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Monthly Archives: May 2019

Rolling blog: Relax…

31 Friday May 2019

Posted by in Manchester, Never a dull life, Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel

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14:24.

I had planned to work for a Client in London today but the capital’s weather wasn’t ideal so we postponed the job. That gave me the luxury of an extra hour in bed this morning! It also allowed me to make a start at editing the pictures I’ve been taking on my Scottish trip and getting some of them on my Zenfolio website.This afternoon’s rather different. I nipped into Halifax to sort out some chores before catching to train to Manchester for a few hours in order to meet up with a friend who’s coming over from Ireland for his stag weekend. Neil and a group of his friends have got the ferry to Holyhead then the train to Manchester on a ‘rail/sail’ deal which are excellent value tickets. I’ll add a link later.The train I’m on is one of the new Leeds to Chester services which is full of groups of women laden with a panoply of alcoholic liquids. You can tell it’s a Friday! I can’t work out if they’re heading for Manchester or Chester. No doubt all will be revealed soon…- and it was! The women were heading for Manchester. In fact, the city’s absolutely awash with women, young and more ‘matronly’. At first I couldn’t work out why until I started to see a common theme, ‘girl power’ T-shirts in abundance. Then the penny dropped. The reformed ‘Spice Girls’ are playing in Manchester this weekend!

18:51.

Having spent a few hours with the ‘stags’ (Irish railways must be particularly understaffed this weekend) I’m heading home for the evening. I have to say that I was really impressed by the atmosphere in Manchester this evening. The city’s teeming with people and the vibe is lovely. I can’t help thinking that’s because of the gender balance. Women outnumber men and the ambience is all the better for it. Apparently Olly Mus (who he? Ed) is also playing which has added to the attraction. Give me this over the testosterone fuelled football crowds and daft rivalries any day…

Such events can only be good for Manchester and the city’s reputation and economy. Hotel rooms are at a premium and the pubs, bars and restaurants are packed. It’s good for the railways too as many of these visitors have arrived by train. Victoria never used to look like this. A few years ago it was a place you definitely didn’t linger at – unless you’d missed your train!

A poignant moment was the display at Manchester Victoria which commemorates the very recent 2nd anniversary of an atrocity at a concert at the Arena above the station.

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Rolling blog: wet, wet, wet!

30 Thursday May 2019

Posted by in Railways, Rolling blogs, Scotland, Scotrail

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07:10.

It’s a damp start here in Glasgow this morning. I’m sitting in my hotel room with a coffee, watching the TV weather forecast which really isn’t working in my favour today. If they’re right, it’s going to be raining all day here in this neck of the woods, which is going to cramp my photographic style as it’s not quite the impression of Scotland my client wants! Still, there are some things that I can do, but it might be an early finish to head home today. We shall see. My plans are fluid, so let’s see what happens.

07:44.

I didn’t go for the full Scottish breakfast this morning, I don’t think my arteries would take it two days in a row, although I did enjoy the haggis and scrambled eggs served by a woman who bore a striking resemblance (in face and voice) to ‘Mrs Brown’ from ‘Mrs Brown’s boys’. Now it’s time to head off and se what the day brings.

08:55.

It’s a busy time at Glasgow Central, with trains old and new filling every platform as they bring rush hour commuters into the heart of the city.

DG324218CROP

Here’s a real mixture of trains. The old BR built Class 318s and Class 314s (many of which have already been withdrawn) and the brand new Hitachi Class 385s which have started working into Central following the timetable change.

DG324231CROP

14:17.

It’s been a busy day – hence the lack of updates, but now I’m sat on LNER’s 14:00 Edinburgh – Kings Cross, heading back across the border as the rain really did settle in on the Scottish capital. When I first left Glasgow things were looking up. I caught one of the new Hitachi trains up to Stirling, where the weather was cloudy but dry. Stirling’s a station that’s changed hugely in the past couple of years. Most of the old semaphore signals have disappeared and replaced by modern LED ‘colour light’ signals. The whole station is now ‘under the wires’ as electrification’s spread upwards from Edinburgh and Glasgow to Dunblane and Alloa as part of the ‘EGIP’ programme. A ‘Caledonian Sleeper’ lounge has been added too, taking over formerly empty buildings on platform 2. The rebuilding is still ongoing as the old lattice footbridge across platforms 8-9 had to be removed so that the piers it sat on could be lengthened and the bridge raised to allow the wires to pass safely underneath. It’s been dropped back into place now but work continues to make it fit for the future by adding glass sides and accessible to all by adding a new lift tower.

