Monthly Archives: August 2020

10th August picture of the day…

10 Monday Aug 2020

Posted by in Malaysia, Musings, Picture of the day, Travel

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It’s late and it’s been a long day where I’ve spent most of my time writing and researching a magazine article but that’s been fun as I’ve learned a lot in the process, which is always a bonus. I’ll say more about it when I have a publication schedule. I’ve also been ‘zooming’ to talk to a station friends group who’ve entered the Community Rail awards. To say the limitations of the  technology let us down would be an understatement. Anyone who claims this is the future is talking out of a fundamental orifice! It’s a reasonable substitute for face to face meetings in these Covid times, but it will never replace them.

It wasn’t the best day to be stuck indoors as the weather here in West Yorkshire’s been hot and humid with a mix of sunshine and showers. The rest of the week’s weather is looking mixed too – which might supply some photographic opportunities after tomorrow when I’m free of the office as the article I’m writing will be submittted.

The theme of storms leads me neatly into the picture of the day, which was taken at Coral Bay on the Perhentian Islands, Malaysia on the 8th October 2009. These East coast islands close later that month as the Monsoon brings stormy weather that render them inaccesable to tourists. On this day we were given a taste of what that must look like as this particular storm approached and I managed to catch it on camera…

DG36861. Approaching storm. Coral Bay. Perhentian Islands. Malaysia. 8.10.09.crop

You can find more pictures of these beautiful Islands here. Perhaps I’ll get back there one day….

 

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9th August picture of the day…

09 Sunday Aug 2020

Posted by in High Speed 1, Photography, Picture of the day, Railways

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Work and other pressure have meant that I’ve had to let blogging drift for a few days as there’s just not been enough time to do everything that I’ve been wanting to. Even my normal exercise regime has gone to rat-shit this week so I’m determind to pick up the pace next week – which promises to be challenging as there’s a lot to fit in!

On the bright side, all those of you who’ve been buying railway memoribila and old railway slides from me off eBay have your orders sitting in our local post box, ready for collection in the morning. I still have various old railway slides for sale and here’s a sample. For those of you watching in black and white, here’s what the link shows you!

slide

Right, lets move on to the picture of the day….

As well as everything else I’m doing at the moment I’m still trying to keep scanning other old slides as I’m determined to finish my railway archive before the end of the year. Right now I’m on an album of pictures from 2001-2002 which was when we started building what was then known as the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL) from London’s St Pancras station through to the existing high-speed line at Fawkham Junction in Kent that would make the trundle along the existing ‘classic’ line to Waterloo International redundent. The finished product wouldn’t open until 2007. As I was still living in London in those days it was a project I followed with interest and popped down to the worksites around St Pancras every couple of weeks – hence today’s picture. Right next to the original St Pancras station was a cluster of old gasometers which has to be demolished to make way for the extended station. I was there on the evening of the 24th July 2001 when the weather was perfect and got this picture.

09607. Gasometers. Kings Cross. 24.7.01. 09607. (1)

Unless you know the area around Kings Cross and St Pancras it’s difficult to explain what a transformation they’ve experienced in the past 20 years. It wouls literally take a book. All I can say is I’m glad to have known it then as well as now…

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Time enough to blog – and a new Magazine…

06 Thursday Aug 2020

Posted by in Journalism, Musings, Railways, Travel

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I’m back after a hectic few days which have left me little time to blog as I’ve been busy writing a magazine article for RAIL and catching up on other work commitments. Today’s been in similar vein although Dawn and I did make our weekly trip over to Huddersfield to do the shopping for her parents. Whilst we were there we met up with a couple of colleagues in a pub beer garden – about the only place you’re officially allowed to now we’re in local Covid ‘lockdown’ and the rules and regulations have got increasingly complicated and bizarre.

It was good to see the pair of them. Graham gave me a copy of his new magazine which I’ve supplied pictures for and I look forward to contributing articles in future editions.

