Visit to East London

As a consequence of several health issues and conflicting engagements this fixture was attended by only three stalwart members from Liverpool, Chester and Malvern. But we had lots of fun to make up for it!

The plan was simple: visit three interesting and busy places, staying for 60-90 minutes at each to avoid too much repetition of numbers and scenery.

We met up at Stratford at around 11am, having arrived in London from our various starting points at about 10:30am, and were treated to a steady diet of unit classes 720 and 745 on the Greater Anglia services, 345s on the Elizabeth Line, 378s on the London Overground line, and a constant stream of Central Line tube trains. Several freights also passed through the station during our stay, listed below with some photos. We also visited the southern part of the station with two separate DLR lines and Jubilee Line tube trains.

The next stop was Bethnal Green, reached by taking a Greater Anglia service into Liverpool Street and a Weaver line class 710 straight back out. From there we could see everything going in and out of Liverpool Street, including the regular class 710 units and class 745s using the Weaver line which could not be seen from Stratford.

The third destination was London Bridge, reached by taking the Elizabeth line from Liverpool Street to Farringdon, followed by a Thameslink service south. Of course we could have taken the Northern Line tube, but that would not have been so scenic! London Bridge is absolutely manic at all times, and it was barely possible to keep up with everything going through, although we had a jolly good try! No freight here of course, but a plethora of units of classes 375, 376, 377, 465, 466, 700 and 707, not forgetting a sole 171!

We all made our way back to Euston and Paddington for our return journeys well satisfied with the day!

Freight locos noted at Stratford (all heading west): 66953, 66517, 66508, 90012, 90018.