Monthly Archives: May 2018

Time to go home…

29 Tuesday May 2018

Posted by in Air Travel, New York, Travel

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We’re sat at JFK airport waiting for our American Airlines flight to Heathrow after a great week exploring New York and celebrating Dawn’s 50th birthday. It’s been a fascinating trip that I’ll write more about later. I’ve also got a huge backlog of photo’s to sort out too as the camera’s been kept busy over the past few days. Yesterday we took a ferry trip right around Manhattan, which proved to be far more interesting than I expected. Dawn also booked for us to go to the top of the Empire state building, which I’d never visited before. Despite the hazy weather it was a fabulous experience.

Flying home is always tinged with sadness. You never really want a trip like this to end, but American Airlines have done their best to make it an even more dispiriting experience than usual. Dawn tried emailing them to check about food allergies (foolishly, I’d forgotten to do it when we booked the trip). They never got back to her. Yesterday I checked in online only to find that – if we wanted to sit together, AA wanted to charge us between $75-150 a seat for the privilege! They seem to be a Transatlantic version of Ryanair now. At JFK the AA staff insisted we had to use machine check-in and wouldn’t let us talk to counter staff (so there was no chance to ask for a seat change). Not only that, but the machines then tried to sell us ‘priority boarding’ for another $40 apiece! To say I was less than impressed would be an understatement. I’ve never encountered this on any of my trips to India or Southeast Asia. I’m told this practice is spreading amongst airlines. All I can say is that I’ll be making sure that I’ll be avoiding any long-haul airlines that are tempted to ‘ching’ passengers in this fashion.

Once, flying had a certain cachet, it was an exciting, even glamourous experience. Not any more…

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Our plane. A Boeing 777-223 (ER), No N760AN being prepared as AA142, the 10.10 to London Heathrow.

UPDATE: 30th May 2018.

Credit where it’s due, our AA flight to the UK was a really good flight! Despite the fact we’d both been allocated middle row, B numbered seats (one in front of the other) we managed to sit next to each other due to the number of other passengers who’d also been split up all playing musical chairs to swap seats! I can’t help wondering how much extra revenue this policy creates compared to the ill-will it causes. What I can’t fault was the condition of the plane or the service. Although the airframe was 16 years old the interior was far more recent, the seats were comfortable, the legroom reasonable and the facilities (electrical and USB sockets) were good. The seatback TV screens were excellent, with really good definition whilst the entertainment system had a wide variety of films and other programmes on offer. The cabin crew were a also a delight. Unlike many crews, they were all older (and more experienced) women who were both extremely helpful and polite. This combination made the time on out six and a half hour flight fly by – literally! Mind you, this was aided and abetted by the large glasses of wine the Stews were happy to serve!

As our flight didn’t land until late in the evening I’d booked us a hotel near the airport so that we could get our heads down before heading North this morning. Right now i’m typing this update from the 10.52 Grand Central service to Halifax, which could be an interesting journey as the East Coast Main Line’s up the spout again. It seems that a lightning strike took out signalling in the Newark area earlier this morning! As we’re on a DMU we’re could be diverted via the GN/GE joint line from Peterborough to Doncaster via Lincoln. Luke Barty, our Train Manager is doing a sterling job trying to keep passengers appraised of the situation, although he doesn’t know himself which route we’ll take yet. To his credit he’s not hidden behind the meaningless ‘operational incident’ phraseology loved by GTR, instead he’s spelled out to passengers exactly what’s happened and what’s going on.

In the end we stayed on the main line to join the queue of trains being hand-signalled through Newark. Whilst this happened Luke talked to the passengers like adults and explained exactly what was going on whilst apologising for the fact that he couldn’t (yet) establish how late we would be. It was a text-book example of how to talk to passengers when things go wrong.

(12.20) BEST LAID PLANS…

Poor Luke! Just as he was making an announcement to passengers after passing through Newark, our train suddenly swung to the Right and it became obvious that we were being diverted via Lincoln after all – just on the shorter diversionary route! To his credit, he coped with aplomb.

We’re now crossing the Lincolnshire flatlands under misty skies. Still, neither Dawn or I are in a hurry. We have coffee and a plentiful supply of biscuits, wifi and a view, so we might as well enjoy the experience…

New York, New York!

23 Wednesday May 2018

Posted by in New York, The USA, Travel

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After a pretty good flight with BA from Gatwick we’re starting our first full day in the city. As a veteran of long-haul flights to SE Asia the seven and a half hour flight was a doddle. Our Boeing 777-200 was dated but comfortable and the crew were really good, the only annoyance was the entertainment system. The seatback screens were tiny. The choice of films was good but the system kept dropping out or freezing every few minutes which made films unwatchable. I’d been looking forward to catching up on a few of the new releases so I found it really frustrating. Still, first world problems eh?

