Category Archives: Travel

Friday fun!

03 Friday Aug 2018

Posted by in Food and drink, Huddersfield, Railways, Travel

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I’ve no time for a full blog today, I’ve been flitting around too much and tonight I’m out with my wife’s family, so here’s the edited highlights as it were!

This morning I popped over to Liverpool to have a look at the rebuilt Lime St station. It’s impressive. This phase has concentrated on the really important stuff, tracks, platform extensions and signalling. Work’s still ongoing but all platforms bar one have reopened. At some point soon I’ll do a ‘then and now’ blog as I’ve pictures going back to the late 1980s which highlight how much things have changed. In the meantime, here’s a couple of shots from today.

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Looking back along the rebuilt platforms 3 and 4 (which used to be 4 and 5). The centre roads which were used for stabling trains have been torn up and the platform’s been widened

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The Southern extension of platforms 1 and 2 (formerly 2 and 3) has been built across former trackwork, meaning the single tunnel on the left only serves one platform.

DG304568. 350368. 150120. Liverpool Lime St. 3.8.18

The platforms nearest the camera are the new ones which occupy the site of the old taxi/parcels road which (until recently) occupied by the Virgin Trains lounge and waiting rooms.

I’ll add a lot more pictures from this outing to my Zenfolio website in the next few days. Right now I’m back in West Yorkshire at ‘ACoRP towers’ as this weekend it’s the Huddersfield food and drink festival (link). The event’s held on St George’s Sq, right outside the station. If you’ve never been I can really recommend it. Here’s a couple of pictures from earlier this evening.

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I’ve lots more to add but right now we’re off to one of our favourite restaurants, Thai Sakon.

 

Rolling blog: To Hull – and back…

01 Wednesday Aug 2018

Posted by in ACoRP, Community rail, I love my job, Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel

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Day 3 on the rails but today I’m off somewhere in a different quadrant of the country. I have a station to judge on the line between Hull and Scarborough so I’m currently on a Northern Rail service from Sowerby Bridge to Leeds on the first leg of the trip.

As I’m travelling post-peak i’ve managed to bag a table. I need to get some work done on the way as (surprise, surprise) there’s a lot of pictures from the past few days travel to edit and get onto my Zenfolio website.

Admittedly, the world outside the carriage window can be a bit of a distraction, especially on a lovely day like today but this leg of the trip is more like a commute rather than an adventure.

10:38.

Having caught a late-running train to Leeds I had nearly an hour to wait for my connection and explore. Leeds is yet another station that’s changed out of all recognition since my childhood days. It’s undergone a series of redevelopments over tge years and is set for more with the arrival of the new High Speed 2 (HS2) railway in 2033. Here’s a couple of images, the first shows a great bit of artwork on the side of the old BR offices many passengers never even notice.

Here’s the old concourse that was added by the LMS railway.

Despite the torrid time Northern Rail passengers have been having with delays and cancellations, the picture does seem to be improving, as this indicator board shows

Unfortunately, one of the few late trains is mine! The 10:48 to Hull run by Trans-Pennine Express keeps slipping, and slipping and slipping. It’s gone from 3, to 5 to 10 minutes late – which screws up my next connection, leaving me an hour late!

This is the most frustrating thing about the passenger information screens, the information is less than accurate. Logging on to the ‘realtime trains’ website I can see my train has lost time at every station stop and is now showing as over 15m late!

19:21

A very frustrating day. I’ve updated this blog several times during the day and added a load of pictures (via laptop and mobile), but nothing’s ‘stuck’. Will this?

20:00

I’m now on the final leg from Leeds to Halifax aboard yet another ex GWR Class 150. The cascade of trains from other TOCs to Northern is very noticeable right now because most are still in their former liveries. From a photographer’s perspective it’s great. Passengers see it differently. They care about the fact their conmuter train’s doubled in size. They’d be even more impressed if all the extra services promised arrived too and punctuality wasn’t so dire.

