Last updated on Sunday 29 June 2008
![[PHOTO: old and modern trains side-by-side in station: 130kB]](20050703-Hastings-Armitage.jpg "Classes 377 and 201 at Hastings station")
Above: The old and the new. The preserved Hastings diesel unit 1001 is seen at Hastings on Sunday 3 July 2005, alongside a modern electric unit operated by [Southern]. On this occasion our DEMU was enagaged in some timing-runs, empty but with simulated station-stops, to prove that it could keep to revised timings being planned for the winter timetable. See also the relevant diary entry.
This section is intended to replace the many snippets of articles in the News section which simply state that (for example) “1001 went out for the first part of diagram 975 on this day”. By producing a summary here the website-maintainer believes the information will be better arranged, leaving the news archives less cluttered and repetitive.
This diary attempts to record every occasion when one or more of our railway vehicles has moved on Network Rail metals (other than shunting operations within the St. Leonards depot area). Therefore, it includes workings on the Ashford & Hastings line, railtours and excursions (whether HDL’s or for another operator), rescue missions to Eastbourne, and so on. At present, use of motor coaches in a Network Rail Sandite or De-icing train are NOT included.
The set of entries on this page is believed to be complete.
Entries prior to April 2004 (dating back one year) are on a separate page, and include only the Ashford–Hastings workings at present.
Entries from April to December 2004 can be viewed here.
All the Railtours which HDL has operated are listed and described on the Railtour archive page. Naturally, that page overlaps somewhat with this one.
There is a “status column” between each date and its diary entry, whose meanings are as follows:
| A | Ashford & Hastings Line passenger-service working |
| R | Railtour or other special-scheduled passenger working |
| S | Special non-passenger working (e.g. test run, rescue mission), or operation of unusual passenger service |
| 1001’s workings over Network Rail metals
since 1 January 2005 (See previous entries) |
||
|---|---|---|
| Wednesday 29 December 2004 to Saturday 1 January 2005 |
A | With Saturday timetables in operation during this week, 1001 was operating diagram 901-Saturdays on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday; on Friday (New Year’s Eve) however, it instead worked diagram 972-Saturdays, to allow a Class 171 unit to receive a maintenance exam in the long layover that features in 901-Saturdays. 1001 continued in service right to the end of 972-Saturdays (last train of 2004, the 2224 from Ashford). |
| Tuesday 4 to Saturday 8 January 2005 |
A | 1001 operated Diagram 901 from Tuesday of this week, and 901-Saturdays on Saturday. |
| Monday 10 to Saturday 15 January 2005 |
A | Our three-car unit worked diagram 901 and 901-Saturdays again this week. |
| Monday 17 to Saturday 22 January 2005 |
A | Unit 1001 worked diagram 901 all week, and finished up with 901-Saturdays. |
| Monday 24 to Saturday 29 January 2005 |
A | Unit 1001 covered diagram 901 all week again; however, on Saturday it operated 971-Saturdays. This was partly so as to be in use during the middle of the day for the edification of HDL shareholders attending their AGM at Three Oaks, but also because a Class 171 unit needed to be kept on the shorter diagram pending an upcoming exam. Note that from 1922 hrs, our unit 1001 was kept at St. Leonards and a Class 171 covered its last trip; this was in connection with an engineer’s possession at West Marina the following day. |
| Monday 31 January to Saturday 5 February 2005 |
A | 1001 worked the usual 901 and 901-Saturdays diagrams this week. |
| Monday 7 February to Saturday 12 February 2005 |
