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Paul Bigland

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Paul Bigland

Monthly Archives: November 2018

Rolling blog: Midlands meanderings

30 Friday Nov 2018

Posted by Paul Bigland in Birmingham, Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel

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Birmingham, Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel

09:29

Morning folks! I’ve had a later start than normal as it was a late night last night. It was a fabulous evening (which you’ll hear more about later), but right now I’m concentrating on catching up with some emails and admin over a coffee at the wonderful art deco Centenary Lounge at Moor St station before making the most of the sunny weather here in Birmingham.

Time to hit the rails, more soon…

13.56.

Phew! It’s been a busy few hours, the weather’s been pretty good here in Birmingham but I’ve finally stopped for a break and chance to download a few pictures. To start, here’s a couple from last night. The entertainment was excellent, but also a challenge to photograph. Come on, you didn’t think I was going to leave my camera at home, did you?

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Last night’s compere was an old friend, Richard Salkeld, who works in the Comms team for GWR, here he is in typical ‘selfie’ mode with Andrew Haines, the new Chief Executive of Network Rail.

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Whilst I’ve been bumbling around Birmingham I’ve been out updating shots for the Rail Delivery Group that include the new West Midlands train livery which is being carried by more and more of the fleet. Here’s a couple of examples.

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Of course, I couldn’t not pop in to see how work’s progressing on the site of the new HS2 station that’s being built at Birmingham Curzon St on the site of the old parcels depot. So, here’s an overview of the site as the old concrete base is being broken up.

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Right, that’s it for new. More later. Hopefully my journey home won’t be quite as complex as yesterday!

15:55.

Ho hum. I’m heading for Manchester on Cross-Country’s 15:57 from Birmingham – and it’s absolutely rammed! There’s 17 of us crammed into a vestibule on this 4-car train!

I’ve written and blogged about this plenty of time before, but in this day and age, 4-5 car trains between Birmingham-Manchester is just mad – and they’re diesels running all the way under the wires, which is doubly mad.

So, there’s not much chance of doing anything productive on this train. It’s like being back on the tube in London.

16:48.

We’ve just left Stoke and the crush has eased. There’s still no seats available, but I’ve managed to find a perch in the luggage rack!

18:07.

After arriving at Manchester and fighting my way through the Friday crowds in the city centre from Piccadilly to Victoria I’m now standing on Northern’s 17:55 to Leeds! Well, I’m actually jammed in a luggage rack at the end of the saloon…

As usual things calmed down a bit after Rochdale, where a lot of folk got off. It didn’t mean there were any spare seats, just that we could all breathe! This is how things look after calling at Littleborough, our last stop in Lancashire before crossing the Pennines.

19:18

Bugger! I had to change trains at Jensen Bridge. It’s a Victorian gem of a station, but the weather’s not up to much this side of the Pennines!

Now I’m having a drink in Williams Bar in Sowerby Bridge before heading home. Well, it IS Friday…

Rolling blog:Birmingham bound…

29 Thursday Nov 2018

Posted by Paul Bigland in Birmingham, Railstaff awards, Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel

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Birmingham, Railstaff awards, Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel

11:23

It’s almost time to brave the elements and head to Birmingham for tonight’s Railstaff awards. I’ve spent the morning pottering around and catching up with various bits, including scanning another 20 old rail slides from 1996 which have been added to the Tinsley depot open day gallery here. The weather is worse than predicted in the Pennines as the sunshine’s never really materialised but gales have. I doubt there’s many leaves left on the trees now, most have been blowing past the house in whirlwind pirouettes! Here’s how things look from our bedroom window right now.

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OK, time to walk down to Sowerby Bridge station and try my luck…

12:38.

My departure was delayed by the arrival of a torrential rainstorm the swept in up the valley you can see in the picture. The beauty of living where we do is that you get to see ’em coming so don’t get caught out!

Having dodged between showers I’m now on Northern’s 12:22 to Manchester Victoria which is running to time (unlike others). This is what a supposedly sunny day in the Calder Valley looks like! Talk about it’s grim up North…

Hopefully things will get better the further South I get.

