The wet and dismal day that greeted us when we woke up this morning has morphed into something far more pleasant as blue skies and sunshine have appeared to brighten the day. We’ve been up early and breakfasted as the CRN team will be off to the venue shortly, preparing for tonight’s event. It promises to be a brilliant evening. The Community Rail Awards don’t have the pomp or stuffiness of some ceremonies, they’re much more relaxed. I’ve been roped in to help with some of the prep so I’ll be heading over to the arena for a couple of hours too. Obviously I’m not going to be blogging and spilling the beans about what people can expect, but later on I’ll have chance to have a wander around Swansea to get a few pictures and check out the Maritime museum and marina. Expect some thoughts and pictures later, and then some of this evening’s highlights…
16:30.
Today’s not exactly gone to plan blogging wise as I’ve been roped into several different things and haven’t had time to blog. However, I did get time off to visit the Maritime museum – which is about much more than just the sea.
From old motorcycles to a solar car that travelled from Athens to Lisbon…The maritime collectionOld steam power…
I’ve a small favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, 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 me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
We’ve been up since 07:00, not a time we’d normally expect to be supping coffee on a Sunday, but today we’re heading to Swansea for tomorrow’s Community Rail Awards. This could be an interesting trip. First we head to Manchester to meet up with other members of the CRA team, then we catch a Transport for Wales service all the way to Cardiff, which takes 5 hours. That could be the first ‘fun’ bit as (having checked) I can see that it’s worked by a two-car class 197, so it could get cosy! It being Sunday, the line from Cardiff to Swansea is closed for engineering work to take place, so it’s the dreaded ‘bustitution’ for the rest of the way. Just what you need when you’re carrying all the kit you need for an awards ceremony and a couple of nights away!
Feel free to pop back later and see how the journey unfolds….
10:00.
We’re on our way on our first train of the day – Northern’s 09:50 from Halifax to Manchester Victoria. As it’s early on a Sunday and it’s a four-car there’s no problem in finding a seat.
10:30.
We’ve left the wet weather behind by crossing the Pennines into Gtr Manchester. Whilst our train filled up after calling at Rochdale the journey’s still relaxed. Next stop is Victoria…
10:45.
Ha! I should’ve known better. We’re in Manchester, so of course it’s raining! Not that it natters as we’ve just joined a packed TPE service bound for the airport which will deliver us to Piccadilly.
11:40.
Half A dozen of the team have met at Piccadilly and joined TfW’s 11:29 to Cardiff. Thankfully, it’s one of the new CAF built Class 197s and we’ve managed to secure a couple of tables behind the cab despite the usual scramble for seats. Now the tables are awash with laptops and mobile phones as folk make final preparations for the awards and a few days away.
13:40.
We’ve had a surprisingly good journey so far. At one point we were losing time to Shrewsbury but now we’ve mad that up on the approach to Hereford. The biggest surprise has been the amount of flooded fields around Moreton-On-Lugg. It’s horrendous. Fields have become vast lakes and some roads look like they’re impassible unless you have a 4X4. I really feel for the farmers as the rivers draining the area clearly can’t cope, so planting anything is impossible.
17:00
Made it! All in all, that’s been a very good journey. We were into Cardiff on time and the dreaded ‘bustitution’ worked like a dream. We were off the train and after a toilet stop we were straight onto a coach for the rest of the trip to Swansea. The group’s now checked in at our hotel on the Tawe Basin, right by the Swansea seafront. A short walk away is the National Waterfront Museum (which I’m hoping to have time to check out in the morning) and the venue for tomorrow’s awards (Swansea Arenea) is 5 minutes walk away.
19:01.
Time for the team to dine – at…
Zinco Lounge
22:30.
Well, that was a great (if different) night, but one that had to end early as some of us have to be on duty tomorrow. After the meal where we were joined by old friends such as Richard Salkeld – ex LNER and now ‘Lumo’ – when the wit and laughter was flowing, a few of us met up with other community rail colleagues and ‘newbies’ such as train driver Bessie Matthews, who’s written the Arlo adventures books at a Gin bar called Hogarth’s. Now, you wouldn’t normally find me dead in a karaoke joint, but as I was with friends it turned into an interesting exercise in people watching and insight into Swansea on a Sunday. After all, the Welsh have a reputation for singing, don’t they? True enough. The place was mostly men, and some actually knew how to sing – as did one of our own group – Karen Bennett – who bashed out a great rendition of a Bonny Tyler number whilst getting support from the audience!
