MissingX (https://www.missingx.com/) is an international database of lost property covering the transport sector including airports and railways. It was started in Norway in 2000 to provide an easy method of reporting lost property and claiming found items. I found it easy to enrol online and I was invited to enter details of the loss and where it occurred. There's a separate section of the database with the details of found items. For a few days, nothing appeared in the 'found' section and I was fairly certain that the camera (with all my pictures of the trip to Llandudno which the camera does not backup automtically) was lost. Then, a description of a camera located at Euston appeared in the 'found' section so, as instructed, I made an online claim and printed a copy of the details. The website informed me that I would then be contacted by the location holding the item.
So far, very encouraging. But after another week I'd not been contacted so I found a general West Midland Trains customer support telephone number where a friendly gentleman offered to send a chasing email to the team at Euston. After another week, I tried customer support again. A different gentleman diagnosed that the chasing email had indeed been sent but to the wrong recipient. He said he's speak to the appropriate person and get them to phone me directly.
A couple of hours later, I received a call from the West Midlands Trains Duty Manager at Euston who confimed that they were holding what seemed to be my camera in their high-value property store. Unfortunately, although I was happy to pay for carriage and packing to return it to me, they seemed to lack a mechanism for that. After some negotiation, I decided I'd have to go to Euston myself to collect the camera, so I booked a 'quickie' trip to London just to retrieve the camera. I was able to book Advance tickets there and back for Friday, 20th May 2022, allowing a little under two hours at Euston to actually make the collection, anticipating that matters might not be completely straightforward.
The journey to London on 20th May followed the pattern of my earlier trip on 8th April described here involving bus, Cross Country 'Voyager' service to Stafford then an Avanti 'Pendolino' service non-stop to Euston. This time, I travelled First Class so was able to have breakfast on the fast journey, distracting me from studying operations too closely. As before, my train was preceded by a West Midlands Trains service to Euston (reporting number 1U22) but we overhauled this train at Tamworth as it made a station stop when on the Up Slow. I noticed (using Railcam UK)that we were being followed by a Birmingham-Euston Avanti 'Pendolino' just a few minutes later. My arrival at Euston found me in an optimistic frame of mind, although the weather which had been dry at Stafford had deteriorated as we headed south and our arrival at Euston had neen accompanied by drizzle and overcast skies. We were routed into platform 16, on the Down side, close to the works for the new HS2 terminus but black hoardings limited views of the advancing works.
London Euston: HS2 works viewed from arriving train showing bulk storage silos
I'd been given directions to make my way to the ticket Gate Line for the suburban platforms and ask the staff there for the West Midlands Trains Duty Manager, who was summoned by radio. This seemed to create some interest among the staff and we had assembled a group of four employees chatting by the time the Duty Manager arrived. I was admitted through the gate to wait on the platform whilst the Duty Manager despatched a West Midlands train service then I explained my mission. He then telephoned another person who had the key to the high-value property store and asked me to wait for her arrival before leaving to carry out other tasks. As I waited, another West Midlands Trains electric multiple unit arrived and crowds of passengers swept past me towards the ticket gates. A little later, the lady with the key arrived, examined the copy of my online claim form and asked me to wait whilst she fetched the camera from the store which was located at the far end of the platform we were on. After a few minutes, she returned with the camera, intact with its case and spare batteries. A quick check showed that the pictures on the memory card were those I'd taken in April so the camera was returned to mr. Expressing my thanks, I was passed through the ticket barrier again.
I'd just under an hour before the departure of the train I was booked on to return. During my earlier trip in April, there had been no Tube service from Euston via London Bridge to Moorgate because of major engineering work at Bank station to improve the platforms. Realising that the line had re-opened a few days before, I decided that I'd time to travel to Bank underground station to look at the improved facilities, so I hurried across the concourse at Euston towards the underground station. As I've commented before, this transfer has been re-organised and now involves briefly going outside before re-entering the building by a separate entrance. I discovered it was now raining quite heavily, revealing the disadvantage of the altered arrangements. I made my way to the Southbound Platform on the re-opened City Branch of the Northern Line and was soon noisily speeding towards Bank, where we arrived at the wide, straight new platform which has replaced the narrower, sharply curved earlier arrangement.
Bank Northern Line: New Southbound Platform
Looking at my watch, I was a little alarmed at the time so, after a very cursory examination of the revised access from the surface, I moved to the Northbound platform so as to return to Euston. The Northbound platform, which appeared unchanged, is straight but much narrower than the new Southbound platform.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52087451527_49841d54c4.jpg
After a short wait, a Northbound Northern Line train arrived and I returned to Euston, discovering as I transferred from Tube to 'Heavy Rail' that it was still raining. My journey back to Wolverhampton was booked on the 11:43 'Pendolino' service to Blackpool North via Birmingham which was displayed on the Departure Screens, but without a platform number showing. This normally meant that the incoming train was late arriving and cleaning was still in progress prior to boarding. I amused myself by using Railcam UK to try to identify which platform was holding the trainset which would form my train. I'd just drawn the correct conclusion when the platform number appeared on the Departure Screen so I joined the mass of passengers heading for ramp to the indicated platform. Unless at trainset has become 'reversed', First Class is normally near the entrance ramp so I only had a short walk to my seat where (using Railcam UK) I identified our train reporting number as 9P65.
Our departure was 5 minutes late and we were routed on line 'X' which allows trains leaving from low-numbered plattforms on the 'Up' side of the station to cross under the other lines approaching Euston (lines A -E) so as to emerge on the 'Down' side, minimising conflicting movements. This re-purposed 'fly-under' was originally built to facilitate the removal of empty carriages from arriving services for attention at a carriage shed. Nowadays, with more intensive use of rolling stock, limited cleaning and replenishment between workings is carried out at the platform, deferring other work until arrival at the Traincare Depot at the end of service. Once again, I had limited views through the rain of the HS2 work in progress.
London Euston: HS2 works viewed from a departing train on Line 'X'
We'd lost a further minute by Bletchley, apparently because we were following a West Midland Trains Euston to Crewe via the Trent Valley Line stopping service (reporting number 1U33). When this train made its scheduled stop at Milton Keynes, I thought we might be allowed to overtake but, in fact, the stopping train continued to precede us, making us 9 minutes late leaving Milton Keynes. Three minutes of this was 'pulled back' by Coventry but, once in the congested West Midlands area, there seems to be little opportunity to make up lateness except by reducing 'dwell' time at stops like Birmingham New Street where this is possible.
My last leg, from Birmingham New Street to Wolverhampton, was particularly frustrating as we seemed to be following an 'all stations' to Wolverhampton (reporting number 2W28). On our arrival at Wolverhampton, I walked quickly to Lichfield Street hoping I'd still catch the bus home I'd planned on. I needn't have worried - the bus was ten minutes late arriving.
Not only was my camera retrieved intact but all my pictures taken on my trip to Llandudno were safe. I consider myself very fortunate that I had such a happy outcome. Mission accomplished!
Related posts on this website
Llandudno in April
Return to Croydon
My pictures
Northern Line
London: Euston Station
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