Author Archives: Paul Bigland

Rolling blog. Another positioning move…

03 Sunday Mar 2024

Posted by in British Railways (BR), London, Rolling blogs, Travel, West Yorkshire

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16:40.

Another Sunday and another day where part of it’s spent getting into position for the next day. When arranging their events people sometimes forget that – whilst the media is notoriously ‘Londoncentric’ not everyone actually lives in the capital anymore! I have to be in Chippenham at 09:00 tomorrow morning. Whilst that’s doable from London, it’s impossible from West Yorkshire.

So, much of today’s been spent at home. We’ve finally had a respite from the rain. Today (whilst it’s still been chilly) there’s been clear skies and sunshine. Ideal conditions for the pair of us enjoying a long canalside walk after a leisurely start to the day.

Now – fortified by a large slab of Dee’s home-made lemon meringue pie – I’m on the move again, this time aboard a Northern service to Leeds where I’ll catch an LNER train to Kings Cross. Having spent the past few weeks travelling the West Coast route I’ll be back on the East Coast for a change. Let’s see how the trip goes…

I don’t often travel at a weekend except for pleasure. Unlike my normal trips today’s Northern fellow travellers are mostly people having a day out sightseeing or visiting family and friends. Not that the train’s quiet – far from it. Sunday’s a busy day on the railways nowadays. It make you wonder why we still have a separate and very distinct Sunday timetable.

18:10.

London bound! There was a frustrating moment when I arrived at Leeds as I saw the next London train on the adjacent platform. It was worked by Mk4 loco-hauled set but there was no way I was going to make the connection. Instead, I watched as the train powered out of the station, pushed by ‘Battle of Britain memorial flight’. The next Southbound service was worked by an LNER ‘Azuma’ and I was concerned that it might be packed. As it is – it’s not too bad.

My chariot awaits…

I managed to find a vacant seat in coach C and set up the mobile office. We’ve just left Wakefield where as many passengers left as joined. Next stop is Doncaster, which should be interesting. Sadly, we’ve lost the light now although I’m grateful that’s taking longer as each day passes. I’ve had enough of winter’s long nights.

18:30.

To my surprise we’ve still lots of empty seats available after Doncaster. Coach C’s filled up but there were nowhere near as many passengers waiting as I’d thought there might be. We have two more stops to make before London, at Newark Northgate snd Peterborough.

19:20.

We’re now accelerating away from Peterborough, our last stop before Kings Cross. This brings back loads of memories for me as – back in the late 1980s, early 1990s – this was one of my regular journeys. I still lived in London then and would often come up to Peterborough on a Friday night after work to spend the weekend with Nancy, an old friend from Southport. How things have changed since then! Peterborough was the edge of the London commuter belt and obviously still is. During the week I often see people wearing Transport for London uniforms joining trains here as they commute into the capital. Key workers who’ve been priced out of the city. What surprised me today wasn’t the number of people joining the train – it was the number disembarking – and their ages. They were overwhelmingly young. What’s the new demographic I’m no longer aware of?

00:15.

Really? Is that the time? Bugger. Here endeth today’s blog. I’ve got to be up at silly o’clock in the morning to make my way to Chippenham. I’ve no idea where the time – or years, went as the pair of us have been immersed in watching old British Transport Commission films from the 50s-60s. I’ll leave you with one last picture from my trip over to Clapham from Kings Cross. Spot the interloper at Victoria…

Expect another rolling blog tomorrow as the day unfolds…

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/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

2nd March picture(s) of the day…

02 Saturday Mar 2024

Posted by in Food and drink, Greater Manchester, Picture of the day, Pubs, Travel, West Yorkshire

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March? Where the hell did February go – other than underwater? We’ve gone from the wettest February on record to another month that seems determined to carry on in the same vein. The past two days here at Bigland Towers have seen miserable weather as we’ve had a combination of snow, sleet and rain. The snow’s clung on to the valley tops but the rest of the valley can be summed up in one word. Soggy. The ground’s so saturated any extra rainfall runs straight off, clogging roads and drains. The roads are already in an appalling state but constant flooding’s making them worse as fractured tarmac and gravel is washed away, making potholes both deeper and wider. Still it’s OK, Rishi Sunak’s potholes won’t exist as he’s spending £bns ‘diverted’ from HS2 to fix ’em. And if you believe that I have this really nice tower in Paris to sell to you…

