Monday was written off as I waited for a parcel that never came 😒 I hadn’t planned anything for Tuesday and spent the day at home, resting a sore toe joint. I decided that I’d be doing short days out because of that issue and so on Wednesday I headed out for the first of 3 local trainspotting trips.
I had a plan of action – Head to Tulse Hill and photograph the Belmond Pullman as it passed through behind a Class 67. The only possible issue was that I’d need Thameslink to be running to time otherwise I wouldn’t get there before the train passed through -The 9:22 from Kentish Town would get me there 10 mins before the special! As it happened, the 9:22 was running on time. So far, so good…. 700034, a new one for haulage, carried me through the core section and out via Elephant & Castle, through Loughborough Junction and on to Herne Hill. And there we stopped… After a couple of minutes the driver announced that the unit’s fire alarm had gone off and he would have to investigate before proceeding! I digested that information and decided not hang around. I might as well photograph the special at Herne Hill instead😅
I haven’t photographed at Herne Hill before but I was able to find a reasonable angle to capture 67021 as it passed through on the way to Bath Spa…
…The young lady, realising what was going on, whipped out her mobile phone and proceeded to take a selfie with the Pullman coaches behind her 😂 In retrospect, I might have got a better shot in the bright sunshine from further down the platform like this one of 465050…
…working a Victoria to Orpington service.
To the south of the station it was possible to capture a nice moody shot of 465015 on an Orpington to Victoria service…
…By this time my toe joint was aching and I decided to head home with my mission accomplished. 53 logged, zero new sightings and 2 new for haulage.
Thursday and another Belmond Pullman photography outing planned. This time I was going to try out Shortlands and the target was our old friend, Clan Line. Time wasn’t tight for this outing as the Steam Special wasn’t departing Victoria until 10:59. Northern and Victoria lines to Victoria and then the 10:27 out to Shortlands. Once again, as a new station for photography, I had a look at various angles. I chose to wait for the special on platform 3 as that would give a less side-on view as the train negotiated the curve. While the minutes ticked past, the railway went about its business – normal services came and went. But on the agenda this Thursday was another unusual working…
…37800 taking fire-damaged 466037 on its final journey to the scrapyard.
Clan Line duly appeared running 3 minutes late but recovering time after a delayed departure from Victoria…
Mission accomplished, I decided to fit in some haulage and get some lunch over at Lewisham before heading home once more. Tally for the day, 86 logged of which I needed just the 1…
…66198 running through Lewisham while I was enjoying lunch. Friendly waves from the crew in response to my ‘thank you’ salute 👍😎 I did have a good day for haulage though, picking up 6 new 😎
Out again on Friday but on this occasion I had nothing planned! I toyed with the idea of going to Peterborough but, with the toe still troubling me, I wound up staying local. Ultimately, it proved to be a good day. Train out from Euston to Harrow & Wealdstone. Wembley Yard provided some new sightings including 66787 which I later photographed at HRW…
…heading the Dollands Moor to Daventry vans.
As luck would have it, barely 20 minutes after I arrived, 377706 turned up on the Watford Junction to East Croydon service. That’s my last 377/7 that I need for haulage, so back on the train and a trip to Shepherds Bush!
Shepherds Bush gave the now rare opportunity to photograph the Dollands Moor to Scunthorpe steel empties, hauled by a smoky 66083…
…Once a daily service, it is now often cancelled so I was pleased to catch it 😎👍Time for lunch while I waited in hope for a DCRail aggregates service that was booked out of their sidings just after midday. I chewed my Ploughmans and drank my coffee but the train didn’t show – I do wish the operators would cancel the ones they aren’t running on the system! 🙄
I travelled home via Clapham Junction, Waterloo, London Bridge, Farringdon and Tottenham Court Road. It had been a surprisingly good day out; 119 logged of which I needed 8. I also picked up 6 new for haulage 😎👍
Saturday was an away match at Horsham and I travelled with the team. It was a bit of a so-so game with neither team playing to their full potential. Camillo scored an amazing goal midway through the first half. He said he meant it – We said it looked like a mis-hit cross – The Horsham match report called it fortuitous 🤣 – Either way, it found its way past keeper and defenders to nestle in the far top corner of the net! 10 minutes later Horsham equalised after a good challenge nicked the ball off one of our defenders. In the final 20 mins of the match it was Horsham’s turn to lose the ball in defence, a horribly under-hit pass being intercepted by an alert Theo who was too fleet of foot even with the ball for the defender to catch. Here he is slotting it home past Horsham’s keeper to score our second…
…Cue lots of huggy-cuddly stuff with the fans…
…The guy with the mobile phone is Peter, our kitman – One of our club officials I sponsor each year. 2-1 was the final score and we had our revenge for Horsham beating us at our place earlier in the season.
That concludes my week. I don’t yet know what next week will bring. Hopefully I’ll see you then 😎👍
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