Richard's Trip Reports

[Kite159]

Sounded like a nice little day trip, congrats on the GC 43s and a nice ride on a 142 (although probably a better ride than a metro unit)

 

[rg177]

Sounded like a nice little day trip, congrats on the GC 43s and a nice ride on a 142 (although probably a better ride than a metro unit)

I don't mind 142s so much in weather than demands you have all the windows shut, they're actually quite cosy. I recall a trip from Meadowhall to Huddersfield on a rainy August day on board 142013 was actually quite pleasant. That said, it was lightly loaded and I took my shoes off and lay across a bay of 3

On a hot day rammed in on the Tyne Valley though, they're awful.

 

[Techniquest]

Congratulations on clearing your GC HSTs! I need 4 of their power cars to achieve the same, but then I have cleared GWR, EMT and VTEC HSTs

 

[TC60054]

Congratulations on clearing your GC HSTs! I need 4 of their power cars to achieve the same, but then I have cleared GWR, EMT and VTEC HSTs

Talk about subtlety there Tech

 

[rg177]

Talk about subtlety there Tech

A megs bash out west is required sooner rather than later

I'll have to attack the EMT ones when I move that way, pronto...

 

[TC60054]

A megs bash out west is required sooner rather than later

I'll have to attack the EMT ones when I move that way, pronto...

It's not all its cracked up to be, I still need six EMT ones, although whether thats more because of a lack of effort / willpower, I don't know.

 

[Kristofferson]

A rather epic bash in London town, it must be said. Very productive though. The mini bash was also super worthwhile! The photos were much appreciated

 

[rg177]

A rather epic bash in London town, it must be said. Very productive though. The mini bash was also super worthwhile! The photos were much appreciated

Glad you enjoyed both the read and photos. Need to get myself back to London...

 

[FQ]

A big congrats on completing your GC powercars - something I achieved last summer despite living nowhere near them . I don't envy the pacer action though.

 

[rg177]

A big congrats on completing your GC powercars - something I achieved last summer despite living nowhere near them . I don't envy the pacer action though.

My issue is that the services from York to London that I use for day trips are booked 180 (0821 off York and 1911 off King's Cross) whereas the HSTs fall into the middle so I have to make a point of catching one.

And it was a 142 or an hour on the bus...

 

[rg177]

Averagetram- 08/02/17

So, this wasn’t intended to be a bash at all, but I intentionally extended my day by several hours so as to give me time to relax and do my first proper shack scratching moves of the year. I was attending an offer holder’s open day at Sheffield University and so the apt choice was Supertram, with me needing a fair bit of track and shacks still. It was a 5:50 alarm, and I rose out of bed rather groggy, grabbing breakfast and heading to the station for 6:45 and already I could sense a problem, with my intended train to Leeds showing as ‘7:08- York.’ However, I first needed to obtain a Plusbus from the ticket office, and hand over my £2.65. My request was granted but it was very bizarrely handled, with me being interrogated on its intended usage and being constantly told that it wasn’t valid until 10am to which I said ‘I don’t even reach Sheffield until after then mate, you can see i’m travelling via Leeds’ (I was due to arrive Sheffield at 0951 so would be catching a tram at 10am or thereabouts, and in the event we were 10 minutes late) But he didn’t seem to believe me and scrawled on the front of the ticket ‘NOT VALID UNTIL AFTER 10AM’ which was incredibly patronising and actually meant that I received numerous queries from Supertram Conductors as to why i’d written all over my ticket. One just laughed and said ‘sounds like a pleasant guy’ when I explained.

Bemused, I headed to Platform 4, and noted that dud 185115 was just arriving, with a highly apologetic announcement of ‘Platform 4 for the 0708 TransPennine Express service to York, calling at Durham, Darlington and York. Change at York for other stations. Platform 4 for York.’ Doors were however not released until 0716 due to the train developing a fault and then that was blamed on the train terminating early (there was also no guard available between York and Manchester Vic) before we departed 10L and proceeded for what I was hoping to be at least a smooth journey to York with an expected arrival of 0819 but instead we faltered around Thirsk and arrived at 0824, 13 minutes behind schedule, missing the 0824 to Leeds and resigning me and the rest of the train to the 0840 service. Dud 185142 was in charge and it was utterly rammed, full and standing to the extent that people could no longer physically board. It was a squishy albeit punctual journey to Leeds where we arrived in slightly early at 0903, allowing me to connect onto the 0911 to Sheffield (Plymouth) which had duds 43207/43301 working, and in true fashion with the rest of the morning, it was delayed for seemingly no reason at all on departure, by 6 minutes, creeping up to 11 by the time we arrived at Sheffield due to a stopper getting shoved in front.