I’ve not been to New York since 2006 but Dawn’s never visited. To say she was excited was an understatement. She was almost bouncing up and down in her seat when we got the big yellow taxi from JFK to central Manhatten! As we passed through Times Square all I could hear was “Oh, wow!” On a loop!

When we flow in the weather was dull and wet, that’s now clearing and the city’s expecting to be baking in full sunshine from later this morning. I’ll post a few pictures later as time permits. Right, now we’re off to hit the streets…

11.30.

We’re currently sitting in Grand Central station, taking the weight off our feet whilst soaking up the atmosphere. This is what it’s like now.

DG296832. Grand Central station. New York. 23.5.18

I’ve started a New York gallery on my Zenfolio website. Here’s a link if you want to see the full selection of pictures as they’re taken I can’t add them all to my blogs.

Meanwhile, I’m rather dubious about this quote we came across. I’m not sure U-bends can compete with the mysteries of time and space…

DG296753. Fake quote. New York. USA. 23.5.18

Rolling blog: New York bound…

22 Tuesday May 2018

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After doing a very good impression of a blue-arsed fly this past week it’s time for a slight change of tempo. The pair of us are swapping the rural delights of West Yorkshire for the hustle and bustle of metropolitan New York in order to celebrate Dawn’s half-century in style!

I’m not sure how much time I’ll have to blog, but I’m sure that a few words and pictures will come out at some points throughout the week.

Right now we’re on an absolutely rammed Grand Central train down to London. When this service started back in 2010 you’d be lucky to get 25- 30 passengers on a 5-car train. Now, even 42 seat First Class is full before Doncaster! This means the pair of us are doing a Jeremy (Corbyn) and sitting on the vestibule floor – only on this train there really are no free seats!

Rolling blog: Sunday scribbles…

20 Sunday May 2018

Posted by in Brexit, London, Railways, Royal Wedding 2018, Travel

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After a brief night at home I’m once again speeding down the East Coast Main line to London and (eventually) Brighton. Weatherwise, it’s a glorious day for travelling, although I have to admit that I’d have been quite happy spending the day at home. Our garden’s really coming into bloom right now, so it would’ve been lovely to sit in the sun with Dawn, the newspapers and a glass of something. Instead i’m enjoying watching some lovely countryside flash by my train window as I head South.

Today’s the first day of a major railway timetable change that affects my route. Every train time across the GTR network (Great Northern, Thameslink and Southern) has changed and no-one is quite sure what to expect. Industry insiders have told me the new timetable was too complex to model. They know their will be failures but they can’t predict where. As I’m spending the next couple of days on Southern and Thameslink services, I’ll blog about my experiences.

On another matter, I’ve had chance to process my thoughts about what I saw around yesterday’s royal wedding. What struck me was just how cosmopolitan the crowds were who went to Windsor to enjoy the spectacle. As I watched them catch their trains from Waterloo I was impressed by the sheer variety of folk making the journey. I’d say the majority were women, but there were plenty of couples too, as well as entire families. They weren’t all dyed-in-the-wool Royalists either, this wasn’t a wall of union jack T-shirts. What fascinated me was how many of the women were dressed as if they really had been invited to a wedding. I wasn’t too surprised about how many Americans were going due to the brides origin, but I was by the number of Japanese and other asian nationals – as well as all the European languages I heard. I can only put it down to the fact most people enjoy fairytales, and the idea of a mixed-race woman marrying her Prince is such a tale. It was a joyous coming together in celebration from people of all creeds, colours and nationalities. After all the shit that Brexit has thrown up, the wedding (albeit briefly) took us back to the heady days of the 2012 London Olympics, when we seemed a bigger, more confident and outward looking nation – such a contrast to what we’ve become now.

15:39.

Well, I’ve managed to catch a Thameslink service to Brighton without a hitch. Within a few minutes of strolling across the road to St Pancras, buying a ticket and disappearing down into the ‘box’ I was boarding the 15:27 which was running to time and formed of a 12 car Class 700. The weather in the capital’s just as stunning as it was up North. As we passed through Blackfriars station I could sèe that the South bank of the river was awash with people enjoying that lovely combination, a day off, sunshine and a fantastic view across the River Thames!

Surreality

19 Saturday May 2018

Posted by in I love my job, Railways, Travel

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One of the reasons I love my job is the variety of stuff I get to do – even if it is exhausting sometimes.

I was up at 05:30 this morning in order to be at Waterloo station in time to photograph crowds on their way to the royal wedding in Windsor for a client.

It’s been a fun day. The atmosphere at Waterloo was relaxed but all hands were on deck, including SWR MD Andy Mellors who was there to support his staff. As it was the crowds were steady and the plans that had been but in place coped easily.

