Another year that I won’t be sad to see the back of to be honest, despite the fact it wasn’t all bad – although did any of us expect the year to end in the way it has? After the year beginning in a lockdown did we seriously think we’d be be seeing the year out with record numbers of Covid cases, even if it does seem that Omicron is less lethal a strain? The amount of my social media friends and real relations that I’ve seen report contracting Covid has been sobering to say the least, but at least Dawn and I have managed to dodge infection so far – and plan to stay that way!
I’d hoped 2021 would see me finally being able to escape the clutches of ‘Brexit island’ and head back into Asia. I’d planned to do so early in 2022 but Omicron looks like it’s put the mockers on such dreams for now at least. Instead, I’ll be stuck here, watching the UK’s international reputation continue to disintegrate as Johnson and his Government lurch from farce to scandal and back again on what looks like an endless loop. A year on from leaving the EU the realities are becoming obvious. Far from getting Brexit ‘done’ Johnson’s embroiled us in a protracted blame war with the EU in order to detract from the fact the Brexit unicorns and ‘sunny uplands’ were always a fantasy. Covid’s helped him in that but he can’t hide from the reality forever and it seems (according to polls) even many Leave voters have come to realise what “Caveat Emptor” means. Sadly, far too late and the shambles will continue for years to come…
We may have the ‘fun’ of the Tories ditching Johnson in 2022 in order to save their skins in the 2024 election, but let’s face it – the field to replace him is hardly attractive. I mean, Liz Truss? Seriously?
Workwise, 2021 has been enjoyable. The gradual wind-down of restrictions meant that press trips and events resumed so there was plenty for me to photo or write about and the COP26 Climate Change conference in Glasgow in November kept me very busy indeed. I also added a mixture of 7,924 new pictures and old slid scans to my Zenfolio website, the most I’ve ever achieved in one year which beat last year’s previous best of 6200 plus so Covid’s proved to have some benefits. I’m now well on course to have all my old slides scanned in 2022 a mere 33 years after I first switched to that medium! 2022 promises to be an exciting year on the photographic and journalistic front as the construction of the HS2 high-speed railway will be in full swing. Over 20,000 people are working on the line at the moment and next year will see work start in earnest on the section from Birmingham to Crewe. Phase 1 is already well underway with three tunnel boring machines in action, the huge Colne Valley Viaduct under construction and work started on the stations at Euston, Old Oak Common and Birmingham Curzon St. There’s far too many landmarks to mention but HS2 Ltd have put out this helpful video which showcases much of what’s happening.
We’re ending the year as we began it – at home. We’re having a quiet one just to ourselves, enjoying good food, a drink and time to relax – ready to hit the ground running in 2022 as we’ve both got a lot of things we want to achieve next year. Let’s see how that shapes up.
In the meantime, thank you to all the people who either keep popping in to read my rambles in these blogs or who visit my Zenfolio picture website. I’ll be keeping both well-stocked in in 2022.
All that remains is for me to wish you all a very happy and prosperous new year and let’s all look forward to one where we finally cast off the madness and tragedies of Covid and return to a much more normal life. Onwards to the next challenge – whatever that may be….
The festive season’s rather put a damper on blogging these past few days, as has family commitments but today such things end as I’m finally heading home after my Surrey sojourn. Whilst Dawn and her parents have driven back I’ve headed North by train as I had to make a detour for both business and pleasure.
I’ve had a long lens in for repair at Fixation in London since the end of August but a lack of spare parts has meant it wasn’t fixed until just before Christmas. As I had to pop in to Vauxhall to pick it up, and I have an old friend who lives in Clapham – and the Southern main line between London Victoria and Balham was closed for resignalling work it seemed like the ideal opportunity to kill three birds with one stone!
The family dropped me off in Farnham where I caught a train into London. The weather was still as crap as ever but at least it’d stopped raining. That said, temperatures are ridiculously mild for this time of year. Double figures in December? Sheesh!
My train through to the capital was quiet, because of Omicron many people are either choosing to work from home or have extended their holidays to avoid having to travel. Apart from a few souls like me heading home after being with family the majority of my felloe passengers seemed to be folk heading into London for a day out shopping or sightseeing whilst the city’s quiet.
Having picked up my lends I met Hassard in Clapham where the two of us explored photographic avenues that allowed us to capture pictures of the resignalling work. As this sort of stuff (engineering possessions) is Hass’s day job at Network Rail it could be called a busmens holiday for him, but that’s what happens when hobbies and work collide!
Afterwards we spent a convivial hour at a pub enjoying a pint and a light lunch before I traipsed across London to get to Kings Cross and home. The Underground was surprisingly busy but mask wearing was adhered to by the vast majority of people, which was reassuring. Unfortunately, the East Coast Main line was suffering from a common malaise – overhead wire problems – this time around Stevenage. I’d visions of being heavily delayed as the train that was meant to be working my service to Leeds was over 40 minutes late on its inbound trip. Fortunately, LNER control stepped up sets and ran a Class 800 that was already platformed in its place. Even so, we were caught up in the congestion the issue caused, leaving us 20 minutes down by Grantham. My connection in Leeds was now out of the window, but at least I was getting home.
We were still 20 down on arrival at Leeds but having over half an hour to wander round was no problem as a large part of the station was under an engineering possession which made for some interesting photo opportunities, plus one rather surreal one – but only folk with railway experience will understand why it’s not as mad as it first seems.
Now I’m back at home as Dee picked me up at the station in order to save getting a soaking as the weather’s wet and windy back in the bosom of West Yorkshire. Still, it’s good to be home. Today’s excursions are my last train journey’s of 2021 as the pair of us are going to kick back and relax tomorrow with only each other for company. Oh, expect a year end blog even so. After all, it would be rude not to…
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 to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site – and right now (because of Covid), us freelances appreciate all the help that we can get to aid us in bouncing back from lockdowns. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
*I originally wrote this article for RAIL magazine, where it appeared in the summer of 2021. I’m reproducing it here with added pictures*.
I’ve always enjoyed crossing the Pennines by train but it was only when I moved to the Calder Valley in 2010 that I really began to appreciate the history of the area and the way the railways revolutionised life in the valley – and beyond. It’s a fascinating story that goes right back to the very early days of the railways and involves some of the most famous railway names.
History
The Manchester and Leeds railway had been proposed as early as 1825 but it was the successful opening of the Liverpool and Manchester in September 1830 that spurred investors on to bring the line to fruition following a meeting in Manchester in October of the same year. The board of 29 Directors appointed George Stephenson and James Walker as joint engineers. Each proposed a route. Walker’s was shorter but required expensive civil engineering. Stephenson proposed a route that was 13 miles longer as it weaved around the course of the river Calder through West Yorkshire but it had the advantage that it linked many more towns en-route.
