Here’s part 2 in the story of the Class 321 train family which were built at BREL York between 1988-91. The 321/4s were the second batch to be built, following on from the 3s in 1989-90. The only difference between the sub-classes was that the 4s had 28 1st Class seats instead of 16. Initially, all 48 four-car units were allocated to Bletchley depot to work Network SouthEast services out of Euston to Northampton and Birmingham. However, in the early 1990s 11 of the units (321438-448) were transferred to Ilford in East London for working Great Eastern services alongside the 321/3s. To standardise the FGE fleet 12 1st Class seats were declassified in the 4s and the saloon layout altered.
Unlike the earlier 321/3s, the 321/4s have had a much more nomadic life.
The units remained in service with BR until January 1997 when First Great Eastern took over the Ilford based units. The Bletchley based 321/4s were transferred to new franchise winner National Express (Trading as North London Railways) in March 1997. The franchise was rebranded ‘Silverlink’ in September 1997 and ran services until the franchise ended on the 10th November 2007, after which the 321/4s were taken over by London Midland who operated the units until 2009 when they were displaced by a new order of Siemens Class 350/2s.
13 of the Class 321s (321401-410 and 321418-20) transferred to First Capital Connect to be used on services out of London Kings Cross to Peterborough. Another 17 sets (321421-437) went to National Express East Anglia to join the 3s and the 4s transferred in the 1990s.
Initially, London Midland retained 7 sets (321411-417) for strengthening rush-hour services and also operating on the Watford Junction St Albans Abbey branch. These units were given up in 2015. After being converted to 3 cars and renumbered 320411-417 they moved to Abellio Scotrail to operate services in the Glasgow area.
More transfers followed in 2017 when the former FCC (now Great Northern) 321s were displaced. 10 (321402, 321405-410 and 321419) followed their sisters to Anglia metals whilst 5 more units (321401, 321403, 321404. 321418 and 321420) were converted to Class 320/4 for Scotland in 2018-19 bringing the Scottish total to 12 sets.
These units and the earlier Class 320/3s (320301-320322) built in 1990 will be the last of the 321 type to remain in passenger service.
The remaining Class 321/4s soldiered on in traffic on Anglia services until earlier this year when the last few units were stored. Several are earmarked to be converted to hydrogen powered Class 600s in a deal struck between owners Eversholt and Alstom. As yet, no work has taken place.
Here’s a selection of pictures looking back at the lives and times of the 321/4s. All pictures are my copyright.
The first of the sub-class, 321401 seen in unbranded Silverlink livery (London Midland had taken over the franchise the previous November) at Birmingham International with a Northbound service on the 2nd September 2008. The same unit with a different livery, operator and route. 321401 seen speeding South towards Kings Cross at Welwyn Garden City on the14th July 2014 in full First Capital Connect livery. 321404 leads a sister unit on a Silverlink service from Northampton to Euston past Roade on the 6th August 2007. Still sporting Silverlink livery but working for First Capital Connect, 321405 and 321404 stand inside the trainshed at Kings Cross on the 22nd January 2010. The end is near. Having been transferred to Anglia services but increasingly surplus to requirements as new Class 720s come into service 321407 is stabled in the sidings at Clacton on the 8th June 2021. Still working for Great Northern but with only a few months left before withdrawal at the next May timetable, 321409 is seen inside Hornsey depot on the 13th December 2016.Still sporting NSE livery but with Silverlink branding 321410 calls at Harrow and Wealdstone en-route to Euston on the 23rd June 2001.One of the sets retained by London Midland to operate rush hour services and the Abbey line, 321412 arrives into Euston on the 16th July 2010. These sets moved to Scotrail in 2015. Reduced to a 3-car, this is now numbered 320412. 321413 calls at Bricket Wood on the St Alban’s Abbey branch on the 4th November 2009. The is now another Scotrail Class 320.Silverlink’s 321415 sits in platform 8 at Rugby during the station remodelling on the 26th June 2004. Central trains leased some Silverlink 321s to operate services from Birmingham New St to Walsall. Here’s 321417 on such a run, seen at Thame Bridge Parkway on the 28th November 2007. In 2015 it became another Class 320 conversion. Fresh from transfer from London Midland to First Capital Connect and before entering service the next month 321418 is seen with newly applied FCC livery outside Doncaster works on the 30th November 2010. Here’s 321421, one of the sets transferred from West Coast to Anglia services in 2009. It’s seen at Braintree on the 4th August 2014. 321424 heads for Euston at Bushey whilst 37893 and another loco are involved in relaying the Down Fast on the 20th May 1999.After National Express had taken over the franchise but before the Silverlink livery made an appearance a couple of units appeared in white undercoat. Here’s 321428 leaving Euston on the 6th September 1997. Class 321/4s did occasionally stray. Here’s 321437 paying a visit to the Hornsey wheel lathe on the 27th April 1997. Here’s one of the first batch of eleven 321/4s that were transferred to Anglia services back in the early 1990s. Sporting FGE livery but with added National Express white stripe and branding it’s pictured descending the bank into Liverpool St station on the 21st September 2009. 321447 arrives at Coventry from the South with the 16.46 to Birmingham on the 29th March 1997The prototype ‘Renatus’ conversion, 321448 heads North from Colchester on the 25th July 2014.
