Category Archives: ACoRP

Rolling blog: on the rails again…

05 Monday Aug 2019

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07:35.

It’s a wet and windy morning in the Calder Valley and I’m getting ready to head South for the final two days of station judging for the ACoRP awards. Today I’m visiting a station in South London, but first I’ve got to get there. Let’s see how the day goes…

08:55.

I’m now on the first train of the day, Northern’s 08:52 from Sowerby Bridge which will take me to Leeds. The weather broke just before I walked down to the station, allowing me to bask in the sunshine for a while instead of receiving the soaking I was expecting. The forecast for the next few days is unsettled right across the country so I’m not expecting my luck to hold!

My train’s busy, but not overly so. The holiday periods in full swing, so there’s fewer travelling and more of them are casually dressed.

09:59.

Despite the holiday period my 3-car train was packed from Bradford into Leeds, where I switched to LNER’s 09:45 service to London which is being worked by a Class 91 and a Mk4 set. I suppose I should be enjoying the chance to travel on these whilst I can, but I must admit, I’m already preferring the Azuma’s as they give a much smoother ride. I’m sat in the quiet coach right behind the loco and the snatching and jerking of the loco is quite pronounced, especially now, as we’ve just stopped at Wakefield Westgate.

10:46.

We’re speeding through the countryside South of Newark at 112mph right now whilst being battered by regular rainstorms which are building up the further South we get. Earlier I took a walk to the buffet to buy breakfast and saw just how busy the rest of the train is. There’s a lot of families aboard who’re obviously heading for a day out in London, as well as the usual business travellers and tourists. Looking at the loadings, it’s a profitable train.

12:08.

I left the LNER service at Peterborough, where I stayed long enough to get a few shots in the sunshine before it departed, and so did I. This time I’m travelling aboard one of the Siemens ‘peoplemovers’ – otherwise known as the Class 700. These 12 car trains have a massive passenger capacity but even they get packed in the rush hour. However, right now there’s more than enough space to swing a cat, if you were so inclined…

I’ve time to spare for another stop before I get to where I need to, so I’m heading for Stevenage to have a look at the work that’s going on to add an extra platform at the station.

14:16.

Well, that was an interesting interlude. I stopped off twice, firstly at Hitchin to get a few shots, then at Stevenage, where I managed to grab some pictures of the work on the new platform.

Whilst I was there a Hull Trains 180 I’d seen signal checked earlier was terminated due to mechanical problems.

All the passengers were transferred to an 8 car Thameslink 700, which was quite cosy with all the extra punters! I caught it as far as Blackfriars where I transferred to a Sevenoaks service for my appointment at Crofton Park.

16:06.

Visit done (I’ll upload a pic later) I’m now heading my way back across London via Thameslink, bound for Norwich – eventually!

16:57.

I’ve now joined the commuter hordes heading out of the metropolis after a hard day at work. In my case I’m on Greater Anglia’s 17:00 to Norwich, which is pretty much full and standing. It’s a fast service, non-stop to Ipswich, which is where I might dally for a while.

This route holds lots of fabulous memories for me from my days residing in London as I lived, worked and socialised alongside it for so many years. I still get a warm feeling when we whizz past my old Housing Office and the estates I used to manage in Bow, and the virtually unrecognisable Stratford station and environs.

23:06.

I’m here in Norwich and bringing the blog to a close. I had intended to upload some more pictures from today’s travels but the hotel wifi is flaky and had other ideas. Hopefully tomorrow. After arriving and checking in I went for a wander up the strip from the station to the town. It’s always been a street full of clubs, bars and fast-food joints, so it was interesting to see just how many are vacant or undergoing a revamp. I remember it from the 1990s. On a Friday-Saturday night you knew that this would be where you’d be likely to find every village idiot across the county. Maybe it’s changed now, but a Monday night isn’t the time to find out! That said, I do like Norwich, it has some cracking pubs and beautiful buildings. I doubt I’ll have time to look around on this trip, but I’m sorely tempted to return to base myself here for a few days whilst I explore. It was always so much easier to get here when I lived in London and I’ve great memories of a cycling holiday from Ipswich all the way up to the Noth Norfolk coast. One day I’ll get around to scanning all the old slides…

Right, until tomorrow, goodnight.