The arrival of the wires has brought the new Class 385 EMU’s to the line as well as Scotrail HST’s working in four car formations, Sadly, all the ones I saw were un-refurbished sets in a variety of versions of First group, GWR and Scotrail liveries.

Having got the shots I needed I caught another Class 385 through to Edinburgh, another station that’s undergone major changes. I swear that the place grows another platform every time I visit! Since the last time I was here the new (full length) East facing bays numbered 5 and 6 have opened. These allow LNER to park a full length Mk4 set without clogging up any of the six through platforms. A lot of clutter’s also been removed from the area around platform 5, making that part of the station feel remarkably spacious, as you can see from this picture.

DG324352low

16:09.

After a brief but photograpically unproductive stop in Newcastle I’m heading South again on the LNER service from Edinburgh that was following my earlier one. The wet and miserable weather’s finally abated. We’ve enjoyed some rays of sunshine and broken blue skies now that the low heavy cloud’s finally in disarray.

17:24.

I’m now on my way from York towards Leeds after changing trains and enjoying another brief (and more fruitful) photographic stop. The weather’s improved too, the winds dropped and the mercury’s really climbed up the thermometer. It’s positively balmy compared to Edinburgh. I’m content as I’ve managed to secure a table bay on a TPE service as far as Leeds, which is akin to winning the lottery!

19:00.

It’s the final countdown now. I’m on a Leeds – Chester train that’s just pulling into Bradford Interchange, which is rather convenient as I had a picture request for this new service earlier today!

Rolling blog: North of the border…

29 Wednesday May 2019

Posted by in I love my job, Railways, Rolling blogs, Scotland, Scotrail, Travel

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06:45.It’s a beautiful morning here in Glasgow, a real contrast to the stormy weather I saw yesterday, although I’m not sure how long it will last. I’m about to head down for a quick breakfast before heading to Glasgow Queen St and my first train of the day. I’ll be catching the 08:00 to meet up with Pip Dunn in Falkirk. We’ll be heading to Edinburgh where we’ll be starting our Scottish train tests. I’ll update this blog throughout the day as we go…I rarely eat anything like this, so a full Scottish breakfast at my hotel is a treat. I justify it on the grounds that I’ll soon burn it off with the amount of walking I’ll be doing today!

07:59.Having walked to Charing Cross and caught a train to Queen St I had time to look around and grab a few pictures before catching the train I’m on now (the 08:00 to Edinburgh). Times have certainly changed here. Not only is the station undergoing another huge rebuild, the fleets using it have changed too.

I still can’t get used to seeing 4-car High Speed Trains! This is one of the unrefurbished sets. The power cars carry Scotrail branding but the coaches are still in the old First group ‘dynamic lines’ livery. Another noticeable difference at Queen St is how many services are operated by the Hitachi built Class 385s, including the recently electrified line to Alloa

09:33.

Having met up with Pip, we’re now on one of Scotrail’s refurbished HST sets. The 09:28 Edinburgh to Aberdeen. You’ll be able to read the full train tests in future editions of RAIL magazine. Here’s a couple of pictures for now.

10:05.

I’ve been kept busy photographing all the changes and features of the train whilst Pip’s been busy with his tape measure and notepad. Now I can relax for a bit and enjoy watching the beautiful Fife countryside flash past the window for a while.

11:01.

We only went as far North as Dundee, the town on the Tay that’s transforming itself. The waterfront around the station (and the station itself) are unrecognisable from just a few years ago. It also gives fantastic views of the famous Tay Bridge.

From here we picked up an unrefurbished HST to carry us to Stirling, another station that’s been transformed by electrifying the lines through the city to Dunblane and Alloa. Unfortunately we left the sunshine behind in Dundee. Perthshire’s covered in thick cloud and showers.

13:28.

