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Category Archives: Railways

The picture pile gets smaller…

12 Wednesday Dec 2018

Posted by in History, Photography, Railways, Uncategorized

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After all my travels last week the first part of this week’s been spent at home trying to catch up on paperwork, picture editing and scanning more old slides in an effort to reduce the mountain I have to climb. If you’re interested in last week’s German rail pictures, you can find the full selection here and the travel shots here.

Meanwhile, I’ve made another dent (albeit a small one) in the railway slides. I’m currently scanning a couple of albums from 1996-97. Most of them have never been seen since I took them. A selected few had made it onto my Zenfolio website but now I’m being methodical and scanning complete albums. The beauty of this is that it creates a lot of space! The slide albums contain many duplicated shots because that’s what you did in film days – just in case an important picture was damaged or was out with a client and you needed a copy. I reckon I’m binning at least 30% of the slides I have because they’re redundant now once one’s been scanned. Here’s some of tonight’s batch.

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It’s a reflection on how technology’s changed over the past 22 years. The irony is that I remember working out that each of these cost me about 24p apiece when I added together the price of the film, developing and mounting – plus postage! In theory, I’m throwing away a lot of money!

Here’s a taster of what’s been scanned today.

05815. 37057. Ipswich WRD open day. 15.6.1996crop.jpg

Here’s 37057 at the Ipswich Wagon repair depot open day on the 15th June 1996. EW&S had taken over the BR trainload freight companies (Mainline, Loudhaul and Translink) earlier in the year and this was the first public outing of the new livery. 37057, 60019 and the inspection saloon 999504 had been repainted and were on display. So much has changed since those early days of privatisation!

I’ll try and get some more done soon. Right now I’ve got other tasks in hand, including finalising our trip to New Zealand in December-January, plus, I’ve just found out I’ll be working in Birmingham on Thursday.

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Rolling blog: I’m leaving, on a jet plane…

06 Thursday Dec 2018

Posted by in Germany, Railways, Rolling blogs

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– just a couple of problems. I’m going to a country outside of the Brexit madness – but it’s only for 48 hours. Will I return from Germany to a country that still has a Government – much less one that’s actually in possession of its marbles – who knows! What will be lovely is to spend some time with friends and colleagues in Germany away from all this madness in a fully-functioning country. I’m off to have a look at Siemens new Mireo train, then spend a night in Dusseldorf, where I want to visit the Christmas Market. That means this rolling blog will keep rolling for some time. I’m going to put it on hold right now so as to get some sleep before my flight…

07:12

I’m now awake and guzzling coffee airside at Manchester airport. Judging by the security kerfuffle here Manchester thinks it’s special. For the first time in all my years travelling security insisted that – not only did I have to remove my shoes and belt but my meagre supply of toiletries (none over 50ml) just *had* to be put in a plastic bag and my camera also must be removed from it’s camera bag and be put in a separate tray to the rest of the kit. Utterly pointless of course, but that’s Manchester Airport security for you. It’s why airports are such a miserable experience nowadays, arbitrary rules that make no sense but are justified on the grounds of ‘security’ so you can’t question them. Mind you, I’ve never been a great fan of this airport anyway. It’s cramped and messy, not exactly a great advert for the city it serves. It’s also packed. Looking around the lounge it seems to be mostly leisure travellers, there’s very few people who look like they’re here for business.

09:43(10:43 German time, which I’ll be using now on).

The flight wasn’t bad. I was flying with Eurowings for the first time and they seem a decent airline. The woman pilot warned that there was very bad turbulence in our sector, but we got very little. My only complaint was that the whole of the trip took place with the ground blanketed in cloud. You couldn’t see a thing! Here’s how it looks at Dusseldorf airport.

Now to head to town..

13:40.

The weather’s no better in central Dusseldorf than it was at the airport, so it’s not a great day for picture taking, although I’ve got a few. I think tonight should be good as wet weather and night time are ideal partners.

I tweeted a couple of pictures earlier to try and dispel a couple of the myths about German railways that are popular in the UK because of rail privatisation. Here’s one – that German railways are nationalised. Really? Here’s a local service to Cleve at the Hauptbahnhof. It’s run by Transdev, a private company who run trains in 6 countries.

