Category Archives: Railways

Lockdown. Day 67 (Friday).

29 Friday May 2020

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Phew, what a scorcher! – as the tabloid newspapers are prone to saying. It’s absolutely roasting here in the front garden where I’m sat typing this on my phone.

The forecast predicted this and the day didn’t disappoint. Dawn was up by 06:00 to hit the exercise trail and I rose at the same time. The view across the valley that time of morning was ckear and cloudless, so we knew what to expect. I was happy to be up early as I wanted to get a solid few hours work in before 09:00 as yesterday had felt like a wasted opportunity. Relishing a coffee whilst I edited pictures and waited for Dawn to finish her calisthenics I also kept one eye on the cat who’s still struggling with sneezing and mucus. That said, Dawn gave him a full hit of his medication this morning, so he wasn’t feeling any pain – literally or metaphorically!

After breakfast we meditated together to get us in the right frame of mind for the day, then it was back to the grindstone. The series of pictures I was scanning and editing today dated from the summer of 1999, only a few weeks after Lynn and I returned from our 18 month trip around the world. They show a very different side to the UKs railways compared to the batch I’ve just finished scanning, which were taken 6 years earlier. By 1999 rail privatisation was well-established. OK, ‘well’ is possibly not the right word here! It was the days of the late (unlamented) Railtrack as owner of the network, plus one or two train operating companies also best forgotten (Connex anyone?). My point is that BR was already becoming a memory. Ironically, looking back now, all the original franchises are memories too! All have changed hands. Some several times. Even the freight operators. I’ll add some pictures and continue this blog later. Right now its almost 18:00 and time for the ‘Big 6’ Zoom quiz…

20:41.

Right I’m back from the quiz and various chores so I can sit down, iron out the typo’s from writing this on a phone and try and put the rest of the day together. Whilst it’s lovely being able to sit in the garden and blog from the phone the spelling errors I’ve made when I read it back on a large screen are horrendous! I blame squinting in the sun and small keyboards – honest!

The quiz went really well but it flew by. All but two of the nine participants were joining in from their gardens. This time the majority included me as I didn’t want to waste the sunshine and set the laptop up atop the cats cage to save my neck. Mel did a great job reading out the brain teasers and the whole event is a lovely start to what would normally be a weekend without work. Only this is still a form of lockdown – I think – the mixed messages are still very confusing. If we’re starting to come out of it right now, why do we still have one of the highest number of new cases in Europe? To be honest, as Dawn and I have her parents to consider, we’re not going to be availing ourselves of our newly granted ‘freedoms’. Instead we’re going to see how the next couple of weeks pan out. There’s plenty for us both to do at home. Plus, from my perspective, it’s unlikely the rail industry is going to be rushing to organise many press events just yet, so all the work I had booked may take a while to rematerialize. So many events have been cancelled or moved to next year I’m going to have a lot of blank spaces in the diary this year whatever happens post-lockdown, so I’m playing a long game. As long as the markets continue to recover (albeit fitfully) I’m in a better place than many.

Let’s face it, none of us know what the future will bring. Despite the relaxation of some restrictions we’re not out of the woods yet and this chart from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control makes sobering reading.

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Still, according to Johnson, we’ll have a ‘world beating’ track and trace system soon, one day (ish, possibly). So, that’s alright then, panic over. Quite how it’s meant to be ‘world beating’ is a mystery. Personally, I’d be happy with one that actually works, but that’s probably being defeatist in the government’s eyes. But then, haven’t they stopped providing comparisons like this?  

Meanwhile, back on a more nostalgic note here’s a look at some of the pictures that I’ve been scanning. As they’re post-privatisation of the railways they’re spread over several galleries, so you’ll need to click on this link to find where they all are. 

Here’s yet another view that’s changed out of all recognition.

07094. 319004. 18.23 to Gatwick Airport. Rugby. 09.08.1999crop

On the 9th August 1999, Connex South Central unit number 319004 sits under the skeletal roof of Rugby station whilst working the 18:23 service to Gatwick Airport. This platform still exits, but little else does! A few years later the station underwent a massive rebuilding programme whilst the tracks were realigned for 125mph non-stop running as part of the West Coast Route Modernisation. Little did I know when I took this shot that I’d be spending Xmas and Boxing day trackside here, documenting the rebuilding for Network Rail (but that’s another story). Nowadays the Gatwick service has been cut back to Milton Keynes. Connex was stripped of both franchises (South-Eastern and South-Central) by the Strategic Rail Authority due to the companies poor performance.

07110. 33103. 3TC No 417. 14.08 Barking - Gospel Oak. Harringay Green Lanes. 18.08.1999crop

OK, I’ll add caption details to this shot on Saturday morning. Can anyone guess where and what this working was? A clue. This was a stop-gap hire-in by a TOC as the old diesel units it were using on this line had sure dire reliability….

 

 

 

 

Lockdown. Day 66 (Thursday).