Today the pair of us decided to have a day out and bugger the weather, so we drove over the border into Greater Manchester to a place called Uppermill. The idea was to have lunch somewhere, but the town was packed – despite the weather. We fell back on plan B and travelled the short distance to Delph and stopped at the Old Bell Inn where we found a table without a problem. We’ve eaten here before but not for a year or two. We weren’t disappointed. I ordered a local delicacy – rag pudding. It’s similar to a steamed pudding in that it comes in a suet case, it’s also delicious! Dawn decided to go for the fish and chips which was equally tasty. Here’s the rag pudding…

As we were on the Huddersfield road we decided to come back via Marsden and the Colne valley, calling in at the Riverhead pub on the way. This popular brew-pub on the rail ale trail has only just reopened after a major refurbishment. Here’s how it looks now.

The upstairs room in the Riverhead
At the back of the upstairs is a kitchen area and hatch which serves Asian-style steamed buns
Brew tanks at the back of the ground floor.
The revamped downstairs bar area looking out towards the main street.

Now the pair of us are relaxing at home before another busy day tomorrow. We couldn’t have fitted in a dessert course earlier but Dee’s decided to make one at home. So, whilst I’m penning this, Dawn’s in the kitchen making one of her divine lemon meringue pies!

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/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

Rolling blog. Breakthrough…

27 Tuesday Feb 2024

Posted by in Hs2, London, Photography, Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel

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05:40

After a lovely evening in Clapham where I spent time with Irish friends on an Internet chat group it’s time to come back to the real world and head off to the Chilterns to record a major event in the construction of High Speed 2. Today, the one of the two Tunnel Boring Machines (TBMs) will break-through and complete the first of the two 10 mile long Chiltern tunnels and I’m privileged to have been invited along to witness it. But first I’ve got to get across London and out to Great Missenden.

Here’s how the South portal of the tunnel looked in July 2021.

08:00.

My cross-London journey was stress free as I keft in plenty of time. Hassard had to be on the 07:15 from Euston so the pair of us were up early. I caught a train into Victoria then used the Circle and Bakerloo lines to get to Marylebone. I rarely use the underground nowadays, preferring to stick to national rail – or even walk. What a difference compared to when I lived here when I’d often spend several days a week traversing the tube. Some things haven’t changed, such as the ancient Bakerloo line stock which is well past its sell-by date. It’s a sad reflection on this Government’s priorities (they have some, other than being re-elected? Ed) that our capital city has such aged trains in daily service with no sign of replacements.

Now I’m making my way on younger stock, the 1992 built ‘Thames Turbos” to Great Missenden.

09:20.

On the way..

10:08.

In position…

10:20.

There’s a real party atmosphere here. HS2’s set up a barbecue area and staff who’ve been working on the project are taking selfies in front of the tunnel.

11:27.

It’s here!

13:55.

Wow! What an amazing event and what a privilege to be part of it. I’ll add more pictures (and a video) this evening. The atmosphere was brilliant as workers from all around the world celebrated together. You can see the flags of the nations workers hail from either side of the TBM. The crew were Irish whilst the TBM ‘driver’ was a young Frenchwoman.

Right now I’m on my way back into London the slow way. Myself, Youtube star Geoff Marshall and Modern Railways Philip Sherratt were given a lift to the station at Great Missenden only to find no trains were running due to a track defect. Instead the minibus driver took us to Amersham where we caught a Met line.

18:45.

Homeward bound up the West Coast Main Line to Manchester after a long day and the mobile office is open and in full swing…

22:00.

Home again! It’s been a long old day so I’ll leave you with a last couple of pictures that I edited on the way home. There’s literally hundreds for me to edit over the next few days, so watch this space.

Breakthrough! After 3 years tunnelling 16km, ‘Florence’ emerges into the sunlight.
The TBM crew pose on the cutting head after the machine had come to a halt. Now ‘Florence’ will be stripped down. What can be refurbished and reused in other TBMs will be, what can’t will be recycled as scrap.