The myth that German trains are far more punctual than in the UK was exploded by having a look at the board. There’s Intercity services up to 110 mins late!

1527.

Siemens picked up our group and brought us the the PCW at Wildenrath, where the first Mireo was officially unveiled.

DB Regio has ordered 24 of these 3-car, articulated trains. Eight pre-production units will be built and tested here before the Mireo enters public service in June 2020. I’ll blog more about the Mireo separately.

17:06.

We’re now on the coach back to Dusseldorf. Needless to say, it’s now pitch black outside, but at least it’s dry! I’m looking forward to checking into my hotel, uploading some pictures, then going for a wander…

21:20.

It’s been a mild night here so I’ve had a good wander and visited the Altstadt (old town) to see the Christmas Market, which was lovely – and watch the world go by whilst drinking Glühwein. Here’s a few pictures from the evening.

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Lovely, isn’t it? This is trees either side of the Stadtgraben neat the old town at night. 

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Chritsmas market in the square with the Rathaus as a backdrop.

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It does get a tad congested around the Glühwein stalls in the market square.

Glühwein – such a lovely drink on a winters night. 

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Right, it’s 22.47 here in Dusseldorf and I’ve got a fun packed programme ahead of me before I fly back tomorrow, so I’m putting this rolling blog to bed. Goodnight!

 

 

 

 

 

Not time for blogging, I’ve been too busy editing pictures – and watching the Government (and hopefully, Brexit) implode.

04 Tuesday Dec 2018

Posted by in Birmingham, Brexit, Politics, Railways

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As the old Chinese curse goes “May you live in interesting times”. We certainly are. According to the BBBC, tonight’s vote in Parliament which decreed the Government was holding Parliament in contempt was the first time it’s ever happened.  Just think on that…

It’s hard to explain to people unconnected with politics or economics just what an absolute f*****g shambles this county is in at the moment. Or as I saw on Twitter earlier;

fucktangular

I think “fucktangular” pretty much sums up the Brexitshambles, the Government and the ‘opposition’ at the moment. Never has this country been so ill-served by its political classes. Meanwhile, in other news most people will have missed, one of the architects of this mess, one Nigel Farage, has announced his resignation from UKIP as it’s completed the job he started and morphed into the British National Party. Their new Leader, Gerald Batten has welcomed arch-racist, several times convicted criminal  (and self publicist) Stephen Yaxley Lennon (aka “Tommy Robinson”) into the fold. Apparently, it’s OK to be a racist with a blazer in UKIP, but bomber jackets are just too common!

So, whilst Britain goes to hell in a hand-cart and we have five days of these political shenanigans to look forward to as our (entirely self-inflicted) national humiliation plays out in front of the world’s media I’ve not been eating popcorn, I’ve been editing pictures for clients and my website. Here’s a few samples to lighten the mood.

DG314373. HST Sheffield. 3.12.18crop

An East Midland Trains HST plays ‘peek a boo’ through a doorway at Sheffield station.

DG314173. Christmas Market. Bimingham. 30.11.18crop

The German Christmas market’s in full swing at the moment. Ironically, it’s sponsored by the city of Frankfurt – although how long this might continue in a post-Brexit world is open to conjecture. The fact this Bierkeller is filled with the younger generation says it all really.

DG314118. Curzon St Hs2 station site. Birmingham. 30.11.18crop

A birds-eye view of the site of the new High Speed 2 station site in Birmingham. Demolition of the old concrete foundations of the parcels distribution site is well underway.

 

 

 

 

Rolling blog: A long and winding road…

03 Monday Dec 2018

Posted by in Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel, Uncategorized

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08:08.

Another day another dollar, I’m in Derby this morning ready to do a job for a company that’s getting a Ministerial visit. Once that’s done I’m heading back to Yorkshire to meet my wife as we’re off to help two of our local station friends groups (Mytholmroyd and Sowerby Bridge) with their annual ‘carols by train’ event. It’s another busy week as on Thursday I fly to Dusseldorf to have a look at Siemens new Mireo train. It’s a quick trip but I’ve decided to stay a night so that I can have some time to explore Dusseldorf before coming home. It might be the last chance I get before all the Brexit madness explodes.