Now it’s time to call it a day. I’m looking to seeing more of Swansea in the morning…
I’ve a small favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, 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 me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
After one more soggy day in the Pennines yesterday I’ve made another bid for freedom, thus time heading Westward to Preston and district in the hope of getting some library shots and bits for a client. The forecast isn’t promising sunshine, just no rain!
Having walked down to Sowerby Bridge station I waited for the train to Hebden Bridge and my connection to Preston. Whilst I was there I noticed this local history board which tells the story of a musician few will have heard of, but you will have heard of some of the famous film scores he played on – and the major artists he recorded with. Then there was Mike Batt…
11:15 we’re on our way from Accrington now, one of those Lancashire towns I’ve never really explored. I keep meaning to as the serried streets of traditional terrace houses look like they’d make an excellent photographic opportunity. Maybe this summer…
The train I’m on is busy, but strangely subdued. Normally these Blackpool services can be rather riotous with families heading to Blackpool, but this one’s obviously too early in the season. I’m sharing a table with a young chap sat diagonally opposite. He appears to be suffering from the advanced stages of ‘Liquormortis’ – also known as a hangover! The rest of the passengers are a real mix – although a large percentage seem to be solo women travellers of all ages.
12:45.
Wonder of wonders – the train I was hoping to get pictures of actually ran – and ran to time, giving me the opportunity to get a shot of it in Preston. The new Hitachi built Class 805 bi-mode sets for Avanti West Coast are currently on test on the West Coast Main Line before they enter service and replace the company’s diesel-only Class 221 ‘Voyager’ fleet. I’ve seen a few 805s but never been in the right place at the right time to get pictures. Today I was.
Still without Avanti vinyl livery, set 805002 passes through Preston on a Lancaster – London Euston test run.
14:00.
Whilst at Preston I couldn’t resist taking a minor detour/backtrack to Bamber Bridge to photograph a structure that’s seen better days. Here’s the old signalbox, with some new(ish) additions…
Talk about a supporting role…
The box is coccooned by suppurting girder to stop it collapsing completely. The facr many of its timbers are rotten doesn’t help. Neither does its narrow base, but the road crossing is also suffering from subsidence too.
16:30.
Mind the gap…
Sorry about that but I’ve been busy and too busy observing things to live blog. After getting back to Preston, where the weather was indifferent I decided to make my way back via Wigan so that I could check on progress with electrifying the line between there and Bolton.
Bad move.
Catching a packed Pendolino to Wigan was OK, it’s only a 15 minute trip. It was the fact that when I arrived it was chucking it down through leaden skies and all trains to Manchester from both stations were cancelled due to signal failure that I thought, bugger!
There was only one thing for it, a pint in Wigan’s metaphorical version of the Winchester whilst I waited for the whole thing to blow over (sans Zombies, thankfully).
Choose your poison.
Fortunately, there was one train running even if everything else either side had been cancelled. I’m aboard the 16:07 from Wallgate to Victoria (ex Southport) worked by one of the bi-mode class 319 conversions. I’d expected it to be packed but that was far from the case.
Photographically this part of the trip was a bust but now I’ve seen the changes along the route I know where to return to. OLE mast bases have appeared between Winan and Hindley along with a smattering of masts. The biggest visual impact is 4-5 decades of tree and vegetation clearence whic has really opened up some vistas. I’ll be back…
17:30.
Getting home is proving to be fun today as the railways are not having a good one. On arrival at Manchester Victoria I thought I’d just miss the 16:57 to Leeds. Fear not! Due to yet more disruption it’s only just left – 23 mins late. Many other trains are still waiting, with passengers none the wiser as no-one’s making any announcements. The Internet’s no help either as there are no realtime updates. I was waiting on a following train (the 1704 to Rochdale) before taking a punt based on my railway knowledge.
Halfway home…
22:45.
