Apologies for the recent lack of blogging activity but life has taken on of those twists and turns that mean dealing with other things has been more important. It’s not that I haven’t anything to say, far from it. It’s just that right now it’s more important to hold one’s cards close to one’s chest – as sometimes staying schtum saves no end of hassle in the long run. I’ll be busy with other plans and events over the next few days but I’ll resume blogging as soon as I can. There’s certainly going to be plenty to blog about anyway. I should be able to keep you entertained in a variety of ways with blogs on numerous subjects that I’ll have more freedom to talk about (and the time to do it) than of late. 2024 is going to prove to be a very interesting year in so many ways, but also one tinged with real sadness…
Right now, I’ll leave you with a picture from Saturday when the Southern Electric Traction Group achieved their ambition of getting one of the old 3rd rail slam door trains back on the main line and into London’s Waterloo. The event featured many past and present stars of the rail industry including Gordon Pettit (the man whom 4-VEP 3417 is named after) as well as Chris Green, Sir Peter Hendy, John Smith (MD of GBRf) and many others.
See you soon…
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Quite literally! I’ve been woken several times through the night by howling wind beating against the front of the cottage as it blows, unobstructed across the valley. By 05:30 I decided there was no point in trying to get back to sleep so I’m already out and about, finishing my preparations for heading to London via a roundabout route – depending on what damage the latest storm may have done to the railways. At the moment our local line seems to be running fine apart from the odd cancellation, so we’ll see…
08:30.
I’m heading West today so the trip’s started with a walk downhill to Sowerby Bridge. The winds abated and there’s clear skies over the valley on what promises to be a lovely day – not that I’ll be around to see it. I’m currently on the 08:02 to Manchester which is worked by a pair of 2-car Class 158s.
First train of the day…
It’s a quiet train. Well, at least it is in the front car! That said, we’ve just crossed the Pennines to call at Littleborough where there’s a healthy number of passengers waiting for us.
10:30.
Having strolled across an unusually subdued Manchester city centre from Vic to Picc I caught a train to my next change point. Crewe. The station’s been a long-time haunt of mine. I first started comming here on my own as a young teenager. Needless to say – it’s changed a bit since 1973! My stay was brief – just long enough to grab a couple of shots and pick up my onward connection to my next port of call, Wolverhampton.
The Crewe station canopies were in a lot better condition in the 1970s. At least they had glass in them then!
I’m currently travelling on a London North-western Class 350. They’re fine as regional trains go but a bit plain vanilla nowadays. They don’t have tables, plug-sockets or USB ports, which is a bit ‘retro’ in 2024 but the seats (even if they are 3+2) are comfortable enough.
14:30.
I’m gradually making it down (or Up in railway parlence) along the West Coast Main Line. Delays were to be expected and one happened before Birmingham International where we were trapped for 13 mins by a new train that was on test but that had failed. Here’s the culprit.
“hello control. That new train you gave me? I’ve broken it”!
Next stops were bittersweet as they contain a lot of memories. First off was Coventry where I admired the classic 1960s station and looked askance at the modern (souless) addition which seems to be more a carpark with ticket barriers than a station.
Want atmosphere? Bring Oxygen tanks…
I hopped from Coventry to Rugby, a place I had a lot of happy connections with and where I spent Xmas and Boxing day 2005 stood in the tracks as the big blockade to rebuild the lines all went horribly wrong. A lot of the atmosphere has gone since I first got to know it. The cafe/bar on the island platform’s long gone…
Still, there’s always something of interest passing through and the station sees regular test trains as the new Class 730s are ‘run in’ like this one.
Not broken…
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I’m preparing to head off to Birmingham which could be fun as the wind has been howling outside all night. At least it’s not been rattling the windows (we’ve had ’em all replaced) but I could be propelled on my way to the station this morning! I may need a hard hat for more than one reason today.
07:30.
