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Category Archives: I love my job

Rolling blog: North of the border…

29 Wednesday May 2019

Posted by in I love my job, Railways, Rolling blogs, Scotland, Scotrail, Travel

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06:45.It’s a beautiful morning here in Glasgow, a real contrast to the stormy weather I saw yesterday, although I’m not sure how long it will last. I’m about to head down for a quick breakfast before heading to Glasgow Queen St and my first train of the day. I’ll be catching the 08:00 to meet up with Pip Dunn in Falkirk. We’ll be heading to Edinburgh where we’ll be starting our Scottish train tests. I’ll update this blog throughout the day as we go…I rarely eat anything like this, so a full Scottish breakfast at my hotel is a treat. I justify it on the grounds that I’ll soon burn it off with the amount of walking I’ll be doing today!

07:59.Having walked to Charing Cross and caught a train to Queen St I had time to look around and grab a few pictures before catching the train I’m on now (the 08:00 to Edinburgh). Times have certainly changed here. Not only is the station undergoing another huge rebuild, the fleets using it have changed too.

I still can’t get used to seeing 4-car High Speed Trains! This is one of the unrefurbished sets. The power cars carry Scotrail branding but the coaches are still in the old First group ‘dynamic lines’ livery. Another noticeable difference at Queen St is how many services are operated by the Hitachi built Class 385s, including the recently electrified line to Alloa

09:33.

Having met up with Pip, we’re now on one of Scotrail’s refurbished HST sets. The 09:28 Edinburgh to Aberdeen. You’ll be able to read the full train tests in future editions of RAIL magazine. Here’s a couple of pictures for now.

10:05.

I’ve been kept busy photographing all the changes and features of the train whilst Pip’s been busy with his tape measure and notepad. Now I can relax for a bit and enjoy watching the beautiful Fife countryside flash past the window for a while.

11:01.

We only went as far North as Dundee, the town on the Tay that’s transforming itself. The waterfront around the station (and the station itself) are unrecognisable from just a few years ago. It also gives fantastic views of the famous Tay Bridge.

From here we picked up an unrefurbished HST to carry us to Stirling, another station that’s been transformed by electrifying the lines through the city to Dunblane and Alloa. Unfortunately we left the sunshine behind in Dundee. Perthshire’s covered in thick cloud and showers.

13:28.

We’ve been busy! After revamping from our HST in a soggy Sterling we caught up with another of our targets in the form of Hitachi’s new Class 385 electric trains. A quick trip to Dunblane and a return to Glasgow Queen St provided us with all the pictures, data and measurements we needed. We then walked through the rain to Glasgow Central, hoping to catch a Siemens built Class 380 over to Edinburgh. Disappointed, we found out that it was another Hitachi set, so we quickly changed plans and leapt on a 380 working the branch to Gourock, which us where we’re heading for now!

22:55

Sorry for the gaps in the blog but it’s been a very hectic day. After abandoning this train at Port Glasgow we made our way back to Glasgow, then crossed between Central and Queen St to head back out to Edinburgh for a final burst of pictures and note-taking. Pip headed off to prepare for another job whilst I had time to catch up with an old friend an colleague from RAIL days – Phil Haigh. After which I shuttled back to Glasgow to get a few more pictures, then bumped into these Gentlemen outside Central station. With all the political shit that’s going on right now and the disturbing rise in racism and intolerance it was an absolute pleasure to encounter these three guys from the local Guru Nanak Sikh temple who were out in the rain, distributing food to homeless people.

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OK, I’m off to bed. It’s going to be another long day tomorrow and a busy few days after that. G’night!

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Rolling blog: Another day on the rails.

