Freedom Pass Project – Update…

After the trip out to Slough I had a brief hiatus – A mix of ‘too hot’ and a sore knee. On Friday 16th June, I went to a meeting of old workmates in the City. We were due to meet between 15:30 and 17:00 for a few ales and a meal. Being me, I set out early to fit in some spotting on the way. Bus to New Southgate and Thameslink to Highbury & Islington before taking London Overground to Stratford where I spent an hour or so before making my way into Liverpool Street and walking to the Williams Ale & Cider House on Artillery Lane. I didn’t have my usual camera gear with me but I did get to capture 90012 and 90007 with the Moto g50, passing through with a Felixstowe to Trafford Park intermodal service…

My next trip had to wait for the 20th and I really had nothing planned – it’s been too hot + humid for planning anything too elaborate. I just decided to pop down to Clapham Junction for a couple of hours. I did however opt for an odd route to try and clear off some things I needed to see. Once more it was bus to New Southgate to get the train down to Moorgate. My thinking here was that I might get the last Class 717 that I need to complete the set – I didn’t😅 However, as we passed Hornsey Depot I was pleased to see their battery shunter. This usually hides away, such that it is a bit of a mythical beast! More on that later…

Moorgate… Once a disconnected part of the Northern Line. Back in 1975, the station was the scene of the worst peacetime accident on the London Underground when a train was driven through the station at speed and into the blind tunnel beyond. The cause was never determined. Underground services ceased later that year and the line was handed over to British Railways who restarted services in August 1976. My reason for talking about this? When I arrived the lights at the end of the tunnel on one of the platforms were on, giving an opportunity to photograph the current overrun protections…

…There are also train control measure in place (like the grid between the rails) that will activate the emergence brakes.

From Moorgate I took the Northern Line south to Bank and transferred to the Waterloo & City Line. It’s a long walk between platforms at Bank, including a winding tunnel that vaguely reminds me of 2001: A Space Odyssey😅..

Once at Waterloo, I was off to Clapham Junction and mixing it with the ‘Smart Set’…

…Morning Suits. Top-Hats, fancy Ladies Hats – It’s Royal Ascot week. The only safe bet of the day – trains at Clapham Junction😅 Of course, I was gambling on freight type things – I think the bookmakers would price the Eastleigh to Hoo Junction an odds on favourite to run…

…Producing 73128 and 73109 on this occasion. Shame the same couldn’t be said for some of the other freights🙄

By the time I’d had my lunch, I’d decided what I was going to do on the way home – Go and try to photograph the Hornsey shunter. So I retraced my steps back to Waterloo. Here, I first heard that there were problems on the Northern Line and severe delays. I was only planning on going the one stop from Bank to Moorgate, so I decided to risk it and hopped on the Waterloo & City back north.

At Bank, I found the issue was as I expected – sporadic with long gaps. Being me, I don’t just stand on the platform waiting for my train – I check the other platform too. On the Southbound line I found 3 trains coming through close together. The first was for Morden but the second peaked my interest – Destination Kennington. I need to ride a train terminating at Kennington for my Freedom Pass Project and here was the chance!

Kennington is a 4-platform station allowing passengers to interchange between both northbound branches of the Northern Line and, since 2021, also the Morden and Battersea Power Station branches to the south. Terminating trains are sent round the Kennington Loop before heading back north – the loop is reputedly haunted (Check it out on YouTube). I didn’t see any apparitions during my brief visit – just a lot of passengers either milling around on the Charing Cross platform (The disruption was due to a faulty track at Mornington Crescent) or looking bored on the City Branch platform, like this guy…

Back on the northbound train and back to Moorgate where I caught the Great Northern service out to Hornsey. They’d moved the shunter! – Gutted😒 Then I spotted it hiding away over by the offices – you wouldn’t see it there when passing in a train. I looked for an angle to photograph it but nothing really worked. Then – the staff came out of the office, connected it up to a unit and started towing the unit it down the line towards the wheel turning lathe. In the end I was able to get this ‘record shot’…

…complete with strategically placed cable drums that look like the wheels fell off🤣

Time to head home, but the day wasn’t entirely over. When I got off at East Finchley, I found they were bringing the trains off Highgate depot for the evening rush. I need East Finchley as a terminal point, so what better than to pick up one of the trains starting from there as far as Finchley Central to cross it off my list – after all, it’s about the same distance to walk home😅 Two Northern Line termini (that I was wondering how I’d get) crossed off in a single day.

To close – Here’s what my Freedom Pass Project spreadsheet looks like now…