1. Journey to London for the sleeper-24.07.19

THE ARCHIVE FILES > Archive-2019 > 53. A North British Extravaganza-24-28.07.19 > 1. Journey to London for the sleeper-24.07.19
After meeting Andy at Costa outside Milton Keynes station we embarked on our mammoth and ambitious trip. The most notable feature was the weather, it was extremely hot in the south, indeed, the UK's hottest temperature was broken whilst we were away, but not where we were in Scotland! After arriving at Euston, Andy and I went to King's Cross for an hour or so before enjoying some dinner and returning to Euston for our sleeper trip north.
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Images 1-16 of 16 displayed.

350247, LN 15.16 Rugeley Trent Valley-London Euston (1Y72, RT), London Euston station Having arrived at Euston I turned my camera around to record 350247 sitting at the blocks forming the terminating 15.16 from Rugeley Trent Valley. Andy and I had travelled down on this train from Milton Keynes on this very hot day and in London, as usual, it was even hotter! The situation was exacerbated by us having to carry all our kit for our trip away including my steps, but at least they did come in useful as a much-needed seat! Keywords: 350247 15.16 Rugeley Trent Valley-London Euston 1Y72 London Euston station
43027 HT 18.48 London King`s Cross-Hull (1H06, 7L), London King`s Cross station With Hull Trains still having major problems with the availability of its class 180 DMUs (themselves cast-offs from First Great Western), they are forced into hiring in ex Great Western HSTs from Angel Trains! How ironic that despite the intense heat and the heavy work that is expected of them, these evergreen HSTs are still able to get on with the job far more reliably than the glorified DMUs less than half their age! 43027 (of the former Western region set 253013) waits at the rear of the 18.48 departure to Hull. Keywords: 43027 18.48 London King`s Cross-Hull 1H06 London King`s Cross station
Nameplate, 43023, HT 18.48 London Kings Cross-Hull (1H06, 7L), London-KIng`s Cross station Former GWR 43023 'Sqn Ldr Harrold Starr - one of the few' stands at the head of the 1H06 18.48 King's Cross to Hull. Still in its First Great Western paintwork, the HST set is being leased from Angel Trains to Hull Trains being off lease from the Western Region. I hope that the passengers appreciated the far superior environment of a Mk. III HST set rather than a noisy class 180 that ought to be working this service. If not, then they should at least appreciate the extra capacity afforded by an HST set, if a little shorter than normal. Keywords: Nameplate 43023 18.48 London Kings Cross-Hull 1H06 London-KIng`s Cross station
Trainshed, 43023, HT 18.48 London King`s-Cross Hull (1H06, 7L), London King`s Cross station As I was sitting on my stool on the platform at King's Cross, I looked back to the trainshed and was struck by the majesty of the structure with the summer sun streaming through the recently cleaned and renovated glazing. Inside the structure, an HST will soon depart as the 18.48 to Hull and a class 180 that would leave over half an hour late for Sunderland keeping the very hot and uncomfortable passengers waiting outside the train on the platform probably not appreciating the majesty of the structure as much as I was! Keywords: Trainshed 43023 18.48 London King`s-Cross Hull 1H06 London King`s Cross station
91119, GR 12.00 Edinburgh Waverley-London King`s Cross (1E14, 136L), London King`s-Cross station I was beginning to think that I would never see celebrity 91119 'Bounds Green' before it would be withdrawn so, I was delighted to see it arrive at the rear of the 12.00 from Edinburgh at King's Cross. The passengers would have been extremely relieved to arrive as the service was an eye-watering one hundred and thirty-six minutes late! Many trains were late on this day due to the extreme heat causing problems throughout the network. Keywords: 91119 12.00 Edinburgh Waverley-London King`s Cross 1E14 London King`s-Cross station
43296, GR 16.03 York-London King`s Cross (1Y88, 36L), London King`s Cross station 43296 arrives at the front of the 16.03 HST service from York at King's Cross. This train only arrived thirty-six minutes late, on a normal day this would be highly unsatisfactory but on the day leading up to the UK's hottest recorded temperature, this was a relatively small amount of time with some services over two hours adrift! Keywords: 43296 16.03 York-London King`s Cross 1Y88 London King`s Cross station
91119, GR 12.00 Edinburgh Waverley-London King`s Cross (1E14, 136L) & 43295, GR 16.03 York-London King`s Cross (1Y88, 36L), London King`s Cross station In the very warm early evening light at King's Cross two trains sit having arrived from Edinburgh and York respectively. 91119 'Bounds Green' was at the back of the Anglo Scottish service with 43295 at the rear of the York stopper. Between them, they amassed a total of one hundred and seventy two delay minutes caused by the extremely hot weather. Keywords: 91119 12.00 Edinburgh Waverley-London King`s Cross 1E14 43295 16.03 York-London King`s Cross 1Y88 London King`s Cross station
