Foggy trip

This morning was really foggy. Really foggy. In fact, the fog still hadn't completely lifted out in the suburbs when I returned to WOO around midday. I quite like the fog, though. It can cause real problems, obviously, and you have to watch out; but it creates quite a pleasant "atmosphere" and it's rather pretty.

Anyway, I arrived at the fog covered ROV in good time (yes - despite my early start yesterday) and was able to board a RUG (Ruislip Gardens) service which I happened to notice was being driven on the handle (fog doesn't make any difference to the ATP (Automatic Train Protection)). We stopped exquisitely smoothly on the way down to LES (Leytonstone) I have to say.

At LES, I was surprised to find that we were routed into westbound platform 1. In general (and this is only in general - it's not a hard and fast rule by any stretch of the imagination), platform 1 is used by trains from WAN (Wanstead) and platform 2 is used by trains from SNA (Snaresbrook). Obviously, if there's a train using platform 2 to reverse, then all westbound trains go via platform 1. Today, we were sent into platform 1 for whatever reason and held there for a good five or six minutes. Now, I'm assuming Wood Lane will have had a reason for holding our train and while we were held two westbound trains went through ahead of ours (the second departing just before we did, so that we had to wait for it before we could merge with the line from platform 2 and continue onto LEY (Leyton)). This is all perfectly reasonable during the peak and the T/Op who took us into LES warned us there would be a delay almost as soon as we'd stopped, so he must have been warned in advance. Actually, we had a change of T/Ops and I can't imagine our first T/Op had been on the train that long, since I believe the through trains usually start at the HAI depot. Still, he might well have been on the job for a while; but perhaps something was up. Anyway, anyway, the only thing that intrigues me very slightly is why platform 2 wasn't used. Since 2 is used for reversers and usually for trains from SNA, one might naïvely think it'd be the obvious choice for holding a train from SNA for a while. Ah well, whatever the whys and wherefores, we had a change of driver and a change of destination. Our train became a NOR (Northolt) service and we were away.

At LIS I managed to trip over at the bottom of escalator number 5. Really hurt my finger :( This is not something I recommend and, to be honest, I think I'm quite lucky nobody fell over me. Need to be careful. I guess at that time in the morning I can't manage lifting my foot all the way up to the top of the step :P

Still, I made it onto a Circle line C stock train which took me in to King's Cross St. Pancras. I happened to notice that a semi-fast Harrow-on-the-Hill was due after the next train through. These are, I think, new (or certainly more commonplace) since the introduction of the revised Met timetable. I believe that one was destined to stable at Neasden.

The way back was altogether much smoother. Took an Aldgate train to LIS. Stayed on my feet the whole way down the escalator and managed to find myself on pretty much the same bit of the service sequence as yesterday. Got onto a HAI via NEP at LIS, changed at LES for the EPP and pulled into WOO with 3 minutes, this time, until the HAI train arrived. Very nice, especially considering how cold it was. Cold, but sunny and generally very pretty out in the open. As I say, there was still some fog floating around when I was waiting at WOO, mind.