Rolling blog: A tale of two stations…

01 Thursday Aug 2019

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06:25.

I’m preparing for another day on the ACoRP judging trail, but today’s a little different. Due to my fellow judge having other commitments I’m flying solo today, plus, there’s only two stations to visit, one in Derbyshire and one in Greater Manchester, so (in theory) I should be finished by early afternoon. The weather forecast isn’t looking as bleak either, so it should be an enjoyable day. I know both the stations, I’m visiting, but only one has put themselves forward for judging before. Let’s see how the day goes and if punctuality improves as I’m intending setting off on exactly the same train as before, the 08:23 from Sowerby Bridge…

08:13.

I’m already on the move. The weather’s dry with a mix of blue skies and cloud, even if it’s not particularly warm. I left home slightly earlier this morning which meant I arrived at Sowerby Bridge in time to catch a slightly earlier train, the 08:06 to Southport. It’s being worked by a part-refurbished Class 156. You can tell it’s the holiday season by just how empty it is – and this is when we’re waiting to leave Todmorden!

I’ve bagged a table bay of four in order to sit back and enjoy a relaxing trip across the Pennines, knowing that I’ve banked some time.09:18.After strolling across Manchester city centre from Victoria to Piccadilly I’ve decided to spend some of the time I banked by breaking my journey to Grindleford along the way, so I’m now on an earlier train along the route, the 09:20 to New Mills, which is worked by one of the soon to be withdrawn Class 142 Pacers. Sights like this will be a thing of the past by the end of the year.

The ride out of Piccadilly is like a bucking bronco as the Pacer heaves its way across the complex network of switches and crossings that make up the station throat.If you start seeing more than the usual amount of typos from here in, blame trying to blog on a phone touchscreen when bouncing along on a Pacer!

10:02.

I’ve stopped off to look around and admire Marple station. It’s claim to fame is that Marple was the inspiration for naming one of Agatha Christie’s famous detectives, Miss Marple. The local station friends group have provided information boards on the platforms to inform passengers of how the sleuth came to be named after the town. There’s other attractive posters and a selection of planters too.

11:37.

Grindleford visited, I’m now heading back West along the Hope Valley line which is celebrating it’s 125th anniversary this year. Things are on the up. Since the new timetable was introduced in May, services have doubled to hourly from two hourly, making the area much more accessible to people who want to leave their cars at home and use public transport. It’s a huge boost, as is the next step – doubling the size of the trains from two car to four. This entails extending the platforms at stations like Grindleford by reinstating what was once there, or by building new. Of course, this flies in the face of the moaners who always whinge about how the North never sees any investment in its public transport as all the money goes ‘down South’…

Talking of investment, on my way back I changed trains at Romily to catch the train behind which was working off the New Mills branch. About a year ago I wrote about how the local services centred on Romily were a great place to catch pairs of Pacers. Things have already changed with more Class 150s creeping in. The working following behind us was a 142/150 lash-up, so if you’re a fan of Pacers (and some folk are) you’d better get a move on as in a few months there’s going to be a mass extinction event around Manchester and the North-West.

13:25.

It was all going soooo well. Then I hit the congested Oxford Rd corridor, which is even more congested now Virgin Pendolino’s are diverted this was due to Acton Grange Jn on the West Coast being shut for rebuilding! My train from Oxford Rd to Irlam’s been trapped in a bay by late running services and didn’t escape until it was 9 mins late. I’m now plodding along on another Northern Class 150 to my final appointment for today: Irlam.

17:25.

S’cuse the gap in blogging. I’ve been busy with the camera and sorting stuff out on email. After leaving the Irlam station adopters I headed back into Manchester just in time to get caught in a torrential downpour. I mean, I know Manchester has a reputation for being wet, but this was impressive due to the intensity and the size of the drops.

My plan had been to spend an hour getting some pictures of Virgin Trains Pendolinos being diverted through the Oxford Rd corridor I mentioned earlier. Here’s one. My frustration was the Pendolinos that passed were in the old livery rather than the new, which would’ve updated the pictures.

