Category Archives: Travel

Rolling blog: Off again…

03 Wednesday Jul 2019

Posted by in I love my job, London, Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel

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12:12.After a busy morning catching up on paperwork and checking and packing my PPE ready for tomorrow and Friday I’m getting ready to head down to London. The weather forecast is looking promising, so I can travel a bit lighter for a change. Let’s see how the day goes…13:38.I’m on the move after walking down into Sowerby Bridge. It’s a gorgeous day for a stroll, or it would be if I wasn’t carrying both the camera bag and a rucksack full of PPE!I caught a Leeds train, the 13:23 via Brighouse which is running 7 minutes late. It’s made up of a pair of refurbished Class 150s which are mostly empty this time of day. If anyone’s any sense they’ll have taken the day off to enjoy the sunshine!It makes a change to be heading for Leeds without a reversal at Bradford. I’m also enjoying the different scenery. The line through Brighouse to Mirfield is a shadow of it’s former self. Once it was four tracks all the way from ‘brig’, with massive goods yards and a vast amount of freight traffic along with a large steam locomotive depot at Mirfield, one of the last to close in the UK. The site is now a housing estate that was built in the last decade.Some of the towns haven’t fared much better, such as nearby Dewsbury (although it still has a lovely station and great station bar) and Batley, once renowned for its variety club and all the famous names that played there. Now, it’s infamous for the awful murder of Batley & Spen MP Jo Cox by a far-right fanatic.What Batley does have is one of the last surviving signal boxes in this part of the world, which protects a small level crossing to the East of the town. I’ll add a picture later.14:43.I’ve enjoyed a short break in Leeds in the sunshine, now I’m heading South bit by bit. First off is LNER’s 14:45 to Kings Cross which is worked by one of the companies fleet of HSTs that will soon be replaced by Azuma’s. The HSTs replacement on Intercity services is sounding the death knell for something that dates back to the dawn of the railways. The slam door…The HSTs that will remain in service are being converted to power operated doors, meaning the remaining slam door stock will be operated by charter operators and a couple of the freight companies like DB who lease them out to one or two operators like Scotrail, Abellio and Transport for Wales but they’ll be history on intercity services17:12.Far later than I expected due to technical issues with dealing with last minute picture requests, I’m now speeding south from Doncaster on another LNER service from Leeds, only this one’s a crowded and toasty Mk4 set. The air conditioning is struggling in my coach (F) but it’s the only one I could find a free airline seat in. Despite that, the crew have been great.All I can say is I’m glad I’m not dressed in full PPE (other than boots, which are easier to wear than carry) and I can dress down and pretend this is a local train in Thailand. Well, apart from the sights, sounds and smells, obviously!18:21.I abandoned my LNER service at Stevenage which offers a very handy connection to cross-London Thameslink services. The days of having to fight your way from terminal to terminal via the London Underground have dropped dramatically and will do so even more when Thameslink finally opens.20:18.OK, I admit I dallied in old haunts in central London for half an hour as the weather was so perfect. I bailed out of my Thameslink service at Blackfriars after seeing the stunning weather. I couldn’t resist a short walk aking the south bank just see see how the ever changing skyline of the ‘square mile’ looks like now.

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Mind you, it’s not just the city. After my stop-off I continued on to the rebuilt London Bridge station before heading back to Waterloo, where my train to Feltham was leaving from platform 24. Hang on a minute – 24? Yep, one of the old Eurostar platforms.

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See you tomorrow!

Rolling blog: different strokes…

01 Monday Jul 2019

Posted by in Calder Valley, Community rail, I love my job, New trains, Northern Rail, Rail Investment, Railways, Rolling blogs, Transport, Travel, West Yorkshire

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08:05.

Today’s an important one for Northern Rail as 9 of their new CAF built trains are used in passenger service for the very first time. So I’m off to do two things, get pictures of them and also visit a community rail project that involves them.They day’s not started well. The hot and sticky weather we had on Saturday has given way to wind and unexpected drizzle, which make the walk to the station fun. Northern aren’t having much luck with Calder Vally services this morning either. I’m on the late-running 07:45 which didn’t leave Halifax until 08:01. Despite the fact it’s a 3-car Class 158 it’s rammed!

08:17.

We’ve just left Bradford Interchange and it’s sardine conditions aboard now! 11 of us are crammed into the cab end vestibule and we’ve not even got to New Pudsey yet!

08:26.