The first bill to build the line was presented on the 10 March 1831 but failed due to the dissolution of Parliament the next Month. Appeals to reintroduce the bill were thrown out and it another five years before the process restarted with a second bill in February 1836. By this time the finances of some supporting the scheme had improved with the payment of slavery compensation money and the bill received Royal Assent on 4 July 1836. The company was authorised to build a line from Oldham Road, Manchester to a junction with the proposed North Midland Railway at the village of Normanton, 15 miles to the south-east of Leeds. Thomas Longridge Gooch (brother of the GWRs Daniel Gooch) was appointed as Resident Engineer. Despite much opposition from the canal companies the line finally opened in three sections. Manchester to Littleborough, on July 4th, 1839, from Hebden Bridge to Normanton, on October 5th, 1840 and from Littleborough to Hebden Bridge through the Summit Tunnel on March 1st, 1841. When the line opened 10 trains a day ran in each direction with 4 on Sundays. The Sunday service was so contentious 4 of the company’s Directors resigned in protest!
The Summit tunnel was the biggest engineering challenge facing the engineers. Built on the highest section of the line work began in August 1838. Delays and problems during construction resulted in the contractors being sacked with George Stephenson taking over supervision of the work himself. It was a mammoth task as the 2885 yard long, 22 foot high tunnel was dug by hand without the aid of modern machinery. The only mechanical aids were 13 stationary steam engines which were used to haul spoil up the ventilation shafts. The final cost of the tunnel was £251,000, which was £108,000 above the original estimate. Some things never change!
On the 31st October 2014, 150144 leaves the Western entrance of the Summit tunnel with a service for Manchester.
The tunnel has withstood the ravages of time, including a terrible accident in 1984 when a train carrying a million litres of petrol derailed in the tunnel and caught fire. Thankfully, the train crew managed to make their escape without injury. The spectacular conflagration burned for days and could be seen for miles with flames shooting high into the air from the tunnel vent shafts like some ghastly blowtorch. The recovery and repair work shut the tunnel until August 1985 when the line finally reopened to traffic.
The Summit tunnel’s not the only example of substantial Victorian engineering. At Gauxholme near Todmorden there’s a skew bridge over the Rochdale canal that was designed by George Stephenson. The single 31 m (102 ft) cast iron span consists of a pair of bowed ribs with vertical hangars projected above the ribs in an ornamental Gothic arcade. The abutments are semi-octagonal castellated turrets. The whole structure looks very grand and must have been incredibly impressive in its day, projecting the power of the new railways and Lording it over the old-fashioned Rochdale canal below. In 2020 the grade 2 listed bridge underwent a £3.7m restoration which involved grit blasting back to bare metal to allow structural repairs and a full repaint to take place.
Between Sowerby Bridge and Halifax stands the 23 arches of the tall Copley viaduct which was built in 1851 as part of the line from Milner Royd Junction to Dryclough Junction that was constructed in order to allow the railway to run direct trains from Manchester to Halifax. The new line opened on the 1st January 1852. The town had been linked by rail towards the East since 1st July 1844 when the steeply graded (1/45) line from Greetland Junction opened. Originally the town was a terminus as the line onwards to Bradford didn’t open until 1st August 1850.
A pair of CAF built Class 195s cross the Copley viaduct on the 8th April 2020 with the folly the Wainhouse Tower dominating the skyline beyond.
In 1847 the Manchester and Leeds and several smaller railway companies had amalgamated to form a name that became synonymous with railways across the Industrial North – the Lancashire and Yorkshire railway. Under the ‘Lanky’ (as it was affectionately known) the railways of the Calder valley thrived, being the conduit that carried coal, cotton and wool across the land from Liverpool in the West to Hull in the East, thence to all parts of the Empire. Lines in the Calder valley continued to expand under the L&Y. On New Years day 1875 a short branch from Greetland to Stainland and Holywell Green opened. Another branch from Sowerby Bridge to Ripponden and Rishworth opened in stages between 1878 and 1881 with a plan to extend the line to Littleborough in Lancashire (knocking 5 miles of the original route via the Calder valley) although this never materialised. Coal traffic was so important to the line that new sorting sidings were opened at Mytholmroyd. As an illustration, in 1960 a freight train was booked to pass Hall Royd Jn, Todmorden (the junction for the Manchester an Burnley lines) every 17 minutes.
As well as freight the Calder valley carried Leeds/Bradford/Manchester/Liverpool expresses, boat trains from Leeds to Fleetwood for Belfast, and a network of local services, not to mention huge numbers of excursions for holiday traffic when the mills closed for the annual holidays. Motive power for the Calder valley was provided by the large locomotive depot at Sowerby Bridge. Opened in 1887, this 6 road, dead end shed serviced heavy freight locomotives or sent engines to shunt the yards at Halifax and throughout the valley and continued to do until it shut on January 4th 1964, rendered redundant by the opening of the new Healy Mills marshalling yard.
The railways importance in the valley slowly began to decline in the late 1920s due to competition from trams and motor buses and the two most recent additions to the network were the ones who suffered first. Passenger service were withdrawn from the Ripponden branch on the 8th July 1929 and from the Holywell branch on the 23rd September 1929 although both remained open for freight until 1958 and 1959 respectively. Another early casualty was the station at Copley between Sowerby Bridge and Halifax which closed on the 20th July 1931.
After WW2 the station at Eastwood near Todmorden was the first to close, shutting its doors for the last time on the 3rd December 1951. Walsden station succumbed on the 6th August 1961 whilst on the 6th June 1962 Greetland, Elland and Luddendenfoot closed to passengers. As an aside, Luddendenfoot once had an (in) famous Clerk, drunkard Branwell Bronte, brother to the famous Bronte sisters and writers. He was sacked from his post in March 1842 after an audit revealed a discrepancy in the books. Today, a blue plaque on the Jubilee Refreshment rooms at Sowerby Bridge station commemorates him. The final station in the area to close was Brighouse which saw its last train call on the 5th January 1970. The 1970-80s saw the continued decline in freight traffic as coal fell out of fashion, local goods yards closed and the cotton and woollen mills fell silent. Sowerby Bridge which was once such an important centre continued to shrink. A fire destroyed the huge station building in 1978. It was demolished in 1980 leaving a ticket office operating from what’s now the refreshment rooms. By the mid-1980s all the stations were unstaffed. Completing the decline was the withdrawal of passenger services from Halifax on the original 1844 line via Greetland Jn with the line being mothballed. Passenger services via the Copy Pit line via Burnley were almost non-existent until a merger of building societies encouraged BR to begin running a daily Preston – Bradford train. (which was the genesis of the present day hourly York – Blackpool services).
A class 150/142 combo traverse the viaduct in the centre of Todmorden on the 17th May 2015. The hills around the town provide some fantastic photographic viewpoints although this shot was taken from a footbridge over the line to Preston.