13:46.

I’ve just arrived at Manchester Piccadilly after walking across from Victoria – and those white numbers don’t tell a happy story. They’re delayed trains.

There’s a Cross-country service to Bournemouth here that’s 25 down before starting its journey.

I was going to take the ‘scenic’ route to Birmingham via Crewe but as services are disrupted I’ve opted for a direct train. I’m now on the delayed Cross-country service to Paignton via Brum. We’re held awaiting a driver, with an expected departure of 14:25. Let’s see what happens…

14:47.

We left at on time at our new time and we’re now on our way to Brum. The trains very busy but the crew are doing a sterling job dealing with passengers who’ve been delayed by the weather. One of the problems with heavy winds is the sheer amount of stuff that becomes airborne and gets blown onto the tracks or into the overhead wires. Euston station’s Twitter account’s just posted a picture of a large chunk of sheet metal on the tracks near Leighton Buzzard. You certainly wouldn’t want that slicing through a train’s windscreen, hence the speed restrictions that are in place. I’m just waiting for the picture of the regulation kids trampoline as these always seem to blow away in the slightest breeze.

15:00.

It’s one of those days. My train failed at Macclesfield! One of the doors refused to close again despite the best efforts of the crew and other helpers, so we were told to detrain and catch the Bournemouth XC service that pulled in alongside us! Here’s some pictures of the fun!

Now I’m rammed in the 1st Class vestibule with 14 other people. Two middle-aged women immediately went into a long, outraged whine. One of them’s upset because she’s on her way to an awards ceremony. I felt like saying “so am I love”. Still first world problems eh?

15:58.

I could only stand the whining of entitled people as far as Stoke where I abandoned my train in order to catch the one behind. It gave me less than 30 minutes to wait and the chance to explore something new. The former Virgin 1st Class lounge at Stoke has been taken over by the Titanic brewery! The new pub has only been open 6 weeks and makes a welcome addition to the stock of station bars. Take a look.

Whilst I was there I ended up emailing pictures to a magazine and sorting out a short-notice commission on Monday (don’t you just love Government Ministers diaries?)

I’m now on the 15:45 to Bristol Temple Meads which gets me into Birmigham in time to check into my hotel and head to the Railstaff awards at the NEC. At least there’s plenty of space on this one

Next stop, Birmingham..

17:21.

Having dumped my bag at the hotel, looked for accommodation in Derby for Sunday night and had a little wander through the Xmas sights in central Birmingham, it’s off to the NEC I go!

Next stop, the Railstaff awards…

18:56.

Looks like a fun night!

Wednesday reflections

28 Wednesday Nov 2018

Posted by Paul Bigland in British Railways, Down memory lane

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British Railways (BR), Memory Lane

Today’s the last in the week where I’m based at home. It’s been a fruitful few days despite the awful weather. Staying indoors has given me time to write and to scan another hundred-odd slides from the 1990s, which has been in interesting look back in time. The pictures I’m scanning at the moment are from an open day at the old Tinsley locomotive depot in Sheffield in 1996. In those day the depot and adjacent marshalling yard were a shadow of their former selves. The depot was used by one of the BR freight sectors (Railfreight Distribution) to service their ageing Class 47 locomotives. Much of the place was taken up with stored or withdrawn examples awaiting scrapping. When RfD was bought by Wisconsin in 1995 they decided the place was surplus to requirements so the depot finally closed its doors in 1998.

Here’s a few shots from the day. You can find a dedicated gallery to the event on my Zenfolio website here. Just be aware that I’ve a lot more pictures to add to it next week!

05659. 47325. Tinsley depot open day. Sheffield. 27.4.1996crop

Class 47 No 47325 unofficially named “Red Rum” stored at Tinsley. The loco had been out of service for some years but was only officially withdrawn the previous month. It was eventually cut up a few miles down the road at CR Booths, Rotherham in May 1998.  

05638. 47291. Tinsley depot open day. Sheffield. 27.4.1996crop

47291 inside the depot, displaying the damage to the No 1 end cab that it suffered in a head-on collision with another class 47 (47200) back in November 1995. It never returned to service and languished until June 2004 when it was cut up by CF Booth, Rotherham. Collision damage was a far more common occurrence in those days, so this wasn’t an unusual sight! 

