It’s nealy 14:00 and I’m gradually making my way back from an unexpected night in Southport, which turned out to be rather enjoyable. I didn’t get to meet up with the friends I’d expected to – but after getting marooneed I called in for a beer at a backstreet pub by the light show. I’ve not been in the Masons Arns for years and it was the last place I expected to see anyone. But by pure chance I stood at the bar next to a chap I’ve not seen for what must be 30 and more years! Alan (or ‘Bod’ as he was nicknamed in those days) was instantly recogniseable and was completely taken aback by seeing me. I ended up staying for a couple as we caught ip after so many years.
This morning I got to meet one of my neices (who’s growing up fast) as my sister was looking after her today. So my stay turned out to be very sociable.
Now I’m on my way back to Nanchester after a bruef stop in Burscough to make the most of the weather. Here’s some pictures.
One of the new Stadler built Class 777s bought by Merseyrail. These units are proving to be troublesome for a whole host of reasons.A pair of the oldest diesel units left on the national network, the Class 150, make their way from Southport across the West Lancashire plain at BurscoughIt’s a far cry from their Thameslink days! A class 319 converted to a bi-mode (diesel and electric) crosses the Leeds and Liverpool canal at Burscough.Is there something about the residents of Burscough that we’re not being told?
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/
The beginning of another week sees me combine business with pleasure for a varied day that promises to be fun – despite the poor weather. Yep, we’re back to heavy grey clouds, rain and possibly snow here in the Calder valley, so I’m having a day out.
Right now I’m on Northern’s 10:00 from Sowerby Bridge, heading for Manchester. Piccadilly, the city’s main railway station is closed for the next 9 days to allow the old trackwork on the approach to the station to be replaced. Only the two through platforms remain open to allow for freight to run to Trafford Park container terminal, and a handful of passenger services to Blackpool North and Liverpool Lime St with a shuttle service working to Oxford Rd to allow connections to elsewhere. Want to go South? Then you’ll be bussed to Stockport where all other trains are terminating.
After checking out how things are going my plan’s to head over to Liverpool, then to Southport, where something rather special is happening. This evening’s the last performance of ‘Lightport’. Billed as “free immersive light and sound experienceproduced by leading international artists Lucid Creates, that will turn Lord Street into a walk-through rainbow of colour and creativity”. Apparently it will light up a 400m stretch of the famous street, including the Monument, so I though it would be worth checking out.
Watch this space…
12:30.
My arrival in Manchester coincided with what Manchester’s famous for. Rain. Lots of it, which made walking from Victoria to Piccadilly a very soggy experience. Have you ever seen the film ‘Bladerunner’, where it’s always raining? That’s how Manchester felt. Sadly, there wasn’t much to see at Piccadilly. Whilst the concourse is open, the normally bustling trainshed was devoid of activity. A solitary class 66 sat burbling away, whilst a couple of Kirow rail-mounted cranes occupied another platform, having deposited their load of new pointwork.
At present much of the engineering work is taking place out of camera shot so I didn’t hang around and caught a train to Oxford Rd instead, which was rather more interesting (and photogenic). As well as passenger services there was a continuous stream of container trains, all of which were ‘top and tailed’ with a locomotive at each end as insurance in case of a failure (which would really bugger things up).
I’m tempted to come back to get pictures when the weather’s better. As it was, I departed the city under apocalyptic skies to head to Liverpool and my next port of call – which wasn’t a bad choice as the weather’s drier. We’ve even been teased by a few snatches of blue skies!
My 6-car train to Liverpool isn’t too busy. I’ve managed to set up the mobile office in a table bay and download some of the Manchester pictures which I’ll add shortly. Right now, it’s time to enjoy the journey…
22:30.
Sorry for the gap but today’s turned into a very different one to the one I’d expected – for a whole host of reasons. Right now I’m updating this blog from my sister’s sofa in Southport – where I’ll be staying the night due to Northern cancelling enough trains towards Manchester that I haven’t got a hope in hell of getting home. Not a good look when you consider today was the last night of the light show.
