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08:39.I was up at 06:00 this morning to make Dawn’s coffee as she’s on a course in Liverpool today. This gave me time to scan another batch of old slides from 1995 which I should have on my website tonight. Here’s a taster from Warrington Bank Quay.
Class 56s no’s 56132 and 56033 side by side at the station on the 20th June 1995.
Right now I’m off out to make the most of the sunny weather and try and catch up with some pictures for clients that I got side-tracked from on Friday. More soon…09:39.Despite the sunny interludes it’s a bit of a nippy day so I was glad the walk down to Sowerby Bridge warmed me up a bit! I arrived a couple of minutes late to catch the train I was aiming for, so now I’m hopping to Hebden Bridge to pick up a Fast train to Manchester from there. My steed is 158845, one of Northern’s refurbished Class I58s that’s had the full make-over. It has new seats, tables and also USB power sockets as well as an improved Passenger Information System.
11:05.I’m back on track as I decided to stay on the Blackpool train and take a detour via Burnley. This was for several reasons including the fact I hadn’t got pictures of the new station building and that I’d always meant to see if I could get a shot across the town showing a train traversing the viaduct on the Colne branch. I managed to achieve both aims with the added bonus that my return trip was on a stretch of track I’d not previously travelled on: the Todmorden curve.Whilst I was at Burnley I spotted this unique planter on Manchester Rd station which celebrates the town’s links with an earlier form of transport, the canals.
17:10.Ok, it’s a long story what I’ve been up to since I crossed Manchester. I visited a location I’ve wanted to check-out for years – and I wasn’t disappointed. After getting the train to Goostrey station on the line from Manchester to Crewe I walked to the Twemlow viaduct. I’ve passed over it hundreds of times, but you only appreciate its magnificence when you see it from the ground
22:15
I’m happy with the pictures I managed to get today. Hopefully, the client will be too! So much has happened between now and then to blog about at length as I’m now taking it easy at home. Well, when I say “easy”, I’m actually on tenterhooks, trying to follow what’s happening at the EU summit in Brussels. Will the unanimity of the EU 27 finally break? The UK’s pushed its luck and it wouldn’t be any surprise if one or two countries finally ran out of patience with us. Brexit is an utter shambles, even some of it’s cheerleaders are admitting that now as they don’t want to be left carrying the can when the inevitable happens. God, what a mess this country’s got itself in…
08:05We’re now bowling along towards Grantham through the gloom and murk as the haze is sticking with us, which isn’t exactly condusive to good photography!I was surprised to see how many folk on my train were commuting from Leeds to Doncaster. No doubt some were rail staff, but I wonder about the others as you don’t exactly see ‘Donny’ as a thriving centre of commerce.09:05The closer I get to London the worse the murk gets! We’ve just passed Hitchin and visibility is down to 200 metres. If it’s no better in London I may need to rethink my plans for the rest of the day as it’s grim down South. One of my community rail friends has just sent me a picture of sunny Accrington to cheer me up!10:38My luck’s changing at last. The wet weather I was greeted with has changed an the skies are starting to clear. Meanwhile, a friend at Hornsey depot is keeping me abreast of preparations to tow away the first Class 313 (026) to South Wales and the scrap yard. Here it is passing through Finsbury Park on its final journey, hauled by 57312.
Tomorrow night, sister unit 313055 is due to head in the opposite direction, from Hornsey to Yorkshire, where the unit will be scrapped.Here’s the new order that will replace them, seen at Hornsey earlier. The Siemens built Class 717s are a step-change in quality compared to the 1970s designed 313s.
13:00.Due to the weather I didn’t hang around in London. I began heading North, looking for sunshine. I found it at Bedford, on the Midland Main Line, where these units working the Bedford-Bletchley line are due to be replaced by Vivarail Class 230s very soon.
Of course, the times have changed here earlier now that Thameslink are running an entirely new fleet to Bedford.15:36.Northward, ever Northward! My next stop was at Wellingborough to check out progress on both MML electrification and also the massive housing development that’s being built to the North and East of the station. Here’s the view looking North, with the old Midland Railway steam loco shed to the right.
17:22.I’d hopped my way up the Midland Main Line as far as Sheffield where I couldn’t resist stopping for a swift beer in the magnificent Sheffield Tap, which gave me time to upload a few more pictures to the blog. Now I’m heading for Leeds on one of Cross-country’s HST’s which are rather a contrast to the one I started the day on! All the way North the weather’s been a patchwork quilt that’s alternated between sunshine and low clouds or haze. Still, it’s mission accomplished – despite the weather and the all-invasive Buddleia! As someone who spent many years travelling on the old Class 313s I wanted to record the beginning of their end. I only hope GN give the last one’s a proper send-off as they’ve moved millions of people in years they’ve served the railways.17:55I made the cardinal error of using one of the toilets on this train only to find coach C has run out of water, so the sight greeting you in the toilet bowl can be imagined. I’m at Leeds. This trains going all the way to Glasgow and there’s no chance of replenishing the water supply…
18:22.The last train of the day is a refurbished Northern Class 158 that’s taking me and dozens of other weary commuters home. Like every commuter service, no-one’s window-gazing, they see this view 10 times a week at least! Instead, the vast majority are staring at screens of varying sizes and I’ve only heard the rustle of a single newspaper. One or two are taking the chance to doze. All this means it’s a very quiet train…
Paul Bigland 