05642. 47265. Tinsley depot open day. Sheffield. 27.4.1996crop

47285 under repair inside the depot. Unlike the previous examples this loco had a longer career. It worked for Railfreight Distribution then was bought by EWS, whom it continued to work for (on and off) until 2002 when it was bought by Fragonset in November 2002. In January 2005, Fragonset and Merlin merged to form FM Rail and 47285 was cut up the month after by R Hull Rotherham. 

05647. 47525. Tinsley depot open day. Sheffield. 27.4.1996crop

47525 stands under the tower at Tinsley. This loco had a long and chequered career, It was transferred from RfD to Freightliner in January 1998. It worked for them for several years before being withdrawn and spending a long time in store before it was finally scrapped by EMR, Kingsbury in August 2010. 

My thanks to the very useful website http://www.class47.co.uk/ for the historical information on the individual locomotives.

Tomorrow I’m back on the rails heading for the NEC in Birmingham as I’m a guest at the annual Railstaff awards. I’ve not been for a couple of years, the last time I was there was to present a prize. This time I’m completely off-duty. As I’ll be staying in Birmingham tomorrow night I’ll be exploring the railways somewhere, depending on the weather – although it’s looking good for the Midlands these next couple of days, so I’ll almost certainly have a look at the Hs2 work in the city whilst I’m there. Watch out for the rolling blogs appearing.

 

Down memory lane; When Eurostar’s visited Clapham Junction.

27 Tuesday Nov 2018

Posted by Paul Bigland in Down memory lane, Eurostar, London, Railways

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Down memory lane, Eurostar, London, Railways, technology

It’s a miserable afternoon here in the Pennines, for most of the day it’s been impossible to see across the valley due to the mist and murk, so I’ve been busy writing and catching up scanning more old rail pictures, this time from Sunday 21st April 1996, which was a bright sunny day in London. Engineering work Between Latchmere Junction and Kensington Olympia had closed the line, which meant that Eurostar trains running from their Depot at North Pole into Waterloo International had to be diverted via Kew East Junction and Clapham Junction. This involved hauling them with pairs of Class 37 diesel engines and translator vehicles as far as Clapham Junction, where the Eurostars could pick up the 3rd rail and proceed under their own power.

This was such an unusual sight that I spent a few hours at Clapham recording the process. I’m glad that I did as now – 22 years later – it’s not something you’ll ever see again. You can find the bulk of the pictures in the Eurostar gallery on my Zenfolio website, but I wanted to flesh out the details in a blog.

05540. 3223 being dragged ECS via Kew from North Pole. 37074. 37185. Clapham Jn. 21.4.1996crop

Two hired-in Class 37s, 37074 in Mainline Livery and 37185 “Lea and Perrins” in Civil Engineers ‘Dutch’ livery  stand in platform 4 at Clapham Junction, attached to Eurostar set 3223/3224 by translator cars that have couplings and air hoses that are compatible to both. The 37s have hauled the set from North Pole depot but will leave it here to run into the carriage sidings, ready to return to North Pole with another Eurostar. The company had its own fleet of Class 37s (37601-612) which had been rebuilt to haul the cancelled ‘Nightstar’ trains and also provide assistance like this. I’ve no idea why these two were hired-in,  but they made a colourful sight!

05562. 3216 stabled in the yard. Clapham Jn. 21.4.1996crop

Eurostar set 3216/3215 stabled in the carriage sidings at Clapham Junction. It certainly made a change from the usual slam-door stock.

05569. 3223. Clapham Jn. 21.4.1996crop

Staff uncouple the Class 37s from 3223. Note the protective shield placed over the live 3rd rail to allow the crew to get between the two vehicles safely.

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The 37s have moved off, the nose doors are shut, and 3223 prepares to head off under its own power to Waterloo International.

05577. 3224. ECS to Waterloo. Clapham Jn. 21.4.1996crop

Away we go! with 3223 leading and 3224 trailing, the set heads for Waterloo International.