Time to bring this blog to an end from the comfort of home. Thankfully, there were no more problems after Manchester. Mind you, as the last leg was via shank’s pony – what could possibly go wrong? Tomorrow I’ll be working from home, sorting out today’s pictures and preparing for Sunday’s trip to Swansea and the Community Rail Award, so expect a few more pictures and possibly a beer-pump clip or two…
Goodnight!
I’ve a small favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, 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 me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
Despite the dreich weather here in the Pennines, or rather because of it – I’m having a day out and heading back to Merseyside where the rain’s forecast to clear for the day. We might not get wall to wall sunshine but time’s running out for me to document the final days of the old Merseyrail electric trains. The Class 508s have already gone along with half of the 33 Class 507s. Meanwhile, the last of their Stadler built replacements are on their way across Europe from Switzerland and Poland.
As someone who grew up on Merseyside roving the areas rails is something I’ve been doing since I was a young teenager. In those days we used to be able to buy a ticket names after the title of this blog. It was valid from 18:00 on a Friday all the way to Midnight on Sunday and presented excellent value. Here’s an original.
Note the typos. ‘Rook Ferry’ and ‘Halsby’?
Feel free to pop back during the day to see where and what I get up to…
10:00.
I’ve escaped the valley aboard Northern’s 09:22 from Sowerby Bridge to Chester which is a reasonably busy pair of 2 car Class 195s. Ensconced in the rear car I’ve set up the mobile office for the trip. For once, crossing the Pennines hasn’t improved the weather – it’s just as miserable around Manchester as it is in West Yorkshire!
The forecast is that the rain is gradually clearing from the West so I’ve decided to stay on this service all the way to join the Merseyrail network at its most Southerly point.
10:20.
I’m now heading West from Victoria where this service pretty much emptied out. I’ve just taken a quick walk through the rear unit and counted 16 other passengers. Next stop is Newton-le-Willows which always seems busy, so I’ll be interested to see how many folks leave the service at journey’s end. The weather’s slowly brightening up. The oppressive low cloud that’s hemmed in the Calder Valley for the past week has given way to higher. more diffused formations, with a band of brightness on the horizon. I doubt I’ll see more than the watery sunshine I’m experiencing now, but there’s contrasting skies and actual cloud patterns. Plus, from a photographers perspective, the light’s improved by several stops.
10:50.
I’m handing back my weather forecaster’s badge. I’m as bad at predicting it as the professionals! We’re leaving Warrington under blue skies – which wasn’t on anyone’s card! Our next stop is our final one – Chester – and I count 20 people aboard for the final leg, although I’ve no idea how many are in the front unit. This Leeds-Chester service started in May 2019 and it’s proved to be a valuable service as it allows easy access to Wales via a historic old town – and provides a useful connection with the West Coast Main Line at Warrington Bank Quay.
12:15.
I didn’t stay in Chester long as there wasn’t much around to photograph despite the sunshine. It’s a far cry from the 1970s wgen I used to come here on a Merseyrover. Chester loco shed was known as an easy depot to ‘bunk’ as the staff were very relaxed. I remember turning up at the shedmaster’s office with a couple of friends one weekend around 1973. On asking if we could look around we were told. “Yes, just don’t wander onto the main lines and don’t fall into the pits”. In those days the shed would house old class 24s and 25s used on freight workings and the occaisional Class 40, along with some 08 shunters and dozens of diesel units. It’s unrecognisable now as it was first rebuilt by Alstom back in the early 2000s and now it’s run by CAF who maintain their new DMUs for Transport for Wales.
Right now I’m making my way up the old Great Western Main line to Birkenhead. Once four-track it was reduced to two in the 1970s.
Blogging may get a bit patchy now as I’m stopping off en-route. Plus, services are so frequent there’s lots to photograph. Like this service at Bromborough Rake.
14:00.
I’ve made it into Birkenhead but not without difficulty as Merseyrail are cancelling several services today. My kast stop was Rock Ferry, once tge terminus of the Mersey Railway electric services from Liverpool until electrification was ecentually extended to Chester and later, Ellesmere Port.
Get the message? One unit didn’t recently…
15:10.
