• About

Paul Bigland

~ Blogging on transport, travel & whatever takes my fancy.

Paul Bigland

Category Archives: Trams

Tourist blues…

19 Sunday Jul 2020

Posted by Paul Bigland in Musings, Trams, Travel

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Musings, Trams, Travel

You know when you have one of those days when nothing quite goes to plan? Ours was today.

After so long being ‘confined to barracks’ we decided to stretch our wings (in a socially responsible way of course) by packing a picnic and driving out to somewhere different. If it was too busy we’d move on to find somewhere else. Our aim was to find somewhere near water where we could fit in a decent walk then enjoy our repast. We’d prepared home made quiche, potato salad and various other goodies so we were well-supplied. Our cunning plan was to stay away from the coast and well-known beauty spots and head to some of the reservoirs in the Nidderdale AONB north of Wharfedale near the wonderfully named Blubberhouses, which has the Fewston and Swinsty reservoirs on its doorstep, both of which have wooded walking trails around them.

They’re less than an hour from where we live but we ‘ve never explored either of them. En-route we took a wrong turning near Bolton Abbey, which was a mistake that paid off as we discovered another area neither of us had explored – the Upper Wharfe Valley. It’s gorgeous but the narrow road North past Bolton Abbey was absolutely rammed with cars, motorcycles, bicycles and walkers. We were constantly playing ‘stop – go’ as drivers gave way to each other in the narrowest sections. At pretty little Burnsall there’s what pass for beaches on the river. Each one was swarming with people, which didn’t bode well. Bolton Abbey was bad enough but we’d figured it would be quieter around this neck of the woods. We passed through the edge of Grassington (which was equally busy) before enjoying driving on open roads as far as Pateley Bridge before approaching Blubberhouses from the North to reach our first planned stop.

That’s when it all went Pete Tong. The place was packed. The car parks were overflowing, many people had parked up on verges, making narrow roads even more sclerotic. Most people were doing their best to social-distance but with the weight of numbers it felt too uncomfortable so we flagged it and headed back towards Otley, thinking we might find a nice spot somewhere on the River Wharfe. Despite trying several locations we were disappointed. Much of the river’s inaccessible so the spots that are were busy. Giving up on that idea we drove over to Ilkley and headed up to the moor – with exactly the same problem. The roads were chocked with cars, meaning there was nowhere scenic to stop. Abandoning that idea we checked out a couple more places on the edge of the moor on the road towards Bingley. None were worth stopping at, so we gave up and headed back towards home via our last hope – the moors above Oxenhope. Wherever we went we encountered car after car. I’ve never seen the place so busy, but I think Dawn nailed it when she observed that with most people having had foreign and UK holidays further afield cancelled folks are doing exactly the same as us and day-tripping just as soon as the weather picks up.

We did try one last location, Ogden Water, a scant few miles from home. Just like everywhere else, it was an unpleasant traffic jam as drivers who’re clearly not used to such narrow roads try and get their lardbutt SUVs down roads designed for horse and carts. We didn’t even bother stopping. The result? After five hours travelling we ate our picnic in the front garden at home. It was the most relaxing spot we found all day!

That said, the day wasn’t a total loss. I got to see places I’d never visited before and we both got ideas for locations to go to in the future. Plus, Dawn got to drive on some open roads rather than just pootle to and from Huddersfield. The one downside was the roads were so busy it was hard to stop so I didn’t take a single picture!

Which rather neatly brings me on to the picture of the day. Let’s face it – it’s the only way that I can include one! Today’s was taken in Lisbon, Portugal on the 2nd June 2010 when Dawn and I were spending some time in the city with friends from the UK whom we’d met up with. I love the city’s old tram network and our little band took trams out into the town to explore, find a local bar and people watch. One thing I noticed was the way younger people ‘tram-surfed’. I caught this shot of three young girls in the act as their tram crawled past the little bar we were sat outside of.

DG53199. Tram surfing. Lisbon 2.6.10.crop

 

New Zealand day 18. Christchurch.

16 Wednesday Jan 2019

Posted by Paul Bigland in New Zealand, Trams, Travel, Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

New Zealand, Trams, Travel

(This blog is under construction. More later)…

We’ve spent the day exploring Christchurch, which is quite a surreal experience in many ways.  I’ve never been to a city that’s been so dramatically changed by a natural disaster before.