After a couple of hours I travelled with revellers to Windsor to get pictures at journeys end.

Now the jobs over, the photo’s have been emailed to the client and I have the slightly surreal experience of watching the wedding which is taking place only a few hundred yards away on a TV in a local pub.

Right, time for a little wander before heading home for the night to exchange clothes and pick up my PPE. Tomorrow I head for Brighton in readiness for a job on Monday – the day the biggest change in rail timetables begins. After which I head back to Yorkshire, only to travel to Gatwick the next day in order to fly to New York for a week. Meanwhile, here’s another couple of pictures from today.

DG296304. Royal wedding crowds. Windsor and Eton central. 19.5.18

Royal wedding crowds flood off Windsor and Eton riverside station to head to the royal wedding procession route.

DG296170. SWR staff member gets into the wedding spirit. Waterloo. 19.5.18

A member of SWR staff at Waterloo had entered into the spirit of the day

I must admit, I found the whole day fascinating, mainly because of the wide spectrum of people I encountered going to watch the wedding. It wasn’t quite what I was expecting. I hope to find time to talk about this in another blog.

 

 

Rolling blog: Another day on the rails…

18 Friday May 2018

Posted by in London, Musings, Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel

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09:00

After a night at home I’m heading back to London this morning as I have a job to do early tomorrow that’s not entirely unconnected with a wedding taking place near London. Meanwhile, it’s a bright sunny day and ideal for travelling, so expect a few observations and pictures from my wanderings today. Here’s the first, taken on my walk to the station from a winding cobbled road under the Wainhouse tower. I love this view!

That’s Sowerby Bridge down there. I’m always amazed how green it looks now the trees are in leaf because if you looked at the same view just 50 years ago it would have been denuded of the vast majority of the woodland. This would have been an industrial, not a pastoral view.

10.27

I’m now in Halifax, waiting for the London train after popping into the town’s Borough market to buy breakfast. It’s a lovely Victorian building which has this clock as its centrepiece.

Despite not being as busy as it once was it still has a delightful variety of stalls selling all manner of things.

14.15. I’m now in London after an easy trip down the East Coast with Grand Central. Sadly, it was on one of the class 180s they’ve recently acquired from GWR, not one of their newly refurbished sets which I had the pleasure of travelling in on Wednesday. Here’s how the new Standard Class seats look in 180104;

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Here’s looking through a refurbished Standard Class saloon.

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A table bay of four showing off the new seat trim and moquette. I rather like the way the exterior orange stripe has been replicated on the inside.

15:00

After taking a short break to organise a new commission on Monday (which involves another overnight in London or Brighton) i’m on the move again, passing through the perpetually busy Liverpool St station.

Xx

Phew! A busy day at Community rail in the city.

16 Wednesday May 2018

Posted by in ACoRP, Politics, Railways, Travel

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It’s been a long (and busy) day but it’s also been a fun one – although it’s not ending well! I was up at ‘sparrow fart’ this morning in order to make my way from our hotel in Canning Town to my first port of call – London Bridge station. I still can’t get over how much that place has changed in the past few years. It’s unrecognisable now compared to the cramped, claustrophobic station of old.

The community rail volunteers and staff gave out hundreds of leaflets and answered questions from the stream of visitors to their stall, which included an old friend, Network Rail’s Chris Denham (on Twitter as @KentishHack).

Fortified by coffee I spent the rest of the day visiting and taking pictures of events at St Pancras, Liverpool St, Paddington, Waterloo and Kings Cross. There were some brilliant stalls that were as entertaining as they were informative, so here’s a small selection of pictures from the day.

Network Rail’s Chris Denham came along and said hello (whilst picking up several leaflets) at London Bridge this morning.

Kent Community Rail Partnership had their stall on the SE Trains platforms at St Pancras station. Like many groups, their ‘goodie bags’ proved very popular.

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At Paddington you could join in and sing a sea-shanty, take a selfie or collect one of their fabulous seasalt goodie bags.

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Over at Liverpool St there was a huge amount of info available on Britain’s scenic railways, including the East Suffolk and Wherry lines.

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Waterloo had a large stall staffed by community rail groups right across South Western Railways routes. You could also enter a competition for a vineyards tour, or just come along and listen to the band – and boogie.

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Meanwhile, Kings Cross had fallen to the Roman invasion. There was chance to chat with these enactors who had some fascinating tales to tell about life in Roman Britain and Hadrian’s Wall.