We’ve just left New Pudsey and there’s now 14 of us crammed into the vestibule! There’s hardly an inch of floor left free as we’ve taken as many onboard as we can but still left some behind. The atmosphere’s stoic – and humid! I’ll be glad to get to Leeds…

09:21.

Due to the crush the train doors seemed to open with a louder pop than normal when we reached Leeds. Grateful to be in the cool I’m now on something very different – a Class 331 in public service. It’s 331106 on the 09:21 to Doncaster.

13:11.

Having visited Fitzwilliam station to see the unveiling of the new artwork on the adjacent footbridge. Here’s a sample. I’ll add the pictures I took on my camera later but it’s a great bit of work that’s full of interest as many of the windows contain pictures of the area.

Update, here’s a couple of camera pictures.

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Afterwards I headed back to Leeds to grab a few more Class 331 pictures before heading across the Pennines to Manchester to catch the Class 195s in action. We’re just approaching Manchester Victoria now. The weather’s a bit better over here in the the clouds are interspersed with blue sky and sunshine. Most of my time on the train was spent editing the pictures from this morning, so I had little time to enjoy the views.

14:07.

I’m now in position on the corridor linking Piccadilly and Oxford Rd stations as it’s an interesting backdrop to the railway and all the Class 195 diagrams are filtered through it. So far I’ve managed to capture two Northbound units, one Barrow bound, the other off to Liverpool.

16:12.

Time to go home! I’ve had a successful day in Manchester as even the sun played ball in some if the pictures. I’ll upload a few later. Now I’m at Piccadilly, making my way home via the Colne valley rather than the Calder.

22:25.

Sorry for the huge gap. I was hoping to stop off on the way and use the wifi in the Stalybridge buffet bar but the weather was so nice I ended up enjoying a quiet pint outside. I’ve been back at home several hours and spent the past few editing pictures, so here they are.

DG326892. 331106. Leeds. 1.7.19.

331106 waves it’s way through the maze of tracks to the West of Leeds station with a service from Doncaster. On arrival it formed the 09:21 back to Doncaster.

DG327020. 195116. Manchester Oxford Rd. 1.7.19.crop

The honour of being the first Class 195 to carry fare-paying passengers fell to 195116, which left Barrow around 5am. It’s seen here between Piccadilly and Oxford Rd stations in Manchester whilst working 1C55, the 1329 Manchester Airport to Barrow-in-Furness.

DG327188. 195121. Manchester Oxford Rd. 1.7.19.crop

Here’s 195121 working 1U97, the 1353 Barrow-in-Furness to Manchester Airport

Right, that’s all from me tonight folks. I’m working from home tomorrow, so expect to see a few more photos on my Zenfolio website.

 

Where do the days go?

26 Wednesday Jun 2019

Posted by in I love my job, Musings, Railways, Travel, West Yorkshire

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For the past 3 days I’ve been working from home, which has been lovely after all the travelling I’ve been doing recently – even if the weather’s hardly been a vintage summer. Even so, I’m wondering where the time seems to go as my ‘to do’ list never seems to shrink much. I’ve edited pictures, written blogs and articles, supplied pictures to clients but still seem to have only scratched the surface of things. Can someone please invent a 30 hour day?

Tomorrow I’m on the rails again as I’m off to Doncaster to take part in a Rail Safety week event. I’ll be meeting up with some old friends including Tracey Barber, Lucy Prior and Richard Clinnick, who’ll be speaking, so watch out for a rolling blog throughout the day. In the evening I’ll be back in Sowerby Bridge as Dawn and I are out with friends, munching Thai tapas (no, really!). Next week is shaping up into a busy one as I’ll be flitting between London, Manchester and points in between for a client before starting judging the 2019 ACoRP awards. A quiet time it ain’t! In between all this I’ve still got a few historical blogs in the pipeline, and also an analysis of a rather curious House of Commons research paper on Hs2.

 

Rolling blog: Pembrokeshire travels by rail.

20 Thursday Jun 2019

Posted by in Photography, Pubs, Railways, Rolling blogs, Station buffets, Transport, Travel, Wales

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My plans changed today at the last moment so I find myself sampling the railways of Pembrokeshire, starting out at Pembroke Dock.I’d no idea what to expect as I’d never been here before, so I was very pleasantly surprised to find that the old station building was not only intact – it was also in use as a bar and restaurant! In fact, it has been for the past 26 years, which is pretty good going when you consider the train service is one every two hours! The station Inn is one of those rare beasts nowadays as it’s also a live music venue (I’ll add a link to them later). There’s also a seating area outside for those who want to catch a bit of sun, which is what we’ve got today.