We’ve been busy! After revamping from our HST in a soggy Sterling we caught up with another of our targets in the form of Hitachi’s new Class 385 electric trains. A quick trip to Dunblane and a return to Glasgow Queen St provided us with all the pictures, data and measurements we needed. We then walked through the rain to Glasgow Central, hoping to catch a Siemens built Class 380 over to Edinburgh. Disappointed, we found out that it was another Hitachi set, so we quickly changed plans and leapt on a 380 working the branch to Gourock, which us where we’re heading for now!

22:55

Sorry for the gaps in the blog but it’s been a very hectic day. After abandoning this train at Port Glasgow we made our way back to Glasgow, then crossed between Central and Queen St to head back out to Edinburgh for a final burst of pictures and note-taking. Pip headed off to prepare for another job whilst I had time to catch up with an old friend an colleague from RAIL days – Phil Haigh. After which I shuttled back to Glasgow to get a few more pictures, then bumped into these Gentlemen outside Central station. With all the political shit that’s going on right now and the disturbing rise in racism and intolerance it was an absolute pleasure to encounter these three guys from the local Guru Nanak Sikh temple who were out in the rain, distributing food to homeless people.

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OK, I’m off to bed. It’s going to be another long day tomorrow and a busy few days after that. G’night!

The Labour party’s lost its marbles (with apologies to Alistair Campbell).

28 Tuesday May 2019

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After a series of shit election results which have culminated in the severe arse-spanking Labour have been given in the EU elections held last week it’s clear that the cult of Corbyn and all those who sail in her have learned nothing.

In the run up to the election anyone who was following social media or talking to disaffected Labour members could see that the Corbynista’s fence sitting over Brexit was going to seriously hurt the party. Everyone was tired of the party trying to face both ways whilst maintaining the complete fantasy of it’s ‘jobs first Brexit’ position. A unicorn’s a unicorn. It doesn’t exist. It doesn’t matter what colour you paint it or flag you wrap it in.

Labour members, voters and party stalwarts were reaching the end of their tether as it was becoming painfully obvious that ‘Magic Grandad’ Corbyn and his crew were not going to be honest with the electorate over Brexit. So, they were punished at the polls, even by Labour party members, who were sick of being ignored.

One of those was Alistair Campbell, Tony Blair’s former Press Secretary, who admitted (after the polls had closed) that for the first time he’d voted for a party other than Labour.

Retribution was swift and today he received an email telling him he’d been expelled from the party. Talk about a classic own goal!

The outrage on social media was a joy to behold as many people pointed out the utter hypocrisy of this from a party that’s dragged its feet over expelling known anti-Semites, abusers of women and MP’s who’ve joined with the hard-line Brexiters to campaign against Labour values. Yes, you Kate Hoey! Oh, and there’s the small matter of this – a tweet from Corbyn found by David Ross. This was ‘Magic Grandad’ congratulating a man who had stood against and beaten an official Labour party candidate. Galloway had even been expelled from the Labour party.

ross tweet

Corbyn is the ultimate hypocrite. A man who demands loyalty yet rebelled so many times against his own party to vote with the opposition. Of course, ordinary voters can see this. Corbynista’s remain blind, which is why the party’s no longer fit for purpose. Expect to see a lot more former members of the Labour party. It’s an absolutely tragedy to see a political party that was set up to represent the best interests of the poor and disenfranchised turn into a narrow ideological cult that cares more for dogma than the people who will suffer if it enables Brexit.

Rolling blog: Another ‘rat up a drainpipe’ sort of day…

28 Tuesday May 2019

Posted by in Network Rail, Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel

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08:40.

After a relaxing and very sociable bank holiday weekend at home, normal service is resumed and I’m back on the rails again. As is often the case, there’s a lot of travelling involved. First, I’ve got to head down to Milton Keynes for a meeting with Network Rail, then I’ll be making my way up to Glasgow ready for a job in Scotland tomorrow. I’ll update this blog throughout the day, so stay tuned…

10:24.

My first train of the day’s the 10:06 from Sowerby Bridge to Southport which I’m taking as far as Manchester Victoria. It rolled in 5 minutes early, which took me by surprise as I’m more used to them being delayed! Northern have turned out a Heaton based Class 156, which makes a pleasant (and more comfortable) change to the normal Class 150s. The 156s are roomier, with deeper windows, so they’re better on scenic routes like this. Their 2×2 seating helps too.

The stormy skies seen in Yorkshire are replicated in Lancashire so I wouldn’t be surprised if I get a soaking at some point today!