Nonetheless, we were soon at Sheffield and I headed to the tram platform to see what I could achieve in the half hour before I aimed to be at the university. Dud 116 was first up to Fitzalan Square, followed by dud 106 appearing behind on a Purple Line service to Cathedral which was taken through to its terminus. Dud 107 was then taken a further stop to City Hall where we eventually had a breakthrough and I ran to the other platform so as to catch winner 105 back down to Cathedral in order to hop on dud 119 to University, concluding my tram action for the next couple of hours.

At 1150, I came back out, having 1hr 45 spare until the course talk I needed to be at, so I decided to go get an awkward shack out on its own at the top of the line. Dud 119 appeared once more for the journey to Infirmary Road, where I swapped onto a Blue Line service, this time with dud 114 in charge, through to shack 1, Malin Bridge. I’ve no idea why I never scored this short stretch of track, but hey. After that, it was a jog back to Hillsborough and I caught sight of winner 112 which had me dashing on board and taking it to Leppings Lane, simply because i’d never boarded nor alighted there on a tram, despite having scratched it on a hasty walking move. It soon returned back from Middlewood, and I was looking for some short city centre moves. I also timed it perfectly so that I reached West Street in time to snare winner 111 back up to University before hopping on dud 117 back to there, so as to catch winner 121 to University once more! I nipped into Sainsbury's, and having concluded that the food selection was naff, I hopped on dud 109 back to West Street to visit Tesco before catching dud 115 back to the University once more.

Come 16:15 we were finished and now the main event started, as I took dud 107 to Fitzalan Square as a filler move until dud 116 arrived for the journey to shack 2, Manor Top. This tram had a few issues, as the doors smacked into the platform at Park Grange Croft, resulting in the conductor having to scrape them along the ground and close them. Seems we were quite late as once we arrived at Manor Top, an empty dud 113 filed in behind, so I hopped on to continue the journey. This time it was taken to shack 3, Gleadless Townend, just as the sun was starting to set. Dud 105 was taken back to shack 4, Hollinsend where I encountered an unexpected winner (I’d noted everything I needed bar one tram, one being on the Yellow Line and out of reach and the other just not appearing). That no show was winner 120 which turned up looking rather broken, and it was duly taken to shack 5, Birley Lane. Good timing here as I crossed over just as dud 114 was arriving for the journey back to shack 6, White Lane. Here we experienced a lull in service, as the boards decided to break, so it was a relief when dud 124 (also rather broken) arrived 6L and took me along to a very quiet shack 7, Moss Way.

As expected, it was about 3 minutes until dud 104 turned up empty for the hop to shack 8, Crystal Peaks. This was a daft move because as it turns out, 104 went all the way to Halfway and back to here in the time I was waiting for the next service. I don’t know why it was so long, but I spent a good 15 minutes sitting around until winner 125 turned up to take me to shack 9, Halfway. Everyone jumped off here and that was really it, we switched ends and had an empty journey back up the line (with me kicking the driver’s door shut to a ‘cheers mate!’ as it decided to swing open on departure) I left at shack 9, Beighton, which was a good move as I dropped straight onto winner 118 up to shack 10, Westfield. Also a clever move because it went up to Halfway and then went out of service! However we had dud 108 directly behind so it was taken one stop to shack 11, Waterthorpe, before dud 115 then appeared straight after for the run to shack 12, Hackenthorpe. There was now a 16 minute gap in service Sheffield bound so dud 114 was taken to shack 13, Donetsk Way, where, as planned, there was a 7 minute fester until winner 110 took me all the way back to Sheffield Station for around 1905. That was all shacks cleared on the Blue Line branch except Birley Moor Road, leaving the Herdings Branch and a few assorted ones to get.