My walk to the station was spent dodging the detritus of the latest storm. Stepping over failed fence panels and blown over safety fencing whilst crunching the odd tree branch underfoot. Atop Spring Edge I was entertained by the contents of people’s upturned recycling bins. Caught in vortices they danced and pranced like fighting cocks!
At least the rain held off until I was in sight of the station as an umbrella in this weather would have been an exercise in futility.
Now I’m aboard Northern’s 07:20 to Leeds made up of a pair of 2-car Class 195s. It’s a busy train carrying workers and students into either Bradford or Leeds.
At least the vestibules are roomy on 195s…
08:45.
Oh, joy! I’m ‘doing a Jeremy Corbyn’ in a vestibule of Cross-Country’s 08:11 from Leeds to Bristol via Birmingham. It’s a rammed 4-car Voyager, completely unsuitable and inadequate for modern Intercity travel between some of our major cities.
At least the toilet we’re forced to stand next to isn’t stinking. Yet…
What makes me angry? This is all we have for the forseeable future because of the incompetent bunch in charge of the country. In 9 years time we *should* have had a modern, high-capacity, high-speed railway opening, but the Tories cancelled it and ‘Mr helicopter’ Rishi Sunak then wrnt on to can the alternative via Manchester. Another irony? Due to more government penny-pinching the trains that used to provide extra capacity on this line have all been sold off and are now running in Mexico!
09:00.
Whoopee! At Sheffield I managed to find a perch in a luggage rack in coach C. It’s mayhem as people try to claim their reserved seats in a car were there’s far more punters than cushions.
10:55.
Arrived. And so it starts…
13:00.
Here’s a taster of what I’m seeing.
West Midlands Mayor Andy Street gave several interviews to TV companies as he celebrated the official launch of construction of the station at Curzon St.
17:15.
Wow! What a fascinating day. Whilst one section of the media came and went by lunchtime as they were only there to cover West Midlands Mayor Andy Street’s speech on the official start of work on Curzon St station (and words on the future of HS2 to Manchester) the rest of us hung on for a full tour of the site which included a reip up yo the train deck as well as a wander to the South-Eastern end of the site where two massive bridges (one already under construction) will cross over road and rail links. Some of the facts and figures of construction were amazing. Like many HS2 sites, what uou see above ground is like the tip of an iceberg. I’ll be adding some more pics later.
Right now I’m heading North via Cross-Country again, only this time via Manchester…
22:00.
Home again! On my way home I stopped off to see an old friend and colleague who was staying in Stockport for work. We had time for a quick drink and catch up before I made my way back into Manchester to swap between stations to make my way home. Having already completed more than 25,000 steps I was very happy with Dawn’s offer to pick me up from the station and save me making that 30k!
Now i’m preparing to switch off for the evening but I did promise I’d post a last couple of shots from today’s visit, so here they are – shot on my new Z9.
We were given access to the bridge decks, which gives a very different view of the site. This is the second deck away from the existing West Coast Main Line into New St. In a few years time I’d be standing in the middle of the ‘four foot’! One of the massive weathered steel viaduct supports made in Bolton, Lancashire and assembled on site before being welded together. The details of the construction of these piers is quite a story. The tolerances involved in some of it is as little as 1mm.
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A very short blog from me today as my time is being taken up preparing for tomorrow’s little work excursion to Birmingham (all will be revealed later) which involves quite a bit of reading. Here’s why. This new bit of kit arrived earlier this afternoon and I’ve very little time to familiarise myself with it before it’s pressed into action tomorrow.
The mirrorless Nikon Z9. It’s a bit of a beast.
Whilst it doesn’t look too dissimilar to the SLR Nikons I’ve been using for decades there’s substantial differences in how it operates and where the controls are. Now I have to unlearn years of experience with the D3-5 family where everything had become instinctive and relearn this new system so it becomes just as instinctive to use as the old cameras. This may take some time!
Expect a rolling blog tomorrow as I begin my travels at silly o’clock. There’s a gale blowing outside again tonight but I’m hoping it’s not going to cause me any travel issues tomorrow. We shall see…
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Bugger! Having waited around all day on the promise that Fedex would deliver the new camera today I received the following message late this evening.