22 Wednesday May 2019

Posted by in I love my job, Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel, Yorkshire

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08:30

I’m out and about on the rails again today, making the most of the weather and getting client shots on a range of topics, including hunting down more of the news trains which are gracing the North’s tracks in increasing numbers, although many of them are on training runs rather than carrying passengers. At the moment, there’s vehicles for Northern, LNER and Trans-Pennine Express out on test, with more to follow for Hull Trains soon. This creates its own challenges. I was talking to LNER MD David Horne at the Azuma launch the other week. He explained that it was an ASLEF requirement that driver had 20 hours training driving the new trains before being passed out as competent. Real trains, not simulators. David pointed out how difficult it was to find paths for these trains on our increasingly crowded network – one that’s become even more crowded since the May 18th timetable change. Imagine what it’s like when you add in the other operators vying for space at places like Leeds, Doncaster and York, not to mention Manchester and Preston! It’s one of the unappreciated challenges of introducing new train fleets. Still, it makes me laugh at HS2 antis, who (cluelessly) still insist that no – we don’t need HS2 because some trains still have spare seats in the off-peak!

09:15.

I’m currently bouncing my way to Huddersfield on a 2+3 Pacer lash-up of a 144 and 142. Say what you like about Pacers, but there’s plenty of cycle space in 142004!

On arrival at Huddersfield my Oacer lash-up was split. The rear 142 was detached and scurried off, squealing, to the sidings, whilst the 3 car 144 remained in platform 4a ready to work the 10:03 to Castleford via Wakefield. I’m sure this is a new diagram as I don’t remember through services to the town before.

Huddersfield station layout is old and was built for a different age. It has two Easterly facing bay platforms (5 and 6) in the large island platform which are very restricted in length. 5 can only take 2 cars and 6, 3 cars. For a modern railway they’re a bit of an operational nightmare, hence plans to build a new through platform on the site of the stabling sidings to the North of the existing island platform. Here’s a view of the bays with a 153 in platform 5.

No 4 to the left is a through platform but its normally split and used for terminating trains coming from Mananchester in the West and Leeds in the East.

Making Huddersfield fit for a growing railway presents huge challenges. If you build a platform on the stabling sidings, where do you then stable the trains? There’s a train crew depot on the station. If you stable trains elsewhere, what happens to that? The station’s a grade 1 listed building, so how does that impact on major alterations? It all adds to the complexity and expense of rebuilding a Victorian railway network.

16:30.

Today’s plan didn’t survive first contact with the enemy. I was planning to head East to York and Doncaster, then found that one of the new Hitachi bi-mode trains for Trans-Pennine Express was working a training run across the Pennines from Heaton (Newcastle) to Manchester Airport. I was very keen to get a shot of this so changed plans and hot-foot it to Greenfield station, the first stop on the line West of the Standedge tunnel. Slightly further East is the pretty and very busy tourist town of Uppermill which the railway passes high above on a dramatic viaduct, as you can see in this picture.

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From here I walked along the Rochdale canal before cutting up a quiet lane to a lovely vantage point on a footbridge which gave me a commanding view of the lane and the valley, where I waited and prayed the cloud Gods would smile on me for once. Eventually, I managed to get this shot. For once I was glad the train was a few minutes late. If it hadn’t been, I’d have missed the sun!

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17:15.

Afterwards I couldn’t resist nipping down the road a few miles to pay homage at one of the original and best station bars in the country, the Stalybridge buffet bar.

I’m glad to say it’s no longer a rare beast, just a long time survivor and precourser to a new generation of station bars.

17:33.

I’m now heading back to Huddersfield on a late running Northern Pacer to meet my wife from work. Whilst the new timetable may not have caused any grief, I’m not sure it’s solved any problems on this line either. Late running still seems to be the norm, although I don’t know the root causes.

Rolling blog: Swanning around sunny Yorkshire.

21 Tuesday May 2019

Posted by in I love my job, Railways, Rolling blogs, West Yorkshire

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Well, not exactly swanning you understand. It’s already been a busy morning that’s seen me editing a backlog of pictures of Railtex, Community Rail in the City and HS2 work at Euston then getting them out to clients. I had other plans for today but an email from RAIL magazine means I’ll be off to Leeds for the afternoon. Life often seems to take unexpected turns at the moment with plans changing all the time. Still, any commissions are always welcome as they top up the coffers. Plus, as a photographer, I can’t afford to waste weather like this! Let’s see how the day goes…

10:37.

