We’ve had a busy day here in the middle of nowhere so there was no point in trying a rolling blog. I’m writing this at the end of the day instead.
Having made it to Cardiff I managed a decent half-night’s sleep before pressing on this morning in order to get to Neath. Fortunately all the trains heading in my direction were running, so I had time to get a few shots of the changing nature of the Transport for Wales train fleet in this neck of the woods.
Old meets new. One of the BR built diesel Class 150s from the 1980s sits next to a brand-new tri-mode Class 756 from Stadler at Cardiff Central.Reaching the end of the line. The Class 150/2s will soon be cascaded or sent for scrap. Here’s 150267 at Cardiff Central with the 07:52 to Bargoed.Many services to Barry Island are being taken over by the new Stadler built Class 231 bi-modes. Here’s 230003.
Having got to Neath my next trick was to get to GCRE, which isn’t the most accessible place in the world right now. The only way for me to make the journey was by taxi, which took half an hour. Unless you know the area you don’t appreciate just how isolated it is. The test track and other facilities are being built on the site of a vast opencast mine, which closed in 2021. It hadn’t run out of coal, but its license to mine had expired and wasn’t being renewed. The whole site is bigger than Gibraltar. In essense, imagine building a circular 7km long test track (with some serious gradients) around the base of a huge, hollowed-out hill.
Now GCRE have taken over the site as well as the old railhead at Onllwyn. Today they were having an open day for guests who were invited to see the site and learn about two of the groups who’re carrying out work here. Both are looking at how to cuts the costs of two major fixed assets on the railways. Signalling and electrification.
Dr Sam Bemment, CE of start-up Universal Signalling talks about their systems which could drastically reduce the costs of resignalling our railways. Noel Dolphin from Fueer and Frey talks visitors through their system for adjusting catenary contact wire heights to prove whether bridges may (or may not) need to be replaced to allow for electrification. Potentially a massive cost saving for the railways. Rob gives visitors a run through of how the F&F adjustable catenary works.
After the presentations and demonstrations we were given a short tour of the site by Land Rover. This really gave people a sense of how vast, isolated (and high up) the site is.
Part of the opencast coal workings which have been filled in and landscaped. One of the old coal seams can be seen to the left. The area’s still rich in coal, but it’s best for the planet that it stays were it is. One of the long term plans for the site inside the test track is a solar and wind farm. Three former Heathrow Connect class 360/2’s are on site. The intention is to use them as mobile test platforms in the future. In the foreground is test track 4. at just over 400m long (and with a steep gradient) this could be used for testing vehicles such as RRVs. A long way from Heathrow…
Right, it’s late and I’m due back at the GCRE site along with colleagues from F&F in the morning. We’ve got a busy day ahead of us, then I’ve got to travel back to West Yorkshire. Hopefully, there’s no buses involved! So, it’s time for bed.
See you tomorrow.
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/
What? Starting a rolling blog at 18:00 I hear you say? Well, yes, because the day’s taken an unexpected turn…
There was me, quite content to be working from home, when in the space of am email and a whatsapp call I found myself myself agreeing to head off to South Wales on another adventure – and adventure it is! Right now I’m sat on a Northern service from Sowerby Bridge to Manchester in order to catch a train to Cardiff. Of course, nothing’s simple, due to the recent storms. Some trains are cancelled whilst others are running late, including this one. In theory, the 17:23 to Chester would’ve got me to Manchester in time to hotfoot it across the city in order to connect with the 18:30 to Cardiff. Only, we’re running 16 minutes late after leaving Todmorden, so that’s not going to happen. That leaves me waiting for the 19:30 to Cardiff, which will get me to the Welsh capital at 23:09. Only the inbound working from Carmarthen has now been cancelled due to trees on the line. Fortunately, Transport for Wales are running an extra service from Shrewsbury in its path, which means I should still make it to Cardiff today. Just as well the hotel I booked at the last minute is right next to the station.
At this point I must thank my long-suffering wife Dawn, who’s just had her next two evenings changed at very short notice – and who dropped things at even shorter notice to drive me to the station in order to try and catch an earlier train.
