Spotting 2024 – Week 49

If you’re wondering, Week 48 was lost due to a nasty cold. I’m still clearing the muck off my chest but definitely feeling a lot better, such that I have had a very busy week.

I was determined to get out and about on Monday although I didn’t really have a plan. Ultimately I drifted down to Clapham Junction with a view to getting some more Class 455 photos and rides. Their time in service will soon be over I think as the 701’s have now had a second official launch – the one back in February having proved to be a little premature. After a short time at Clapham I realised that this time replacing the 455’s is definitely moving forwards. On the Richmond / Hounslow side of the station, it appeared that only trains on the Teddington loop services were being operated by 455’s. The Hounslow Loop and Weybridge services seem to be in the hands of newly refurbished class 458’s like 458425…

The 701’s can be found on the Windsor & Eton services – 701039 for example…

…While Class 450’s fill in where required. So, to photograph and ride the 455’s I had to wander over to the Wimbledon side of the station and platforms 10 & 11.

I decided to take advantage of the opportunity to ride to and from Wimbledon a couple of times, picking up 3 Class 455’s that I needed for haulage. I was also able to photograph a couple including 5727 at Wimbledon…

…Heading into Waterloo on a service from Dorking. I also took a shot of one of London Underground’s S7 Stock trains…

Back at Clapham Junction I was able to catch a couple more 455 photo’s including 5707 arriving from Chessington South…

…In this photo, the different profile of the ex-class 508 PEP design coach that the 455/7 units have is clearly visible. The 508’s were built as 4-car units but reduced to 3-car when they moved north to Merseyside. The spare coaches were incorporated into the new build 455’s to save money. The 455/8 and 455/9’s are mark III bodyshell – like the lead coach of 5707 – throughout.

In passing, I shouldn’t forget the class 458’s – Of the 36 units currently in existence, only 28 are being refurbished and converted back to 4-car configuration. It is assumed that the last 8 like 458536…

…will be withdrawn from service once the 701’s are present in sufficient numbers to take on their duties. These were the ex-Class 460 conversions and differ slightly from the other 458’s.

This was never likely to be a good day out for new sightings but out of 193 logged, I caught 9 that I needed so actually better than expected! I also picked up 5 that I needed for haulage. Tuesday was a potter about at home day with a long trip planned for Wednesday: I say planned but in truth I didn’t know where I wanted to go😅 The decision was made for me by a Bluesky post from one of my fellow enthusiasts showing a pair of Class 37’s, ‘510 & ‘611, at Peterborough that were on their way to collect a Class 175 unit from store at Ely and take it down to Plymouth. A quick check revealed that the they were due to pass back through Peterborough at around 13:00. I’ve never seen a 175, so that decided me – Off to Peterborough we go!

It was a bright sunny morning on London but as my train crossed into Cambridgeshire we entered Fenland mist, in some parts dense enough to be called fog. It didn’t bode well for photography. However, the journey had gone well from a spotting point of view. There was a Network Rail track measurement train sat in Ferme Park near Harringay with 37421 and ‘425 both of which I needed. At Welwyn Garden City I saw 20901 & ‘905 in the yard – also new locomotives for me. There were a couple of other loco sightings too, so a really good run out to our destination. On my arrival at Peterborough 66311 was sitting in the goods loop beside platform 7 – another new sighting! It departed soon after.

I settled into my photo/spotting – it wasn’t too cold despite the mist and low cloud. 221142 on a Kings Cross to Bradford service was one of my first shots…

There were several opportunities to photo freights changing crew in platform 5 – here’s 66701…

…on a Ditton to Felixstowe North intermodal.

An interesting working was 57010…

…running light through platform 4. I have yet to determine what it was doing or where it was going😅

Around 12:30 I started hearing announcements that the 12:54 service for Birmingham New Street was cancelled. Later the announcements brought clarification. Services to Birmingham were cancelled for the time being due to a failed train at Uffington. The 12:54 duly arrived and its passengers were detrained. 170108 being unable to continue was then sent back to Cambridge…

…as an extra service so that it would be in the correct location later in the day. Next to it you can see an intermodal sitting in the goods loop. That was 66305…

…Which was working a Felixstowe North to Birch Coppice.

This was the train in front of my class 37’s with their Class 175. It became clear over the next hour that westbound services on the Stamford to Leicester line were at a standstill. 66305 would be stuck here until 16:05 when things slowly started moving again. That was the end of my chance of seeing my first 175🙄 However, my thoughts are with those passengers at Peterborough trying to get to Birmingham. The best option for them was to take an East Midland Railway service and route via Derby. And I especially feel for those aboard 170619 – the 11:54 departure that became stuck in the middle of nowhere at Helpston Junction for 4 hours. I hope an evacuation was organised. With some subsequent research I tracked down the culprit as DB Schenker’s 66148 on a Felixstowe to East Midlands Gateway intermodal which had actually failed at Manton Junction. That train would get to its destination around 4 hours late. 66311 that departed just after I arrived at Peterborough had been held at Uffington and would finally get to Mountsorrell 3 hours late.

Those passengers choosing to route via Derby had the ‘pleasure’ of 158862 for their disrupted journey…

…Working a Norwich to Liverpool service.

I decided to head back to London on the 14:24 having given up hope of seeing my 175. In such circumstances, my not seeing something I wanted is a minor inconvenience. Overall I had a very successful day. Including a couple more new locomotives on the way home at Hitchin, I logged 106 of which no fewer than 24 were seen for the first time. I also wanted both Thameslink units for haulage along with 3 of 4 the London Underground trains I used!

After a relaxing Thursday, Friday was a day out of a different sort – a pre-Christmas meet with some old workmates for a beer and a curry. Even so, I always have my spotting book with me and although I didn’t expect to get anything new, I was lucky enough to pick up two Northern Line and one Hammersmith & City unit for haulage so I’m happy with that. The football at home on Saturday was a weather affected game against Billericay Town which we lost 1-0. I still haven’t posted the photos as I’m busy exploring the new Greece map in Euro Truck Simulator 2. That’s the spotting update until next week – see you then 😎👍