Category Archives: Rolling blogs

Rolling blog: back to Railtex

16 Thursday May 2019

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09:59.

After a decent night’s sleep I feel ready to tackle another day tramping round the Railtex trade fair at Birmingham’s National Exhibition centre. There’s lots to see and photograph, people to chat to and lectures to learn from. Let’s see what happens…

14:30.

I’ve been run off my feet this morning getting pictures for clients and to clients, so there’s been no time for blogging at all. I’m writing this as I’m sending pictures of yesterday’s events to ACoRP right now.

I had a long shortlist to get this morning, which has really kept me busy. Plus, I needed to get shots of the keynote address by the Shadow Transport Minister, Andy McDonald MP. Despite the froth from the Taxpayers Alliance and the Lord’s Economic Committee, Andy made Labour’s unswerving support for HS2 plain

19:47.

Well, this ‘rolling’ blog turned out to be far more static than I thought it would be. There simply wasn’t the time to take the volume of pictures clients required and blog at the same time. I had an extensive picture request list from one client handed to me this morning, which had a silver-lining as I learned an awful lot about some industry innovations that would otherwise have passed me by – which is why I really enjoy working at these events. You get so much from them. Afterwards, a few friends and I decamped and ended up in an old haunt. The ‘Great Western’ pub in Wolverhampton which is sandwiched between the high and (former) low level stations. Let’s just say that it’s not a pub you’ll stumble upon – and they had a long-time favourite beer on, “summer lightning”

Chatham House rules apply to the conversations we had but it was a great end to a hectic few days. Now I’m on the 19:15 from Wolves to Manchester Piccadilly which is just pulling into Macclesfield. I’ve been doing this trip for years and moaned about it in blogs several times so I won’t reprise the argument. All I can say is – roll on HS2!

21:01

I’m now on the last train of the day, heading home from Manchester Victoria to Halifax. As is my wont, I always walk between the two stations, which isn’t always easy with the amount of kit I’m normally carrying. Tonight it had grown because my friends at the Talgo stand had given me a huge amount of unused fresh fruit and snacks to take home with me. In Piccadilly Gardens I spotted a charity that had set up a stand to feed the dozens of homeless people living on the surrounding streets. Without a second thought I went over and donated the food I was carrying. I’ve blogged about this before, so regular readers will understand my feelings about the issue. I know that Carlos, the President of Talgo would approve of my actions…

Rolling blog: community rail in the city.

15 Wednesday May 2019

Posted by in ACoRP, Community rail, London, Rolling blogs, Uncategorized

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In a wonderful contrast to Railtex (which I’ll be back at tomorrow) I’m down in London to cover ‘community rail in the city’. This event showcases all the work various Community Rail Partnerships do around the country. There’s events on several main line stations in the capital, as well as Birmingham New St and Glasgow Central. I’ll update this blog with pictures throughout the day.

08:35. Kings Cross.

We’ve a huge stand on the concourse with several Scottish pipers giving out goody bags. They’re proving very popular with folks wanting pictures

09:28. Liverpool St.

There’s another impressive stand here where you’ll find an 18 foot replica of the ‘Mayflower’ along with goody bags and lots of useful information on the community rail lines in the Anglia region.

11:55.

There’s been plenty of hi-jinks at Kings Cross, where the Scots have been putting on a display of bagpipers and Scottish dancing.

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15:02.

Phew! It’s been a busy day. I managed to get round to all the London stations where events were held and even had time to see the very first (fare paying) passenger run of LNER’s new Azuma trains. 800113 made history working the 11:03 from London Kings Cross to Leeds.

At nearby St Pancras, members of Kent Community Rail partnerships and Sustrans had a stand on the Southeastern railway platforms. As well as giving out goodie bags and leaflets on places to visit on foot, train or bike they were also carrying out a survey into cyclists taking bikes on trains.

Meanwhile, over at Waterloo, staff and volunteers had turned a patch of the concourse into a rural oasis, complete with trees!

At Paddington, folk were advertising the South-West’s connection with the voyage of the Mayflower and the forthcoming 400th anniversary. To keep folk entertained, 25 members of the ‘Kingsmen’ choir sang on the hour.

Now, I’m on my way to Birmingham via Chiltern trains to see what volunteers from the Midlands are up to.

19:53.