Why am I venturing to Wales you may ask? Well, I’ve been contracted for an assignment at the new railway test track near Neath, which is where I’ll be spending the next couple of days. But more of that when it happens. Just getting to Cardiff is going to provide enough entertainment for now!
19:30.
Remember I said about entertainment? My Northern service arrived into Manchester 19 mins late, so – as expected I missed my connection. But more fun was to come. Despite what the National Rail Enquiries said about trains running through to Cardiff, the opposite proved to be the case when I got to Manchester Piccadilly. The main Indicator boards showed a 19:30 to Cardiff, but when I got to platform 9 the 19:30 was shown as only running as far as Shrewsbury. Well, I have to get there so I had no option to board the unit when it arrived and await the next instalment – which was soon provided by the Conductor, who announce that the 19:30 would indeed be terminating at Shrewsbury as the line is blocked between there and Hereford. So, from Shrewsbury we’ll be loaded into coaches which will take us to Hereford, where we’ll be put back on a train to resume our trip to Cardiff. What time will I get there? Who knows? I’ve no problem with any of this – other than the lack of up to date information available when I checked NRES and Real Time Trains. It’s not RTTs fault as they take the information direct from the railway’s systems, but you’d think something would produce a red flag on National Rail Enquiries when you enter the journey.
Right now I’m enjoying a nearly empty train as we head South. I’d planned to have settled down for a few hours of work, but that hope’s out of the window now.
20:00.
I’ve just had a good chat with the conductor who told me what the problems are. Apparently, there’s two sections of track near Craven Arms and Leominster where the ballast has been washed away and level crossing and signalling equipment damaged. Network Rail are doing their best to repair the damage as quickly as possible, but they keep discovering more problems. Ho hum…
20:15.
We’ve arrived at Crewe 7 minutes down due to more disruption around Sandbach. For such a busy junction the station’s strangely quiet. Thankfully, this train is again too as the squalling baby that’s been trying to burst its lungs all the way from Stockport has departed the train here. Maybe my ears will stop ringing by the time we get to Shrewsbury…
20:30.
Whilst I’m stuck on the train, I thought I’d have a look at the NRES website to see what it says about my journey. Now, our Conductor has assured us via several announcements that road transport will be laid on between Shrewsbury and Hereford. But this is what’s on the NRES page.
Looks like my trip is going to get even more interesting when we get to Shrewsbury. This trip’s really starting to feel like a bit of a lottery. Meanwhile, the day draws on…
21:10.
Phew! The coach sevice to Hereford does exist! The few of us travelling were bundled on to a rather careworn coach and left within minutes. I count four other passengers besides me.
23:00.
-…and relax! We made it to Hereford by 22:38. The young lady driving our coach did a sterling job getting us from A-B via all the normal station stops on the route. No-one got on anywhere and only a couple got off leaving three of us to disembark at Hereford. The station was deserted of staff, which wasn’t too reassuring, especially as the building was locked up, but I spied a TfW service with lights on in the platforms and managed to find the night entrance to get across to platform 2. Now I’m sat in the warm, sharing a very dirty train with a handful of others. Admittedly, the bins on these 197s aren’t very prominent (or large) but it’s depressing to see just how many people can’t be arsed to tidy up after themselves, leaving the train looking like a shit-tip.
I’ve now swapped from this….…to this.
I’d hoped to have got to Cardiff by 21:50. Then it was 23:09. Now it’s 00:25, but at least I’ll get there.
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/
Apologies for absence these past couple of days but it’s been a busy time due to the fact that on Thursday my father-in-law had his 90th birthday. So, on Thursday the Platt family had a gathering to celebrate. Thankfully, John had bounced back from having had the lurgi just the week before, showing that he’s incredibly resilient from someone of an age where many people expect you to be a gibbering wreck that spends all their time sat in front of the TV. That’s never been John’s route. He’s probably more active and fitter than many men 20 years younger – as you’ll see later…
The full Platt family (and me, as an honorary member) went out for a meal at the Manor House in Lindley, on the edge of Huddersfield and I have to say, the food didn’t disappoint. Dawn had taken me there several years ago for my birthday so we knew what to expect, whilst the rest of the family had never visited. The food, service and ambience were all top notch. As both Dawn and I enjoy cooking we sometimes find eating out a disappointment as we know we can cook just as well, if not better. But the Manor House is in a different league.