10:41.

As this trains only a two car it’s now rammed after calling at Rochdale, a town that always provides plenty of passengers. According to figures from the ORR (Office of Rail and Road) over 1.2 million folk use the station every year.

12:15.

My Virgin Pendolino’s just pulling out of Piccadilly. Next stop for me is Milton Keynes. As is my wont I walked across a busy city centre from Victoria to Piccadilly, narrowly missing an earlier train, but as I had plenty of time I spent a profitable hour getting pictures. One thing that I noticed at Piccadilly was how the train Northern fleet’s changed in recent years due to the almost continuous cascade of second-hand stock. The ex-Thameslink Class 319s are a common sight on Manchester Airport turns now that electrification of the Bolton and Liverpool corridors has been completed. At the same time, more 2nd generation diesels have joined the fleet, such as this one which has just been transferred from the London Midland fleet now that it’s been displaced from services on the Bedford-Bletchley line by Vivarail’s Class 230 underground train conversions.

DG323842crop

150107 is working Manchester – Chester services today. It was pictured at Manchester Piccadilly earlier.

These extra units and the introduction of the Class 195s will soon spell the end of the old BR Pacers which are still plying their trade around Northern metals.

14:28.

Appointment time…

16:22.

My meeting with Network Rail’s Asset Protection (ASPRO) people went well. We talked about needs and ideas plus some provisional diary dates. I even managed to make it back to the station before the heavens opened, dodging the deluge I’d predicted earlier. I dunno why but every time I’ve visited the area recently it’s co-incided with rainstorms. Now I’m sat on the 16:13 Virgin Pendolino to Glasgow Central for the next five hours! It’s a busy train despite it being the school holidays. I hate to think what this 9-car would be like if the schools weren’t out. Although I’ve managed to get an airline seat I’ve no plug sockets enabling me to keep the laptop powered up. This service goes via Birmingham New St as it’s one of the Brummie turns that was extended to Scotland in the last franchise. Hopefully I might be able to grab a table seat later but I’m not optimistic.

16:42.

We’ve just pulled into Coventry and this train’s even more rammed now as well over a hundred folk have joined as this service may be long-distance, but right now it’s a commuter train on this section of the route. That these Intercity trains have to occupy rush-hour paths between places like Coventry-Birmingham-Wolverhampton’s a great advert for building HS2. Get the Euston-Glasgow on Hs2 and turn it into a proper Intercity train that can lead to modal shift from road and air through shorter journey times and use the existing path for a fast people move like the Siemens Class 700s that can absorb the commuters in comfort.

17:36.

Much to my surprise, I did manage to bkag a table seat when we arrived in Birmingham. As expected, this train’s still busy, but the holiday periods clearly taken the edge off it. Right now we’re approaching Wolverhampton. We’re running late as we’re caught behind a stopping service. This really is a waste of a 125mph train as we’ve staggered most of the way through this congested corridor from Coventry. On the plus side, the weather’s brightened up so I’m hoping for a lovely run through the scenic North of England and into Scotkand. I’m afraid sunshine can’t really help Wolverhampton!

19:22.

We’re now between Preston and Lancaster, running at least 18 mins late due to being stuck behind local services around Birmingham. This has meant we’ve missed our connection at Preston with the Edinburgh service which is now ahead of us. Our Train Manager’s apologised and asked control if we can be put ahead of it between Lancaster and Carlisle so that folk can make the connection in the border city.

19:36.

Despite the power and performance of the Pendolino’s, we’re losing more time. We passed Carnforth 21 late. The only bright spot was literally on the horizon as the weather through Lancashire was gorgeous. I could’ve got a suntan through the train window! Now, as we get closer to leaving England, the clouds are regrouping, which meant that the spectacular Lune Gorge wasn’t seen at it’s best.

20:19.

We’ve arrived into Carlisle and to everyone’s credit the TPE service to Edinburgh has been held so the the few dozen people off our train can make their connection. Who says the railway can’t be joined up when needed?

21:00

Oh joy. We’ve ground to a halt at Beattock summit and our Train Manager has just announced on the PA that this is because Network Rail have lost power to a signalling panel. That said, we’re still on the move, albeit stop and start. I have a feeling that this is going to be a loonnng day…

21:16.