I’ve so much to blog about but the rest is going to have to wait until tomorrow when I have more time. Right now I’ll leave you with this…
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/
George Formby’s catchphrase was running through my head as I made my soggy way to Halifax station. The Pennines are obscured by mist and rain yet again today – and the forecast is no better in Derby, my final destination.
It’s grim up North – and everywhere else apparently…
Right now I’m on a packed and humid Northern service to Leeds which is full of damp humanity heading to work. We’re running several minutes late but it shoukdn’t affect my connection. I’ll be transferring to Northern’s new ‘Yorkshire flyer’ service which is a fast service to Sheffield with just one stop at Wakefield Westgate. It’ll make a useful alternative to Cross-Country trains on the same route as they’re normally packed.
Hopefully, there’ll be enough room on that train to set up the mobile office. Right now I’m jammed in an airline seat with my camera bag balanced on my lap. We’re currently reversing at Bradford Interchange and there’s not a single seat left free in my coach. This train’s going to be extra ‘cosy’ by the time we reach Leeds!
08:55.
My 10 minute late arrival at Leeds proved to be no great disaster as my connection was leaving from the opposite end of the platform I arrived in on – 12. I’m now aboard the ‘Yorkshire Flyer’, a grand name of an ex-Scotrail 2-car class 158, although I suppose its top speed of 90mph does count as ‘flying’ by Northern standards! It’s reasonably busy too – between 50-60% capacity at a guess. That’s allowed me to grab a table bay (which I’m sharing) to set up the mobile office and type-swipe. The only thing I miss compared to Cross-Country is an at seat trolley service. A coffee would have gone down very well right now as I admire the dreary skies outside. Not that you can admire very far, visibility’s limited to about 700m!
12:07.
Oh, hello!
Whilst the internal layout of the Voyagers hasn’t changed the seats have. There’s more legroom because of it.
19:10
Well, that was an interesting day! Not only did we get to explore the first of Cross-Country’s refurbished Voyagers (a project costing £70m), we also got to see a few poor old Class 455 cars hauled off for scrap, walk through the production line of the new Class 345 trains for the Elizabeth line – and have a ride on a 5-car Class 701 on the test track.
The first of the new Elizabeth line Class 345 sets on the production line.
Of course, part of the fun was talking to old friends and colleagues from the industry and his Majesties railway press corps! I’ll go into greater detail about the refurbishment tomorrow and hope to add a few more pictures when I get home later. Right now I’m heading back to Leeds on a late running ‘Yorkshire Flyer’ from Sheffield after having stopped for a quick pint in Derby with an old friend, Robert Pritchard, Editor of Today’s Railways UK.
One of the cabs of 37290 is preserved outside the Alexandra pub. It’s recieved a repaint and had its lights recomissioned.
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/
Right now I’m departing a wet and dreary Calder Valley for London. I’m later thn expected for a number of reasons.
Last night my laptop threw a strop. The battery (despite being new last year) decided that it wasn’t playing anymore and gave up the ghost, leaving the machine without power as it refused to run off the mains charger without it. Bugger!
Playing around with the benighted thing ate into the time I’d planned to get ready for going away, hence today’s delay.
I’m travelling sans laptop as a new battery won’t arrive until tomorrow, leaving me to blog/run the mobile office off my smartphone – which will restrict the number of pictures I can add.
To add to the fun and games there’s overhead line problems on the London end of the West Coast Main Line (WCML) but that shouldn’t affect services from Manchester..
So, as I’m restricted in what I can do I might as well sit back, relax and enjoy the journey. Dawn was kind enough to drive me to Sowerby Bridge station so I avoided a soaking and Avanti have provided me with 1st Class travel to/from London to attend this afternoons photo competition awards.
Bye bye Sowerby Bridge…
Let’s see how things go…
11:45.
London bound!
My trip across the Pennines was a grey and grim as ever, making me realise just how lucky I was to get out in the sunshine the other day. The stroll between Victoria abd Piccadilly in freezing temperatures was only enlivened by watching a pair of Manchester’s finest nicking and handcuffing two teenage lads!
Now I’m relaxing in coach J of an 11 car Pendolino heading for the capital. There’s only a handful of us in the coach so I have a table bay of to myself.