Well, that was a whirlwind! I arrived in Birmingham just in time to catch the volunteers who’d been staffing a stall at Birmingham Moor St all day. They were very positive about the reactions they’d had from the public as they were promoting one of four new designated community rail lines (the Shakespeare line). Having caught them I hot-footed it over to New St where there were two very different stalls on the concourse. What was great was to see the way passengers took time out from rushing home to stop and engage, which isn’t always easy as many commuters are on a pre-programmed ‘mission’s & don’t want to be diverted from getting home or to work.

With the final pictures in the bag I decided to have a pint in an old haunt before checking into my hotel, only to find that the Shakespeare was full of old friends from the rail industry who’d had exactly the same idea as me after their day at Railtex! So, one pint turned into a bit more than that..

I was with five people ageing in range from early 50’s to mid 70’s All of them had worked for British Railways (BR) in the ‘good old days’. Some of them still have senior jobs in the rail industry now. So, no names, no pack- drill, but some of the stories they were swapping about that era were both hilarious and criminal in what went on in those days.

Bidding farewell I finally checked into my hotel and dumped several kilos of kit that I’d been lugging around all day. My ‘Fitbit’ tells me that I’ve walked over 10 miles today, so I feel I’d earned that beer!

Food was uppermost in my mind. Hot food at that, so I popped into one of the growing number of noodle bars that you can find in cities nowadays for a spicy fix of Udon noodles, chicken and veg leavened with a very respectable chilli sauce.

I’ve never been a burger fan. In fact I can’t think of the last time I ate one. This is the food for me, born of spending so much time in SE Asia.

22:02.

It’s time to draw this rolling blog to a close. I’m back at my hotel, looking through some if the hundreds of pictures I’ve taken today, but soon it’s going to be time to crash out. I’ve another busy day at Railtex ahead of me…

Rolling blog: and so it begins…

14 Tuesday May 2019

Posted by in Birmingham, Engineering, I love my job, Photojournalism, Railtex, Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel

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06:18.

It’s a bright and beautiful morning here at Sowerby Bridge station. The sun’s shining, the birds are singing and I have fresh coffee, thanks to the Jubilee refreshment rooms on the station.

I’m here to catch to 06:23 to Manchester in order to get to Birmingham and the Railtex trade fair.

06:52.

The first chariot of the day was 158849, one of Northern’s refurbished fleet and one that’s been fitted with new seats and USB sockets. It’s only a two car so it’s packed after leaving Rochdale. It’s also remarkably quiet as most people (including me) are staring at their portable devices! This is a great example of how you can have a large group of people who are together in the flesh but are miles apart mentally!

07:38.

I’m now on TfW’s (Transport for Wales) 07:30 to Milford Haven as far as Crewe.

I walked between Victoria and Piccadilly which is always a depressing experience this time of morning as it’s painfully obvious how many people are sleeping rough. Forget the stories about “professional beggars” who return to their council flats each evening, these are real people curled up in doorways or huddled on pavements. A decade of austerity and a government that doesn’t really give a shit has made the problem worse than when I worked in housing back in the 1990s. It’s not going to get any better either. The UK’s flirting with fascism in the form of Nigel Farage and his Brexit party. People who blatently lie through their teeth and have no manifesto or policies other than crashing us out of the EU and who say they won’t tell us what they stand for until AFTER we’ve voted for them! How the hell has the country got itself in this state? I’ve never been more pessimistic about the future of the country as I don’t see much sign of people waking up to what’s going on and the road we’re heading down.

07:50.

We’ve called at Wilmslow, where a sizeable chunk of the folk on this two-car train decanted. Clearly, this time of day this train is a commuter service masquerading as a long-distance train. Next stop is Crewe, so I’ll be interested to see how many get on.

08:18.

I’m now on London Northwestern’s 08:18 to Birmingham New St, which is a 4-car Class 350, which is pretty much full and standing. There’s a few spare seats, but they’re the middle ones in sets of three, which most folk avoid. I’m sharing a vestibule with a bunch of LNW drivers who’re clutching notices about splitting and joining trains at New St. I’m assuming this has to do with the May timetable change. In age old fashion they’re grumbling about the new diagrams and rosters!

09:42.

Almost there! I was delayed changing trains at New St because some of the toilets are closed for refurbishment. New St being New St it was a trek to the alternatives which had folk queuing out of the door! Now I’m on a slightly delayed TfW service to Birmingham International.

