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Day 352: Saturday 11/05/2024 - Basingstoke to Whitchurch (Hants) - £5.70 - Off-peak Return. Basingstoke to Winchfield - £4.05 - Off-peak Return. Basingstoke to Southampton Airport Parkway - £11.45 - Off-peak Return. Basingstoke to Hook - £3.00 - Off-peak Return. Basingstoke to Woking - £10.00 - Evening Out Return. Woking to Petersfield - £10.00 - Evening Out Return. Guildford to Effingham Junction - £4.15 - Evening Out Return. Basingstoke to Winchester - £5.50 - Evening Out Return. CP Basingstoke £5.50.
Total time today 830 mins - time on trains 336 mins and time waiting 494 mins. Stations completed today 7. Total completed 1862. Platforms completed at completed stations 4248. 72.14% complete.
"The yin and the yang"
Back in expensive ticket land today as there is a lot of track needed still in the holy triangle that is Basingstoke, Woking and Guildford. Bit of an awkward start to the day in that the A34 was closed at a most inconvenient spot for a detour and despite my best efforts i was 5 minutes too late for my intended start service to Whitchurch and a rarely used crossover on the way back. Disappointing in that i was 20 minutes ahead beforehand. A swift change of plans and an extra ticket sourced and supplies obtained and i was unexpectedly off to Winchfield on an out and back. The starting point for points East today was P1 so 3 new bits of track were in the bag right from the start as we made our way in a Woking direction. I will be returning to this line later on as it is high time the interim stations are converted to a completed status.
It was going to be very warm later on and the early part of the day on quiet stations continues to be one of the highlights in doing this, and Winchfield was no exception. Back in Basingstoke and back on schedule with a trip to Southampton Parkway to look forward to, though it didn't take long to realise i had made a wrong assumption about the route it would take. Bit of an expensive trip out in hindsight with a fully loaded standing with nose pressed to the glass return part of the deal in a 12 car SW service (and that was in the last carriage!). At least the station is now ticked. Its right next to the Airport and a couple of Turboprops were taxiing out whilst i was there which provided some interest. Boy was the station busy though - and what must it be like in the height of the holiday season?
Not the very best of starts i have had, but it would improve. Once back at Basingstoke, it was a 40min+ wait for an out and back to Hook with the hourly stopping service, and once again arriving and departing from P1. Some revellers left over from the night before in the next carriage seemed to be in party mode still but thankfully nothing too boisterous. Only a short journey though.. Some of the longer distance services do stop at a few of the interim stations so my next departure was from P4 and i was going to be doing 4 linear hops, so Fleet, Farnborough (main) and then Brookwood and Woking. This did mean an hours wait at Farnborough, but in each case today i have had time to wander off the premises and see what the immediate vicinities had to offer. I do like this part of the world, but have never had an opportunity to go exploring. In retrospect perhaps there are better places to spend your time.
I was also trying to keep my latest book going, so being able to sit in the warm with this meant i was kept busy the whole day. I would be doing the other platforms on the way back (Fleet was already completed as i visited P1 a couple of months ago), bur first it was track and crossover time once more. With the line in the Havant area blocked today, services were being turned at Petersfield, but they were fairly empty both out and back and a crossover bonus. Things would now gather pace and once back at Guildford i was off up to Effingham Junction for the first time. Surely a candidate for a carry on film imaginary station name! Its also high time i filled in this corner of the world with more completions but that will have to wait for another visit. Slowly getting there however. The return was into P3 at Guildford and new track for me. There would be more completed track here next morning.
More people watching at Brookwood and Farnborough including a number of teenagers scaling the fences to gain the platform without using a gateline. No surprise to see this unfortunately. It was about this time i realsied i had not done enough due diligence (that's twice now today) and i resolved to keep on the service until Winchester as this was hopefully going to provide a couple of bonus crossovers, which my originally intended route was not. With the P1 starter already in situ, we crossed onto the P2 line, and after we left Basingstoke crossed back again just before Worting Junction. Basingstoke would give up one last prize later on.