Drinks? Oh, go on then…
The food offering was good too. Bangers and mash – just what you need on a miserable winters day like this.
Travelling 1st Class on a Pendolino brings back memories of a different life and a different era.
20 years and more ago I was one of a small pool of freelance photographers the then Virgin Trains (who introduced the Pendolinos) employed on a regular basis. Being London-based I was on hand for some of their most prestigious events involving Sir Richard Branson and many other famous people from the worlds of film, sport and politics. I ended up covering so many jobs and locations that I was given my own 1st Class pass. Of course, in those days Virgin ran both the West Coast and Cross-Country franchises, so I could travel the length and breadth of the Country, from Aberdeen to Penzance!
12:50.
We’ve left Nuneaton, our final stop before London. Passing through the Trent Valley was interesting. The amount of flooded fields and overflowing rivers is a testament to just how much rain we’re having right now. How farmers are going to get crops in this ground is beyond me – unless they’re going to start growing rice.
This line contains so many memories and stories for me, but then I’ve been traversing it for over half a century. Nuneaton reminded me of the time we came here by train for the annual rail press corps Xmas dinner. Arriving by train we were ferried by coach to the test track near Melton Mowbray. As we changed, a screw leapt out of my glasses, which lost an arm as a consequence. We couldn’t find the screw but thankfully someone had a paperclip, which I used to jury-rig a repair!
13:05.
We’re now South of Rugby, a town I have so many memories and stories of. Not least of which is spending much of Xmas day 2005 in full orange PPE trackside, watching the rebuilding of the railway go seriously pear-shaped.
The further South we get the worse the weather seems. We’re in gog and low cloud with rain beating against the side of the train and streaming across the windows.
13:25.
The curse of the WCML strikes again! We’ve just staggered through Milton Keynes on the slow lines. Our Train Manager came on to the PA to let us know this is due to a broken-down train in the Leighton Buzzard area ahead of us. We’re now running 10 down with more delays expected. Good job I don’t have to be at the National Portrait Gallery before 16:00 then! On the positive side – the weather’s brightening up…
14:05.
After lots of stops and starts and zig-zagging between the fast and slow lines we’ve passed Watford Junction, a place I also spent many bank holidays working trackside a decade after Rugby. Now we’re on the last leg into Euston…
14:43.
Here we are again (finally)…
22:15.
Is that the time? Despite the weather I had a lovely time re-acquanting myself with the centre of London as I walked from Euston, down the Tottenham Court Rd to Trafalgar and the National Portrait gallery. Today’s event has been a great celebration of photography – and diversity. I’ll add some links tomorrow.
Right now I’m tucked up in my single bed in an intŕesting ‘hotel’ in Ealing. I’ll explain more tomorrow.
I hadn’t planned to be travelling today. I’ve stuff to do at home but when we opened the bedroom blinds this morning to see clear blue skies and this strange yellow orb I was torn between sticking to my original programme or getting the hell out for the day. After double-checking the forecast to see that this is a one day only opportunity (we’ve sleet and snow forecast for Friday) – and with Dawn’s gentle prodding I decided ‘bugger it’ and packed the camera bag. But where to go?
As this was very much a spur of the moment decision my mind I was still unsure where I was headed for until I’d walked down to Sowerby Bridge station and realised the next departure was for Manchester and Chester. A quick check of the forecast told me Chester would remain sunny almost all day – so Chester it is, although I’m not planning to stay all day…
Right now we’re passing through the West Manchester suburbs en-route to Warrington. I’ll blog through the day as and when, so feel free to pop back and see what I get up to.
Here we go…
15:35.
Ho hum. Another day that’s not exactly gone to plan. Chester was interesting and I certainly got a few steps in but the light at the location I had in mind (where the railway passes under the city walls) was less than optimal. Low winter sunlight and trees create a lot of shadows. Still, I managed a couple of shots before walking back to the station where I grabbed a quick drink in the new Brewery Tap on the station.
The brewery tap serves food, hot and cold drinks and a range of real ales.