14:54.

Phew! It’s been a full on day so far and started as soon as I walked through the Railtex door at 10:00. I’ve finally found time to sit down for a few minutes and get some pictures edited. Here’s a glimpse of the show so far.

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As usual, Siemens have a big presence at Railtex. This is one half of their stand!

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The Talgo stand. The company are bidding for the HS2 train contract (amongst others).

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It’s a Breeze! This is a model of the Class 321 train that Alstom are converting from electricity to Hydrogen.

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The Tratos stand always serves a good lunch for anyone leaving their business card.

19:54.

Right, where were we? Oh, yes – Railtex. I left the show an hour ago and I’m currently on virgin Trains Pendino snaking it’s way to London. Today feels like a bit of a blur as it’s been so manic. Trying to get round the show to take it all in is bad enough. Then there’s the need to be in certain places at set times, constantly bumping into friends and colleagues and trying to blog/upload pictures. By the time the day winds down you’re knackered. That said, the end of the event was fun. Alstom had a really interesting drinks reception to chat about their ‘Breeze’ hydrogen train, so a lot of us hacks met at that, afterwards we moved over to the main networking event which was a great opportunity to catch up with folk and shoot a few more pictures like this one of the band who did a great job of keeping us all entertained.

22:45.

The final update. It’s been a brilliant day. After tearing myself away from a very convivial couple of hours with friends at the end of the show I emerged, blinking, into the light and realised just what a stonking day it must have been weather wise. Now, having caught a train down to London I’m ensconced in the basement of a hotel in Kings Cross that makes me think of scenes from the bunker in ‘Downfall’ – only with better bathrooms. When you realise that to get to your room you have to press -2 you do start to get suspicious…

Hopefully I might actually see a bit of sunshine as I tour the London stations taking part in tomorrow’s event. Watch this space…

Rolling blog: Friday fun…

10 Friday May 2019

Posted by in Hs2, I love my job, Modern Railways, Photography, Rail Investment, Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel

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05:15.Although getting up at 04:45 isn’t much fun at all to be honest! I’m just about to walk to the station to head back to London. At least the rain’s (mostly) holding off as I walk to the station. Here’s the view over the valley this morning.

06:13.I’m on the first train of the day, the 06:03 to Leeds, which started from Hebden Bridge. Today it’s worked by an unrefurbished ex-Scotrail Class 158 which still retains its old First Class section, so some people are travelling in style!

06:24.Whilst on the train I’ve been catching up with posts from friends on social media and found that a friend of a friend has bought and is doing up the closed Wigan pub I mentioned in yesterday’s blog. Talk about a small world! Apparently, it’s going to become a railway themed real ale pub. No doubt I’ll be paying it a visit and blogging about it once it reopens.Right now, coffee, not real ale is foremost in my mind. It’s going to be a long day…07:17.I’m settled in on LNER’s 07:00 off Leeds which started off from Bradford Foster Square. It’s just left Wakefield. Next stop is Kings Cross at 0859…09:13.We arrived on time at Kings Cross. Here’s hundreds of folk from Bradford, Leeds and Wakefield flooding off the train to earn their daily bread in London. Most of them will return later today.

13:04.Paul Stephen and I have just finished our tour of the Hs2 work at Euston which was amazing. The sheer scale of what’s going on, the complexity and the ambition is breathtaking and the archeological work is in another league. We were shown what’s going on in St James Gds and it’s on a vast scope. You’ll be able to read all about it in a future edition of RAIL. All I’ll do now is give you a teaser. This is the site of the old Euston Downside carriage shed. The portal for the Hs2 tunnel to Old Oak Common and on to Birmingham will be at the far end of the site.

15:21. After leaving Euston to head North I was planning to try and get a trip on the Vivarail Class 230s on the Bletchley Bedford line but bad luck struck again. Firstly, I arrived in time for another torrential downpour and secondly, when the service turned up it was worked by an older class 153 DMU. In the end I gave up and headed North on the next train to Milton Keynes, which was basking in glorious sunshine.Now I’m aboard a London Northwestern service to Crewe as far as Tamworth. It’s a four-car and it’s standing room only. For the number of passengers using these lines 4-cars is clearly inadequate. This is a journey that you put up with, not enjoy.