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Of course, there were other attractions too, such as this DRS Class 88 working an intermodal service.

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I took my leave of Manchester shortly afterwards, conscious of more threatening skies. En-route I became aware that the threat was no-shit serious when I saw TV news showing a Derbyshire dam in danger of collapse in an area I’d travelled through earlier. Wake up folks, man-made global-warming is real…

Rolling blog: The judging continues…

29 Monday Jul 2019

Posted by in ACoRP, Calder Valley, Flooding, Mytholmroyd, Northern Rail, Railways, Rolling blogs, Transport, Weather, Yorkshire

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07:49.

I’m on the rails again. This time judging three stations across Yorkshire for the ACoRP awards. After the fun and games we had last week because of the heat, today could be problematic for a different reason. We’ve had torrential rain overnight and there’s more to come. When I walked down to Sowerby Bridge station this morning I did so along roads that were full of debris washed down from some of the steeper roads, which had been transformed into waterfalls. Crossing the river Calder I could see it was way above it’s normal level, although nowhere near its worst. In 2015 it was so high it flooded the lower level of the building you can see to the left of this picture.

Arriving at the station I walked straight on to a very late running 07:00 to Leeds, which was 41 minutes down after being delayed in the Walsden area due to flooding. This is a regular occurrence in the area due to a stream that runs under the line just by the station.

08:58.

I’m now waiting for the 08:48 from Leeds to Hull which is being delayed by flooding in the Stalybridge area. It’s currently 12 minutes kate, putting our 15 mins connection in peril. Not a good start to the day!

10:39.

We were meant to be at Driffield on the Yorkshire coast line 10 mins ago but we did miss our connection in Hull as we were 27 mins late. We’re now on the following service, leaving us 30 mins down. Luckily(due to the vagaries of the service) we’ll still have plenty of time to do our tour.

12:00.

First visit done, we’re now heading back to Hull from Driffield. Here’s a historic picture displayed on the station. It shows WW1 soldiers on the same spot we were stood, ready to go off to a war many of them never returned from

Driffield’s rather attractive. Here’s the old canal basin which is just 3 mins walk from the station

16:15.

The weather’s changed and I’m rather overdressed for the rapid rise in temperature now the sun’s appeared! We’ve left Bingley and headed into Bradford and walked across the city from Forater Sq to Interchange. There’s still residual delays, which means we’ll arrive in Mytholmroyd at the right time – just on the wrong train!

18:19.

The day’s done and I’m back at Sowerby Bridge, having a celebratory pint outside the Jubilee Refreshment rooms on the station before walking home. It’s a beautiful evening and such a contrast to this morning!

Rolling blog: Another judgement day…

25 Thursday Jul 2019

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08:06.Mark and I are getting ready to set off from Exeter for another day’s judging. We’ve only two stations to visit but they’re spread out and we’ve also got to get home afterwards. Plus, the weather forecast suggests that today will be the hottest day of the year so far and several rail companies have already announced service cancellations and speed restrictions. Stay with me and see how we fare…08:47.We’re on our first train of the day, GWR’s 08:31 from Exeter to Barnstaple as far as Copplestone on the Tarka line which is made up of a pair of Class 150s. They were busy earlier as they worked Exeter to Exemouth beforehand, now it’s a bit overkill, but will probably be very busy on the way back.

11:26.We’re now enjoying the air-conditioned comfort of a Hitachi class 800 en-route to Reading after visiting the single platform station at Copplestone and talking to the small band of women who’ve made it such an attractive station.

