Freedom Pass Project

Over the past week or so I’ve picked off a few more of my outlying termini, venturing into the East End, Suburban Essex and Metroland.

The first of these trips, on November14th, entailed a visit to somewhere I often visit for football – Upminster. every season we play Hornchurch FC aka The Urchins, just down the road from there. But on this very wet day, I was there purely for railway purposes. There is a branch line that connects Upminster to Romford and I needed to get the train from Upminster in order to sign off Romford as a visited terminus. When I said it was wet, I wasn’t kidding – here’s the view of the Branch platform at Upminster…

…Where Network Rail have thoughtfully removed the awning leaving little shelter for passengers. I’m sure they will replace it soon. I didn’t stop to take a photo at the Romford end because the rain had got much worse and I was glad to make my way quickly onto the main station where there is shelter. On the journey back towards Stratford, we passed through a deluge such that it was impossible to see beyond the streaming water on the train windows! Despite the weather, I was able to do some more trainspotting at Stratford…

…hiding under a signal gantry to get the above shot.

Back on the rails again on the 17th and in much better weather, I took a trip out to Metroland. I need all the northern termini of the Metropolitan Line and I initially planned to visit Amersham and Chesham. There is a rural charm about Amersham station…

…which, while being a terminus for the Metropolitan Railway, also see’s Chiltern Railways through services between Marylebone and Aylesbury. Looking at the timetable and service frequency, I realised that Chesham was probably going to be out of the question for a visit same day, so I changed plan and opted to travel back to Moor Park where I photographed this S8 Stock train approaching from the south with a Watford service…

…I had by this time, decided that I could visit Watford instead of Chesham – a decision further encouraged by news that there was an issue with a broken down train between Wembley Park and Finchley Road.

Those who have read previous posts may be thinking ‘But he’s already got Watford’😅 That’s not entirely true. I have in the past visited Watford Junction on London Overground but I still needed the Metropolitan Line’s Watford station, so I was pleased to be able to cross that one off…

…Here’s the front of the Metropolitan Line station…

…Being aware of the issues south of Wembley Park, I decided to walk across Watford to the Junction station and head home on the Overground via Willesden Junction😎

Finally, on the 20th, I decided to head into the northeast suburbs. The initial objective was to clear off Walthamstow Central on the Victoria Line, but I realised that I could also visit Chingford on the London Overground. I travelled across to Walthamstow Queens Road on the Gospel Oak – Barking line before walking across to Walthamstow Central station…

…From where I could catch my London Overground service to Chingford…

…Chingford to Liverpool Street is a busy commuter route but at quieter times of the day a lot of the Overground Class 710 units are parked up in the sidings here…

…From Chingford, it was a short trip back to Walthamstow Central and a change onto the Victoria Line to cross that terminus off my list…

Three successful Freedom Pass Project days out. I still have around 30 Termini or Farthest Points to get so there’s many more trips to be done before I can say I’ve completed my target😜