Spotting 2024 – Week 19

I hinted in my last spotting post that this would be a slow week with strikes and an overtime ban across the network. I additionally failed to mention a couple of health related appointments; eye-screening and dentists. So, for much of the week I languished at home. That, of course, isn’t quite true – I used the time to push on with my fitness regime of walks. There are a number of challenges that I’m signed up for this month – I have to say that Garmin Connect is really getting me involved😱😂 We’ll be touching on a couple of walking actions during this post👍

I weathered Monday to Thursday with local walks – a planned trip to Kew Gardens for the Bank Holiday Monday was rained off😒 It was Friday when I finally ventured out onto the rails. I decided to mix getting some haulage with a bit of spotting at Clapham Junction. Thameslink was running a poor service due to, I believe, being badly hit by the overtime ban. Although this delayed my journey a little, I was able to stick to my planned route via London Bridge and Waterloo East, picking up 2 Class 700’s and a Class 707 for haulage on the way.

From Waterloo I travelled out to Clapham Junction on Class 455, 5861. Even with reduced services, Clapham Junction was busy. It’s that time when students make their way back to Uni after the spring break as this colourful pairing sitting on the steps illustrates…

…Meanwhile – what else can you do but massage your mobile phone while waiting for your train?..

…Class 455, 5714 providing the spotting entertainment. One of the reasons for my visit was a celebrity 455 – 5868 has been repainted in the British Railways Blue / Grey livery it wore when it first entered service…

…back in 1984.

My journey home was an interesting one. Back to Waterloo, across to Waterloo East, on to London Bridge and then a train back to Farringdon. My intention from there was Elizabeth Line to Tottenham Court Road and Northern Line home. That all went fine until I reached the Northern Line platforms. Everything was at a standstill or moving very slowly and the platform was jammed with confused passengers / tourists. I assessed the situation and decided I’d head back to the Elizabeth Line. As I was leaving I heard a Code 1 announcement for station staff to attend the southbound platforms which is not a good thing as it suggests that someone had been injured.

I rode the Elizabeth Line to Liverpool Street from where I picked up an Overground service to Hackney Downs – this time travelling on one of the 710’s that I need for haulage. A short walk along the dedicated footbridge to Hackney Central and I was ready to catch my train to Gospel Oak. I have changed here before but was in too much of a hurry at the time to assess the station for train photography. This time I marked it down for a future visit.

At Gospel Oak I chose to take a walk along the road to pick up a 214 bus up to Highgate Village. From there I could get either a 143 or 263 home. Arriving just after 16:00, I found that Highgate School had just emptied out – spilling it students onto the pavement and inflicting them upon innocent intending bus passengers😅I took one look at the situation and decided to walk home from there – it’s just under 3 miles and with a slight detour, I was able to use my unplanned walk to complete one of my Garmin challenges! Spotting totals for the day: 173 logged with 8 needed and 9 new for haulage. I also did over 21000 steps!

Saturday: Guess where I went – yes, I headed back to Hackney Central to get some shots. It was a good day to go as some freights were diverting because of engineering works in Cambridgeshire. I did the weekly shop before I headed out and was little late leaving.

I had target freight that I wanted to catch. Time was tight and I should have missed it entirely, except it was running late. Even so I had to detrain at Canonbury to catch it…

…66192 on the Felixstowe North to East Midlands Gateway intermodal – that’s a ’66’ I need 😎

I then completed my trip to Hackney Central. Here’s some shots, starting with 66780 in Cemex livery on a Doncaster to Felixstowe service approaching from the west…

…One of the local Overground services operated by 378257, approaching from the east…

…Greater Anglia unit 720567, heading back to Ilford after a trip to Wembley for maintenance…

…and 66753 on the Felixstowe North to Birch Coppice run…

Definitely a good lunchtime’s spotting 😎 I walked back along the footbridge connection to Hackney Downs station where I logged 3 of the 4 class 710’s I still need and rode back into Liverpool Street on 710113.

My plans to go home were Elizabeth Line to Farringdon, then Thameslink to Finsbury Park. From there I was hoping to pick up one of the two 717 units I still need for haulage. I got to Alexandra Palace and was waiting for the next Welwyn Garden City service. Things then went pear-shaped – they started announcing delays due to a points failure. It quickly became apparent that this was going to be a major service issue. I realised I would have to change my way home. The bus options are not ideal for where I live. I decided I’d walk up the hill past the Alexandra Palace and then continue up the rest of the climb to Muswell Hill itself. I can get a bus from there. That is a fierce pair of climbs on a hot day – 3 weeks ago I wouldn’t have even contemplated it. This fitness thing is really getting into my life😅