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To say the weather’s hotting up is an understatement. We’re keeping one eye on Real-Time Trains, making sure the speed restrictions due to hot weather aren’t going to get in our way. At the moment a broken-down train outside Paddington’s actually done us a favour as it’s giving us a few more minutes to make a tight connection at Reading. That said, we’re now running late too!12:08.We made it! Our train was 5 late into Reading, but the one we were hoping to catch was 10 down. They arrived almost simultaneously at platforms 11 and 9 which meant a mad dash up the stairs to cross the tracks. We made it with seconds to spare. The pair of us are now sat in coach A of a 5-car 800.Now, I know it’s the hottest day of the year and all that, but even so – I’m surprised at how steamy it’s been on both the 800s we’ve travelled on today. I walked through both sets just to check and some of them were like saunas. The car we’re in at the moment is the only one at levels I’d say are actually cool. It’s disappointing for brand-new trains.That said, it’s not a bad environment. Most folk bailed out at Oxford which allowed the pair of us to purloin a table and stretch out in comfort to enjoy the trip to our next destination: Evesham, where we’ll now arrive an hour earlier than planned – no mean feat on a day like today!16:02.It’s been an eventful few hours! After being on a cool train for a couple of hours the heat really hit us at Evesham. Having done what we came to there was just enough time for a celebratory pint before we started to make our way home via Worcester. This is when things started to go a bit “Pete Tong”! Our West Midlands trains service to Birmingham was stuck behind another DMU in platform 2 which had overheated. A shunt move and reversal got it out of trouble and into platform 1 where it picked us up before leaving 20 mins late. All was fine until we hit the outskirts of Birmingham where we got caught up in signal failures and more overheating trains. Mark decided to change at Smethwick Galton Bridge and try for a train to Cheshire. I opted to head into Birmingham, get a few pictures then weigh up my options. If the West Coast was up the spout I can always head back via Derby…Ironically, the train that carried us from Worcester was an old friend. It was one of the ex- London Overground Class 172s used on my old stamping ground – the Gospel Oak – Barking line, although they look a little different nowadays!

16:58.

Talk about serendipity! Here I am, sitting in central Birmingham, considering my options when I get a phone call about a commission from someone who’s having to get driven back to London from Derby ‘cos the Midland Main Line’s in chaos! Well, that’s me going via Derby ruled out then!

The weather’s starting to cool a bit here so I might just wait for the rush to subside for the next hour before I look at getting home. I’m used to packed trains but packed into a hot and sweaty Voyager for 90 mins isn’t my idea of fun if it can be avoided…

19:06.

After getting a few photos at Birmingham and having let some of the rush crush subside I decided to begin heading North and the first opportunity was a Class 350 working an all stopper shuttle to Wolverhampton. Needless to say, it was packed, but the air-conditioning worked and it wasn’t that far to stand. The Conductor was excellent as he stayed away from the script and came across as human and just trying to do his best in trying circumstances.

A few minutes down the line and out of the blue I got a tap on the shoulder from a chap in Virgin trains uniform who was ‘on the cushions’, well as much as you can be stood in a vestibule – who said “I follow you on Twitter, we have a mutual (rail) friend”.

We ended up having a really good natter about the railways and today’s events.

19:57.

“Penny the Pendolino” (for it was she) arrived at Crewe 90 mins late. Also late was a Transport for Wales service to Manchester Piccadilly, which I managed to jump on a couple of minutes before it left. Like most trains I’ve been on today, it’s packed – but it’s getting me closer to home…

21:16.

I’m on the final leg now. The TfW train to Manchester was fine. What wasn’t was looking at some of the utter crap people have been posting on social media about railways and the hot weather. Anyone would think the #RailwayFamily were deliberately trying to ruin peoples day just for the shots and giggles rather than trying to keep them safe and get them home, whilst suffering stress themselves. My opinions of my fellow country-folk continue to decline. At what point did we become so stupid that we almost revel in the fact – and also so intolerant?

Having arrived in Manchester I made my way on foot between Picc and Vic. The wind got up and we actually had a few blessed drops of rain that teased but little else. Now I’m on the (slightly) late running 20:58 to Leeds, a Class 156/153 lash-up using a former GWR “dogbox” (railway slang for a single car Class 153) which I’m relaxing in as the train’s pretty empty. Hot, but empty!

Rolling blog: 2 more days of ACoRP judging…

24 Wednesday Jul 2019

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06:13.

After baking on the hottest night of the year that was accompanied by a heck of the thunderstorm overnight I’m getting ready to head off for two more days of judging for the ACoRP awards. I’d have loved to have got out of bed, watched the lightning and tried to get pictures but I needed to sleep as it’s a long day today. It’s also a good job it’s today, not yesterday as the East Coast Main Line (ECML) suffered yet another de-wirement that left services in chaos. I’ve been checking services this morning and luckily, none of the trains I need have been cancelled. Let’s see how the day goes as the pair of us will end up in Exeter tonight…

07:34.