05583. 37185. 37074. Clapham Jn. 21.4.1996crop

Job done, 37185 and 37074 move into the carriage sidings to wait their next turn, with barrier vehicles at either end. 10 of these were converted from old parcels vans by removing the bodies and adding weights and  compatible couplings.

05567. 37604. 37605. stabled in the yard. Clapham Jn. 21.4.1996crop

Eurostar 37s 37604 and 608, along with 37074 and 37185, plus 37605 on its own, stabled in Clapham Yard

 

 

 

 

Siemens opens a rail bogie service centre in Lincoln

26 Monday Nov 2018

Posted by Paul Bigland in Engineering, Eurostar, Railways, Siemens

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Engineering, Eurostar, Lincoln, Railways, Siemens

On Friday 23rd I attended the official opening of Siemens new rail bogie service centre which has been built at their existing gas turbine manufacturing facility  in Lincoln. The facility allows Siemens to carry out bogie overhauls ‘in house’.

A disused building dating from 1874 has been converted for the purpose at a cost of £8 million. Work involved relaying and strengthening 5000 square metres of floor space before installing cranes and other equipment needed to overhaul the bogies. 32 people are currently employed at the facility which began production in September, overhauling spare bogies for the Eurostar e320 trains built by the company. Bogies from the Desiro City fleet of Class 700/707/717 trains will also be overhauled on the site, which has room to be expanded if demand requires it.

Here’s a selection of pictures from my visit.

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A bogie off a Eurostar e320 that’s just been unloaded onto the bogie assessment area. Here a condition assessment is undertaken before it’s moved into the cleaning booth behind it. In the booth the bogie is cleaned using a ‘dry ice’ blasting technique using a solid form of carbon dioxide which is accelerated in a pressurised air stream. This allows the bogie to be cleaned without using toxic chemicals or water, thus cutting down on pollution.

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After cleaning, the bogies are placed on these adjustable jacks to be stripped.

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A view of one side of the shed, the bogie stripping area is on the right of the picture. On the left is the UAT station, the axle bearing press station and the wheelset rebuild station.

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The axle blasting area is where the wheelsets are mechanically cleaned to remove any painted areas. The Finnblast machine is a fully automated system that works by blasting an abrasive air mixture through the nozzle in the blasting chamber with the compressed air acting as the driving force. The speed of the abrasive when charging from the nozzle is about 200 metres per second.

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The wheelset disassembly area. Here the axlebox housings and bearings will be removed using the hydraulic bearing puller in the background.

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No caption needed!

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The axle bearing press station, where the bearings are fitted back onto the axle using the hydraulic press that you can see in the background.

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Inside the axlebox housing, showing the sensor that monitors the temperature of the bearing.

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The bogie press. This is where the rebuilt bogie is subjected to pressing. This reflects the weight characteristic of the particular car a pair of bogies will run beneath and it’s a fully automated process. Using measurements taken in specific locations during the bogie overhaul process it will press against the agreed criteria. The results are automatically generated from the machine. These results must fall within the agreed tolerance range for the bogie to pass.

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All set up and ready to go. Overhauled Eurostar e320 bogies await return.

A FAVOUR.
I have a small favour to ask. If you enjoy visiting this blog, please click on one (or two!) of the adverts that are displayed. The income from them helps me to cover some of the cost of running this blog. Thank you!

 

 

The Brexitshambles reached new lows.

25 Sunday Nov 2018

Posted by Paul Bigland in Brexit, Politics

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I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. The media is full of the news that a deal has been struck between the EU and the UK over Brexit. A ‘deal’ that has exposed Brexit fundamentalists arrogance and also utter uselessness. The much touted ‘rebellion’ by  Jacob Rees Mogg’s ERG group descended into low farce when it became plain that (despite all their posturing and false claims), they got nowhere near the 48 letters letters they needed to trigger a leadership contest. The gang of five who were claiming they’d get together to draw up a ‘better’ deal also fled the field when they were met with little enthusiasm but lots of derision.

