C is for Circle

It took a considerable effort to get myself out of bed this morning and I nearly saved my jaunt on the Circle line for tomorrow. (For those who haven't read yesterday's post, I decided to bid farewell to the C stock (which are due to be entirely replaced by S stock on Monday - although that's only what's on the timetable) by riding the full length of the Circle line in a C stock (having done the same on the H&C yesterday).) However, I eventually managed to pool my resolve and extract myself from the warm depths of my covers and soon I was on a Central line train. Well, not that soon, it was a substantial wait in the cold at ROV first. But, no matter, I was able to change for a NOA (North Acton) train at WOO without a problem and made LIS (Liverpool Street) in good time. It's like being back in class :P

I decided my best bet would be to go to Edgware Road, where Circle line trains arrive at three of the four platforms and so a Circle line C stock would be easier to nab. To get there, I took the first train, which happened to be a Circle line train - but was an S stock. As I was pulling in, I saw a C stock on the Circle line - for a moment I thought I might just be in luck, that - after yesterday's endless hours in the cold - I would get what I'd hoped for. And then it pulled out. So I got cold. Very cold. I mustn't complain, because Edgware Road is a fantastic place to be, really, and it's actually a very pretty little station too. However, it was cold today.

After a long wait - perhaps made slightly worse by the fact that C stocks on the Wimbleware were coming and going regularly and I did once confuse a Wimbleware for my target - I finally saw a C stock bound for Hammersmith pull into platform 4. I headed over to it and listened for the announcement and the bugger was on the Hammersmith & City line! Turns out, then, I was wrong about no C stocks on the H&C this weekend, but I don't think one is due to be out and about tomorrow (one could come into service, though).

Finally, though, an actual Circle line C stock turned up, bound for Hammersmith. I took it and was soon back at Hammersmith. I noticed that at Hammersmith, there was some work being done on the depot and there was a possession just outside of the train shed. I think they were replacing a walkway and they were finished by the time I returned.

Eventually, at about 12:15, we were away - back to Edgware Road, back to LIS and finally all the way round to Edgware Road, taking in the bay platforms at Tower Hill and Mansion House, the crossover at South Kensington, some of the fun and games between Gloucester Road and High Street Kensington and Edgware Road itself, of course. Never quite got a glimpse of the crossover at Embankment, though :( Still, there are some wonderful sights to see - the very green Sloane Square, the beautiful, old-fashioned Gloucester Road, really everything from High Street Kensington to Edgware Road and the lovely, modern Blackfriars. Very nice line, actually, the Circle - I often tend to overlook it a bit.

After that it was, of course, back the way I had come. When we returned to Hammersmith I got to watch an S7 leave the siding alongside platform 3 at Hammersmith, which I think is called 24 road, and see the fibre optic shunt signal clear it to do so. I think it entered service at Goldhawk Road, actually.

And then, finally, I returned on a Circle line C stock to LIS, doing Euston Square to LIS for what might well be the last time on a C stock. At LIS, I changed for an EPP train and arrived, uneventfully, at WOO with 12 minutes to wait for the HAI. Since I couldn't risk being left behind by my C stock, I hadn't been able to leave it for very long all day. As a result, I needed the loo and a bite to eat, so I popped into a nearby café and enjoyed a very nice strawberry tart ("tart" was spelt with an "e", because the place is Belgian :P). I then arrived back at WOO just in time to see the HAI train leave. Dammit. So I had another long wait for a train in the cold. And I wanted a drink.

It was nice to experience the sights of the Circle from a C stock train again, though. So, I suppose, again we say goodbye to this somehow slightly loveable pile of junk on the Circle line:

A C stock train operating a Circle line service, seen here at High Street Kensington. (Image courtesy "Sunil060902" (via Wikipedia))

And keep it up to the S7s:

A superb capture of two S7 stock trains, both operating Circle line services, seen here at Paddington. This image is courtesy of "Flickr" user "κύριαsity" and the original (which I have not altered) may be viewed here. The license applying to the use of this image may be viewed here.