28 Thursday May 2020

Posted by in Coronavirus, Huddersfield, Lockdown, Musings, Railways

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Right folks, I’ve moved ahead a few days due to the pressure of juggling life and writing a daily blog. Yes, I know we’re all meant to have more time on our hands due to the Covid-19 lockdown but sometimes the reality is anything but, because simple mundane activities take up so much more time! So, today I’m leaping right up to the present to describe the day and give myself time to live in the moment rather than play catch-up. Not that I won’t catch-up, but I’ve got tomorrow to do that as we’re going nowhere!

In contrast, today was a busy day as it’s Thursday – so it’s ‘escape from the valley’ day to head over to Huddersfield and the delights of the Colne rather than the Calder Valley. There couldn’t have been a better day to do it either as today’s been the hottest day of the year so far. The drive into Huddersfield was on roads that are the busiest we’ve seen since lockdown, which is slowly unravelling. That’s partially planned but I get the distinct impression there’s a Dominic Cummings “what’s sauce for the goose” element to it too. People are getting restive after two months and the antics of the Government are providing the perfect excuse.

To Tykes credit there weren’t that many overt signs of it in Huddersfield itself. Our weekly shop at Sainsbury’s (where we pick up a lot of Dawn’s parents shopping) was little changed. The queues weren’t bad and the trolley ballet inside was well choreographed but more shelves were empty, especially the booze section which suggests there’s going to be people making more of the outdoors and the glorious weather – as long as it’s not in crowds…

As usual after shopping we pitched up at the railway station to pop into Dawn’s work. The area was marginally more busy and I noticed a handful more folk on the trains that passed, but the station was obviously gearing up for more people as new signs had appeared to regulate flows in and out in order to respect social distancing.

Whilst Dawn was busy in the office I went for a wander around Huddersfield town centre to get a feel for how things are and also grab a few pictures. The main shopping areas are still pretty much deserted which is hardly surprising as nothing’s open. What was sad to see was how many shops look likely never to reopen. Very few showed signs of stirring even though it’s been announced small businesses will be allowed to reopen soon (ish). The only places that had any life were the banks. Several had large queues outside them. I’ve mentioned this before but in this age of internet banking I’m still amazed by how many people have the need to still visit a bank branch. I’m sure there’s some interesting statistics and research that will explain why. The only other folks who were out in any numbers were the town’s derelicts and drunks although maybe I’m only noticing them more because their normal refuge (Wetherspoons) is closed! One thing that I did observe was that more and more people are wearing facemasks, which is no bad thing. Here’s how quiet Huddersfield appeared today.

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A Trans-Pennine Express service arrives into Huddersfield from Leeds across surprisingly deserted John William St.

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New Street in the centre of Huddersfield looking desolate and deserted. Shops were suffering before Covid broke out. I wonder how many will never reopen?

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Queuing outside the Barclays bank at Market Cross in the centre of Huddersfield.

Once Dawn had finished we drove up to her parents to drop off their shopping and chat over the garden gate. We’re lucky as we get to stand in the gorgeous sunshine. They draw the short straw as they stand in the shadow of the house although I doubt John minds as he saw more than enough sun when he did his National Service in the RAF in Cyprus. Suntan lotion was unheard of then and he’s had to be careful ever since…

We didn’t stay long as we had to get home. The drive across country was glorious in this weather but once again we noticed the volumes of traffic had picked up. Back home the pair of us had a couple of hours to try and get some work done before our next chore. Dawn was busy at her computer whilst I managed to swap my time between working upstairs in my backroom office and also out in the garden. I’m a sun lover still and I wasn’t going to waste such glorious weather, so I continued to edit down slide albums full of travel pictures whilst sitting outside. The album I filleted dated from 2000 and contained a mixture of personal, travel and social issues pictures I’d taken, mostly with the Lonely Planet and Photofusion picture libraries in mind which is where many of them ended up. Now I’ve got them back. Of course, nearly 20 years later there’s a huge amount of duplicates whilst others are now either irrelevant or superseded, so I managed to whittle the album down by half – which will make life a lot easier when it comes to the scanning process.

Time flew and in no time our appointment with the vet loomed. Jet (our cat) was due a check-up, which was just as well as he’s started sneezing and getting a build-up of matter in one eye. We suspected it was to do with him being ‘in the wars’ recently, but we wanted to make sure. The vets was extremely busy with people sitting in their cars whilst the vest too’d and fro’d with their pets. We were there for nearly an hour before we could take the boy back home with no major health worries. I’ve not complaints about the service (anything but), it’s just the fact so much of our time is eaten up by what were ordinary activities before Covid, now they take so long you just wonder where the hell the day goes. I do find it frustrating sometimes as it’s hard to feel you’ve achieved much. It’s one of the reasons blogging’s had to take a bit of a backseat.

By the time we got home via another supermarket call we were already late for Dawn joining in on a Platt family ‘Zoom’ call. I dipped in and out as I had to water a garden that had spent all day baking in the sun. It’s looking lovely right now (even passing joggers compliment me on it) so the last thing I want is for the plants to get stressed. Mind you, it’s also good exercise – and therapeutic!

Tomorrow I’m looking forward to having a day at home and cracking on. Hopefully, with a sense of moving forward at the end of it rather than just shuffling along in queues as a substitute. Watch this space…

 

 

 

 

Lockdown. Day 59 (Thursday).