Only a handful of the 321s were ever named. Here’s one (with a proper plate, although the name’s debatable). 321420 carried the name ‘Silver Service’ – although I’ve no idea from when – or why. Can anyone shed light?
You can find more pictures of the 321/4s to view or buy in the following Galleries on my Zenfolio website.
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 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/
The anti HS2 protesters may have done it their way but there was one major problem. Their way was an utter failure! Late to the party, After the abject failure of groups like ‘StopHS2’ HS2Rebellion was formed in 2019 as a banner under which a rag-bag of professional protesters who were refugees from other failed campaigns could coalesce and recruit young people and locals who lived along the route of HS2 to form a grassroots activist movement. It was a project doomed from the very start because of the tensions inherent in trying to weld together people with diametrically opposed outlooks and political sympathies. Anarchists who who had the dream of ‘smashing capitalism’ (bless! Ed) and thought laws only applied to other people were never going jell with Nimbys who owned multi-million pound homes, nor with landowners and farmers who actually knew something about the environment they stewarded. Add in the fact it was an impossible aim. A tiny handful of people that never numbered more than a few hundred to try and stop the largest construction project in Europe that was spread over hundreds of miles was only going to end one way. And so it came to pass.
At the height of their campaign (2020) there were more than a dozen ‘protection’ camps littering (literally) the phase 1 route of HS2. Gradually, these were evicted or abandoned as ‘weekend warriors’ who only turned up to party lost interest never made credible troops. Here’s a list of camps HS2Rebellion openly advertised on their website in August 2021 (with my annotations in bold).
There were several others that only lasted a few days/weeks that never even made the list. Here’s the current list that’s buried away on a back page of their website today.
– and then there was one…
Another factor in the mix is the fact some of the people attracted to these protests are ‘nere-do-wells’ or damaged people who lapse into drug-taking, theft and violence. Insiders attest to the fact the atmosphere at these camps could be quite poisonous and women often felt marginalised or even at risk. Some of the young people whose idealism attracted them to the ’cause’ were soon disillusioned by the reality. The aggression shown by some protesters towards ordinary HS2 workers wasn’t what these idealists expected – or wanted, it was all meant to be peaceful and ‘fluffy’ on the protesters part but the reality was anything but. Factionlism soon broke out as those behind HS2Rebellion turned out to be control freaks who tried to take over the campaign – and control the money. This didn’t sit well with some of the earlier activists. I documented some of the spectacular fallings out in this 2019 blog – “trouble at t’stophs2 mill”
The decline of the ‘rebellion’ was swift as it became obvious that all their stunts were almost exclusively for PR purposes. None of them stopped a thing. Many weren’t even on land needed to build HS2 although that was never, ever admitted. Neither was the weapons-grade lying! As far as those leading the campaign were concerned, lying was fine as it was all about publicity. It made a mockery of the Extinction Rebellion slogan ‘tell the truth’ but that’s always been a lie anyway. As far as XR are concerned the truth is what you make up.
Admittedly, work on some sites was delayed or disrupted temporarily and millions of pounds was wasted but there was only ever going to be one winner. Their tactics were hopeless, carbon-copies of the same stunts that failed to stop the road-building programme of the 1980s. They never twigged that people stuck up trees or squatting in tunnels were sitting targets. It was simply a question of how long it would take them to be removed. It was the same with their tactic of blocking site access or sitting atop vehicles. That got them arrested, with onerous bail conditions applied that limited what they could do, further draining their pool of activists which was rapidly turning into a puddle.
The last squatter camp on Phase 1 (at Wendover) was finally evicted without any media attention in November 2021. That left one camp remaining, at Swynnerton in Staffordshire where a pitiful handful of refugees from other camps had pitched up after everyone else had scattered to the four winds. ‘Bluebell’ camp as the squatters named it was all they had left. It was painfully obvious to anyone with half a brain that by this stage in the game they were wasting their time, but those at the camp had nowhere else to go. Plus, they were still managing to get mugs to fund their lifestyle through Crowdfunding. All they had to do was keep up the pretense that they were actually doing something…
So, every few days a video would appear of a handful of them ‘blockading’ a nearby HS2 worksite. There was only one problem – it was complete bollocks as it was purely for show. They’d reached an agreement with their police liasion so that in order they could legally exercise their right to protest they could parade outside the gate for an hour or so. Any longer and they’d fall foul of the law and be arrested. It was painfully obvious they were achieving nothing because if you look back through the video’s you can see the HS2 worksite expanding and the fences growing! But, it was enough to fool the mugs on social media and keep the money flowing. ‘Job’ done the protesters would retreat to camp to waste the rest of their time drinking, smoking and digging the odd bit of tunnel. Interestingly enough, the majority of their crowdfunding doesn’t come from individual ‘widow’s mites’ but large, regular and anonymous donations of £500 at a time. Here’s a screenshot.