The sparse train service is relaxed to say the least as there’s a long turnaround time here. The inbound working arrived at 12:23 and it’s not due out until 13:09. I’m assuming there must be a crew messroom in the station building somewhere.

13:25

I’m now pootling my way along the branch which is actually very pretty as we pass castles, backyards and countryside whist stopping at a variety of single platform stations and level crossings where our driver still makes liberal use of the train horn – something that’s forbidden on many parts of the network due to complaints from those living alongside the line.13:44.We’ve now left Tenby, the major station on the line. It’s a town I’d never visited until this week but I can see the attraction. It has an interesting history, lovely beaches and good places to eat. Sadly, it’s a bit of a beer desert! Tony’s one of those towns that’s been taken over by the curse of ‘Doom Bar’. In many pubs it’s the only real ale you can find, which is why the arrival of the Tenby Harbour Brewery has been such a saviour!14:51.I’m now kicking my heels in Whitland, which is the junction for the Pembroke Dock line and the routes to Milford Haven and Fishguard. The station has two platforms, a BR(W) era signal box and rudimentary passenger facilities.

The single-storey modern station building is used as a base for Network Rail. At least there’s a platform canopy. Passengers on the Westbound platform have to make do with two bus shelters.

15:46.

I’m now on the 15:44 from Whitland which is heading for Milford Haven from Manchester. When you think about it, that’s quite a long trip. I wonder how many passengers (if any) do it point to point?

The line’s double track as far as Clarbeston Rd where the two lines diverge. The junction’s still controlled by an old GWR brick built signal box. The landscape around here puts me very much in mind of Devon & Cornwall, it’s gently rolling hills and rural nature are very similar, although they have a far better train service!

16:14.

Wer’e now West of Haverfordwest, a two platform station whose brick built buildings look like they date from the early 1950s. Unlike many stations it still sports a goods yard, although I’m pretty certain it’s only used by the occasional engineers train.

16:58.

I’ve arrived at Milford Haven, just over a mile from where I started. It’s another badly truncated branch line that’s seen far better days. After getting a few shots at the station (most if which is now shops) I’ve wandered through the harbour to explore. The inner harbour basin’s full of yachts whilst the quayside is lined with mock warehouse buildings that are a mixture of residential and retail. It’s a far cry from the harbours origins as a massive fish dock. I’m observing all thus from a modern restaurant/bar called The ‘Harbourmaster’ which straddles the yacht basin and the real docks on the other side of the river under the former refineries. The fact they’re mothballed now is evident from their chimneys which are all dead. Tankers still dock her, but only to fill the storage tanks on land.

Rolling blog: a new adventure begins…

16 Sunday Jun 2019

Posted by in 3 peaks by rail, Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel, Wales

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09:39.

The 3 peaks by rail adventure’s over for another year and no doubt many of us are still on a bit of the high as it’s such an amazing experience to be part of. Here’s the Railway Children team on the train last night. For once, I’m actually in the picture, rather than taking it. Everyone’s hard work has raised over £225,000 for the charity.

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Last night I stayed in a hotel in Crewe as I’m on the move again today, this time to join my wife Dawn and her parents down in Pembrokeshire, where we’ve booked a holiday cottage for a few days. It’s going to take me most of the day to get to Carmarthen, where they’re meeting me, as my first train off Crewe isn’t until 11:11. I’ll blog about the trip as part of it is on the scenic Central Wales line from Shrewsbury to Llanelli.

11:20.

Not a great start to the day. Apart from the fact it’s bloody cold here in Crewe my first trip has turned into a bit of a farce. I’m catching Transport for Wales’s 11:11 to Shrewsbury. It starts at Manchester Piccadilly and terminates at Newport but for some reason there’s had to be a set swap at Crewe. Cue the usual confusion and melee of passengers as people transferred between the two sets, even though the terminating train drew up right behind the other in the same platform. We ended up leaving 12 minutes late, which is making my connection at Shrewsbury rather tight with no time to stock up on food as there’s no trolley service on the 12:04 to Swansea. Luckily I’d planned for such eventualies and kept back a couple of cereal bars from the 3 peaks trip!