22 Friday May 2020

Posted by in Coronavirus, Food and drink, Huddersfield, Lockdown, Musings, Railways

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Remind me never to complain about our moggie jumping on the bed ever again…

We both missed the boy this morning as he’s still in the vets. As a consequence our plans to get up early didn’t materalise. It wasn’t a ‘duvet day’ by any means but we hit the ground ambling rather than running as we waited for a morning call from the vet to let us know how Jet was. When the call came, it was (mostly) good news. He’d had a comfortable night and the pain relief was working. His potassium levels has risen and he was less dehydrated, but he was struggling to eat because of the pain from one of his back molars, which really needed to come out. The vet didn’t want to risk that until he’d regained some strengh, as there was a real risk we’d lose him under the anesthetic, so we were facing another day without him. Needless to say, this took the shine off the day.

Luckily, we had plenty to keep us occupied as Thursday’s shopping day and our weekly trip out of the valley to visit Huddersfield. We headed out not long before 10 and immdiately noticed the roads were the busiest we’ve seen them since lockdown began, driving into central Hyddersfield from the M62 motorway junction at Ainley Top was like a pre-lockdown day as traffic was that heavy.

Our first port of call was the big Sainsbury’s supermarket which was also much busier than last week so we had to queue for about 10 minutes, not that we minded. The weather was warm and sunny, although their was a persistent breeze that really kept the temperature down low enough that you still needed a fleece.

Once inside the pair of us breezed around with our respective trollies Dawn shopping for her parents and I for the two of us. It social-distancing ballet was harder to choreograph this time due to an increase in people. Family groups had been allowed in which was a real pain in the arse as they spead out and take up so much room. Kids being kids – they’re also unpredictable! Even so, it’s a lot more pleasant than the melee you normally get before a bank holiday.

Shopping done we headed over to the water tower at Huddersfield station that’s the base for Dawn’s organisation –  Community Rail Network (or ACoRP as it was until the recent rebranding). Dee needed to spend some time in the office collecting paperwork and sorting out some bits so I had time to get a few shots around the station area. There’s still few rail passengers about and you could dump a herd of elephants in the deserted car park! The bus stand in the square outside was equally deserted. I watched a Trans-Pennine Express a 5-car Class 802 pull out of the station on its way to Leeds and counted just 4 passengers aboard. This is despite the ramping up of rail services since last week. Here’s a sample of what was around.

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The 0Z68 Crewe Gresty Bridge to York Siemens loco move with 68029, 68028 and 68032 leading pass through sunny Huddersfield.

Having done what was needed the pair of us drove up to Dawn’s folks and dropped off their bags of shopping, staying just long enough for a chat in the sunhine before heading home as we both had work to do (and a vet to hear from). As we crossed over the M62 motorway I was surprised to see just how quiet it was compared to the local roads. There were very few cars or vans, most of the traffic was articulated lorries.

Back at home we stowed away our shopping then phoned the vets, who said Jet had gone for an x-ray, so they’d ring us back later when they knew the results, which left us feeling a bit uneasy. Dawn knuckled down to some work whilst I sat in the garden and caught up wit reading some technical publications I’d picked up from the CRN office earlier. To say the Covid-19 picture’s still confused for the rail and bus industry would be putting it mildly. Then again, is any aspect of the UK’s policy clear? The statistics on testing and deaths can’t be relied on, the ‘roadmap’ for the future exit from lockdown seems to be held upside down and we have an absentee Prime Minister and a Cabinet that makes the Keystone Cops look like the SAS. Meanwhile, scenes of traffic jams at our national parks and beaches show that relying on the “common sense” of the great British public is pinning your faith on an oxymoron. What could possibly go wrong? If only we could go to the Winchester, have a nice cold pint and wait for all this to blow over…

After ploughing through my ‘light’ reading the sun was sufficiently over the yard arm for me to break open a bottle of beer. We still hadn’t heard from the vets, which was worrying so we rang them again. A very apologetic nurse explained there’d been confusion earlier as they had TWO black cats called Jet in today. It wasn’t our Jet that had gone for an x-ray. Later the vet rang us and we got the full low down. Jet is staying in for another night so that they can stabilise him ready for his tooth extraction which (hopefully) should happen tomorrow. There’s still a risk with the anesthetic as he’s struggling to eat, so doesn’t have his strength up – but what can we do – other than go ahead and hope all will be right in the end? Hopefully, we’ll have him home soon…

Jet

Jet in better days, just where he likes to be – on the bed!

As a distraction technique I decided to do some cooking this evening and rustled up a chicken Madras from one of the ‘Hairy Bikers’ recipes. It’s a quick fix but very tasty. We ate it with chapattis as a change from rice. Dawn even said she preferred it to the recipie she uses. Within a short time I went from this;

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To this…

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I continued the therapy with a Gin and Tonic to wash the curry down with! Hopefully, tomorrow – we’ll have good news about the boy. The place just isn’t the same without him…

 

 

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Lockdown. Day 52 (Thursday).