Of course, there were a couple of very middle-class kids in the Euston tunnel who’s parent is a millionaire. I wonder…Looking through all the various Crowdfunders the protesters have organised (and there’s loads) there is a pattern of large anonymous donations. So much for a grassroots campaign. I sometimes wonder just how many 100s of 1000s of pounds have been raised and wasted on this futile campaign. No accounts have ever been held and none have ever been published. It’s been a financial black-hole. No-one knows where all the kit they’ve bought (solar panels, climbing gear, vehicles etc) has gone, other than most of it has ‘disappeared’ – along with some the personal and private property of a few of the camps inhabitants.
The lack of a genuine ‘grassroots’ has always been the anti HS2 campaigns weakness. Considering the fact millions of people live in the constituencies HS2 passes through the number of folks protesting has always been ridiculous in comparison. Even celebrities like Chris Packham with his dual vanity projects (a petition and a legal case, both of which failed) plus his weapons grade dishonesty couldn’t revitalise the campaign.
Another sign of their decline is that no-one seems to be directing HS2Rebellion anymore. The people who set it up appear to have either deserted it or taken a very back seat. Looking at the stuff on their social media feeds and accounts it looks like a bunch of clueless kids have been given the keys and allowed to post what they want – hence them endorsing those libertarian, climate-change denialists and smokescreen for the oil lobby – the Cato Institute! Link here.
The people behind HS2Rebellion seem to be Extinction Rebellion acolytes Larch Maxey and Samantha Smithson (aka ‘Swan’) plus a chap called Micheal Truesdale (aka ‘Miami’) who was involved in a lot of the spats over control of the money and protest camps. All are keeping a very low profile. Maxey and Smith have court cases pending due to various daft stunts whilst Truesdale has disappeared, having deleted his Facebook account. Most of the usual suspects were amongst the 63 (with aliases) named in this recent injunction for the real name of ‘Bluebell’ Woods (Cash’s Pit). The injunction’s interesting for several reasons. It exposes just how few people formed the hardcore of the protest, how many have since deserted the campaign, and also which ones are left – and their real names. I mean, seriously – a campaign where there’s less than 100 hard-core supporters to be found and named after four years of protests? That’s pathetic.
So, who’s vice ‘Miami’? real name Michael Truesdale, last seen wasting his time up a tree in Euston Sq gardens?
In February the ‘Bluebell’ camp was served with an eviction notice which expired on March 24th. There was a lot of bluster from some of the residents about how they were going to challenge this but they’ve gone very quiet after the hearing (let me guess, it failed. Ed). Now the stage is set for the eviction as all the players are in place for the showdown which will obviously take place in the next few days or weeks. The result is in no doubt. What will be interesting is to see how many people are left in the camp when the eviction takes place as more of the long term regulars who ended up at ‘Bluebell’ have already given up and moved on. Here’s two examples from recent weeks.
Ross Monaghan was a refugee from Crackley and Jones’ Hill woods camps (amongst others) and had convictions for assault. ‘Tepcat’ was an occupant of the Bluebell camp who’d previously drifted in and out of several other camps over the years.
Meanwhile, despite these desertions, the bluster from the remaining occupants goes on!
“Growing”? Bless! As for working ‘hard’, here’s a picture posted on one of their social media accounts in recent days which shows just how hard they’re ‘working’. After all, those cider flagons are had to lift don’tcha know! “working hard” at ‘Bluebell’ woods, thanks to mugs donating to Crowdfunders ‘cos they’ve been conned into thinking a tiny group of woodland wasters like this are going to stop the largest construction project in Europe. If this is ‘the resistance’ then it’s painfully obvious resistance is futile!
On the 5th April there’s a hearing in the High Court in Birmingham where HS2 Ltd are applying for a route-wide injunction to prevent any more of these incursions onto HS2 land and prevent unlawful activity such as blocking access to HS2 worksites. You can find all the court papers here. There’s a lot of them but some make interesting reading as they document protests going back to 2017 and expose the protesters claims of being ‘peaceful’ for the lies they are. If the injunction’s granted (and they have been in the past) expect the eviction of ‘Bluebell’ to happen very soon afterwards.
No doubt I’ll be blogging about the eviction as and when it happens as this is the final chapter in this useless and misguided campaign. It’s possible another pointless camp may spring up somewhere in the future but it’s patently obvious that what passed for a national campaign to stop HS2 died a death years ago.