Home. 21:57

I’m hoping having my home broadband connection will allow me to update this blog as I’ve had a really interesting day. A problem with traveling by Trans-Pennine Express is that their internet connection has the heebie-jeebies when it comes to logging into WordPress, so I have to use my phone to blog from, which is frustrating.

Anyways, back to the narrative. Yes, I missed my connection in Hull. The bright side? The group I was visiting were very understanding and I got to explore. Even though I was only in Hull last year the station’s undergone another change. This time many of the old buildings at the back of the buffer-stops have been swept away and replaced with new. Here’s an example. The newish waiting room’s been replaced by a Starbuck’s. The adjoining buildings are yet to be let.

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I first visited Hull in 2004 when I started writing my bi-annual round Britain trips for RAIL magazine. In those days the front of the station was disfigured by a monstrous 1960s office block built by BR. That’s gone now and the grade 2 listed station hotel it hid has undergone a bit of a renaissance. It’s now owned by Britannia hotels and the downstairs lobby and bar is really rather classy. Here’s the entrance from the station concourse.

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Here’s what it looks like on the inside. Style is returning to railway station hotels…

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Moving on from Hull I did my visit, then pitched up in Bridlington to check out an old institution, the station bar. Sadly, it’s not what it was. The extravagant floral displays have disappeared and the quality of the beer was disappointing. After a number of years the present owners have decided to call it a day and sell up. I wish them both well and hope that whoever buys it keeps the special feel of the place.

Heading back South I stopped off at Beverley, a place that I’d never explored beyond the environs of the wonderful overall roofed station. Today I put that right and I was pleasantly surprised. It’s a lovely little market town with a very impressive cathedral

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Meanwhile, in the Market Square..

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Of course, the railway station which opened in 1846 is rather nice too. It’s a grade 2 listed building and one of only a handful which retain overall roofs.

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Rolling blog: Caledonian interlude.

31 Tuesday Jul 2018

Posted by in Railways, Rolling blogs, Scotland, Travel

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Greetings from Glasgow! After a convivial night in the city we’re ready to go judging again. We stayed in an Ibis in the city centre. It’s a nice hotel, but the views aren’t up to much!

There’s only one station to visit today before Paul C and I head off in different directions and I begin to wend my way back to Yorkshire. I’m not sure which way I’m going as it depends on the weather, which seems to be on an East-West divide today. There’s a few things I’d like to have a look at, so we’ll see. Scotland’s investing a lot of money in its rail network so there’s lots of changes to check out.

Right, we’re off…

09:18.

Our first train of the day is a refurbished Scotrail Class 158 fitted with high-backed seats and plug/USB sockets.

11.15

We’ve completed out visit and I’m now back in Glasgow. We’ve only a handful of stations left to judge now but both of us agree this is the toughest year for us to judge so far as the standard of the entries is so high.

As I crossed the city from Central to Queen St I stopped to admire a fine old Glasgow tradition which is clearly thriving! I especially like the stash of spare cones.

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13:20

I hung around Glasgow for a little while getting pictures before catching one of Scotrail’s brand new Hitachi built Class 385 EMU’s to Edinburgh. The Scotrail Twitter account was more than happy to let me know which services the pair that are in traffic were working, so here I am.

First impressions are good. We’re currently bowling along to Falkirk High and I’ve my laptop set up, plugged into the between seat power socket and connected to the onboard wifi. I’m in the front car of the second set. The acceleration of these trains is certainly good. The internal ambience isn’t bad either. The lighting’s not too bright, the seats are comfortable and the tables are large and certainly sturdy. Legroom in the airline seats is good and the seatback tables are solid, with a useful lip around the edge (with a depression for a cup to stop it sliding). There are a couple of things I’ve noticed. The toilet’s out of order in my vehicle (444104) and there’s a whistling noise from the door seals when we’re at speed. The suspension seems a tad harsh too. The PIS is a bit basic compared to the Siemens Class 700/707 too, it’s a simple, scrolling dot-matrix system that tells you the time and what station you’re arriving at next, plus your final destination. I do like the seat moquette on the priority seats adjacent to the doors. They have a different motif which feature pregnant women and those with children, the elderly and folks with injuries! Signage is good, although the seat numbers (which are displayed on the walls above the seats) are tiny and very difficult to see – even close up. If seat reservations will be used they’ll have to be the good old fashioned paper kind as there’s no electronic system provided.

