Techniquest
Veteran Member
However me and Richard can post:
Tyne & Wear Metro: 0/60
True! Mind you, I refer the honourable gentlemen to LM, ATW and VTWC fleet clearances...
:-P
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Richard's Trip Reports
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True! Mind you, I refer the honourable gentlemen to LM, ATW and VTWC fleet clearances...
:-P
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Wouldn't you have rather cleared all those lovely VTEC HSTs?True! Mind you, I refer the honourable gentlemen to LM, ATW and VTWC fleet clearances...
Kite159
Veteran Member
True! Mind you, I refer the honourable gentlemen to LM, ATW and VTWC fleet clearances...
I refer the honourable gentlemen to SWT, EMT, Chiltern fleet clearance (with only 2 171s to re-clear Southern) :P
Techniquest
Veteran Member
rg177: Well yeah, but the ECML is foreign territory for me, so not particularly!
Kite: Yeah yeah, don't remind me about SWT. That's not a TOC I ever see myself clearing, again it's foreign territory for me. I feel far more at home on Southeastern than SWT!
Kite: Yeah yeah, don't remind me about SWT. That's not a TOC I ever see myself clearing, again it's foreign territory for me. I feel far more at home on Southeastern than SWT!
DB Bash- 30/05/16
So this is a set of reports that I’ve neglected for a while but I thought it appropriate to continue. Indeed, we’re returning to Germany and joining day 2 of our adventure, this time confined to the NRW area.
We set off around 0900 and it was time for winners 4560/4569 to take us to Ubierring where the now familiar walk was made downstairs to the high level trains (ironically on the low level platforms) and today we had winner 2329 to Dom/Hauptbahnhof. Short while later, and we were nipping upstairs onto the main station, and started ambling our way east. As a time killer, we ended up going for winners 423048/423548/423191/423691 over the bridge and to shack 1, Cologne-Messe/Deutz. These are the bog standard German EMUs that run on the S Bahn network (this being Line S19 to Au [Sieg]) and they’re a bit hard in terms of seating but they sound quite funky and they’re without gangways in the whole unit so you can walk end to end, much like the Capitalstars on the Overground. Winners 423261/423761/423291/423791 were then taken onwards one stop once we realised we had a little longer to wait one more stop to shack 2, Cologne-Mulheim.
This was a good station to make some observations as I noted a number of loco hauled services as well as an ICE2 and ICE3 hammering through before winners 442353/442853/442153/442653 trundled in on the RB48 to Wuppertal. These TALENT EMUs are relatively new and had the happy provision of sockets, though first class was utterly hilarious and was absolutely identical to Standard, with the privilege of a dividing door! We were delayed for some reason on our journey, which I do believe was a level crossing fault. We were however arriving into shack 3, Wuppertal-Vohwinkel, soon enough. I think anyone vaguely versed in European transport can guess what we were heading off to do! We made the short walk under the rather imposing Schwebebahn line which quite literally hangs over the streets, watching the amusing little trains speed past us at a rather alarming pace. It wasn’t long then until we climbed up to the platforms of shack 4, Vohwinkel (Schwebebahn) and got ourselves the seats at the very back of winner 13 for a full line clearance trip to shack 5, Oberbarmen (Schwebebahn). So what’s it like? A little primitive but excellent fun and hard to believe that it’s a normal commuting option! The trains do swing from side to side a lot at stations, but it’s very much worth the ride especially as its included in the NRW day ticket.
423791, Cologne-Mulheim by Richard Green, on Flickr
442153, Wuppertal Vohwinkel by Richard Green, on Flickr
Wuppertal Schwebebahn by Richard Green, on Flickr
We left and crossed over to shack 6, Wuppertal-Oberbarmen, where winners 440304/440804/1440-303/1440-803 were arriving. Yes, that’s a class 1440 EMU! I’ve no idea what difference it made as the units seemed identical, and having to record a number as ‘1440 803-4’ did seem a little odd! It was however a pleasant little run on these clearly very new and futuristic looking units to shack 7, Wuppertal-Hauptbahnhof. There was a short wait here as we watched the comings and goings, our own service being delayed by a Hamburg ICE1. However, winner ET 7.09 (I don’t even know anymore, it was a BR429). Arriving on the service to Venlo (NL) and yes, the ticket is valid all the way over the border! However, we were just going back to Wuppertal-Vohwinkel. It was then up to winners 422017/422517 to take us to the next major stop off of the day, and that was Essen. I wasn’t sure what was really there, but I was intent on scooping an ex DLR P86 or P89! Essen Hbf was shack 8, and it was a short walk to the U Bahn lines downstairs.
440804, Wuppertal Oberbarmen by Richard Green, on Flickr
ET 7.09, Wuppertal Hbf by Richard Green, on Flickr
Essen Hbf (U Bahn) was also shack 9, and it was very nicely lit in blue, with the tram lines flanking the outer tracks and the main U Bahn lines getting the inner lines. A bit like a Mile End set up, I suppose. Winner 5223 was most certainly looking very P89 like as we jumped on board for the 2 stops to shack 10, Berliner Platz (U Bahn). That’s all we saw of the U Bahn on our trip, but I was glad to get one in the book. Although, all units are now in the yellow EVAG livery rather than the DLR colour scheme as many hung onto for years! Essen itself was rather grey and mainly served as a lunch stop as it turns out, and we visited the local Backwerk (this shop is a godsend as it offers cheap fresh sandwiches, no prepackaging and it’s all self service) before it decided to pour with rain. Time to move on once more and we decided to head for Dusseldorf. Rush hour was starting to kick off at this point too, so we took winners 422022/422522/422076/422576 to shack 11, Dusseldorf-Zoo. This was more because I wanted to sample the trams and also wanted to avoid the absolute concrete hell that was the Hauptbahnhof.