I’d hoped that a stone train would be running but it was cancelled at the last minute so I decided to cut my losses, catch a train to Warrington Bank Quay for an onward service to Wigan North Western, where tge station’s perched high on an embankment in full sun.
A few minutes before my train arrived sraff annonced that there was a fatality on the line South of the station so all Northbound trains were cancelled.
The tragedy meant there was only one option – board the first available train towards Manchester, so here I am…
21;45.
I’m home and wondering where the day (and the weather) has gone. When I arrived back in Halifax it was like walking home through an old London ‘pea-soup’ fog! I’ll update this blog tomorrow with many more pictures, but here’s a few for now.
Walking the old city walls in ChesterCrocus’ in full bloom on Chester station.Trans-Pennine Express trains pass on the infamous Oxford Rd bottleneck in Manchester.When I said that it was foggy back home I wasn’t kidding…
At the end of the day – I returned home. My thought are with the person who didn’t…
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/
Oh, God. Is that really the time? I’m already up, drinking coffee and munching on toasted fruit teacakes in preparation for my stroll to Sowerby Bridge station to catch the first Manchester bound train of the day, the 06:03. I’ll be heading to Birmingham for an HS2 media visit, the first to this particular site which I’ll describe when I get there. Unlike some, this is no hole in the ground. Exactly the opposite, in fact – it’s rather eye-catching…
I’ll be blogging as and when I can, so feel free to pop back to see how the day goes…
06:10.
Whilst it’s a damp and somewhat icy morning my walk to the station was rather enjoyable. The fact it’s downhill all the way added to that fact! Now I’m relaxing in the warmth of a mostly empty 3-car Class 158, although I’ve no doubt it’ll have folled up with wage-slaves by the time we get to Manchester.
06:43.
As expected my train slowly filled up en-route but was way over half full by the time it left Rochdale which is the busiest station on the route after Halifax. The occupants are a mix of trades people heading into the city to work on various building projects and earlybird white collar office or shop workers.
07:33.
This morning’s walk twixt Vic and Picc stations was a chilly one. The city centre felt colder than back in the Pennines. I felt for the poor sods sleeping rough, hidden in cardboard boxes to keep warm, or just swaddled jn dleeping bags. There but for the grace of God…
Piccadilly station was just beginning to spring into life with long-distance services heading South and East whilst local trains ferried in commuters from the suburbs.
Piccadilly awakes…
Now I’m en-route to Crewe aboard an ex-London Midland Class 323 whilst dawn breaks over the city on what promises to be a decent winter’s day.
09:07.
I’m typing this aboard a London North-Western service from Crewe to Birmingham. I’m on a warm, comfortable Class 350/4 with plug sockets, a/c and wifi, which is a bit of a step-up from the Class 323 that got me here from Manchester. Not that it was a bad journey, watching the sunrise over frosty fields and frozen streams as we traversed the Cheshire countryside was gorgeous. At Crewe I bumped into two other rail journalist colleagues, but they’re booked on a later train so I’ve gone on ahead.
Staffordshire is just as frozen as Cheshire with everywhere covered in a thick layer of frost. If I was lineside it would make for some great pictures, but today I’ve other fish to fry.
09:33.
Perusing the BBC website my day was dimmed by the tragic news coming out of Thailand where 28 people have been killed when a construction crane collapsed onto a train. It’s a railway system I know well and I country I love, so it feels anything but abstract, or distant, especially as I’d normally be there this time of year.
11:00.
Having met up with Chris Howe and Rich Wilcock at New St we’re now on site. This is what we’ve come to learn about – and climb to the top of. The HS2 bridge which will span the existing line to Walsall at Duddeston.
14:35.
Visit over, I’m now having a warm and editing a few pictures. Here’s a sample (captions to follow).
Looking down along the bridge from the high girders at the Birmingham end of the structure.The view looking the othe way towards Curzon St with a cross-city line train on the route the bridge will be pushed out over…A zoom lens shot of Curzon St station under construction.
18:00.
I’m now on my way home from Crewe after a fascinating day. I’ll be writing a seperate blog about Curzon St No2 bridge soon. Hs2 Ltd organised an excellent visit with lots of information and access to the engineers building this project.