Passenger services along the Calder route were reduced to hourly Leeds-Halifax-Manchester trains. Freight had also been vastly reduced, the staple traffic being petroleum trains until a BR policy change in 1985 decreed the line was a strategic freight asset (the gradients were easier than the line via Stalybridge) so coal traffic (especially MGR services) returned. But better days were to come…
The 1990s saw a gradual build-up of services as passengers returned to the railways. Walsden station reopened on the 10th September 1990. Part of the success was down to the West Yorks Passenger Transport Executive which had been formed back in 1976 as well as privatisation – although the early days were rocky due to the Railtrack debacle and the early Northern franchise being let on a ‘no- growth’ basis. Trains became half-hourly and in 2000 services were reinstated between Halifax and Huddersfield, running hourly. This revived the station at Brighouse after a gap of 30 years with new platforms being built on the site of the old. The December 2008 timetable saw a Leeds – Southport service introduced that calls at Mirfield, Brighouse and Calder valley stations.
On 23 May 2010 a new kid on the block (Grand Central) began open access services between Bradford Interchange and London King’s Cross, calling at Halifax, Brighouse and Mirfield. Another happy event occured in May 2015 when the Todmorden curve finally re-opened after 40 years. The single track forms a triangle East of the station, allowing an hourly service to run from Manchester Victoria to Blackburn adding valuable connections and extra journey opportunities. More was to come with the introduction in May 2019 of an hourly Leeds – Chester service via Halifax and the Calder valley although this change also saw services calling at Sowerby Bridge and Mytholmroyd pruned back.
Grand Central’s 180102 crosses the viaduct into Halifax station with a service from Bradford Interchange to London on the 23rd October 2019. In the background is the factory that produces one of the towns most famous exports. Quality Street sweets!
Of course, it’s not just the quantity of services that’s improved, it’s the quality too!
Passenger traction
The line’s had two types of train that have become synonymous with the route. Due to the gradients on the Calder Valley British Rail ordered 30 three-car DMUs from the Birmingham Railway and Carriage Workshops in 1961. The driving cars were equipped with 180hp Rolls Royce engines, giving them the highest power/weight ratio of any DMU of that era. A revised design of the earlier Class 104s the units were designated Class 110 and became known as the Calder Valley units. 20 were allocated to Bradford Hammerton St and 10 to Manchester Newton Heath although in their later years they were all based at Leeds Neville Hill. The trailer cars were removed in the early 1980s, making the units even nippier. They lasted in service until 1989 but by which time they’d been displaced from Calder Valley services by seven Class 155 ‘Super Sprinters’ (155341-347) purchased by West Yorkshire Passenger Transport, who also earned the sobriquet ‘Calder Valley’ units. These are the only Class 155s that weren’t converted to Class 153 single car units and although they’re still in in service with northern they’re no longer tied to the valley.
On the 1st February 2021 on of the new 3-car units built by CAF calls at Halifax station with a service to Blackpool North. The old goods yard beyond the station’s now occupied by the ‘Eureka’ children’s museum.
In 2020 the last Pacer trains which had provided many local services since the 1980s vanished with little fanfare due to the Covid-19 pandemic. They’d hung on due to late deliveries of new and cascaded stock with the final one not being withdrawn until 27th November. Now services are operated by a mix of Class 150, 153, 156, 158 and 195 units although the 156s tend to stick to the Manchester-Todmorden-Blackburn circuit. The 3-car CAF built 195/1s have taken over Leeds – Chester and York – Blackpool services whilst 2-car Class 195/0s share work on the Leeds – Manchester Victoria route with older units. The route also hosts the oldest of the 2nd generation units in the shape of the 3-car Class 150/0s which have been transferred to Northern from W Midlands services around Birmingham. Whilst 2 car trains were the norm in the valley just a few years ago they’re now rare, most services are 3-4 car (despite the pandemic).
Superb autumn colours dominate the hills around Todmorden as a Northern Class 156 crosses the viaduct in the centre of town whilst working a service to Manchester on the 15th November 2018.
The line’s an important diversionary route for Trans-Pennine Express especially when the Colne Valley route is closed due to disruption or maintenance work on the Standedge tunnel. It’s likely TPE will be seen more often when the multi-billion pound Trans-Pennine Route Upgrade starts to affect Huddersfield station.
Freight
After a long period of decline freight services through the Calder valley are buoyant although many services are ‘as required’ or only run on certain days. The longest running freight service is the tanker train between Lindsay oil refinery on Humberside to Preston Docks. Running via the Calder and Copy Pit lines this trains been worked by Colas for several years, bringing Class 56s and 70s to the route.
66766 passes Mytholmroyd with a loaded biomass train from Liverpool docks to Drax power station on the 17th August 2020. There’s a series of footbridges at his location which allow photographers to get such shots, but bring a small ladder for many of them!
Nowadays, coal is no longer king – biomass is! In October 2017 GBRf began running trains from Liverpool Docks to Drax power station via the Calder valley using a fleet of specially built high-capacity lidded wagons. Currently up to 8-9 services a day (with less at weekends) are diagrammed through the valley using either Class 60s or 66s. The same year GBRf begun running spoil trains from Manchester Collyhurst St to Scunthorpe via the Calder. Another Manchester service run by GBRf is aggregates to Pendleton and/or Bredbury from the Arcrow quarry on the Settle-Carlisle line which was reopened to rail in 2016. DB Cargo operate a flow of waste from Knowsley (Merseyside) to Wilton (Teeside) as well as a Friday Seaforth – Tinsley empty steel. Freightliner put in an appearance with their Mondays only Leeds Hunslet – Tunstead empty bogie hoppers. As well as scheduled freight there’s a variety of Network Rail services that use the line depending on requirements plus excursions and specials and the odd steam locomotive although Covid has curtailed many of these activities for the moment.
Infrastructure improvements
The introduction of the new CAF built Class 195s to the Calder valley services in October 2019 was the culmination of a series of infrastructure improvements on the line that cost several hundred million pounds. To accommodate the new trains platforms at Walsden. Todmorden. Hebden Bridge. Mytholmroyd. Sowerby Bridge and Brighouse had to be lengthened. In October 2018 a three day blockade of the line to commission the resignalling scheme saw the last three traditional signalboxes on the route at Hebden Bridge, Milner Royd Jn and Halifax taken out of service although all three remain standing.
Other work to the route has included relaying miles of track and some linespeed improvements which (coupled with the resignalling) have knocked a few minutes off the timetable and helped service resilience. At Todmorden station bridges have been renewed and redundant structures removed. Some overbridges have been renewed and foot crossings replaced by bridges – all of which have clearence suitable for overhead wires if and when the day finally comes for the line to be electrified. In 2015 the Northern Electrification task force listed the Calder Valley (Leeds to Manchester and Preston via Bradford and Brighouse) as their highest priority for electrification that should be included in Network Rails CP6 spending plans. Sadly, the report came to nothing. Another welcome investment has been Mytholmroyd rail station receiving £3.95 million funding through the West Yorkshire-plus Transport Fund for a new 181 space car park which should help increase footfall and take traffic off the main A646 road along the valley. A similar scheme at Hebden Bridge which is due to start shortly will provide another 45 spaces.