5223, Essen Hbf by Richard Green, on Flickr
We went for a walk then, eventually being confronted with the odd L shaped layout of shack 12, Schillerplatz (Dusseldorf Rheinbahn) which was on Line 707 of what seemed to be the tram network (there is also an U Bahn!) and it was a reasonably sprightly journey to shack 13, Graf Adolf Platz. These Trams are of a layout we don’t tend to see in the UK, which is doors on one side only with just the single cab. There’s a rather unusual seat in the style of a driver’s seat then placed against the direction of travel at the back, where I ended up plonking myself. Time for another mode of transport change as we ended up on line U83 of the U Bahn and on winner 3374 to shack 14, Heinrich-Heine-Allee (Dusseldorf U Bahn) where we started walking through the rather pleasant streets of Dusseldorf before eventually finding ourselves by the Rhine. It was decidedly misty as we ambled our way along, before deciding to embark on yet another kind of U Bahn line, this time on Line U75 over the Rhine from shack 15, Tonhalle-Ehrenhof (Dusseldorf U Bahn), to shack 16, Luegplatz (Dusseldorf U Bahn). Winners 3225/3226, looking slightly antiquated, took us the one stop where we had a wander on the rather more open and quiet side of the river.
Graf-Adolf Platz by Richard Green, on Flickr
2115, Graf-Adolf Platz by Richard Green, on Flickr
3226, Luegplatz by Richard Green, on Flickr
We returned after a short while and decided to head back to Cologne via Neuss rather than slogging back to Dusseldorf. Another type of Tram for me to sample as a U74 service was due first in the form of winners 4010/4254, and despite looking newer than those on the U75, it was a museum inside! We took them as far we could on the shared line, as far as Belsenplatz (Dusseldorf U Bahn) which was shack 17, where we swapped onto another U75 pair in the form of winners 3216/3234 which provided a very nice run through the suburbs to Hauptbahnhof (Neuss) (Dusseldorf U Bahn), shack number 18. We ended up walking over to shack 19, Neuss Hbf, and joining winners 423259/423759/423262/423762 but on boarding, realised that we were on a slow stopping S Bahn all the way to Cologne, so I suggested a swap onto a fast service with some speedy work using the DB Personal Timetable online. Shack 20, Dormagen, was where we ended up bailing, with a nice cross platform interchange onto the RE7 service in the form of winners 442373/442873/442358/442858 through to Cologne Hauptbahnhof.
4010, Belsenplatz by Richard Green, on Flickr
3234, Belsenplatz by Richard Green, on Flickr
442355, Dormagen by Richard Green, on Flickr
We now had our eye on the Panorama which was basically a skyscraper by the river in Cologne that offered similar views to the Shard. It is however outdoors, much more relaxed and a heck of a lot cheaper. Winners 644022/644522, on my first DMU stint on the trip, took us over the river to Messe/Deutz where it was a short walk to the SkyTriangle Panorama and my god, the views were amazing! The city looked fantastic in the evening sunlight and it was also possible to look behind and see the well filled DB Depot
Final move was winners 423257/423757 to shack 21, Cologne-Hansaring. Finally, winner 4511 was taken to shack 22, Rudolfplatz (Cologne U Bahn) where we changed for the Line 7 service I failed to ID back to Marsdorf.
644522, Cologne Messe/Deutz by Richard Green, on Flickr
Cologne Skyline by Richard Green, on Flickr
One heck of a day, to be honest!
So this is a set of reports that I’ve neglected for a while but I thought it appropriate to continue. Indeed, we’re returning to Germany and joining day 2 of our adventure, this time confined to the NRW area.
We set off around 0900 and it was time for winners 4560/4569 to take us to Ubierring where the now familiar walk was made downstairs to the high level trains (ironically on the low level platforms) and today we had winner 2329 to Dom/Hauptbahnhof. Short while later, and we were nipping upstairs onto the main station, and started ambling our way east. As a time killer, we ended up going for winners 423048/423548/423191/423691 over the bridge and to shack 1, Cologne-Messe/Deutz. These are the bog standard German EMUs that run on the S Bahn network (this being Line S19 to Au [Sieg]) and they’re a bit hard in terms of seating but they sound quite funky and they’re without gangways in the whole unit so you can walk end to end, much like the Capitalstars on the Overground. Winners 423261/423761/423291/423791 were then taken onwards one stop once we realised we had a little longer to wait one more stop to shack 2, Cologne-Mulheim.