Now the focus moves to Parliament as the consultation period on the Phase 2b route from Crewe to Manchester closes on March 31st. Soon, the Hybris Bill for the route will get its 2nd reading in Parliament. It will pass and the only question is how big the majority will be. There’s no credible political opposition to HS2, but then there’s no credible ‘grassroots’ campaign either. The mantra I’ve been repeating for years is self-evident. ‘Stop Hs2’ is dead….
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The past few days have seen lots of activity at Bigland Towers here in West Yorkshire but some of it has been mundane and hardly worth blogging about – hence my recent absence. I’m not going to bore you (more than I have to) about everyday to-ing and fro-ing but there have been some highlights.
On Friday evening a bunch of us met up for a meal and what was supposed to be a planning session for a forthcoming trip to Berlin. Originally, the trip was meant to have been another outing for our little gang known as the ‘six from the 6’ (the Big 6 being the pub where we met) in May 2020 but Covid put the mockers on that – then one of our august company – Tony Allen – succumbed to cancer before we could make it happen. Now we’re the ‘five from the 6’ and will be in Berlin in May, a trip that will no doubt involve raising a few glasses to our departed friend.
The meal was at the Cafe Thai restaurant in nearby West Vale and a lovely time was had by all. So much so we’ve had to arrange another planning meeting to talk about all the stuff we forgot to talk about. (nice excuse! Ed.)
Thoughts of travel have been boosted by the arrival of spring, lighter nights and warmer weather. I’d packed away a lot of the winter woolies and started to dig out the singlets and eye-up the shorts. That was clearly a bridge too far. The forecast for tomorrow is a couple of degrees about freezing with added sleet and snow. Bugger…
Thankfully there’s nowhere I need to be in a hurry just yet and there’s other games afoot, so let’s see what happens. In the meantime – here’s today’s picture. One of the morning’s tasks was decluttering files and ensuring all my pictures were duplicated, filed correctly and pictures were at the right resolution. In doing so I came across this. It won’t mean much to my non-railway followers, but there’s a fair bit of railway history here.
This is a ‘bubble car’ as these single vehicle trains were known. It’s seen in platform 18 at Euston station on the 3rd June 2008. Both train and platform are long gone. This side of Euston has been demolished to make way for the new HS2 platforms. But what was a ‘bubble car’ doing there?
It was there as it was carrying Virgin trains staff who were route learning the Chiltern line and complex of lines around Willesden which would allow them to operate ‘Blockade buster’ trains from Birmingham to London during a huge closure of the West Coast Main Line. I was lucky enough to be invited along on one of these training runs – hence the picture.
The idea for the ‘blockade busters’ came from Virgin Trains West Coast MD Chris Gibb. As an ex-BR management trainee and lover of the railways he had a deep knowledge of the rail lines around the capital and knew it was possible to run services from Birmingham to Euston – even if it was around the houses. Chris described having to get a rail altas out to convince some of his more skeptical colleagues.
He made it happen and arranged for the training that meant Virgin crews had the route knowledge to operate pairs of diesel Virgin Voyagers throughout the blockade and maintain a rail service rather than rely solely on ‘bustitution’. How times have changed. You won’t see this happening now as rail staff don’t have the route knowledge and no-one will pay for it.
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 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 old BR built Class that’s reaching the end of the line in passenger service is the Class 321/3 fleet. 66 of these 100mph, 4-car units were ordered from BREL York by Network SouthEast in 1987 with the first unit entering service on the lines out of London Liverpool St in 1988. Like the earlier classes (317, 318 and 319) the trains were based on the MK3 coach bodyshell. The major difference was that the units weren’t fitted with front-end gangways which altered their appearance dramatically and allowed drivers far better visibility compared to earlier builds.
Their introduction allowed a lot of the old slam-door electric units to be replaced with modern sliding-door stock. They’ve remained in service on Anglia services until today, although many of the units have now been withdrawn and scrapped after being replaced by the new Class 720 trains built by Bombardier at Derby. As is often the case, the new trains have been delayed. The 321s were meant to have replaced by 2019 but a few still soldier on!
During their lives they’ve had several operators. Firstly Network SouthEast. On privatisation they were sold to Eversholt leasing and operated by ‘First Great Eastern’ who took over many of the services out of Liverpool St in January 1997. FGE lasted until 2004 when the franchise was won by National Express. Initially trading under the name ‘ONE’ the franchise was rebranded National Express East Anglia in 2008 and the livery changed to National Express corporate colours. The franchise underwent a services of extensions and lasted until 2012 when it was taken over by Dutch Company Abellio who’ve run it ever since as ‘Abellio Greater Anglia‘. When Abellio won the retendered franchise in 2016 they announced a total fleet replacement which left the 321s living on borrowed time.