It’s frustrating but as long as it arrives tomorrow things will be fine as I’ll still have chance to learn how to use it before my job in Birmingham on Wednesday. Mind you, that’s cutting things fine. This may be ‘on the job’ training!
Still, today’s not been entirely wasted. I’ve got a lot done at home with a mixture of picture editing and paper-shuffling. The enjoyable bit was shuffling a lot of paper out of files and bookcases into the recycling. My shelves are now looking a lot slimmer and cleaner. Plus, one of our local charity shops will benefit from some of the redundant electronic hardware I’m parting with. There’s more stuff to get rid of yet – but that involves digitising various old records and diaries which is going to be time-consuming.
Taking a break from the dust and old paperwork I did manage to get out for my daily constitutional which was challenging due to the weather. We may have been in-between storms but there was enough of storm Isha hanging around to make walking through our local woods feel risky. The amount of broken branches littering the paths and trails was both impressive and a testament to just how windy it’s been. Not that it’s blown over as it’s goodbye storm Isha, hello storm Jocelyn. Please, weather Gods, just let this all blow over by Wednesday as I have to get to Birmingham and back and I really don’t fancy getting stuck on a Voyager! I’ll be blogging throughout that day, which could prove interesting…
Today’s picture is a taster of what I’ll be visiting. The HS2 station construction site at Curzon St, although it’ll look rather different to this July 2023 view now as the platform decks are being constructed atop many of the pillars seen here.
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After the freezing temperatures we’ve had recently the weather’s changed dramatically. The snow’s been washed away by torrential rain, assisted by temperatures in double figures. Then the wind arrived – with a vengeance! These weren’t exactly the ideal conditions for performing some external DIY, but when needs must. This afternoon I spent a couple of hours ‘fettling’ the front door frame, which gave me exposure to and appreciation of just how wet and windy the day was becoming. Once everything was ship-shape, secure and protected from the elements I retreated to the office for a couple of hours to catch up on some work. Whilst doing so my email account was regularly ‘pinged’ with messages about the imminent arrival of my new ‘toy’. To be honest, it’s been an interesting lesson in the global marketplace. I bought my new camera online at a very competitive rate compared to established UK retailers whom I’d normally use, but the fact the savings were in four figures made it a bit of a no-brainer. One of the reasons for the price differential is it’s being shipped from the USA, which always had a reputation for keen prices. I had considered buying kit in the US before, but in those days Nikon used to have separate designations for that market. So, for example. My old F801s film cameras were called the N8008s on the American market, so it was obvious where you’d bought your kit. Nowadays all has changed and model numbers are the same. It’s been fascinating watching my purchase make its journey from the US courtesy of Fedex. It started out in Union, New Jersey before making its way to Newark, where it travelled by air to Memphis Tennessee. It’s from there that it began its transatlantic trip to Stansted Airport, where it arrived yesterday. Now it’s making its way North by road ready for delivery in the morning (storm Isha permitting).
This evening I ventured out once more in order to get my daily exercise routine completed. This involved donning full waterproofs as the weather really was foul, with torrential rain and gale force winds. I broke my walk up by calling in at our local for a bottle of alcohol-free Erdinger and chance to dry-out in front of the fire before heading home – a much needed pitstop in such awful conditions.
Now I’m happily settled in for the evening, catching up on some picture editing whilst listening to the howling wind outside. I’ll leave you with today’s picture which is from Manchester. This is the approach to Manchester Piccadilly station. In a few years time the station was meant to have a massive capacity increase as the new HS2 station was due to be built next door to the left of this shot. Now, these ageing tracks are going to have to cope with this governments crippling lack of ambition (and more trains) for the foreseeable future.