I’ve just left Bradford en-route to Leeds on a slightly late and rather dirty, disheveled unrefurbished Northern Class 158. The sunlight streaming through the windows makes you realise just how dirty they actually are!This is my first outing since the May timetable change, which the media doom and gloom merchants were waiting to label a fiasco. Only it wasn’t. There were a couple of delays on Calder Valley services but nothing out of the ordinary. It was the same for other operators from what I saw.

12:10.

I’m now pootling around Leeds, looking at various railway locations for a client. Not everything has gone to plan, whilst there’s no timetable chaos there is the perennial problem of the ‘knitting’ coming down on the East Coast Main Line! I did wonder when I saw so many LNER trainsets sitting in the station, the problem was soon confirmed by an announcement that the overhead wires had come down at Retford, so LNER were running a Leeds-Doncaster shuttle service for connections South to Kings Cross using the GN/GE joint line via Lincoln. Part of my mission on this trip was to explore the future site of Leeds HS2 station which will abut the existing station at right angles from the South. Here’s where it will be built across the river.

I also had a look for some aerial views of the city.

14:22.

Having done what I needed to do in Leeds I’ve headed back West and broken my journey in Dewsbury, where I’m enjoying some refreshment at the wonderful station bar. Dewsbury’s an odd place. It’s best days are long gone although some of the shoddy and mungo mills still exist and can be seen from passing trains. Nowadays the town is more known for its poverty and social/ethnic divisions – and the utterly bizarre case of the ‘kidnapped’ girl who was actually hidden by her parents under their bed.

There’s a young chap in his late teens/early 20s on the outside table adjacent to mine. He’s been on the phone telling his mates how he’s just left court, having escaped jail for some unspecified offence. I can see he’s not bulshitting as I saw the court papers kn the table when I passed. When I glanced over he was texting a friend. His mouth was pronouncing each word as he typed.

18:22.

I’ve made it home and I’m potentially regretting not carrying sunscreen today! I’ll upload a few more pictures later.

22;54.

Oops! Things sort of happened so there’s just one more picture of Leeds to add today.

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Rolling blog: and so it begins…

14 Tuesday May 2019

Posted by in Birmingham, Engineering, I love my job, Photojournalism, Railtex, Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel

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06:18.

It’s a bright and beautiful morning here at Sowerby Bridge station. The sun’s shining, the birds are singing and I have fresh coffee, thanks to the Jubilee refreshment rooms on the station.

I’m here to catch to 06:23 to Manchester in order to get to Birmingham and the Railtex trade fair.

06:52.

The first chariot of the day was 158849, one of Northern’s refurbished fleet and one that’s been fitted with new seats and USB sockets. It’s only a two car so it’s packed after leaving Rochdale. It’s also remarkably quiet as most people (including me) are staring at their portable devices! This is a great example of how you can have a large group of people who are together in the flesh but are miles apart mentally!

07:38.

I’m now on TfW’s (Transport for Wales) 07:30 to Milford Haven as far as Crewe.

I walked between Victoria and Piccadilly which is always a depressing experience this time of morning as it’s painfully obvious how many people are sleeping rough. Forget the stories about “professional beggars” who return to their council flats each evening, these are real people curled up in doorways or huddled on pavements. A decade of austerity and a government that doesn’t really give a shit has made the problem worse than when I worked in housing back in the 1990s. It’s not going to get any better either. The UK’s flirting with fascism in the form of Nigel Farage and his Brexit party. People who blatently lie through their teeth and have no manifesto or policies other than crashing us out of the EU and who say they won’t tell us what they stand for until AFTER we’ve voted for them! How the hell has the country got itself in this state? I’ve never been more pessimistic about the future of the country as I don’t see much sign of people waking up to what’s going on and the road we’re heading down.

07:50.

