As expected, there was little point in heading out with the camera today. Not only was the weather cold and miserable but some early morning work emails changed my plans. Plus, I had a husbandly task to do this morning. Dawn had a routine hospital appointment but who likes going to these things on their own? Instead, we walked to the Calderdale Royal hospital together where I kept her company in the waiting room – which was just as well, because the unit was running late so we waited for around 45 minutes which is hardly something to complain about when you hear of some of the horror stories about hospital A&E units. Waiting times regardless, the staff Dee dealt with were all lovely and did their best to keep her informed and relaxed.

By the time we got home there was no point in me thinking of going anywhere. Instead I spent the afternoon researching my next RAIL article. I was surprised how few nuggets of information I could glean off the internet. Sometimes we think the world wide web holds the sum total of human knowledge, but that’s not always the case, especially if it’s something more esoteric such as railway history. I spent several hours searching for what I wanted and still found gaps in the timeline of the place I was researching. Now I’ve resorted to ordering a couple of specialist books that I hope will help plug the gaps.

Job done, I did manage to get out for a wander and boost my step count. This time of year I’d be expecting to be in short-sleeves and shorts. Instead, I was wrapped up as if it was March! Now it’s time to kick back at home and prepare for another day. Tomorrow both Dawn and I will be working from her company offices in Huddersfield. I’ll be staying for the morning as I have a couple of ‘Teams’ calls to do initial interviews of people for the article. After that, I hope to nip out and get some more Trans-Pennine route upgrade (TRU) pictures. I mentioned that I’ve established a new TRU gallery on my Zenfolio website. Well, one of the things I did first thing to day was start stocking it with archive pictures, so here’s a link.

OK, it’s time to go but first I’ll leave you with today’s picture. Because of the TRU work, Trans-Pennine Express services are diverted via the Calder valley route most weekends. Here’s Hitachi built 802206 working 9M32, the 1244 Newcastle to Liverpool Lime St passing the site of Luddenden Foot station (closed 1962) on the 1st June this year.

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