We started our day by walking into town and trying to piece together a picture of the city. It’s difficult. Not just because so many building have been demolished’ leaving entire blocks bare, but also because some condemned building are still waiting to be torn down and replaced, like this one on the Corner of Worcester Boulevard and Cambridge Terrace. In the corner window you can see a picture of the new building that will replace it.

dg316314crop

Not far from here was a statue of Scott of the Antarctic. Christchurch is a nexus for many of the countries that have bases there, with ships sailing from the city to the Antarctic on a regular basis. In the UK’s current political climate I could see Scott as a metaphor for Brexit…

dg316310crop

After wandering the city we visited Quake City, the museum dedicated to the 2011 earthquake and its aftermath. It’s a sobering experience as it brings home the power of earthquakes and also their aftermath. As well as physical remains and pictures of the earthquake there’s a series of very moving interviews with survivors of the day. These bring it home to you just what people went through. Afterwards we headed back into town to catch one of the vintage trams that operate a circular, hop-on, hop-off service around the centre of town. En-route we passed the remains of what had been the tallest building in Christchurch before the earthquake. This is what it looks like today. The whole city block has been demolished and awaits redevelopment. The rest of it is car-parks.

dg316334crop

Before catching the tram we stopped for lunch in the beautifully restored New Regent St, a pedestrianised zone (OK, trams don’t count) that has a great selection of bars, restaurants and cafes. We were craving spicy food so chose a Thai café called The Nook. They had tables out in the street so we could enjoy the food whilst soaking up the sun and watching the world go by – not to mention the cheeky sparrows, who ate almost as much of our rice as we did! dg316341crop

The food was good, the prices reasonable and the wine wasn’t bad either. Suitably stuffed, we caught a tram to see more of the city. Christchurch’s trams are a mix of vintage vehicles from New Zealand and Australia. We were lucky to get 152, one of the original city trams. It has a royal pedigree as both the Queen and Prince Harry have toured the city on it. There’s even little brass plaques to tell you that you’re parked your bum on the same seat as royalty!

dg316356crop

dg316435crop

To be continued…

 

Innotrans and Berlin

19 Wednesday Sep 2018

Posted by Paul Bigland in Germany, Innotrans, Railways, Trams, Travel, Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Germany, Innotrans, Railways, Trams, Travel

It’s my fourth day here in Berlin and apart from the fact i’ve been having a hectic time I’m also having a fabulous one.

Sunday left me shattered after my negative experiences of Stansted airport. Whilst I’ve been here I chatted to other UK colleagues, who share the same view of the place and now refuse to use it. What was once one of the UK’s best airports is viewed as having been ruined by concentrating on wringing every last penny of of passengers. After spending a few hours exploring and getting pictures I headed out to my hotel and ended up falling asleep by 21:30!

In contrast, my experiences here in Germany have been extremely positive. After all the madness that’s going on back home because of Brexit and our mad politicians, it’s lovely to be in a confident and outward looking, stable country. Berlin’s also one of my favourite capital cities. It has a bohemian heart and it’s all the better for it. There’s also massive investment in Berlin’s railway infrastructure, like this view East from the rebuilt Ostkreuz station which shows the new flyover and dive under built for the S-Bahn.

DG308451crop

On Monday I took time off to explore a couple of the delightful old rural tramways that link country towns with the S-Bahn. They’re rather timeless. Here’s the route out from Rahnsdorf to Waltersdorf.

DG308516crop

This one is the route nearby, from Friedrichshagen to Rüdersdorf.

DG308627cfrop

Right now I’m commuting in from Ludwigsfelde, a town just to the South, which is where I’m staying. It takes 30 mins to get to the amazing Berlin Hauptbahnhof. Hotel prices go crazy when Innotrans is on, so unless you book months (or years) in advance you can pay silly prices.

DG308679crop

Commuting, Berlin style. This is my ODEG service out to Ludwigsfelde from the magnificent Birlin Hauptbahnhof.

I’m heading to day two of Innotrans, the world’s biggest rail trade fair. Around 160,000 people will visit over the four days, after which it’s opened to the public for another two days after that. I’m expecting another hectic day as one of the magazines I’m working for has a shortlist of stuff for me to get and today the British Transport Minister, Chris Grayling is touring the show. He’s tipped to be signing some contracts…

Oh, did I mention the weather? Innotrans is renowned for always getting the sun. Yesterday we baked in the heat, today’s expected to hit 26 degrees! I’m just glad us photojournalists are allowed to dress down!