16:28. I changed trains at Tamworth, a station that’s hardly my favourite. Although facilities have improved in recent years it’s still pretty basic and few intercity services stop here nowadays. They were sacrificed to speed up West Coast services after the West Coast Route Modernisation. When Hs2 takes those long-distance, non-stop trains off the WCML there’s the opportunity to improve the situation. I headed up to the even more basic high-level platforms where I taught the late running 16:20 to Glasgow. Despite the fact it’s worked by a 7-car HST set, this Cross-Country service has plenty of folk standing in the vestibules – including me in Coach E!

Rolling blog: home again, out again…

09 Thursday May 2019

Posted by in Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel, West Yorkshire

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12:30.

I’ve been working from my satellite workplace in Huddersfield this morning, occupying an empty desk at the ACoRP office as I had to be in the town for a dental appointment first thing. The weather’s dismal, so I’ve not minded being stuck indoors editing pictures for a client before sending them out via the web. The old days of burning them to DVDs then sticking them in the post seem as antiquated as taking pictures on slide film. Now I can send up to 2 Gb of pictures via Wetransfer almost instantly – for free!

That little chore done I can concentrate on editing a few pictures whilst on the move – if I can find space on the train. It’s all very well folks talking about the value of doing that, but it’s very dependent on getting a seat and space to work, which often no easy feat on our increasingly crowded network.

Right, time to head out. Let’s see what happens…

14:29.

Despite forgetting my passport, I’ve ventured West of the Pennines into Lancashire to pay a flying visit to Preston. I changed trains at Bolton station, which is hoping to undergo a bit of a renaissance, assisted by the father of community rail – Professor Paul Salveson and the station friends group. The huge old buildings retain many original features and offer some interesting retail opportunities. Fancy opening a real ale bar on the station?

Ironically, despite the line having been electrified last October, my train from Bolton to Preston’s a refurbished two-car Class 156, not an EMU.

En route we called at Buckshaw Parkway, which is a station recently opened to serve the massive new residential and commercial development that’s being built on the site of the old Royal Ordnance factory at Euxton. The full car park bears witness to the success of the station. I need to pay a visit in the right weather to get some pictures as an illustration.

17:06

I’m leaving Preston now after a productive if frustrating time. There’s a lot of STP (Special Train Plan) times set up in the railway timetable system for the new Northern and TPE trains out on teat, but not all of them are used and it’s all a bit hit and miss. Quite a few are meant to reverse in the goods loops but it’s clear they’re normally sent into platforms instead to allow staff off and on if needed.

Still, it provides plenty of exercise running up and down stairs and platforms as you try and get a decent shot! I found three different Notrthern units on test today. Two 3-cars and a 2-car. Sadly, none of the TPE sets were out and about. Now I’m sending my way back on an older ‘new’ Northern train, at least as far as Wigan anyway…

17:59.

True to my word, I changed trains at Wigan. I got a telling off last time I blogged about the town as I was less than complimentary!

Here’s today’s experiences. Wandering between the two stations (it doesn’t take long) I noticed the old ‘Swan and Railway’ pub immediately opposite North Western station had closed down and was being turned into I know not what.

To say the pub had a certain reputation as a place where you wiped your feet on the way out will be endorsed by a few old railway enthusiast friends. The tragic thing is that the pub and the adjoining facade are really attractive. In another town they’d probably be prized because of their location.

Meanwhile, the pub next door to Wallgate station has also closed down. The building’s been reopened as a supermarket.

That said, it’s not all negative. Wallgate station’s been restored and the local station friends group (the Wigan Wallflowers) have done a fantastic job creating a garden and lovely plant display on the station. Here’s their new train.

18:14.

I’m currently on the train home to Sowerby Bridge from Wigan, travelling along a railway line I’ve been familiar with since the very early 1970s.

Sadly, (although I travelled on it as a young kid in the 1960s) I only ever remember the years of BR rationalisation and the 1980s industrial decline. This used to be a four-track Lancashire & Yorkshire railway main line that avoided Bolton so cut journey times from Manchester to Liverpool and Southport. In the late BR years it was a pale shadow of its former self.

Now, as I traverse it, I can see a huge amount of vegetation clearance and work being done to improve station amenities. Years of decline are being arrested. The ‘glory’ days will never be restored as the coal and steel industries will never come back, but even so…

I can see I need to have a day out here just to document the changes.