I walked through into the leading set (385003) to see if there was any difference and noticed that the door whistling I’d noticed earlier was a one-off. This set was perfect. Looking around both sets I was impressed with the construction of the trains, they’re solid and well-made. I think they’re going to be a real hit with passengers.

Here’s a selection of pictures showing what the 385s look like from the inside.

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A table bay of four. Note the slots in the top of the seats for paper reservation labels and the fact that (like nearly all modern trains) seats don’t align perfectly with windows. The seats have folding armrests and there’s a power socket (one between two) located just under the front of each pair.

 

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Seating at the back of one of the driving cars in set 385104. There’s tip up seats on the opposite side by the toilet and the area’s designated as bicycle storage. Note the seat back tables for the airline seats.

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There’s five tip-up seats in the bicycle storage area which is clearly marked as such.

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One of the door areas in 385014. The door controls are at a height that anyone can use them. Note the difference in seat moquette. The seat to the left is designated as priority seating.

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Imaginative moquette on priority seating gets the message across!

 

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The vestibules are roomy and feature lots of curves rather than just straight lines. Beyond is the disabled access toilet.

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Inside the disabled toilet, showing the features which include a baby changing table.

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There’s space for two wheelchairs on the opposite side of the vestibule to the disabled access toilet. Note the tip back tables, power sockets and flip up companion seats.

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Seats aren’t cantilevered off the body side, but there’s still plenty of space underneath. Note the position of the power socket.

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Coathangers are an odd one. Not every seat seems to have one. Hitachi tell me that 2 are provided for every bay of 4, whilst airline seats have one each on the back of the seat in front. 

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The number 15 is actually the seat number. I hope these are only temporary as – unlike the rest of the signage – they’re very poor, extremely difficult to see and aren’t self explanatory. Hitachi tell me that these are temporary and for reference by the engineers bedding in the trains.  

DG304291. 385104. Edinburgh Waverley. 31.7.18

385104 after arrival at Edinburgh. Note the difference in the two front windows…

DG304286. 385003. 385104. Edinburgh Waverley. 31.7.18

Spot the difference…

 

Rolling blog: Northbound again (Sorry Dire Straits!)

30 Monday Jul 2018

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No rest for the wicked! My Sunday was spent visiting two different stations in Lancashire and Yorkshire with my Paul Cook, my fellow ACoRP awards judge. As one of them had no trains (the route was shut due to Bolton line electrification work) my wife Dawn ended up acting as chauffeur.

We couldn’t have chosen a worse day to drive! The weather had broken over the weekend so Dawn had the ‘joy’ of driving on the M62 and 61 motorways when you could have water-ski’d on them.

At one point we nearly did as we hit a huge sheet of water on the M61. Thankfully Dawn’s an experienced driver and kept her cool – tho’ the steering wheel did have finger marks in it afterwards! Fortunately, the weather began to break during our first visit and the drive back over to Yorkshire was far less tense.

Visits over we adjourned to the nearby Robin Hood pub in Cragg Vale to discuss the visits over one of their excellent Sunday lunches before going our seperate ways.

This morning I’m back on the rails and heading for Carlisle via Preston as Paul and I have stations to judge in Scotland. The weather’s still changeable but I’m not complaining. We desperately needed the rain and some more wouldn’t go amiss.

11:34.

I’m now in Carlisle, waiting for my ‘partner in crime’ to catch up with me. I’m currently enjoying a coffee under the station roof which was restored to its former magnificence in 2017.

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Carlisle station is now another on the network to be graced with a station bar called the ‘301 Miles‘ which serves an excellent range of draught and bottled beers (plus food) in a high vaulted room with a pair of superb old fireplaces and memorabilia about the railways, beer – and the  city itself.