 

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Romans go home! (with apologies to Monty Python’s ‘Life of Brian’…

 

Now I’m heading North on a Grand Central service to Halifax which has just arrived into Doncaster 53 minutes late due to a track circuit failure in the Welwyn Garden City area. This has been quite illuminating on the very day the Government’s announced that it’s taking the Virgin Trains East Coast franchise back into Government control – in a move that’s surprised many in the industry. Labour have tried to go on the attack over this, claiming that privatisation’s been a failure. But wait, my (privatised) train’s late because of an equipment failure by the (renationalised) infrastructure provider – Network Rail? So, renationalisation’s the land of milk and honey and cure for all the railway’s ills? Give over…

London bound…

15 Tuesday May 2018

Posted by in London, Photojournalism, Railways, Travel

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I’m on my way back to London for a couple of days as I’m covering tomorrow’s annual “Community rail in the city” event. ACoRP staff and community rail partnership workers and volunteers will have a variety of stalls on many of London’s main stations from 7am until 7pm. You can find details here.

It’s a glorious day for travelling. The sun’s shining and the East Coast Main Line’s behaving itself. As a consequence I expect to have a busy afternoon when I arrive – this weather’s a photographic Godsend! First stop will be Euston to get some shots of Hs2 work around the station, so watch out for some pictures shortly…

15:14

As promised, here’s the first pictures. This is one of the new blocks that have been built to rehome people having to move out of nearby homes to make way for Hs2. They’re quite impressive as they look to allow far more natural light in than the blocks they’re replacing. They also have private balconies

Right now, I’m having a late lunch in nearby Drummond St. Understandably, the restaurants here have been concerned that trade will suffer during Hs2 construction due to direct routes to the station being blocked. I’m optimistic that won’t happen and that the influx of hundreds of extra workers to the area may have the opposite effect. Either way they’ll continue to get my business. I wonder how many of those opposing Hs2 have ever done that? Here’s Ravi Shankar’s Tuesday special – a delicious veg Biriyani

Ok, it’s the end of the day – and the blog. It’s been lovely to catch up with an old friend – and old haunts. Now I’m staying in a part of  the world that’s still familiar, but only because I’ve been around long enough to see it change!

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Gammon attack!

15 Tuesday May 2018

Posted by in Brexit, Humour

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I have to admit to a certain wry amusement about the way Brexit supporters have suddenly got upset about a term that’s been used to describe them for some time now: Gammon.

It came about because of all those florid-faced, middle to late age men who infest certain programmes like ‘Question Time’. You know the ones, stabbing their fingers at everyone as they (in)articulate their support for Brexit whilst the veins on the side of their heads throb dangerously, as if Brexit (preferably the harder the better) doesn’t happen there and then they’ll have an embolism!

An irony lost upon them is that they’ve been calling anyone who opposes Brexit ‘remoaners’, ‘libtards’ ‘snowflakes’, ‘cucks’ or (far worse) traitors ever since 2016,

Despite the obvious hypocrisy, they’re now squealing that calling them gammon isn’t a humorous response, it’s actually racist. How a bunch of white folks calling other white folks by that name is racist escapes me, but then most Brexit supporters have never let logic sully their minds.

Needless to say ‘remoaners’ have responded with more humour. If you’re on Twitter, you might like to take a look at the #gammonsongs hashtag, here’s a couple of my favourites!

gammon 1.PNG

gammon 2

Of course, there will be those who argue that this is a coarsening of the political debate,  that we must be kind to these people and try to understand their point of view. I have to admit I’ve been trying to understand the Brexit fundamentalists for some time now, and all I can say is that I find it impossible to get inside the minds of bigoted, intolerant and paranoid people. As for coarsening politics, I can only say that view ignores our political history and whitewashes the past. Ever heard of the Peterloo massacre?

Down memory lane. No 6. Carlisle, June 1995

13 Sunday May 2018

Posted by in Memory Lane, Modern Railways, Railways, Uncategorized

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Whilst scanning a bunch of old slides these past few days I came across another one from 23 years ago which really sums up how much the railways have changed since. It shows the first of the new Class 325 EMUs built for Royal Mail traffic (325001) out on test at Carlisle. Alongside it is an HST working the 08:50 service from Glasgow Central to Penzance, the lead power car is 43068 which was one of 9 modified in 1988 when they were fitted with buffers and conventional couplings for use with ECML Class 91s in place of the Mk4 coaches & DVTs which weren’t ready in time for the testing programme. Many years later it became one of 6 power cars used by open access operator Grand Central before moving again in January to become part of the East Midland Trains fleet. Nowadays HSTs only visit Carlisle on special occasions.

04847. 325001. 001 on test. 43068 on 08.50 Edinburgh to Penzance. Carlisle. 15.6.1995

325001 has also had a mixed life. Post privatisation it was operated by EWS until 2003 when Royal Mail abandoned rail altogether. After a period in store the unit returned to use with GBRf from 2004 until 2010 when DB Schenker, the successor to EWS won the mail traffic back.

When I took this picture I’d no idea that what seemed to be a normal everyday scene would soon prove to be anything but…