Dud 220012 was the packed haulage back to Leeds, with me sitting on the floor in Coach F next to a socket in the disabled bay due to my phone needing a charge (the guard didn’t seem to mind) with an arrival of 2009 which gave me time to get a Double Cheeseburger, a bottle of water and some skittles for the journey home on a very ill sounding dud 185116. Apparently it likes to lose air a lot (and fails as a result) and it sounded like a hairdryer! It sounded like it was going to give out at multiple points (on leaving Durham, we jerked and the brakes applied hard for about half a second) but we made it to Newcastle on time for 2219.

Anything I got today was a bonus considering that it was meant for university, so some productive stats! Just 101 left to get on Supertram...

Winners- 8+13 shacks
Mileage- 322mi 43ch
Cost- £27.54

 

[TC60054]

Averagetram- 08/02/17

So, this wasn’t intended to be a bash at all, but I intentionally extended my day by several hours so as to give me time to relax and do my first proper shack scratching moves of the year. I was attending an offer holder’s open day at Sheffield University and so the apt choice was Supertram, with me needing a fair bit of track and shacks still. It was a 5:50 alarm, and I rose out of bed rather groggy, grabbing breakfast and heading to the station for 6:45 and already I could sense a problem, with my intended train to Leeds showing as ‘7:08- York.’ However, I first needed to obtain a Plusbus from the ticket office, and hand over my £2.65. My request was granted but it was very bizarrely handled, with me being interrogated on its intended usage and being constantly told that it wasn’t valid until 10am to which I said ‘I don’t even reach Sheffield until after then mate, you can see i’m travelling via Leeds’ (I was due to arrive Sheffield at 0951 so would be catching a tram at 10am or thereabouts, and in the event we were 10 minutes late) But he didn’t seem to believe me and scrawled on the front of the ticket ‘NOT VALID UNTIL AFTER 10AM’ which was incredibly patronising and actually meant that I received numerous queries from Supertram Conductors as to why i’d written all over my ticket. One just laughed and said ‘sounds like a pleasant guy’ when I explained.

Bemused, I headed to Platform 4, and noted that dud 185115 was just arriving, with a highly apologetic announcement of ‘Platform 4 for the 0708 TransPennine Express service to York, calling at Durham, Darlington and York. Change at York for other stations. Platform 4 for York.’ Doors were however not released until 0716 due to the train developing a fault and then that was blamed on the train terminating early (there was also no guard available between York and Manchester Vic) before we departed 10L and proceeded for what I was hoping to be at least a smooth journey to York with an expected arrival of 0819 but instead we faltered around Thirsk and arrived at 0824, 13 minutes behind schedule, missing the 0824 to Leeds and resigning me and the rest of the train to the 0840 service. Dud 185142 was in charge and it was utterly rammed, full and standing to the extent that people could no longer physically board. It was a squishy albeit punctual journey to Leeds where we arrived in slightly early at 0903, allowing me to connect onto the 0911 to Sheffield (Plymouth) which had duds 43207/43301 working, and in true fashion with the rest of the morning, it was delayed for seemingly no reason at all on departure, by 6 minutes, creeping up to 11 by the time we arrived at Sheffield due to a stopper getting shoved in front.

Nonetheless, we were soon at Sheffield and I headed to the tram platform to see what I could achieve in the half hour before I aimed to be at the university. Dud 116 was first up to Fitzalan Square, followed by dud 106 appearing behind on a Purple Line service to Cathedral which was taken through to its terminus. Dud 107 was then taken a further stop to City Hall where we eventually had a breakthrough and I ran to the other platform so as to catch winner 105 back down to Cathedral in order to hop on dud 119 to University, concluding my tram action for the next couple of hours.