Remember those cancellations I mentioned? They got worse. At Birkenhead I found that due to Police dealing with an ‘incident’ on the railway, New Brighton services were cancelled with trains turning back at the scenic location of Birkenhead North. To add to the fun the weather reverted to forecast type – making the scene even duller! Undeterred, I caught a 507 to Birkenhead and managed to get a reasonable picture of 507001 passing Birkenhead depot. I’ll add the pic later. Right now there’s little more for me to do but head back into Birkenhead aboard 001 and work out my next move.
Gotcha…
And again.
15:55.
It seems my trip today quite literally bombed, according to the Liverpool Echo…
19:30.
I’m back in West Yorkshire, making my way home via a slightly convoluted route in order to drop in to Huddersfield station so I can see what’s afoot with the route upgrade work. The old wooden building on the island platform is being carefully dismantled so that it can be rebuilt at a different location on the station in the future.
The stripping process has revealed many old posters from the BR era, including gems like this!
Now I’m on the final rail leg, aboard Northern’s Huddersfield – Bradford shuttle which will carry me back to Halifax. It’s a quiet train this time of night and week, but then the station’s not exactly buzzing either. I’ve not been into either of the station pubs but both look empty.
I’ve a small favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, 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 me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
Another bleedin’ Baltic day here in the Pennines where our section of the Calder Valley’s spent the entire day bathed in haze under gloomy skies, accompanied by temperatures and wind that’s made it feel like January, not March. The ‘Man flu’ I’ve been suffering from has mutated into a common or garden cold, sans sore throat and the ague – which is a relief! Having recovered enough to venture out I sallied forth to the supermarket to pick up some shopping – which is why I know just how cold it is out there. I wasn’t tempted to tarry…
Now I’m happy to be back in the warmth. Having finished penning my latest article for RAIL magazine this evening’s one for relaxing. Neither of us fancy venturing out, so tonight’s going to be a quiet one at home with some good food (Dawn’s already busy cooking up a storm in the kitchen) and a movie. We’ve time to enjoy a weekend at home together for a change. The next one will be different as we’ll be travelling to Swansea on the Sunday to get ready for the 2024 Community Rail awards. Plus, I’ve plans for a couple of trips this next week (weather permitting) to catch up with some recent changes on the rail network. But for now you’ll have to make do with another archive shot for today’s picture. Like yesterday’s, this has been dusted off for a special book.
If you think UK preserved railways have some major structures to maintain, then imagine what it’s like for this one! Here’s a train on the Taieri Gorge railway which is on New Zealand’s South Island. It runs from Dunedin all the way up to the plains at Middlemarch. To say it’s a spectacular trip is an understatement!
Locomotives 1240 and 1222 double-head our train on the return to Dunedin on the 16th January 2019.
I’ve a small favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, 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 me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312
This will be a short blog as I’m still recovering from ‘man flu’ – although you can cancel the lilies! Apart from a short walk along our road to the woods to admire the handiwork of the council staff who’ve been busy filling in the latest tranche of potholes* I’ve not been anywhere – and won’t be until the weekend at least. It’s not a problem as I’ve plenty to do at home, including a new RAIL article to finish writing. Mind you, the weather’s hardly been an incentive to go anywhere. For much of the day the valley’s been buried in fog with temperatures remaining in single figures, so being tucked up at home seemed very attractive indeed. I suspect tomorrow will follow much the same pattern.
One little job that has been completed was selecting railway pictures for a book for a young lad who’s not very well. I’m not going to go into details but I’ve chosen one of those images as my picture of the day. Some railway photographers put their cameras away in the winter, or when there’s anything but full sunshine. I don’t. In fact I love the variety that the English weather can provide as sometimes conditions can help make a picture. Here’s one. This shot was taken at Grantham on the 22nd July (yep, summertime) 2010 – just as an enormous rainstorm was passing – and so was this GNER service, hauled by 91116. A long lens (400mm) compresses the image and accentuates the weather. For the camera cranks this was taken at 1/400th on F8 with a Nikon IS lens on a D3.
I’ve a small favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, 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 me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
*And if anyone dares to suggest that these fcuking potholes are only being filled in ‘cos Rishi (expletive deleted) Sunak has cancelled phase 2 of HS2 – you will be getting a piece of my mind!
