Operations
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RHTT
A FEW observations received in December included multi purpose vehicles DR 98964 and DR98914 standing at platform 5 at Reading station on Monday, December 2. These were forming the Effingham Junction carriage holding sidings to Effingham Junction carriage holding sidings rail head treatment train. This was routed via Guildford, Redhill, Alton, Wokingham and Aldershot.
Class 20 Nos. 20311+20314 were on the Sheffield to Woodburn Junction diagram on December 5 and 10, seen at Gainsborough Central.
Class 68 Nos. 68006+68005 were on the 05.17 Kingmoor-Kingmoor RHTT on December 9.
The RHTT season along the southern section of the MML continued into December, with the regular locos for 3J92/23.42 Toton TMD-West Hampstead North Junction and 3J93/11.53 return being EWS-liveried Class 66 Nos. 66143+66197 when seen on December 3 and 5.
After a break from December 10, the services ran again on December 16, with Nos. 66111+66085 in charge, the last working of the season being reported at Luton.
‘AVANTI’-liveried Class 390 No. 390156 passed through Lancaster at 14.37 on Monday, December 9 with 1Z17, an unadvertised express, heading for Glasgow Central. This was the second day of operations.
NEW Hitachi Class 800/2 five-car ‘Azuma’ No. 800210 was noted on 5Q82/10.26 Peterborough-Darlington and 5Q83/12.45 Darlington-Doncaster Carr IEP Depot test runs on November 26.
A CORRESPONDENT travelling on the busy 09.52 Aberdeen-King’s Cross service on Monday, December 30, had more than enough ‘problems’ to deal with.
Shortly after departure from Aberdeen, the announcement was made that the nationwide LNER reservation system was down, and thus no seats on this or any other LNER train were indicated as reserved.
On the catering side, there were no hot meals and no sandwiches available until Edinburgh. There was no service through Second Class after a wheel had fallen off the catering trolley.
South of Dundee, many passengers were standing.
In coach B, one of the toilets had a flooded pan, and there was no hand-washing water either in it or in the toilet at the opposite end of the coach.
On the return, by the time the 14.00 King’s Cross-Aberdeen train had reached Edinburgh, there were neither hot meals nor sandwiches available for First Class passengers.
The seat reservation system was still not working.
OBSERVATIONS at South Greenford on Monday, December 2, found Class 165 No. 165124 on the 13.17 from Greenford to West Ealing. Returning to the Greenford loop on Wednesday, December 4, No. 165135 was first seen arriving at Castle Bar Park on the 11.42 from Greenford to West Ealing. Moving on to South Greenford, No. 165135 was seen again, forming the 12.48 from Greenford to West Ealing and then the 13.17 from Greenford.
ON THE evening of Monday, December 2, the empty sleeper stock train 5C99 from Reading Traincare depot to London Paddington took an unusual route.
The train left the depot to the west and ran on the Down Relief to Didcot Parkway, where it reversed. It then returned towards Reading on the Up Main before passing Reading West on route to Theale, where it reversed again.