Just as I left the hotel the rain started bucketing down! It’s a miserable morning here, as these two pictures show. At least the lights on Derby’s new island platform add a bit of brightness to the day!

In the waiting room on platforms 4-5 is an excellent information board that tells of the history of the station and the old locomotive works.

11:30.

Job done (which I’m not allowed to talk about as it’s embargoed) I’m back at Derby station with time to grab a few shots before (by the look of it) the heavens open again!

It’s actually been a fascinating morning as I’ve learned a lot about some very interesting technological innovations and also more about the damage being caused to our economy by the madness of Brexit. I heard from a company that’s having to move a sizeable chunk of its business to the European mainland because of the fact we’re hellbent on leaving and it needs to stay within the EU regulatory framework to continue trading. This isn’t ‘project fear’, this is project fact.

13:09.

On the way back I’ve stopped off for an hour or so to get photo’s of another transport innovation. Well, in the UK anyway. After a decade of talking and planning (and re-planning) tram-trains are finally running between Sheffield and Rotherham. I didn’t have time to take a spin on one (that will have to wait for another time), but I did manage to grab a few shots of them in service in Sheffield town centre. Here’s the first of the fleet, 399201.

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13:36.

I’m typing this on the 13:35 Sheffield-Huddersfield, which is late, so it’s still sat in platform 4a. The reason? Well 4a was already occupied by two other late running Northern services, with one trapped behind the other! First off was a late-running local to Leeds which was waiting for a driver. Trapped behind it was a Scarborough service, which got the road just as soon as it was clear. The inbound Huddersfield was stuck outside the station, waiting for the platform to clear.

It’s one of those situations ordinary passengers don’t quite understand when they say “Why don’t you just make trains longer”? The two late trains were both 2-cars, so they fitted in the bay. Double them in size and you can’t fit both of them. So where do you put the other one when platform space is at a premium?

My train’s a 3-car Pacer which is running 5 minutes late at the moment with little realistic chance of making up time on the Penistone line.

14:45.

We’re bouncing and screeching our way along the lovely Penistone line and all the while the weather’s been picking up.

16:39

Despite horrendous traffic (came from Huddersfield by road) we made it in time to meet up with the Mytholmroyd friends and Carol singers.

After singing at Mytholmroyd the merry band caught a train to Sowerby Bridge, where they met Santa in the Jubilee Refreshment Room.

Here’s the merry band at the end of the day before singing on the train back to Mytholmroyd.

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Rolling blog: destination Derby…

02 Sunday Dec 2018

Posted by in Grand Central trains, Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel

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It’s Sunday afternoon but there’s no rest for the wicked! I’m en-route to Derby for a night in a hotel before an early morning commission and an appointment with a Government Minister.

These short December days make it feel far later than it really is. As I type this on my phone I was surprised to see the time in the corner of the screen only showing 16:40.

I’m on a Grand Central service that was going to take me to Wakefield for an onward connection to Derby, but (surprise surprise) it’s been delayed by other late running trains, so I’ll miss my connection. Instead I’m going to stay on this train and go via Doncaster and Sheffield before heading down to Derby. This service (the 16:14 off Halifax) is actually quite quiet, which makes a change! I normally struggle to get a seat on GC services nowadays!

What’s good about this train is that omits the stop at ‘Pontycarlo’ (as Ponfefract is often known) as we run via Hare Park Junction to gain the East Coast Main Line from Leeds, which speeds up the journey considerably as there’s no crawl along the normally freight only line from Knottingley.

16:15

Best laid plans, etc!

Luke, our Guard has just announced we’re stuck behind an all stations service into Doncaster, which means we’re already late (again).

On the bright side, there’s a frequent service from Doncaster to Sheffield, so I won’t have long to wait when we do arrive…

17:37.

That went well! I stepped straight off the Grand Central service (which loads of passengers were joining) and crossed the platform to the bay where A rather special Pacer was waiting to head to Shefgield – the unique rebuilt 144012.

18:45.

On the move again after having a quick break in Sheffield between trains to grab a sandwich and a pint at the ‘tap.