Bugger, I have ‘man flu’. I woke up in the early hours with a throat that felt like I’d been gargling with sandpaper. After a restive night I decided a day of rest was in order. As a precaution the flag over Bigland Towers is flying at half-mast and we’ve painted a red cross on the front door. This time it’s Dawn’s turn to wear the nurses uniform. Mind you, it fits her far better than me – especially the stockings…
Whilst I’ve taken to my sick-bed I’ve not entirely given up the ghost and I’m continuing sorting out bits and bobs in-between having my fevered brow mopped. My Zenfolio website’s been updated with all the pictures from the last week’s travels and events which you can find in the following galleries.
There’s still plenty of pictures for me to sort out as well as writing for a living which I’ll be doing later. What I’m not doing is listening to Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt deliver his latest budget. I heard enough flannel and buzzword bingo (“hard choices”…”growing the economy” etc) from him in person on Monday.
Insert own caption here…
I’ll wait for the expert analysis which always picks up what matters but is never mentioned in his speech. Judging from the reactions I’ve seen so far, the idea that this budget is going to somehow improve the Tories electoral chances and ‘shift the dial’ of their piss-poor performance in the polls is a forlorn hope. Just like when you grow up and stop believing in Santa Claus or the tooth fairy, voters have stopped believing in the Tories – at last! Now we have to wait to see if Sunak will call a May election. The last day on which he can do that is when Parliament goes into recess on the 27th March. There’s no point in trying to second-guess him as that’s applying logic to a man who’s proved to be immune to logical though and decision-making.
On that same lack of logic vein, I’ve been amused to see how the far-right English racists have embraced AI on social media – always with unintentionally hilarious results as what most of ’em actually know about English (never mind British) history could fit on the back of a postage stamp. As for their lack of fluency (both written and oral) in their mother-tongue – or dear! Here’s an absolute classic, but not untypical of the genre as they do love cosplaying Crusaders…
What’s so funny here is that the Knights Templar were actually French! Oh, and only 10% of them were actually knights. So what this buffoon is really calling for is a million people marching through London led by Frenchmen! It’s not gonna happen. Wetherspoons could never cope with the rush, and as for trying to pee through chainmail after twelveteen pints of foreign lager…
Needless to say, the best of British humour has been deployed in spoofing these idiotic IA images, with producing some absolute corkers featuring (amongst other things) knights and lions, golf and Greggs!
Right, one last thing before I go. As it’s another month I’ve restocked my eBay account with more railway memorabilia and old slides for sale. You can find it here. This is a sample of one of the new additions.
See you tomorrow – if the ‘man flu’ hasn’t seen me off!
I’ve a small favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, 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 me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
Another early start here in South London. Whilst I’m closer to where I need to be it’s still a trek to get to today’s main event. Siemens are holding a press conference at their signalling factory as Chippenham, Wiltshire, where they’re going to make a major announcement about investment. What will it be? Who will be there? I’ll found out later this morning. But right now I’ve got to get there, which means getting an 06:28 train to Reading. I’ll be blogging throughout the day, so feel free to pop back and see what I get up to…
06:40.
It’s a surprise no longer. Siemens have sent out their press release, announcing that they’re going to replace their Chippenham factory (the old Westinghouse Brake and Signal establishment) with a brand-new, state of the art production facility in a £100m investment (more later)…
Meanwhile, I’m making my way to Reading aboard an elderly class 455, not that I’m complaining. At least this service is running! When I pitched up at Clapham I noticed a series of services were cancelled, including the Shepperton line, due to a track inspection.
Up the junction…
07:15.
If nothing else it’s a lovely journey along the Reading line today. It’s a beautifully sunny but frosty morning with low sunlight and mist that’s creating wonderful shadows amongst the trees that line so much of the route.
09:32.
Ready for the main event…
And we’re off. Look who’s here…
12:20.
Well, that was short and sweet. Announcement over the great and good (and not so good) dispersed with most folk heading back to London – including me as I travelled with an old friend from Porterbrrok who’s now working for the Rail Industry Association (RIA). Siemens had pulled off their 2nd PR coup in as many weeks, first they got the PM and Cabinet meeting at their new factory in Goole. Today they’d got the Chancellor (and so the media) along to their Chippenham announcement.
14:15.
Having passed West Ealing on the way into London and noticing this old friend (in a new guise) I couldn’t resist nipping out to get a picture. The last time I saw this unit was when I was working with Vivarail up at Cop26 in Glasgow.