16 Saturday May 2020

Posted by in Coronavirus, Huddersfield, Lockdown, Railways

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Thursday’s the highlight of our week in some ways as it’s the day we escape the Calder Valley routine and sally forth. Well, as far as the next valley anyway! It’s the day we venture over to Huddersfield to do John and Norah (Dawns parents) shopping. Both of us were curious as to what we might find as this was our first trip since the lifting of some of the lockdown restrictions.

The pair of us were up early in order to get everything done as Dee needed to be home for yet another Zoom meeting (love ’em or loathe ’em) so we were heading over to Huddersfield in what would normally be considered the ‘rush-hour’. Only it wasn’t. Yes, there’s certainly more cars on the road than there have been in recent weeks, but the days of being stuck in a queue of traffic up the by-pass to Ainly Top are unlikely to return for a while. It was the same with the run from the M62 junction into Huddersfield. Busier, but not busy.

In fact, we were really surprised when we arrived at our first port of call, which was Sainsbury’s supermarket. The past few weeks on a Thursday the queue’s been massive. Today it was tiny and the car-park much emptier than usual. It only took a few minutes before we were ushered inside. As usual, we’d split up to do different shops. Dawn to do her parents whilst I did ours. To be honest, apart from coffee and alcohol (my bad) there wasn’t much we needed, although I did pick up some of their veggie specialities in the form of Tempeh and Tofu to be used in a stir-fry.

Shopping done in double-quick time we headed over to the station so that Dawn could pop into work for a while to check on the place and access stuff she can’t at home. The weather was gorgeous so I took the time to grab a couple of rail shots such as this one.

DG342127crop

One of Trans-Pennine Express new Class 802 units (802208) arrives at Huddersfield whilst working 1F58, the 0834 Scarborough to Liverpool Lime Street arrives at platform 4 which is unusual in itself as Westbound TPE service always used to use platform 1 as 4 was used by terminating trains from both East and West.

I didn’t have time to venture far from the station. Even so, I saw a couple of things that caught my eye nearby. The sign of the new normal. One pavement is closed off by roadworks in order to allow appropriate social distancing so that workers can stay safe.

Whilst I was taking this shot I noticed a ‘to do’ the other end of the roadworks so went to investigate – and found this…

With the fact our roads have been so blissfully quiet accidents have been rare, and half this road is closed because of the roadworks in the previous sign, so you do have to wonder…That said, it’s quite possible that some drivers have become lazy and inattentive for the very reason that there’s less traffic out there.

As soon as Dawn had finished we headed over to her parents to drop their shopping off and have a chat. Considering the fact they’re both pretty much confined to barracks because of their age (apart from getting out for a walk) they’re bearing up well. The pair of them are both pragmatic and phlegmatic – and incredibly appreciative of the fact we do their shopping for them. I really feel for the members of their generation who we see in the shops who obviously don’t have anyone to do this stuff on their behalf. OK, one or two whom you see are just sheer bloody-minded and don’t understand the risks, but others are obviously fearful but have no other choice. This is not the ‘blitz’ – this is a far more insidious killer, which makes the government’s advice all the more stupid. How can you be ‘alert’ to some thing you can neither see, smell, touch, hear or taste?

Having done our duty we drove back home in time for Dawn to join in her online meetings whilst I disappeared upstairs to scan yet more old slides. At the moment the process is even more of a pain in the butt than normal as I’ve hot a vein of old Kodak slides that were sent back from their lab in cardboard mounts. They’re a sod to break out and still keep the slides dust-free for remounting so there’s lots of muttering under the breath going on whilst I did it.

I won’t miss this job!

Come late afternoon we did manage to get out for our usual stroll and keep the exercise going, although this won’t be a vintage week for me as I’m already behind all last weeks targets. Trying to juggle work and exercise sometimes means a ball’s dropped. I’ll just have to pick it up and run with it next week…

HS2 want people to choose the names of their first Tunnel Boring Machines.

15 Friday May 2020

Posted by in Hs2, Railways

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Today HS2 has launched a national vote to pick the names of the first of 10 giant tunnel boring machines that will excavate more than 35 miles of tunnel on the first phase of the UK’s new high speed railway between London and the West Midlands. Three names have been selected by local school children, they are Cecilia, Florence and Marie. The names with the most votes will be given to the first of two tunnel boring machines (TBMs) set to launch early next year. Much like ships, it’s traditional to name TBMs before they are launched and it is a long-held tunnelling tradition to give them female names.

tbm 3d model (1)

The TBMs will be operated by HS2’s main works contractor, Align JV – a joint venture formed of three companies: Bouygues Travaux Publics, Sir Robert McAlpine, and VolkerFitzpatrick. The machines will spend around three years digging the longest and deepest HS2 tunnels south of the M25, to South Heath in Buckinghamshire.

To vote, visit this link and vote for your favourite name. All three have been inspired by female scientific and medical pioneers.

Cecilia – named after Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, the Astronomer and Astrophysicist born in Buckinghamshire who became Chair of Astronomy at Harvard University in the United States. Suggested by students at Chalfont Community College in Buckinghamshire.
Florence – named after Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing, who spent many years in Claydon, Buckinghamshire where she wrote numerous books on nursing. Suggested by students at Meadow High School in Hillingdon.
Marie – named after Marie Curie, the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, and the first person and the only woman to win the Nobel Prize twice. Suggested by students at Maple Cross JMI and Nursery in Hertfordshire.