After last night’s storms and rainfall the weather was fresh and crisp this morning. Much of the valley was obscured by low cloud and most, so the walk to Halifax station was very pleasant. I’d given myself plenty of time so may oacd was quite relaxed too.I’m now on Northern’s 07:17 to Leeds which started in Huddersfield. It’s made up of a 142/144 Pacer combo. Northern have finally bitten the bullet and publically admitted that some Pacers will stay in service until 2020 due to delays in introducing the new trains, which are 6 months late. The 144 fleet is the one granted a reprieve, so the 142 I’m travelling on should be gone by year end.As we squeal around the curve and up the bank out of Bradford the weather’s looking very gloomy with uniformly dull skies, even so, it’s warm and humid. I wonder if there’s more thunderstorms in the offing?08:03.I’m in-between trains here in Leeds, which has given me time to grab a couple of shots like this. One of Northern’s Class 331 EMU’s arrived carrying passengers. It’s seen here before scurrying off to Neville Hill depot as empty stock.I’m catching LNER’s 08:15 to Kings Cross as far as Stevenage. It’s still worked by one of their old HSTs as it originates in Harrogate. No doubt it’ll go over to Azuma’s soon, but now I’ve an increasingly rare chance to travel ‘old style’

09:11.

We’re currently bowling along the ECML near Retford at 123mph, a few minutes down due to weather damage to the signalling around Wakefield. After our Doncaster stop I wandered right down the train from my seat in Coach B to the buffet. There’s no trolley service today but I didn’t mind as it gave me chance to stretch my legs and also see how busy the train is. I’d estimate it’s about 75% full, with an impressive amount of people busy on laptops, trying to get work done. Just by the clothes alone I can tell there’s a lot of business travellers aboard.10:02.We’re running 6 late, which means I now have a -1m connection at Stevenage with a late running Thameslink service. This could be close.

10:45

– too close! I missed it by a minute. I’m now on Great Northern’s 10:40 to Kings Cross which is running 5 down. Luckily, Mark is already at Welwyn Garden City as he came down the WCML and arrived ahead of me.

12:39.

Having done the first visit and met up with Mark we’ve made our way from Welwyn Garden City across London via Thameslink to East Croydon where we changed onto the Southern network. We’re currently enjoying the air-conditioned comfort of a Bombardier built Class 377 which is carrying us to Angmering. The weather in the South-East is hot, hot, hot! A few wispy clouds filter the sun occasionally, but do nothing to cool the temperature which is showing as 29 degrees in these parts!

16:09.

After Angmering we headed West to Fratton, travelling past many little stations that had cafes and kiosks open all day, which tells you something about the size of the footfall in Southern stations. Sadly the only one we got to sample was at Fratton which is my least favourite station in this neck of the woods as it’s dirty, rundown and unkempt. Although there’s a cafe, Mark reckoned it served the worst cup of coffee he’d had since we started judging. From Fratton we’ve caught a GWR Class 158/9 heading for Salisbury. The air-conditioning is struggling in the heat and none of the power sockets work, but it’ll get us there.

17:05.

At Salisbury we had a quick change and swapped our GWR 158/9 for a SWR 159 which has no air-conditioning working at all. Instead the Conductor’s opened all the (normally locked) windows and been through doling out bottles of water to everyone.As I was curious to establish the units identity I wandered through the train and soon realised there wasn’t a single vehicle that displayed a coach number – unlike Northern or Scotrail. They have prominent stickers telling to people to tweet them in if they find a fault. There’s no chance of that here!

22:00.

The pair of us have had a long day & we’ve now retired to our hotel in Exeter. There’s so much that I could blog about but I’ve simply run out of time. Tomorrow we’ll be off again, so watch out for the next rolling blog…

 

 

 

Rolling blog: ACoRP judging, day 2…

18 Thursday Jul 2019

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07:00.

