Category Archives: Infrarail

Rolling blog. A game of two halves…

09 Thursday Sep 2021

Posted by in 3 peaks by rail, Birmingham, Infrarail, Photography, Rolling blogs, The Railway Children

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09:00.

I’m enjoying a slower start to today than the past couple in order to get some sleep in the bank as I’m going to need it over the next few days. I had a lie-in until 07:00 today – luxury! Now I’m enjoying topping up my caffeine levels whilst repacking all the kit need for for Infrarail plus all the stuff I’ve brought with me for the next few days volunteering for the Railway Children and their epic ‘3 Peaks by Rail’ challenge which starts this evening. But first, I’m heading back the NEC and Infrarail for a last session of photography. Feel free to keep popping back during the day to see how things unfold…

11:15.

It’s much quieter here at Infrarail today. The Seminars all finish before lunch so I’m planning to make a break for it by then.

13:30.

Job done! The final speakers have finished and all the pictures are ‘in the can’ as it were. The irony? I’ve spent the best part of two and a half days stuck indoors whilst the sun’s been beating down on us and the place has been red-hot. As soon as I pack up and leave to get the train to Crewe the heavens have opened and it’s raining cats and dogs!

Still, here’s a couple of pictures from Infrarail taken just before I left…

I’ll try and catch up with some blogging on my way up to Crewe and fill out some more details of the final day of Infrarail.

15:00.

I’ve finally left Birmingham to make my way (in fits and starts) to Crewe to join the rest of the Railway Children volunteers, staff and entrants to this years 3 Peaks by rail. Thankfully, the torrential rain we had earlier has passed. Now the skies are a multitude of shades of grey with the odd snatch of blue. It’s also very humid. I must admit it was great to be back at Infrarail even if it was hard work. Covering three seminar theatres spread over two halls plus the traipsing around after politicians and VIPs certainly kept me fit! Even so, seeing so many familiar faces again after such a long gap made it all worthwhile. Then there’s the new contacts and offers of work which you can only get face to face. Zoom and the interweb will never be a substitute for that.

15:35.

After a brief stop at Wolverhampton to change trains and grab a couple of pictures I’m on the move again, this time on another West Midlands Class 350. It’s hard to keep track of this fleet as not only do they have three sub-classes, they’re also a mix of refurbished and refurbished sets. The first train had tables and power sockets, this one (350235) doesn’t. Outside there’s some impressively moody and thunderous looking skies which could make for some great pictures if only I was in the right place!

20:00.

We’re on our way! Everyone came together in Crewe without any major difficulties. The teams assembled, registered and received their briefings, the volunteers stocked up the train (a job and a half) and then – we were off. Here’s everyone ready and raring to go.

For the enthusiasts out there, the train’s made up of LSL Mk3 coaches and triple headed by two Class 37s and a Class 47.

21:20.

We’ve just left Llandudno Junction after a 50 minute layover which gave the on-board team the chance to serve everyone with a hot meal. Now we’re heading for Bangor where the walkers will transfer to coaches for the trip to the base of Snowdon.

22:10.

We’ve deposited the teams, the guides and some RC staff and volunteers at Bangor where they’re being bussed to the base of Snowdon. Before they left they were provided with plenty of fresh fruit and other snacks to makes sure they weren’t short of energy.

Meanwhile, the train and the onboard crew are heading to Holyhead where the train will be serviced overnight and prepared for picking up the walkers when it returns to Bangor at 04:21.

23:15.

Whilst the teams climb Snowdon the train and its crew are at Holyhead where they’ve been busy unpacking and storing all the food and drink that was loaded aboard at Crewe. Meanwhile, chef Nick Hebborn and Alison are rustling up a meal of sausage stew on a bed of rice for them in one of the buffet cars. We don’t have a kitchen car this year, so facilities are limited.

Rolling blog. Infrarail day 2…

08 Wednesday Sep 2021

Posted by in Birmingham, Infrarail, Photography, Railways, Rolling blogs

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07:45.