This was a good station to make some observations as I noted a number of loco hauled services as well as an ICE2 and ICE3 hammering through before winners 442353/442853/442153/442653 trundled in on the RB48 to Wuppertal. These TALENT EMUs are relatively new and had the happy provision of sockets, though first class was utterly hilarious and was absolutely identical to Standard, with the privilege of a dividing door! We were delayed for some reason on our journey, which I do believe was a level crossing fault. We were however arriving into shack 3, Wuppertal-Vohwinkel, soon enough. I think anyone vaguely versed in European transport can guess what we were heading off to do! We made the short walk under the rather imposing Schwebebahn line which quite literally hangs over the streets, watching the amusing little trains speed past us at a rather alarming pace. It wasn’t long then until we climbed up to the platforms of shack 4, Vohwinkel (Schwebebahn) and got ourselves the seats at the very back of winner 13 for a full line clearance trip to shack 5, Oberbarmen (Schwebebahn). So what’s it like? A little primitive but excellent fun and hard to believe that it’s a normal commuting option! The trains do swing from side to side a lot at stations, but it’s very much worth the ride especially as its included in the NRW day ticket.
423791, Cologne-Mulheim by Richard Green, on Flickr
442153, Wuppertal Vohwinkel by Richard Green, on Flickr
Wuppertal Schwebebahn by Richard Green, on FlickrWe left and crossed over to shack 6, Wuppertal-Oberbarmen, where winners 440304/440804/1440-303/1440-803 were arriving. Yes, that’s a class 1440 EMU! I’ve no idea what difference it made as the units seemed identical, and having to record a number as ‘1440 803-4’ did seem a little odd! It was however a pleasant little run on these clearly very new and futuristic looking units to shack 7, Wuppertal-Hauptbahnhof. There was a short wait here as we watched the comings and goings, our own service being delayed by a Hamburg ICE1. However, winner ET 7.09 (I don’t even know anymore, it was a BR429). Arriving on the service to Venlo (NL) and yes, the ticket is valid all the way over the border! However, we were just going back to Wuppertal-Vohwinkel. It was then up to winners 422017/422517 to take us to the next major stop off of the day, and that was Essen. I wasn’t sure what was really there, but I was intent on scooping an ex DLR P86 or P89! Essen Hbf was shack 8, and it was a short walk to the U Bahn lines downstairs.
440804, Wuppertal Oberbarmen by Richard Green, on Flickr
ET 7.09, Wuppertal Hbf by Richard Green, on FlickrEssen Hbf (U Bahn) was also shack 9, and it was very nicely lit in blue, with the tram lines flanking the outer tracks and the main U Bahn lines getting the inner lines. A bit like a Mile End set up, I suppose. Winner 5223 was most certainly looking very P89 like as we jumped on board for the 2 stops to shack 10, Berliner Platz (U Bahn). That’s all we saw of the U Bahn on our trip, but I was glad to get one in the book. Although, all units are now in the yellow EVAG livery rather than the DLR colour scheme as many hung onto for years! Essen itself was rather grey and mainly served as a lunch stop as it turns out, and we visited the local Backwerk (this shop is a godsend as it offers cheap fresh sandwiches, no prepackaging and it’s all self service) before it decided to pour with rain. Time to move on once more and we decided to head for Dusseldorf. Rush hour was starting to kick off at this point too, so we took winners 422022/422522/422076/422576 to shack 11, Dusseldorf-Zoo. This was more because I wanted to sample the trams and also wanted to avoid the absolute concrete hell that was the Hauptbahnhof.
5223, Essen Hbf by Richard Green, on FlickrWe went for a walk then, eventually being confronted with the odd L shaped layout of shack 12, Schillerplatz (Dusseldorf Rheinbahn) which was on Line 707 of what seemed to be the tram network (there is also an U Bahn!) and it was a reasonably sprightly journey to shack 13, Graf Adolf Platz. These Trams are of a layout we don’t tend to see in the UK, which is doors on one side only with just the single cab. There’s a rather unusual seat in the style of a driver’s seat then placed against the direction of travel at the back, where I ended up plonking myself. Time for another mode of transport change as we ended up on line U83 of the U Bahn and on winner 3374 to shack 14, Heinrich-Heine-Allee (Dusseldorf U Bahn) where we started walking through the rather pleasant streets of Dusseldorf before eventually finding ourselves by the Rhine. It was decidedly misty as we ambled our way along, before deciding to embark on yet another kind of U Bahn line, this time on Line U75 over the Rhine from shack 15, Tonhalle-Ehrenhof (Dusseldorf U Bahn), to shack 16, Luegplatz (Dusseldorf U Bahn). Winners 3225/3226, looking slightly antiquated, took us the one stop where we had a wander on the rather more open and quiet side of the river.
Graf-Adolf Platz by Richard Green, on Flickr
2115, Graf-Adolf Platz by Richard Green, on Flickr
3226, Luegplatz by Richard Green, on FlickrWe returned after a short while and decided to head back to Cologne via Neuss rather than slogging back to Dusseldorf. Another type of Tram for me to sample as a U74 service was due first in the form of winners 4010/4254, and despite looking newer than those on the U75, it was a museum inside! We took them as far we could on the shared line, as far as Belsenplatz (Dusseldorf U Bahn) which was shack 17, where we swapped onto another U75 pair in the form of winners 3216/3234 which provided a very nice run through the suburbs to Hauptbahnhof (Neuss) (Dusseldorf U Bahn), shack number 18. We ended up walking over to shack 19, Neuss Hbf, and joining winners 423259/423759/423262/423762 but on boarding, realised that we were on a slow stopping S Bahn all the way to Cologne, so I suggested a swap onto a fast service with some speedy work using the DB Personal Timetable online. Shack 20, Dormagen, was where we ended up bailing, with a nice cross platform interchange onto the RE7 service in the form of winners 442373/442873/442358/442858 through to Cologne Hauptbahnhof.