The name with the most votes will be given to the first TBM, due to be launched from a site close to the M25 early next year. The enormous, 2,000 tonne, 170m long machine will be one of two that will dig the 10 mile long Chiltern tunnels. The second machine, due to be launched a month later, will be given the second most popular name chosen.

The machines are being built by Herrenknecht in Germany. Their names are being chosen now so they can be fixed to machines during their manufacture, ready for when they emerge out of the factory.

After completion the first two machines will be disassembled before beginning their long journey to England. Once they have arrived on site, each TBM will be reassembled, ready to begin their life underground.

Launching the competition, HS2 Ltd Chief Executive Mark Thurston said:

“The launch of our first TBM will be a defining moment in the history of HS2 – and our work to deliver high capacity, low carbon high speed rail travel for millions of people across the UK.

“I’d like to thank all the schools that took part in the first stage of the competition and the pupils who suggested the three shortlisted names – Cecilia, Florence and Marie. Now it’s over to the British public to decide which will grace the side of our first TBMs.”

Daniel Altier, Align Project Director said:

“I would like to thank the pupils and teachers at the three local schools who suggested these three pioneering and inspirational women. Align would be very proud for our TBMs, that will incorporate the very latest technology and innovation, to bear their names.”

Voting closes on 5th June 2020.

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Lockdown. Day 46 (Friday)

08 Friday May 2020

Posted by in Coronavirus, Down memory lane, Lockdown, Photography, Politics, Railways

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Christ, if this is what life’s like when we’re meant to have loads of time on our hands due to lockdown, can I have my old one back, please?

My best intentions of getting up early went out of the window this morning and for the first time in ages I didn’t get out of bed before 08:00 which was a bit of a surprise as I distincly remember being awake at 06:00 and thinking ‘I’ll just have another half an hour’. Damn those snooze buttons! I wouldn’t mind but it’s not even mine as Dawn has control of the alarm clock/radio.

Once the day started it was a busy,- if slightly different one. Dawn’s on her ‘virtual retreat’ for the next few days, so I’m doing everything I can so facilitate and support her doing it but it does mean we’re living rather separate lives for the next few days. Dee printed out her schedule activities and stuck it on the fridge in the kitchen so that I know what she’s up to and when so that I don’t disturb her at a crucial moment, like meditation. This means that the living room is very much ‘her space’ and I’m relegated to using the back door to come in and out, not that it’s a problem.

Yet again we’ve had another beautiful day, weather wise. I shadowed Dawn on her morning walk, which meant that I got a lot of steps in early which makes a change. Recently I’ve taken to getting in an evening stroll to boost my exercise. Whilst it’s technically breaking the guidelines it’s not a problem here as our road is deserted at that time of day. I can walk for half an hour and not bump into another soul or even see a car as everyone’s stuck indoors. Why wouldn’t they be – there’s nowhere else to go!

Back at home I disappeared into the office to spend several hours scanning more old slides, The job’s no less tedious but at least I’m slowly making progress, although it is rather frustrating being stuck inside when the weather’s so good! I’d love to be out and about with the camera, but discipline’s required right now and it means I’m getting something positive out of lockdown.

Once immersed in scanning the day soon flew by. I’ve both laptops on the go at the moment so that whilst I’m scanning with one I can be watching Netflix or the BBCiPlayer with half an eye on the other. Sometimes the distraction’s provided by birds visiting the feeder hung outside the office window as it sees a constant stream of Tits who come to plunder the sunflower seeds I keep it filled with. I avoided the VE celebrations on TV, preferring to remember those who fought and lost their lives in my own way rather then join in what was starting to feel like a jingoistic celebration rather than a reflection on events. No doubt many would disagree with my interpretation, but then there does seem to be a coercive element to these things nowadays, rather like the ritualistic clapping for the NHS on Thursdays. When people are shamed on social media for not taking part, you know that things have gone too far. This pressure is also being used to stifle criticism of the way the Government’s handling the Covid pandemic, with some claiming that it’s somehow unpatriotic to criticise as it’s a national emergency and we should all be ‘pulling together’ (whatever that’s meant to mean in this context). This authoritarianism and herd mentality worries me. It’s too close to the right-wing media and political parties tactics of labelling people ‘traitors’ for opposing Brexit. We seem to be sailing far too close to an Orwellian totalitarianism nowadays, and it’s disturbing how easily some people embrace it.

I knocked off slightly earlier than usual as it is Friday after all. I migrated to the bench in the front garden and sat with a beer, enjoying soaking up the glorious sunshine for a while until 6, when it was time to join the gang from the ‘Big 6’ for our weekly quiz session held on Zoom. Eight of us played this week, many of the gang joining from their respective gardens as they’d got the same idea as me. After weeks of lockdown and barely talking to a soul other than Dawn it’s great to have a semblance of normality restored by joining in the laughter and brain-teasers in the quiz, although I’m looking forward to the day we can restart this where we should be – in the pub!