Now I’m on a packed East Midlands Trains Meridian. As is often the case, I’m stuck in a vestibule. It was quite amusing as a group of young football fans asked me to take a picture of them with somebody on one of their iPhones. I’d no idea who it was but apparently they’d me a football commentator on the train and he agreed to a picture with them. As I’m not a footie fan I wouldn’t know him from Adam (unless he was Gary Linaker) but they were well happy and he seemed quite pleasant and unassuming.

19:48

I make it to Derby only 3 minutes late – and into the new island platform too!

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I’m now checked into the old Midland Hotel opposite the station and sorting out some work and pictures before nipping out for an hour to meet someone. Thanks to the power of social media a friend who lives here has realised that I’m in town, so for the second time in 4 days I’m meeting another of my Ride India friends, at the Railstaff awards I saw Katerina Deligianni, this time it’s Martin Ward.

21:38

What a lovely evening in Derby, chatting about the industry with Martin and an ex-colleague of his who now works for WMT. Here’s a clue where we were.

Now it’s back to the hotel for me as I have research to do and a busy day tomorrow.

Expect a rolling blog that takes in Government Ministers, trains, travel and Carol singing…

Rolling blog: Midlands meanderings

30 Friday Nov 2018

Posted by in Birmingham, Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel

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09:29

Morning folks! I’ve had a later start than normal as it was a late night last night. It was a fabulous evening (which you’ll hear more about later), but right now I’m concentrating on catching up with some emails and admin over a coffee at the wonderful art deco Centenary Lounge at Moor St station before making the most of the sunny weather here in Birmingham.

Time to hit the rails, more soon…

13.56.

Phew! It’s been a busy few hours, the weather’s been pretty good here in Birmingham but I’ve finally stopped for a break and chance to download a few pictures. To start, here’s a couple from last night. The entertainment was excellent, but also a challenge to photograph. Come on, you didn’t think I was going to leave my camera at home, did you?

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Last night’s compere was an old friend, Richard Salkeld, who works in the Comms team for GWR, here he is in typical ‘selfie’ mode with Andrew Haines, the new Chief Executive of Network Rail.

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Whilst I’ve been bumbling around Birmingham I’ve been out updating shots for the Rail Delivery Group that include the new West Midlands train livery which is being carried by more and more of the fleet. Here’s a couple of examples.

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Of course, I couldn’t not pop in to see how work’s progressing on the site of the new HS2 station that’s being built at Birmingham Curzon St on the site of the old parcels depot. So, here’s an overview of the site as the old concrete base is being broken up.

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Right, that’s it for new. More later. Hopefully my journey home won’t be quite as complex as yesterday!

15:55.

Ho hum. I’m heading for Manchester on Cross-Country’s 15:57 from Birmingham – and it’s absolutely rammed! There’s 17 of us crammed into a vestibule on this 4-car train!

I’ve written and blogged about this plenty of time before, but in this day and age, 4-5 car trains between Birmingham-Manchester is just mad – and they’re diesels running all the way under the wires, which is doubly mad.

So, there’s not much chance of doing anything productive on this train. It’s like being back on the tube in London.

16:48.

We’ve just left Stoke and the crush has eased. There’s still no seats available, but I’ve managed to find a perch in the luggage rack!

18:07.

After arriving at Manchester and fighting my way through the Friday crowds in the city centre from Piccadilly to Victoria I’m now standing on Northern’s 17:55 to Leeds! Well, I’m actually jammed in a luggage rack at the end of the saloon…

As usual things calmed down a bit after Rochdale, where a lot of folk got off. It didn’t mean there were any spare seats, just that we could all breathe! This is how things look after calling at Littleborough, our last stop in Lancashire before crossing the Pennines.

19:18

Bugger! I had to change trains at Jensen Bridge. It’s a Victorian gem of a station, but the weather’s not up to much this side of the Pennines!

Now I’m having a drink in Williams Bar in Sowerby Bridge before heading home. Well, it IS Friday…

Rolling blog:Birmingham bound…

29 Thursday Nov 2018

Posted by in Birmingham, Railstaff awards, Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel

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11:23

It’s almost time to brave the elements and head to Birmingham for tonight’s Railstaff awards. I’ve spent the morning pottering around and catching up with various bits, including scanning another 20 old rail slides from 1996 which have been added to the Tinsley depot open day gallery here. The weather is worse than predicted in the Pennines as the sunshine’s never really materialised but gales have. I doubt there’s many leaves left on the trees now, most have been blowing past the house in whirlwind pirouettes! Here’s how things look from our bedroom window right now.