And finally, a short video…

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/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

Rolling blog. West coast wandering…

26 Monday Feb 2024

Posted by in London, Photography, Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel

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09:45.

Today’s adventure has started from Sowerby Bridge as I’m heading across the Pennines to spend time on the West Coast Main Line en-route to London.

Right now I’m aboard a very busy 09:22 to Chester which is currently threading its way through the Calder Valley. The train’s full of leisure travellers rather than commuters although one or two of my fellow passengers appear to be working on the train. Not so the two young Chinese women in front of me, who’re clearly out for day. Manchester bound for the shops or to historic Chester I wonder?

09:55.

We’ve broken throgh the barrier of the Pennines into Lancashire and (as is often the case) different weather. Whilst cloud dominated the West Yorkshire skies the sunshine’s breaking through more scattered formations here.

As usual, our stop at Rochdale provided plenty of traffic. Several dozen folk were waiting to board. Now this train’s standing room only. It’s not that there’s not still a few seats available, it’s that they’re occupied by bags and some people would rather stand than ask people to move them!

12:30.

Back again! After a dash across central Manchester on foot I hung around at Piccadilly long just long enough to get a handful of shots. The station was surprisingly quiet both from a passenger and fleet perspective. Avanti hadn’t got a single Pendolino platformed which suggested their was trouble on the WCML somewhere. Sure enough, an inbound set arrived over 10 minutes late and despite crews best efforts it left 12 down – only with me on board as far as Crewe.

As is often the case Crewe had some unusual visitors. I narrowly missed getting shots of A4 steam loco ”Sir Nigel Gresley’ which chugged South with its support coach just as I arrived. A more modern (but equally redundent) visitor was an Alstom built Class 175. Latterly in store at Holyhead, it was making its way from Crewe Gresty Bridge to Barton Under Needwood. God knows why.

Ah, thanks to my old friend and colleague Richard Clinnick I now know why. The 175s are having remidial work carried out to them before they head to Ely for further storage. The trains are owned by Angel and Ely is their storage centre.

14:30. Having diverted via the Stour and bimbled around Birmingham (only to find the weather not to my liking I’m now on a direct train to Euston from Coventry – with yet more variety. This *should* have been an Avanti Pendolino. Instead it’s a pair of Voyagers! Ah, well. – at least the power sockets are working, unlike the unrefurbished Pendolino I travelled on from Crewe to Birmingham. The set swap has clearly confused many passengers who got on at Cov’ as the two trains are very different in layout. I don’t envy anyone who’s booked seats in ‘standard plus’ as they ain’t gonna find it! Don’t expect a full meal service on 1st either…

16:00.

Bugger! I had blogged from the train earlier but the wifi hung, so what I’d written never appeared. What I’d talked about was how thw weather had picked up and that – despite the Pendolino being substituted for a Voyager – what a good trip it was, helped by the fact it was a quiet train. That said. I do prefer the ‘old’ Voyagers compared to the stripped out Cross-Country version. I felt quite nostalgic visiting a proper shop/cafe on one.

Now I’m in London. Having had chance to get a few shots and with one eye on the improving late-afternoon weather I’m aboard one of the new Class 730s heading for Watford Junction. I’m quite impressed with these sets. The wide gangways make for an open feel but I’m not entirely sure about the table bays either side. OK, there’s a window view from one side but the other’s a real bulkhead experience – although it’ll be ideal if all you want to do is work without distractions.

Is it me, or do the front end of these trains feel rather ‘butch’? They certainly don’t have the graceful lines of some other newcomers.

Great for working. Not so great for window-gazing.

23:55.

Last update. I’ve been busy in London so haven’t had time to update this blog until now. That wasn’t the plan, but when I arrived at my old friend’s flat in Clapham we ended up getting embroiled in an internet discussion group on Irish railways which included other old friends. Thankfully, we didn’t have to cook as I brought a food parcel from West Yorkshire in the form of Thai green curry and rice. Yeah – I know – It’s hardly standard Yorkshire fare, but it is for us!