The TfW Class 175 I’m on has definitely seen better days. The seals on a several of the windows have gone, leaving them covered in moisture and virtually impossible to see out of, It’s also full of litter left behind by previous passengers. All in all, it doesn’t give a good impression.

12:00.

I needn’t have worried about my connection! I did a bit of checking at it seems the stock to form the 12:04 comes empty from Crewe where it’s been serviced at the Arriva depot there. It’s following on behind us, so it’s late too!

12:15.

We’re off! Possibly because the Great Western Main Line in Wales is closed for electrification works so there’s the dreaded ‘bustitution’ this service is full and standing. Here’s the scene on the platform at Shrewsbury before our train rolled in…

Mind you, as the 12:04 is worked by a single-car Class 153, that’s not too difficult. I’ll be on this train for the next 3hrs 32mins, all the way to Llanelli, where the Heart of Wales line joins the main line to Swansea.

12:30.

Fist stop was Church Stretton, a place Lynn and I used to come to for walking holidays as it’s an ideal base to explore the nearby Long Mynd and some of the other surrounding hills. We continued South down the double track main line as far as Craven Arms. This is the junction where the Heart of Wales line branches off, cutting through rural Wales to reach Llanelli. You know you’re on a country railway straight away by the noise as much of the line still uses jointed track and the noise the wheels make as they pass over is very distinctive.

To compliment my trip and make it more interesting the weather’s picked up. We’ve got a combination of stormclouds, sunshine or cotton-wool clouds.

Having passed through several request stops or first fall’s been Knighton. The station has a passing loop so we have to stop there for the driver to collect the token for the next single track section.

A few miles further on we called at Knucklas, a tiny station and small village that’s famous for its attractive stone viaduct with its castellated ends. I stayed here many years ago to get pictures and I really should come back to update them one day.

13:43.

We’ve arrived in Llandrindod Wells where we’re passing a Northbound service operated by a Class 150. The town’s one of the biggest on the line. There’s no wifi on the train and the phone reception’s pretty ropey around here so expect gaps to this blog!

16:04.

I’ve changed trains at Llanelli (God, it’s rough), now I’m heading to Carmarthen. I ran out of time and wifi to describe the beauty of some of the Heart of Wales line but I’ll certainly be visiting again soon. Right now I’m looking forward to discovering at least one new line as I’ve never travelled on any of the routes West of Carmarthen before which is a unique situation for me. Over the years I’ve travelled 95% of the UK rail network but always managed to miss this corner.

The good weather I had in the North of Wales hasn’t been replicated down in the South. Instead it’s cold, wet and windy. Even so, it’s lovely to follow the coast here. The industrial dereliction’s been left behind to be replaced by narrow beaches decorated with driftwood and wading birds. Finally we leave the coast behind to head up the side of a narrowing estuary that leads us into Carmarthen, where (hopefully) the others will be waiting for me.

Rolling blog: off to the 3 Peaks by rail.

13 Thursday Jun 2019

Posted by in 3 peaks by rail, Railways, The Railway Children, Travel, Uncategorized

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12:17.

The weather here in the Calder Valley’s been awful today. We’ve had that fine drizzle that permeates everything most of the morning. I’ve been busy at home trying to catch up on a bit of work before heading out shortly to join the Railway Children’s annual ‘3 Peaks by rail’ madness. Stay tuned and I’ll try and blog through the day…

15:31.

I’m finally on my way after a bit of a stressful few hours trying to get everything I needed to do done before I left home. I’m now on the 15:22 from Sowerby Bridge heading for Manchester then Crewe where the train starts from this evening. I’m not alone. There’ll be people from all over the country making a beeline for the town as the various teams meet up. A number of volunteers are already on the train as the stock is being used for a tour by the Branchline society. This will raise even more money for the Railway Children, adding to what the 3 Peaks teams will gather.Sadly the weather’s not looking great. On the bright side, the flooding that closed the line between Crewe and Chester has abated and the line’s reopened, so we’re good to go!

16:20.

Because of the amount of kit I need for this event, I’m using wheels instead of legs. I’ll need to save those for later!

16:28.

Deep joy! At Manchester Piccadilly I found that the Transport for Wales 16:31 service to Crew is worked by a 2-car Class 150! The Conductor was very apologetic that “this throwback to the Thatcher era” (his words) was the only unit available! It’s cosy. Very cosy. But at least there’s a catering trolley- if you can fight your way through to it…

18:00.

The teams are here and having equipment checks. There’s plenty of time to meet and greet or take pictures.