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15:35.

Station visit done we’re now on the outskirts of Glasgow after heading up the GSW route from Dumfries via Kilmarnock.

22:55.

So many things I could have added today, but socialising with old friends got in the way – and don’t even ask about discussions on a Scottish view on Brexit! Tomorrow’s another day…

 

Summer lightning

28 Saturday Jul 2018

Posted by in Travel, Weather, West Yorkshire

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Well, the weather’s well and truly changed! On Friday we basked in the hot and humid weather we’ve come to take for granted this summer. I have to admit, it’s been glorious – I love summers like this. Yesterday I was out exploring the Fylde coast, an area I’ve never known well but I’ve been pleasantly surprised by. Here’s an example. The Italiante station building at Lytham has been turned into a very attractive pub.

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The railway’s still here of course, but the only reason I discovered the place was because I was on a rail replacement bus service. The bus took me through little villages I’d never seen before but ones I’m curious to come back and explore.

Today we did something a little different. After a slow morning at home listening to the thunder and rain Dawn suggested we have an impromptu day out. Dawn’s idea was to drive over to Ilkley Moor, a place I’ve never explored. So that’s what we did. The weather was amazing, it was constantly changing, this wasn’t four seasons in one day, it was four in an hour! Here’s a few examples.

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DG303932. Thiunderclouds and lightning. Ilkley. 28.7.18

With weather like this I couldn’t help but chuckle when we popped into a local pub nearby and I found this (one of my long time favourite beers) was on;

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After exploring Ilkley moor (sans hat) we went for a bite to eat in the town itself. I’d never ventured far from the station before, so I was pleasantly surprised by the genteel feel of the town and range of pubs and eateries. We’ll certainly be back.

Footloose…

25 Wednesday Jul 2018

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Sorry for the lack of a blog yesterday. It’s not that I wasn’t doing anything. Far from it – I ended up following the sunshine to Blackpool (of all places) to try and get pictures for two different clients. You’ll see some of the fruits of my labours on my website just as soon as I can upload them. Today I’ve been in Sconny Botland again, with the same sort of mission. The weather was far better than the forecast predicted. I ended up walking miles to research some locations so I’ve had a pretty good physical workout as well as getting pictures. Right now i’m coming full circle. I went from Halifax to Preston to Glasgow via the WCML before checking out locations on EGIP (Edinburgh- Glasgow Electrification Programne). Now I’m returning via the East Coast and York (plus Leeds).

Here’s what the view at Berwick looked like.

It’s funny the places you (unintentionally) end up in this game. After getting some lineside shots I was walking back to the road and spotted this. I’d never even heard of the event before now.

There’s an irony to this today as earlier a UKIP MEP and Brexit zealot called for the treason laws to be revised so that wanting to remain in the EU would be classed as treasonable!

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This is how far some folk in the UK have completely lost the plot.

Right, bedtime for me now. It’s been a long and sweaty day where my Fitbit stats don’t really reflect what I’ve been up to as they don’t account for the weight of my camera bag!

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Tomorrow I’m off judging stations tomorrow, but expect a big photo update by the end of the day, Meanwhile, here’s a teaser. The new Hitachi Class 385s have finally gone into service this week.

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Rolling blog: North of the Border (down Glasgow way).

17 Tuesday Jul 2018

Posted by in Railways, Rolling blogs, Scotland, Travel, Virgin West Coast

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I’m currently heading up to Scotland as part of a recce for a job and to get some library pictures. Only to say that it’s all going a bit pear-shaped is an understatement!