The investment the line has seen in recent years is a welcome boost but there’s more in the pipeline. Plans are being finalised for a new station in Elland which lost its original station in 1962. The proposal is that the new one will open in December 2022 – almost exactly 60 years since the original closure. Meanwhile, there’s exciting plans for Halifax which would see the the area transformed into a bus/rail interchange. The current high level entrance would be demolished and a new split level building erected as well as improving access to the South of the station by reopening an old underpass. Reinstating a third platform is also mooted.
Community
The developments in recent years haven’t all been about bricks and mortar or track and trains. The Calder valley has a very strong community rail focus with friends groups looking after many of the stations on the line. At Mirfield and in conjunction with Grand Central and local youth groups the friends have transformed the dingy underpass outside the station with murals and lighting and revitalised the massive derelict flowerbed on the island platform (site of the old station building). The group at Brighouse have turned the station into a colourful place festooned with plants and flowers all year round. At Sowerby Bridge another group based around the Jubilee Refreshment rooms have added a garden complete with original railway features, planters on the platforms and a series of information boards relating the history of the town and its famous residents. They’re an educational way of whiling away the time whilst waiting for your train. As well as gardening the group at Mytholmroyd have been instrumental in getting the huge old four-storey station building brought back to life. After being vacant since 1985 the property has been restored by funds from Network Rail and the Railway Heritage Trust (amongst others). Covid has delayed finding new occupants but the intention is to make spaces available to community groups and businesses. It’s been a mammoth task that illustrates the tangible benefits volunteers bring to both their communities and the railways. Despite the groups being unable to carry out their normal range of activities because of the pandemic the groups are bouncing back and making up for time lost over the past year, returning the stations to the attractive places they were before anyone had heard of Covid 19.
Photography along the line.
As you can imagine, there’s some great photographic opportunities on a line hemmed in by the high hills of the Pennines but it’s not just the lineside, Hebden Bridge station is a wonderful period piece that retains its original buildings and a selection of old wooden signs and running in boards that make a great backdrop for pictures.
Nowadays it’s very difficult to recreate some of the images from the 1960s – 70s because trees have reclaimed much of the valley, but there are some wonderful spots where you can get high above the railway. Gauxholme/Walsden is an excellent location as there’s footpaths aplenty that allow unhindered views up and down the line and into Todmorden. Autumn’s a lovely time to visit as the tree cover near the line is ablaze with colour. For the adventurous who don’t mind a bit of a hike there’s plenty of opportunities to be had around Todmorden as the hills provide a great platform to watch trains cross the viaduct that bisects the centre of town, giving a historic backdrop of Victorian architecture. There’s also a road bridge next to the junction at Hall Royd where the line to Copy Pit diverges. At Mytholmroyd there’s several bridges for shots along the line. Halifax provides similar opportunities as Todmorden. A steep climb from the station will take you up to Beacon Hill where the whole of Halifax is laid out behind the station, including the magnificent Piece Hall. So, whether you like a rural, industrial or historical background for your pictures, there’s plenty of options in the Calder Valley.
Freightliner’s 66617 passes Gauxholme between Todmorden and Walsden with a train of coal for Fidlers Ferry power station. It’s a bit of a walk and climb to get this shot but the effort speaks for itself.
So, why not come and visit? There’s plenty to see, visit or photograph and local businesses will welcome you with open arms! A West Yorkshire DaySaver ticket covers lines East of Walsden and costs just £8.30.
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/
This article has appeared in the latest Rail Director magazine. I’m reproducing it here with extra pictures taken during my visit.
HS2 Euston visit.
On the day that HS2 Minister Andrew Stephenson announced that Euston station was to have only 10 HS2 platforms but the whole station would be redeveloped in one phase I was on a site visit looking at progress on this massive project. The visit began with a briefing from Tom Venner, Managing Director of the Euston Partnership. The partnership (established in July 2020) brings together all the stakeholders and delivery partners to enable Euston to be developed together as a single scheme, under a board chaired by Network Rail’s Sir Peter Hendy. Tom updated us all on the Partnerships strategic aims whilst outlining the complexities of redeveloping the 5th busiest station on the national network, integrating it with HS2 and meeting the aims and aspirations of the local communities who have many different (and sometimes competing) priorities.
The task is vast in scale and fraught with challenges. 60 acres of the Euston area is under Government ownership and incorporated in the scheme. It’s the largest real-estate development in the capital that will take many years to complete – hence the desire to minimise disruption to local residents and users of the station by completing the scheme in one phase rather than two, even if these competing ambitions mean the Hs2 station’s platform numbers are a sub-optimal solution. It’s a difficult balancing act. Whilst the £2.6bn redevelopment will now be constructed in one long project it’s still being broken up into elements. Phase 1 is the concourse, 2 is the trainshed and 3 is opening up the Eversholt St side of the station with commercial development. The Somers Town side of Euston has always seemed to have had its back turned to this deprived area of London and the Euston masterplan is determined to address this deficiency and give the whole station more permeability
Because of all these changes a revised concept design for the new Euston won’t be available before the end of the year, so none of us yet know what the new Euston may look like in the future.
Our briefing in the HS2 office in the podium was held against the competing background noise and vibration from heavy machinery breaking up the foundations of the old Grant Thornton tower block outside. This site will become part of the expanded London Underground station that will take the HS2 strain off the existing cramped concourse. Across Melton St’s the HQ of the Royal College of General Practitioners where every GP in the country visits to sit their exams. As a considerate neighbour, HS2 has agreed to halt noisy work like this when these crucial events take place. It’s a good example of the balance that needs to be struck.
The remains of Grant Thornton house seen from our briefing room in the Podium. The cellar levels are gradually being excavated and cleared.
Our inspection tour began on the site of the HS2 platforms on the Western side of the current station that’s been cleared of residential and commercial properties – plus the 50,000 bodies exhumed from the former St James’ burial ground which will be re-buried at Brookwood cemetery near Woking. It’s now one vast open area that exposes the footprint of the new station.
This will be the site of the HS2 platforms, albeit below present ground level. In the background you can see the old London Underground station entrance and the grey clad building that covers the current work to build the new Underground Traction Sub-Station (TSS) which will replace it. A view looking North showing the piles installed to build the new Western Wall of the HS2 station. Beyond the grey HS2 offices and hoardings are the Hampstead Rd and some of the new homes built to replace those demolished to make way for HS2.