Now it’s time to call it a night as I’ve a silly o’ clock start tomorrow which will prove to be an interesting day – as you’ll see. In the meantime, here’s a last couple of pictures..

Tell me that you’re in London without telling me you’re in London…
Anyone who’s used Euston station in the BR era may remember this site as it was the location of one of the old Travelers Fare kiosks, long before all the food options that arrived later.

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/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

25th February picture of the day…

25 Sunday Feb 2024

Posted by in Food and drink, Photography, Picture of the day, West Yorkshire

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It’s another short blog from Bigland Towers today, mainly because it’s been a busy one and I need time to to unwind as well as prepare for the next few days away, which involves a fair bit of logistics with various bits of kit to clean, batteries to keep charged and all the other mundane activities related to being a roving photojournalist.

I’m heading back to London early tomorrow on another ‘positioning move’ ready for a job on Tuesday morning. This time it looks likes ‘third time lucky’ – so expect some rather unique and interesting rolling blogging. That said, I’ll be rolling blogging throughout tomorrow as I intend to make the most of the day as I travel. I’m not entirely sure what I’ll be doing (or where I’ll be going) en-route, so I could be as surprised as you!

Much of today’s been taken up with pottering around the cottage, keeping on top of daily life and the fun and games of living in a Mid-Victorian cottage. At least the weather played ball today. I even managed to resurrect the outdoor washing line now the weather’s improving so the cobbled passage at the back of the cottages looks like a set for ‘Coronation St’! However, we did both manage to get out for a daily constitutional, which leaves us both feeling virtuous – Dawn more so than me as she also did a HIIT session! Who says Sunday’s a day of rest?

Right, time to go. See you tomorrow. Today’s picture is from yesterday. Whilst many pubs are closing it’s always a delight to see one that’s reopened. This is the Bingley Arms, reopened last year as the Bingley by a joint venture between the Ossett pub company and SALT brewing.

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/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

24th February picture(s) of the day…

24 Saturday Feb 2024

Posted by in Architecture, Food and drink, History, Ossett, Photography, Picture of the day, Railways, West Yorkshire

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The pair of us have had a real mix of a day here at Bigland Towers thanks to different appointments and the improving weather. I’d planned to stay at home this morning whilst Dawn went off to an appointment in Ossett but once the early morning cloud that blanketed the bottom of the Calder valley cleared and we were treated to wall to wall blue skies and sunshine it became obvious that it was too nice a day to be stuck at home. Instead, I packed the camera bag and joined Dee for the journey Eastwards. I didn’t go all the way to Ossett, instead I got dropped off in nearby Horbury Bridge, the nearest place to the old Healy Mills railway marshalling yard. Built as part of British Railways 1955 modernisation plan this huge yard was once the centre for sorting coal traffic from the vast Yorkshire coalfields. Now it lies abandoned. But, recently, parts of the yard have been cleared of Silver Birch and other trees that have taken over, to expose the tracks once more. The grapevine suggests part of the yard will be brought back into use as a staging area for the Trans-Pennine Route Upgrade (TRU) but I’ve yet to see this confirmed. Here’s how it looked today.

Horbury Bridge itself is cut through by the River Calder, the Calder and Hebble navigation – and this magnificent old railway viaduct, which once carried the Midland Railway’s eight-mile route from Royston Junction to Thornhill. The line closed in 1968 and the 17 arch viaduct has been disused ever since.

I’ve passed under it so many times but never been able to get pictures, so today was an ideal day to try. To be honest, it’s difficult to do it justice from the ground. Really, you need a drone as it’s hemmed in by buildings and there’s no public vantage points that give you the sense of scale.

After walking from Horbury to Ossett (a great way of getting exercise as its all uphill) I spotted something else of historical interest. Ossett has a fine collection of Victorian buildings in the centre. This one caught my eye as its an old Liberal Club. That political party vanished decades ago in a merger with the then SDP to form the Liberal-Democrats, but as a teenager I remember Liberal clubs all over the place and sometimes used to play snooker in one in Southport. Like the one in Ossett, it’s been closed for years. Mind you, with the way the Conservative party’s tearing itself apart at the moment I wonder if soon many ‘Con’ clubs will be following the Liberal ones into the history books…

The former Ossett Liberal club on Station Rd. Neither the club or the station exist anymore.