Having left site I had a couple of hours to get pictures around New St station before catching the 16:34 North. This was another busy train which was rammed all tge way to Wolverhampton. It remained busy all the way to Crewe, where I had a few minutes grace between trains to photograph these beasties.
The Class 37. Still serving the railway after 60 plus years.
I’ve a small favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
Another week begins, but this one sees me out and about more. Right now I’m on a Northern service from Halifax to Manchester in order to head over to Southport where the RAIL 200 ‘inspiration train’ is stabled until Tuesday. I’ve not had chance to visit this exhibition until now but seeing it in my old home town is rather appropriate. The train will continue its tour of the network through the next few months and tickets (which are free) are still available.
The weather’s decidedly mixed so it’s not the best day to be out with the camera. Even so, I’m hopeful of getting a few useful pictures. At least it’s mild (a balmy 7 degrees here in the Pennines) so I won’t be in danger of frostbite in the way I was on my last outing to Ribblehead!
My Manchester service consists of a 3-car Class 195 which is fairly empty due to the time of day, allowing to purloin a table bay and set up the mobile office in peace. I’ll be blogging throughout the day, so feel free to pop pack anythime to see what I get up to…
10:15.
We’ve now traversed the Pennines to an equally grey and gloomy Greater Manchester to call at Rochdale, which is the quietest I’ve seen it for some time. Only a handful of passengers were waiting to join us for the trip into the city.
11:30.
My time in Manchester was short, just long enough to get a few pictures around a very quiet station. You can tell it’s January as so few people are about. Everybody’s too skint to go out after spending loads over Christmas and New Year! It’s not a new phenomenon, but it is noticeable. Plus, the weather’s hardly conducive, but then I normally flee the UK in January, so I don’t normally have to experience all this.
The Wigan Wanderer. 158849 will take me as far as Wallgate
Right now I’m on another Northern service. This time as far as Wigan Wallgate via the old Lancashire and Yorkshire main line that avoids Bolton to go through the wonderfully named ‘Hag Fold’. The line’s a shadow of it’s former self, but there’s been an improvement in frequency since late BR days. I’m sat on a 2-car 158 which is virtually empty. Many passengers seem to join for short hops between stations.
11:40.
Bugger. Everthing was going so well until we reached Daisy Hill, one of those places where the lovely-sounding name bears absolutely no relationship to the surroundings.
My suspicions were aroused when we were still at the platform for minutes rather than the usual 90 seconds. The Conductor’s just walked through the train to inform us all we’ll be stuck here for a while due to a ‘problem’ on the line ahead. God knows what it is as we’ve been passed by a train in the opposite direction. Well, bang goes my connection in Wigan…
11:55.
We’re still enjoying the vistas of Daisy Hill. I’ve had a chat with crew who tell me the problem is due to the driver of a previous train having reported that they hit a swan…
Daisy Hill, with no hills or daisies.
12:35.
Hooray! We’re finally on the move, a mere 65 minutes late…
13:00.
Finally, I’m on my way to Southport. Rail services on the line through Wigan Wallgate are in disarray in all directions with many trains cancelled. Fortunately, a Southport train was running right behind mine so I had only minutes to wait in the rain befire boarding a busy 2-car Class 150 for the last leg. Sadly, the weather has dereriorated. The skies have closed in to bring heavy, peristant rain, so even if I hadn’t been delayed I wouldn’t have been able to do what I’d hoped. Maybe things will be better on the coast, but I’m not holding my breath…
17:00.
Well, that was an interesting day. The weather in Southport was drier, with cloud cover that was constantly changing to tease me. As I was late arriving I didn’t have as much time to expore as I’d have liked before I was booked onto the exhibition train so my wanderings were confined to the town centre. Not that Monday’s are a great day to explore because much of Southport seems not to bother opening on a Monday!
That said, there’s not as much to open anyways. The amount of empty shops in the town centre’s rather depressing, but that’s the nature of the modern ‘online’ world. There were some greenshoots with places that were long-closed having reopened, but trade was sparse to say the least. Some of the ‘improvements’ don’t seem to have been thought through either..