We’ve called at Wilmslow, where a sizeable chunk of the folk on this two-car train decanted. Clearly, this time of day this train is a commuter service masquerading as a long-distance train. Next stop is Crewe, so I’ll be interested to see how many get on.

08:18.

I’m now on London Northwestern’s 08:18 to Birmingham New St, which is a 4-car Class 350, which is pretty much full and standing. There’s a few spare seats, but they’re the middle ones in sets of three, which most folk avoid. I’m sharing a vestibule with a bunch of LNW drivers who’re clutching notices about splitting and joining trains at New St. I’m assuming this has to do with the May timetable change. In age old fashion they’re grumbling about the new diagrams and rosters!

09:42.

Almost there! I was delayed changing trains at New St because some of the toilets are closed for refurbishment. New St being New St it was a trek to the alternatives which had folk queuing out of the door! Now I’m on a slightly delayed TfW service to Birmingham International.

14:54.

Phew! It’s been a full on day so far and started as soon as I walked through the Railtex door at 10:00. I’ve finally found time to sit down for a few minutes and get some pictures edited. Here’s a glimpse of the show so far.

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As usual, Siemens have a big presence at Railtex. This is one half of their stand!

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The Talgo stand. The company are bidding for the HS2 train contract (amongst others).

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It’s a Breeze! This is a model of the Class 321 train that Alstom are converting from electricity to Hydrogen.

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The Tratos stand always serves a good lunch for anyone leaving their business card.

19:54.

Right, where were we? Oh, yes – Railtex. I left the show an hour ago and I’m currently on virgin Trains Pendino snaking it’s way to London. Today feels like a bit of a blur as it’s been so manic. Trying to get round the show to take it all in is bad enough. Then there’s the need to be in certain places at set times, constantly bumping into friends and colleagues and trying to blog/upload pictures. By the time the day winds down you’re knackered. That said, the end of the event was fun. Alstom had a really interesting drinks reception to chat about their ‘Breeze’ hydrogen train, so a lot of us hacks met at that, afterwards we moved over to the main networking event which was a great opportunity to catch up with folk and shoot a few more pictures like this one of the band who did a great job of keeping us all entertained.

22:45.

The final update. It’s been a brilliant day. After tearing myself away from a very convivial couple of hours with friends at the end of the show I emerged, blinking, into the light and realised just what a stonking day it must have been weather wise. Now, having caught a train down to London I’m ensconced in the basement of a hotel in Kings Cross that makes me think of scenes from the bunker in ‘Downfall’ – only with better bathrooms. When you realise that to get to your room you have to press -2 you do start to get suspicious…

Hopefully I might actually see a bit of sunshine as I tour the London stations taking part in tomorrow’s event. Watch this space…

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…

Rolling blog: Friday fun…

10 Friday May 2019

Posted by in Hs2, I love my job, Modern Railways, Photography, Rail Investment, Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel

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05:15.Although getting up at 04:45 isn’t much fun at all to be honest! I’m just about to walk to the station to head back to London. At least the rain’s (mostly) holding off as I walk to the station. Here’s the view over the valley this morning.

06:13.I’m on the first train of the day, the 06:03 to Leeds, which started from Hebden Bridge. Today it’s worked by an unrefurbished ex-Scotrail Class 158 which still retains its old First Class section, so some people are travelling in style!

06:24.Whilst on the train I’ve been catching up with posts from friends on social media and found that a friend of a friend has bought and is doing up the closed Wigan pub I mentioned in yesterday’s blog. Talk about a small world! Apparently, it’s going to become a railway themed real ale pub. No doubt I’ll be paying it a visit and blogging about it once it reopens.Right now, coffee, not real ale is foremost in my mind. It’s going to be a long day…07:17.I’m settled in on LNER’s 07:00 off Leeds which started off from Bradford Foster Square. It’s just left Wakefield. Next stop is Kings Cross at 0859…09:13.We arrived on time at Kings Cross. Here’s hundreds of folk from Bradford, Leeds and Wakefield flooding off the train to earn their daily bread in London. Most of them will return later today.