Friday saw me working from home as the weather’s been bloody awful and it’s not been any better today as we’ve caught the end of storm Darragh. High winds had already caused chaos in the area, bringing down a huge tree in our local woods on Thursday night, but today I had to venture over to Huddersfield for the annual Honley male voice choir Xmas concert. Dawn had driven over earlier in the day so I elected to get the train. I thought I’d be clever and go from Sowerby Bridge to Dewsbury, then catch a Trans-Pennine Express service into Huddersfield in order to get a view of progress on the Trans-Pennine Route Upgrade (TRU). I didn’t need to be at the concert until 15:00 and left in plenty of time, so what could possibly go wrong? Bloody trees down on the line, that’s what…
My 10 minute connection at Dewsbury turned into a 55 minute fester. The only small mercy was the opportunity to have a swift pint in the West Riding refreshment room on the station. Thankfully, I made it to the Lawrence Batley theatre in Huddersfield with just a couple of minutes to spare before the concert started and took my seat with Dawn and her mum. Remember I said my FiL isn’t one for vegetating in front of the TV? Not at all, instead – he was singing in the choir he’s been a member of for 38 years! So, today’s picture is of the concert. John is on the bottom row, second from the left.
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/
Having spent several days at home and with the year fast ticking by I’ve decided to have a trip out to the North Wales coast to get some pictures of the changing scene on that line. Very shortly Avanto West Coast will be withdrawing their last Class 221 ‘Voyager’ trains which have plied that route for the past 20 odd years. They’re being replaced with the Hitachi built Class 805 ‘Evero’ fleet.
As is often the case with these trips, things are already going awry.
To give myself enough daylight hours meant getting up at sparrowfart to catch Northern’s direct 06:23 from Sowerby Bridge to Chester, the gateway to the North Wales coast. Right now the service has just left Manchester Victoria. It’s a quiet train at the moment, only about 20% full after dropping off many early-morning workers in the city. I’m glad I’ve a flask of coffee with me as my train’s freeing. The air-conditioning seems to be on the blink and the lack of corridor doors between vehicles isn’t helping. The Class 195s are a ‘plain vanilla’ CAF product that don’t come equipped with such luxuries as the Department of Transport saw them as an unnecessary expense.
What’s really going awry is that it looks like only one Voyager is running along the coast today, the rest of the Avanti diagrams are using 805s. Bugger! I’ve been told the Voyagers will only last another week or so, meaning this could be my last chance to capture one in action. On the bright side, there’s lots of shiny new Transport for Wales Class 197s out and about, plus – I don’t yet have shots of the ‘Evero’ fleet along the coast. All I have to do now is hope the rain hold off long enough. Let’s see how the day unfolds…
07:52.
On departure from Warrington I had a wander through the train to do a passenger count. There’s 69 people and three bikes aboard. Not bad for this time of day. We’ve now arrives at Runcorn East where another hafl-dozen have joined, including some school students. Dawn’s breaking and the fog we encountered around Warrington is dissipating as we head West. Right now, the day looks quite promising.
08:45.
I had little more than 15 mins to make my connection at Chester, just enough time to grab a couple of shots in the early morning light. Sadly, the skies colours were already getting bleached out by the low sun.
Chester’s the Southern boundary of the Merseyrail network. Here’s 777016 taking a break after ferrying commuters into the city.
The station was a hive of activity with commuters arriving into the city from several directions, including the train I was waiting for, the 08:25 to Holyhead which arrives from Wrexham before reversing. Fortunately, it’s not too busy now so I’ve found a free table where I can set up the mobile office for the short journey to Llandudno Junction. Right now it’s a gloriously sunny and frosty morning, so I’m hopeful of some decent pictures later.