43305, GR 14.00 Edinburgh Waverley-London King s Cross (1E18, 46L), London King`s Cross station Yet another very late arrival at King's Cross station. Arriving forty-six minutes adrift 43305 leads the 14.00 Edinburgh HST service as it weaves into platform six. The building work on the former depot site is growing fast and somewhat encroaches on the station approach as it does. A huge amount of work is about to take place at King's Cross as Network Rail embarks on a programme to increase its capacity. This includes the reopening of the third tunnel to the right and the demolition of the power signal box, built in 1971, with control moving to the York signalling centre. Keywords: 43305 14.00 Edinburgh Waverley-London King's Cross 1E18 London King`s Cross station
91119, 43339, 43295 & 43208, various workings, London King`s Cross station Azuma anybody? After being introduced over two months previously, the Azumas have made limited inroads into LNER services. During an hour or so at King's Cross on a busy Friday evening, Andy and I observed only one. This more common scene prevailed with a line up of three HSTs (43339, 43295 & 43208) and celebrity 91119 'Bounds Green'. Keywords: 91119 43339 43295 43208 various workings London King`s Cross station
86101, CS 18.33 Wembley-London Euston sleeper ECS (5S95), London Euston station 86101 'Sir William Stanier FRS' has brought the Highland sleeper stock into Euston and sits at platform one. This ECS move was very late as was the departure, with it heading north from Euston only half an hour before the Lowland sleeper. Caledonian Sleeper now keeps passengers back (behind where I am standing) before boarding. On this evening, in the dingey heat of Euston, they were kept waiting for well over an hour, a very poor start a prestigious train journey. With the withdrawal of the Mk. III sleeper stock with the move over to the CAF Mk. Vs the use of the veteran electric will no longer be needed. Keywords: 86101 CS 18.33 Wembley-London Euston sleeper ECS 5S95 London Euston station
90043, CS 20.41 London Euston-Inverness, Fort William & Aberdeen (1S25, 7E), London Euston station 90043 stands at the head of the Highland sleeper service at Euston's platform one. Like the Lowland sleeper on this particular evening, it left very late keeping customers waiting on the platform end, sitting on their luggage for far too long; a poor start to their sleeper experience. Off course, with the huge amounts of slack built into their timings, both services arrived on-time the next morning. Keywords: 90043 20.41 London Euston-Inverness Fort William Aberdeen 1S25 London Euston station
92018, CS 21.06 Wembley-London Euston sleeper ECS (5S96), London Euston station 92018 has just arived very late at platform 15 leading the 21.06 Wembley to Euston sleeper ECS working. The member of staff talking to the driver will soon hop down trackside and detach the 92 from the stock thus releasing the engine to return to Wembley after the train has left, its job done for the night. Despite arriving an hour late, it was still a further thirty minutes until passengers were allowed to board not long before it left at 23.45. According to CS, rooms should be available from 22.30 so this appears to be another example of how things are not going right for the operator and after talking to staff on-board the train the problems run very deep. Keywords: 92018 21.06 Wembley-London Euston sleeper ECS 5S96 London Euston station
Coachside display panel, 15334, CS 23.36 London Euston-Glasgow Central & Edinburgh Waverley (via Manchester) (1S26, 1B26, RT), London Euston station The new CAF Mk. V stock has many modern features over their older Mk. IIIs cousins. One of the most notable features is the large bodyside matrix displays. This is a feature found on many new trains but none quite as big as these! Keywords: Coachside display panel 15334 23.36 London Euston-Glasgow Central Edinburgh Waverley Manchester 1S26 1B26 London Euston station
92014 (to Carstairs), CS 23.36 London Euston-Glasgow Central & Edinburgh Waverley sleeper (via Manchester) (1S26, 1B26, RT), London Euston station 92014 waits at the head of the Lowland sleeper service, the 23.36 to Glasgow Central and Edinburgh. The more observant will spot that this departure time is a little earlier than normal, this was due to the train being diverted via Manchester Piccadilly and Parkside Junction (to re-join the WCML) because of the engineering works being undertaken to replace Weaver Junction. 92014 hauled the train to Carstairs where the train split, it then took the Glasgow portion on with 92020 taking the Edinburgh portion. Keywords: 92014 23.36 London Euston-Glasgow Central Edinburgh Waverley sleeper 1S26 1B26 London Euston station
E-tickets, Milton Keynes Central-London Euston Our tickets from Milton Keynes to Euston were a total of £6.60 (£3.30 each)! There are odd off-peak fares like this that further reinforces the farcical fare structure that we have on the UK network. Due to buying the tickets fairly late, I opted for the e-ticket option. Keywords: E-tickets Milton Keynes Central-London Euston
E-ticket, London-Euston-Edinburgh Waverley sleeper At £95 each, the single fare from Euston to Edinburgh on the sleeper was just about acceptable. With Andy and I having a 'classic room' with an upper and lower bunk this was the cheapest option, apart form the comfort seats. When booking directly with CS, the only option was to use the e-ticketing method, I suspect that within a few years, this will be the way all operators will go. Keywords: E-ticket London-Euston-Edinburgh Waverley sleeper

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