Right now I’m in the Press centre, where I can grab a coffee, use the wifi and all the other facilities provided for Journalists before hitting the stands. It’s quiet at the moment, but here’s what the place looks like.

If you want to see pictures from the show, take a look at this gallery on my Zenfolio website as that’s where I’m putting them. I’ll flesh this blog out more when I have time.

18:51.

I’ve finally left the show and begun my journey home, but first there’s time to stop of at the Alkopole Bar at Alex, have a quiet beer and catch my thoughts. The day was busier than I thought for the simple reason that Chris Grayling visited a lot of trade stalls. We may fundamentally disagree over politics but I can’t fault him for keeping such a busy schedule. David Davis he ain’t!

I did manage to take up a certain train builders invitation to visit their version of platform 9 & 3/4, which was an mock English pub hidden on the back of one of their trains, but I’ll say no more.

The rest of my time was spent flitting between trade stands and the press centre with the occaisional foray to have a look at some new train interiors. The problem was that some of the ones I wanted to check out had a shore supply. This meant they were extremely popular as the air-conditioning worked – a real blessing in this heat!

I’m not sure what the temperature is now but it’s a lovely evening for sitting outside with a beer.

The ‘press pack’ has scattered to the four winds this evening due to a multitude of receptions and events to go to, which has spared my liver, so I’m not complaining. Besides, I have another 05:50 start in the morning…

UK light rail conference 2015.

17 Wednesday Jun 2015

Posted by Paul Bigland in Hs2, LRT, Nottingham, Trams

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Hs2, LRT, Nottingham, Trams, UKLRT15

It’s lunch break so I’ve a little time to start a blog from the event, which, so far, has proved to be very interesting. My difficulty has been in deciding which of the many different sessions to attend.

The day started with a presentation from Nottingham Cllr Jean Urquhart (who has lead responsibility for NET) who spoke about some of the successes of a system which will carry 20m passengers a year. I’ll talk about these in detail when I’ve time to flesh this out.

After her introduction we headed off to two other lecture rooms where we could choose from a variety of presentations. I plumped for the session on ‘low impact light rail’ which contained briefings from Paul Griffiths of Centro & Ian Jordan of Trelleborg. The brief centered on the opportunity to reduce the costs of building tramways by the use of modular track panels. These reduce the depth of excavations to lay tram tracks & prevent underground services needing to be disturbed or moved. (more later).

The second session was a panel debate on driving down costs, although there were no easy solutions presented & the panel were quite pessimistic about the way decentralisation (& the new LEPs) are adding costs, not removing them.

In between sessions we had chance to browse the dozens of stands & chat to the companies represented. Take a look;

Colas rail are at UKLRT15

Colas rail are at UKLRT15

Just some of the stands at UKLRT15

Just some of the stands at UKLRT15

The event’s certainly well run & there’s a lot to look forward to. I’ll update you all later, now it’s time for the next sessions. I’m looking forward to the off wire operations seminar…

Update. 18:38.

Well, I wasn’t disappointed. There were some excellent afternoon sessions!

Mariana Kajen, MD (Middle East) of North Star gave a fact filled presentation on the rail market in the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) countries & the prospects for UK firms to do business there. One fact that really stuck in my mind was that Saudi Arabia are currently spending a whopping $44.8bn on light & heavy rail systems! I’ll include a couple of shots of her presentation later.

Later, Hervé Mazzoni, SYSTRA’s Director of Systems Integration & RAMS gave a fascinating presentation on off-wire operation & energy recovery systems that manged to be both incredibly informative – and funny. When his presentation cut out he demonstrated that the old engineers trick of giving something a kick still works in the computer age. I had a chat with him afterwards & I was very impressed with his incisive knowledge. Here he is just before kicking off (literally) his presentation!

DG216122. Herve Mazzoni presentation. UKLRC15. Nottingham. 17.6.15

The afternoon ended with NET laying on a special tram to take delegates on a trip along the phase 2 route as far as Beeston, where we had chance for a few photo’s. Again, I’ll write more about this later.

Our special tram sits at the single platform stop at Beeston.

Our special tram sits at the single platform stop at Beeston.

DAY 2 UPDATE.