18:00.

Everyone’s ready!

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19:56.

Due to technical issues with the stock and need to refuel the generator car at Gresty Bridge we were a few minutes late leaving Crewe, but it’s no real problem. We’re now bowling along the North Wales coast at 90mph as the first meal is being served.

The logistics of this trip are quite something. During the event the volunteers will wash 4,600 items of cutlery and crockery. 1,140 pieces of fruit and cereal bars will be distributed along with 200 rounds of sandwiches and 380 servings of fruit juice. 200 bacon rolls will also be served. Everyone will get a full English breakfast, a two course evening meal and a three course lunch.

22:16.

At 21:33 we reached Bangor in North Wales and the teams transferred to road coaches for the last leg to Snowdon. As soon as they were gone the train moved off and headed to Holyhead where the locomotive can run round the train. The volunteers remaining on the train weren’t idle. They were busy collecting plates and cutlery, picking up all the rubbish, disinfecting and cleaning the toilets, making sure the train was fit to pick up the weary hikers in the small hours.

The kitchen wasn’t idle either. Fresh food was being prepared for the volunteers. Ian and his crew were preparing home-made pizza’s for everyone.

Having offloaded all the rubbish in the platform and with the engine having run round, the train’s been shunted into the sidings where it will wait to return to Bangor.

23:40.

Having swapped a few stories and jokes over food, the volunteers are all bedding down for the night on the train. All the coaches bar one are dark as the lights have been turned off to conserve the batteries.We start moving at 03:52 when we head back to Bangor to await the walkers. I’m hitting the sack too as it’s chance to catch a few hours undisturbed sleep. Part 2 of this blog will start early in the morning. G’night!

Sometimes I wonder…

12 Wednesday Jun 2019

Posted by in Brexit, Calder Valley, Huddersfield, Pacers, Politics, The Railway Children, Travel, West Yorkshire, Yorkshire

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How on earth did the UK get in the state it is? How did we transform ourselves from the wonderful days of the 2012 Olympics, when we showed our best, most creative and tolerant side to the world into this mad little island? An island where racism is rife, and we look like we’re about to elect a serial liar and all round incompetent as our next Prime Minister. Our international standing is in tatters as the rest of the world looks upon us as if we’ve gone crazy, which isn’t far from the truth. We’re certainly deluded. The idea that we should be pursuing a no deal Brexit is absolutely barmy, as is the idea that we’ll be better off after Brexit. Many of the people vying for the Tory leadership are the living embodiment of this madness, yet many folk lap up the lies.

Once the circus come to an end the time of reckoning can’t be far off. But what damage will be done to our country? How I wish I was 30 years younger and could get the hell out of this place before that happens…

Instead, I find myself heading to Huddersfield to pick up a folding trolley I lent to ACoRP which I’ll be using to cart around all my kit for tomorrow’s 3 peaks by rail adventure. It will be a pleasure to spend the next two and a half days volunteering with so many positive people, raising thousands of pounds for the Railway Children charity. The atmosphere on the train’s wonderful and the camaraderie amongst the volunteers is excellent. I feel honoured to have been invited to be involved and I’m looking forward to my hat-trick of trips. The whole operation’s a logistical as well as physical challenge and it’s being made more complex by the weather, which is causing chaos across the rail network. The West Coast Main Line north of Penrith’s been closed by a fallen tree and the Crewe-Chester line’s closed due to flooding. This could be a problem for us as we’re due to pass that way tomorrow evening…

My trip to and from Huddersfield has been on one of Northern’s Class 144 Pacers. I’m making the most of it as these beasties will soon be but a memory. Driver training on the new CAF units is due to start at Huddersfield next month.

I know the majority of ordinary passengers loathe Pacers, but I and some train crews will miss them. That said, I suspect affections will soon be transferred as I’ve heard many favourable comments about the new trains from rail staff. It will be very interesting to see the reaction of passengers when they finally enter service.

Having picked up the truck I’m heading home on the same Pacer as I’ve got a busy evening ahead. I’ve shopping plus a load of work to do as well as packing for the 3 Peaks. It’s going to be a busy evening…

Rolling blog: it’s going to be a long day…

10 Monday Jun 2019

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11th June. As promised, I’ve added a few more pictures and comments to this blog.

04:30.