Here the first permanent structures are appearing in the shape of some of the 161 piles for the foundations of the station’s Western boundary wall. There’s much work to do yet. Another 7-10 metres comprising 820,000m3 of earth has to be dug out to reach basement level and negotiations are ongoing on the best way of removing the earth from site in a manner that will have the least impact on the roads and neighbourhoods around Camden. The HS2 platforms will be built 8 metres below ground level In a concrete box 90 metres wide and 500metres long. To prevent blocking nearby roads there will be a basement below which will have road access for service vehicles and staff parking as well as containing equipment rooms.
A completed section of the Western boundary wall of the new HS2 station with the old station in the background.
Meanwhile, the London Underground Traction Sub-Station (TSS) in the former station building on Melton St is being relocated with work expected to be complete in 2024 when it will be replaced by ‘the sugar cube’. Work’s currently taking place under a temporary building to lessen the noise impacts on neighbours such as the GPs college. During site clearance a Victorian cobbled Rd was found near the site of the former Maria Fedelis school. This was identified as Little George St which featured in the very first Sherlock Holmes novel (A Study in Scarlet) written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in 1887.
Forming the boundary at the North end of the station site is the Hampstead Rd bridge which will be reconstructed and extended to allow HS2 to pass under the busy A400. Like the TSS, this work is expected to be completed in 2026, removing the last constraint to completing the new tracks into Euston. This is another complex operation due to the need to provide sufficient clearance for HS2 tracks.
Our next stop was the new multi-storey site offices located on Stanhope St opposite the former Euston Downside carriage shed. There’s an excellent viewing platform atop the site which gives grandstand views South across Euston and central London and North to where the HS2 tunnel portals are to be built. The birds-eye view lets you appreciate the sheer size of the site and the amount of activity taking place as well as the proximity to the existing Euston station throat, which presents its own challenges. Opposite, we could see the truncated Granby St bridge, another crossing which will be extended to allow HS2 to pass beneath. Alongside Park Village East the original brick retaining wall is being reinforced to prevent movement by the insertion of ground anchors. Fixed in double or single rows, these are between 12-20 metres in depth. This work will continue until March 2022. The site is squeezed in the middle by the Western abutment of Mornington St Bridge, a delicate site as one of the HS2 tunnels will exit at this point. To make exit from the cramped Northern part of the site easier a wagon turntable for road vehicles is to be installed.
A view of the North end of the old Euston Downside carriage shed site. Looking back towards Euston station from atop the HS2 offices on Stanhope St.Granby Terrace bridge has been severed (for now) but it will be extended over the HS2 tracks. A general view of the old Downside site wit North London beyond.
Currently piling’s taking place to build the walls which will support the roof over this part of the site, as plans for the future include building homes above the tracks – some of the 1,700 that the scheme will provide at Euston.
The piling work with temporary sheet-metal piles in place as protection.
The site will also include the three-storey Euston Cavern Headhouse which will provide emergency access to the HS2 tunnels with access from Park Village East. When built the roof will also shield local residents from noise whilst the tunnel entrances are constructed. These piles have been constructed using the innovative “zero trim pile technique” which involves sucking out excess concrete while still wet using a new vacuum excavator. Traditional piling sees concrete overpoured before workers have to break out the excess. The old method can cause many health problems, including hand-arm vibration syndrome, hearing loss and silicosis, not to mention the noise, dust and disturbance caused to those living nearby. One of our guides for the tour was Lee Piper of the Skanska Costain STRABAG joint venture (SCS JV) who worked with colleague Deon Louw from Cementation Skanska to develop the pioneering approach. SCS will be installing around 2,000 piles over the next three years in the Euston area with all but 15 using the new technique. The new method will bring benefits in terms of reduced carbon, noise reduction and safer ways of working. Chatting to Lee it was clear to see his pride in the new technique which he told me had cut 38 weeks from the piling programme, a major saving. He also told me that the zero trim pile technique was to be trialled on the Old Oak Common box where it had the potential to make huge savings in time, money and carbon on the construction of the 1.8 km long diaphragm walls. The piles finished using the method stand out because they look pristine. The rebar remains upright and undamaged whilst the base of the pile is a neat circle. Anyone who’s seen the mangled remains of piles that have been broken in the traditional method out can’t fail to notice the difference! Accompanying the concrete piles are a row of sheet piles driven into the ground to give support. These will be removed once the concrete piling is complete.
Here’s how piles produced by the zero trim pile technique look. Pristine!
Seeing the work at Euston move on from utility diversion and demolition to the start of construction makes one appreciate the length of the task ahead. The station isn’t currently scheduled to open until sometime between 2031-36 which gives an idea why the Partnership is anxious to prove itself to be a good neighbour that leaves a positive legacy. Rebuilding Euston’s going to a long process, but – if it’s done right – the long overdue redevelopment has a real opportunity to be a showcase for city redevelopment and transport integration. Time will tell…
You can view many more pictures of HS2 construction work at several sites along the route on my Zenfolio website. Link here.
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 to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site – and right now (because of Covid), us freelances appreciate all the help that we can get to aid us in bouncing back from lockdowns. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
I wish! The weather here in the Calder Valley’s gloomy and murky still, only with added drizzle for interest. So, I’m escaping the confines of the valley to head Westwards, mixing business and pleasure in order to drop in on a couple of family members before Christmas as the way things are going with Omicron we could well be in another lockdown in January – so who knows when I’ll get to see people again?
I’m currently on Northern’s 09:22 service from Sowerby Bridge to Chester. The train seems reasonably busy but as it’s only a two-car Class 195 instead of the normal 3-car that’s hardly surprising. There’s the usual mix of ages and reasons for travelling with ramblers rubbing shoulders with Christmas shoppers and other folk heading for a day out in the bright lights and colour of the big city, which must seem very attractive after a few days of monochrome weather here in the Pennines!
It’s grim up North…
I’ll update the blog as the day unfolds, so feel free to keep popping back…
10:20.
As expected, most passengers bailed out at Manchester Victoria, leaving a handful of us still aboard. I’ll be doing the same at Newton-Le-Willows in order to check out the rebuilt station before catching a connecting service to Liverpool Lime St.
10:45.
Flying visit to NLW complete I’m on my way to Liverpool once more. Newton station’s been massively improved with a purpose-built ticket office and staff facilities, level access to both platforms provided by lifts, a new bus interchange and a massive (and busy) car park. The original building still exists on the London-bound platforms but its shutteted and closed. The subway underneath the tracks is decorayed with a variety of artworks from local sources and lit with changing coloured lights. It’s a vast improvement on the old station where you had to climb a multitude of steps to reach the platforms. New waiting rooms have been installed at platform level too.
A copy of the commemorative tablet which is in a monument on the spot further up the line where William Huskisson was struck by a train is located by the new subway.
11:50.