Now the EU has made it plain, This is the best deal on offer. There’s no more negotiation. This is it. Despite all the bluster and bullshit we’ve heard from Leavers that “they need us more than we need them” and that EU unity would collapse, the EU has stood firm and united.

Leave lies have unravelled, just as they always were going to do. Hence the ridiculous spectacle of Boris Johnson now admitting that we never lost control of our ability to make our own laws.

https://www.theneweuropean.co.uk//top-stories/boris-johnson-on-brexit-and-making-our-own-laws-on-bbc-news-1-5778244

Adding insult to injury, the Prime Minister has written a letter to the nation in which she persistently and blatantly lies. She lies about their being a Brexit dividend. That “It will be a deal that is in our national interest – one that works for our whole country and all of our people, whether you voted ‘Leave’ or ‘Remain’ – which is utter bollocks because it’s certainly not in my interests, that that of millions of others! She continues the fantasies by alluding to the infamous £350m for the NHS lie on the side of the Leave bus by saying  “Instead, we will be able to spend British taxpayers’ money on our own priorities, like the extra £394 million per week that we are investing in our long-term plan for the NHS” – a preposterous claim when her own Government research has shown that Brexit (in whatever form) will damage the country’s tax take. There will be less money for everything, not more.

Here’s a full analysis of the lies and half-truth’s in May’s letter.

I’ve long said that their slogan “take back control” would go down in political history as one of the hollowest and most stupid. Now that’s coming to pass as reality is slowly dawning on many Leavers. We’ve not taken back control, we’ve given it away. English arrogance and stupidity has been exposed for all the world to see, and the humiliation isn’t over yet. This is a draft agreement. The chances of it getting it past Parliament are looking pretty slim. The world’s sitting back with its feet up and dug out the popcorn to watch the next act in the political circus. Watching the British making utter fools of themselves must be quite a spectacle if you’re not one of the people caught up in the mess.

 

 

Rolling blog: Lincolnshire loafings…

23 Friday Nov 2018

Posted by Paul Bigland in Railways, Rolling blogs, Siemens, Travel

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Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel

08:31

Morning folks! Welcome to another dull day in Lincolnshire. Well, weather-wise anyway! I’m just about to head into town before the press trip to have a look at Siemens new £8m railway bogie overhaul facility. After which I’ll be wandering around Lincs for a few hours as I gradually make my way home. So, expect a variety of pictures and comments throughout the day…

09:24.

What a grey day.

Thank God I’m working indoors today!

14:27

Well that was an interesting few hours. Siemens showed us around their factory at Lincoln, part of which was vacant space but that had a long history. The company’s converted 5000m2 space in an 1874 building, spending around £8 million to build their new Bogie Service Centre. I’ll blog about the centre separately, so here’s a taster.

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The bogie of a Eurostar Velaro e320 that’s just arrived. After doing 1.5 million km the bogies are sent for overhaul. This one’s about to go through the cleaning process which involves the use of dry ice. This is more environmentally friendly than the traditional method of water jet washing.

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One of the two halls in the 1874 building that’s been brought back into use.

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A newly overhauled Velaro e320 bogie undergoing a final inspection before being sent back to Eurostar

15:57

I’ve left Lincoln and I’m currently on a train towards Sheffield. By co-incidence I caught it with a journalistic colleague from Today’s Railways UK who was heading to Saxilby. He’d also been at the Siemens event. So, happy 39th Birthday Robert Pritchard!

17:27

I’m on the move again after stopping off to do a bit of research for future articles (Honest Guv!) by visiting the Mallard pub on Worksop station. Is this the only station pub that has an annual conned competition? It’s a cosy one room bar that has a wide range of drinks and four hand pumped ales.

I caught another Northern service from Worksop to Sheffield which was pretty busy. A lot of people were heading for the fleshpots of Sheffield (did you really just write that?: Ed) to enjoy the end of the working week. Hence this detritus left behind. Mind you, I’m not sure what the excuse for a similar shot was yesterday. Maybe it’s a Worksop thing?

So, if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em. Besides, it would be rude not to pay homage to one of the best station pubs in the UK: the Sheffield Tap.