Suitably rested after a good night’s sleep here in Birmingham I’m ready for day 2 of Infrarail. As there’s not so many keynote speakers today the pace should be a little more relaxed, which will give me time to blog through the event and also get to listen to some of the seminars. One I’m particularly interested in is a bit niche (hey, I’m at a rail event, isn’t it all ‘niche’?) as it’s about composite masts for greener electrification projects, given by Noel Dolphin of Furrer+Frey. The railways have picked up the ‘green’ ball and are running with it. Already the greenest form of land travel, rail is determined to stay that way, so is constantly looking at ways of doing so. Of course, electrification’s a big part of that and it’s the area where the UK (thanks to Government policies) lags way behind Europe. We have the lowest electrified route miles, so anything that will help keep costs down and aid decarbonisation is of value.

Right, I’d better finish packing my kit and head off to the NEC. I’ll update this blog en-route…

08:30.

Much as I like Birmingham I have to admit the walk from my hotel to the station was rather depressin due to the sheer amount of rubbish and litter I encountered en-route. The area by the car parks adjacent to the O2 arena is an utter shit-tip. Presumably a lot of it is discarded by people queuing to get into the venue like the ones I passed last night. Civic pride seems to be a thing of the past.

I’m now on Avanti West Coast’s 08:30 to Euston which will take me back to the NEC. New St station was busy, but it’s clear the recovery us still in progress. My train’s busy but there was no problem finding a seat in the rear of the set.

As we pulled out of Birmingham we passed the huge HS2 construction site at Curzon St, the site of the line’s cuty terminus. Work’s really progressed since my last visit so if I have time when I finish today I’ll pop by to get a few shots. Besides, the weather’s far too good to stay cooped up inside for longer than I have to!

13:45.

I’ve finally had chance to stop and sit down for five minutes and blog. So much for thinking today would be quiet, Infrarail’s been far busier today than yesterday. There’s a lot more visitors so I’m glad I arrived early and gad chance to check out some of the stands before they became busy. There’s some interesting stuff to be seen. I could do with one of these for a start. It’s an exoskeleton that’s designed to take the strain off older workers! Sadly, it won’t work with the camera bag…

21:30.

The end of another busy day, far busier than I expected but then not only were the crowds greater but I ended up covering three separate seminar stands. Not that I’m complaining as I got to hear some really interesting discussions as well as amass a huge amount of library shots and network with lots of people that I haven’t seen for ages. I’m not going to blog at length about the day, instead I’ll add a few more pictures and hope that tomorrow I can pause for breath long enough to give an overview of the show. What was great about the end of day 2 was the fact their were two drinks receptions. One on the RailBusinessDaily stand which promoted the activities of the Railway Children charity and another on the Alstom stand. Both allowed us to talk about more than just the day jobs and relax a bit more.

Network Rail allowed a lot of apprentices to attend the event. Here’s on of a cohort competing to see just how much weight (and bottles of water) he can balance on the sandcastle he’s made. A fun game with a serious message…

One of today’s important guests and keynote speaker was Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi MP, the Shadow Transport Minister, who spent a lot of time afterwards touring the event and talking to companies involved in the railway supply chain. Here he is delivering his keynote address.

I’ll try and add a few more pictures tomorrow if I get a break at the event. That said, I have to leave just after lunchtime in order to make my way to Crewe to join the rest of the volunteers working the Railway Children’s ‘3 Peaks by Rail’ marathon fundraiser. No doubt I’ll be blogging from the trip as long as the phone reception holds. If not, you’ll be able to read all about it in some rail publications soon….

I’ve a favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this blog, 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 to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site – and right now (because of Covid), us freelances appreciate all the help that we can get to aid us in bouncing back from lockdowns. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Thank you!

Rolling blog. The journey begins…

07 Tuesday Sep 2021

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

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06:20.

I left home this morning with mixed feelings as I’ve had to leave Dawn alone in an empty house without Jet for company and cuddles. But there’s work to do and bills to pay…

So here I am on Northern’s 06:04 from Sowerby Bridge to Wigan. Despite it being such an early train there’s half a dozen of us early birds in the front vehicle of this 3-car class 158. I wasn’t the only one catching it from Sowerby either, five of us did, which is a good indicator of the way rail passenger numbers are recovering post-pandemic.