19:06.

The train’s now back in West Yorkshire as we’ve just exited the Summit tunnel. Whilst there’s so much I could blog about I’m going to bring this one to an end. Dawn’s meeting me at the station so that we can pick up some supplies in Sowerby Bridge, but it’s going to be an early night for me as I’m on an 06:00 train from Halifax in the morning as I have an assignment in London.

Tomorrow, RAIL magazine and I will be visiting the HS2 construction work at Euston so watch out for another tolling blog. .

Rolling blog: more wandering.

08 Wednesday May 2019

Posted by in London, Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel

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06:50.

It’s a soggy start to the day here in the Calder Valley, but looking at the forecast the situation seems to be the same over much of the country, so my photographic opportunities may be a bit limited today. Right now my first job is to head off to the station without getting too wet and begin my trip Southwards to London. Let’s see how things go…Here’s the view across the Calder Valley and Sowerby Bridge this morning.

On the bright side, the train’s mostly drizzle.

0740.

I made it to the station without breaking my neck anyways. The problem is the Yorkshire stone pavements around here look pretty, but they’re like an ice rink when they’re wet. You never know when you’re likely to go arse over tit, so in this weather I usually walk on the road, although that has its own risks this time of morning as car drivers are rushing to get to work.I arrived just in time to catch the late running 07:23 to Leeds which had left Huddersfield 7 mins late. I was surprised to see it was worked by a rather tired looking single car Class 153, which could prove to be interesting to say the least…Sure enough, we’ve just called at the new Low Moor station and now we’re full and standing!

07:48.

The situation didn’t ease at Bradford Interchange as hardly anyone got off. Fortunately, hardly anyone got on either.08:00.We’ve now called at New Pudsey which was packed with people expecting the Grand Central relief service from Hebden Bridge to Leeds. There were several looks of consternation when our little ‘dogbox’ rolled in. It’s now very cosy aboard!

08:43.

After spewing out its load of weary commuters, our little 153 filled up completely once more, this time working to Brighouse. I was surprised how many people were travelling in the opposite direction – presumably to work in Bradford. As usual, the station was teeming with commuters coming into the city. The place is the 3rd busiest outside of London with a footfall of over 31.1 million souls so the morning and evening peaks can be quite intense. With that in mind I hung around to see the Grand Central service from Hebden Bridge disgorge its load. The Class 180 stopped at the far end of platform 11, allowing the human wave to flood along the platform and also swamp the bridge over to platform 8.

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Now I understand why this train’s such a valuable service!09:15.I’m now on the way to London aboard LNER’s 08:45 to Kings Cross which is dashing through the wet Yorkshire countryside at a very respectable pace. It’s not too busy so I’ve managed to bag a table, plug in the laptop and set to work.

10:20.

The rain’s never let up all the way, now we’re speeding towards Huntingdon after calling at a very damp Peterborough where there were more puddles than passengers.The railway in this neck of the woods is rather different to my experiences this morning. You’ll still get single car Class 153s at Peterborough, but this stretch of the East Coast Main line’s dominated by 8-12 car Class 700s from Siemens and LNER expresses. The shortest trains you’ll see now are the Class 180s used by open access operators Hull Trains and Grand Central. I must admit I’m looking forward to sampling LNER’s new Hitachi built Azuma’s when they enter service later this month.10:44.We’ve just sped through Welwyn Garden City where more new trains are evident. A Siemens built Class 717 was waiting to return to London on a Moorgate working. They’re such an improvement over the old 313s, which I don’t think many passengers will be sorry to see the back of.

12:12.

Due to the power of social media and serendipity I’ve just had a meeting with an old friend and RAIL colleague Richard Clinnick as we were both passing through Kings Cross – albeit in different directions!Now I’ve headed across London on something a little bigger and busier than my first train of the day.

I’m now at the Rail Delivery Group offices in Aldersgate for a meeting. It’s an area I used to know well but for a very different reason. It was during my days in housing, when I was on the board of the old National Federation of Housing Co-ops.

13:56.

After a successful meeting I came out of RDG to find the weather was breaking and the sun was making a bid to shine. This made me head over to Euston to get some pictures of the Hs2 work that’s in full swing. Ironically, I’ll now be back here again on an assignment. Demolitions are ramping up. A few months ago this was the site of the old ‘Bree Louise’ pub and hotels.

