12:15.
The pair of us are currently bouncing along from Bradford to Leeds on a Northern Class 195 in order to head down to London for tonight’s National Rail Awards, an event I’ve only missed once since (gulp!) 2003. Jeez. Were’s the last 20 years gone?
Tonight will be rather special as the awards host and Editor of RAIL magazine, Nigel Harris, leaves Bauer after 28 years tomorrow so it’s very much the end of an era. Nigel’s an old friend. The pair of us first met as volunteers on the Lakeside and Haverthwaite railway back in the mid 1970s. Then, in 2001 I started working for RAIL as a freelance photographer which brought me to the attention of the wider railway industry. The rest (as they say) is history…
12:45.
We’ve swapped our Northern 195 for some ‘classic’ traction to Kings Cross in the shape of 91111 ‘For the Fallen’
16th September update.
Sorry, I was overtaken by events that evening (literally) so never finished this blog. Despite the awards opening at 17:45 and going on until the early hours of the morning there’s never enough time. There’s so many people to see and say hello to, never mind get into conversation with – and Dawn and I have been privileged enough to have the run of the place and access to the VIP area which is the bar above the Great Hall.
Seeing so many old faces was lovely and (as usual) there was lost of stimulating and informative conversations. The Rail awards really are the railway ‘Oscars’ so pretty much everybody in the rail industry who can be there is. Only this time there was a twist due to Nigel retiring after so many years. Nigel’s co-presenter this year was the always entertaining TV journalist Steph McGovern, a person who has a host of stories and not afraid to call a spade a spade – or someone a tw*t! You should hear her anecdotes about meeting Donald Trump!
Here’s a few pictures from the night.
I’ve a small favour to ask…
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