On the way home Dawn was kind enough to stop and allow me to get pictures of TRU upgrade work at a place I’d never managed to get to before. Colne Bridge Rd overbridge East of Deighton, just before the junction of the lines from Huddersfield and Brighouse. here’s how it looks today.

Looking East towards Heaton Lodge Junction. This section will regain four-track status with the new fast lines from Huddersfield being laid to the right of the existing tracks. In the middle foreground the railway passes over the Huddersfield canal.
The view looking West towards Huddersfield with Bradley Junction and the site of the former station obscured by the overbridge in the background.

Once back at home the tempo changed. I indulged in some DIY before heading out for a walk and a pint in our local (The Big 6) whilst Dawn began to cook up a storm in the kitchen. So, whilst I quaffed one of these..

The Attamire Pale was lovely…

-Dawn rustled up two very different vegetarian dishes. Here’s one – a Caulifower and Chick-Pea curry (although it has many more ingredients than that).

Now it’s time to enjoy the fruits of Dawn’s labours whilst we enjoy a quiet Saturday night at home, watching a good film. See you all 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/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

The Rishi Sunak ‘released funding from cancelling Hs2’ con – part 6.

23 Friday Feb 2024

Posted by in Hs2, Politics, RAIL magazine, Rishi Sunak, Wales

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Today, the Department of Transport tweeted this ridiculous claim.

I actually feel sorry for the civil servants at the DfT. They know this is a con but their political masters are using them to push Government (read Tory) propaganda out in an election year. This is a naked abuse of what the civil service is there for, but there’s no low this Government won’t stoop to – including politicising the civil service.

Why tweet this? There’s no supporting press release or announcement of anything happening on the DfT website, or through the DfT’s normal press releases, there’s just this tweet. So why put this out now? Oh, wait. Rishi Sunak was in North Wales yesterday on his pre-election campaign ‘grand tour’. What a co-incidence!

So, what’s happening with North Wales electrification, announced as being funded by scrapping Hs2 phase 2 by Sunak last years and included in the risible ‘Network North’ not even the back of a fag packet plan?

Nothing. Zip. Bugger all. Last month RAIL magazine carried an excellent article detailing why nothing is likely to happen before 2030. You can read it here.

For a start, the £1bn is a con. There’s no HS2 money to ‘release’. It doesn’t exist. It wasn’t due to be borrowed for years yet. It sure as hell isn’t say in a pot in the Treasury labelled ‘for HS2’ that’s just waiting to be rebadged. It’s classic ‘jam tomorrow’ politics. Cancel something you *were* building that had a business case, planning permission and even spades in the ground and announce utter vapourware for sometime in the future instead.

Before a spade enters the ground in North Wales there needs to be a business case for the work. That doesn’t exist. There *was* one, but that dates from 2015 and is hopelessly out of date. That £1bn figure is assumed to be based on that now-defunct business case. Since then, construction costs have increased by roughly 7% per annum – meaning that there’d be no spare change from £1.5bn.

As you can see, the project exists on in the imagination. It’s not included in Network Rail’s future plans and budget which is known as CP7. Control Period 7 runs from April 2024 to March 2029.

The truth is, there’s not a cat in hell’s chance of ANY work planning/consultations being done before the next General Election, which could come as early as May this year. As for actual spades in the ground – don’t make me laugh…

This is nothing but a dishonest and deceitful election con by Sunak and the Tories. Don’t fall for it – or him.

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/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

21st February picture of the day…

21 Wednesday Feb 2024

Posted by in London, Photography, Picture of the day, Railways

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There’s really not much of a blog from me tonight, it’s more of a picture update. After my travels over the past couple of days today’s been very much office based as I’ve been busy wading through the hundreds of pictures I’ve taken in the past 48 hours. Mind you, the weather here in the Pennines hasn’t exactly helped. The climate’s reverted to almost continuous rain accompanied by leaden skies – hardly ideal for photography – or walking.

The first batch of pictures I’ve finished editing are a look at the interior of SWR’s new ‘Arterio’ trains. You can find the results here. Not many folks have had the opportunity to travel on them, so I know they’re of interest.