A | On Monday, 1001 worked the usual 901 diagram. It started off with this on Tuesday, but from 1605 it was swapped onto diagram 973 in time for the 1806 from Hastings. The earlier finish of the latter diagram made it easier to carry out maintenance work on motor coach 60000 Hastings that evening. The remainder of the week saw operation as usual on diagram 901, and 901-Saturdays. |
| Monday 14 to Saturday 26 February 2005 |
A | 1001 worked diagram 901 and diagram 901-Saturdays (no work on Sunday) through this period. |
| Sunday 27 February 2005 | S | 1001 didn’t get its rest day today, as a class 377 failed at
Hampden Park on the way into Eastbourne with the 0744 Brighton to
Hastings; our train was used to provide a shuttle service between
Hastings and Pevensey & Westham, as follows:
|
| Monday 28 February and Tuesday 1 March 2005 |
A | Our three-car DEMU was out on its usual 901 diagram on these two days. |
| Wednesday 2 March 2005 | S | 1001 was strengthened to a 4-car unit by the addition of motor coach 60118 Tunbridge Wells, and fitted with the Dellner coupling adapter. It departed for Eastbourne at approximately 0835, where it was on standby if required to assist any electric trains adversely affected by the snow and icy weather. It returned to depot at 1210 and Tunbridge Wells was removed, in time for the usual 3-car unit to form the 1324 departure from Hastings on 901 diagram. Motor coach 60000 Hastings was fitted with the Dellner coupling-adaptor for the first stint. Later that evening, our train was swapped onto diagram 973 for the 1806 semi-fast to Ashford return, in order that it would finish its day on The Marsh sooner — and could be made available for possible rescue work at an earlier time. |
| Thursday 3 March 2005 | S A |
1001 was sent to Eastbourne early this morning to stand by for use if required, but returned to Hastings in time to work its full day on diagram 901. |
| Friday 4 March 2005 | S A |
1001 was used to assist the first Hastings-London service (dep 0507), an 8-VEP EMU which suffered the loss of all its conductor shoes in Bopeep Tunnel because of a defective conductor rail. The resulting train was brought to St Leonards Depot where customers were transferred to road transport. 1001 then covered its usual Ashford line duties. |
| Saturday 5 to Tuesday 8 March 2005 |
A | 1001 worked diagram 901-Saturdays and diagram 901 on three of these days (no work Sundays). |
| Wednesday 9 March 2005 | A | 1001 started off on diagram 901, but was swapped at Hastings at 1610, working the final round trip of diagram 973 instead. |
| Thursday 10 to Saturday 12 March 2005 |
A | Our 3-car unit worked the Marshlink service on Diagram 901 on Thursday. It is currently formed (Ashford-facing end first): 60000-60529-60116. Friday and Saturday were spent at St. Leonards depot, for the cleaning of 1001’s seven cars, shunting them into formation, and preparing the train for Sunday’s railtour. |
| Sunday 13 March 2005 | R | Our seven-car train operated the HDL Lydd Ranger railtour today. A news article with photos has been created. The train got turned in the course of the day’s running, and so when our motor coaches were at Hastings station, Mountfield faces Rye, and Hastings and Tunbridge Wells now face towards Bexhill. |
| Wednesday 16 March 2005 | A | 1001 was used on the Marsh today, on diagram 901; it was formed (Ashford end) 60116-60529-60000. |
| Thursday 17 March 2005 | S | A 6-car train was formed, using 60116-60529-70262-69337-60501-60118. This operated (not in service) as a driver-training run for EWS as follows: 5Z01 12+26 St. Leonards Depot – Hastings – Tonbridge and return. |
| Monday 21 to Thursday 24 March 2005 |
A | The three-car version of our train was operating diagram 901 on the Ashford & Hastings Line for Southern. |
| Saturday 26 March 2005 | A | Following a rest on Good Friday (Sunday service in operation), our unit worked 901-Saturdays today. |
| Monday 28 March 2005 | A | Unit 1001 was in use on diagram 971-Sundays today (Easter Monday), whilst work was carried out on 171 723. |