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OK, time to walk down to Sowerby Bridge station and try my luck…

12:38.

My departure was delayed by the arrival of a torrential rainstorm the swept in up the valley you can see in the picture. The beauty of living where we do is that you get to see ’em coming so don’t get caught out!

Having dodged between showers I’m now on Northern’s 12:22 to Manchester Victoria which is running to time (unlike others). This is what a supposedly sunny day in the Calder Valley looks like! Talk about it’s grim up North…

Hopefully things will get better the further South I get.

13:46.

I’ve just arrived at Manchester Piccadilly after walking across from Victoria – and those white numbers don’t tell a happy story. They’re delayed trains.

There’s a Cross-country service to Bournemouth here that’s 25 down before starting its journey.

I was going to take the ‘scenic’ route to Birmingham via Crewe but as services are disrupted I’ve opted for a direct train. I’m now on the delayed Cross-country service to Paignton via Brum. We’re held awaiting a driver, with an expected departure of 14:25. Let’s see what happens…

14:47.

We left at on time at our new time and we’re now on our way to Brum. The trains very busy but the crew are doing a sterling job dealing with passengers who’ve been delayed by the weather. One of the problems with heavy winds is the sheer amount of stuff that becomes airborne and gets blown onto the tracks or into the overhead wires. Euston station’s Twitter account’s just posted a picture of a large chunk of sheet metal on the tracks near Leighton Buzzard. You certainly wouldn’t want that slicing through a train’s windscreen, hence the speed restrictions that are in place. I’m just waiting for the picture of the regulation kids trampoline as these always seem to blow away in the slightest breeze.

15:00.

It’s one of those days. My train failed at Macclesfield! One of the doors refused to close again despite the best efforts of the crew and other helpers, so we were told to detrain and catch the Bournemouth XC service that pulled in alongside us! Here’s some pictures of the fun!

Now I’m rammed in the 1st Class vestibule with 14 other people. Two middle-aged women immediately went into a long, outraged whine. One of them’s upset because she’s on her way to an awards ceremony. I felt like saying “so am I love”. Still first world problems eh?

15:58.

I could only stand the whining of entitled people as far as Stoke where I abandoned my train in order to catch the one behind. It gave me less than 30 minutes to wait and the chance to explore something new. The former Virgin 1st Class lounge at Stoke has been taken over by the Titanic brewery! The new pub has only been open 6 weeks and makes a welcome addition to the stock of station bars. Take a look.

Whilst I was there I ended up emailing pictures to a magazine and sorting out a short-notice commission on Monday (don’t you just love Government Ministers diaries?)

I’m now on the 15:45 to Bristol Temple Meads which gets me into Birmigham in time to check into my hotel and head to the Railstaff awards at the NEC. At least there’s plenty of space on this one

Next stop, Birmingham..

17:21.

Having dumped my bag at the hotel, looked for accommodation in Derby for Sunday night and had a little wander through the Xmas sights in central Birmingham, it’s off to the NEC I go!

Next stop, the Railstaff awards…

18:56.

Looks like a fun night!

Down memory lane; When Eurostar’s visited Clapham Junction.

27 Tuesday Nov 2018

Posted by in Down memory lane, Eurostar, London, Railways

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It’s a miserable afternoon here in the Pennines, for most of the day it’s been impossible to see across the valley due to the mist and murk, so I’ve been busy writing and catching up scanning more old rail pictures, this time from Sunday 21st April 1996, which was a bright sunny day in London. Engineering work Between Latchmere Junction and Kensington Olympia had closed the line, which meant that Eurostar trains running from their Depot at North Pole into Waterloo International had to be diverted via Kew East Junction and Clapham Junction. This involved hauling them with pairs of Class 37 diesel engines and translator vehicles as far as Clapham Junction, where the Eurostars could pick up the 3rd rail and proceed under their own power.