16:00.
Sorry for the gap but I’ve been wearing out a lot of shoe leather around Llandudno and Conwy – and other points East. The primary reason for my visit (catching Voyagers) was a bit of a bust, but the rest of the day’s been really enjoyable even if the weather – like the Voyagers – didn’t play ball. The glorious sunshine I’d experienced through the train window en-route disappeared as soon as I arrived in Llandudno. A lot of my time was taken up exploring picture locations (old and new) to see just how much the lineside is obscured by vegetation nowadays. Having walked from Llandudno to Conwy – a place I’ve a lot of fond memories of with Dawn and her family – I strolled back to the Junction to try a new location. As is often the case, what would’ve been a great location 30-50 years ago is disappearing under lineside vegetation.
On the way back I stopped at Rhyl, where the station was resounding with carols thanks to the Vale of Clwyd MIND charity branch, assisted by their local PCSOs. Now I’m back in Chester, waiting for the ‘blue hour’ whilst having a quick pint as I use the adjacent pub’s wifi to write this and download some pictures. Here we go – I’ll add details later…
When railways had a very different attitude to heritage! Here’s a Transport for Wales service passing through the wall of Conwy castle. The Victorians didn’t let the castle get in their way, they built the railway right up to the base of the castle and built this arch where they breached the wall.
19:00.
I’m on the last leg home, having traversed a very soggy Manchester city centre. That said, it’s always good for pictures (as you’ll see later). The day’s been a mixed one due to the weather which has really played games with me. Even so, I’ve found some new photo locations and managed a few decent shots, not just of the Voyagers I was after, but also of Class 56s on the Railhead Treatment Train (RHTT) – and other bits and bobs.
Tomorrow’s going to be very different day as it’s my Father-in-Laws 90th birthday, so the camer will be put to another use…
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/
As expected, we’ve had a quiet day here at Bigland Towers, although the mild weather’s been a boon as it’s allowed me to spend more time preparing the gardens for winter by cutting back various plants and shovelling bags of dead leaves to prevent the back of the house (where there’s lots of cobbles) becoming a skating rink. Another positive is that Dawn’s finally on the mend, shaking off the lurgi that’s bedeviled her these past couple of weeks, which is good timing as it’s her fathers 90th birthday next week.
Apart from getting mucky in the garden I have managed to get some photographic work done, filing and editing pictures clogging up my laptop’s hard-drive which are now safely duplicated on several different hard-drives for safety. Modern digital cameras are wonderful things, but file sizes have increased so much in recent years that they soon eat up disc space.
I have had time to peruse social media whilst I’ve waited for stuff to copy. I can’t say I’ve been impressed with what I’ve seen. I used to be an avid user of Twitter, but since Elon Musk bought it he’s turned it into a right-wing cesspit full of conspiracy loons and clowns who’ve paid for blue ticks that spend all their time rage-farming in order to try and make money. The day’s when it was the place to go to for real breaking news are long gone. Now, like millions of others, I’ve set up a new account at ‘Bluesky‘, which is far more civilised as it doesn’t have Musk screwing around with the algorithms in order to promote his own world view whilst supressing real news. You can find me at (@paulbigland.bsky.social). The levels of engagement are far better as a result and the people there are far more reasoned and civil. You can actually engage without getting bombarded by shit-posts from Trump or Farage groupies. I still use Twitter (I refuse to call it X) as there’s still some people who I want to listen to who haven’t made the transition yet, but it’s clear Twitter’s dying bit by bit. Why would anyone want to spend their time in such a depressing place? The other day I saw a post on Bluesky which made me laugh as it summed up the situation perfectly. It said ’25 years ago we used social media to escape the real world. Nowadays we use the real world to escape social media’. So true…
With that thought I’ll leave you with today’s picture, which is another one from the archives as I’ve not been out with the camera for a few days now. I took this at Manchester Victoria station on the 5th October.
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 