1. Journey there and Paddington-25.08.18

THE ARCHIVE FILES > Archive-2018 > 59. Visit to London-25-27.08.18 > 1. Journey there and Paddington-25.08.18
Due to the complete closure of Euston for engineering works at North Wembley, we had to travel via an alternative route. Rather than take the very expensive option of travelling with East Midlands from Wellingborough to St. Pancras we travelled with Chiltern from King's Sutton to Marylebone. A bit of a drive to King's Sutton but the service is good to Marylebone and it's not a route we travel on very often. Whilst my wife and son spent our hard-earned cash in Oxford Street, I went to Paddington for an hour or so to see how many HSTs were about.
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Images 1-14 of 14 displayed.

165016 & 165030, CH 09.44 Banbury-London Marylebone, (1H14, 5L), Kings Sutton station The 09.44 Banbury to London Marylebone slows for its stop at King's Sutton. This service was being worked by 165016 and 165030 that my wife, son and I travelled on to London. This is not our usual route to the capital living very close to the WCML, but, as Euston was closed for extensive engineering works at the northern end of Wembley Yard we had to make alternative arrangements. Keywords: 165016 165030 1H14 Kings Sutton station
165023, CH 11.37 London Marylebone-Birmingham Moor Street (1R27, 2L), London Marylebone station Sitting at platform two of Marylebone station, 165023 waits to work it next train, the 11.37 to Birmingham Moor Street. For a station that stared closure in the face during the early 1980s Marylebone is now very busy and essential part of the London commuter infrastructure. Keywords: 165023 1R27 London Marylebone station
168215, CH 09.14 Birmingham Moor Street-London Marylebone (1H15, 2L), London Marylebone station 168215 arrives into London Marylebone with the 09.14 from Birmingham Moor Street. This unit is in Chiltern's new and smart 'mainline' livery and has refreshed these fourteen year old units well. Keywords: 168215 1H15 London Marylebone station
800307, GW 15.30 London Paddington-Weston-super-Mare (1C20, RT), London Paddington station IET 800307 waits to leave Paddington working the 15.30 to Weston-super-Mare. This train will travel via the GWML through Reading, Swindon, Bristol and then to Weston. At the present time, it will run using electric power for about half the distance and then will switch to diesel power. When under diesel power, these 800s are not able to keep up with the HST timings. The forty year old HSTs both accelerate faster and will maintain a much higher and sustained maximum speed; progress.....hmmmm? Keywords: 800307 1C20 London Paddington station
43029, GW 15.03 London Paddington-Plymouth (1C86, 8L) & 800004, GW 15.00 London Paddington-Bristol Temple Meads (1C19, 1E), London Paddington station Old and new stand on platforms one and two at London Paddington. On the fabled platform one sits the 1C86 15.03 HST working to Plymouth. At the rear is power car 43029 that was originally part of Western Region set 253014. I have very few pictures of this particular power car in my entire archive so this one, in its dotage, is a bonus! Next to the HST at platform two is 800004 'Isambard Kingdom Brunel' that is going to work the 1C19 15.00 to Bristol Temple Meads. Keywords: 43029 1C86 800004 1C19 London Paddington station
43177, GW 15.03 London Paddington-Plymouth (1C86, 8L), London Paddington station With less than five minutes before its departure time, there is still no driver in the cab of 43177 that is going to lead the 15.03 from Paddington to Plymouth via the Berks and Hants line. 43177 was a relatively late HST delivery during the summer of 1982 when it was introduced as part of set 253048. Unlike its counterpart at the rear of this train, 43029, I have plenty of pictures of 43177, a number also at Paddington; it's funny how things go in this game! Keywords: 43177 1C86 London Paddington station
800310, GW 13.00 Cheltenham-London Paddington (1L58, RT), London Paddington station 800310 comes to a halt at platform two of Paddington station having worked the 13.00 1L58 from Cheltenham Spa. I wonder if the well healed residents of Cheltenham appreciated the environs of the IET class 800 and liked the much maligned seats? Whilst the 800 are part of the inevitable evolution of the railways, I really wonder if they have the same kudos as the HSTs? Keywords: 800310 1L58 London Paddington station
43079, GW 09.30 Penzance-London Paddington (1A82, 4L), London Paddington station Having completed yet another 305 miles, 43079 arrives at London Paddington's platform one with the 09.30 1A82 from Penzance. After a clean and service, the train will be ready for another load of passengers to work west again. This is something that the HSTs have done successfully for over forty years now, there are no other trains that I can think of that hold this accolade? Keywords: 43079 1A82 London Paddington station
43191 GW 09.30 Penzance-London Paddington (1A82, 4L), London Paddington station Having brought up the tail of the 09.30 Penzance to London Paddington, 43191 takes a breath for half an hour or so before it works west again as the 16.04 return to Penzance. It's pretty incredible that these forty year old veterans of the main line are still capable of such demanding diagrams. 43191 was a power car of one of the very last HSTs put into service as 253055 in the summer of 1982. Keywords: 43191 1A82 London Paddington station
43165, 15.10 Old Oak Common HST Depot-London-Paddington (5D47), London Paddington station Having made the short journey from Old Oak Common to Paddington, 43165 'Prince Michael of Kent' sits at the buffer stops of platform nine awaiting its next turn. 43165 was part of set 253042 constructed at Crewe Works in September 1981. Keywords: 43165 15.10 Old Oak Common HST Depot-London-Paddington 5D47 London Paddington station
43094, 15.10 Old Oak Common HST Depot-London Paddington (5D47), London-Paddington station 43094 sits at the rear of the 15.10 Old Oak Common to Paddington ECS working having arrived at the London terminus. The HST was then due to work the 15.52 to Oxford, a relatively lowly working for an HST but for the passenger, a real step up from what they may have been used to in the past! There was a big typed notice in the cab of 43094 warning that it had poor batteries advising the drivers as to how to handle this situation; could this potential failure mean that this power car was the next candidate to be taken out of service? Keywords: 43094 15.10 Old Oak Common HST Depot-London Paddington 5D47 London-Paddington station
Nameplate, 43155, GW 10.01 Pembroke Dock-London Paddington (1L62, 10L), London Paddington station Having arrived with the 10.01 Pembroke Dock to Paddington working 43155 sits at the back of the train showing off its 'The Red Arrows 50 Years of Excellence' nameplate. This power car was named on 21.08.14 and promptly used on a the Exeter to Dawlish shuttles in association with the Dawlish airshow. Keywords: Nameplate 43155 1L62 London Paddington station
43144, GW 10.01 Pembroke Dock-London Paddington (1L62, 10L) & 43091, GW 09.57 Penzance-London Paddington (1A83, 17L), London Paddington station To the left, 43144 sits under the glorious overall roof at Paddington having arrived with the 10.01 Pembroke Dock to London 1L62 working. It will soon work back out with the 16.15 to Cheltenham. To the right, 43091, having arrived with the 09.57 from Penzance is serviced. This train will then work west again with the 16.30 to Paignton. Keywords: 43144 1L62 43091 1A83 London Paddington station
Tickets, Kings Sutton-London Marylebone Our outward tickets from King's Sutton to London Marylebone. The Super OP return was £40 for the three of us, not bad value I suppose but we have had cheaper on our usual line from Northampton. However, both these fares are good value compared with the ludicrous prices on the Midland line from Wellingborough. These East Midlands fares are consistently higher by a large margin so this is a route that we very rarely take.

Images 1-14 of 14 displayed.