So much for a quiet night. The problem with Derby is that it’s a railway town, so you’re never far from someone you know. After finishing our judging and being dropped off by Donna, Mark and I went for a much deserved pint and something to eat. Afterwards, my plan was to come home and work in the hotel to catch up on pictures and a few bits. Hah! As I’m on the phone outside the station I bump into an old train driving friend, Rob Buchanan Scott. For once, I take a ‘selfie’ with him – something I rarely do because as a photographer, we make other people the stories, not ourselves. Next thing I know I get a message from another old friend (Jon Lusher) who happens to be staying in the very same hotel, so we end up meeting up for a catch-up for the first time in several years!So, work delayed.Right now I’, off for breakfast as we’re on the road again at 08:00. We’ve four more stations to see today, starting with Donna driving us to Market Rasen, let’s see how the day goes…

14:21.

It’s been a busy day so far as we’ve covered a lot of miles but only seen two stations! It took our host, Donna Adams from E Mids Trains two hours to drive to the pretty town of Market Rasen, after which it took another hour to get to our second station, Heckington, where we met the local station group and Poacher Line rail Officer Kaye Robinson. After a lunch stop we’re now heading to one of the smallest stations (in terms of footfall and services), Ancaster.17:37.I’m now on my first train of the day! After visiting Ancaster we ended the day at Radcliffe before Donna drove us back to Derby. We couldn’t have got round all nine stations without Donna’s invaluable help and her local knowledge. Now Mark have gone our separate ways and I’m heading up to Sheffield on a busy East Mids Trains Meridian.

20:43.

I’m almost home after a long day. Having travelled up from Sheffield on Northern Rail’s ‘scenic’ route via Wakefield Kirkgate and Normanton I’ve added to it by catching a Leeds – Southport service via Dewsbury to get to Sowerby Bridge! I’m looking forward to having a day home tomorrow as there’s lots of plotting, planning and paperwork to do – not to mention picture editing. Here’s a look at the four stations we visited today.

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Market Rasen station as 153372 Calls whilst working 2T21, the  09:57 Newark North Gate to Grimsby Town service. Anyone who remembers how unwelcoming this station was in the 1980s-90s will be amazed to see it today. Sadly, the overall roof was demolished in 1941 to ‘aid’ the war effort. 

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Heckington station as a pair of EMT Class 158s approach whilst working 2S14, the  12:15 Skegness to Nottingham

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Rural Ancaster, looking West from the barrow crossing. Only eight trains per day call here.

DG329174. Radcliffe station. 18.7.19.

Here’s Radcliffe on the Skegness to Nottingham route. Its infrequent service hasn’t put off a dedicated band of station adopters who’ve made great strides in improving its environs. 

 

 

Rolling blog: More ACoRP judging…

17 Wednesday Jul 2019

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05:13.What a time to be alive! Well,out of bed anyway, I’m getting ready to head off to judge the ‘It’s your station’ category for the 2019 ACoRP awards. Over the next two days Mark and I will be visiting 9 different stations across the territory of train operator East Midlands Trains, starting at Longport at 08:39 this morning. Stick with me and see where we get to before ending up in Derby tonight…06:22.It’s a glorious summer morning but with just the right amount of post dawn chill to make the walk down to Sowerby Bridge a comfortable rather than a sweaty experience. I’ve caught the 06:21 Leeds to Chester to get me as far as Manchester Victoria. Today an unrefurbished 3-car Class 158’s been allocated to the service.Unsurprisingly, it’s fairly lightly loaded at this part of the journey but it certainly won’t stay that way.06:55.As expected, after stops at Hebden Bridge, Todmorden and Rochdale my train’s half full in this carriage, not bad for the first service of the day! Now we’re trundling the last few miles into Manchester because we’re following another service. As we pass Northern’s Newton Heath depot I can see the civils work that’s happening to build the new shed which will be dedicated to maintaining the new CAF trains. The shed’s being built adjacent to the main line. Ironically, it’s kn a patch of land I remember being used as dump fir old DMU cars awaiting scrapping back in the 1970s. Now it has a more productive use!07:30.On arrival at Victoria I did my usual mad dash across the city centre to Piccadilly station. The city’s just beginning to wake up. Many of the poor souls who’re homeless are still asleep- and who can blame them? Sleep’s a steess-free release from the wretched situation they find themselves in.It breaks my heart to see scenes like this in so many UK towns and cities. After a decade of politically enforced ‘austerity’ (well, for some) the problem’s exploded and it’s only going to get worse whilst those billionaires, spivs and self-entitled toffs who’re trying to foist a no-deal Brexit upon us are in such positions of power and influence. Any Brexit will harm the economy, but they really don’t care as they pursue their own selfish political and financial interests.07:37.My sprint got me to the station in time to catch an earlier train. Cross-Country’s 07:27 to Bournemouth. It’s worked by a 4-car Class 220 (017 for the number crunchers) and it’s rammed, despite being a peak time train. This is what it looks like in coach C after leaving Stockport, and yes, I’m sitting in the luggage rack again!I’ve written many times before about how poor an offering this is when it’s the only intercity service between two of our biggest regional cities, Manchester and Birmingham. Roll on Hs2 when we’ll have decent sized trains on the route and times will be cut by 52%!11:48.We’ve now got two stations under our belts, having just left Belper. I won’t go into too much detail but we’re seeing some very different stations and groups.13:30.How’s this for a ‘bug hotel’? It’s on the 3rd station on our list…