I should have been in Glasgow Central a minute ago. Instead, we’ve just pulled past the signal failure and a freight train stuck in the Beattock loop 43 minutes late. It’s no-one’s fault and it sounds like Network Rail had staff out to the problem PDQ, but that’s not going to placate some passengers.

23:20.

I’m off to bed. We arrived an hour late into Glasgow so by the time I got to my hotel I’m more than happy to call it a day. Watch out for another rolling blog tomorrow as I’m up here testing trains with Pip Dunn for RAIL magazine.

Lord Reith would be spinning in his grave!

27 Monday May 2019

Posted by in Hs2, Lazy journalism, The BBC

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Over the past few years the quality of journalistic standards at the BBC has come under scrutiny. The corporation’s obsession with ‘balance’ is just once example. The Beeb gives far too much credence and easy passes to tinfoil hatters and shady lobby groups like the Taxpayers Alliance and the Institute of Economic Affairs without once asking “who funds you and sets your agenda”?

It’s the same with their flagship programmes like ‘Question Time’ where the audience is routinely packed with so many right-wing plants the programme really should be hosted by a presenter from ‘Gardeners World’. Balanced it ain’t.

Today, this tweet appeared from the BBC in the North-West.

BBC tweet

Really? The entirety of the House of Lords wants a ‘rethink’ of HS2? No. It’s complete bollocks. Ignoring for a minute there’s not even a link to a story, just a tweet that has no context or content and this isn’t even ‘news’. Let’s have a look at what the BBC didn’t say.

Twelve days ago the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee (which is made up of just 13 out of the 800 members of the Lords) delivered a report which was critical of Hs2 – although it did not call for its scrapping. The report was widely criticised around the regions for its laxity and the fact it ignored large chunks of the country and the positive impact Hs2 would have on them.

The Committee is hardly representative of the Lords as a whole. When they voted on the Hs2 phase 1 bill the Lords passed it by 386 votes to 26, giving the project a massive majority of 360. Funnily enough the BBC neglected to mention any of this in their tweet, so forget the Reithian values that the BBC should “educate and inform”. The BBC’s tweet is nothing but spin.

It’s desperately sad to see the national broadcaster brought down to these levels, but that’s a sad reflection of the sorry state much of the media is in now. Nowadays, facts are what you make up. On seeing this tweet, Nigel Harris of RAIL magazine was moved to say this in response to Railway Magazine Editor Chris Milner.

nigel H

Guess who hasn’t responded to any of this? The BBC. I’m writing this at 21:13 and the tweet’s still on their website.

 

 

 

The Brexitshambles rolls on…

27 Monday May 2019

Posted by in Brexit, Politics

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I’ve been looking at the European election results this morning and the various claims and counter-claims about what they mean.

Here’s what they mean. We as a country are screwed.

The turnout was appalling at 37% (even though this was a 1.4% increase on the last time). The majority of people either couldn’t be arsed to vote or decided not to.

Over 5 million people voted for Farage’s looney tunes, for a party with no policies and serious questions over how it was funded and by whom. I mean, seriously?

Labour have had their arses kicked (yet again) but ‘Magic Grandad’ and his coterie still haven’t got the message. They’re still trying to face both ways and maintain the fiction of their “jobs first” Brexit. Seamus Milne has Corbyn superglued to the top of that fence he’s sitting on. But look at the results in Corbyn’s own constituency.

islington

The Tories have also had their arses kicked but they’ll go on to elect a new leader who will pursue a no deal Brexit.

The Lib-Dems and Greens have done well, but what will it change? Nothing.

The only thing to take solace from is that racist little shit Yaxley Lennon (aka ‘Tommy Robinson’) was humiliated and lost his £5,000 deposit and the odious leader of UKIP, Gerard Batten, lost his seat as an MEP.

But that’s it.

We are no nearer to coming out of this nightmare. The Brexitshambles rolls on and it’s clear a lot of people still believe in Unicorns, despite the evidence of the past 3 years. I can’t imagine many people in the business sector are feeling happy about this either, so I expect to see the continuing uncertainty leave to more companies leaving the UK, along with EU nationals who’ve just had enough of a country that’s becoming more racist and inward looking. The Tories will continue to cling to the fiction that they can turn a lie into reality and that they can deliver on the false promises that were made during the Brexit referendum. Neither they nor Labour will tell the truth and be honest with the country about what Brexit means, nor will they address the criminality that took place during the referendum campaign. The lies and the pretence roll on, as does the next sorry stage in the saga – a Tory Leadership election in la la land…

 

The political circus rolls on.