At 1150, I came back out, having 1hr 45 spare until the course talk I needed to be at, so I decided to go get an awkward shack out on its own at the top of the line. Dud 119 appeared once more for the journey to Infirmary Road, where I swapped onto a Blue Line service, this time with dud 114 in charge, through to shack 1, Malin Bridge. I’ve no idea why I never scored this short stretch of track, but hey. After that, it was a jog back to Hillsborough and I caught sight of winner 112 which had me dashing on board and taking it to Leppings Lane, simply because i’d never boarded nor alighted there on a tram, despite having scratched it on a hasty walking move. It soon returned back from Middlewood, and I was looking for some short city centre moves. I also timed it perfectly so that I reached West Street in time to snare winner 111 back up to University before hopping on dud 117 back to there, so as to catch winner 121 to University once more! I nipped into Sainsbury's, and having concluded that the food selection was naff, I hopped on dud 109 back to West Street to visit Tesco before catching dud 115 back to the University once more.

Come 16:15 we were finished and now the main event started, as I took dud 107 to Fitzalan Square as a filler move until dud 116 arrived for the journey to shack 2, Manor Top. This tram had a few issues, as the doors smacked into the platform at Park Grange Croft, resulting in the conductor having to scrape them along the ground and close them. Seems we were quite late as once we arrived at Manor Top, an empty dud 113 filed in behind, so I hopped on to continue the journey. This time it was taken to shack 3, Gleadless Townend, just as the sun was starting to set. Dud 105 was taken back to shack 4, Hollinsend where I encountered an unexpected winner (I’d noted everything I needed bar one tram, one being on the Yellow Line and out of reach and the other just not appearing). That no show was winner 120 which turned up looking rather broken, and it was duly taken to shack 5, Birley Lane. Good timing here as I crossed over just as dud 114 was arriving for the journey back to shack 6, White Lane. Here we experienced a lull in service, as the boards decided to break, so it was a relief when dud 124 (also rather broken) arrived 6L and took me along to a very quiet shack 7, Moss Way.

As expected, it was about 3 minutes until dud 104 turned up empty for the hop to shack 8, Crystal Peaks. This was a daft move because as it turns out, 104 went all the way to Halfway and back to here in the time I was waiting for the next service. I don’t know why it was so long, but I spent a good 15 minutes sitting around until winner 125 turned up to take me to shack 9, Halfway. Everyone jumped off here and that was really it, we switched ends and had an empty journey back up the line (with me kicking the driver’s door shut to a ‘cheers mate!’ as it decided to swing open on departure) I left at shack 9, Beighton, which was a good move as I dropped straight onto winner 118 up to shack 10, Westfield. Also a clever move because it went up to Halfway and then went out of service! However we had dud 108 directly behind so it was taken one stop to shack 11, Waterthorpe, before dud 115 then appeared straight after for the run to shack 12, Hackenthorpe. There was now a 16 minute gap in service Sheffield bound so dud 114 was taken to shack 13, Donetsk Way, where, as planned, there was a 7 minute fester until winner 110 took me all the way back to Sheffield Station for around 1905. That was all shacks cleared on the Blue Line branch except Birley Moor Road, leaving the Herdings Branch and a few assorted ones to get.

Dud 220012 was the packed haulage back to Leeds, with me sitting on the floor in Coach F next to a socket in the disabled bay due to my phone needing a charge (the guard didn’t seem to mind) with an arrival of 2009 which gave me time to get a Double Cheeseburger, a bottle of water and some skittles for the journey home on a very ill sounding dud 185116. Apparently it likes to lose air a lot (and fails as a result) and it sounded like a hairdryer! It sounded like it was going to give out at multiple points (on leaving Durham, we jerked and the brakes applied hard for about half a second) but we made it to Newcastle on time for 2219.

Anything I got today was a bonus considering that it was meant for university, so some productive stats! Just 101 left to get on Supertram...

Winners- 8+13 shacks
Mileage- 322mi 43ch
Cost- £27.54

You're welcome A good day never the less.

 

[rg177]

Yes your gen was indeed put to good use

Sent from my SM-A310F using Tapatalk

 

[Techniquest]

Wow that was some good going! Long day mind, I'd have been exhausted by that lot

I really need to get up to Sheffield for a Supertram clearout, no opportunity to do so either for a long time!

 

[rg177]

Wow that was some good going! Long day mind, I'd have been exhausted by that lot

I really need to get up to Sheffield for a Supertram clearout, no opportunity to do so either for a long time!

