I have just returned from four days away on my own and thought I'd share my activities in a non-conventional style. Many of the places I visited have been on my radar for some time and I'm pleased I've finally been able to tick them off. 

Sunday 15th August 2021

I boarded the 0838 southbound LNER from Durham, headcode 1E04, operated by 801222. This was only my second time on a fully-electric Azuma due to the ones operating north of Edinburgh all being bi-modal. I was seated in coach L for my journey, the only full-length first class coach. The journey down was punctual and the staff were very attentive, something I find to be quite the opposite when travelling to and from Aberdeen. Some of the Aberdeen crews are shameful in comparison. Upon arriving into Kings Cross, I decided to have a jaunt around on the Underground to kill a bit of time before heading over to Reading. I boarded a Northern line service up to the northern terminus of Edgware. This service was operated by 1995 stock No. 51631. I recall in February 2017, when in London with my dad, we had a trip up to Edgware and back to fill a morning in. I remember quite a few ALX400s were still running around at the time, a lot of them being 55-plates like those that had found their way up to Arriva the year prior. Upon arrival at Edgware, I tapped out and back in before deciding to get the next service back into the city centre. Upon returning to Kings Cross, I switched to the Victoria line and boarded 2009 stock No. 12089 as far as Oxford Circus where I changed onto the Bakerloo line to take me over to Paddington. This was operated by the venerable 1972 stock No. 3234. I do love the interiors of the Bakerloo line trains and found myself using them a fair bit over the course of the next few days. I arrived into Paddington at 1317, with enough time to catch the next stopping service to Reading.

After tapping out and ascending to the main station concourse, I made my way to the far edge of the station where the Reading stoppers seem to leave from. The 1329, headcode 2N36, operated by a trio of GWR-liveried Class 387s, was quietly boarding at the platform. I boarded unit 387159 to find it was quite lightly loaded, with perhaps a fifth of the seats occupied, and parked myself at a forwards-facing airline seat. We departed on-time and I noted some of the commuter towns we stopped at including Slough (setting of the UK version of The Office) and Maidenhead (Theresa May's constituency) appeared to take on just as many passengers heading towards Reading as had gotten off having come from London. As I made my way out of Reading station, I decided to fill in a couple of hours on some of the local buses. I was aware that the 17 service was their high-frequency moneymaker akin to the 21, but saw that the 33 service across to Little Heath via Tilehurst (also on the 17 route) was being operated by a selection of older Scania deckers. I headed to Friar Street and boarded 09-plate double-deck OmniCity 1113 across to Little Heath. On arriving at the terminus, it became apparent that the board in front had conked out and was receiving attention from an engineering van. We had nine minutes layover here, so I alighted to grab a photo of the broken OmniCity before boarding for the return trip. As we departed, I noticed on the vehicle tracker that the board behind was in the hands of 810, a 54-reg OmniDekka. I decided to alight at Tilehurst Triangle and waited for it to head back the way I had just come. I was able to nab another photo of this one during the layover and joined it again for its return trip back to the city. It was nice to be able to compare the Scania integral against the more familiar OmniDekka. Both were good runners and seemed to have been well looked-after. From what I saw of the Reading network on a Sunday, it seemed like a solid operation. I decided to call it a day after returning to the city centre and made my way to my hotel for the night where I caught up on some work.

Monday 16th August 2021

I decided to have a slightly later start on Monday as I had arranged to meet with my uncle, who has lived within zones 1 and 2 since the late 1980s. I decided to fill the day in by sampling the Oxford Tube up to Oxford and back. I made my way to the station and boarded de-branded former Gatwick Express unit 387203 on 2P36, the 1015 stopping service into Paddington. Much like my journey the prior afternoon, it was steady away and lightly loaded, arriving into Paddington on time at 1105. I had noted that there was an Oxford Tube every 20 minutes and was likely able to catch the 1150 service north. I boarded a Circle line service down to Victoria, operated by S7 stock No. 21405. I made my way out of the Underground concourse and emerged just next to Victoria bus station. A 5-10 minute walk south brought me to the Elizabeth Bridge where the Oxford Tubes depart from. There were three parked up, suggesting they have a generous layover. I boarded Volvo B11RLE/Plaxton Panorama 50442 and we set away a couple of minutes afterwards. The coach seemed to glide through the streets of London and maintained pace with the rest of the traffic as we powered up the motorway. I spent about an hour and a half watching the comings and goings in Oxford before boarding identical 50427 on the 1515 service southbound. Between 1500 and 1600, it seems the service gains a 15-minute frequency to alleviate the rush period. I boarded the 1515 specifically to see just how busy it got and was surprised to see it became no more than a third full. I sat immediately behind the rear stairwell upstairs which I found to be a very nice spot for future reference. I was thoroughly impressed with the capabilities of the vehicles and amenities on-board; definitely something I'd do again. 