The rest of the evening passed off quietly at home with the pair of us keeping occupied in different ways. I managed to upload more of my haul of edited pictures to my website, so felt the week ended well. Here’s a couple as an illustration. It’s a tale of two London stations…

3120. 47350. London Kings Cross. 02.02.1993crop

Here’s London Kings Cross on the 2nd February 1993. As it used to look before the recent refurbishment and when Mail trains still ran. It was far dirtier and more cluttered than nowadays, with lots of rubbish deposited on the oil-stained tracks. Railfreight distribution No 47350 stands at the head of a rake of vans carrying mail to the North. Class 47/3s didn’t normally operate these services as the locomotives had no train heating, so I’m assuming the booked engine had failed.

03137. 47853. 43072. Class 47 ex Nottingham. Class 43 is 16.00 to Sheffield. London St Pancras. 09.03.1993crop

Here’s London St Pancras on the 19th March 1993, with a Class 47 which had arrived on a service from Nottingham standing next to an HST set which is waiting to depart as the 16:00 to Sheffield. It’s safe to say that the station doesn’t look like this anymore! This area is now home to Eurostars!

If you want to have a look at any of the other pictures I’ve added to my Zenfolio picture website just follow this link.

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Lockdown. Day 44 (Wednesday).

06 Wednesday May 2020

Posted by in Coronavirus, Lockdown, Musings, Railways, Uncategorized

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Despite the routine of life at the moment, it still manages to throw you enough curved balls and surprises to make it interesting…

This morning Dawn was first out of bed as I’d had a less than perfect night’s sleep due to our moggie (Jet) deciding that what’s ours is his. He waits until you’re almost asleep then jumps on the bed to wedge himself between us. He’s such an old boy now (eighteen and a half) that most of the time we don’t have the heart to kick him off – but he doesn’t half take up a lot of room. So, despite the fact I’d had a relatively early night I hadn’t had a good one. Dawn bounded out of bed to do her exercise regime in the living room but the most active I got was to make coffee and retreat back to bed with the laptop and catch up with world events before a shower and my ‘commute’ to the office. It was a crying shame to be stuck indoors as the weather was stunning. There may have been a morning chill in the air first thing but that was because there wasn’t a cloud in the sky! Here’s the view from the road above our house (looking across Sowerby Bridge and the Calder Valley) as I walked up the hill to combine getting some of the food shopping for Dawn’s parents and daily exercise.

I’d have loved to have enjoyed a day outdoors, soaking up the sun on such a fabulous day but I had too much to do. I’ve not had chance to edit them and put the results on my website yet but I’ve scanned another forty old slides which include November 1992 to January 1993. It was a period when my life changed completely, so it’s quite strange looking back at them now and remembering. 

Part of the reason I’ve not got them edited today was that other things kept side-tracking me – but in a positive way. A picture request from a magazine saw me scurrying through the archives to dig out what they wanted, then I had a Zoom conference call scheduled to talk about the Community Rail Network awards. Oh, the joys of online meetings! Yes, they’re ideal for when needs must but the idea that these will render travel redundant in future is fanciful to say the least. There’s too many distractions or glitches and body language is next to impossible to read. I lost the call for a few minutes as we suffered a power cut – the second time that’s happened in a week. It was back in an instant but it took several for the internet to reboot.

Finally, I got chance to break away from staring at a screen and retreated into the garden with a good old paper copy of RAIL magazine to catch up on the latest industry news in the sun! The ‘dead tree’ media still has some advantages. You need no batteries or sockets, you don’t need to worry about flare on a screen and you don’t have to fret about a wifi connection. Oh, and you can also use the mag as a sunshade!

The clear skies and sunshine lasted right through to the bitter end when they were overtaken by planet’s rotation and replaced by a glorious dark night and a full moon. If I hadn’t so many things to do I’d have been tempted to set up my camera on a tripod up on the promenade and try some long-exposure shots. Sadly, with the length of exposure that I’d need for what I have in mind the local constabulary may be less than sympathetic in these coronavirus times.

Instead of star-gazing, here’s a look back at the past and the archive pictures I’ve been scanning today. This is Tilbury Riverside station in Essex, just a few days before it closed on the 30th November 1992. Oddly, despite the fact I’d lived in London since 1986, this was the only time I ever visited. I don’t know why, other than it obviously wasn’t a priority at the time, despite the fact I lived just a stones throw from the London, Tilbury & Southend railway in East London. Now, how I wish I had as Tilbury Riverside would have made a fascinating picture study. 

03062. 313787. In the last week before closure. Tilbury Riverside. November.1992 crop

This is how I remember much of the railways from my youth. Decrepit and decaying. Forget the rose-tinted spectacles, the one thing money wasn’t spent on was stations. How many were stripped back to bare platforms and had decent facilities demolished and replaced by bus shelters to save a few quid on maintenance and wages?

Tilbury Riverside is no more but the site is still rail connected as it’s now used by freight trains from the docks. When I’ve had chance to edit the other pictures I’ll add a couple more. Right now it’s time for bed as we’ve a busy shopping day ahead of us…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lockdown. Day 43 (Tuesday).