There’s still plenty of other pictures to edit and add to my Zenfolio website. Hopefully, I’ll have them all done by the weekend. Meanwhile, today’s picture is of the interior of another new train. This is the ‘Aventra’ – also built by Bombardier (now Alstom) this time for the West Midlands and services to/from Euston. Note the difference to the ‘Arterio’ specification (built by the same company).

They look rather different externally to the Arterio too…

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/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

Rolling blog. Metropolitan meandering…

20 Tuesday Feb 2024

Posted by in London, Photography, Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel

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10:00.

Having had an enjoyable evening with an old friend I’m taking time to explore some old haunts and byways of the capital – and a new train. Old friends brought me from Clapham to Waterloo.

Life in the old girls yet. 4 years after they should have gone to the scrapyard the BR built Class 455s still carry passengers in and out of London Waterloo.

Now I’m waiting to join one of their replacements – albeit four years later than planned! The Bombardier class 701 ‘Arterio’ has finally entered service, but only in a very limited fashion. They work a diagram on the line from Waterloo to Windsor, and I’m about to catch one…

10:11.

I can’t quite believe that 17 years have passed since I was photographing the very last Eurostar to depart from here the night before services moved to their new home at St Pancras.

11:00.

Well, I *was* planning on catching one of the new Arterios but SWR had other ideas. The service is running a ‘shadow’ path on the Windsor line, only today it decided not to play ball. Having arrived late the set was run as empty stock. I’m now chasing it in one of the Class 455s it was designed to replace. I’m hoping it’ll run back from Windsor as a service train and I can pick it up en-route. Watch this space…

Not an Arterio…

14:45.

S’cuse the gap but I’ve been moving – a lot! Having made it out to Staines in hot pursuit of the Arterio I managed to catch it on its way back from Windsor.

Not a 455…

First impressions? From a passenger’s perspective they’re not bad. They’re a modern train with all the amenities you’d expect and (unlike the 455s) they have toilets onboard.

17:30.

Grr…I’m now on my way back to Yorkshire via the West Coast Main Line on another Avanti Pendolino. I’d hoped to have been able to relax and spent some time blogging my thoughts, but the wifi’s knackered, leaving me typing on my phone which is hardly conducive to reporting on all the things I’ve been up to today. Plus, I’ve enjoyed the lengthening days and the opportunity to watch the (flooded) world go by so blogging was taking a backseat until now.

I’ve certainly had an interesting couple of days. As an ex-Londoner I’ve been surprised at how quieter the city seems right now. Euston yesterday and Clapham Junction today were far quieter than they used to be. But then – when I catch a train to faze into people’s back garden and see all the home offices/sheds folk have built that’s hardly surprising. The world of work’s evolved. Especially office work.

Another thing I noticed which was also really annoying was the fact so many folk wander around whilst completely disconnected from this world. I’m not talking about the ones who never look up from staring at their smartphones (although they’re bad enough) but the ones who compound that by wearing earbuds or headphones as well – so deprive themselves of another of their senses. Several tines I had to stop on station stairs as the person coming up them was too busy staring at a screen whilst listening to whatever they had playing via their headphones to engage with the real world and realise someone (me) was stood in their way. I’ve started doing it deliberately now just to see their reaction when reality intrudes on them. Is it just me getting old, or do other folk find this annoying?

17:50.

We’ve just left Stoke (on Trent) on our way to Manchester and I’ve realised I’m back in the wet weather band. Bugger! It’s been so mild these past few days I’ve ditched my waterproof. Walking home could be fun…

22:15.

Fortunately, I made it home without getting soaked. My timing was impeccable as I arrived in Manchester after the rain had departed. It was the same story back in Halifax. Now I’m relaxing with my feet up, editing one or two pictures to finish this blog off with. Here’s a look at the interior of this beastie.

701037 calls at Staines on its return working to Waterloo.
Lino flooring and basic seats without seatback tables or armrests but there’s plenty of plug sockets and some small tables. The overall impression is that the sets are spacious. They also seem reasonably quiet and the ride was good. I suspect passengers will like them provided they prove to be reliable.