13:04.Paul Stephen and I have just finished our tour of the Hs2 work at Euston which was amazing. The sheer scale of what’s going on, the complexity and the ambition is breathtaking and the archeological work is in another league. We were shown what’s going on in St James Gds and it’s on a vast scope. You’ll be able to read all about it in a future edition of RAIL. All I’ll do now is give you a teaser. This is the site of the old Euston Downside carriage shed. The portal for the Hs2 tunnel to Old Oak Common and on to Birmingham will be at the far end of the site.

15:21. After leaving Euston to head North I was planning to try and get a trip on the Vivarail Class 230s on the Bletchley Bedford line but bad luck struck again. Firstly, I arrived in time for another torrential downpour and secondly, when the service turned up it was worked by an older class 153 DMU. In the end I gave up and headed North on the next train to Milton Keynes, which was basking in glorious sunshine.Now I’m aboard a London Northwestern service to Crewe as far as Tamworth. It’s a four-car and it’s standing room only. For the number of passengers using these lines 4-cars is clearly inadequate. This is a journey that you put up with, not enjoy.

16:28. I changed trains at Tamworth, a station that’s hardly my favourite. Although facilities have improved in recent years it’s still pretty basic and few intercity services stop here nowadays. They were sacrificed to speed up West Coast services after the West Coast Route Modernisation. When Hs2 takes those long-distance, non-stop trains off the WCML there’s the opportunity to improve the situation. I headed up to the even more basic high-level platforms where I taught the late running 16:20 to Glasgow. Despite the fact it’s worked by a 7-car HST set, this Cross-Country service has plenty of folk standing in the vestibules – including me in Coach E!

Rolling blog: another diverse day…

03 Friday May 2019

Posted by in I love my job, Rail Investment, Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel, Uncategorized, Yorkshire

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10:23I’m currently on a train to Leeds after being a guest of the friends of Mytholmroyd station who invited myself and local stakeholders to view the restored 1874 station building. I have to admit, I was amazed – both by the size of the building, and the quality of the work. It was a privilege to be invited and have chance to take pictures. I’ll blog a selection separately later. Here’s Geoff Mitchell of the friends group welcoming us in the ground floor booking hall. Also present were two former members of station staff who worked here in the 1960s! The old ticket office window can be seen in the background.Old buildings like this are a pleasure to photograph because of the shadows and light.

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The original ticket desk in the old ticket office has been restored.

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The staircase in the public side of the building, linking the three floors.

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One of the restored rooms in the old Stationmaster’s residence which has been derelict since the 1960’s

Right now I’m off to look for something completely different and bang up to date. I’m looking for the new trains being built for Northern services that will mean the end of the Pacers.12:34.I’m currently at Doncaster, along with 3 of Northern’s new 4-car Class 331 EMUs which are here for driver training and testing.DG322061cropTwo more (331102 and 331105) are stabled in the nearby sidings.DG322072cropI’m looking forward to these trains entering service as they’re a real step-change to the ones they’re replacing.16:11.I’m back at Leeds on my way home after getting various shots at Doncaster. It’s a shame the weather was so overcast, but I shouldn’t complain as the forecast was worse. It’s been a good end to the working week as in-between taking pictures I’ve spent a fair bit of time lining up several jobs that will keep me occupied for the next few weeks. I’ll blog about them in good time. In the meantime, here’s a shot of the decluttered concourse at Leeds station which was built by the LMS railway. There’s some heritage trains in heritage deliveries knocking around too. This is a former Scotrail Class 156 in the old First group livery that reminds me of when they ran the North-western franchise post privatisationRight, time for home…

Rolling blog: back in Britain…

01 Wednesday May 2019

Posted by in GWML, I love my job, Photography, Rail Investment, Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel

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07:00

Another day dawns back in the septic isle, dear old Brexit Britain feels a world apart after a couple of days in Austria. But ho hum…

My day’s starting at Clapham in South London, as I stayed with an old friend last night. We’d met up at the magnificent St Pancras station, along with some friends and colleagues from Irish railways. We spent a convivial couple of hours remembering old times and old friends before calling it a day.