05 Tuesday May 2020

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Despite getting up before 07:00 I still didn’t get everything done that I’d hoped and planned to. So much for all this time we’re meant to have on our hands due to lockdown! On the bright side, I did achieve a lot. Having left Dawn in bed with our moggie keeping guard over her I made some coffee before heading to the office. It’s not exactly an onerous commute from the kitchen, one flight of stairs and I’m there! The first assignment of the day was to get a the next batch of slides scanned and edited whilst setting up another batch ready to join the queue. Whilst they’re scanning I normally have time to peruse the web and catch up on the days world and financial news in between. The media isn’t making as depressing and perturbing reading as it did a few weeks ago due to the fact so many countries are slowly feeling their way out of lockdown and making plans for the future. Quite how long this process will last before normality returns is anyone’s guess as this would depend on countries having a vaccine against Covid-19.

With this in mind I’m prepared to be in complete lockdown for another week or two yet. I’ve plenty to keep me occupied, so the only real negative impact on me is financial. I’m one of the lucky ones in that I’ve been able to adapt to lockdown without too much mental stress, as has Dawn. I’m not saying it’s been all plain sailing, but at least we’re both going to come out of this still married!

Dawn was back at work today and straight into conference calls, catching up with her colleagues and what’s going on in the world of Community Rail – a sector that’s not had it easy as many of the volunteer groups rely on people who fit into various ‘at risk’ categories.

It was during one of Dawn’s conference calls that the Dell engineer arrived to take another look at my laptop. To maintain social distancing he worked in the kitchen like he did last time. The machine’s now running sweetly (I’m typing this on it new) and I’m hoping the glitches have finally been sorted out and I’ve a machine I can rely on. I’m keeping my old one up to date as a precaution  and basing everything in the Cloud so if anything does go wrong I can rapidly switch between machines. In fact it’s quite useful having both running at times as I can use one for slide scanning and picture editing and the other machine for emails and paperwork. Who says men can’t multi-task!

Once the Dell engineer had left I took a break from staring at screens to get my daily constitutional. The weather was ideal as it was sunny but not too hot so slogging up through the woods to the promenade didn’t leave me in a sweaty mess. After being in lockdown for so long and missing the levels of exercise I used to get I’m trying to ramp things up by increasing my target from the daily minimum of 12,500 steps to 17,000 which means I then surpass all my targets. Thankfully we live in an area where I can do this without putting anyone at risk I’d be buggered if I still lived in North London as 7 miles around a 30 foot garden would be stretching things a bit!

Sadly, with Dawn still working I had to walk solo. Once back at home I settled back down in front of the computers and managed to get 60 old pictures done today. You can find them on my Zenfolio website in this gallery.

I’m moving on through the years now and passed a significant (well, to me anyway) landmark. I’ve finished the years 1989 -1991. 1991 was important to me because in the October of that year I packed in my job as a Housing Officer in Tower Hamlets, paid a years rent on my shared flat and headed off to South-East Asia for a year. By the time I returned in October 1992 I’d visited India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Malaysia. I’d also travelled all the way overland through the Indonesian islands from Sumatra to West Timor and even got as far as Darwin in Australia before running out of time and money! One day I’ll write up my experiences of those days, when backpacking was very different to today…

The trip means that there’s a year-long gap in my UK rail archive, just at a time when the railways were going through another phase of replacing loco-hauled passenger services with yet more multiple units. This meant I was kept busy before I left documenting how things were before they changed forever. Of course, what I didn’t know at the time was that rail privatisation was looming. There wasn’t going to be a general election until 1992 and John Major’s Tories looked unlikely to win…

Here’s a sample picture that shows how much has changed.

03035. 87001. 13.12 to Liverpool Lime St. 87021. 09.10 from Liverpool Lime St. London St Pancras. 12.10.1991 crop

On the 12th October 1991 a pair of Class 87s stand at the buffers at St Pancras station London. No, this isn’t a mistake! Due to weekend engineering work Services from Liverpool were diverted away from Euston and into St Pancras. The trains were diesel hauled from Nuneaton across to the Midland Main Line and then down to Bedford where the Class 87s could run ‘under the wires’ to St Pancras. 87001 (on the left) waits to work the 13.12 to Liverpool Limes St whilst I’d arrived from Liverpool behind 87021 on the right which had worked the 09.10 from Lime St. I’d been back to Southport for the weekend to say my goodbye’s to my family. A few days later I flew out on a single ticket to Delhi, India, where the adventure began…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lockdown. Day 36 (Tuesday).

29 Wednesday Apr 2020

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Today the weather really has changed. The broken cloud we had yesterday morphed into heavy grey, rainbearing skies this morning making the world look very different when I opened the bedroom blinds. It made me just how lucky that we’ve had over a month of near continuous sunshine just when we needed most. Imagine what people’s spirits might have been like going through lockdown when the weather was appalling?

Having kept my head down all Monday to complete my next article for RAIL magazine on the East London Line it was great to be able to put it to bed and get back to scanning my slide archive as that’s had to take a back seat this past week. I’ve several pages of my first set of pictures from 1989-90 to complete and I’m eager to get them finished as it feels like a milestone in what’s been a bloody long process! It’s not the most exciting of tasks, it’s very much a marathon, not a sprint, but after all these years it feels like the finisheing line’s in sight.