With my wasted ticket at the start of the day (Whitchurch) there was some serendipity in that this more than covered my extra trip to Winchester which i had not fully realised i needed a ticket for, but i am still out of pocket without. More of an oversight at the time kind of thing. The downside was another XC trip but at this time of the evening the loading was not too extreme. All that remained was the last out and back and a double crossover from P4 going West and then the third before Worting on yet another XC trip. It was getting dark by now, but i did have time to source a beer bottle from the Co-op before the last trip back to Basingstoke, (and for me) a late check-in at the Farnborough Premier Inn. The targets are reducing and maybe one or two more visits might see me done, and another 7 new stations today was also keeping the main show on the road. Time is short this week so apologies for a report which doesn't sparkle. I will be doing more oddball things tomorrow of course.
Total time today 830 mins - time on trains 336 mins and time waiting 494 mins. Stations completed today 7. Total completed 1862. Platforms completed at completed stations 4248. 72.14% complete.
"The yin and the yang"
Back in expensive ticket land today as there is a lot of track needed still in the holy triangle that is Basingstoke, Woking and Guildford. Bit of an awkward start to the day in that the A34 was closed at a most inconvenient spot for a detour and despite my best efforts i was 5 minutes too late for my intended start service to Whitchurch and a rarely used crossover on the way back. Disappointing in that i was 20 minutes ahead beforehand. A swift change of plans and an extra ticket sourced and supplies obtained and i was unexpectedly off to Winchfield on an out and back. The starting point for points East today was P1 so 3 new bits of track were in the bag right from the start as we made our way in a Woking direction. I will be returning to this line later on as it is high time the interim stations are converted to a completed status.
It was going to be very warm later on and the early part of the day on quiet stations continues to be one of the highlights in doing this, and Winchfield was no exception. Back in Basingstoke and back on schedule with a trip to Southampton Parkway to look forward to, though it didn't take long to realise i had made a wrong assumption about the route it would take. Bit of an expensive trip out in hindsight with a fully loaded standing with nose pressed to the glass return part of the deal in a 12 car SW service (and that was in the last carriage!). At least the station is now ticked. Its right next to the Airport and a couple of Turboprops were taxiing out whilst i was there which provided some interest. Boy was the station busy though - and what must it be like in the height of the holiday season?
Not the very best of starts i have had, but it would improve. Once back at Basingstoke, it was a 40min+ wait for an out and back to Hook with the hourly stopping service, and once again arriving and departing from P1. Some revellers left over from the night before in the next carriage seemed to be in party mode still but thankfully nothing too boisterous. Only a short journey though.. Some of the longer distance services do stop at a few of the interim stations so my next departure was from P4 and i was going to be doing 4 linear hops, so Fleet, Farnborough (main) and then Brookwood and Woking. This did mean an hours wait at Farnborough, but in each case today i have had time to wander off the premises and see what the immediate vicinities had to offer. I do like this part of the world, but have never had an opportunity to go exploring. In retrospect perhaps there are better places to spend your time.
I was also trying to keep my latest book going, so being able to sit in the warm with this meant i was kept busy the whole day. I would be doing the other platforms on the way back (Fleet was already completed as i visited P1 a couple of months ago), bur first it was track and crossover time once more. With the line in the Havant area blocked today, services were being turned at Petersfield, but they were fairly empty both out and back and a crossover bonus. Things would now gather pace and once back at Guildford i was off up to Effingham Junction for the first time. Surely a candidate for a carry on film imaginary station name! Its also high time i filled in this corner of the world with more completions but that will have to wait for another visit. Slowly getting there however. The return was into P3 at Guildford and new track for me. There would be more completed track here next morning.
More people watching at Brookwood and Farnborough including a number of teenagers scaling the fences to gain the platform without using a gateline. No surprise to see this unfortunately. It was about this time i realsied i had not done enough due diligence (that's twice now today) and i resolved to keep on the service until Winchester as this was hopefully going to provide a couple of bonus crossovers, which my originally intended route was not. With the P1 starter already in situ, we crossed onto the P2 line, and after we left Basingstoke crossed back again just before Worting Junction. Basingstoke would give up one last prize later on.