15:22.

Station No 4’s been visited and we met Derek, a 93 yr old WW2 veteran who served in North Africa. Were now on the way from Syston to our last port of call for today. Spondon.

Rolling blog: let the judging begin…

09 Tuesday Jul 2019

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05:30.I wasn’t planning to be up this early but the cat had run out of food, spotted me moving so decided to sit at my side of the bedroom and mew me out of bed! The little sod know I’ll get up and feed him just to prevent him waking up Dawn. Pavlov’s dogs eat your heart out! So, I’m now sipping coffee in the office, checking the weather forecast (it’s worsened overnight), catching up on the news and waiting for Dawn’s alarm to go off. I might as well have an earlier start than planned…Today we have three stations around the Greater Manchester area to judge and all have confirmed that they’re ready for us, so it’s not too onerous a day. I’ll update the blog as and when throughout the day.

07:53.

I’m currently stood on an absolutely jam-packed Pacer working 1D71, the 07:24 from Sowerby Bridge to Chester which was already full and standing after leaving Halifax. It’s short formed as there should be a single car Class 153 attached. I’m lucky, I managed to get on, many others at Hebden Bridge, Todmorden and Rochdale weren’t so lucky!

All through the trip our Conductor has maintained her smile. She’s abandoned her ticket machine in the back cab to stand in the rear door well so she can get to operate them.To add to the fun, we’re now 9 minutes late leaving Rochdale.

11:30.

We’re now on our way to our second visit. After arriving at Victoria I hotfooted it over to Piccadilly for the train out to the first station (Glossop). We were so busy I didn’t have time to take any phone pictures. Now we’re chugging along through South Manchester to our second.

14:15.

We’re now on our way to the third station of the day. This was taken at our second one. Any guesses where we were? This is ‘Joe’, who was being given a spruce-up by the local station friends group as we visited

16:08.

With our last visit of the day done Mark and I are heading off to our respective abodes. It’s been a delight to meet the volunteers at the three (very different) stations and see and hear about the work they’re doing. Here’s a clue about which station was the last one on today’s list. Can anyone tell me where this is?

Rolling blog: community rail in the city.

15 Wednesday May 2019

Posted by in ACoRP, Community rail, London, Rolling blogs, Uncategorized

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In a wonderful contrast to Railtex (which I’ll be back at tomorrow) I’m down in London to cover ‘community rail in the city’. This event showcases all the work various Community Rail Partnerships do around the country. There’s events on several main line stations in the capital, as well as Birmingham New St and Glasgow Central. I’ll update this blog with pictures throughout the day.

08:35. Kings Cross.

We’ve a huge stand on the concourse with several Scottish pipers giving out goody bags. They’re proving very popular with folks wanting pictures

09:28. Liverpool St.

There’s another impressive stand here where you’ll find an 18 foot replica of the ‘Mayflower’ along with goody bags and lots of useful information on the community rail lines in the Anglia region.

11:55.

