I had rather a good day out.
It started with 195126 on the 08:35 from Rochdale to Hebden Bridge, for a coffee in the sun from the excellent cafe at the station.
20 minutes later, 158757 took me forwards on the 09:15 Hebden Bridge to Leeds (via Brighouse). I normally plan to avoid changing trains at Leeds if at all possible - even pre-Covid it was a nuisance and a one-way system enforced by Rylan Clark Neal look-and-soundalikes on my last visit made it into one of the lower circles of kettle 60513's inferno. However, changing from Platform 13B to 14 is a ten yard level walk, which is just about tolerable. I was surprised to see 43378 and 43304 topping and tailing a Plymouth service here - good to see an HST in service. However it was soon time to depart, on my first winner of the day, 195133 on the 10:18 Leeds to York. 43102, 43274, and 91106 were lurking among the units when I passed Neville Hill, whilst arriving at York brought the trio of 66303, 68003 and 37422 into view, on the Dr's stabling point.
A brisk walk across the platform here, to join the 11:00 to Scarborough with required 68029 in charge. Noting 60163 "Tornado" and 09017 outside the NRM, I settled back to enjoy a scenic run to Malton, my first required shack of the day.
I had a walk into the town centre here, looks to be a decent and bustling market town, then headed back to the station and joined required 68031 for the run to another new shack at Seamer.
Not much to note here, but I didn't have long to wait before required 170476 appeared on the 13:05 Hull service, which I took as far as Bempton, also a new shack. The village here is five minutes walk away, so with 40 minutes to wait I had a walk and mooch round - looks a pleasant place, and had an open pub, serving food. I was tempted, but had plans for lunch.
These involved another required unit, 170458 taking me back to Filey (again, a new shack). Here, I went in search of Fish and Chips, which were found and consumed sitting in a small park, and which confirmed my long held opinion that F&C is at its best from the seaside on the North Sea coast!
I returned to the station to pick up the returning 170458 on the 15:15 to Hull, which I took all the way. Hull brought an unexpected bonus - an arrival from Meadowhall which was a few minutes late. Which meant that the return working of the stock was late and in turn meant I could connect from my 16:23 arrival onto the 16:21 departure, which in turn meant I could visit an awkward shack!
I therefore boarded 170459 (previously sampled from Aviemore to Dunblane) for a ride out to the sparsely served Broomfleet, which is surrounded by fields and not much else. Sounds a boring place, but going back 150 years, the fields would likely be being tilled by ancestors or cousins of mine, so there was a certain interest in looking about and trying to identify farmhouses which I had previously seen on 19th century census records.
However,158901 appeared on time at 16:52, and took me back as far as Brough. This is a dullish place, with a brutally modernised station but getting off here meant I could intercept another required Scottish refugee,170474 on the 17:25 to Selby, which by contrast is a very pleasant, old style station with a lovely footbridge.
However 10 or so minutes here, and it was back east again, on the 18:00 to another new shack at Howden, courtesy of 185131. Not much here, either, the station being well out of the town centre, but 10 minutes later I was rescued by 155341, taking me all the way through to York, via Sherburn.
One thing I didn't expect to see today was a pacer, but 142047 was hanging around Gascoigne Wood, with various other random bits of defunct stock. And on arrival at York I had time for a bit of gratuitous shack and unit scratching with required 170472 taking me out to Poppleton, which thinks it's in Cornwall judging by the palm tree by the platform, and equally required 170461 returning me to York. Outside the NRM were first generation DMU vehicles 51562 and 51922 - wasn't expecting to see one of these today, either.
From York, it was definitely time to head homewards. My first experience of the class, 802217 on the 19:49 to Liverpool provided a smooth and speedy run, and as a bonus stopped at Dewsbury, meaning I avoided having to change in Leeds!
Next up was 158757 again, taking me through to Mytholmroyd, where I dropped back one service for a final cheeky winner in 195106 on the 21:31 to Rochdale.
A very enjoyable day out, long awaited. Now to plan next Saturday!