With my wasted ticket at the start of the day (Whitchurch) there was some serendipity in that this more than covered my extra trip to Winchester which i had not fully realised i needed a ticket for, but i am still out of pocket without. More of an oversight at the time kind of thing. The downside was another XC trip but at this time of the evening the loading was not too extreme. All that remained was the last out and back and a double crossover from P4 going West and then the third before Worting on yet another XC trip. It was getting dark by now, but i did have time to source a beer bottle from the Co-op before the last trip back to Basingstoke, (and for me) a late check-in at the Farnborough Premier Inn. The targets are reducing and maybe one or two more visits might see me done, and another 7 new stations today was also keeping the main show on the road. Time is short this week so apologies for a report which doesn't sparkle. I will be doing more oddball things tomorrow of course.
| Basingstoke | Depart | 8.24 | ***** | SW | stations | platforms | ||
| Winchfield | Arrive | 8.35 | P1 | SW | wait 8m | completed | completed | |
| Winchfield | Depart | 8.43 | P2 | SW | 1 | 2 | ||
| Basingstoke | Arrive | 8.54 | P1 | SW | wait 26m | |||
| Basingstoke | Depart | 9.21 | P1 | XC | ||||
| Southampton Airport Parkway | Arrive | 9.47 | P2 | XC | wait 23m | |||
| Southampton Airport Parkway | Depart | 10.10 | P1 | SW | 1 | 2 | ||
| Basingstoke | Arrive | 10.35 | P3 | SW | wait 49m | |||
| Basingstoke | Depart | 11.24 | P1 | SW | ||||
| Hook | Arrive | 11.31 | P1 | SW | wait 16m | |||
| Hook | Depart | 11.47 | P2 | SW | 1 | 2 | ||
| Basingstoke | Arrive | 11.55 | P1 | SW | wait 24m | |||
| Basingstoke | Depart | 12.19 | P4 | SW | ||||
| Fleet | Arrive | 12.28 | P1 | SW | wait 12m | |||
| Fleet | Depart | 12.40 | P1 | SW | 1 | 2 | ||
| Farnborough (Main) | Arrive | 12.44 | P1 | SW | wait 61m | |||
| Farnborough (Main) | Depart | 13.45 | P1 | SW | ||||
| Brookwood | Arrive | 13.51 | P1 | SW | wait 25m | |||
| Brookwood | Depart | 14.16 | P1 | SW | ||||
| Woking | Arrive | 14.20 | P1 | SW | wait 35m | |||
| Woking | Depart | 14.55 | P5 | SW | ||||
| Petersfield | Arrive | 15.31 | P2 | SW | wait 12m | |||
| Petersfield | Depart | 15.43 | P2 | SW | ||||
| Guildford | Arrive | 16.33 | P5 | SW | wait 12m | |||
| Guildford | Depart | 16.45 | P1 | SW | ||||
| Effingham Junction | Arrive | 17.02 | P2 | SW | wait 16m | |||
| Effingham Junction | Depart | 17.18 | P1 | SW | 1 | 2 | ||
| Guildford | Arrive | 17.37 | P3 | SW | wait 12m | |||
| Guildford | Depart | 17.49 | P5 | SW | ||||
| Woking | Arrive | 17.59 | P4 | SW | wait 20m | |||
| Woking | Depart | 18.19 | P5 | SW | ||||
| Brookwood | Arrive | 18.24 | P2 | SW | wait 62m | |||
| Brookwood | Depart | 19.26 | P2 | SW | 1 | 2 | ||
| Farnborough (Main) | Arrive | 19.31 | P2 | SW | wait 13m | |||
| Farnborough (Main) | Depart | 19.44 | P2 | SW | 1 | 2 | ||
| Winchester | Arrive | 20.20 | P2 | SW | wait 13m | |||
| Winchester | Depart | 20.33 | P1 | XC | ||||
| Basingstoke | Arrive | 20.47 | P3 | XC | wait 25m | |||
| Basingstoke | Depart | 21.12 | P4 | XC | ||||
| Winchester | Arrive | 21.26 | P2 | XC | wait 30m | |||
| Winchester | Depart | 21.56 | P1 | SW | ||||
| Basingstoke | Arrive | 22.14 | ***** | SW |