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It’s a short blog from me tonight as I’ve had a busy day and it’s late. Today’s been another one where most of my time’s been spent cooped up in the office but I really haven’t minded as I’ve got a lot done and the weather outside’s hardly encouraged me to venture out. The last couple of forays have left me wishing for warmer climes as the weather here’s been freezing. I’m looking forward to the predicted change and double figures we’re supposedly due to be getting as I’ve had enough of sub-zero temperatures.
Whilst I’ve been busy at my desk I have enjoyed watching the birds vying for food on the roof outside. I’ve topped it up every day with a mix of oats, rice and scraps of fat, which has attracted all manner of birds – and in large numbers. Thrushes and Blackbirds are regulars which is hardly surprising as the frozen ground must make foraging for their usual food sources difficult. My feathered friends are gradually getting used to me using the camera and aren’t proving to be too shy. Next week a new toy arrives in the shape of a mirrorless Nikon Z9 camera body. It will be interesting to see what a difference using a silent camera makes with wildlife photography as my conventional Nikons are quite loud when the mirror flips up.
I’ll leave you with one of today’s bird-shots.
This weekend is set to be a wet one weather-wise so I expect to be busy at home. That’s no bad thing as I’ve a lot of travelling to do next week – and I need to learn the ins and outs of a new camera. The Z9’s a progression to my existing kit but there’s going to be some important difference which means using it won’t be instinctive the way my old D5 has been. So, I’m busy going through the manual before the camera’s even arrived – all 940 pages of it!
I’ve a small favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
We’ve had another of those winter days where brass monkeys are seeking the urgent assistance of welders! Temperatures have remained sub-zero all day. The forecast is telling me it’s currently minus 6 which is hardly surprising as we’ve had clear skies and sunshine throughout most of the day. Despite sunny weather I’ve been happy to stay in for most of the day, picture editing and catching up on various other admin. In fact, it’s been rather a productive day and one that’s lined up work for the future.
Whilst I’ve been busy in the office I’ve also been keeping an eye on the welfare of the wild bird population by ensuring they’ve plenty of food to eat with a mix of oats, rice and chopped (cooked) vegetables. At times I’ve seen real bunfights between several Blackbirds, Magpies, Thrushes and Robins as they establish (literally) a pecking order! They’ve been quite entertaining to watch. With the amount of food the Blackbirds have gobbled I’m surprised they’ve not needed a runway to take off on!
Now it’s evening, the temperatures dropping and I’m preparing to wind down for the day. I’ll leave you with a snow scene, but it’s not from the Calder valley, it’s from a valley much, much further away. You’ll never see the Pennines like this!
A medium long lens shot of the Himalayas taken from outside our tent when we were trekking in Nepal in 1998. Sadly, I never recorded the names of the individual mountains. So, apart from the fact this is one of the range North of Gorkha, I couldn’t tell you if it’s Manaslue, Bauda Himal or any of the other high Himalayas in that range. Whatever it’s called it really was rather special being this close.
I’ve a small favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
Well. I didn’t have this on my bingo card when I pulled open the bedroom blinds this morning!
We weren’t meant to be having snow until late in the day and even then it was meant to be mixed with rain. Instead, we had rather a nice dusting of the white stuff. Well, at least at our height. The valley floor didn’t get the same treatment. This was rather frustrating as I’d several hours work planned this morning which I couldn’t get out of so by the time I did get to don my waterproofs (more to keep the freezing wind out than anything else) the snow had already begun to recede, despite the low temperatures. Working on the old axiom of ‘nothing ventured, nothing gained’ I caught a train West to Todmorden, working on the assumption that as the weather was coming from that direction I’d be likely to find more snow. Sure enough, there was more on the ground, even though it still wasn’t exactly ‘deep and crisp and even’. I went for a hike from Tod’ station along footpaths well gritted backroads to Gauxholme, between Tod’ and Walsden then slipped and slid my way uphill to a site that’s one of my favourite locations in the valley. Here’s why…
195005 leads 195019 through Gauxholme whilst working 1J19, the 14:12 Leeds to Manchester Victoria.