4010, Belsenplatz by Richard Green, on Flickr
3234, Belsenplatz by Richard Green, on Flickr
442355, Dormagen by Richard Green, on FlickrWe now had our eye on the Panorama which was basically a skyscraper by the river in Cologne that offered similar views to the Shard. It is however outdoors, much more relaxed and a heck of a lot cheaper. Winners 644022/644522, on my first DMU stint on the trip, took us over the river to Messe/Deutz where it was a short walk to the SkyTriangle Panorama and my god, the views were amazing! The city looked fantastic in the evening sunlight and it was also possible to look behind and see the well filled DB Depot
Final move was winners 423257/423757 to shack 21, Cologne-Hansaring. Finally, winner 4511 was taken to shack 22, Rudolfplatz (Cologne U Bahn) where we changed for the Line 7 service I failed to ID back to Marsdorf.
644522, Cologne Messe/Deutz by Richard Green, on Flickr
Cologne Skyline by Richard Green, on FlickrOne heck of a day, to be honest!
Glad you enjoyed.
Day 3 and 4 will be up eventually, 3 is Duisburg, Bochum and Dortmund, 4 is Aachen, Stolberg and me getting let loose on my own in Cologne for a couple hours.
I've only been to Germany in our van with the kids and that was five years ago now, that was Bavaria and Munich sort of area. Will definitely get back at some point and do a few railway journeys. I really love reading reports of foreign trips.
I need to get down that way too, only been up in the North Rhine area mainly.
There's also a report from Lisbon outstanding which i need to do too
I need to get down that way too, only been up in the North Rhine area mainly.
There's also a report from Lisbon outstanding which i need to do too
I've actually been there!
. Did a couple of loco hauled trains and a few trams. Amazing city Lisbon.
Kite159
Veteran Member
I want to go back to Germany, it's been way to long since I went with school in 2002-time
Techniquest
Veteran Member
That looked like one beast of a day! The suspended railway looks well awesome!
Cheers Tech, German days out were always beastly! That was even with a 1000 start and 2000 finish most days.
Sent from my F3311 using Tapatalk
Sent from my F3311 using Tapatalk
This is the 'hello i'm alive' post [emoji38]
I've been active on the rails, albeit for norm moves and meeting up with my girlfriend, though i've snared a few winners on our soujourns to London. But i'll be honest, with breathing room for bashing moves becoming rather nonexistent, I decided that I wanted to end the year with a bang.
So tonight, I got myself a return to London for the 29th/30th of December for the remarkable price of £49 which involves using the super duper peak 0704 non stop 268 mile run to London, then returning on the 1850 HT Adelante to Doncaster, followed by the 2110 MK4 usual to Newcastle.
So what are my aims? 315s and 700s. Old and new. I need a heap of TfL 315s which are on their way out, and the 700s have suddenly appear in their drones since I was last on bashing moves in the capital! I also intend to scratch off Hertford East seeing as you can now get a Z1-9+Hertford East Travelcard for very little more than the usual 1-6.
It promises to be an interesting one, and one i'm really looking forward to!
I've been active on the rails, albeit for norm moves and meeting up with my girlfriend, though i've snared a few winners on our soujourns to London. But i'll be honest, with breathing room for bashing moves becoming rather nonexistent, I decided that I wanted to end the year with a bang.
So tonight, I got myself a return to London for the 29th/30th of December for the remarkable price of £49 which involves using the super duper peak 0704 non stop 268 mile run to London, then returning on the 1850 HT Adelante to Doncaster, followed by the 2110 MK4 usual to Newcastle.
So what are my aims? 315s and 700s. Old and new. I need a heap of TfL 315s which are on their way out, and the 700s have suddenly appear in their drones since I was last on bashing moves in the capital! I also intend to scratch off Hertford East seeing as you can now get a Z1-9+Hertford East Travelcard for very little more than the usual 1-6.
It promises to be an interesting one, and one i'm really looking forward to!
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Techniquest
Veteran Member
Did not know that about the Travelcard, useful to know!
Sounds like it'll be awesome fun for you, what a way to see out 2016! Jealous of the non-stop run to London too as I have always wanted to do York non-stop!
Sounds like it'll be awesome fun for you, what a way to see out 2016! Jealous of the non-stop run to London too as I have always wanted to do York non-stop!
Back in the days of East Coast under DOR, the 0704 (1E01) used to be pretty affordable with quota based pricing meaning that a £9.95 single with railcard was possible. Nowadays demand based pricing and all round extortion from our friends at VTEC means that £74 single with a railcard is the norm. Somehow I managed to get it for £26.40, and the fact that coaches B/D/E/F were only half reserved or less shows that clearly the usual business market for the service doesn't exist at this time of year!
It's a good run but rarely achieves the headline 156 minutes, and involves a 91 pushing so you'd instantly ban it
Techniquest
Veteran Member
Yuck, 91 pushage! Nicely done on getting the cheap Advance mind, that's not bad value for short notice on the ECML. I just hope you get an HST instead!