I’m sipping my first coffee of the day, getting ready to leave the house and head off to an assignment for RAIL magazine in Bedford, looking out of our bedroom window out over the Calder valley I’m relieved to see it’s not raining, although parts of the valley are obscured by low cloud. I only hope the weather’s good down South. Let’s see what happens…

06:00.

Here’s the view from my walk to the station this morning. It’s constantly changing and why I love living here. Sowerby Bridge is down there somewhere!

I’m now on the 06:00 to Leeds which is made up of a Class 150 & 153 combo. Even this time of the morning it’s busy with early morning commuters heading to work.

07:05.

Whilst changing trains at a bright and sunny Leeds I was greeted by one of LNER’s new ‘Azuma’ trains on test in an adjacent platform.

I was waiting for the 07:00 which is an LNER service that starts from Bradford Foster Square. I wasn’t the only one, the platform was packed!

This is obviously a popular service for business folk as it’s non-stop from Wakefield Kirkgate, getting into London just before 09:00.

08:31.

We’re not far from the metropolis now and I’ve just been for a wander. This train is absolutely rammed, despite it being a peak service! There’s bodies everywhere.

09:24.

My time in the capital was brief. I stayed long enough to walk from Kings Cross to the subterranean Thameslink platforms at St Pancras and catch a late running 09:06 to Bedford. Thameslink aren’t having a good day. Due to earlier problems there’s delays, skipped stops and even cancellations. I’m now on a very quiet 12 car Class 700 which is speeding through the rain and North London suburbs.

10:27.

I’m now at Bedford, having left my 12-car mass people mover for something a little smaller. A 2-car Class 230! It’s a tough job, but someone’s got to do it!

11:44.

Having met up with Pip Dunn earlier we’ve been busy putting the Class 230 through their paces from a passengers perspective. You’ll be able to read all about it in a future edition of RAIL magazine. We were lucky that we’d decided to catch the 10:50 Bedford – Bletchley and 12:01 return as the next service has been cancelled due to a shortage of train crew! The outward train was really busy but the 20 minute layover gave me plenty of time to get shots of an empty train as most passengers don’t pitch up until just before departure. Personally, I’m quite impressed with the Class 230s, but let’s see what Pip says…

13:01.

Job done, I’m back at Bedford where the rain’s got even heavier! There’s no point in hanging around so I’m heading home up the Midland Main Line to check out progress on electrifying the line and hoping for better weather.

13:30.

I’m bowling along the MML towards Wellingborough and there’s plenty of progress with electrification. In fact, just a mile or so out of Bedford the wires are up for a short stretch. Elsewhere most of the masts have been installed and are gradually being fitted out. Four tracking’s progressing well too.

14:15.

I stopped off for a quick visit to Wellingborough to get some shots. It’s a lovely station. The original Midland Railway building is still in use and it has another couple of gems. One’s the old goods shed which still has its original interior.

At the opposite end of the platform is another gem, a tiny real ale bar in a building that’s seen several uses over the years, including a Home Guard ammunition store.

15:01.

I’ve moved further North, this time to a station I’ve never visited before. Most of it is also brand new! The original station building survives but the platforms, footbridge and shelters have only just been built at Market Harborough because the railways been realigned to improve line speeds. That said, the area’s a building site with much work still to do.

Here’s the view from the footbridge looking South, so – the opposite direction to the picture above.

DG325193. New platforms. Market Harborough. 10.6.19.crop

What remains is the original station building which is out of sight in this picture because it’s at a lower level. The building is Grade 2 listed and was built in 1884 by Hirst of Rugby.

DG325197. Station building. Market Harborough. 10.6.19.crop

Here’s the tiled entrance with the ticket counter and café.

DG325204. Ticket hall and cafe. Market Harborough. 10.6.19.crop

15:46.

Having changed trains at Leicester and been unfortunate enough to see Michael Gove on TV launching his bid for the Tory leadership (pure unicorn thinking) I’m now on my way to Sheffield. The weather’s still crap with leaden skies and heavy showers but at least I’m in the warm – and dry!

17:10.

We arrived in Soggy Sheffield 10 mins late. The weather’s lousy for pictures so I paid homage to the Sheffield Tap instead of taking the camera for a walk. From the comfort of the bar I could see that my next train was also late. I’d plumped for a 17:11 TPE service via Doncaster for one last chance to escape the rain and get some pictures. Problem was the delay kept growing, and growing. When the screens swapped from counting down minutes to just displaying ‘delayed’ a number of us bolted and headed for plan B – Northern’s 17:25 to Cleethorpes.