| Tuesday 29 March to Saturday 2 April 2005 |
A | 1001 worked diagram 901 and diagram 901-Saturdays for the remainder of this week. |
| Monday & Tuesday 4 & 5 April 2005 | A | On these two days, our 3-car train operated Diagram 901 until 1610 when it was swapped to Diagram 973 until close of traffic. |
| Wednesday & Thursday 6 & 7 April 2005 | A | For this pair of days, 1001 was used on Diagram 901 throughout. |
| Friday 8 April 2005 | A | The green DEMU operated Diagram 901 until 1610 when it was swapped to Diagram 973 until close of traffic. |
| Saturday 9 April 2005 | A | 1001 operated as follows:
|
| Sunday 10 April 2005 | A | Our DEMU ran on Diagram 971-Sundays today |
| Monday 11 April 2005 | A | The three-car version of unit 1001 ran on Diagram 901 until 1210 at Hastings, then Diagram 973 from 1224 until 1610, when it reverted to Diagram 901 to close of traffic. |
| Tuesday 12 April 2005 | A | 1001 was used on Diagram 901 today. |
| Wednesday 13 April 2005 | A | Our DEMU ran on Diagram 901 until 1522 (at depot). It
was then reformed with Tunbridge
Wells in place of Hastings, as
follows: [Ashford end] 60116-60529-60118. It was worked empty to Hastings for the last trip of Diagram 973 (1806 Hastings–Ashford semi-fast & return at 1854). |
| Thursday 14 April 2005 | A | The three-car unit was used on Diagram 901 today. |
| Friday 15 April 2005 | A | Following some urgent maintenance work which
was carried out on our train, it was reformed,
swapping back to motor-coach Hastings in place of Tunbridge Wells: [Ashford end] 60116-60529-60000. It then worked the final part (1806 semi-fast round-trip from Hastings) of Diagram 973. |
| Saturday 16 April 2005 | A | 1001 started on Diagram 901-Saturdays; after one trip, at 1024, it swapped onto Diagram 972-Saturdays; and at 2024 it moved onto the other diagram, 971-Saturdays. This was because of a defective Class 171 unit awaiting assistance from Bombardier. |
| Monday 18 to Saturday 23 April 2005 | A | Our 3-car unit worked the Ashford & Hastings Line on Diagram 901 and 901-Saturdays, with the following exceptions: on Tuesday and Wednesday, it was swapped onto 973 from 1610 at Hastings. |
| Monday 25 to Saturday 30 April 2005 | A | Unit 1001 operated Diagram 901 and 901-Saturdays. However, on Monday and Wednesday, it was swapped at Hastings from 901 diagram onto 973 at 1610. |
| Monday 2 to Friday 6 May 2005 | A | Unit 1001 mostly worked Diagram 901 on these days. It was reformed on
Tuesday 3 May at its fuel stop, with motor coach Hastings being replaced by Tunbridge Wells. The unit became thus formed: [Ashford end] 60116-60529-60000. This was done to provide Tunbridge Wells with some “running-in” following maintenance work, prior to the railtour at the weekend. 1001 worked the final trip of Diagram 973 on Tuesday evening, reverting to its usual pattern on Wednesday. The unit remained in the depot on Friday, in preparation for the next day’s railtour. |
| Saturday 7 May 2005 | R | Our train in its 7-car formation operated the HDL Lincoln Green railtour
today. A news
article containing photos of the tour has been created. The train
was formed: 60000+60118-60501-BIG-CEP-60529-60116, with Hastings leading throughout the tour. Thus, the train ended up back at the depot having been turned round, with 60000 and 60118 now facing east, and 60116 facing west. |
| Monday 9 to Saturday 14 May 2005 |
A | 1001 was reformed as a 3-car train again, as follows: [Ashford end] 60000-60529-60116. It was out all week on Diagrams 901 and 901-Saturday. On Saturday afternoon 1001 was reformed, with motor coach 60118 Tunbridge Wells taking the place of 60000 Hastings: [Ashford end] 60118-60529-60116. This entered service with the 1924 to Ashford. |
| Monday 16 to Saturday 21 May 2005 |
A | Whilst generally working Diagram 901 this week, our train was swapped onto 973 at 1610 hrs on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. It also only worked the first part of 901-Saturdays. These changes allowed more time for maintenance. |