Kite159
Veteran Member
Sounds like you will have a good trip, hopefully the 700s will be out in force next week
I'm gradually working out the evening of the 29th, looking something like this:
Bus from hotel to Angel Road, nip down to Northumberland Park, and up to Waltham Cross. Then score all stations to Hertford East and all stations to Southbury from Cheshunt. Into Central London for about 20:30 and do some Charing Cross/Waterloo East/London Bridge related hops before going down and scoring my last needed shacks on the Caterham branch, then my last needed shacks to Upper Warlingham. Hopefully ambling my way back to Chingford for 1am-ish
Friday morning shall be a tad more relaxed, out about 7:30, scoring Bush Hill Park and some peak time LO workings on Oyster before some unit scratching all day on a bog standard Off Peak Travelcard.
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Bus from hotel to Angel Road, nip down to Northumberland Park, and up to Waltham Cross. Then score all stations to Hertford East and all stations to Southbury from Cheshunt. Into Central London for about 20:30 and do some Charing Cross/Waterloo East/London Bridge related hops before going down and scoring my last needed shacks on the Caterham branch, then my last needed shacks to Upper Warlingham. Hopefully ambling my way back to Chingford for 1am-ish
Friday morning shall be a tad more relaxed, out about 7:30, scoring Bush Hill Park and some peak time LO workings on Oyster before some unit scratching all day on a bog standard Off Peak Travelcard.
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Kite159
Veteran Member
Good luck with the Southern stuff
If you can restrict yourself to zones 1-4 on the Friday than an anytime zone 1--4 is available
If you can restrict yourself to zones 1-4 on the Friday than an anytime zone 1--4 is available
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I shall look into the 1-4.Good luck with the Southern stuff
If you can restrict yourself to zones 1-4 on the Friday than an anytime zone 1--4 is available
And indeed I'll need the luck, I do believe one of the services I'll be using is the 2321 Turbostar to Sanderstead, which has a +13 onto the last northbound service of the night at Purley Oaks. If I miss it, then it's a hasty dash to Purley. That said, I'm not worried, as there's the N26 at my disposal from the likes of Charing Cross in order to get back.
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47403
Established Member
Some top and very interesting reading there Richard, I've been watching a few youtube videos of the German Railways recently, I'd went on to basically to hear what the old German Bunnies (218s- I think) sounded like and proceeded to follow more. It also seems there's a load of loco hauled stuff. So thanks for adding a bit more.
Sounded like a cracking trip so far, look forward to the rest.
Sounded like a cracking trip so far, look forward to the rest.
Glad you're enjoying, Lord Spoon. I need to get those other two days out sharpish then, as the day you read had the least amount of loco haulage of them all!
I have a documentary DVD and magazine on the Bunnies bought in Düsseldorf Airport (albeit in German) and they are monster looking machines.
Normally i'd be posting my final stats for the year, however because i'm away in London bashing next week, it won't be New Years Eve until that occurs!
In the meantime, a very Merry Christmas to you all.
In the meantime, a very Merry Christmas to you all.
Techniquest
Veteran Member
Merry Christmas to you too Richard!
47403
Established Member
Richard said
And to you too mate.
And to you too mate.
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Well the day has come. Typically running 8 minutes behind but I'm on 1E01 down to London, and due to the slower London service running ahead of us, I've scored the through non platform track at York between P3 and P5. Not a bad start!
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Kite159
Veteran Member
Techniquest
Veteran Member
Jammy jammy jammy...
I will confess to having drunk about six glasses of wine before typing this (because New Years Eve) so if something doesnt make sense then Ill be around to correct it in the morning
London Bash- Day 1, 29/12/16
So on Thursday morning began my first bash in nearly two months and my last of the year! I did however want this to be something special and worthwhile seeing as 2017 doesnt have anything in the pipeline (but again I have my eyes on something big over summer as probably another stay in London over Easter) bashing wise (though the rails are well interwoven into my plans for the year, such as Heathrow Express and some SNCF track coverage considering maybe an Interrail in future too. However, this was a wee London bash and it started with the crème da la crème, the 0704 to London Kings Cross non stop, being nudged by 91103 this morning. But of course it was delayed, because it literally never ever makes the headline 2hr 36 journey time, having 1Y14 shoved in front of it at Darlington (Its meant to wait and let us past) then overtaking it by trundling on the through line (sadly not quite the York avoider, which Im sure my TPE service on Tuesday accidentally got routed onto before getting thrown back across the tracks to terminate on Platform 9) before being delayed behind a slow running Kings Lynn service, arriving into Kings Cross 16 minutes late at 0956.
Needing a Zones 1-9 Travelcard, I had to go to the large queue at Kings Cross underground for a ticket, witnessing hapless tourists walking around like headless chickens while I bought my ticket in about 30 seconds It was then down to the tube and I took the Victoria Line to Seven Sisters where the bashing could begin. Id annoyingly just missed a service going north so in order to kill some time, I jumped on dud 315801 leading winner 315817 down to Stoke Newington, where I swapped back onto duds 315803/315804 to shack 1, Silver Street. On this service, a travel surveying guy asked me about my journey details so I made up a fake journey and interests just to avoid looking daft saying well mate, Im going to Silver Street, then doubling back, then out, then back, then maybe Cheshunt idk A swift change saw more fruitful haulage as winners 317719/317889 took me back to White Hart Lane. With me needing a Cheshunt service next, I needed to kill some more time so winner 317729 leading dud 317708 was taken back to Silver Street followed by duds 315815/315816 to White Hart Lane again.