18:25.

Waiting for my train which is delayed by a delayed TPE service. The ripples spread…

18:42.

Well, that was a saga! My Cross-country service kept slipping as the old days of four tracks approaching Sheffield are long gone. Now services are squeezed through two, so it was caught in the queue just trying to get into the station. When it arrived it turned out to be 2 x 4 cars, leading to a mad scramble as passengers tried to find out which set they had reservations in (the PIS screens on the platforms don’t tell you the train formation), which added to the stress and delays. Cue some unhappy passengers because of it. Still, there should be some indicator on the outside of the coach to tell you which it is, no? No. It’s blank. So are the PIS screens in the saloon. You have no idea! Cue doubly pissed-off passengers! Meanwhile, in the vestibules, there’s a lot of students sitting around on bags of washing they’re taking home to mum…

19:12

We’ve left Wakefield Kirkgate 20 mins late, so that’s my connection down the drain…

19:43.

My XC service lateness was of little consequence as the train I *should* have connected with was running late – and then cancelled! I’m now on another delayed service, the 19:36 which is running 10 mins late.

20:37.

I’m finally back in Halifax, so I’m going to draw this blog to a close. It’s been a fascinating and frustrating day, now I’ve got a few days to put my thoughts into words, both in a blog and for RAIL magazine. Enjoy your weekend.

Rolling blog: Lincoln bound…

22 Thursday Nov 2018

Posted by Paul Bigland in Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel

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Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel

09:19

Yet another gloomy start to the day in the Calder Valley, but now it’s time to begin my travels to Lincoln whilst stopping off to have a look at a few places on the way. The weather’s not exactly ideal for photography but I’m sure I’ll have some interesting shots to show you by tonight. Follow this blog and see what I get up to…

10.23.

Not the best of starts. After walking down to Sowerby Bridge station I found the 10:04 to Leeds is delayed by points failure and not expected to arrive until 10:42! As usual, that keeps slipping. It’s now due at 10:50.

on the plus side, the platform extensions (needed for the new trains) have been completed.

Whilst I’m killing time I’m grateful to the local station friends group for putting up their interesting information boards on local celebrities and historical events. For example – did you know that a V1 flying bomb landed around here during world war 2?

10:58.

I’m finally on my way and in the warm on the 10:54 (running late in place of the 10:04 which is now 58 mins late). This is a 3-car Class 158 so there’s spare seats.

12:18

I hung around in the gloom and drizzle at Leeds long enough to get shots of one of the new Hitachi ‘Azuma’ trains for LNER. There’s a daily departure at 11:45 apparently. Here it is passing some older traction.

DG313189. 322483. 800109. 158759. Leeds. 22.11.18crop

DG313193. 800109. Leeds. 22.11.18crop

Right now I’m heading for Sheffield on a Cross-country Voyager. As usual, it’s busy, but then these 4-car trains are far too small for the franchise now as passenger numbers have grown so much since they were introduced.

13:18.

Well, it’s good to see that the weather’s ‘improved’ here in Sheffield!

13:40.

On my travels again aboard another of Northern Rail’s Class 158s, which is a step above the Pacer that I was expecting to see turn up.

I’ve bagged a table seat. It looks like the last occupants were in a party mood and I’m hazarding a guess that they were women…

I’m heading for Worksop via Kiveton. This line was once synonymous with coal mining. It served a large number of pits and Worksop was a nexus for coal trains thanks to its stabling sidings and wagon repair shops. Like many lines that relied on “king coal” it’s a shadow of its former self, the extensive sidings at Woodhouse Jn are all gone and most of the large station building is boarded up and mostly disused. Only a (refurbished) ticket office remains.

To be fair to Northern (and its predecessor), there’s obvious signs of investment in stations like Kiveton Bridge, which had new shelters, CCTV and information systems. What’s different is the economic decline in an area reliant on mining.

Kiveton Park’s the same, although the station building’s now in private hands. An old Great Central Railway signalbox still guards the level crossing . Here’s a picture I took of it back in 2011.