Apart from livery changes the biggest alteration to the Class 321/3 fleet was the ‘Renatus’ refurbishment programme of 2018 which saw the first 30 of the units (321301-330) fitted with a new Vossloh Kiepe traction package (with regenerative braking), rebuilt interior and air conditioning to replace the forced air-ventilation through open windows.
Sadly for the 321s, the ‘Renatus’ programme did little to prolong their loves, despite the traction package being designed with a 30 year life-span. Apart from a few units that are being converted for freight traffic there are no plans for passenger service elsewhere.
Here’s a series of pictures looking back at their time in traffic, from 1990 to the present day. Please note – all these pictures are my copyright…
An everyday scene that’s now disappeared. Class leader 321301 speeds past a pair of Class 315s outside Forest Gate on the 9th June 2011. This view of ‘Renatus’ set 321306 taken at Manor Park on the 12th June 2021 shows the difference compared to the original units with opening windows. The internal ambience was much improved by fitting a/c and cutting down external noise penetrating the saloons. In original condition and only a year old, NSE liveried 321307 stands next to one of the trains it was to replace, a slam-door class 307. Seen at Southend Victoria on the 7th January 1990.On the 5th August 2019 ‘Renatus’ set 321314 and a sister unit sit at Norwich between duties. The units had a regular daily diagram which brought them to the city. ‘Renautus’ set 321316 leads an unrefurbished 321342 into Colchester from Ipswich on the 6th June 2021. In National Express livery but with Abellio branding, set 321317 crosses the River Stour viaduct at Manningtree and heads for Ipswich on the 19th May 2015. 321318 sports the revised First Great Eastern livery but with National Express branding and white stripe as it leaves Liverpool St on the 9th September 2008. Here’s 321321 with another of the old slam door units it helped to replace at Clacton on the 9th August 2003. Here’s 321324 sporting the full corporate National Express livery, seen at Bow Junction on the 27th July 2010.On the 13th March 2007 a pair of Class 321s sit inside Ilford depot in East London. On the 14th April 2015 I was working for Network Rail trackside at Wrabness on the Harwich branch. Whilst I was there we were passed by 321332 working the Manningtree – Harwich Town shuttle. For short while in 2005 three Great Eastern liveried 321s were loaned to Silverlink, operating services out of Euston. Here’s 321338 at Euston on the 24th February 2005. The 3+2 seating layout, original seats and green moquette in Standard Class aboard 321339 seen at Southend Victoria on the 24th November 2014. The end of the line (literally) for 321340! It’s seen here at the terminus of the Southminster branch on the 31st March 2015. Here’s 321343 in the original FGE livery before the stripes were extended around the base of the cab. Seen at Stratford in East London on the 9th August 2000. Here’s 321346 towards the end of its BR career, seen working the 14:30 to Liverpool St at Ipswich on the 14th June 1996. On the 4th August 2014 321353 leads a classmate through Witham at speed as it heads for London Liverpool St. Just a year old and in original condition with NSE livery 321359 and 321366 call at Stratford whilst working to Southend Victoria on the 29th June 1990.
Of course the Class 321/3s weren’t the only members of their type to work Anglia services. 16 of the later batch of 321/4s also ended up working from Liverpool and in recent years the 321/9s built for Northern services have been transferred South along with the peripatetic Class 322s originally built for Stansted Express services before heading up to Scotland – then on to Yorkshire before returning to Anglia – but I’ll be dealing with them in separate blogs.
Personally, although I’ve used these trains since they were first introduced I’ve never been a great fan of the ‘Dusty Bins’ as they were nicknamed. Like the earlier Class 317s they suffered from a lack of tables and high windows which restricted views. As 100mph units they were fast, but their acceleration didn’t match their modern replacements and the saloons were noisy due to the primitive corridor connections, opening windows and slide doors that rattled when other trains passed. The ‘Renatus’ refurbishment was a great improvement, but the lack of a rolling programme of electrification has rendered them redundant just as it has the far superior class 365s.
If you want to view (or buy) pictures of the 321s you can find shots of them in these galleries. These include all versions of the 321s (3s, 4s, 9s and 322s)
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 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/
As threatened I’m treating myself to a day out exploring as the weather’s gorgeous today. I’m currently sitting on Halifax railway station with the sun blasting out it’s welcome warmth. It’s only early but there’s already some power in those rays. I wonder if I should have packed some suntan lotion?
A packed Leeds bound train’s just come and gone. Nice day for it…
My plan is to head West for a few hours. My day not’s not going to be a marathon as Dee and I are out for a meal with friends tonight. Even so, I’m sure I can have an adventure. Feel free to keep popping in to see what I get up to…
09:25.