317719, Silver Street by Richard Green, on Flickr
Time to get shacking again as winner 315805 took me into zone 7 and to shack 2, Theobalds Grove. Time to nip out and get a drink before the 315 then returned and took me to shack 3, Southbury. There was then a short wait for dud 315811 to the amusingly festive shack 4, Turkey Street, where I took a stroll down the actual Turkey Street and wandered off for a bus. The 279 took me to Waltham Cross bus station, so no surprises for where I was headed. 9 minutes of Enviro 400 and 5 minutes of walking later, I was rocking up to shack 5, Waltham Cross. First up was dud 317650 which was duly taken to Tottenham Hale, where I then made a lucky -1 onto a Hertford East service formed of winner 317881 leading dud 317671 to shack 6, Ponders End. This was a decidedly depressing looking place full of tower blocks, but a comfortable change was thankfully made onto double winners 317653/317659 back to Tottenham Hale where I was able to drop back onto winner 379012 trailing dud 379007 into Liverpool Street.
315805, White Hart Lane by Richard Green, on Flickr
317671, Ponders End by Richard Green, on Flickr
I needed to head to the hotel now but I did it in a rather weird way (It was only 1pm so I had an hour or so). Annoyingly it was duds 315854/315856 on the first service to Stratford, where the Central Line proceeded to screw up, resulting in many long waits as I decided to do a linear bash of the stations further up the line, scoring shacks 7-9, South Woodford, Woodford, and Buckhurst Hill where I then made the uphill walk for a bus 20 to Bancrofts School followed by a 179 to Chingford Station. It was then time for a short stroll to the lovely looking Premier Inn Chingford where I checked in and made myself a cuppa before evaluating this evenings plans. My original plan was to finish on the 0129 arrival at Chingford but on realising that I wanted a 5am start the next day, I decided to avoid doing that and to just see where the evening took me. Everything ready, I headed out again for the 1510 to Bethnal Green, formed of duds 315801/315817 once more. I was then left with a very fast walk to make to Whitechapel tube station for the journey to West Ham, diving into the 1613 to Shoeburyness with seconds to spare.
1992TS, South Woodford by Richard Green, on Flickr
Happily, it was formed of winners 357206/357211, and took me to shack 10, West Horndon. The sun was just starting to set as I put my gloves on and braced myself for the incoming cold, walking up and down the platform to kill some time before a very empty winner 357012 leading dud 357014 working the stopping service 2N00 to Laindon, shack 11, where I had a hasty connection to make over the bridge onto winners 357001/357039 to shack 12, Basildon. In my 10 minutes at Basildon, not a lot happened. I just spent my time watching the rats climb under the platform and the locals yelling at each other Soon enough however, winners 357013/357017 were trundling me along to shack 13, Benfleet, which was similarly enlightening and complete with a similar wait until winners 357015/357016 (nice order here, 12 to 17 all cleared) for the hop along to shack 14, Leigh on Sea. You may have noticed by now that Id skipped Pitsea, and thats just because it didnt fall into the timings right (the service to Benfleet skipped it) and also because I need everything from Grays to Pitsea so it seemed like an appropriate point for a future bash.
357014, Laindon by Richard Green, on Flickr
My first dose of a Metro layout unit for the evening was had with winner 357319 leading dud 357328 along to shack 15, Chalkwell, where I didnt have long to wait until winners 357202/357324 to shack 16, Westcliff. I was beginning to go Electrostar crazy at this point, but we just had two more shack scratches to go, with winners 357022/357315 trundling me along to shack 17, Southend East. Id also skipped Southend Central, but that was because Ive already had Southend Central and Shoeburyness The service was also beginning to fall over (the 387s were running but were running very late) so I was glad to be taking winners 357038/357041 to shack 18, Thorpe Bay, and walking over to the other platform only to have my ticket rejected by the gates. Its because Im starting short mate I said to the gateline bod, and surprisingly he nodded in understanding and let me through. Now it was just time for me to take fresh duds 357022/357315 all the way through to Limehouse. I took my seat in 315 for the completely solo journey as far as Basildon where we had a fair few people join us at stations beyond.
It was after Upminster that a lass approached me and asked my name because she thought she knew me, and it turns out that we knew each other off Twitter So the silence was happily broken with a merry wee chat until I bid her farewell at Limehouse and took duds 115/139 and winner 155 to Shadwell followed by dud 378234 to Canada Water. The Jubilee Line was then duly taken for a short stop at shack 19, Bermondsey (completing every Jubilee Line shack except St Johns Wood) before a run to Waterloo for dinner then back over to London Bridge. My intended service was the 2008 to Uckfield as far as East Croydon, but alas it had been cancelled in typical Southern style. As luck would have it, I dived onto winner 377158 working the 1957 to Three Bridges (pined between Three Bridges and Horsham) as far as East Croydon, where I dived across the platform onto a late running 2010 to East Grinstead, formed of winner 377447 leading dud 377202 to shack 20, Riddlesdown. My intention had been to walk to Kenley from here, but the fog was setting in and it was a 20 minute walk, and the delay to the East Grinstead had shrunk the service back to being a +7. So I stood in the freezing fog to await the 2037 to Victoria, being the lone passenger boarding winners 377135/377460 to shack 21, Sanderstead. A more pleasant walk in the fog was then had to Purley Oaks.