Now it’s a new one and my plan is to head back to Yorkshire in a roundabout way, via various changing points on the UKs rail network, getting pictures for a client en-route. My starting point’s Clapham Junction station, which I can look down upon from my bedroom window. It’s Britain’s busiest railway station, so there’s plenty to see…

09:06.

I’m on my way to Basingstoke after spending an interesting interlude at Clapham Junction observing SWR staff dispatching trains whilst dealing with the commuter hordes quickly and efficiently, keeping the railway running and getting people to work safely, despite near crush conditions on some of the services into Waterloo.

As I watched I couldn’t help noticing that it seems a happy place to work, despite the pressures. Senior Managers put in an appearance, were recognised and greeted warmly, whilst dispatch staff smiled and joked with each other, clearly enjoying their jobs.

Now I’m on a slightly late running 12 car service to Poole, which – in the finest tradition of the old Southern railway – splits en-route. As we’re swimming against the tide of London-bound commuters it’s a pretty empty train. There’s only about half a dozen of us in the coach.

10:11.

After a brief break at Basingstoke to get a few pictures I’m on the move again, only now I’ve swapped from SouthWestern Railway to GWR and their shuttle service to Reading which is operated by one of the “Thames Turbo” DMU fleet. Whilst the 3-car Class 166 is still in the old First group blue livery it has been fitted with 3pin and USB sockets, which are proving useful in keeping my phone topped up and Fitbit charged.

I’ve not travelled this route for a few years, so it’s nice to be reaquainted with it, especially this time of year when the rapeseed’s flowering and the countryside a patchwork of bright greens and yellow.

11:02

I still can’t get used to how much Reading station’s changed since the days of my youth. A billion pound rebuilding project, electrification and the arrival of new train fleets has left the place almost unrecognisable apart from the clock tower of the Victorian station building sticking its head above all the glass and steel.

12:42

At Reading I doubled back towards London to spend some time getting shots of a much altered Great Western Main Line. Gone are the Turbostars on the Thames valley services, now it’s all four or eight car Electrostars. Crossrail Aventras are very much in evidence too. Here’s a panoramic look at one of them at Maidenhead.

14:31

I’m finally heading West towards home after bagging some Aventra pictures. This time I’m on another GWR 387 after transferring from Class 800. One thing I have been disappointed in is the external cleanliness of the trains. Both my last two have had dirty windows which is a shame.

16:07.

The sunny weather I enjoyed this morning has given way to dull, hazy skies, so I’ve decided to begin my journey Northwards from Oxford after grabbing a last few shots. I’m now on Cross-Country’s 15:39 to Manchester Piccadilly. It’s a five car Voyager with enough empty seats to make it a quiet and pleasant journey – although I suspect that may change when we hit Birmingham! Ideally I’d have liked to have bagged a table so I could have got on with some picture editing, but tables are as rare as hen’s teeth on these trains!

19:58.

I’m on the final leg home now after passing through Birmingham in the rush hour with crush conditions on most trains. I’ll finish off this blog when I get home as I’ve several pictures to add but I don’t want to eat up all my data allowance! I’ve been doing so many rolling blogs recently that I’m getting perilously close to my monthly allowance.

Rolling blog: back in the groove…

12 Friday Apr 2019

Posted by in I love my job, New trains, Photography, RAIL magazine, Rolling blogs, Siemens, Travel

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06:32

Another day, another early start. Right now I’m sat on a train to Leeds on a frosty but sunny morning that promises to be a glorious day weather-wise. Sadly I’m sans coffee as I left the house slightly later than planned. I had to power walk to Halifax station, arriving with a minute to spare. That defect will be remedied when I reach Leeds!