The trip started well. My train from Sowerby Bridge to Preston was worked by a pair of ex-GWR Class 153s and I had no trouble securing a table on which to set up my laptop and do some work en-route. The ex-GWR units are comfortable enough and the journey flew. At Preston I managed to race across platforms to catch the 09:41 Virgin service to Glasgow. Congratulating myself on making the connection I looked for somewhere to sit and found the train was only around 30% full, making it easy to get a seat with a table and power socket in Coach C. I even treated myself to a ‘meal deal’ for £5.50 as I hadn’t had time to have breakfast. To catch up on some work I bought myself the £10 for 7 days wifi access, but I have to say the speeds are a bit pedestrian. The wifi was good when it was first introduced, but now that the world and his wife’s carrying a gizmo that can connect to it, it’s far too overloaded, and sloooowww…

Bowling North through under some turbulent skies everything was fine until we got to Carlisle where we sat, and sat and sat. Eventually the Train Manager came on the PA (apologised for not having done earlier) and explained a combination of a fault on the train and a signalling problem had delayed us by 25 minutes. Finally, we were on the move and I enjoyed watching the Scottish borderlands fly by and the weather improve. Then we came to a halt outside Carstairs…

Very quickly the Train Manager was back on the PA. You could hear the pain in his voice as he explained that there was another signalling fault ahead and that we were expected to be delayed by another 30 minutes. His apologies were profuse.

So here we sit. It’s 12.20. I should have been in Glasgow 21 minutes ago…

12:22.

We’re on the move, but how far? As we crawl closer to Carstairs I can see another Pendolino slowly rounding the curve from the station towards Edinburgh. We’ve passed another heading South in the station and now we’re free and accelerating to line-speed. Phew!

19:26.

Well, I made it to Glasgow and hour late, which rather cut down on what I was planning to do as this was a flying visit after all. Still, I did get chance to have a look at the work that’s being done to improve Glasgow Queen St – which really has made a  huge difference to how it looks. The awful 1960’s buildings that boxed it in have been demolished, so now it’s possible to appreciate the span of the roof – in the same process that’s made such a huge difference to Liverpool Lime St station.

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Goodbye to all that…The arch of Glasgow Queen St emerges from the ruins. Note the North British lettering on the building in the background

I also managed a quick trip on a ‘happy train’, which is the nickname given to the Class 365 EMUs that are on short term lease to Scotrail whilst the technical issues with Hitachi’s new EMU’s are sorted out. I’m a fan of the 365 as I used them all the time when I lived in London. To my mind they’re the best of the BR built EMUs. I was impressed with their performance in Scotland as I took one as far as Falkirk High. They go like stink! On the return I travelled on a modern Siemens Class 380. The passenger ambience is better as they have a/c, plug sockets and bigger tables, but the acceleration was little different.

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Ex-GTR Class 365 ‘happy trains’ No’s 365537 and 365509 call at Falkirk High whilst working a service from Glasgow to Edinburgh

Now I’m heading back South on the 17:40 Pendolino. I’d loved to have stayed in Scotland longer but I’m back on ACoRP judging duty for the next three days and I’ve got to get home and back as I’m off to Dawlish in the morning!

20:24

I’m kicking my heels in Preston waiting for my connection, so there’s time to use the wifi and upload a few pictures. I’m kicking myself as it’s been a beautiful evening which would have been ideal for some lineside pictures, but I’ve no time to spare…

 

Surrey sojourn

14 Saturday Jul 2018

Posted by in Festivals, Tilford, Travel

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After running around the country for the past few days I’m having a quiet Saturday in Surrey. I’m here with Dawn’s family to attend the local Tilford fete. I’ll be posting some pictures from the raft race and other organised mayhem later. Tilford’s a quintessentially English village, as this picture shows, with cricket played on the green outside the village pub. The Institute in the background was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, who later went on to design New Delhi!

DG219537. Cricket on the green. Tilford. Surrey. 8.8.15

I’ll be back on the road tomorrow, heading North again ready for another hectic week. But watch out for fete pics later…

15:36.

Here’s the first few pictures from the fete.

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More later.

Rolling blog: You know that feeling of deja vu?

13 Friday Jul 2018

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Thank God it’s Friday! It’s my last day of having to catch the 06:03 to Leeds. Thee was a real feeling of deja vu this morning as the day started as a replay of Thursday with carbon-copy weather (drizzle) on my walk to the station, followed by the exact same train trip – a rare event in my life. I’ve never really been a commuter.