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‘Train Traveller’ is published by my friends at Key publishing. It’s a glossy, 115 page mag that features various writers experiences of travelling by rail all across the world. As you can see from the cover it features destinations both whimsical and exotic and talks about the experience of rail travel from the passengers perspective, not about the technical minutiae of railway operations. It ranges from New Zealand (shown on the cover) to a chance meeting of people on a Grand Central train to Yorkshire.

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There’s also book reviews and features from such well-known writers as Micheal Williams of the ‘On the slow train’ book series.

You can order the magazine though Key Publishing’s website by following this link. The magazine descibes itself like this

“Train Traveller is the eagerly awaited publication for people that travel by rail just because they can. Covering inspirational routes in the UK and overseas, classic rail architecture, memorable journeys and spectacular destinations, Train Traveller is the antithesis of network delays and operator strikes. At its best, rail travel is an amazing experience, this special volume focusses on that best.

Train Traveller highlights journeys from both sides of the Equator and encourages travellers to escape the hire car rat race to view the world in comfort.”

Why not not order a copy, put your feet up and enjoy the travel experiences from the safety and serenity of your own home right now, seeing as many of us have had our travel wings clipped for now?

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4th August picture of the day…

04 Tuesday Aug 2020

Posted by in Musings, Photography, Picture of the day, Travel

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Apologies for no picture (or blog) yesterday. I’ve rather a lot on at the moment and I didn’t manage to find the time to fit one in on top of everything else. I’m writing writing for pay not pleasure this week, so something has had to take a back seat. On the bright side, once this week is over I should have more time to fit in a lot more things, including scanning more old slides as well as actually getting out and about for (hopefully) my first trip on the UK rail network since March.

Oh, I have added a few more bits of railway memoribilia and surplus slides to eBay, but as I’ve reached my sellers limit there’s no more on offer for now. Here’s one of the items on offer, a Pullman car company badge.

OK, onto the picture of the day. The weather’s wild and windy here in West Yorkshire still, so I thought I’d brighten up life with a bit of sunshine – but not any old sunset. This is something very different. Here’s a classic old ‘toast rack’ tram on the former Carioca aqueduct in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, taken on the 7th August 2002.

T13535. Tram on the Arco de Treles at sunset. Centro. Rio de Janeiro. Brazil. 7.8.2002crop

Sadly, following a fatal accident in 2011 the service has been cut back from what it was when you could get a tram all the way to Santa Teresa. You can find more pictures of the tramway (and Brazil) in this gallery.

 

 

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2nd August picture of the day…

02 Sunday Aug 2020

Posted by in Picture of the day, Travel, Yorkshire

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No musings today, instead I’m taking you straight to a picture. For once it’s not some far-flung destination. Instead it’s just down the road. This picture was taken in Bradford city centre on the 21st September 2019. It was a glorious September day and I was passing through on my way between the city’s two railway stations when I spotted the crowds of people congregating in the square near the town hall where people were playing in the fountains. The autumn light meant they were backlit, which produced this image.

DG334539. Kids playing in the fountains. Bradford. 21.9.19crop

If you want to see more of my UK travel pictures you can find them in this gallery on my Zenfolio website, Don’t forget that you can buy prints of any of thes pictures.

 

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1st August picture of the day…

01 Saturday Aug 2020

Posted by in Musings, Picture of the day, Travel

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Today’s been very much about pictures – and DIY. I’ve been busy at home catching up on chores and also trying to get a few more old slides scanned as the momentum’s been lost a bit recently. You can find the latest selection by following this link. All the shots are from 2001 as I’ve moved on to the final few albums which are all from this century.

That said, I’ve also added another selection of old slides and railway badges to my eBay account. Feeel free to take a look as there might just be something that tickles your fancy.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Railway-badge-Pullman-car-company/313168801798

OK, here’s the picture of the day, which comes from the port of Rafina, Greece. It was taken at dawn on the 21st September 2002.

T14172. Side of a ferry at dawn. Rafina. Greece. 21.09.02crop

I love island-hopping by ferry and there’s few places like Greece to do it! This particular morning the sunrise was stunning and it illuminated the side of this ferry to perfection.

If you want to see more pictures from Greece, follow this link.

 

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