The weather’s taken a turn for the better, bringing high temperatures and (this morning) heavy mist dominating the valley as we head West.

I’m heading for Birmingham and the NEC as I’m working at the combined Infrarail/Railtex trade fair – the first time it’s been held since 2019 as the pandemic wiped out all these events in 2020. I’m looking forward to the chance to catch up with friends and colleagues over the next few days. I’ve a busy schedule but should still have time for some fun.

06:32.

We’ve crossed over the border to Lancashire but the mist that confined the Calder Valley has followed me over the Pennines although it’s not as thick here. It certainly provides an ethereal backdrop as we chug our way towards Manchester.

06:40.

We’ve just left Rochdale which has provided plenty of passengers heading into Manchester to start a day’s work. We also lost a few as a handful of Royal Mail workers in their distinctive red jackets (and obligatory shorts!) arrived in the town.

07:45.

Well, that’s my stress levels well up! My train arrived at East Jn, just outside Victoria station 3 minutes early, then sat waiting for a platform. And waited, and waited – and waited. I had 32 mins to make my connection with the 07:27 from Piccadilly, which should have been planty of time for a leisurely stroll across the city, suitcase in tow. The minutes kept ticking and we went nowhere. Finally when a pltform cleared we were allowed in – at 07:04. Great, 23 minutes to get out of Victoria dash across town and onto a train at Piccadilly. If not, my first job of the day (photographing the HS2 Minister Andrew Stephenson) was up the swannee. As I left Victoria a clock showed 07:08. Despite pulling a suitcase I set a near personal best and arrived at Piccadilly at 07:23. A hot and sweaty mess admittedly, but I made it!

I’m now cooling down in the air-conditioned luxury (“luxury”? Ed) of a Cross-Country Voyager bound for Bournemouth…

08:33

We’re now South of Stafford. I’ve regained my breath and equilibrium, cooled down and am ready for the whatever the rest of the day holds. This 9 car Voyager’s full of reservations and people but I managed to find an available seat in the front car. God knows how busy these services will be when they revert to the normal timetable and become single units again! Today’s going to be a hot one, there’s wall to wall sunshine outside although the mist persists even here in Staffordshire. I suspect it’s going to be rather hot in the NEC today, but we’ll see…

21:45.

Apologies for the lack of regular updates throughout the day but I was run off my feet! This year Infrarail/Railtex was held in halls away from the main entrance, adding another 10 minutes to get there from International station. Thankfully, the guys I was working with from Rail Business Daily had everything in hand so even though we had to go through extra layers of checks due to Covid I had plenty of time to spend with the HS2 Minister Andrew Stephenson MP to get the shots we needed and then listen to his keynote address and Q&A session. Here he is addressing a busy arena.

Most of the rest of my day was spent ping-ponging between to discussion areas, capturing shots of the speakers. Needless to say, I’ve racked up a few miles today! Disappointingly, and despite the fact it’s the first time any of these events have been held since 2019, the numbers attending were lower than we’ve seen for a few years. It’s clear that it’s going to take a while for events like this to bounce back from Covid. Even so, it was obvious from the conversations I had with various people that everyone’s so happy to be back to being able to meet with friends and colleagues face to face again. I certainly felt that as I toured the show and bumped into people I’ve not seen since the first lockdown and I know I wasn’t the only one. Today was very much about the keynote speakers and the seminars. Tomorrow should be more relaxed, enabling me to get a greater variety of pictures and play around with the camera. It’s not that some of the seminars weren’t really interesting, but there was a feeling expressed at some that the biggest stumbling block to progress with the railways is getting financial decisions to be made in the corridors of power. This very much came across in the discussion about decarbonisation where the sentiment was ‘right, we’re preaching to the converted here. We all know what the problems and pitfalls are, we also know what the benefits are, how do we get the Treasury to be part of the solution, not part of the problem’? Answers on a postcard, please…