Phew! I’ve had to leave the conference early as I’m on an assignment in London later today. So, here’s an update on this mornings proceedings sent from the comfort of mt East Midlands Train to London…

The first session I attended was a presentation from David Keay – HM Deputy Chief Inspector of Railways at the ORR. He gave a fascinating talk about the history of the railways inspectorate (which dates back to 1840).  The ORR archives have a wonderful collection of old documents, one of which is a letter written by railway engineer George Stephenson to the Board of Trade, strongly supporting the establishment of a railways inspectorate. David related the fact that whilst Stephenson was a great supporter of the need for an inspectorate, fellow engineer I.K Brunel was vehemently opposed to the idea!

David went on to tell the tale of some of the early Inspectors (all of whom came from the Army) and how the principle that the railway companies are ultimately responsible for safety was first established in 1879 following the terrible Tay bridge disaster.

History dispensed with, David went on to describe how the current inspectorate operates & the establishment of ROGS, aka, Railways and Other Guided Transport Systems (Safety) Regulations 2006 which established Safety Management Systems (SMS).

Next up for me was a panel debate on ‘High speed rail and multi-modal integration’ which primarily focused on how to maximise the benefits from Hs2. Paul Buchanan from Volterra set the financial scene  whilst former Transport Minister Norman Baker dealt with political aspects. David Ralph, Chief Exec of D2N2 talked abot the Midlands perspective & the opportunities of Hs2 at Toton. Martha Grekos, a Partner at Irwin Mitchell left people in no doubt Hs2 was happening. She also talked about the momentum behind the project and the importance of planning ahead.

The final session before we broke for lunch & I had to leave was a plenary debate on tram-train with Colin Walton, Metrolink MD Peter Cushing, Simon Coulthard, Network Rail’s project head, Tim Kendall (formerly of the DfT) and Dave Haskins, project Director from Metro (Yorks).

This was the most frustrating session of the event. Whilst Simon gave us an update on progress (the first Vossloh vehicle will arrive in November) and some of the factors that have dragged to project out, we were left with no clear insight into why this project has been bogged down for so many years. It was clear the operators want to see results & are keen to adapt the technology, but I was left with a feeling what was unsaid was far more important. For example, why is the project costing 4 times more than the Karlsruhe system in Germany & why are we insisting on vehicle standards that aren’t mandatory?

Despite those frustrations the conference has, to my eyes, been an excellent event that’s been well run, informative and entertaining. I hope I’ll be able to attend next year.

 

 

 

 

Time to catch my breath for a moment…

23 Thursday Apr 2015

Posted by Paul Bigland in Germany, Siemens, Thameslink, Trams

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Germany, Railways, Siemens, Thameslink, Trams

I’m scribbling this on board a TPE train from Huddersfield to York, where I’m volunteering at tonight’s Railway Benefit Fund spring ball. Here’s the poster;

Bz_NyTuCMAEAixd.jpg small

It’s been a hectic week that’s left me with no time to blog – but plenty to blog about. It began with another press trip to Germany where Siemens were hosting a pre UITP 2015 conference event at their factory at Krefeld & test track at Wildenrath. 50 plus journalists from across Europe attended. To say Siemens had plenty to talk about & show us was an understatement – the press pack weighed a ton! At Krefeld we had a choice of seminars on digitalization, the Thameslink Class 700s and improving rail capacity through the use of electronic signalling. There was even a presentation on eBuses. After the presentations we toured the Thameslink Class 700 production line & were treated to a demonstration of the company’s 3-D design technology. All this has provided a huge amount to write about (I’ll be blogging about the Thameslink 700s in a separate piece when I’ve more time).

After a night in Dusseldorf we moved on to the Siemens test track on the former RAF base at Wildenrath which is a fantastic resource. It has two circular test tracks (the longest is 6km) and numerous testing & commissioning workshops. We’d come to see two different vehicles fleets; first was the new Avenio hybrid tram for Doha in Qatar. I have to say, this concept has the potential to be a real game changer for tramways – you’ll be able to read a full report about it in my next article for RAIL magazine. As well as being shown a static tram we took a ride on another which was under test. For a battery powered vehicle, their performance is impressive. Later we were treated to a ride on one of the 12-car Class 700s which are at Wildenrath for testing before they move to the UK later this year. I’m really looking forward to seeing them arrive as they’ll make a huge difference to capacity on the network. As an aside, Siemens mentioned that the Desiro City operating costs are 47% lower than the Class 450 Desiro. The presentations often contained interesting nuggets of information like this. Another mentioned that 3D printers have solved the problem of obsolescence in spare parts as it’s now possible to recreate them – even in small numbers.