377158, East Croydon by Richard Green, on Flickr
Winner 377625 was my next move to shack 22, Whyteleafe South, where I decided that Kenley was too much of a faff. Instead, winner 455826 was taken to East Croydon, and I had the whole unit to myself until Purley Oaks and then the carriage to myself as far as East Croydon where a swift change was made onto winner 171806 up to London Bridge. My final main set of moves was to be some Waterloo East etc. leaps, and first up was winner 465160 leading dud 465010 to Waterloo East, where dud 465244 leading winner 465009 filed in behind to Charing Cross. A nice cross platform interchange then saw me take double winners 375919/375920 to Waterloo East, where another cross platform change was made onto winner 466031 leading duds 466012/465050 back to Charing Cross for 2220.
171806, London Bridge by Richard Green, on Flickr
465009, London Charing Cross by Richard Green, on Flickr
I decided on one last mainline rail move, so I had a walk to Trafalgar Square and took the quirky old Bakerloo to Oxford Circus followed by the speedy old Vic to Kings Cross. Id never used Kings Cross this late and I noted the few passengers headed for the 2257 to York, but for me it was the stupidly formed of 4 coaches 2252 to Peterborough, with winner 365531 at the helm. It was heaving but thankfully I only had the pleasure of it up to Finsbury Park where the Victoria Line was taken to Walthamstow Central. One last move, and that was the 2318 to Chingford, happily ending with winner 315810. Arrival was at 2329 and the foggy walk was had back to the hotel for a shower and refresh before hitting the hay for 4 hours sleep and to do it all again the next day. My eyes were set on the 0540 to old Walthamstow.
365531, London Kings Cross by Richard Green, on Flickr
Total Winners- 42+22 shacks
London Bash- Day 1, 29/12/16
So on Thursday morning began my first bash in nearly two months and my last of the year! I did however want this to be something special and worthwhile seeing as 2017 doesnt have anything in the pipeline (but again I have my eyes on something big over summer as probably another stay in London over Easter) bashing wise (though the rails are well interwoven into my plans for the year, such as Heathrow Express and some SNCF track coverage considering maybe an Interrail in future too. However, this was a wee London bash and it started with the crème da la crème, the 0704 to London Kings Cross non stop, being nudged by 91103 this morning. But of course it was delayed, because it literally never ever makes the headline 2hr 36 journey time, having 1Y14 shoved in front of it at Darlington (Its meant to wait and let us past) then overtaking it by trundling on the through line (sadly not quite the York avoider, which Im sure my TPE service on Tuesday accidentally got routed onto before getting thrown back across the tracks to terminate on Platform 9) before being delayed behind a slow running Kings Lynn service, arriving into Kings Cross 16 minutes late at 0956.
Needing a Zones 1-9 Travelcard, I had to go to the large queue at Kings Cross underground for a ticket, witnessing hapless tourists walking around like headless chickens while I bought my ticket in about 30 seconds
It was then down to the tube and I took the Victoria Line to Seven Sisters where the bashing could begin. Id annoyingly just missed a service going north so in order to kill some time, I jumped on dud 315801 leading winner 315817 down to Stoke Newington, where I swapped back onto duds 315803/315804 to shack 1, Silver Street. On this service, a travel surveying guy asked me about my journey details so I made up a fake journey and interests just to avoid looking daft saying well mate, Im going to Silver Street, then doubling back, then out, then back, then maybe Cheshunt idk A swift change saw more fruitful haulage as winners 317719/317889 took me back to White Hart Lane. With me needing a Cheshunt service next, I needed to kill some more time so winner 317729 leading dud 317708 was taken back to Silver Street followed by duds 315815/315816 to White Hart Lane again.
317719, Silver Street by Richard Green, on FlickrTime to get shacking again as winner 315805 took me into zone 7 and to shack 2, Theobalds Grove. Time to nip out and get a drink before the 315 then returned and took me to shack 3, Southbury. There was then a short wait for dud 315811 to the amusingly festive shack 4, Turkey Street, where I took a stroll down the actual Turkey Street and wandered off for a bus. The 279 took me to Waltham Cross bus station, so no surprises for where I was headed. 9 minutes of Enviro 400 and 5 minutes of walking later, I was rocking up to shack 5, Waltham Cross. First up was dud 317650 which was duly taken to Tottenham Hale, where I then made a lucky -1 onto a Hertford East service formed of winner 317881 leading dud 317671 to shack 6, Ponders End. This was a decidedly depressing looking place full of tower blocks, but a comfortable change was thankfully made onto double winners 317653/317659 back to Tottenham Hale where I was able to drop back onto winner 379012 trailing dud 379007 into Liverpool Street.
315805, White Hart Lane by Richard Green, on Flickr
317671, Ponders End by Richard Green, on FlickrI needed to head to the hotel now but I did it in a rather weird way (It was only 1pm so I had an hour or so). Annoyingly it was duds 315854/315856 on the first service to Stratford, where the Central Line proceeded to screw up, resulting in many long waits as I decided to do a linear bash of the stations further up the line, scoring shacks 7-9, South Woodford, Woodford, and Buckhurst Hill where I then made the uphill walk for a bus 20 to Bancrofts School followed by a 179 to Chingford Station. It was then time for a short stroll to the lovely looking Premier Inn Chingford where I checked in and made myself a cuppa before evaluating this evenings plans. My original plan was to finish on the 0129 arrival at Chingford but on realising that I wanted a 5am start the next day, I decided to avoid doing that and to just see where the evening took me. Everything ready, I headed out again for the 1510 to Bethnal Green, formed of duds 315801/315817 once more. I was then left with a very fast walk to make to Whitechapel tube station for the journey to West Ham, diving into the 1613 to Shoeburyness with seconds to spare.