We shouldn’t have bothered. Just as we got to it over on platform 4 the TPE service rolled in, then was given priority over us. The words of ‘Dick Dastardly’ spring to mind… This ex-Scotrail Class 158 doesn’t have wifi either. On the bright side, it’s not too busy, whereas the TPE train looked rammed.

18:37.

We’re just passing through Wakefield on the way back to Leeds and no – the weather didn’t improve. It’s still chucking it down, so my hopes of getting decent pictures at Donny were dashed. It’s time to go home…

When I get there I’ll add a few more pictures to give a flavour of the day. I’m blogging on my phone right now so I don’t want to eat my data limit by posting more shots.

20:02.

We’re just pulling out of Bradford Interchange on the final trip of the day. It’s finally stopped raining so I’ll risk walking home. I’m pretty much going to be office bound tomorrow as I’ve loads of paperwork and pictures to sort out – and the weather forecast it awful. Plus, I need to start getting my kit ready for Thursday, when I join the other ‘Railway Children’ volunteers for the annual ‘3 Peaks by Rail’ charity fundraiser.

22:07.

I’m curled up in bed with the cat beside me after a long day although the weather and spending so much time aboard trains has cramped my exercise a bit, as my Fitbit score shows.

fitbit

As it’s been a long day and I’m ‘cream crackered’ I’ll add some more pictures to this blog (and also the Liverpool trip blog on Saturday) tomorrow. Until then, it’s goodnight from me…

 

Rolling blog: Liverpool bound…

08 Saturday Jun 2019

Posted by in Food and drink, Liverpool, Pubs, Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel

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07:40.

Today many of the ‘Big 6’ gang are on tour to Liverpool to take in some sights, some shops, food and pubs. Unfortunately, the weather’s being less than kind. As I sit and write this the latest rainstorm is just beginning to abate. There’s more forecast throughout the day. The weather may dampen us but it’ll not dampen our spirits. I’ll blog throughout the day, so stay tuned…The rain held off long enough for me to walk to the station and join the merry band. Here’s how the Calder Valley looked on the way.10:01.

Now we’re scattered throughout a packed 2-car Class 156 that’s working the 09:56 to Manchester Victoria. There’s another concert on in this evening so this service is busy carrying fans as well as the normal load of daytrippers.The atmosphere aboard’s happy but damp!

12.29.

The group split at Manchester Victoria because some folk had bought ‘Northern only’ rail tickets, but Northern weren’t running from Victoria to Liverpool today! They headed off to Oxford Rd fir their train whilst the rest of us caught a direct TPE service. It being Saturday, our train was packed with women off to various hen nights.Now we’re in the first of our pubs. Nowadays it’s called ‘The Dispensary’. I remember it by it’s old name, ‘The Grapes’.14:00.Next pub. The Little Grapes.Here’s the crew.

Rolling blog: two days of travels. Pt1.

05 Wednesday Jun 2019

Posted by in London, Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel

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09:05.Slightly later than planned due to delays I’m heading back to London for a couple of days work for clients. As is often the case in my line of work the weather will play a large part in how successful things are. Right now I’m chugging up the long climb from Bradford Interchange in a Northern Class 153 attached to the rear of a 2-car 158. The hopper windows allow plenty of ventilation- as well as sound effects from the underfloor engine working hard.Yesterday’s persistent rain has vanished although the skies are full of clouds displaying the entire palette of grey from off-white to battleship, daubed across a clear blue sky which briefly manages to show its face. Let’s see how the day develops…11.15.A few minutes ago we pulled out of Peterborough, our first stop since Doncaster. It’s been a very pleasant trip. I’ve a table in the half empty Quiet coach on LNER’s 09:45 from Leeds which is made up of a Mk 4 set.The wifi tells me that we’re belting along at 114mph and that we arrived 5 mins early into Peterborough, where we sat waiting a right time departure.But the times are a changing, as old Bob Dylan sang. The first of LNER’s Mk4 sets went off-lease this week. It was moved to the former coal wagon sidings at Worksop for storage (alongside brand new trains like the Crossrail Class 345s). More Mk 4s will follow shortly as the new Azuma fleet takes over more and more services. Sights like this will soon be a thing of the past.DG324698crop

14:04.

After lunch with an old friend – the journalist and author Michael William’s, I’m up in Finchkey doing some photography at a retirement home. It certainly makes a change from railways!