This was such an unusual sight that I spent a few hours at Clapham recording the process. I’m glad that I did as now – 22 years later – it’s not something you’ll ever see again. You can find the bulk of the pictures in the Eurostar gallery on my Zenfolio website, but I wanted to flesh out the details in a blog.

05540. 3223 being dragged ECS via Kew from North Pole. 37074. 37185. Clapham Jn. 21.4.1996crop

Two hired-in Class 37s, 37074 in Mainline Livery and 37185 “Lea and Perrins” in Civil Engineers ‘Dutch’ livery  stand in platform 4 at Clapham Junction, attached to Eurostar set 3223/3224 by translator cars that have couplings and air hoses that are compatible to both. The 37s have hauled the set from North Pole depot but will leave it here to run into the carriage sidings, ready to return to North Pole with another Eurostar. The company had its own fleet of Class 37s (37601-612) which had been rebuilt to haul the cancelled ‘Nightstar’ trains and also provide assistance like this. I’ve no idea why these two were hired-in,  but they made a colourful sight!

05562. 3216 stabled in the yard. Clapham Jn. 21.4.1996crop

Eurostar set 3216/3215 stabled in the carriage sidings at Clapham Junction. It certainly made a change from the usual slam-door stock.

05569. 3223. Clapham Jn. 21.4.1996crop

Staff uncouple the Class 37s from 3223. Note the protective shield placed over the live 3rd rail to allow the crew to get between the two vehicles safely.

05575. 3223. Clapham Jn. 21.4.1996crop

The 37s have moved off, the nose doors are shut, and 3223 prepares to head off under its own power to Waterloo International.

05577. 3224. ECS to Waterloo. Clapham Jn. 21.4.1996crop

Away we go! with 3223 leading and 3224 trailing, the set heads for Waterloo International.

05583. 37185. 37074. Clapham Jn. 21.4.1996crop

Job done, 37185 and 37074 move into the carriage sidings to wait their next turn, with barrier vehicles at either end. 10 of these were converted from old parcels vans by removing the bodies and adding weights and  compatible couplings.

05567. 37604. 37605. stabled in the yard. Clapham Jn. 21.4.1996crop

Eurostar 37s 37604 and 608, along with 37074 and 37185, plus 37605 on its own, stabled in Clapham Yard

 

 

 

 

Siemens opens a rail bogie service centre in Lincoln

26 Monday Nov 2018

Posted by in Engineering, Eurostar, Railways, Siemens

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On Friday 23rd I attended the official opening of Siemens new rail bogie service centre which has been built at their existing gas turbine manufacturing facility  in Lincoln. The facility allows Siemens to carry out bogie overhauls ‘in house’.

A disused building dating from 1874 has been converted for the purpose at a cost of £8 million. Work involved relaying and strengthening 5000 square metres of floor space before installing cranes and other equipment needed to overhaul the bogies. 32 people are currently employed at the facility which began production in September, overhauling spare bogies for the Eurostar e320 trains built by the company. Bogies from the Desiro City fleet of Class 700/707/717 trains will also be overhauled on the site, which has room to be expanded if demand requires it.

Here’s a selection of pictures from my visit.

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A bogie off a Eurostar e320 that’s just been unloaded onto the bogie assessment area. Here a condition assessment is undertaken before it’s moved into the cleaning booth behind it. In the booth the bogie is cleaned using a ‘dry ice’ blasting technique using a solid form of carbon dioxide which is accelerated in a pressurised air stream. This allows the bogie to be cleaned without using toxic chemicals or water, thus cutting down on pollution.

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After cleaning, the bogies are placed on these adjustable jacks to be stripped.

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A view of one side of the shed, the bogie stripping area is on the right of the picture. On the left is the UAT station, the axle bearing press station and the wheelset rebuild station.

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The axle blasting area is where the wheelsets are mechanically cleaned to remove any painted areas. The Finnblast machine is a fully automated system that works by blasting an abrasive air mixture through the nozzle in the blasting chamber with the compressed air acting as the driving force. The speed of the abrasive when charging from the nozzle is about 200 metres per second.

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The wheelset disassembly area. Here the axlebox housings and bearings will be removed using the hydraulic bearing puller in the background.