Whilst I was here I bumped into a rather sad little StopHs2 demonstration outside the Euston Tap. Apparently, a couple of people had ended up here after walking the length of the Phase 1 route. A tiny group of no more than a couple of dozen folk,including Joe Rukin and the inflatable elephant, some paid lobbyists from the ‘Taxpayers Alliance’ and a trio of ‘Extinction Rebellion’ placard wavers were here to greet them and try to drum up media interest. Needless to say, they were vastly outnumbered by the people wearing Hs2 high vis who are gainfully employed on the project! It was all rather farcical. The genuine protesters (not paid lobbyists, media or hangers on) were almost exclusively retired. When you consider that 6.5 million folk live on the route of Hs2 and this (in one of their supposed strongholds, Camden) was the best they could do…

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The guy in the green ‘Taxpayers Alliance’ windcheater was one of several at the demonstration. The TPA is a political lobbying group that refuses to admit who funds it. One thing’s for sure, it’s not ordinary taxpayers!

14:29.

I left the sad spectacle of the Stop Hs2 flop behind by catching a train from Euston Northwards as far as Bletchley, for a trip across to Bedford on one of the new Vivarail class 230s.

16:21.

Sadly, it wasn’t to be. The 15:51 departure to Bedford failed with a defective power unit and had to be swapped. This took over half an hour – in the middle of a thunder and hailstorm! So, rather than tempt the fates further I changed plans and caught a train to Milton Keynes after getting a few pictures. It was a shame as I had chance to have a look around the train before it was declared a failure. Vivarail have done a really good job with them. The interiors are very smart, they look comfortable, have a range of seating as well as plenty of power points and USB sockets.

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17:13.

Now I’m speeding towards Manchester on a rather different conveyance, one of Alstom’s 11 car Pendolino’s. I don’t get to travel on them anywhere near as much as I used to, but their performance never fails to impress – or the way they tilt through curves.

18:32.

Back in Manchester.

22:08.

I’m now back in the bosom of Yorkshire and bringing this blog to a close. See you all tomorrow!

Rolling blog: another diverse day…

03 Friday May 2019

Posted by in I love my job, Rail Investment, Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel, Uncategorized, Yorkshire

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10:23I’m currently on a train to Leeds after being a guest of the friends of Mytholmroyd station who invited myself and local stakeholders to view the restored 1874 station building. I have to admit, I was amazed – both by the size of the building, and the quality of the work. It was a privilege to be invited and have chance to take pictures. I’ll blog a selection separately later. Here’s Geoff Mitchell of the friends group welcoming us in the ground floor booking hall. Also present were two former members of station staff who worked here in the 1960s! The old ticket office window can be seen in the background.Old buildings like this are a pleasure to photograph because of the shadows and light.

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The original ticket desk in the old ticket office has been restored.

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The staircase in the public side of the building, linking the three floors.

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One of the restored rooms in the old Stationmaster’s residence which has been derelict since the 1960’s

Right now I’m off to look for something completely different and bang up to date. I’m looking for the new trains being built for Northern services that will mean the end of the Pacers.12:34.I’m currently at Doncaster, along with 3 of Northern’s new 4-car Class 331 EMUs which are here for driver training and testing.DG322061cropTwo more (331102 and 331105) are stabled in the nearby sidings.DG322072cropI’m looking forward to these trains entering service as they’re a real step-change to the ones they’re replacing.16:11.I’m back at Leeds on my way home after getting various shots at Doncaster. It’s a shame the weather was so overcast, but I shouldn’t complain as the forecast was worse. It’s been a good end to the working week as in-between taking pictures I’ve spent a fair bit of time lining up several jobs that will keep me occupied for the next few weeks. I’ll blog about them in good time. In the meantime, here’s a shot of the decluttered concourse at Leeds station which was built by the LMS railway. There’s some heritage trains in heritage deliveries knocking around too. This is a former Scotrail Class 156 in the old First group livery that reminds me of when they ran the North-western franchise post privatisationRight, time for home…

Rolling blog: back in Britain…

01 Wednesday May 2019

Posted by in GWML, I love my job, Photography, Rail Investment, Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel

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07:00

Another day dawns back in the septic isle, dear old Brexit Britain feels a world apart after a couple of days in Austria. But ho hum…

My day’s starting at Clapham in South London, as I stayed with an old friend last night. We’d met up at the magnificent St Pancras station, along with some friends and colleagues from Irish railways. We spent a convivial couple of hours remembering old times and old friends before calling it a day.