I stayed long enough to get several shots but by 15:00 the snow was coming in again from the West and the wind was perishing! Besides, there’s only so many permutations of this shot you can take. Walking downhill with the camera bag on my back was more difficult than ascending. I was kicking myself for not bringing my walking poles but I managed to make it down without going arse over tit. Maybe we’ll get a thicker covering of snow later in the year. Maybe not, but at least I’ve finally got a snow shot from Gauxholme.
Now I’m back home taking it easy for the evening, feeling virtuous as not only do have some useful pictures, I’ve smashed all my exercise targets to boot. Still, it’s strange to think that this time last year I was doing anything *but* freezing. I’d already been in SE-Asia for a week and had just arrived in Kuala Lumpur.
I won’t be venturing out of the valley tomorrow. I’ve too much to sort out in readiness for what’s going to be a hectic time next week as I’ll be doing a lot of travelling with many different events to blog about. But for now, it’s time to say goodnight.
I’ve a small favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
Not a bad start to the week! Today we have wall to wall sunshine in the Calder Valley – and sub-zero temperatures to go with it! It’s currently -1 which has warmed up since first thing when it was -3. Despite the cold I’ve been tempted out with the camera as this weather’s too good to waste. I’d like to have got out earlier but I had too much to do. Maybe tomorrow. Right now I’m on my way to Liverpool via Manchester for a flying visit to try and catch the last Class 508 remaining in service – and hopefully grab a shot of 507001 if its running.
13:40.
I broke my journey at Newton-le-Willows to check out the work extending the station’s platforms. Currently tthey can only cope with four-car trains, which is a bit awkward when 5-car TPE services call. Like this one I’m on now.
It seems odd to think this station was once a ‘Motorail’ hub. The Manchester bound platform extension is being built over the site of the old ‘Motorail’ loading bay. Here’s a better view of the work.
16:00.
Bloody hell, it’s cold! I made it to Liverpool at the same time as patchy clouds blew in from the West, which caused a slight rethink. I decided to concentrate on trying to get shots of the last Class 508 as it’s already living on borrowed time as it was due to have been withdrawn the other week. Knowing it was on the New Brighton vircuit I opted to ‘ambush’ it at Liverpool Central then catch it out to the Wirral with the hope of getting some sunshine shots. Sadly, the low sun and clouds didn’t play ball. Still, I managed a few controlled light shots at Central and Conway Park. Frustratingly, the unit has suffered a crap graffiti attack on one of the driving cars. Ho hum.
508104 calls at Birkenhead North on its way back into Liverpool after working to New Brighton.The return working to New Brighton seen at Conway Park. The half-arsed attempt at graffiti can be seen on the front car. It’s a shame but as the unit only has a day or so left in service before it goes for scrap I can’t see it being cleaned off.
16:50.
I hung around Liverpool long enough to get a handful of library shots then decided to call it a day and head home as I’ve had some picture requests from a magazine that need my attention, plus, it ain’t getting any warmer! Right now I’m on one of Northern’s all-stations services to Manchester Victoria via Earlestown that would have been worked by Class 319s but are now 331s. It’s a busy train but I’ve managed to blag a seat at a table to set up the laptop and begin sorting out today’s pictures. I’ll add some later when I get home.
21:15.
I’m home and thawing out whilst editing a few of today’s pictures. Here’s a small selection as promised.
The new order. 777006 at Liverpool Central earlier today with a service to Ellesmere Port.The last of its class. 508104 should already have been withdrawn but it has had a charmed life and hangs on. Latest news is that it will be stood down at the end of services on Tuesday 16th January. Here it is working the 14:35 from Liverpool Central to New Brighton.777019 approaches Birkenhead North with a service to new Brighton. Despite what the destination blind says, 777005 was very much in service on the New Brighton line. PIS failures are a common and confusing fault on the new trains. The old order hangs on. Here’s 507010 working the 16:03 service to New Brighton, seen at Liverpool Lime St.
I’ve a small favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
Paul Bigland 