One of the 19 3-car Avenio hybrid trams Siemens are building for Doha in Qatar.

One of the 19 3-car Avenio hybrid trams Siemens are building for Doha in Qatar.

Here's 700101 on the test track at Wildenrath. Earlier in the month I had the opportunity to drive it at 80mph!

Here’s 700101 on the test track at Wildenrath. Earlier in the month I had the opportunity to drive it at 80mph!

Right, we’re almost at York, so it’s time to go. I’ll write more about my experiences with Siemens soon. In the meantime, if you want to have a look at the rest of the pictures from Germany, follow these links;

http://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/p273014381

http://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/p921265531

Recent Posts

  • 26th January picture of the day…
  • 24th January picture of the day…
  • 22nd January picture of the day…
  • 20th January picture of the day…
  • 18th January picture of the day…

Recent Comments

Chris Oldham on 18th January picture of the…
Paul Bigland on 18th January picture of the…
Chris Oldham on 18th January picture of the…
Phil on Chris Packham’s wasting…
Chris Oldham on Chris Packham’s wasting…

Archives

  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • June 2013

Categories

  • 'Green' madness
  • 'Think Tanks'
  • 144e
  • 2005 London bombing
  • 2017 General election
  • 3 peaks by rail
  • 3 Peaks by ral
  • 51M
  • 7/7
  • Abandoned railways
  • Abu Dhabi
  • ACoRP
  • Adam Smith Institute
  • Adrian Quine
  • Advertising
  • Air Travel
  • Aircraft
  • Airports
  • Airshows
  • Allan Cook
  • Amsterdam
  • Andrea Leadsom MP
  • Andrew Gilligan
  • Andrew Haylen
  • Andy Burnham MP
  • Anti Hs2 mob
  • AONBs
  • Arambol
  • Architecture
  • Australia
  • Bali
  • Bangkok
  • Bank holidays
  • Barrow Hill
  • Belgium
  • Bigotry
  • Birmingham
  • Blue passports
  • Boris Johnson MP
  • Brexit
  • Brighouse
  • Brighton
  • British Railways
  • Calder Valley
  • Canals
  • Carillion
  • Censorship
  • Charities
  • Cheryl Gillan MP
  • Cheshire
  • China
  • Chris Packham
  • Claire Perry MP
  • Class 313
  • Class 314s
  • Class 455
  • Class 507
  • Class 508
  • Class 60s
  • Class 91
  • Communications
  • Community
  • Community rail
  • Corbynwatch
  • Coronavirus
  • CP5
  • Crap journalism
  • Crazy anti Hs2 campaigner of the week
  • Crazy kippers
  • Crewe Hub
  • Cuba
  • Customs
  • Cyberattacks
  • Cycle India
  • Cycling
  • Dawn
  • Democracy
  • Desiro City
  • Diary
  • Dispatches
  • Donald Trump
  • Doomed
  • Down memory lane
  • East Midlands Railway franchise
  • East Midlands Trains
  • Easter fairy stories
  • ECML
  • Economic illiteracy
  • Economics
  • election2015
  • Engineering
  • Environment
  • Eurostar
  • Euston
  • Extinction Rebellion
  • Fake News
  • Festivals
  • Flooding
  • Flora and Fauna
  • Food
  • Food and drink
  • Foot in mouth
  • Gardening
  • GBRf
  • General election
  • General election 2019
  • Georgetown
  • Germany
  • Glossop
  • GNGE
  • GNRP
  • Goa
  • Grand Central trains
  • Great Western Railway
  • Greater Anglia franchise
  • Green madness
  • Green Party
  • Gt Missenden
  • GTR
  • Guido Fawkes
  • GWML
  • GWR franchise
  • Gwyll Jones
  • Halifax
  • Harvil Rd Hs2 protest
  • Harz railway
  • Heathrow 3rd runway
  • High Speed 1
  • High Speed UK
  • History
  • Hitachi
  • Hong Kong
  • House of Lords
  • HS North
  • Hs2
  • Hs2 Bow Group