Now it’s a new one and my plan is to head back to Yorkshire in a roundabout way, via various changing points on the UKs rail network, getting pictures for a client en-route. My starting point’s Clapham Junction station, which I can look down upon from my bedroom window. It’s Britain’s busiest railway station, so there’s plenty to see…

09:06.

I’m on my way to Basingstoke after spending an interesting interlude at Clapham Junction observing SWR staff dispatching trains whilst dealing with the commuter hordes quickly and efficiently, keeping the railway running and getting people to work safely, despite near crush conditions on some of the services into Waterloo.

As I watched I couldn’t help noticing that it seems a happy place to work, despite the pressures. Senior Managers put in an appearance, were recognised and greeted warmly, whilst dispatch staff smiled and joked with each other, clearly enjoying their jobs.

Now I’m on a slightly late running 12 car service to Poole, which – in the finest tradition of the old Southern railway – splits en-route. As we’re swimming against the tide of London-bound commuters it’s a pretty empty train. There’s only about half a dozen of us in the coach.

10:11.

After a brief break at Basingstoke to get a few pictures I’m on the move again, only now I’ve swapped from SouthWestern Railway to GWR and their shuttle service to Reading which is operated by one of the “Thames Turbo” DMU fleet. Whilst the 3-car Class 166 is still in the old First group blue livery it has been fitted with 3pin and USB sockets, which are proving useful in keeping my phone topped up and Fitbit charged.

I’ve not travelled this route for a few years, so it’s nice to be reaquainted with it, especially this time of year when the rapeseed’s flowering and the countryside a patchwork of bright greens and yellow.

11:02

I still can’t get used to how much Reading station’s changed since the days of my youth. A billion pound rebuilding project, electrification and the arrival of new train fleets has left the place almost unrecognisable apart from the clock tower of the Victorian station building sticking its head above all the glass and steel.

12:42

At Reading I doubled back towards London to spend some time getting shots of a much altered Great Western Main Line. Gone are the Turbostars on the Thames valley services, now it’s all four or eight car Electrostars. Crossrail Aventras are very much in evidence too. Here’s a panoramic look at one of them at Maidenhead.

14:31

I’m finally heading West towards home after bagging some Aventra pictures. This time I’m on another GWR 387 after transferring from Class 800. One thing I have been disappointed in is the external cleanliness of the trains. Both my last two have had dirty windows which is a shame.

16:07.

The sunny weather I enjoyed this morning has given way to dull, hazy skies, so I’ve decided to begin my journey Northwards from Oxford after grabbing a last few shots. I’m now on Cross-Country’s 15:39 to Manchester Piccadilly. It’s a five car Voyager with enough empty seats to make it a quiet and pleasant journey – although I suspect that may change when we hit Birmingham! Ideally I’d have liked to have bagged a table so I could have got on with some picture editing, but tables are as rare as hen’s teeth on these trains!

19:58.

I’m on the final leg home now after passing through Birmingham in the rush hour with crush conditions on most trains. I’ll finish off this blog when I get home as I’ve several pictures to add but I don’t want to eat up all my data allowance! I’ve been doing so many rolling blogs recently that I’m getting perilously close to my monthly allowance.

Rolling blog: the Viennese whirl, part 2.