When the Chester train I was waiting for arrived I was somewhat disconcerted to find it consisted of a single 2-car Class 195 which was already busy at around 75% loading. I managed to secure a seat but no table so I’m typing this with my laptop balanced atop my camera bag which is perched on my lap. My fellow passengers are a real mix of young and old. In front of me is a young couple (although I suspect they’re friends rather than partners). He’s trying to impress her with his local knowledge. Problem is, I know what he’s saying he’s made up! I’m biting my tongue and resisting the urge to interject!
09:35.
The couple turned out to be two couples and they all disembarked at Hebden Bridge. I managed to nick their table and my seats have been replaced by two local ‘characters’ inked with a right mess of neck tattoos and dodgy ear-piercings. Well, when I say ‘piercings’ they’re more like bullet holes. The younger of the pair has ears like Emmental cheese. I can see today’s going to be one of those days…
09:40.
Much to my unsurprise, the ‘characters’ who joined us at Hebden Bridge left us at Todmorden. They weren’t alone. This area’s a popular hiking destination and several people with rucsacs and walking poles detrained with them. Now the train’s quietened down. Until our next stop. Rochdale.
11:00.
I’ve had a busy hour. As expected my train refilled at Rochdale to become full and standing yet again. I wandered throgh from end to end to check. As we pulled into Victoria we passed the ‘Northern Belle’ dining train which was waiting for a platform. This was too good a chnce to miss so I hung around at Victoria to get a few pictures of the crowds joining the train which was heading for Oxenholme on the edge of the Lake district. It’s great to seee these leisure services returning and see how well patronised it was. There’s nothing better than being wined and dined on a train with magnificent scenery as a backdrop.
Red carpet treatment as passengers board the ‘Northern Belle’
Shots fired (as it were) I strolled over to Piccadilly to catch my next train and bumped into John, an old friend who’d just driven it from Euston! We had time for a chatvand catch-up before I boarded the return working for this 9-car Pendolino – the 10:55 to Euston – which is rammed!
Bar the unreserved coach (C) it’s a mass of reserved setas and people milling around swapping coaches in an effort to find a seat. I’m stood in the vestibule as I gave up after trying 3 cars. Plus, I’m only going to Crewe. Here’s how F looks – and we haven’t stopped at Stockport or Wilmslow yet!
14:00.
Homeward bound now. At Crewe I caught up with a pair of the new Class 730 electric trains which have been built for West Midlands services. They’re being tested between Crewe and Nuneaton. The pair I saw weren’t in the most photographic position and left before me, but I managed to catch them up at Stafford where they were in an ideal location (better pic later).
Heading back to Crewe which has got the decorators in giving the place a much-needed coat of paint I managed a few decent library shots before catching a Transport fo Wales service back to Manchester. Every train I’ve been on has been busy, Avanti services especially so. Here’s my train from Stafford to Crewe.
16:20.
Another day, another change of plan due to the wonders of social media and the ability of people to keep tabs on each other! Whilst making my way back North I found out that an old friend and RAIL magazine colleague was also heading from Manchester. We’ve not had chance to meet up for a while so the fact we were both in the same city at the same time (albeit briefly) made us bith change our plans to enable us to have a swift pint and swap stories outside Piccadilly station before heading off in different directions across the Pennines. Manchester was absolutely buzzing as people streamed into the city to enjoy what promises to be a warm and sunny weekend. I’d have loved to have done the same but I have other fish to fry. Right now I’m ahead of schedule having caught a Northern service to Blackburn via Todmorden where I’ll pick up another (earlier) train. At least this way I escape the Stygian gloom of Victoria’s through platforms for Pennine views.
18:30.
Home again and time for a complete change of tempo – and clothing. The camera bag’s been ditched and so have the walking boots. Now it’s time to shower, don a shirt. slip on the brogues and get ready for a night out with friends at Café Thai in nearby West Vale.
I’d been busy researching an article and chasing up some details with some of the companies involved when what seemed like a simple request took on a lot more complexity due to the flowchart of organisations I needed to talk to and the different levels of permissions that then involved. Ho hum. The article will still get written (and will be all the better for it as now the scope’s grown) – but it’s going to take a while to line-up all the players. This means my plans for tomorrow have changed and I should get chance to take the camera for a stroll in the sunshine. No bad thing as the weather’s been lovely up here in the Pennines and it seemed a pity to be chained to a desk for the duration.
Whilst one article’s dragging I’ve a 6-pager on HS2 out in the latest copy of RAIL magazine which hit the news stands yesterday. In it I describe my visit to Long Itchington to be shown around the inside of a Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) and also my guided tour of HS2 mitigation sites in the company of Penny McGregor, a local farmer who showed me what’s happening at various locations along the route, including Cubbington woods and the site of the famous 250 year old Cubbington pear tree which opponents of the line tried to turn into a cause célèbre in order to stop the railway being built. It’s a great copy of the magazine, packed full of news and information and well worth a read if you’re interested in what’s happening on the UK’s railways. You can buy it in all good newsagents – and no doubt a few disreputable ones too!