As Covid restricted some of the more social activities at the end of the day I drifted away earlier than normal as my job was done. Heading back into Birmingham I caught the same Cross-Country train that I’d come down on. In the time I’d been at the fair the sets had time to complete their trip to Bournemouth and back! Birmingham was sunny, hot and sweaty so after a quick pint in the Shakespeare pub by the station I headed for my hotel which is just behind the O2 arena. I’ve no idea who’s playing but by the time I’d changed and ventured out to get something to eat the queue of young people waiting to get in was easily over a quarter of a mile long! I steered well clear as two words formed in my mind, ‘Covid Hotspot’…

Right now I’m back in the cool of my hotel room editing pictures from today and checking my kit ready for day 2. It’s an early night for me after an 04:45 start this morning but I’m intending to make the most of the day tomorrow and blog more about the event and another evening in Birmingham. Stay tuned, but for now – it’s goodnight from me…

I’ve a favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this blog, 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 to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site – and right now (because of Covid), us freelances appreciate all the help that we can get to aid us in bouncing back from lockdowns. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Intermodal (rolling blog).

01 Tuesday May 2018

Posted by in Infrarail, London, Railways, Rolling blogs

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I’ve become a London commuter for rhe day. Starting off by using ‘Shanks’s pony’ to get to Gipsy Hill station on the first leg of my trip to ExCel in the docklands.

Things have already fallen apart. Due to a points failure at West Croydon the 08:00 Southern service I’d planned to catch has been cancelled and the following 08:12 is delayed for unspicified reasons. Still, I’ve given myself leeway and it’s a beautifully sunny, crisp morning, so let’s see what happens…

08:33.

A 4 car 455 finally arrive to take me one stop down the road to Crystal Palace. I had no problem getting a seat as most passengers were waiting for the following train to take them into the capital.

I always enjoy a visit to Crystal Palace, it’s a huge, labrynthine place whose fortunes have waxed and waned over the years. Now it’s very much on the up as a lot of money’s been spent restoring it and making platforms accessible (it has some mammoth staircases).

As well as having Southern services, nowadays the station’s the terminus of Overground services from Highbury & Islington in North London. I’m using one of them (the 08.36) for my next leg to Canada Water.

14:41

No time for blogging earlier, it’s been a busy day at Infrarail shooting pics of the speakers, networking and catching up with old friends. Here’s Transport Minister Chris Grayling taking questions after his keynote speech.

Now I’m on a Flybe plane from London City airport to Dusseldorf for phase 2. The great thing about flying from here is that the airport was only a 25 minute walk from ExCel!

16:24.

Landed in Dusseldorf after a fascinating flight over London and the port of Rotterdam. You really appreciate its size from the air. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to get any decent pix, but here’s London from above, showing the Eurostar reception sidings at Temple Mills.

The varied week (and month) ahead…

29 Sunday Apr 2018

Posted by in Infrarail, London, Musings, Siemens, Travel

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I’m expecting to have some interesting stuff to blog about this next week as there’s quite a bit of variety in my calendar. Tomorrow I head back to London in readiness for Infrarail, the 3 day railway trade show which is being held at ExCel in London’s docklands. I’ll be there for the opening but then I’ve got to hot-foot it over to London City airport in the afternoon as I’m on a press trip with Siemens to Dusseldorf, a group of us will be visiting their Krefeld plant to see the new Class 717 trains under construction. These trains will be replacing the vintage BR built Class 313’s operating services out of Moorgate and Kings Cross stations in London. After visiting the factory we’ll transfer to the test track at Wildenrath where we’ll have the opportunity to drive one of the new trains, so watch out for pictures on my Twitter account @paulbigland1 and website as well as keeping an eye out for the new blog.

Later that day we’ll be flying back to London, giving me the opportunity to spend a full final day at Infrarail before I head back up to Yorkshire.

There’ll be more variety later in May as I’m off to New York for a week. We’re going to celebrate my wife’s 50th birthday and meet up with some of her family, but I’ve arranged a bit of time to explore, so expect pictures of the New York subway as well as general cityscapes. I was last in the states in 2007, the camera technology’s changed a bit since then, so I’m looking forward to seeing what I can capture. By the way, here’s a link to the 2007 rail images.