| Monday 23 to Saturday 28 May 2005 |
A | On Monday, our train started off with Diagram 901, but at 1530 in the depot it was
reformed with a motor-coach swap as follows: [Ashford end] 60000-60529-60116. It then ran to Hastings station and operated the final trip of Diagram 973. Tuesday and Wednesday saw the same train formation and operation of the same workings, with the swap taking place at 1610 at Hastings station. For Thursday and Friday, 1001 was on Diagram 901 throughout, likewise Diagram 901-Saturdays on Saturday. |
| Monday 30 May to Saturday 4 June 2005 |
A | On Bank Holiday Monday a Saturday service was in operation on the Marsh, with 1001 working diagram 901-Saturdays. The balance of the weekays featured our train on Diagram 901, apart from on Friday when it was swapped onto Diagram 974 from 1512 until close of traffic (last train over the Marsh), because of a faulty Class 171 DMU. 901-Saturdays was operated on Saturday as normal. |
| Monday 6 to Saturday 11 June 2005 |
A | Monday saw our train working on Diagram 901; on Tuesday it started out on Diagram 974, swapped at 1010 onto 901, at 1210 onto 973, and at 1610 onto 901 again! Our unit continued work on Diagram 901 for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. On Friday evening, a further Class 171 unit was brought in from Selhurst in preparation for next week’s new diagrams which are allocated to Class 171 DMU stock only. However, in the end our unit worked the final part (1900-2135) of 901-Saturdays. |
| Saturday 25 June 2005 | R | Our train operated the HDL West Country Cruiser
railtour (incorporating the Tarka Special excursion to
Barnstaple). The train was formed: 60000+60118-60501-BIG-CEP-60529-60116, with Mountfield leading at the start of the tour. |
| Sunday 3 July 2005 | S A |
Our train had some special workings today. These were timing
runs, made in order to test the performance of our 3-car DEMU (with two
motor coaches). The first was an out-of-service run from Hastings to
Eastbourne, operating to the timings of a new timetable that will come
into force in December; it has several minutes shaved off it due to
more powerful trains being available. Could 1001 cope with these
sped-up timings? Yes! Admittedly the train had no payload
(passengers) but it even recovered about 3 minutes’ time on the
return trip, with mock 30-second station dwell times being strictly
observed.
Our train departed Hastings at 1230, arriving at Eastbourne at 1306; 1353 return, arriving at Hastings at 1430. The train then operated the public 1515 service from Hastings to Ashford and return, part of Diagram 971-Sundays; this was also timed, and despite slightly late departures at both terminii good running was made and time regained. The train was formed: [Ashford end] 60118-60529-60116 [Eastbourne end]. |
| Wednesday 13 July 2005 | A | Our 3-car train was out in service on this day, working Diagram 973 from 1200 to end of diagram. This was to cover for a Class 171 unit. |
| Sunday 17 July 2005 | R | Our train operated the HDL Mid-Hants Venturer railtour today. A news article contains photographs of the excursion. The train, which was not turned round in the day’s running, was formed with all seven carriages as per the previous railtour. |
| Tuesday 19 July 2005 | A | The 3-car version of 1001 (formation as per 3 July) was used on Diagram 974 from 1100 until 2112 today, to cover for a faulty Class 171 DMU. |
| Wednesday 24 August 2005 | A | 1001 was out on Diagram 975 all day today. This was the last working on the main line prior to 1001 being long-term stopped for the fitting of Central Door Locking. |
| Wednesday 19 April 2006 | S | Our train operated “The Soap Run” today. This is a
local job, delivering the cleaning supplies to [South Eastern]’s carriage-washer, between
the depot and Bopeep Junction; there is no access by road to the
washer.