I’ll be adding many more pictures to my Zenfolio website over the next few days, but for now – it’s 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/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

Rolling blog. Plan B…

19 Monday Feb 2024

Posted by in London, Photography, Rolling blogs, Travel

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09:00.

Due to events mentioned yesterday today’s trip to London is less of an imperative so my plans have changed. Now, I can take time to track down a certain train in order to get some internal shots for a magazine. That means heading over to Manchester this morning. Thankfully, the high winds we suffered overnight have abated. I was beginning to wonder if the day was going to go pear-shaped straight away if there was storm damage on the West Coast Main Line. Fortunately, everything seems fine, which is just as well as the train I’m hunting started its day in Glasgow. It’s currently en-route to London.

Feel free to pop back later to see what I get up to (and where).

10:38.

I’m on the move. Having strolled down to Sowerby Bridge sans hat and gloves due to temperatures making it into double figures I’m now aboard Northern’s 10:23 to Chester via Manchester Victoria. Tody the service is made up from a pair of 2-car Class 195s so there’s plenty of space aboard – at least for now.

Sunshine in Sowerby Bridge.

14:30.

Apologies for the gap but I’ve been rather busy and it’s only now that I’m heading South that I’ve found time to take a break on a train with working wifi!

I was kept busy in and around Manchester stocking up on library shots of the refurbished interiors of some of the new Avanti Pendolinos. It was a bit of a hit and miss game as not every set has been refurbished, but as there’s three trains an hour into Piccadilly the odds are in my favour! As it is, I struck lucky early on so had to to ride a couple between Manchester and Stockport before a last change at Stoke-On-Trent. You’ll be able to read the full train test (written by my old friend Pip Dunn) in a forthcoming edition of RAIL magazine. Right now I’m on another refurbished Pendolino heading South to London. I wasn’t entirely convinced by the refurb when the first sets came our but I have to admit I’m beginning to warm to them – and certainly see the advantages when I’m using them as a mobile office. The table layout with all their mains and USB sockets (plus an induction charger for mobile phones buried in the table top) is much more efficient – as is the sockets buried in the seat back in front of you when you’re sitting in an airline seat. The new two-part tables are good too.

When I’ve have time to glance out of the window as we’ve passed through Staffordshire I’ve been taken aback at the amount of flooded fields. I know it’s been wet in the Pennines and the land wasn’t exactly dry when I was down this way the other month, but I’d have expected levels to have subsided by now.

15:30.

We’ve reached the outskirts of London. I’ve been busy editing pictures (I’ll add a couple when I get to Euston) whilst keeping one eye on the weather. The clouds have broken here in the outh and we have watery sunshine which may allow me some photographic opportunities. I’m still on a learning curve with the new camera, trying different settings and experimenting. One thing I’ve noticed is that the Nikon Z9 (because it has so many features) is much more menu-based that the older, simpler D5 so it’s not as instinctive. No doubt I’ll learn, but a learning curve it is.

16:00.

On arrival at Euston I couldn’t resist the temptation to try out one of the new Class 730s sat in an adjacent platform, so now I’m en-route to an old stomping ground: Watford Junction. I’ve not got time to fully explore this train but first impressions are positive – apart from the quirk that there are no armrests on the seats. Admittedly, that makes them feel more spacious, but on a long journey it could be a problem. On the plus side, there’s decent sized tables, plenty of power sockets and also wifi.

23:15

Welcome to the end. After what’s proved to be an interesting day it time to call it one. I met up with my old friend Hassard earlier and now the pair of us are relaxing at his gaffe in Clapham having enjoyed the home-made Lasagne and Bakewell Tart food parcel that Dawn supplied before I left Yorkshire!

The two of us met at Euston, which was an interesting experience as the place was so quiet compared to how I remember London. Hass’ explained that Monday’s become very quiet as it’s the day many people work from home. Thinking about it I can see the parallels in Yorkshire, it’s just the fact that in London – it’s writ large.

Anyway, it’s now time for me to sign off. I’ll leave you with a last couple of pictures from today. There’ll be a lot more tomorrow.

The changing face (and livery) of regional services from London Euston.
Going underground…

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/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312