Curses, foiled again! I’m currently en-route to Southport having lingered long enough in Liverpool to grab a series of shots at Lime St station before wandering across to Central.
Lime St contained a couple of shots worth grabbing. East Midlands Railway have a Class 156 on loan to Northern and the unit graced us with its presence. Meanwhile, Transport for Wales had scraped together a pair of Class 153s for their service from Chester. Nicknamed “dogboxes” many, these single-car units aren’t normally allowed out on their own anymore as most have toilets that aren’t disabity legislation compliant so have to work with a set that is.
I wonder what the Welsh is for “dogbox”?
Central station was eerily quiet. I’d have expected it to be buzzing this close to Christmas but many folk seem to be staying away. Having read the latest SAGE predictions on the way over this morning that’s probably a wise move. If it wasn’t for the fact what little moral authority this Government had has been shot to pieces I’d expect a new lockdown to be declared in January. Now, I’m not sure they dare…
Empty platforms…
My curse was due to the fact I’d hoped to have been able to get more shots of the new Merseyrail trains on test runs today but none are running. Mind you, the weather’s hardly conducive. The railways are starting to be hit hard by Covid with many staff self-isolating or off sick. This is bound to have an effect on maintaining service levels but also on training. I expect to see further delays in introducing new fleets on South-West Railway and Merseyrail next year.
Still. I’m now off for lunch with my Neice and her Husband, so not all’s bad..
15:45.
Well, that was a lovely interlude! The three of us had a lovely lunch in Birkdale, a village subsumed by Southport but a place that’s very much kept its villagy feel and become quite a little community. The area around the railway station’s a thriving place full of restaurants, cafés and independent shops, many of which nestle under Victorian canopies. When Adi had to go back to work Charlotte and I stayed for another hour chatting and swapping stories. Like me, she’s inherited the footloose gene and misses travelling. We’d arranged to meet up in Bali last year (a place we both love) but Covid put the kibosh on those plans. Who knows when we’ll be able to return?
Now I’m back in Southport proper, hoping to be able to meet up with one of my siblings…
This morning I woke up to the welcome news that Johnson’s Tories had been humiliated in the North Shropshire by-election, losing a seat they considered theirs as a right to hold to the Lib-Dems. It was a massive 34% swing that saw the previous Tory majority of 23,000 become a Lib-Dem one of nearly 6000. One can only hope that this is the start of a shift that will see UK voters reject the kakistocracy we’ve had in charge ever since Johnson was elected in 2019. But I’m not going to hold my breath…
As if to celebrate the news the weather decided to grace the Calder Valley with sunshine. Well, the tops of the valley anyway, the lower levels have been hidden in mist for most of the day! Undeterred I decided to have a day out and head West with the camera, escaping the confines of the office now my computer problems have been resolved. If only every problem was as easily solved by a phone call!
My day out saw me heading West to old haunts, in this case Wigan, Southport and Liverpool where the weather held and sunshine reigned. I needed some pictures of the ‘new’ Class 769s (former electric trains converted to bi-modes with the addition of a diesel engine) and also the brand-new Class 777s for Merseyrail which are being built by the Swiss company Stadler. For once my luck held and I managed to complete my quest. 769s were running services to Southport and when I arrived one of the new 777s was sitting in the station whilst the crew took a break. I had enough time to grab shots of it at the seaside resort before getting ahead of it to take pictures at Hall Road on the edge of Liverpool. Sadly, by that point the sun had been overwhelmed by cloud. Even so, I managed a reasonable shot of old and new together, which is today’s picture of the day.
On the left is a Class 508 unit which was built by BR at York between 1979-80. These units were built as 4-car trains for the former Southern region and operated out of London Waterloo for several years before being reduced to 3-car trains and sent North to Merseyside in 1984-85 to replace the Class 503 electric trains which had been built by the London Midland and Scottish railway in 1938. Now it’s their turn to be replaced by the Class 777s one of which is seen here on a test run from Southport to Sandhills in Liverpool. 52 of these new units are on order and will start entering into passenger service sometime in 2022. There’s around half a century of the evolution of train design captured in that picture. I remember the 507-508 taking over services on this line over 40 years ago. Barring medical miracles I don’t expect to be around in another 40-plus years to see what replaces the 777s! Still, never say never…
If you want to look back at the Merseyrail system over the years you can find pictures going back to the 1990s in two different galleries on my Zenfolio website. Images from 2003 to the present day can be found here. Shots taken when the franchise was run by Arriva (from 1997-2003) can be found here – and pictures from the British Rail era can be found in this gallery, but you’ll have to do a lot of searching!
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 to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site – and right now (because of Covid), us freelances appreciate all the help that we can get to aid us in bouncing back from lockdowns. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
You know it’s going to be one of those days when you start the day with an optimistic frame of mind and technology decides it has other plans for you. Today was one of those days. Having bounced out of bed, made coffee and sat in the office ready to start the day I booted up the laptop.
Only it didn’t. It absolutely refused to be woken from its slumber. The expression ‘Oh, sh*t’ was one of several that passed my lips as I realised my plans for the day were well and truly out of the window. Fortunately, I have an old machine gathering dust on a shelf so dug that out. But because it hadn’t been used since August last year it took me quite a while to get everything set up and (mostly) reconnected. You forget just how interlinked systems are nowadays so when passwords and other gubbins are updated, old machines don’t always ‘get it’. Finally, after a few hours of cursing and shouts of ‘I don’t believe’ it I was operational again. Ish. Apart from all the pictures and files I’d not had chance to copy of my main machine or back-up to the Cloud. I few emails to Dell later and a several missed phone calls and I’d arranged to get tech support in the morning that will hopefully coax my recalcitrant machine back to life (fingers crossed).
Needless to say, this ate up much of my day which was doubly-frustrating as the weather was gorgeous and the trips I had planned were canned, so all I could do was admire the view over the valley as I fought with various systems. Thankfully everything was up and running enough for me to be able to respond to a picture request from RAIL magazine without any more blood sweat and tears although I did rediscover another idiosyncrasy of laptops that I’d forgotten about. The wifi on my old Dell couldn’t blow the skin off a rice pudding! It doesn’t like working from the office as the signal is really weak and frequently drops out – not good when you’re sending hundreds of Mb of data, so most of my working day’s been spent sat on the bed as that room’s directly above the router! On the bright side, I was thankful that I’d worked over the weekend to get all the pictures from last weeks Community Rail Awards edited and sent out, otherwise my computer problems could have been ‘fun’ to say the least.
I’m being optimistic and hoping the the tech wizards at Dell can sort things out for me tomorrow and that the issues are software not hardware related. Frankly, I can do without the expense this close to Christmas and having had to have a camera rebuilt recently.