Maybe an aquatic plants display would have been sensible here outside the old market hall. At least the old ”Corrie” (Coronation) pub opposite has reopened in a new guise after being empty for very many years.
I had a bit of a trip down memory lane to pass old haunts, many of which have vanished, but after nearly half a century that’s probably only to be expected…
I arrived back at the station in plenty of time for my alloted spot on the exhibition train. Not only was it fully booked but staff did their best to squeeze on some ticketless folk. The levels of interest were really good to see. The audience was of all ages with the displays doing their best with limited space to inform, educate and entertain. What was lovely was to bump into several familiar faces from the community rail sector who’d come along to volunteer whilst the train’s in this part of the world.
With my time over on the train I hung around the station long enough to get some pictures before heading East. One thing I noticed was that Merserail’s new Stadler built trains are still having problems. If you’ll pardon the pun – their information systems are still up the Swanee…
Every train that I saw sat in the station displayed the message ‘not in service’ even though it was. Station staff kept making announcements to say ‘ignore what they train says’. Even worse was the final arrival I saw where the onboard screen insisted that the train was going to Ormskirk. What? Someone’s re-instated the Burscough curve overnight? We should be so lucky!
17:30.
I’m now on my way to Manchester aboard another venerable Class 150. It’s OK, the internals are well-maintained by the whole train’s showing its age. It’s about time these units had their swan-song (that’s enough bloody swan jokes for one blog: Ed)
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/
Ugh! Up at sparrowfart for the first time this year…
Having perused the weather forecast, looked out of the window to see the roads are clear – and checked that all the trains are running, I’m preparing to head out into Halifax and catch a train to Ribblehead as planned. Let’s see how the day unfolds…
06:45.
Phew! After slipping and sliding much of the way I made it to the station upright abd in one piece. Black ice and frozen pavements meant it was the most treacherous walk I’ve done for years. First, I had to get up here…
A wet and icy cobbled hill. Nice…
Crossing Spring Edge I passed a determined (if foolhardy) jogger. Apart from him, a couple of dog walkers abd a gritter hardly anyone else was around. I was congratulating myself on making it to the station when I hit a final challenge. The approaches hadn’t been gritted, leaving me to slip and slide the last 200m across glass-like pavements and cobbles. Thankfully I’d given myself 50% more time than usual to walk in order to avoid rushing and breaking my neck.
07:00.
Now I’m on the 06:44 to Leeds which is running late, but I’m hopeful I’ll still make my connection as I gave myself wriggle room. We’ll see…
12:15.
I made it in plenty of time to catch the trains I wanted to get pictures of. Mainly because they were all running late! That’s given me plenty of time to wander and freeze in the Baltic conditions that prevail here at Ribblehead. Snow sits on the tops, leaving the moss free but freezing. Now I’m having a quick warm and coffee in the local pub before heading out to get a few more pictures like this – incoming clouds permitting…
GBRf’s 66729 and 66721 head 6Z77, the 10:30 Blea Moor Up Goods Loop to Hunslet Tilcon in Leeds.Avanti West Coast 805003 working 1Z85, the 0924 Carlisle to Preston passes over the Ribblehead viaduct.
14:10.
I’m still at Ribblehead, having retreated back to the the nearby pub after waiting far too long in the biting wind for trains that never arrive. Phone reception up here is non-existent, so the only way of keeping track of things is logging onto the Station Inn pub wifi. Mind you, it’s a lovely place to take refuge in.
The bar in the Station Inn
I’m not the only one either. There’s been about a dozen other photographers nipping in and out in the hope of capturing pictures like this.
A pair of AWC ‘Evero’ trains are dwarfed by the viaduct and surrounding landscape. As you can see, we’re playing cat and mouse with the clouds this time of the day…
15:40.
A combination of cancelled or delayed Avanti services along with the non-appearance of certain freight trains meant that I gave up on being battered by the weather at Ribblehead. Just before I was planning to leave I bumped into an old friend and fellow railway photographer who was on the same mission as me. Bob Avery is another alumni of the Pheonix photographic circle. He was accompanied by a friend involved in preserving Armathwaite signalbox who’d escaped from her family for the day to chase trains. None of us could resist the pub’s real fire on a day like this!