N.B. There were some previous such trips, dates for which will be added to this diary in due course. |
| Wednesday 23 August 2006 | S | Once more our train operated “The Soap Run”. It was formed of 60000-60116 (the latter used as a Driving Trailer, i.e. without power). |
| Thursday 1 March 2007 | S | 1001 was sent on a further excursion towards Bopeep Junction on “The Soap Run”, formed 60000-60116; the latter was again operating as a Driving Trailer, but on this occasion was on test following modifications in preparation for CDL/OTMR. (See photo at foot of News page.) |
| Wednesday 6 June 2007 | S | Motor coaches 60116 and 60118 made a trip to the carriage-washer to replenish its supplies today. |
| Friday 29 June 2007 | S | 1001 returned to the main line today, following Central Door
Locking and On-Train Monitoring Recorders works. Motor coaches
60118-60116 operated 5Z22 via
Ashford, Dover and Canterbury on a driver-training run. Illustrations and further details can be found
in the relevant news article. These two vehicles of our train got
‘turned’ in the course of the outing. |
| Sunday 8 July 2007 | S | Our two available Motor Coaches 60116-60118 operated 3Z99, a special
trip to Grove Park, Maidstone, Tonbridge, Hastings, Canterbury and
Ashford whilst providing Operational Response cover for the Tour de
France. An illustrated write-up contains full
details. |
| Thursday 20 September 2007 | S | Our two available motor-coaches were coupled to 73 107 which was on test. The test train,
5Z73, was formed 60118+60116+73107.
As well as providing this dual-mode test for the Electro-Diesel loco, it “turned” our motor-coaches: 60116 Mountfield now faces Bexhill. A news article contains photos of this (and the subsequent) test runs. |
| Wednesday 26 September 2007 | S | A further test run took place, causing our unit to be turned a second time. Photos and details are in this news article. |
| Thursday 18 October 2007 | S | A final test run of 73 107 took
place with our motor coaches 60116 and
60118. This turned them a third time,
finally restoring them to their “usual” orientation.
Photos and details are in this news article.
At the depot, Mountfield now faces towards Bexhill, and Tunbridge Wells faces towards Rye. |
| Tuesday 4 December 2007 | S | Motor coaches 60116-60118 undertook a driver-training run for FirstGBRf. Leaving St. Leonards at 1055, they ran via Rye, Ashford, Folkestone, Dover, Deal, Minster, Canterbury, Ashford, Tonbridge and Battle, returning to St. Leonards by 1527. Steve Hatcher took a [photo at Paddock Wood]. This run would again have taken “Hastings” stock through the twin single-bore tunnels at Shakespeare Cliff; an even number (2) of reversals means that the train was not turned round. |
| Friday 6 June 2008 | S | 1001 (formed with vehicles 60118, 60501, 69337, 60116) operated the “Soap Run”, travelling down to the nearby carriage-washing plant to deliver supplies. It is likely that our train has operated further such runs in recent months which have not appeared in this diary. |
| Thursday 26 June 2008 | S | 1001 operated a test run as a five car formation (60118-60501-69337-60529-60116. It ran via Hastings (reverse), Tonbridge, Redhill, Clapham Jc, Catford Loop, Swanley, Maidstone East, Ashford, Rye, St. Leonards Depot. A news article has a photo of the run taking place. |
| Saturday 28 June 2008 | R | 1001 was hired by a TOC for an outing to Bournemouth; it was in the same 5-car formation as two days ago. A news article contains photos, and timings are available. |
| Please consult the “1001 is
currently…” news section for latest operations
information, including items which may not yet have made it to this page! |
||
![[PHOTO: train stopped in bay platform, night: 78kB]](20050204EDL-1-TimMoss.jpg "'Mountfield' at the rear of 1001 in Hastings, platform 1")
Motor coach Mountfield was bringing up the rear of our unit 1001 when it formed the 19:24 departure to Ashford International, on 4 February 2005. The location is Hastings platform 1, and part of the newly-opened station building can be seen to the right. Photo by Tim Moss.