Sadly, all the new slides I’ve been scanning recently are sat on the other machine, so today’s picture is going to have to come from the archives. But what to choose? Oh, I know…
Here’s a change from the recent exotic travel shots I’ve been feeding you. Clapham Junction may be a lot of things but exotic isn’t a word that springs to mind. This unusual shot was taken on the 7th December this year. It’s a view of the station few people see because it’s taken from the apartment block where an old friend whom I was staying with has a flat.
The trains in the foreground are a pair of Southwestern Railway Class 707s which will soon be displaced and cascaded to Southeastern trains as (despite the fact they’re only a few years old) SWR have planned to replace them with an even newer fleet of 10 car Class 701s built by Bombardier in Derby. Only the 701s are very (very) late and riddled with faults which is causing more than a few headaches all round. So, this is a sight that will eventually pass into history.
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 to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site – and right now (because of Covid), us freelances appreciate all the help that we can get to aid us in bouncing back from lockdowns. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
Well, I hope our trip’s a cruise! We’re currently aboard Northern’s 09:44 from Halifax to Manchester Victoria on the first leg of out trip. Despite yesterday’s storm the railways seem little affected, which is great news. OK, out trains a couple of minutes late due to slippery rails and low adhesion, but when the weather’s as wet and windy as it has been that’s hardly a surprise. One of my first tasks this morning (well, after making coffee, obviously!) was to peruse various website to check on real-time train performance. Suitably reassured I’m relaxed about the trip.
Having stopped at Hebden Bridge where we picked up another member of the CRN staff we’re now on our way West though a dank and dismal Calder valley. At least Hannah and Dawn have added some colour!
12:05.
Everything’s going to plan! Our journey across Manchester went without a hitch and we rendezvoused with the rest of the CRN advance party at Piccadilly. Now we’re settled in on a 4-Car Arriva Cross-Country Voyager for the long trip to Southampton, which wouldn’t be everyone’s cup of tea (4 hours 18 mins on a Voyager probably qualifies for an ‘Iron Man’ award!) but so far, the train’s relatively empty so we’ve room to spread out.
The weather’s improving as we head South too. The rain was hammering on the roof of Piccadilly but here in Stoke-on-Trent we’ve managed to encounter some sunshine and a smattering of blue-sky. Meanwhile, the CRN staff have turned the train into a mobile office, sorting out some last-minute changes to the awards.
Yep, I’m outnumbered by the fairer sex…
14:10.
Leaving Birmingham we called at International where a railhead treatment train was sitting between turns Seeing these vehicles working this late in the year seems unusual, but as some leaves are still clinging on to trees by their metaphorical fingernails it’s hardly surprising. It’s been a long autumn!
Right now we’re heading for Oxford in the best weather I’ve seen for days as we’ve blue skies spattered with high cloud rather then the wall to wall dullness that’s been the norm. Our train’s filled up but seats are still available and the atmosphere’s stress-free.
15:30.
And it was all going so well…!
After an amble along the Thames Valley to Reading as we were already 5 minutes late we ended up kicking our heels for quite some time as one of the train crew who was meant to be joining us was stuck elsewhere. Five minutes became ten, then twenty, then twenty five, then – finally, whoever we were waiting for turned up and we got away twenty six minutes late. But we’d lost our path, so we were nearly 30 down by the time we passed Southcote Junction. We’re now at the mercy of signallers regulating the service and slotting us in as they can…
17:00.
Made it! As I predicted, we lost more time en-route, finally arriving in Bournemouth 39 minutes late. Judging by the amount of young women hardly dressed for the season who were joining the train as we departed there’s a concert in Bournemouth tonight!
We’re currently relaxing at the hotel sorting our kit out whilst watching the latest political omnishambles unfold via the TV. The PM’s Press Spokesperson, Allegra Stratton has announced her resignation but I don’t that’s going to stop the awkward questions. Such as – which press members of the Lobby attended, because it’s painful to watch some sections of the media completely ignoring the story. The suspicion is that there was a lot of colluding going on here and a lot of people have questions to answer – including the Metropolitan police. Now we’re being told there’s going to be a Prime Ministerial announcement at 18:00 which is sounding like another attempt to say ‘look over there’. Meanwhile, we’ll be watching the announcement with a drink in hand, hoping Johnson’s not going to try and pull a stunt that could affect tomorrow’s awards…
I enjoyed a very convivial night with an old friend in London last night. We didn’t bother going out. Instead we enjoyed a quiet evening in at his home overlooking Clapham Junction station, eating home-made chicken casserole and sharing a bottle of red wine whilst we swapped news and stories. This morning we were both up bright and early to shoot some local railway interest in the shape of railhead treatment trains (RHTTs) and a steam train which was working through on a special. Here’s the shots I took on the camera that I couldn’t post earlier.
GBRf electro-diesel 73141 leads the railhead treatment train into Clapham Junction. This is a circular working as 3W90, the from 04:35 Tonbridge West Yard.‘Black 5’ No 44871 steams through Clapham Junction working 1Z56, the 08:46 London Victoria to Bristol Temple Meads special service.
Bidding adieu I stopped off at the station long enough to grab a few more pictures but as the weather was grey and miserable I didn’t hang around. Instead I did a mini-tour of London’s Major stations rather than sit on the underground. My first stop was Waterloo. As someone who lived i
n the capital for 25 years but who left a decade ago I’m fascinated by the way the city’s skyline has changed – and the mass of skyscrapers you pass on the railway through Vauxhall on the way into Waterloo is a supreme example of this. The area has changed out of all recognition, yet new developments are springing up all the time.
At Waterloo I swapped from South-Western to South-Eastern metals to head across to another place that’s nothing like when I was a Londoner – London Bridge station. Its £1bn makeover has turned it into a place you’d expect to find in Mainland Europe, not the UK. I didn’t tarry and caught a Thameslink service across the river to another station that’s been transformed – St Pancras International – although that redevelopment’s 14 years old now which seems hard to believe.
What hasn’t changed much was the streets of Somers town which I strolled through to reach Euston. There’s been some gentrification, but it sill has the feel of one of the most deprived neighbourhoods in Central London. One can only hope the redevelopment of Euston station that’s about to happen will deliver on its promise to make deliver positive change to the area.
I’ve now taken my leave of London on another Avanti Pendolino, this time bound for my birthplace. Liverpool. We’re already North of Rugby, but the weather remains just as gloomy as it was in London.
13:15.
I changed trains in Crewe as I was hoping to catch some of the new Welsh or West Midlands trains out on test but today wasn’t my lucky day as nothing was running. The weather was grim and I’d had a message from an Irish friend that he was in Manchester this afternoon so I didn’t hang around. As ‘luck’ would have it a Transport for Wales service to Manchester was running 35 mins late due to the weather and stuff being blown onto the line, so I caught that the 2-car 175 when it turned up.
Only to find out it was being cancelled at Wilmslow! Well, if it gets there! Right now it’s struggling to get through Sandbach in what’s known as ‘poor railhead conditions’ (greasy rails).
