04/07/16
With a dud on the Hope Street working today I had to wait until home time, where
66594 duly popped up trundling through Piccadilly on the way to Trafford Park.
After hitting the gym and popping home for tea I, somewhat spontaneously, decided to head up to Peak Forest for the first time since my quest began. In relative terms it's pretty much on the doorstep, yet I've never even been passed the place, let alone paid any attention to it. In the early evening drizzle I set off up to Dove Holes, turned off the A6 and wound my way alongside the quarry, eventually reaching the sidings, where
60092 was in charge of shunting duties. I parked up, walked back to the bridge over the line, and spent a few minutes watching the diggers going about the rhythmical task of loading the hoppers, with the aforementioned 60 edging closer to my vantage point all the while. The driver was clearly in it for the long haul, pulling out a sizable book after a while!
The other side of the bridge consisted of two sets of sidings, one either side of the line. A dud EWS 66 was waiting to cross the line back down towards Chinley on one side, waiting for
66619 to pass towards Tunstead before doing so, whilst the other side saw another dud EWS 66, as well as
60019, taking a rest from its shunting duties. I spent about half an hour watching people come and go from what I assume was an old stationmasters cottage, but which is now home to the DB Cargo mess room, before heading off to Tesco to get some chocolate almond milk. Needless to say if you timed it right you could get a good number of winners, and I'll be keeping an eye out for when is next good to go.
06/07/16
London-bound once more, but having to go via Stoke and not Crewe means the journey down is bloody boring until you hit the WCML-proper. Once we got to Rugeley the winners did begin to filter through, with
66061 first in the book, followed by
66012 at Nuneaton and
350260 at Rugby. Tring threw up another LM unit,
350236, as did Watford Junction, where I caught sight of both
350371 and
350110. Thereafter it was a bit sparse, with a couple of duds at Wembley all that caught the eye.
Once at Euston I found myself wandering out the side exit by platform 17, which I've never done before. It's actually very handy, as I can then walk parallel to Euston Road, avoiding the crowds, all the way down to my hotel. A free upgrade to a suite later (the perks of checking in later when all the 'normal' rooms have gone, I suppose!), and I was heading out to Paddington aboard a nice cool H&C service. The world and his wife got off with me (it was 17:30 after all), and, after a sweep of the platforms, it was aboard
360204, intended destination Southall.
En route to Southall I intended to do a check of both North Pole, hoping for a glimpse of an 800, and Old Oak Common, but sadly the former was empty. I did catch
57603 on the other side, but the rest of the GWR and HC/HX stuff was too far away. Acton Yard soon appeared, throwing up a trio of 66s (
66007, 66080 &
66132), but after that I decided to just enjoy the rest of the short trip to Southall.
As we arrived I noted the WCR depot, and at first glance observed nothing, which was frustrating. I alighted and put the binoculars to work, but alas they were of little help beyond the front of
37685, so all that was left to do was head across the footbridge and await a HC service back to Ealing Broadway, picking up a few numbers in the process. The highlight was my first Mendip unit, with the quirky colours of
59002 rolling through.
From here
360202 took me to Ealing Broadway, chased along by
66118 which followed not far behind. In familiar surroundings I settled in for a bit, watching the masses making their way home in the muggy evening air. Sadly their journeys were then thrown into a bit of mild panic as a brief signal failure threw services off. Indeed things got rather heated at one point so, as entertaining as seeing people shout at a train was, I decided to hop aboard a Central line service as news came through that a friend fancied a swift couple of jars around London Bridge.
After what seemed like an eternity underground (I never really enjoyed the tube, even when I lived in London) I finally emerged to semi-fresh air, only for my now-functioning phone to bring news that the friend was stuck at work (as an accountant he works every hour the devil sends), and wouldn't be making it. With no real plan I did a quick sweep of the London Bridge platforms. Given the ongoing saga with Southern this didn't take long (
377447 &
455834) were the only requirements from the five units in), and so I wandered over to Blackfriars, with the intention of ticking off some Thameslink stuff.
After a delightful riverside amble Blackfriars arrived, as did I to the northbound platform, where a rather large gap in the service greeted me. Indeed four southbound services came and went before anything t'other way, with
319436 finally appearing to take me northwards, intended destination Cricklewood. I settled back for the endless stop-start, picking up a few further TL workings along the way (I can't remember where they all appeared, so for logging purposes they're all going down as West Hampstead Thameslink:
Cricklewood arrived where I thought I'd be able to see the 700s in the depot. Sadly, having never been up this way before, and having failed to consult Google maps, I was too far away to see them. Off to Hendon we go then! Whilst I waited for
319010 to arrive to carry me one stop further north I did get a bit of EMT action in, with
222101 powering through. Not many of them left now for the book.
A little later than planned I did finally get the 700s in the book as we trundled past the depot, with
700003,
700005 &
700006 looking very space-aged in the artificial light of the sidings. Well worth the trip alone!
Sadly I then arrived at Hendon, which was a dump. Right next to the M1(?), nothing else to see, and a load of teenagers smoking weed at one end. Safe to say this was the signal to end the night's travels, and whilst the 20 minute wait for a southbound service wasn't the most pleasant, it did at least allow for a bit more traffic to enter the book:
319447 had the honour of delivering me back to St Pancras-
387105 &
387115 greeting me from the other platform- where I did a quick sweep of the Eurostar again (
3218 &
4017) before heading back to the hotel via Tesco Express. I think I might be pregnant, as I came out of said etstablishment with a bottle of chocolate milkshake and some sweet potato crisps!
07/07/16
Meetings done, it was all aboard the very cosy 1440 back to Stockport. Thankfully I managed to grab my preferred forward facing priority table window seat, and settled back to see what locos were chugging up and down the WCML today. That being said, we actually started off with
378233 &
350248 at Willesden, before normal service, in the form of
92044, resumed.
The handwriting got a bit frantic at Wembley, where I did well to catch
66137, 66424 &
67010, but I could have a rest then until Milton Keynes, where we passed
377203 waiting to return south to East Croydon. Nothign much occurs after this as we diverge off to travel through Weedon, so I cracked open the Percy Pigs, and was still happily chewing away as
66748 was overtaken at Rugby. Sadly they'd all gone by the time
66057 appeared at Nuneaton, and were but a distant memory when
66181 flashed past.
Stafford (
66529 &
66709) and Crewe (
66094 & (
86639) were a feast as always, with the highlight being
37706 all on its own, making the mammoth trip from Carnforth to Southall.
And with that I was done. 98 sightings across the two days, which could and should have been far higher if I'd actually bothered to plan properly instead of just going where the mood took. Sometimes the lack of a plan is good for the soul though, and I enjoyed it.
To round things off I also saw
67012 today, waiting at Longsight before working through to Llandudno.
Wishlist
With the 175 gone I'm starting to look elsewhere for entrants to this now:
158 (EMT) - 774
180 (HT) - 109/113
221 - 113/120/124/138
332 - 003/014
350/3 - 370/377
It's also worth bearing in mind it could be almost empty, and you will want a good view out of the window on the left hand side heading out of Leeds. I also suspect you'll end up getting 66953 before I do!