Totals for Saturday: 68 logged of which I needed 6 and I got 2 new for haulage. I also complete 15k steps and was justifiably proud of the walk across Ally Pally😎 Where will next week take me? I guess I’ll find out – see you then👍

Spotting 2024 – Week 18

This was a quiet week on the trains with a Wednesday night football match to photograph and some household chores to get done as well as an election to vote in. Even so, I did achieve one milestone and managed to get some good shots along the way😎

Monday was an opportunity to combine some good exercise with a bit of spotting locally. In order to do that, I decided to walk over to Alexandra Palace station rather than taking the bus to New Southgate. The walk took me just over an hour at a moderately brisk pace and included some steep climbs near the end. You get a good view over Hornsey and Harringay from Alexandra Palace…

…with Canary Wharf and Woolwich beyond.

Arriving at Alexandra Palace station, I was hoping I’d timed my walk right. I’d checked which of the Class 717 units I need for haulage were in service and what rosters they were operating. I had indeed timed it right – 717005 duly appeared on the next Moorgate service👍Only 2 more needed for the set now!

I rode down to Highbury & Islington where I was hoping I might find my last Class 378 that I need for haulage. It had been working the West Croydon run last time I saw it and I wondered if it was on that duty again. But I hadn’t been there long when I decided to catch a train across to Canonbury, the next station down the line. Canonbury is one of those stations that I have often passed through but never stopped to take photos. Time to make amends 😎

As you might expect, Canonbury sees all the same trains as Highbury & Islington but it also sees a few that connect with the East Coast mainline at Finsbury Park via Canonbury West Junction. Here’s an example – 66766 ‘Gail Richardson’…

…on a Masborough to London Gateway intermodal.

Local passenger services are, of course, provided by the 378’s and what do you know – Here’s 378257…

…The last one I need for haulage. All I have to do is wait for it to come back from Stratford!

Springtime anywhere on the railway is a beautiful time – so much fresh greenery as in this shot of 90008 leading 90012…

…on a Felixstowe North to Trafford Park intermodal.

Although I intended to catch 378257, I decided to let it go on its return from Stratford as I was enjoying the photography and the sunshine too much. Instead, I decided to intercept it later in the day over at West Hampstead on its next run back from Clapham Junction. So after a while longer in the sun I caught a train to West Hampstead. I didn’t have long to wait there as I’d judged it correctly, but while I was waiting I was blessed with 66306 ‘SCS Logistics’ passing through…

…with a London Gateway to Hams Hall service.

378257 duly turned up a few minutes later and I rode it back to Gospel Oak to complete my set of Class 378 for haulage👍 From Gospel Oak it was the short hop over to Upper Holloway where I caught up with a pair of Network Rail’s Class 153 Track Recording Vehicles. Second time for the day and making a nice shot at one of my local stations…

That concluded Monday’s activity: 64 logged of which I needed 4. Two new for haulage and a class completed.

Wednesday was my only other train activity – I travelled to Enfield Town for our play-off semi-final. In train and football terms, it was a disappointment. We lost 1-0 in a scrappy game where it always looked like 1 goal would settle it. Our keeper was injured by a collision with an opposition attacker halfway through the second period and that probably played a part in his failure to stop this flick-on from the next corner…

…that found its way into the opposite side of the goal. The team fought hard to equalize but Enfield Town were resolute in defence and held out to full time. There are no real complaints from me about this result. We’ve had an amazing season but in recent weeks the shadow of ‘What happens if we go up’ has been playing on everyone’s mind – it’s almost a relief that it didn’t happen. As I said to a football photographer friend: “I think we’ve come far enough to understand the ‘to go up or not go up’ dilemma – I’m sure Shakespeare could have written a comedy about it”.

The trainspotting side of the trip was also a bit of a damp-squib. I picked up two Victoria Line Units that I needed and one for haulage. I still need more London Overground Class 710/1’s for haulage than I have ridden but somehow they contrived to avoid me and I also didn’t see any of the 4 that I still need to log. Perhaps the red tail lights of 710130 sitting at Enfield Town station sum the day up…

Next week promises to be a slow one as there will be a series of rolling strikes across the network. We’ll see if I have anything to report – until then, have a great week👍

CWWC: May 2, 2024

After a busy week, it’s time to join in with Cee’s Which Way Challenge😎👍

A path through the Gorse on Hampstead Heath…

A view down Pond Street in Hampstead…

…With an electric bus on the 46 route passing almost silently.

Royston High Street back in 2009…

The railway between Canonbury and Highbury & Islington…

…4 tracks but operated as 2 distinct lines. Those on the left carry trains working the East London line through the Wapping Tunnel while the ones on the right are used by trains on the North London Line. Note the different types of electrification – overhead vs third rail.