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👍
Images from Finchley 