Meanwhile, I’ll leave you with today’s picture which is another from the series of shots I took in London the other month. Several of these appear in the latest edition of RAIL. I’m so very lucky in that my job gives me access to places that most people never get access to or see. On the 7th March I was on a press trip to Crossrail (or the Elizabeth Line if you prefer) which is the new multi-billion pound railway that runs West to East under central London. It’s due to open in the next few months and passengers will be able to enjoy fast trains and superb stations. But, what they won’t be seeing is this – a driver’s eye view from the cab. Here’s what they see behind those screened platforms…
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We’ve had glorious weather here in the Pennines today with the advantage that the sunshine’s been accompanied by a welcome rise in the temperature compared to the other day when it was bleedin’ Baltic! We’ve now passed the Spring equinox so I hope the mercury keeps rising.
Weather aside it’s been a quiet day here in Bigland Towers. I’ve been occupied researching another magazine article that I’ve been asked to write as well as finishing editing and uploading two hundred plus pictures from last weeks travels to my Zenfolio website. You can find which galleries they’ve been added to by following this link. Hopefully, once the next bout of wordsmithing is complete I can get out and about again as there’s a lot of changes on our rail network to document. The new timetable begins in May and there’s going to be some familiar old train fleets disappearing by then – and throughout the rest of this year. Plus, there’s more construction of the new HS2 railway to cover, as well as East-West rail. After the Covid lockdowns I’m really enjoying being able to get out and about again and can’t wait to stretch my wings further. But for now there’s plenty to do closer to home.
I’ll leave you with another picture from last weeks travels which is on the theme of London’s changing skyline. This building has become one of the most iconic as its unmistakable shape can be seen for miles. The Shard opened over 10 years ago now but this 72 storey building is still the tallest in the UK. If you ever get chance to visit the observation deck – do so – the views across London are magnificent! This is the view of the building from Waterloo East station.
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 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/
A very short blog from me tonight as I’ve had a very busy few days with no time to write as spending time with family and friends has taken priority. That said, I have had a little time to catch up with editing some of the hundreds of images that I took earlier in the week – hence today’s picture.
Whilst in London I commented on how much the city’s skyline’s changing. Here’s an example. I’d not taken pictures from this spot (St Johns station) in South London since 2015. The backdrop’s changed completely. Welcome to yet one more of London’s satellite skyscraper districts, the ‘megapolis’ of Lewisham. The tower cranes give away the fact that this is just the start. Come back in another couple of years…
Back in 2015 there was just a single high rise on the horizon in my pictures. What I can’t work out is who exactly is going to be living in all this speculative (but certainly not cheap) building.
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 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 the gloomy skies and heavy rain we had yesterday, today couldn’t be any more different I woke up to wall to wall sunshine here in Clapham but with windows streaked with Saharan sand! I’m looking forward to exploring again today but my focus is going to shift to areas of the network I’ve not really visited for a while. When I still lived in London I’d regularly pop over from leafy Crouch End to travel on and photograph the South-Eastern suburban network but in recent years my focus has been elsewhere. Now change is upon the railway yet again. Now some of the BR and Metro-Cammell built ‘Networkers’ that have been the staple of suburban services since the early 1990s have been stored and replaced by Siemens Class 707s displaced from South-West Rail. Judging by my travels yesterday passenger numbers are recovering well with some services back to the levels of overcrowding we saw pre Covid. I’ll be interested to see what they look like today.
Feel free to pop back later to see how my day unfolds. But for now, it’s time for coffee and breakfast…
10:45.
Remember I mentioned that Saharan sand? Here’s how it’s left a SET Class 707 looking…
11:15.
I’m often remarking on how London’s changed since I left. My next stop was a great illustration of that fact. I called in at Lewisham to photograph trains traversing the famous scissor junction to the East of the station and I was gobsmacked at how much the place has changed. It’s another mini-city skyscraper complex nowadays. Huge blocks dominate with cranes busy building more. The spot on the station where I’d once have stood in sunshine is now in deep shadow. More shadows fall across the junction itself. This development’s not unsurprising as the area has excellent transport links. The arrival of the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) cemented that as it bridged the Thames and provided access to Canary Wharf and beyond. I’ll add some pictures later…
19:15.
“Mind the gap” – as they say on the London underground! Apologies for the absence of updates but it’s been a very bust day with me constantly moving around so having no time to put finger to keyboard. My travels took me around South-East London and afar afield as Tonbridge in Kent, a place that I’ve not visited for many a year! I’ve fond memories of it being a hub for mail and engineers trains back in BR days when the yard was full of stuff. It’s changed, but not too much. The yard’s now an important base for freight operator GBRf – hence these newly converted class 56s keeping company with those traditional old Southern region electro-diesels.
