Hello readers,

Welcome back to the monthly traction blog! This month, I enjoyed two trainspotting trips. The first was in late September to Crewe, a busy station on the West Coast Main Line, with 3 members of PLP. The second trip was on 17 October,  just before my birthday, when a friend and I visited Lincoln, the busiest station in Lincolnshire. Here’s a summary of both experiences.

Crewe Adventure

We took two trains to reach Crewe, changing at Manchester Piccadilly. On our journey, we rode Northern’s Class 195 and 323 units. I was particularly excited to board the Class 323 for the first time! These units serve the electrified routes around Manchester, which don’t run in my hometown of Sheffield. The journey from Manchester to Crewe took about 40 minutes, arriving around 11 AM.

Crewe station is a major junction station on the West Coast Mainline, served by various Train Operating Companies (TOCs) such as:

Avanti West Coast
Caledonian Sleeper
Cross Country
East Midlands Railway (EMR)
London North Western Railway
Northern
Transport for Wales

The bulk of the services are operated by Avanti West Coast, London North Western Railway, and Transport for Wales, with those 3 TOCs running the most services every day. Crewe ranks alongside Doncaster for the highest number of TOCs to call at a single station.

While at Crewe, we spotted several trains, including Class 390 Pendolinos and my first Class 350. We also saw Class 197s and a Class 323 in West Midlands Railway colours awaiting refurbishment. Other sightings included an AWC Class 221, Northern Class 331, EMR Class 170, TFW Class 158, and a TFW Class 150.

Crewe has two depots. Crewe Heritage Centre on the north side features preserved locomotives, including the Advanced Passenger Train (APT-P), an experimental train from the late 1970s. The south side houses the Diesel Depot, where we saw various diesel and electric locomotives, including the unique Class 89, the long withdrawn Class 87, the Class 43 “Midland Pullman” sets, and randomly a Class 142 Pacer Train, seen previously on the Penistone Line.

Overall, our day at Crewe was a success. We had timely trains and spotted many new locomotives, collecting 65 new numbers. I highly recommend visiting Crewe for any rail enthusiast interested in the West Coast Main Line and heritage units.

Photo Credit for all Crewe Photographs used on this blog: Oliver Dove

Lincoln Trip

The second trip I took since last month’s blog was to Lincoln with one of my trainspotting friends from PLP. Our train to Lincoln from Meadowhall ran on time, and we arrived at Lincoln at around 10 am. The station sees services run by;

East Midlands Railway (EMR)
London North Eastern Railway (LNER)
Northern
The majority of services are run by EMR, with one train an hour to London Kings Cross served by LNER, and one train an hour to Leeds served by Northern.

The line into Lincoln crosses two level crossings, which are busy with pedestrians. To ensure safety, footbridges have been built at both crossings. With the High Street crossing located right next to the station, when the alarms blared and the barriers lowered, we knew a train was fast approaching! I recorded a video of the High Street crossing as a train approached, though the sun’s glare made it tricky.

Lincoln can be quiet early in the day, giving us time for lunch. However, it is on a busy freight route, leading to a flurry of locomotives in the afternoon. We primarily saw Class 66s and two GBRF Class 69s. We saw DB running a rail treatment train, resulting in dirt from the track covering the two locos. We also saw a Sibelco mineral train hauled by 3 locomotives (2 66s and a 69), a network rail equipment train, and a bunch of container trains run by DB, Freightliner, and GBRF. Here is the full video collection of all the locos we saw during our time at Lincoln.

We even saw the Network Rail Track Maintenance Train (153311) which we previously saw at Chesterfield a few months prior, roll through Lincoln.

Our visit was enjoyable, with 12 new numbers collected, 11 of which were from the Class 66s and 69s. We also spotted Class 153, 170, 195, and 800 units. A recommended station for rail and locomotive enthusiasts alike, and even tourists wanting a pleasant day in Lincoln, exploring the city’s attractions (Lincoln Cathedral for example), the train station is in the perfect location for a day in the heart of the city.

See you next month for the November Traction Blog!

Matthew 🙂