instead... not that much success there though



I did do well with the AL6.

 

[Ken H]

I never wrote down where and when i'd seen stuff, never seen the point. I just underlined what i saw in the Ian Allan ABC. I think there are many ways to enjoy the hobby, and you just need to find the way that suits you.

Here is my last ABC i bought before i fell out of the hobby for a bit in my teens to chase girls instead... not that much success there though

Did you tick them off in a book too?