  • Hs2 petitions
  • Hs2 to Crewe
  • Hs2aa
  • HSUK
  • Huddersfield
  • Humour
  • Hurricane Ophelia
  • I love my job
  • Imperial College London
  • India
  • Indonesia
  • Infrarail
  • Innotrans
  • Internet
  • Ireland
  • Islamophobia
  • Jacob Rees Mogg
  • Jeremy Corbyn
  • Jeremy Corbyn MP
  • Jo Johnson MP
  • Joe Rukin
  • John McDonnell MP
  • Johnathan Bartley
  • Journalism
  • Labour election
  • Lancashire
  • Laos
  • Law and order
  • Lazy journalism
  • Leicestershire
  • Liam Halligan
  • libel
  • Lilian Greenwood MP
  • Liverpool
  • LNER
  • Local elections
  • Local elections 2018
  • Lockdown
  • London
  • Lord Berkeley
  • LRT
  • M62 motorway
  • Major Projects Authority
  • Malaysia
  • Manchester
  • Manchester Airport
  • Manchester Victoria
  • MAPA
  • Mark Keir
  • Martin Tett
  • Melton Mowbray
  • Memory Lane
  • Merseyside
  • Michael Dugher MP
  • Michael Fabricant MP
  • Mid Cheshire against Hs2
  • Miscellany
  • Modern Railways
  • Monorails
  • Musings
  • Mytholmroyd
  • Natalie Bennett
  • National Rail Awards
  • National Trust
  • Nepal
  • Network Rail
  • Never a dull life
  • New Economics Foundation
  • New trains
  • New Year
  • New York
  • New Zealand
  • NHS
  • Nigel Farage
  • Norland scarecrow festival
  • Northern Powerhouse
  • Northern Rail
  • Nostalgia
  • Nottingham
  • Obituaries
  • Old Oak Common
  • ORR
  • Our cat, Jet
  • Pacers
  • Paris terror attack
  • Parliament
  • Pasenger Growth
  • Patrick McLouglin MP
  • Penny Gaines
  • Peter Jones
  • Peterborough
  • Photography
  • Photojournalism
  • Picture of the day
  • Poetry
  • Politics
  • Porterbrook
  • PR nightmares
  • Pubs
  • rail ale
  • Rail electrification
  • Rail fares
  • Rail Investment
  • RAIL magazine
  • Rail Moderinsation
  • Rail PR
  • Railfreight
  • Railstaff awards
  • Railtex
  • Railway Benefit Fund (RBF)
  • Railways
  • Rant
  • Religion
  • RFEM
  • Richard Wellings
  • Ride India
  • Road accidents
  • Rolling blogs
  • ROSCOs
  • Royal Mail
  • Royal Wedding 2018
  • RSPB
  • Rugby Observer
  • Rushbearing
  • SAIP
  • Scores on the doors
  • Scotland
  • Scotrail
  • Sheffield
  • Shrewsbury
  • Siemens
  • Signalling
  • Silly season
  • Simon Heffer
  • Singapore
  • Sleeper trains
  • Snail mail
  • Social media
  • South West Trains
  • Southport
  • Sowerby Bridge
  • Spectator magazine
  • Sri Lanka
  • St Pancras station
  • Stafford
  • Stamford
  • Station buffets
  • StopHs2
  • Surrey
  • Talgo
  • Teresa May
  • Terrorism
  • Tesla
  • Thailand
  • Thameslink
  • The 'Beast from the East'
  • The BBC
  • The Big 6
  • The Daily Express
  • The fog
  • The Grauniad
  • The Great Central railway
  • The Green Party
  • The Independent
  • The Moorcock Inn
  • The Railway Children
  • The Rodelblitz
  • The USA
  • The Woodland Trust
  • Tilford
  • Torquay
  • Tourism
  • TPE
  • Traffic congestion
  • Trams
  • Trans-Pennine electrification
  • Transport
  • Transport for Wales (TfW)
  • Travel
  • Twilight years
  • Twitter
  • Twitter (and how not to use it)
  • UK
  • UK steel industry
  • UKIP
  • Uncategorized
  • Vandalism
  • Victoria Prentis MP
  • Virgin Trains
  • Virgin West Coast
  • Wales
  • Walking
  • WCML
  • Weather
  • West Yorkshire
  • Worcester
  • Work
  • World War 1
  • World War Two
  • Yorkshire
  • YorkshireStopHs2

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.com

Blog at WordPress.com.

Cancel