No wait, that's not right is it? :P
As I'm sure many of you will remember, the days of the C stock are numbered. A minor collision between two S7s in passenger service on the Wimbleware branch did - I believe - interrupt very slightly the smooth roll-out of S7s. You can read more about the "collision" - really more of a minor scuff to be honest - here. The two trains scraped alongside each other as they rounded a bend between East Putney and Southfields, owing to movement of the track. I, personally, am inclined to agree with the RMT that regular track inspection is important and that TfL cuts are for the worse, but the incident was very minor and nobody was harmed. The trains themselves probably did require some maintenance though and immediately afterwards various diversions were put in place. A normal service on the Wimbleware, with the right 4 C's, 4 S's balance (N.B.: the problems on the branch, which were really track-based, were not S stock specific and C's were also diverted - all were sent to Richmond one morning, which would have been nice to see; not sure about the Ds, but I think the whole Wimbledon road was a bit of a problem child for a short time), was not restored for a little while I believe. I think all is pretty much back to normal now, though.
Anyway, this weekend there is no District line between South Ken and Aldgate East and between Earl's Court and Wimbledon. This meant a 4 tph (trains per hour) Edgware Road - Kensington (Olympia) service, operated by 2 C's and 2 S's. This was an opportunity not to be missed. Although I believe some C's do visit Olympia very early in the morning, coming out of Lillie Bridge depot (and one or two may even depart in service, although I think many don't, but I'm not that au fait with the District line's early morning timetable, unfortunately), it's not a common occurrence really. Presumably something similar happens late at night, too, I'm not sure. Whatever the case, it's a relative rarity to be on a C to/from Olympia. I myself have never been to Olympia on a C and I remember thinking rather ruefully that it was a shame that I would probably not get to do so. This was particularly a shame since Olympia is a destination the C's can visit normally - unlike Richmond which is more exceptional - and it is shown on the in-car maps (again, unlike Richmond for instance). Having taken the opportunity to see the Circle and H&C on a C for one last time (and fully intending to do the same on the Wimbleware when the time comes) I had to take today's excellent opportunity.
So I headed off to ROV - which was looking delightfully pretty as ever - and had a fairly substantial 16 minute wait for the WOO. At WOO I happened to notice one in the siding and one in the bay. The train I'd just arrived on was to be reversed back to HAI off platform 2 and the next westbound was to depart from the bay road. Naturally I headed onto it and effected a more seamless, smoother change than usual. It was a nice little trip down to LES, where we were routed into platform 1. As we headed along the loop and down to LEY, I happened to glance over my shoulder and see that the signal controlling access to platforms 3 & 2 from the eastbound track was showing white, with route indicator pointing to the right. This means that the next train to arrive at LES from LEY would be routed into platform 2 - where, presumably, it would terminate. (Not that it couldn't go onto the EPP road from there, of course, but that would be odd). That, presumably, explained why we were sent into platform 1. A fairly odd time on the east end of the Central line all round, then. I didn't notice any problems - any delays - which might explain this, though.
After LES, however, all went smoothly and I simply enjoyed a straightforward, slightly warm trip into NHG, where, happily, the next train due on the sub-surface lines was a District line train to Olympia and, as luck would have it, it was a C. So I hopped aboard and noted that the bay roads at High Street (Kensington) were being used for reversing trains from Ealing and Richmond (no surprises) as I went by. Then it was into Earl's Court and off to Olympia. As we pulled out, I watched the Wimbledon road branch off and noted the beginning of the possession. Then we took a right at West Kensington East Junction and headed up to Olympia, passing the depot roads to/from Lillie Bridge depot and the point where one of them merges with our line.
At Olympia I stood around and admired the station for a bit, enjoying watching the London Overground and Southern trains which serve the station on the West London Line. I noticed that there were some other enthusiasts chatting excitedly with the T/Op. I did wander over but didn't get involved - bit of social angst, y'know? I had intended to head back to NHG and find a café or something there and do some reading. But I thought - oh, what the hell, why no carry on to Edgware Road? So I did and found a nice little Costa there, where I read a reasonable amount of a chapter of a very, very good book called "White Teeth."
But this is not a literature review, it is a journey review. I left the café when I was finished reading, headed back to the lovely Edgware Road and was lucky enough to catch an H&C train which took me very smoothly on to LIS, in some very nice sunshine. I changed onto a very warm and busy HAI via NEP train, which I took to LES. There I obviously changed for the EPP and arrived at WOO with another reasonable wait for a train that'd serve ROV. I could swear a LOU which I hadn't seen any mention of at LIS, MIE or LES materialised very quickly. Maybe it was reversed at LES, maybe a HAI via NEP was diverted, who knows? Maybe I just wasn't paying attention :P In fact, I did stop paying attention, really, and did a bit more reading until the WOO arrived. Nice day in the end :)
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