24 Friday May 2019

Posted by in Brexit, Politics

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We woke up this morning to the news that Prime Minister Teresa May has announced she’s standing down on the 7th June, triggering a new leadership election. Her successor will be voted for by the Tory party membership, which (according to the Bow group) has an average age of 72. God help us all, the next leader of the country is going to be decided on by a bunch of retired septuagenarians who will be overwhelmingly white and wealthy – and almost certainly readers of those propaganda sheets, the Daily Mail and Telegraph! We are fucked. Deeply, deeply, fucked.

How deeply we’re fucked can be seen when you realise who the current favourite is, none other than that lying imbecile, Boris Johnson, a man who only has one interest and loyalty in life: himself.

So, our country is about to be led by a man twice sacked for lying and who’s proved himself both lazy and incompetent. A man who was an awful, part time mayor of London that wasted millions on water cannon and garden bridges whilst dreaming up even more vainglorious schemes such as the ‘Boris Island’ airport in the Thames. A man who trashed the UK’s reputation abroad when he was made Foreign Secretary. A man who no foreign leader takes seriously and who who has a history of making racist comments. A man who was one of the prime architects of the whole Brexit shambles. a man without honour or decency, who once helped an old friend arrange for a fellow journalist to be beaten up. This man will likely be our next Prime Minister and crash us out of the EU in yet another of his jolly japes.

God help us all. If only a general election could save us from this as the opposition has a fantastic and charismatic leader who the country can turn to. Oh, wait, Labour’s led by ‘magic Grandad’ Jeremy Corbyn and his coterie of hard leftists like Seamus Milne and John McDonnell.

See? I told you we were fucked.

 

Rolling blog: Another day on the rails.

22 Wednesday May 2019

Posted by in I love my job, Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel, Yorkshire

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08:30

I’m out and about on the rails again today, making the most of the weather and getting client shots on a range of topics, including hunting down more of the news trains which are gracing the North’s tracks in increasing numbers, although many of them are on training runs rather than carrying passengers. At the moment, there’s vehicles for Northern, LNER and Trans-Pennine Express out on test, with more to follow for Hull Trains soon. This creates its own challenges. I was talking to LNER MD David Horne at the Azuma launch the other week. He explained that it was an ASLEF requirement that driver had 20 hours training driving the new trains before being passed out as competent. Real trains, not simulators. David pointed out how difficult it was to find paths for these trains on our increasingly crowded network – one that’s become even more crowded since the May 18th timetable change. Imagine what it’s like when you add in the other operators vying for space at places like Leeds, Doncaster and York, not to mention Manchester and Preston! It’s one of the unappreciated challenges of introducing new train fleets. Still, it makes me laugh at HS2 antis, who (cluelessly) still insist that no – we don’t need HS2 because some trains still have spare seats in the off-peak!

09:15.

I’m currently bouncing my way to Huddersfield on a 2+3 Pacer lash-up of a 144 and 142. Say what you like about Pacers, but there’s plenty of cycle space in 142004!

On arrival at Huddersfield my Oacer lash-up was split. The rear 142 was detached and scurried off, squealing, to the sidings, whilst the 3 car 144 remained in platform 4a ready to work the 10:03 to Castleford via Wakefield. I’m sure this is a new diagram as I don’t remember through services to the town before.

Huddersfield station layout is old and was built for a different age. It has two Easterly facing bay platforms (5 and 6) in the large island platform which are very restricted in length. 5 can only take 2 cars and 6, 3 cars. For a modern railway they’re a bit of an operational nightmare, hence plans to build a new through platform on the site of the stabling sidings to the North of the existing island platform. Here’s a view of the bays with a 153 in platform 5.

No 4 to the left is a through platform but its normally split and used for terminating trains coming from Mananchester in the West and Leeds in the East.

Making Huddersfield fit for a growing railway presents huge challenges. If you build a platform on the stabling sidings, where do you then stable the trains? There’s a train crew depot on the station. If you stable trains elsewhere, what happens to that? The station’s a grade 1 listed building, so how does that impact on major alterations? It all adds to the complexity and expense of rebuilding a Victorian railway network.

