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10:45.

Community rail week has begun, and I’m off on my travels again as part of it. Right now, I’m on Northern’s 10:23 from Sowerby Bridge to Manchester in order to pop in on an event being held at Piccadilly station before making my way down to London this evening. After yesterday’s wall to wall sunshine the weather’s a bit of a disappointment as the Calder valley’s full of low cloud but I’m hoping things will improve as I drift South stopping off on the way. Feel free to pop back later to see what I get up to…

No 1 on day 1 to carry me to Manchester…

11:05.

Before I get to Manchester I’ve stopped off at Rochdale where the Calder Valley CRP are having an event in the station garden. There’s music – and cupcakes, so if you’re in the area feel free to pop in…

12:30.

My tour continues. On reaching Manchester I hot-foot it over to Piccadilly station where several CRPs (Community Rail Partnerships) and their friends have stalls today. There’s a lot of interest in the line and walking guides, along with the other goodies on offer. Both the Bentham and Glossop lines had sent delegations..

Now I’m on the move again, slowly heading South. Today I have a treat as far as Crewe in the shape of one of Transport for Wales locomotive hauled (or in this case, pushed) Mk 4 sets.

13:55.

I’m currently taking the scenic route as plans went slightly awry on arrival at Crewe. There was plenty of variety of traction on view – from old TfW single-car ‘Scuds’ working the Shrewsbury shuttle to brand new Hitachi built Class 805s on test before taking over from Avanti Voyagers later this year. Oh, and the nostalgia-fest that is LSL’s loco depot, which is a real 1980s throwback. Unfortunately a number of services were late or delayed, so I’m now heading for Stoke on a sideways shuffle aboard one of LNWs Class 350s. This one’s a former Trans-Pennine Express unit that used to work between Manchester Airport – Glasgow/Edinburgh before being displaced by more modern (and longer) trains.

14:50.

And relax! On arrival at Stoke I had 10 minutes to wait for a Pendolino to arrive which would whisk me to Euston via one stop at Nuneaton. There’s no more community rail events within my reach now so the rest of the day is purely a positional move. As I head South the weather’s improving. There’s clear blue skies and fluffy cumulous clouds instead of the grey I’d been used to, so now all I have to do is decide where I’m going to visit to get some library shots after hitting London.

15:33

Bugger! Just when I thought I was back on track! We’re currently running 26 minutes late (and being diverted via Northampton) due to – as the onboard screens inform us – a ‘safety inspection of the track’. Ho hum. Now I won’t reach Euston until 16:07 – and counting. We’re not the only service affected either. I’ve just had a quick look at ‘real time trains’ to check out Euston departures/arrivals. It’s not good. I expect it’ll be carnage on the concourse when I arrive.

16:40.

Carnage has been averted at Euston due to many departures leaving on time, which will keep passengers happy and the concourse uncrowded. But it’ll come at a price. Many trains will have been ‘stepped up’ (turned around quickly and reallocated to different services). Train crews bear the brunt when this happens as their dockets aren’t worth the paper they’re written on so hours get extended. Juggling the trains has issues too as some will have been heading to certain depots for maintenence to take place. They’ll end the day somewhere very different unless train controllers can get them back to where they need to be.

       

Euston. It could be a lot worse…

17:45.

Wandering down the Euston Rd from Euston to Kings Cross I bumped into Ndy Savage, an old friend and fellow Community Rail Awards judge. It’s what I love about London. You’re never far away from someone you know. Now I’m back in old haunts in Harringay, heading to tonight’s hotel…

23:30.

Time to bring this blog to a close. I’m kicking back at my hotel in Wood Green after meeting up with the rest of the CRN team ready for tomorrow’s big event. I’ll leave you with a few more pictures from today, with many more to follow tomorrow.

Manchester Piccadilly earlier, with people interested in details of some of the walking guides on offer.
Stoke station dominated by LNW Class 350s, including the former TPE unit I arrived on.
It could have been an awful lot worse. Despite the WCML disruption Euston station passenger flow remained in tolerable levels.
Buddleia’s not part of the station friends plan, but like many locations it’s encroaching on the lineside here at Alexandra Palace in North London.

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