29 Monday Apr 2019

Posted by in Germany, Photography, Railways, Rolling blogs, Siemens, Travel

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05:05.Oh, the joys of early starts. Here’s Heathrow terminal 2 as I wait for Austrian airlines 06:00 flight to Vienna.As airport terminals go T2 is one of the better ones, even if it can be a long walk to your gate. I’m flying from B47, which is a long way from the main terminal. To get there you disappear deep underground and cross a large chunk of the airport via travelators.05:48.Having bumped into another colleague at the gate we’re now on board and waiting for take-off. The musak on the plane is the Viennese waltz used in “2001, a space odyssey” when the Pan-Am space shuttle is docking with the space station. Hopefully, my flight will be less problematic. Next stop, Vienna!09:32We had a pretty good flight, although much of mainland Europe was covered in cloud. Ironically, this made the numerous power stations we passed even more obvious.Now we’re stuck in our chauffeured limo which has taken 25 mins to move 200 metres! The queues to get out of the airport car parks are horrendous!10:03.We’re still in the limo. Having finally escaped the airport we’re now enjoying a tour of industrial Vienna (docks, chemical plants etc) en-route to the hotel.10:33.Finally, we’ve arrived at the hotel. Nice!11:27Journalists from various EU countries have all gathered at the hotel, now we’re being bussed to Siemens HQ for lunch.12:33Chance to eat before the hard work starts. The foods very good and beats the sandwiches that are a staple of so many UK events.13:00.The presentations are underway. The first one I’m attending is on autonomous trams. Siemens have one test system running in Potsdam, but (like the concept of driverless cars) it would be many years before a successful system could be developed and rolled out – if at all. The concept is far more suitable for closed systems rather than unpredictable streets. Think of Piccadilly Gardens in Manchester!The second presentation is an interesting one on ‘digital solutions for seamless transportation’. How technology is allowing people to access the information they need to choose integrated transport options.The mining and analysis of data from peoples travel plans is fascinating! I’ve now learned that the band Depeche Mode has a strong following in the former East Berlin because the band gave a concert there before the wall came down and this fan base can still be seen in data today!15:11.The third and final session of the day is “Seamless digital chain in material supply – the easy spares app”. How a mobile phone app can identify parts of a vehicle, find the spare part number and order it for you – amongst other things!

Rolling blog: The Viennese whirl, Part 1.

28 Sunday Apr 2019

Posted by in Air Travel, Rolling blogs, Travel

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18:56.

It’s Sunday evening and I’m on my way from Halifax to Heathrow in readiness to fly out to Vienna in the morning for a press trip to see what Siemens have been up to ahead of the UITP conference. We’ll be seeing the latest cutting-edge transport technology, but the start of my trip is on the antithesis of all that – an old BR built ‘Pacer’ eking out the last months of its life after decades of service acro2ss Yorkshire…

19:45

Having bounced our way sedately and peacefully to Leeds (the train was very quiet as only a handful of passengers were aboard) I’m now on something a little more modern, but also soon to be displaced. I caught LNERs 19:46 Leeds – Kings Cross which is worked by a Mk4 set of coaches pushed by a Class 90 (90026) hired in from DB.

The joys of TDM control mean the set judders like it’s got St Vitus dance. The effect is magnified by the fact I’m in the coach nearest the loco, thank God I’m only on this to Doncaster as it’s taken me 10 mins to type this ‘cos my fingers are all over the place and my ‘spull chucker’ is working overtime!

21:13.

I’m on my way again after a pause at a rather deserted Doncaster. Much of the station had shut up shop and from what I could see the town wasn’t far behind. The platforms were patrolled by the British Transport Police, who clearly expected some form of fracas, although the place was quiet when I passed through. The only thing that was open was a branch of ‘Subway’, which was doing steady business.

The train I’m on now is LNER’s 18:00 Edinburgh to Kings Cross. I took a stroll from the coach I’m sitting in (C) to the buffet and did a head count. It’s good! I don’t know what the ticket yield is, but judging by the number of folk on the train, it’s certainly more then paying its way.

23:20

I’m heading for Heathrow on an old friend – the Piccadilly line. There are so many memories attached to it – apart ftom Heathrow. Back in the very early 1980s I used to use it to get to Manor House in North London where an old friend from Southport lived. Mary and I had a fling for a whole, so I used to hitch-hike from Southport to London at weekends to see her. Mary had rented a room with a very orthodox Jewish family, this meant I had to make sure I turned up before sunset, otherwise the door wouldn’t be answered & Mary would have to throw her keys out’ve the window! A decade later, when I was living in London with Lynn in Crouch End, the Piccadilly was one of our local lines. We’d have to get the bus to Finsbury Park to connect with the Picc or the Vic, but they took us to so many places, and to do many memories. Now, Dawn and I use it to head North from Heathrow- although the journey nowadays is a bit further north than Crouch End!

Looking around this train I realise what I miss with living in West Yorkshire. There’s 40 plus folk in this car and I’m probably the oldest one! It’s a young multi-racial crowd, a world away from some of the ‘old’ bits in West Yorkshire who’re still re- fighting the second world war.