Arriving into London in the midst of the afternoon peak, I walked back up to Victoria bus station. I had just over an hour to kill before meeting my uncle and decided to catch the 390 service to Kings Cross then catch an Underground over to Paddington where I had arranged to meet with him. There was a row of five Borismasters on the stand for the 390 and I boarded the first one, operated by LT746. Believe it or not, this was my first time travelling on this vehicle type, almost a decade after the first examples entered service. We were initially off to a bad start as the bus seemingly refused to start and needed a number of hard resets to get it going again. Once we were away, though, it was a smooth if not slightly arduous journey with the stop-start nature of the traffic. I alighted at St. Pancras and headed straight into the Underground, with a Hammersmith & City service arriving onto the platform at the same time I was. This was operated by S7 Stock No. 21411, getting me to Paddington in twelve minutes. After meeting my uncle, we boarded a Bakerloo line train, operated by 1972 Stock No. 3240, a few stops eastbound to Regent's Park and had a walk through the streets of Marylebone before having something to eat. We then boarded another Bakerloo service back over to Paddington, operated by No. 3254. We parted ways and made our arrangements for when we meet again next week, and I boarded the 2048 train back to Reading. This was operated by IET 800001, the first of the class numerically, and my first non-LNER class 800. It was a half-hour ride back to Reading, where I headed back to my room and retired for the night. 

Tuesday 17th August 2021

I woke up around 0730 on Tuesday and decided to make my way straight into London. After checking out of my Premier Inn in Reading, I walked to the station and boarded the 0831 stopping commuter service from Reading to Paddington, headcode 1P82. It was operated by a trio of GWR 387s, 387158 being the unit I sat in. We picked up a fair few at the likes of Twyford, Maidenhead and Slough but most people had a pair of seats to themselves and there were no standees to be seen. On arrival into Paddington, I boarded a Circle line service to Victoria exactly as I had done the morning prior. It was operated by S7 Stock No. 21308, getting me into Victoria at 0937. After making my way up to the station concourse, I found my stopping service to East Grinstead, headcode 1L20, in the far corner much like I had found my train at Paddington on Sunday afternoon. Again, it was three units, although Class 377s this time. I boarded the central unit, 377464, with five minutes to spare before departure at 0950. The service on the Oxted line branches just after Oxted at Hurst Green, with some trains going to East Grinstead and some going further south to Uckfield. It was a pleasant run down to East Grinstead, with most of the small handful in my coach alighting at the stations en-route. I had just under an hour to kill before heading to the adjacent Bluebell Railway for the day, so waited to get a photo of a Metrobus 400 service at the bus stops next to the station. I made conversation with an older lady here who spoke with quite a peculiar accent. As it turned out, she had been brought up in the same area of Aberdeen as I live and had spent most of her working life in the north-east of England. Quite a connection.

I walked down to the Bluebell Railway platform at East Grinstead, connected to the mainline by a single track which enables rolling stock to be moved without the need for road transport. It started to rain just as the first train of the day from the southern terminus of Sheffield Park arrived, in the hands of 1905-built H-class No. 263. This pre-grouping era loco was part of a small class built by the South East & Chatham Railway for work on suburban passenger services. It remained in the hands of the Southern Region following nationalisation and by the time of the 1960s, despite being non-standard, continued to work in the Sussex area until withdrawal in 1964. The vintage coaching stock for this service were well-accompanied by the pre-grouping livery carried by the loco. I found myself in the compartment of a Metropolitan Railway composite as far as Horsted Keynes, where I alighted and caught the connecting northbound service back up to East Grinstead. This was operated by Maunsell Q Class No. 30541, the only one of the twenty built to survive. Its coaching stock were Southern region BR Mk1s. I got quite comfy and had a table to myself for the duration of the afternoon, doing a full round trip to Sheffield Park and returning to East Grinstead just after 3pm. After having a late lunch, I decided to make my way to my Premier Inn for the night, located just outside of the town centre in the Felbridge area. I caught a 400 service from the high street, operated by double-deck OmniCity 6955. I debated a trip to Crawley to fill the evening in, but decided against it as I was feeling tired and just opted for an early night.