As the light fades at Ribblehead, 158797 arrives to take me and many others South.
Having left early I opted to stop off in nearby Settle for a while. It’s an attractive little market town that’s very quiet off-season. Only hardened walkers and hikers and the occasional passer-by darken its doors this time of year. Still, it has an attractive old Midland Railway station and museum based around another old signalbox.
During my exploration I found a little micro-pub called Millers @ Bar 13. It’s a lovely little place that’s obviously popular. There’s range of real ales on handpump. I tried the Chinook, which was very well kept.
Millers at Bar 13.
I didn’t tarry longer as the train service isn’t that regular. I was lucky I was heading to Leeds as – whilst my train was delayed, it was still running whilst the Carlisle service in the opposite direction was cancelled entirely.
158851 arrives at Settle to take me back to Leeds.
I didn’t hang around in Leeds and caught the first available train back to Halifax. The walk home was a lot less dangerous than when I left it this morning as all the ice had disappeared. I’d had a lovely day out exploring, even if the weather was bloody freezing. I’d like to return and get some shots around Blea Moor, but that might have to wait until the weather warms up!
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/
Having abandoned Bigland Towers for a couple of days I’m on my way to London to join the annual railway carols service and meet up with friends and colleagues from across the industry.
Having walked to the station on a grey but dry day it became duller once I boarded Grand Central’s 09:10 service to Kings Cross, where I was greeted with an announcement that there’s no buffet service due to staff shortages. Oh, and the wifi’s kaput too! This leaves me unable to do the work I was hoping to – and blogging from my phone – so please excuse the more than normal amount of typos!
Here was hoping…
10:00.
We’re currently crawling our way from Wakefield to ‘Pontycarlo’ (aka Pontefract) having picked up an almost full complement of passengers already after stops at Brighouse, Mirfield and Wakefield.
I’ve not seen any great progress on TRU work en-route but then a lot is due to be delivered over the Christmas blockade. I did notice that the relaid fan of sidings at the sute of the old Healey Mills marshalling yard contains a rake of ballast wagons, which is the first traffic I’ve seen. In contrast, the relaid (at great expense) DB loco stabling sidings at Wakefield are housing nothing but rust. I’ve never seen them used once since they were put in.
10:15.
This GC service has been retimed and now cuts out a lot of the crawl to Doncaster as it joins the main line at Hare Park Junction, allowing our 221 to stetch its legs. Observing the flooded fields and streams the colour of builders tea we’ve passed en-route it’s obvious just how much rain we’ve had, although the weather remains dry, for now.
The amount of passengers waiting to board this service at Doncaster was rather impressive. I doubt there’s a spare seat left now. I’ll check later once the melee has subsided. Right now it’s a chaotic mess of suitcases and bewildered people.
The sidings between the station and old railway works are empty – apart from a massive pair of Ainscough hire cranes. I can only assume they’re here to remove the decaying footbridge that linked the works with the outside world by crossing above the station.
11:10.
We sped through my old stomping ground of Peterborough 6 minutes late. It’s changed a bit since I first got to know it at the end of the 1980s so I’m glad to see the railway expanding there again thanks to freight compaby GBRf, who’ve made it one of their main locomotive depots.
Sadly, that was the only bright spot as the weather’s turned very dull indeed – evidenced by the amount of industrial sites where the yard lights have come on! My hope that we’d make up some tine have been dashed too. We’re currently crawing our way towards Huntingdon, which suggests we’re stuck behind something. The new ECML timetable came into force at the weekend, leaving thus a very congested railway. Something that building HS2 to Leeds and Church Fenton would have solved, until short-sighted and short-term politicians screwed that up.
11:39.
Bugger. We’ve just passed Potters Bar at the time we should’ve been arriving at Kings Cross. Plus, the rain’s arrived.
12:40.
Here we are..
18:45.
Sorry for the gap but it’s been a busy day. Right now I’m on this old train on my way to meet up with other friends.