There’s been plenty of hi-jinks at Kings Cross, where the Scots have been putting on a display of bagpipers and Scottish dancing.

DG322960crop

15:02.

Phew! It’s been a busy day. I managed to get round to all the London stations where events were held and even had time to see the very first (fare paying) passenger run of LNER’s new Azuma trains. 800113 made history working the 11:03 from London Kings Cross to Leeds.

At nearby St Pancras, members of Kent Community Rail partnerships and Sustrans had a stand on the Southeastern railway platforms. As well as giving out goodie bags and leaflets on places to visit on foot, train or bike they were also carrying out a survey into cyclists taking bikes on trains.

Meanwhile, over at Waterloo, staff and volunteers had turned a patch of the concourse into a rural oasis, complete with trees!

At Paddington, folk were advertising the South-West’s connection with the voyage of the Mayflower and the forthcoming 400th anniversary. To keep folk entertained, 25 members of the ‘Kingsmen’ choir sang on the hour.

Now, I’m on my way to Birmingham via Chiltern trains to see what volunteers from the Midlands are up to.

19:53.

Well, that was a whirlwind! I arrived in Birmingham just in time to catch the volunteers who’d been staffing a stall at Birmingham Moor St all day. They were very positive about the reactions they’d had from the public as they were promoting one of four new designated community rail lines (the Shakespeare line). Having caught them I hot-footed it over to New St where there were two very different stalls on the concourse. What was great was to see the way passengers took time out from rushing home to stop and engage, which isn’t always easy as many commuters are on a pre-programmed ‘mission’s & don’t want to be diverted from getting home or to work.

With the final pictures in the bag I decided to have a pint in an old haunt before checking into my hotel, only to find that the Shakespeare was full of old friends from the rail industry who’d had exactly the same idea as me after their day at Railtex! So, one pint turned into a bit more than that..

I was with five people ageing in range from early 50’s to mid 70’s All of them had worked for British Railways (BR) in the ‘good old days’. Some of them still have senior jobs in the rail industry now. So, no names, no pack- drill, but some of the stories they were swapping about that era were both hilarious and criminal in what went on in those days.

Bidding farewell I finally checked into my hotel and dumped several kilos of kit that I’d been lugging around all day. My ‘Fitbit’ tells me that I’ve walked over 10 miles today, so I feel I’d earned that beer!

Food was uppermost in my mind. Hot food at that, so I popped into one of the growing number of noodle bars that you can find in cities nowadays for a spicy fix of Udon noodles, chicken and veg leavened with a very respectable chilli sauce.

I’ve never been a burger fan. In fact I can’t think of the last time I ate one. This is the food for me, born of spending so much time in SE Asia.

22:02.

It’s time to draw this rolling blog to a close. I’m back at my hotel, looking through some if the hundreds of pictures I’ve taken today, but soon it’s going to be time to crash out. I’ve another busy day at Railtex ahead of me…

The week ahead…

13 Monday May 2019

Posted by in ACoRP, Food and drink, I love my job, Travel, West Yorkshire

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I’m enjoying a rare day at home, catching some sun whilst doing some gardening, sorting out chores and also working. Oh, and freezing some of the fabulous food Dawn spent yesterday evening cooking. Here’s one of the dishes she made, a delicious baked cauliflower.

Today’s very much one of those days where I’ve a lot of balls in the air. As the weather’s so good I took the long way round when I had to nip out shopping earlier, here’s the view.

Tomorrow the pace picks up even more as I’m working at Railtex in Birmingham during the day, then heading down to London for a night in the capital, ready for ‘Community Rail in the City’ alongside friends and colleagues from ACoRP and community rail groups across the country. We’ll be having a busy day as there’s events I have to cover on several railway stations. There’ll be stalls and entertainment at Kings Cross, Liverpool St, London Bridge, Waterloo, Paddington and St Pancras, so pop along if you can. Events will also be held outside London at Birmingham New St and Glasgow Central. After that I head back up to Birmingham for an overnighter ready to work at Railtex again on the Thursday. On Friday I’ll be back home, glued to the computer, editing the hundreds of pictures I’ll have taken.

No doubt I’ll have time for a few rolling blogs over the next few days, so watch this space…