Well from September you'll likely have two of us to accompany you on that venture

I was exhausted the next day as I had to get up at 0740 and head to college...

 

[Kite159]

Just 101 left to get on Supertram..

Until those new trams eventually enter service, by which time you would have finished university

Sounded like a good day in Sheffield, and congrats on getting accepted (?) to that university

 

[Techniquest]

The young sir will have retired from his working life by the time the 399s have entered service!

 

[rg177]

Until those new trams eventually enter service, by which time you would have finished university

Sounded like a good day in Sheffield, and congrats on getting accepted (?) to that university

Thank you, it's a conditional offer of ABB but my mock exam grades in December were also ABB so it hopefully won't be much of a task to get myself in.

 

[TC60054]

The young sir will have retired from his working life by the time the 399s have entered service!

That early?

 

[37038]

I thought they'd be out not long after I started uni and I'd have them easily cleared by the time I finished. Started nearly 3 years ago and worrying now! :P

 

[rg177]

I thought they'd be out not long after I started uni and I'd have them easily cleared by the time I finished. Started nearly 3 years ago and worrying now! :P

Hopefully I'll end up living in the accommodation near West Street and I can poke my head out the window and await the day they come into service!

 

[Kite159]

Hopefully I'll end up living in the accommodation near West Street and I can poke my head out the window and await the day they come into service!

Isn't that the accommodation which overlooks part of the tram line?

Brings back a memory of the first time I did the supertram, it was a warm day and one of the students didn't draw their blinds

 

[rg177]

Isn't that the accommodation which overlooks part of the tram line?

Brings back a memory of the first time I did the supertram, it was a warm day and one of the students didn't draw their blinds

Probably yeah. I shall however avoid the scenario you describe

 

[Kite159]

Probably yeah. I shall however avoid the scenario you describe

I didn't finish, but a good looking female student was laid out on a sofa (or bed) in just her underwear, probably didn't even think about the chance of being on view.

 

[TC60054]

I thought they'd be out not long after I started uni and I'd have them easily cleared by the time I finished. Started nearly 3 years ago and worrying now! :P

You do have to remember the first one was only delivered a year ago

Hopefully I'll end up living in the accommodation near West Street and I can poke my head out the window and await the day they come into service!

Except current plans say they're not supposed to go up West Street

 

[rg177]

Not a lot to report on this week so far apart from much 185 mileage, clearing 122, 127 and 135 well past 100 miles and likely putting 127 closer to 500. Also had my first Azumas for sight!

Sent from my SM-A310F using Tapatalk

 

[rg177]

Well it's the day of the bash and all for today should be proceeding as scheduled. However, tomorrow won't be due to the storms you're all hearing about!

North Wales seemed like a daft move when it's going to get a battering so I've booked a last minute advance from Chester to Hereford for a tenner so that I can do a West Midlands Ranger. There was also the option of the 0530 to Brum but it was a bit of a pointless idea considering that the WMDR has no validity until 9.

I also require Shrewsbury to Hereford and Hereford to Malvern Link!

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[Kite159]

05:30 to Brum, you could have wasted the hour (or so) before the WMDR kicked in to have a small session on the Midland Metro

Have a safe trip avoiding Doris

 

[rg177]

05:30 to Brum, you could have wasted the hour (or so) before the WMDR kicked in to have a small session on the Midland Metro

Have a safe trip avoiding Doris

I get to Hereford 0809 so will likely get a single to Ledbury or Colwall on the 0845 and start earlier.

I did think that but didn't feel like dealing with rush hour Birmingham and wanted to get some new track in.

Cheers though, hopefully Doris will be kind to me. Already been fine so far as I was booked to go via Picc on TPE but I've been allowed to stay put and go direct to Liverpool via Victoria.

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[Techniquest]

It's a shame I'm working tomorrow (9-4) when you're coming onto my territory! I'm on the other side of town though!

The 0845 is normally a 170+153 and regularly leaves from platform 1 these days. Pumpkin can be a little slow to serve in Hereford be warned. Morrisons very close by if you need supplies