16:30.

Today’s plan didn’t survive first contact with the enemy. I was planning to head East to York and Doncaster, then found that one of the new Hitachi bi-mode trains for Trans-Pennine Express was working a training run across the Pennines from Heaton (Newcastle) to Manchester Airport. I was very keen to get a shot of this so changed plans and hot-foot it to Greenfield station, the first stop on the line West of the Standedge tunnel. Slightly further East is the pretty and very busy tourist town of Uppermill which the railway passes high above on a dramatic viaduct, as you can see in this picture.

DG323791crop

From here I walked along the Rochdale canal before cutting up a quiet lane to a lovely vantage point on a footbridge which gave me a commanding view of the lane and the valley, where I waited and prayed the cloud Gods would smile on me for once. Eventually, I managed to get this shot. For once I was glad the train was a few minutes late. If it hadn’t been, I’d have missed the sun!

DG323786crop

17:15.

Afterwards I couldn’t resist nipping down the road a few miles to pay homage at one of the original and best station bars in the country, the Stalybridge buffet bar.

I’m glad to say it’s no longer a rare beast, just a long time survivor and precourser to a new generation of station bars.

17:33.

I’m now heading back to Huddersfield on a late running Northern Pacer to meet my wife from work. Whilst the new timetable may not have caused any grief, I’m not sure it’s solved any problems on this line either. Late running still seems to be the norm, although I don’t know the root causes.

Rolling blog: Swanning around sunny Yorkshire.

21 Tuesday May 2019

Posted by in I love my job, Railways, Rolling blogs, West Yorkshire

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Well, not exactly swanning you understand. It’s already been a busy morning that’s seen me editing a backlog of pictures of Railtex, Community Rail in the City and HS2 work at Euston then getting them out to clients. I had other plans for today but an email from RAIL magazine means I’ll be off to Leeds for the afternoon. Life often seems to take unexpected turns at the moment with plans changing all the time. Still, any commissions are always welcome as they top up the coffers. Plus, as a photographer, I can’t afford to waste weather like this! Let’s see how the day goes…

10:37.

I’ve just left Bradford en-route to Leeds on a slightly late and rather dirty, disheveled unrefurbished Northern Class 158. The sunlight streaming through the windows makes you realise just how dirty they actually are!This is my first outing since the May timetable change, which the media doom and gloom merchants were waiting to label a fiasco. Only it wasn’t. There were a couple of delays on Calder Valley services but nothing out of the ordinary. It was the same for other operators from what I saw.

12:10.

I’m now pootling around Leeds, looking at various railway locations for a client. Not everything has gone to plan, whilst there’s no timetable chaos there is the perennial problem of the ‘knitting’ coming down on the East Coast Main Line! I did wonder when I saw so many LNER trainsets sitting in the station, the problem was soon confirmed by an announcement that the overhead wires had come down at Retford, so LNER were running a Leeds-Doncaster shuttle service for connections South to Kings Cross using the GN/GE joint line via Lincoln. Part of my mission on this trip was to explore the future site of Leeds HS2 station which will abut the existing station at right angles from the South. Here’s where it will be built across the river.

I also had a look for some aerial views of the city.

14:22.

Having done what I needed to do in Leeds I’ve headed back West and broken my journey in Dewsbury, where I’m enjoying some refreshment at the wonderful station bar. Dewsbury’s an odd place. It’s best days are long gone although some of the shoddy and mungo mills still exist and can be seen from passing trains. Nowadays the town is more known for its poverty and social/ethnic divisions – and the utterly bizarre case of the ‘kidnapped’ girl who was actually hidden by her parents under their bed.

There’s a young chap in his late teens/early 20s on the outside table adjacent to mine. He’s been on the phone telling his mates how he’s just left court, having escaped jail for some unspecified offence. I can see he’s not bulshitting as I saw the court papers kn the table when I passed. When I glanced over he was texting a friend. His mouth was pronouncing each word as he typed.

18:22.

I’ve made it home and I’m potentially regretting not carrying sunscreen today! I’ll upload a few more pictures later.

22;54.

Oops! Things sort of happened so there’s just one more picture of Leeds to add today.

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