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No caption needed!

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The axle bearing press station, where the bearings are fitted back onto the axle using the hydraulic press that you can see in the background.

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Inside the axlebox housing, showing the sensor that monitors the temperature of the bearing.

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The bogie press. This is where the rebuilt bogie is subjected to pressing. This reflects the weight characteristic of the particular car a pair of bogies will run beneath and it’s a fully automated process. Using measurements taken in specific locations during the bogie overhaul process it will press against the agreed criteria. The results are automatically generated from the machine. These results must fall within the agreed tolerance range for the bogie to pass.

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All set up and ready to go. Overhauled Eurostar e320 bogies await return.

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Rolling blog: Lincolnshire loafings…

23 Friday Nov 2018

Posted by in Railways, Rolling blogs, Siemens, Travel

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08:31

Morning folks! Welcome to another dull day in Lincolnshire. Well, weather-wise anyway! I’m just about to head into town before the press trip to have a look at Siemens new £8m railway bogie overhaul facility. After which I’ll be wandering around Lincs for a few hours as I gradually make my way home. So, expect a variety of pictures and comments throughout the day…

09:24.

What a grey day.

Thank God I’m working indoors today!

14:27

Well that was an interesting few hours. Siemens showed us around their factory at Lincoln, part of which was vacant space but that had a long history. The company’s converted 5000m2 space in an 1874 building, spending around £8 million to build their new Bogie Service Centre. I’ll blog about the centre separately, so here’s a taster.

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The bogie of a Eurostar Velaro e320 that’s just arrived. After doing 1.5 million km the bogies are sent for overhaul. This one’s about to go through the cleaning process which involves the use of dry ice. This is more environmentally friendly than the traditional method of water jet washing.

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One of the two halls in the 1874 building that’s been brought back into use.

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A newly overhauled Velaro e320 bogie undergoing a final inspection before being sent back to Eurostar

15:57

I’ve left Lincoln and I’m currently on a train towards Sheffield. By co-incidence I caught it with a journalistic colleague from Today’s Railways UK who was heading to Saxilby. He’d also been at the Siemens event. So, happy 39th Birthday Robert Pritchard!

17:27

I’m on the move again after stopping off to do a bit of research for future articles (Honest Guv!) by visiting the Mallard pub on Worksop station. Is this the only station pub that has an annual conned competition? It’s a cosy one room bar that has a wide range of drinks and four hand pumped ales.

I caught another Northern service from Worksop to Sheffield which was pretty busy. A lot of people were heading for the fleshpots of Sheffield (did you really just write that?: Ed) to enjoy the end of the working week. Hence this detritus left behind. Mind you, I’m not sure what the excuse for a similar shot was yesterday. Maybe it’s a Worksop thing?

So, if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em. Besides, it would be rude not to pay homage to one of the best station pubs in the UK: the Sheffield Tap.

18:25.

Waiting for my train which is delayed by a delayed TPE service. The ripples spread…

18:42.

Well, that was a saga! My Cross-country service kept slipping as the old days of four tracks approaching Sheffield are long gone. Now services are squeezed through two, so it was caught in the queue just trying to get into the station. When it arrived it turned out to be 2 x 4 cars, leading to a mad scramble as passengers tried to find out which set they had reservations in (the PIS screens on the platforms don’t tell you the train formation), which added to the stress and delays. Cue some unhappy passengers because of it. Still, there should be some indicator on the outside of the coach to tell you which it is, no? No. It’s blank. So are the PIS screens in the saloon. You have no idea! Cue doubly pissed-off passengers! Meanwhile, in the vestibules, there’s a lot of students sitting around on bags of washing they’re taking home to mum…

19:12

We’ve left Wakefield Kirkgate 20 mins late, so that’s my connection down the drain…

19:43.

My XC service lateness was of little consequence as the train I *should* have connected with was running late – and then cancelled! I’m now on another delayed service, the 19:36 which is running 10 mins late.

20:37.

I’m finally back in Halifax, so I’m going to draw this blog to a close. It’s been a fascinating and frustrating day, now I’ve got a few days to put my thoughts into words, both in a blog and for RAIL magazine. Enjoy your weekend.