17:25.
Whilst finding the GWR battery unit was a bonus, that was the last one of the day. What had been glorious weather changed rapidly as clouds moved in from the South and temperatures plummeted. Their seemed little point in hanging around so I made my way into Central London, only to find that another old friend was in the area (the power of social media) so we met up for a ‘swifty’ at Euston to catch up on each other’s railway tales. Now I’m Northbound again, heading to Manchester up the West Coast Main Line on a quiet Pendolino, which is giving me chance to set up the mobile office in order to edit some of today’s pictures – some of which will appear on this blog later…
18:35.
Ho hum. My journey back North’s dragging (but then so were the brakes). We left Euston 10 minutes late due to the Driver having an issue with said train brakes which meant he had to do a train reset. It got us moving, but we continued to lose time all along the route as we weren’t running on tilt. Now, we’re crawling along the line from Macclesfield towards Stockport as – having lost our path – we’re running behind a local all-stations stopping service. We’re currently 32 minutes behind time.
19:25.
A non-stop dash from station to station has seen me arrive in time to catch Northern’s 19:22 from Manchester Victoria to Leeds. It’s been a long day and I’m looking forward to getting home. Looking around my fellow passengers on this busy train I can see I’m not the only one feeling that way!
21:55.
I’m home and it’s time to call it a day. Here’s a last couple of pictures to keep you entertained until tomorrow.
Battery safety is being taken very seriously…I noticed several Hitachi 800s running around with their nose end doors open today. Is there a technical issue?
I’ve a small favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, 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 me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
After a lovely evening in Clapham where I spent time with Irish friends on an Internet chat group it’s time to come back to the real world and head off to the Chilterns to record a major event in the construction of High Speed 2. Today, the one of the two Tunnel Boring Machines (TBMs) will break-through and complete the first of the two 10 mile long Chiltern tunnels and I’m privileged to have been invited along to witness it. But first I’ve got to get across London and out to Great Missenden.
Here’s how the South portal of the tunnel looked in July 2021.
08:00.
My cross-London journey was stress free as I keft in plenty of time. Hassard had to be on the 07:15 from Euston so the pair of us were up early. I caught a train into Victoria then used the Circle and Bakerloo lines to get to Marylebone. I rarely use the underground nowadays, preferring to stick to national rail – or even walk. What a difference compared to when I lived here when I’d often spend several days a week traversing the tube. Some things haven’t changed, such as the ancient Bakerloo line stock which is well past its sell-by date. It’s a sad reflection on this Government’s priorities (they have some, other than being re-elected? Ed) that our capital city has such aged trains in daily service with no sign of replacements.
Now I’m making my way on younger stock, the 1992 built ‘Thames Turbos” to Great Missenden.
09:20.
On the way..
10:08.
In position…
10:20.
There’s a real party atmosphere here. HS2’s set up a barbecue area and staff who’ve been working on the project are taking selfies in front of the tunnel.
11:27.
It’s here!
13:55.
Wow! What an amazing event and what a privilege to be part of it. I’ll add more pictures (and a video) this evening. The atmosphere was brilliant as workers from all around the world celebrated together. You can see the flags of the nations workers hail from either side of the TBM. The crew were Irish whilst the TBM ‘driver’ was a young Frenchwoman.
Right now I’m on my way back into London the slow way. Myself, Youtube star Geoff Marshall and Modern Railways Philip Sherratt were given a lift to the station at Great Missenden only to find no trains were running due to a track defect. Instead the minibus driver took us to Amersham where we caught a Met line.
18:45.
Homeward bound up the West Coast Main Line to Manchester after a long day and the mobile office is open and in full swing…
22:00.
Home again! It’s been a long old day so I’ll leave you with a last couple of pictures that I edited on the way home. There’s literally hundreds for me to edit over the next few days, so watch this space.
Breakthrough! After 3 years tunnelling 16km, ‘Florence’ emerges into the sunlight. The TBM crew pose on the cutting head after the machine had come to a halt. Now ‘Florence’ will be stripped down. What can be refurbished and reused in other TBMs will be, what can’t will be recycled as scrap.
And finally, a short video…
I’ve a small favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, 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 me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
Today’s adventure has started from Sowerby Bridge as I’m heading across the Pennines to spend time on the West Coast Main Line en-route to London.