DG81210. Kiveton Park signalbox. 14.5.11.crop

 

At Shireoaks the main station building’s been demolished although the disused wooden signalbox survives. It’s paint slowly peeling like a snake shedding its skin.

15:12.

Well, that was both interesting, and depressing. I stopped off to explore Worksop for an hour between trains. I’ve not really spent any time here since the early 1990s. In those days the rail yards to the West of the station were a hive of activity. Now? They we’re full of stored coal wagons, but they’re gradually being cut up for scrap, leaving acres of empty, weed-strewn sidings. On the bright side, the substantial station buildings – although mostly empty – house a pub one one platform and a cafe on the other. A lot of money’s been spent on reglazing and repainting the platform canopies as well as the footbridge and former East signalbox, presumably with assistance from the excellent Railway Heritage Trust.

Then I walked into town. Oh dear…

Don’t get me wrong, there are some lovely old buildings here, but thriving? No. It has the same problems as many UK town’s, an oversupply of commercial premises and pubs in a fast changing world, so many of them are closed or looking tatty. It’s not what I’d describe as an economic hothouse.

What I cannot understand is how some folk think Brexit will put all this to rights. How leaving the EU, single market and customs union will be an economic magic wand that will restore heavy industry and mining. These have been in decline for donkeys years. The UK’s economy (70%) is built on the service sector now. A sector that will be badly hit by Brexit. It’s bonkers and I fear people are going to learn some very hard economic lessons in 2019. Meanwhile, here’s one of the attractive old buildings that has successfully found a new use. The former Council Offices.

Now I’m heading on across the Lincolnshire flatlands in failing light, on another Northern 158 all the way through to Lincoln. The weather’s getting grimmer as persistant drizzle’s set in. Hopefully, I can get a few night shots to salvage the day…

17:26.

I’ve booked into my hotel in Lincoln and dumped my spare bags and kit which as certainly put a spring in my step! Now I’m off wandering a dank, dark Lincoln, looking for a few photographic opportunities. Watch this space…

18:56

Whilst exploring Lincoln (waiting for the bloody drizzle to stop) I came across this shop. Looking at it’s window display I can’t imagine queues form at the door waiting for them to open. Still, if you’re in desperate need of an old Vulcan bomber fuel gauge…

22:07

I’m now relaxing back at the hotel and this is the end of the blog. The drizzle defeated me as there was a slight breeze, which meant it kept blowing into the camera lens – which was a shame as I love wet nights. Anyways, here’s a couple of shots from this evening.

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Goodnight!

 

Wednesday wondering

21 Wednesday Nov 2018

Posted by Paul Bigland in Calder Valley, Musings, West Yorkshire

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Calder Valley, Musings, West Yorkshire

Today we’ve suffered another dull and dismal day in the Pennines. The Calder valley’s been coated in cloud with just a rare glimpse of sunshine to tease us. I’m so glad that I got out to capture the autumn colours last week as the weather’s never been the same since and now most have the leaves have fallen.

I’ve not minded too much as my day’s been spent working at home in the warm with the heating on and the cat for company. This past few days I’ve been trying to make a dent in the 1000s of slides I need to scan, which has been an interesting trip down memory lane (see this blog). Now I’ve nipped out for a walk and a pint before resuming the scanning. Here’s the view across the valley as I walked up to the Big 6.

Normal service will be resumed tomorrow as I’ll be making my way to Lincoln as I’ve a press event on Friday morning. Siemens are showing off their new railway bogie overhaul facility, so expect a blog over the weekend.

In the meantime, here’s a couple of the pictures I’ve been scanning. They tell two stories. One’s the changing face of the railways, the other is the changes in London.

05497. 47283. 47187. Wandsworth Rd. 15.3.1996crop

On the 15th March 1996 two old BR built Class 47 diesels cover South London in diesel exhaust as they power through Wandsworth Rd station. The locomotives were heading for the Channel Tunnel freight yard at Dollands Moor. Operated by a BR break off company called Railfreight Distribution they were used to move freight trains to/from the channel tunnel. They operated in pairs just in case one broke down so they’d be less likely to block the busy commuter routes across the home counties. The skyline behind them has changed completely. The old gasometer was demolished several years ago and the whole area as far as Battersea power station is being covered in high-rise housing. I really should go back to get a comparison shot soon.