Whilst I’ve been doing this I’ve been kept entertained by a pair of Blackbirds who’re nesting in a tree at the back of the house. They keep foraging for food on the shed roofs opposite my office window and I’ve been helping them by keeping an eye out for the local cats who consider the area their territory. I’m making the moggies feel uncomfortable enough that they don’t hang around, giving the Blackbirds a free-fly zone. We have a cat ourselves but Jet is an old boy who’s 18 and a half, so his bird-catching days are long behind him. Oh, he’ll saunter around outside, but he’s unfazed by our feathered friends nowadays are barely gives them a second glance. The fact he’s as deaf as a post probably helps as he only notices them if they intrude on his line of sight. 

I was so engrossed in the process of scanning and editing several batches of slies that the day flew by. before I knew it we were in to evening. Dawn’s got the week off from work so she’s been busy downstairs with DIY, and getting exercise that way, so I headed out for an evening constitutional on my own, in the rain! There was no way I was going to get my daily target of 12,500 steps. Even so, it was lovely to get out and experience the wind and rain on my skin after a long day sat at a desk.

Here’s a couple of the images I’ve been scanning. This is a classic image of a railway that’s gone forever. On the 8th March 1990 a pair of Class 56s pass at Barnetby East junction in Lincolnshire. Nearest the camera is 56088 with a loaded train of HAA coal hoppers on its way from Immingham Docks to Scunthorpe where the coal will power the steelworks furnaces. In the background is 56090 heading back to the docks with the empties. the signalbox and semaphores here lasted until Christmas 2015 when the area was resignalled. The Four wheeled HAA coal wagons are long gone too, having been replaced with much higher capacity bogie hopper wagons which are kinder to the track (amongst other things). 

0616. 56088. 56090. Barnetby. 8.3.1990 copy

Here’s another, taken at Peterborough a few days later on the 12th March 1990 when the Class 91 locomotives were brand-new. Here’s 91011, named ‘Terence Cuneo’ (after the famous railway artist) out on a test train before entering passenger service. Now, 30 years later the Class 91 fleet is slowly being phased out of mainline service with LNER, although several are planned to remain in traffic until 2022. Will this plan survive the downturn in traffic due to Covid-19? Who knows? 

0648. 91011. Peterborough12.3.1990 copy

If you want to have a look through more of these old photos, follow this link to the ‘recent’ section of my Zenfolio website. 

Lockdown. Day 31 (Thursday)

24 Friday Apr 2020

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I won’t even mention what the weather was like when I opened the bedroom blinds at 06:30 as you know the drill by now!

Thursday’s our ‘fun’ day as we escape the confines of the Calder Valley to do some essentials like check on the CRA office in Huddersfield and shop for Dawn’s parents.

But first we had a few chores and a bit of work to do at home in preparation, which meant we didn’t leave the house until 09:30. Driving over to Huddersfield took no time at all although the roads seemed busier than the past few times we’d done the trip. First stop was Sainsburys where the queue was moderate to fair. Everyone know the drill now. The only difference I noticed was that a lot more people are wearing masks compared to a fortnight ago. Both of us went in, me to shop for us two and Dawn for her parents. Most people were doing their best to social-distance but I did notice one thing – masks give people a false sense of security and some wearers get too complacent and too damn close!

What’s left on the shelves is still a bit of a lottery. Whilst the great bog-roll shortage had ended there’s still empty shelves, especially of tinned goods. I’m not sure if this is down to hoarding or problems along the supply chain. Some of the fruit and veg wasn’t top quality either but I think that’s down to whom the different supermarkets buy from. For examlle, the cauliflowers in Sainsbury’s are inferior to the ones in our local Tescos which are double the size and the same price.

Shopping done we headed over to the railway station so Dee could check on CRA’s water tower offices, sort out some paperwork and arrange for an electrician to get access to carry out a few repairs. Whilst she did I took advantage of the weather and a newly cleared vantage point to get a few rail pictures and keep my hand in!

68020

Every train that passed contained a mere handful of people and the station itself was eerily quiet. The town centre was busier but not by much! Subtract the itinerant drunks and vagrants and there were few people with a purpose other than transit. Why would there be when bugger-all’s open!

By midday we’d done everything we needed to do apart from dropping off John and Norah’s shopping and having a (socially-distanced) chat over the garden gate before driving home cross-country via quiet roads that must be great fun for the cyclists who use bikes for their exercise. What could be more ideal  – sunshine and empty roads!

Having returned to lockdown and deposited the shopping Dawn prepared a lovely tuna salad lunch which we sat and ate together in the garden whilst watching the world go by, soaking up some sun before we both returned to work for a few more hours. Whilst I was in the garden I noticed this water droplet on a Lupin leaf, which seemed like a good excuse to dig the camera out and play around with the micro lens.

droplet

 Seeing as there’s little opportunity for railway shots at the moment and I’m missing the creativity of using my camera I just might start playing around in the garden more. The time of year’s ideal as life is springing eternal all over the place. I’m seeing some unusual butterflies too, so hopefully, once I’ve got the work done that I need to do right now I can spend some time experimenting.