After being tied to Bigland Towers by a combination of poor weather and home-based jobs to do I’ve escaped for the day! Today we have a crisp autumn day with clear skies and lots of sunshine, so it’s time to venture out with the camera. I’ve a rough idea of where I want to go, but my plan’s not written in stone. First off, I have to get over to Manchester, which is why I’m currently on Northern’s 09:02 from Sowerby Bridge which is heading for Wigan Wallgate. Formed of 2, 2-car Class 158s it’s a quiet train, which has allowed me to grab a table bay and begin blogging, fortified by a fresh coffee from the Jubilee refreshment rooms.
I’ll be posting throughout the day, so feel free to pop back to see where and what I get up to…
09:22.
Ha! My comments about the weather turned out to be premature. We’ve just pulled out of Todmorden and the tops of the surrounding hills are shrouded in cloud. We’ll pass through the Summit tunnel into Greater Manchester shortly, the weather’s often the opposite to Yorkshire on the West side of the Pennines. I’m hoping today’s no different…
09:45.
Bugger. For once, crossing the Pennines hasn’t affected the weather. We have low thin bands of cloud the sun’s struggling to break through, but it’s thinning, so I renain optimistic. If I only get a few decent daytime shots I’ll be happy, otherwise I’ll fall back on plan B for some night shots later.
10:30.
Where the sun never shines! The gloomy through platforns at Manchester Victoria.
The sun god has smiled! Manchester’s belied its rainy reputation to be bathed in sunshine. Not that I’m hanging around. I hot foot across town from Victoria to Piccadilly in order to head out further, this time into Derbyshire, where the weather’s looking just as good. I reckon that If I head to my furthest point away first it doesn’t matter if clouds return later. Rather than kick my heels at Piccadilly I’ve caught a train to New Mills Central. That will involve a walk to another station to catch my next train, but that’s no bad thing on a day like today.
Right now I’m trundling through the delights of South-East Manchester. I covered all these stations at length last year as part of a commission, so there’s no need for me to tarry.
11:20.
I’m now on the right line at New Mills (Newtown). This is a delightful little Derbyshire town on two train lines. Manchester-Sheffield and Manchester-Buxton. There’s also a canal and lots of industrial history. I needn’t have rushed walking between the two stations as my next Buxton bound train is delayed by 6 minutes due to an ‘electrical power failure’. Still, there’s worse places to be stuck. The ticket office is open and it has a lending library!
14:40.
I’m back! My next stop was Chapel-en-le-Frith, where the railway station’s a good 15 mins walk downhill from the centre of town. The running-in boards proclaim it’s the ‘home of Ferodo’. This may be the shire, but it’s not a Hobbit they’re referring to, it’s a company known for making car brakes! The station also has a place in history because in 1957 it was the site of a tragic accident involving a runaway train which led to the deaths of Driver John Axon and Guard. There’s a nemorial on the station which contains the wreckage of one of the wagons involved.
There’s some gorgeous views across the valley towards Kinder Scout and South Head, which is seen in these pictures.
I hung around between trains, then caught the next service to the end of the line at Buxton. Sadly, the station’s lost its overall roof but this wonderful window remains.
Now I’m making my way back towards Manchester. The railway runs on the wring side of the valley for low sun shots. It’s already disappeared behind the hills, so I’m taking a pitstop in Whalley Bridge.
18:20.
Whalley Bridge was both interesting and frustrating. I’d intended to get some shots at the station, then have a quick pint at the nearby Station pub whilst downloading (then uploading) pics but the pub had no wifi and power sockets were in short supply. Instead I ended up engaging in conversation with both staff and locals as my camera is often a talking point.
On leaving, and with the light failing I made my way back into Manchester where I grabbed a few tram pictures before calling it a day and catching the 17:57 back across the Pennines. Needless to say, this 3-car train is standing room only.
Now I’m home, here’s a few camera pictures from the day.
150108 approaches Chapel-en-le-Frith working 2B25, the 1144 Buxton to Manchester Piccadilly. The old station building at Chapel-in-le-Frith is no longer occupied by the railway, but a local brass band use it for practice every week. A trio of Class 150s at Buxton. These machines are the staple of Buxton line services, augmented by some Class 156s.
I’ve a small favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
Paul Bigland 