13:45.
My Wilmslow wait was a short one. No sooner had we arrived and unloaded that the Avanti Pendolino we’d held up came in on the adjacent platform and we were away again! The weather here’s crap. Wet and windy, so I can see why there’s some delays.
– Off one…– and straight on to another that had been trapped behind us as we slipped and skidded to Wilmslow!…
Once at Manchester Piccadilly I decided discretion was the better part of valour as heavy rain and electronics don’t mix – and don’t another trip to the camera shop again, so I sought refuge in a nearby hostelry where I waited for Neil, my Irish friend to catch up with me off his train from Southport. Whilst I waited the clouds gradually cleared and the temperature dropped as a result which made for an attractive if chilly afternoon. Neil arrived in time for a swift pint before we went to catch the 15.29 To Scarborough, one of the few locomotive-hauled passenger services to cross the Pennines nowadays. Typical of today – the train was late coming off Longsight depot so we left Piccadilly 15 minutes late. Even so, it was a pleasant trip East as we had the front carriage to ourselves, an unheard of experience on Trans-Pennine Express before Covid struck and still unusual today. Our time together was brief as I bade Neil farewell at Huddersfield as Dawn was working at the CRN office in the old station water tower so the pair of us drove home together.
21:00.
It’s now the end of the day. The wind’s really beginning to gust and howl outside as the next storm’s reached us, but we’re out of harms way at home indoors preparing for tomorrow’s jaunt. The two of us meet up with other Community Rail colleagues in the morning to begin the trek by rail to Southampton in order to prepare for the Community Rail Awards on Thursday. I wonder how that trip will go? Will this new storm Barra make things awkward I wonder, as there’s already reports of flooding in Hampshire. We may be in for an interesting journey…
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 to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site – and right now (because of Covid), us freelances appreciate all the help that we can get to aid us in bouncing back from lockdowns. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
I’m breaking free of a damp and dismal Calder Valley today to head down to London for business and a break. There was no leisurely stroll to the station for me today as the rain was too heavy. Instead I hitched a ride with Dawn who was off to work in Huddersfield. I was just in time to catch the 09:44 to Manchester Victoria which is ‘cosy’ as Northern have only provided a 2-car Class 195/0 to work it – much to some other passengers dismay! It was already busy by the time it arrived in Halifax, I expect it to be full and standing by the time we leave Rochdale! The good news is that mask wearing is being taken seriously again with almost everyone on this train sporting one. I’ll be interested to see what the situation’s like on other services and in the capital…
It feels good to be travelling again. As much as I’ve enjoyed time at home recently, my feet were starting to itch. Sadly, it doesn’t look like I’m going to see much sunshine as the forecast is dismal across the country. Never mind, there’s always things to photograph anyway as I can always disappear underground in London.
10:15.
We’ve pulled out of Rochdale and may prediction we’d be full and standing was optimistic as for once, Rochdale was quite quiet! Even so, our loadings look to be around 80-85% which is pretty good in such awful weather. Why would you venture out in such gloomy weather unless you had to? It’s so dark security lights are on all over the place and cars headlights are beaming as low grey cloud’s filtering out most natural light.
11:30.
And breathe! I’m now on a very busy Avanti Pendolino heading for Euston via Crewe after a cold and soggy trudge across Manchester city centre which was hardly looking its best. The homeless people who congregate around Piccadilly Gardens looked even more wretched. I saw one guy in a sleeping bag who was oblivious to the fact he was getting soaked. Others huddled miserably in doorways, waiting for the rain to stop. Still, it’s nice to know that despite ordinary people’s privations our political ‘leaders’ will still be enjoying Xmas parties at everyone else’s expense as rules are only for the little people…
This is the busiest Pendolino I’ve been on since COP26. Even the unreserved coach (U) is packed which is highly unusual – especially on a Monday, but then passenger numbers really are bouncing back and the latest Covid variant appears to be having little effect other than making people wear masks. I’m sharing a table with a younger couple travelling to London who got on at Wilmslow, something I’ve rarely had to do these past coupe of years.
11:40.
The weather’s not getting any better as I head South! We’re South of Crewe now and it’s still raining cats and dogs. The amount of flooded and waterlogged fields we’ve passed on the way bears testament to how heavy and persistent the rain’s been. Crewe was interesting. A new W Mids Class 730 sat in the station on a test run, whilst East Mids Rail normal Class 153 on the Derby service had been supplanted by an ex-Scotrail 3-car Class 170! The Arriva traincare shed South of the station contained a pair of ‘new’ Vivarail D78 trains for Transport for Wales whilst the yard hosted several newly-built Stadler EMUs for Merseyrail. With ‘no room at the inn’ on Merseyside these vehicles are cycled between Kirkdale and Crewe depots in order to gather their acceptance mileage.
South of Basford Hall yard I noticed several orange-clad teams out in the surrounding fields and lanes who looked like they were preparing the ground for the early stages of construction of the new High Speed 2 railway, part of which will join the existing line at this point. It’s something I’;ll have to keep an eye on.
12:25.
Having sped through Rugby we’re less than an hour from London. I’ve suddenly realised how many locations on the West Coast line like Rugby I’ve spent Easter or Xmas day trackside for Network Rail or its alliance partners recording the work upgrading this vital artery. In one way I miss that life, although many wouldn’t envy me or any of the other men and women putting in 12 hour shifts in all weathers and living out of hotels whilst ‘normal’ people are spending time on their family festivities.
17:45.
Sorry, where was I? I got rather distracted just as soon as I landed in London. I’ve missed the buzz, hustle and bustle but I couldn’t spend long soaking it up as I had things to do. My first task was to head over to Vauxhall to collect an old friend. My Nikon D5 and a long lens has been languising in camera specialist Fixation since October as they’ve been waiting for parts to repair them both. Last week I finally got the all-clear on the D5 which I was keen to get back in time for Thursday’s Community Rail Awards. I took a tumble with both bits of kit back in September and it’s taking an age to get them repaired. Whilst I’ve been able to fall back on uising my Nikon D4 I’ve really missed the D5 as its performance is up another notch.
Thankfully, my insurance company were excellent and approved the four figure repair bill without a quibble. They were really helpful throughout the process too. All I had to pay was the £150 excess. Now I’m looking forward to putting the D5 through its paces again – although the weather here in London’s been less than helful as it’s been unremittingly awful. Still, there’s always tomorrow…
In the meantime, I met up with a friend at Victoria for a quick drink then set out to explore some old haunts to look at photographic possibilities. Here’s one such location (Denmark Hill) which has changed enormously since I first visited due to enjoying a dalliance with a young lady nearby back in 1981…
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 to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site – and right now (because of Covid), us freelances appreciate all the help that we can get to aid us in bouncing back from lockdowns. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
Paul Bigland 