Spotting 2026…

This week is becoming a no show – I’ve got a stinking cold and although I was there for our cup match against Kingstonian, I’m not sure I will make it to Folkestone on Saturday. But lets talk about last week – It was a busy one for me.

It was a week of mixed emotions – On Friday we were going to Warminster to attend a Memorial Service for my Cousin Tina and on Saturday it was down to Chichester where we’d remember Billy Vigar who sadly died earlier in the season after an accident at our ground. Both trips would be by rail.

Preparations for Friday’s trip were carried out on Tuesday when I purchased the tickets. I opted for collecting physical tickets rather than getting digital ones – When you’re travelling as a group this tends to be easier especially when one of the party has issues with technology. So, on Wednesday, I went out and about to do some spotting and to get the tickets.

One of the targets I’ve set myself for this year is to complete the Class 700’s for haulage. I’ve also got the Class 345’s and the Class 710’s on that list. The previous weekend’s trip to Welling – a disrupted trip due to engineering works – failed to provide any new 700’s for haulage although I did get a nice shot of 700057 arriving at Farringdon with one of my trains back home…

Wednesday’s plan came into being when my original plan fell apart due to a failed unit at Gospel Oak – I’d been going to photograph some freight on the North London Line but diverted instead down to Kentish Town. As a result, the day morphed into a ‘get some haulage’ day targeting class 700’s initially with trips that took me out to East Croydon before returning to Farringdon. ‘031, 102, 137 and 143 were bagged 👍

Then it was time to head over to Paddington to collect the tickets for Friday’s trip to Warminster. A chance to pick up a couple of 345’s for Haulage. It’s rather difficult to photograph (impossible) class 345’s in the central section of the Elizabeth Line as they’re hidden behind screens with sliding doors to prevent passengers from falling onto the tracks, so here’s 345018 out at West Ealing back in 2024…

…Not one I need for a ride but on the day, I picked up 345010 and ‘012.

Paddington produced the usual mix of units, mainly of the 800/802 variety like 802101 seen on platform 2 with a Paddington to Penzance service…

Come Friday, we travelled down to Westbury on 802012…

…Seen here hiding behind a sign telling passengers to go along the platform to the front train – a message being underlined by a member of station staff. The 10:36 to Exeter, our train, comes into the station with the stock that will form the 10:23 to Oxford. Passengers for Oxford have to walk all the way down to that ramp in the distance before boarding! Now that’s ‘Getting your steps in’!

Our Journey went smoothly with a short change at Westbury where I photographed 158748 on a lay-over between trips from/to Swindon…

…Before continuing our journey to Warminster.

The Memorial service for my Cousin was a generally happy affair. Although not a ‘Happy Clappy’, it was a very good celebration of her life and the sunshine she brought to those around her. There was much reminiscing and general chat afterwards over coffee and cake – too much cake in some instances😅 Here’s a shot of me and both my Cousins taken in 2024…

…With Tina on the right. Note to photographers – When doing portraits always take 3 shots in quick succession otherwise your subjects may have their eyes closed 🤣

The journey home was largely uneventful with a change at Bath Spa, despite a slight delay to our London train there due to the Police searching earlier at Bristol for a missing person. The day turned up 12 new sightings and 5 new for haulage including 345065 😎👍

Saturday dawned and I was off to Chichester. It was a day where engineering works meant taking a different route to the norm. Usually it’s a direct service to Chichester from Victoria but because of track renewal in the Gatwick / Three Bridges area I’d have to travel from Waterloo via Havant.

If there’s one thing I hate it’s sitting on a Northern Line train from East Finchley all the way down to Waterloo! So I thought I’d jump at Kentish Town and use Thameslink to London Bridge from where I could get a train across to Waterloo East. I had the time to do it and the initial part went well as 700009 turned up for the leg from Kentish Town to Farringdon – Another 700 crossed off! Then things went a little pear shaped – 700127 should have been taking me to London Bridge but when it stopped at Blackfriars it was showing next stop East Croydon on the internal train indicators. The platform indicators were still showing it as stopping at London Bridge but I decided not to take the chance and bailed. Instead I dived down the underground picking up units I needed on the District line and the Bakerloo as I completed my journey to Waterloo.

From Waterloo, the trip to Havant went well with 450111 providing the haulage – I got lucky here, the rear unit was 450083 which I have ridden before 😅 Havant is a station I don’t recall ever visiting and I was glad to get some photos there as I waited for my train to Chichester. Here’s 377464 arriving on a Gatwick Airport to Portsmouth Harbour service…

…And 450084 leading on a Portsmouth & Southsea to London Waterloo service…

My train across to Chichester saw me reunited with a friend from my home stomping ground…

…387302, seen about to depart from Chichester, was transferred to Southern a year ago from the London to Cambridge route.

The match against Chichester started with applause for their deceased Striker, Billy Vigar, and was a tight affair. You can read about its slightly controversial ending in my Ref’s post. Over all, though, I think most fans from both sides would say a draw was a fair result.

The journey back to London proved to be a minor adventure with Peter, our club’s Vice President for company. We arrived at Havant to find that the line north was blocked by a fallen tree. A quick check with the information people via the on-platform facility was helpful though the person helping did have a strong accent that, combined with background noise, made it hard to understand everything they were saying. Not a big issue as Peter and I are both seasoned rail travellers and had already formed a plan – They just confirmed that it was a good one 😎

So, from Havant it was next train to Southampton Central. Then take the fast service from there to Waterloo. Some nice new haulage for me and I also saw some new units for the collection – an unexpected bonus! Two GWR 158’s and one of CrossCountry’s 221’s 👍 With all the shenanigans due to engineering work and a fallen tree, I picked up no less than 9 new for haulage, including a Northern Line unit to close out the day!!!

Now I’m hoping I will be well enough for an away trip to Folkestone on Saturday which should give me some new Class 395 units for haulage and maybe for sightings too 😅 See you next post… 👍