I’m on my way to Peterborough to meet up with an old friend and colleague from RAIL magazine to do a job for said mag. Years ago Pip and I used to do regular features for RAIL which involved travelling on new trains and seeing what they were like from a passengers perspective. The series carried on for many years and now we’re bringing it back. This time we’re going to be checking out the new (ish) Siemens built Class 700s built for Thameslink/Great Northern services. You’ll be able to read about it in RAIL soon so I won’t be blogging in detail about the trip, but you might get a few teasers!

07:52.

My connection at Leeds worked without problem and I’m now happily ensconced on LNER’s 07:15 from Leeds to Kings Cross as far as Grantham. I now have coffee and a sandwich, so all’s well with the world…

08:35.

After a rapid change of trains at Grantham I’m now on an East Midlands Trains Class 158 heading for Peterborough. According to the screens, this service is from Mansfield Woodhouse to Norwich, which is a service I never even knew existed! I’d have thought it would have originated from Sheffield. Still, you learn something new every day!

I rather like the refurbed EMT 158s. They’re a comfortable train, although I know some folk don’t like the high-back seats.v

14:13

We’re hard at work, honest! We’ve tried out 4 class 700s, two 12-car and two 8-car. Here’s Pip Dunn checking the technical details on our way to London.

14:55.

Job done, it’s time to begin the trek North from Peterborough, this time it’s on a rammed LNER service heading for Leeds. I was going to hang around and get some pictures but the weather’s changed completely from this morning full sun to being cloudy and cold, so hardly an incentive to hang around…

16:29

I decided to take a short break in Doncaster to get a couple of pictures and (as it’s Friday) visit this little gem on the station for a ‘swifty’ before heading home.

17:10.

Last train of the day now. I missed an earlier one by seconds as our platforms were too far apart. Now I’m on the 17:97 to Brighouse which is a rammed 2-car ex-Scotrail Class 158. There’s 10 of us stood in the vestibule by the toilets and aisle in the passenger saloon resembles a sardine can.

Rolling blog: tales of the unexpected…

13 Tuesday Nov 2018

Posted by in I love my job, Photojournalism, Rolling blogs, Travel

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There was me, having a quiet day at home, catching up on some chores, paperwork and blogging, when the phone rang. Next thing I knew I had a commission in London tomorrow morning for something that will remain “hush hush” at this stage (all will be revealed on Wednesday).

I’d nipped out to get some autumnal pictures around Todmorden as the leaves are looking stunning at the moment. As is often the case, the the weather didn’t play ball but hopefully I’ll show you the fruits later. Right now I’ve got to head home as things have stepped up and I need to get to London this evening.

Sadly, (as often happens now) Northern services are running late so my schedules slipped already…

17:30.

Home, packed and off again. Now to get to London…

19:56.

Despite more late running by Northern I made it from Halifax to Leeds to catch my LNER service to London. Northern provided 2-car 150270 to work the 17:43 so it was full and standing as far as Bradford. I had 15 mins to make my connection which gave me just enough time to grab a sandwich before boarding. This time of evening the trains fairly quiet. I’d estimate it’s about 25-30% capacity after leaving Doncaster.

20:21.

We’ve now left Peterborough to run non-stop to London. We’ve exchanged a fair few passengers too, leaving our numbers slightly down but not much. I use to make this trip regularly back in the late 80s-early 90s and it was always a trade off between cost and time. You paid a premium for the Intercity train taking 50 mins or saved yourself few quid and caught the slower stopping service – although the clientele could be less condusive to enjoying the journey…

I’m enjoying the LNER Mk4 rake I’m travelling on because of the new information screens which are at the end of each coach. They tell you about journey times, stops and connections, so they’re really useful. Real-time information makes such a difference to being able to plan onward connections.

21:39

I’ve swapped the national network for the delights of the Piccadilly line.

22:10.

Phew! Arrived at the hotel in Hounslow ready for a busy day tomorrow. My colleagues are already abed as it’s an early start with breakfast at 07:00. Tomorrow’s rolling blog should be interesting…