From there I made a speedy return to London and explored a few more old photo locations to make the most of the glorious sunshine. I’ll be adding pictures later. My final act was to meet some old rail industry friends at St Pancras for a swift libation before heading back North on an Avanti service to Manchester. That passenger numbers are recovering was evident at Euston as the ‘100 yard seat dash’ is back in fashion. In pre Covid times you’d see this in action daily. Just as soon as the platform number of the service you required was displayed on the board there’d be a mad dash from the concourse to the platform as hundreds of people all tried to get to the train first to find an unreserved seat. Now it’s back.
My Pendolino was packed, but part of the reason for that was the first stop was Milton Keynes where a large number detrained. This is the problem with some ‘inter-city’ services. They’re actually neither fish not fowl and end up serving multiple markets. Thankfully (on the WCML at least) HS2 will solve this problem to allow much faster intercity times and also allow a better frequency of services to places like Milton Keynes – and beyond. The other stop on this particular train was Nuneaton, another town that’s normally by-passed by the Manchester run. Clearly, these stops are slipped in because there’s a market – and there’s no paths available to allow them to be served any other way.
20:45.
I’m now on the final leg. My Pendo was late due to trespassers on the line North of Nuneaton but the 10 minute delay didn’t affect my connections. I was in half a mind to stop for a pint in Manchester just to enjoy the ambience but the Northern Quarter was packed with young revelers so with one eye on the rising Covid statistics I opted to give it a miss. Instead, I’m on a Northern 3-car back to Halifax which is pretty quiet. It’s taking a few folks home who’ve either stayed late at work or (like me) decided to call it an early night.
This may be a bit of a fits and starts rolling blog – especially as it’s taken me until 13:00 to begin writing despite the fact I’ve been up since 04:45 and travelled from West Yorkshire to London where I’ll be for the next couple of days!
Looking through my library to find pictures for a recent series of blogs I spotted some gaps in the archive plus age of the pictures so I though I’d take what may be my last chance to visit haunts old and new to record the passing of some of the the old BR built 3rd rail electric units along with some updated shots of services I’ve not shot for some time.
It’s been a good trip so far, even if the weather’s not exactly vintage. It’s been gloomy and damp, but that hasn’t affected things too much. Tomorrow is meant to be really sunny, so I’m saving some locations for then.
Here’s a little sample. A pair of Southern’s Class 455s pulling away from Norwood Junction with a service from East Croydon to London Bridge. I’d arrived on this train earlier in the morning.
14:25.
The gloomy weather’s persisted with the added fun of soft rain. Having got the shots I wanted around Norwood Junction bar one (the new high-rise Croydon as a backdrop – the weather’s too dull) I headed off to Sutton to catch some of the 455s which operate Victoria to Epsom services. En route I passed through a very old haunt – Wallington. Back in 1979-80 I used to stay with an ex-girlfriend from Liverpool who lived in a gorgeous 1920s semi that was being rented out as cheap rooms because it was blighted by a proposal to build a Motorway. I’ve never been back since but crossing the high street on the train brought back memories that are now over 40 years old. It was a very different era, with old slam door trains everywhere and little 2-car units on the service to Wimbledon via Mitcham Jn – long before the line was converted to be part of the Croydon tramlink.
My stay at Sutton was brief but productive with several different images secured. As the weather was deteriorating I decided to retrace my steps to East Croydon. In the 1980’s it possessed a grand old signalbox mounted over the tracks at the London end. I always regret I never managed to get pictures before it disappeared.
I changed transport mode by swapping train for tram to get between West and East stations. Croydon was buzzing – in more ways than one as the smell of Ganga permeated the air around the bus station and tram stop! Although life’s returned to the streets the number of shops that were vacant told a story of commerce crippled by Covid. My flirtation with trams was brief. The solid grey skies made photography unattractive so I took a spin on the Caterham branch instead and recce’d potential photo spots for tomorrow. As the weather worsened I decided to abandon picture taking for now and check out another local line, the line out to Tattenham Corner. At least i’d be dry, warm and doing something useful. I’d returned to East Croydon to change trains. Swapping between platforms using the footbridge with the spectacularly useless roof that doesn’t actually keep out the rain! Whoever designed the damned thing had never heard the expression “form follows function”.
Right now I’m sitting on a train which is splitting at Purley. The front 5 cars go to Caterham and the rear 5 to Tattenham Corner
18:10.
I’ll write up my first trip on the Tattenham branch later. Sadly, the weather was awful so there wasn’t much for the camera to do but stay dry. I’m now at Victoria after changing trains at East Croydon yet again. It was a nice, quiet train (not). Now remember, this is ‘rush-hour’ and supposedly we’re going against the flow, but Croydon has an orbit of its own nowadays…
Paul Bigland 