Right now I’m aboard a very busy 09:22 to Chester which is currently threading its way through the Calder Valley. The train’s full of leisure travellers rather than commuters although one or two of my fellow passengers appear to be working on the train. Not so the two young Chinese women in front of me, who’re clearly out for day. Manchester bound for the shops or to historic Chester I wonder?
09:55.
We’ve broken throgh the barrier of the Pennines into Lancashire and (as is often the case) different weather. Whilst cloud dominated the West Yorkshire skies the sunshine’s breaking through more scattered formations here.
As usual, our stop at Rochdale provided plenty of traffic. Several dozen folk were waiting to board. Now this train’s standing room only. It’s not that there’s not still a few seats available, it’s that they’re occupied by bags and some people would rather stand than ask people to move them!
12:30.
Back again! After a dash across central Manchester on foot I hung around at Piccadilly long just long enough to get a handful of shots. The station was surprisingly quiet both from a passenger and fleet perspective. Avanti hadn’t got a single Pendolino platformed which suggested their was trouble on the WCML somewhere. Sure enough, an inbound set arrived over 10 minutes late and despite crews best efforts it left 12 down – only with me on board as far as Crewe.
As is often the case Crewe had some unusual visitors. I narrowly missed getting shots of A4 steam loco ”Sir Nigel Gresley’ which chugged South with its support coach just as I arrived. A more modern (but equally redundent) visitor was an Alstom built Class 175. Latterly in store at Holyhead, it was making its way from Crewe Gresty Bridge to Barton Under Needwood. God knows why.
Ah, thanks to my old friend and colleague Richard Clinnick I now know why. The 175s are having remidial work carried out to them before they head to Ely for further storage. The trains are owned by Angel and Ely is their storage centre.
14:30. Having diverted via the Stour and bimbled around Birmingham (only to find the weather not to my liking I’m now on a direct train to Euston from Coventry – with yet more variety. This *should* have been an Avanti Pendolino. Instead it’s a pair of Voyagers! Ah, well. – at least the power sockets are working, unlike the unrefurbished Pendolino I travelled on from Crewe to Birmingham. The set swap has clearly confused many passengers who got on at Cov’ as the two trains are very different in layout. I don’t envy anyone who’s booked seats in ‘standard plus’ as they ain’t gonna find it! Don’t expect a full meal service on 1st either…
16:00.
Bugger! I had blogged from the train earlier but the wifi hung, so what I’d written never appeared. What I’d talked about was how thw weather had picked up and that – despite the Pendolino being substituted for a Voyager – what a good trip it was, helped by the fact it was a quiet train. That said. I do prefer the ‘old’ Voyagers compared to the stripped out Cross-Country version. I felt quite nostalgic visiting a proper shop/cafe on one.
Now I’m in London. Having had chance to get a few shots and with one eye on the improving late-afternoon weather I’m aboard one of the new Class 730s heading for Watford Junction. I’m quite impressed with these sets. The wide gangways make for an open feel but I’m not entirely sure about the table bays either side. OK, there’s a window view from one side but the other’s a real bulkhead experience – although it’ll be ideal if all you want to do is work without distractions.
Is it me, or do the front end of these trains feel rather ‘butch’? They certainly don’t have the graceful lines of some other newcomers.
Great for working. Not so great for window-gazing.
23:55.
Last update. I’ve been busy in London so haven’t had time to update this blog until now. That wasn’t the plan, but when I arrived at my old friend’s flat in Clapham we ended up getting embroiled in an internet discussion group on Irish railways which included other old friends. Thankfully, we didn’t have to cook as I brought a food parcel from West Yorkshire in the form of Thai green curry and rice. Yeah – I know – It’s hardly standard Yorkshire fare, but it is for us!
Now it’s time to call it a night as I’ve a silly o’ clock start tomorrow which will prove to be an interesting day – as you’ll see. In the meantime, here’s a last couple of pictures..
Tell me that you’re in London without telling me you’re in London…Anyone who’s used Euston station in the BR era may remember this site as it was the location of one of the old Travelers Fare kiosks, long before all the food options that arrived later.
I’ve a small favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, 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 me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
Paul Bigland 