Wednesday 18th August 2021

I got up just before 5am after one of the best sleeps I've ever had in a Premier Inn. My agenda for today was Brighton and I decided to get straight on the trail. I caught the 0544 400 from just outside the hotel, using a Metrovoyager ticket to cover my travel down to Brighton on Metrobus services and then on Brighton & Hove stuff around the city. This was in the hands of OmniCity 6958, which went like a bat out of hell on the country roads we traversed to get to Crawley. For such an early morning service, I was surprised at how we had picked up best part of twenty passengers by the time we'd hit Crawley Bus Station just after 0600. A half an hour wait here ensued before 6983, a slightly younger example, arrived light from the depot blinded up for the 271 down to Brighton. Despite it being best part of two hours from end to end, a number of others appeared to be making the same journey as me. I sat behind the stairs and had no less than five others upstairs with me throughout, this having increased to about fifteen by the time I alighted at the Old Steine. I'd highly recommend the 271 to anyone looking for a leisurely ride through the Sussex countryside. As I'd arrived in Brighton a good couple of hours earlier than expected, I had much more time to play with. After getting a few photos in the morning sun, I set my sights on the first 26 up to Hollingbury ASDA. As luck would have it, this was 57-plate OmniDekka 675. I was very impressed with how it took hills as if it was on the flat. I'd be very happy if it found its way up to Go North East. 

I alighted at Hollingbury to find Enviro400ER MMC 311 waiting time with a 5B on the half-hourly extension to the University of Sussex campus. This was a pleasant but brief ride, with the USB port charging my phone an impressive 10% over the course of the fourteen minute journey. On alighting at the university campus, I checked the vehicle tracker and noticed that three ex-Go North East artics were running one behind the other on the 25. I decided to photograph the first two here and board the third. First up was former 5347, now numbered 127, followed by 5339, now 125, ten minutes afterwards. I then boarded 126, formerly 5341, on the third board. There was a near-ten minute layover at the University of Brighton campus, where I alighted for a few photos and engaged in conversation with the friendly driver. The only internal differences that I noticed were the addition of USB ports; it still retained its 'Go' moquette and the distinct bell noise. When it returned to the Old Steine, I boarded 57-plate OmniDekka 681 on the 50 up to Davey Drive, a residential area of Hollingdean. The 50 operates with a PVR of four OmniDekkas on a frequency of every fifteen minutes. After a lengthy driver changeover en-route, I alighted at Davey Drive and got photographs of OmniDekkas 655 and 682 on the following boards. I then boarded 55-plate 660 to return to the city centre. I disembarked at Churchill Square and walked up to the railway station with the intention of having a ride over to Hove to tick off a Class 313, now the oldest EMU type in service on the network. A return with my railcard came to just £2.15. I boarded 313215, which was operating short runs from Brighton to Hove and back on a half-hourly frequency, the headcode for this one being 2N34. The journey was over within a few minutes, and after grabbing a quick photo, I boarded 313220 on 1S21, a longer service that was making its last stop before terminating at Brighton.

Returning into Brighton just before 2pm, I decided that there was little else that I could expect to achieve there before I would need to start making my way back up to London, and so decided to board the 1409 train, 1M75, up to London Victoria. This was in the hands of a trio of Gatwick Express 387s, my unit for this journey being 387220. I sat at a pair of forwards-facing airline seats, with about a dozen others scattered throughout my coach. The journey was pleasant and we arrived into Victoria on-time. With three hours to kill before my northbound LNER at 1818. I boarded a Circle line service to Paddington, in the hands of S7 Stock No. 21520, before switching to 1972 Stock No. 3250 on a Bakerloo line service to Piccadilly Circus. Here, I switched onto a Piccadilly line train up to Cockfosters, the traction for this leg being 1973 Stock No. 138. After tapping out and back in and having a brief layover at Cockfosters, I boarded No. 233 on the train behind as far as Kings Cross, landing there exactly one hour before my train was due to depart. I spent best part of half an hour in the First Class Lounge, my first time there since it was refurbished, before heading to Platform 2 and boarding 1N29, the 1818 to Newcastle. I was slightly miffed to see this was 801222, the same unit I had travelled south on. Nonetheless, I had a table of four to myself, the journey was punctual and the crew diligent. I alighted at Durham at 2109, where my dad picked me up.

I thoroughly enjoyed myself over the course of these four days and am glad to have been able to tick a lot of these things off at long last. I've travelled a lot further this summer than I have before in the past. I hope this has made for an enjoyable read and that this format for lengthier reviews is easy to digest. I hope to follow this up with a similar review of my escapades next week. Many thanks for reading.