1992TS, South Woodford by Richard Green, on FlickrHappily, it was formed of winners 357206/357211, and took me to shack 10, West Horndon. The sun was just starting to set as I put my gloves on and braced myself for the incoming cold, walking up and down the platform to kill some time before a very empty winner 357012 leading dud 357014 working the stopping service 2N00 to Laindon, shack 11, where I had a hasty connection to make over the bridge onto winners 357001/357039 to shack 12, Basildon. In my 10 minutes at Basildon, not a lot happened. I just spent my time watching the rats climb under the platform and the locals yelling at each other
Soon enough however, winners 357013/357017 were trundling me along to shack 13, Benfleet, which was similarly enlightening and complete with a similar wait until winners 357015/357016 (nice order here, 12 to 17 all cleared) for the hop along to shack 14, Leigh on Sea. You may have noticed by now that Id skipped Pitsea, and thats just because it didnt fall into the timings right (the service to Benfleet skipped it) and also because I need everything from Grays to Pitsea so it seemed like an appropriate point for a future bash.
357014, Laindon by Richard Green, on FlickrMy first dose of a Metro layout unit for the evening was had with winner 357319 leading dud 357328 along to shack 15, Chalkwell, where I didnt have long to wait until winners 357202/357324 to shack 16, Westcliff. I was beginning to go Electrostar crazy at this point, but we just had two more shack scratches to go, with winners 357022/357315 trundling me along to shack 17, Southend East. Id also skipped Southend Central, but that was because Ive already had Southend Central and Shoeburyness
The service was also beginning to fall over (the 387s were running but were running very late) so I was glad to be taking winners 357038/357041 to shack 18, Thorpe Bay, and walking over to the other platform only to have my ticket rejected by the gates. Its because Im starting short mate I said to the gateline bod, and surprisingly he nodded in understanding and let me through. Now it was just time for me to take fresh duds 357022/357315 all the way through to Limehouse. I took my seat in 315 for the completely solo journey as far as Basildon where we had a fair few people join us at stations beyond. It was after Upminster that a lass approached me and asked my name because she thought she knew me, and it turns out that we knew each other off Twitter
So the silence was happily broken with a merry wee chat until I bid her farewell at Limehouse and took duds 115/139 and winner 155 to Shadwell followed by dud 378234 to Canada Water. The Jubilee Line was then duly taken for a short stop at shack 19, Bermondsey (completing every Jubilee Line shack except St Johns Wood) before a run to Waterloo for dinner then back over to London Bridge. My intended service was the 2008 to Uckfield as far as East Croydon, but alas it had been cancelled in typical Southern style. As luck would have it, I dived onto winner 377158 working the 1957 to Three Bridges (pined between Three Bridges and Horsham) as far as East Croydon, where I dived across the platform onto a late running 2010 to East Grinstead, formed of winner 377447 leading dud 377202 to shack 20, Riddlesdown. My intention had been to walk to Kenley from here, but the fog was setting in and it was a 20 minute walk, and the delay to the East Grinstead had shrunk the service back to being a +7. So I stood in the freezing fog to await the 2037 to Victoria, being the lone passenger boarding winners 377135/377460 to shack 21, Sanderstead. A more pleasant walk in the fog was then had to Purley Oaks.
377158, East Croydon by Richard Green, on FlickrWinner 377625 was my next move to shack 22, Whyteleafe South, where I decided that Kenley was too much of a faff. Instead, winner 455826 was taken to East Croydon, and I had the whole unit to myself until Purley Oaks and then the carriage to myself as far as East Croydon where a swift change was made onto winner 171806 up to London Bridge. My final main set of moves was to be some Waterloo East etc. leaps, and first up was winner 465160 leading dud 465010 to Waterloo East, where dud 465244 leading winner 465009 filed in behind to Charing Cross. A nice cross platform interchange then saw me take double winners 375919/375920 to Waterloo East, where another cross platform change was made onto winner 466031 leading duds 466012/465050 back to Charing Cross for 2220.
171806, London Bridge by Richard Green, on Flickr
465009, London Charing Cross by Richard Green, on FlickrI decided on one last mainline rail move, so I had a walk to Trafalgar Square and took the quirky old Bakerloo to Oxford Circus followed by the speedy old Vic to Kings Cross. Id never used Kings Cross this late and I noted the few passengers headed for the 2257 to York, but for me it was the stupidly formed of 4 coaches 2252 to Peterborough, with winner 365531 at the helm. It was heaving but thankfully I only had the pleasure of it up to Finsbury Park where the Victoria Line was taken to Walthamstow Central. One last move, and that was the 2318 to Chingford, happily ending with winner 315810. Arrival was at 2329 and the foggy walk was had back to the hotel for a shower and refresh before hitting the hay for 4 hours sleep and to do it all again the next day. My eyes were set on the 0540 to old Walthamstow.
365531, London Kings Cross by Richard Green, on FlickrTotal Winners- 42+22 shacks
- Status