05491. 33025. 3011. Wandsworth Rd. 15.3.1996crop

The same day a Eurostar service from Waterloo international passes Wandsworth Rd on its way to the Channel tunnel. These trains operated over the ‘classic’ network until High Speed 1 was built into a revamped St Pancras station in 2007, 12 years later. It’s passing an old BR Class 33 diesel locomotive. These were built especially for the old Southern region of British Railways and were a familiar sight in the area from 1960 until the last ones were withdrawn a few years after this picture was taken.

Right, we’ve both popped up to the Moorcock Inn for a midweek treat. Can you guess which two dishes we’ve chosen?

21:52.

We’re back at home. Dawn’s relaxing in front of the TV and I’m finishing off scanning the next batch of slides as I won’t have chance these next few days. The temperatures really starting to drop, so the central heating’s been cranked up a bit.

Down memory lane (1995).

18 Sunday Nov 2018

Posted by Paul Bigland in Down memory lane, History, Photography, Railways

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Down memory lane, History, Photography, Railways

My wife had a night out in Leeds with friends last night, leaving me to my own devices, which gave me chance to start scanning some of the thousands of old rail and travel slides I have sitting around in albums. Most of them have never made it onto my website, so no-one’s seen them since I took them. Even I’ve forgotten what’s in them!

The album I’ve started working my way through now consists of old railway images starting in summer 1995 and going through to summer 1996. I wasn’t as prolific a photographer in those days. I was living in London, working as a Housing Officer and Lynn (my first wife) and I were saving up to buy a flat in Crouch End before going off travelling for 18 months. Most of my pictures were taken around London at weekends when I could nip out for a day, or on days off when I could get further afield

Now, 23 years on, it’s fascinating to look back on the pictures and see how much has changed on the railways.  These were the early days of rail privatisation. Railtrack had taken over from British Rail, the ownership of passenger rolling stock had been transferred to the three ROSCOs (rolling stock leasing companies) but most services were still run by shadow franchises as it would take until 1997 for everything to be privatised. No-one really knew how things would pan out in the end.

Here’s just a few pictures from the series I’m scanning. You can find the full series  starting with this picture.

05323. 60072. Didcot. 21.8.1995 crop

Most Class 60s like this one were only 2-3 years old back in 1995 but they’d already developed a reputation for unreliability. Here’s 60072 ‘Cairn Toul’ passing through Didcot with a train of BOC tankers on the 21st August 1995. Now Didcot’s a mass of overhead wires as the line’s been electrified and most of the Class 60s have been in store for years, including this example.

05336. 91016. Kings Cross. 14.9.95crop

Then (as now) most East Coast Intercity services were in the hands of the Class 91s, which has been introduced between 1988-91. Ironically, one (91019 as was) has just been repainted in the livery you see here as the 91s are to be replaced by Hitachi built ‘Azuma’ trains from next year. Here’s 91016 at Kings Cross on the 14th September 1995.

05340. 86251. Euston. 16.9.95crop

A day later, just down the road at Euston, loco-hauled still ruled West Coast services which were in the hands of the 86s, 87s and Class 90s. Here’s 86251 ‘The Birmingham Post’ stabled in the loco holding sidings.

05373. 47843. 11.25 Birmingham International - Manchester Piccadilly. 18.11.95crop

Cross-country service were still in the hands of unreliable Class 47s hauling rakes of Mark 2 coaches. Here’s 47843 at Birmingham International with the 11.25 to Manchester Piccadilly on the 18th November 1995.

05391. 310102. Wolverhampton. 18.11.95CROP

Also on the 18th November, 310102 arrives at Wolverhampton on a local service from Stafford. These 75mph slam door units were originally built for regional services out of Euston in 1965-67. 102 (originally 310055) was one of 11 renumbered as they were transferred to the ‘Provincial sector’ to operate service around Birmingham. 

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