Although this first trips the same, the destinations are different. I’m off to Leeds to catch a Cross-Country service down to Derby, where I’ll meet up with colleagues from EMT. I’m judging three more stations on their patch today. This time they’re on the Western side and we’ll be travelling by rail, not road.

Northern have provided another 2-car Class 158 today, so it looks like Wednesday’s 3-car set was an aberration (possibly because of the Great Yorkshire show being on in Harrogate). There does seem to be a little more flexibility in the fleet nowadays thanks to the influx of ‘new’ DMUs from Scotrail & GWR. I noticed a couple spare at Sheffield yesterday wheras at one time everything that could turn a wheel would be put out in the peak!

This train seems quieter too. We’ve left Bradford with plenty of spare seats so it’ll be interesting to see what it’s like when we’ve called at the busy stations of New Pudsey and Bramley.

Even I’ve opted to sit instead of perching in a luggage rack.

07:30

I’m now esconced on the 07:10 from Leeds to Derby which is a pair of Cross-Country Voyagers heading for Plymouth. It’s a quiet train although I doubt it’ll say that way for long. Seats will be occupied several times on the way to Devon.

I was going to use the wifi then realised the system was only offering minute bundles rather than that and the periods they always have and still advertise. Odd…

07:51.

Deep joy – we’ve been crawling along the line towards Sheffield for 20 plus minutes now. I get the impression that we’re caught behind a late-running stopping service, which could make my 12 minute connection at Derby ‘interesting’. To make matters more fun, my fellow judge is on the way in from Crewe and reports his train’s down to one engine and has been delayed ‘cos someone left a set of level crossing gates open!

09:07.

Made it! We’ve all met up but Friday 13th’s struck. A freight train’s causing fun on the Nth Staffs line so Donna’s nabbed a pool car to take us to the first station. We’re now bouncing along the A50 en-route to Alsager.

11.53

First visit done. Driving was a wise move as that failed freight train buggered up N Staffs services all morning. Now we’re retracing our steps before heading into Leicestershire…

13:39.

Second visit done and I’ve had chance to sample the fruit of the cherry trees at Syston station!

So far we’ve had Strawberries and cucumbers on this trip!

16:41.

Here’s the three of us at the last station of the day. Can you guess where it is?

Now our job’s done. Donna’s been a star for the past couple of days and her help’s allowed us to save a lot of time. I’m back in Derby (emailing pictures to a magazine) before heading South.

17:53.

Demobbed! Well, for a little while at least. I’ve had a very hectic (but fascinating and positive) week. Now I’m heading to Surrey for a couple of nights to be with my wife’s family and friends in time for the Tilford fete tomorrow. Although I must admit – the idea of a Saturday lie-in appeals…

Right now I’m on EMT’s 17:32 from Derby, a station that’s about to undergo a second transformation in little more than a decade. Last time the fabric of the station (buildings, canopies etc) were rebuilt. This month the work is far more demanding and difficult. Track and signalling will be replaced and both throats will be extensively remodelled whilst a new Island platform will be added to increase capacity. It’s a hugely complex task. Derby is a hub of the cross-country rail network that’ll be out of action for a while. Work like this is why I can’t help laughing at the useless anti Hs2 campaign and their “just modernise the existing network” refrain. I’ll be polite, refrain from colloquialisms and simply say ‘they know…very little’.

20:12

This is probably my last entry for the day. I’m now on Southwestern Railways 19:53 from Waterloo to Farnham. To say it’s a different railway to the one i’ve travelled these past couple of days is an understatement. No more one per hour single car DMU’s, this is 8-12 car EMUs every half hour! But, let’s be realistic. That’s because the area justifies it. I suspect that if I totted up the annual salary of everyone on this single train it would be more than all the people who use (say) the line through Market Rasen every day.

Digressing…

Crossing London earlier was fun. I’m still a cosmopolitan Londoner at heart and seeing all the people carrying their banners home from today’s protest against Donald Trump gave me hope. At least some of us are fighting against the slide into the political abyss.