Tilford tales. Day 1…

24 Sunday Sep 2023

Posted by in India, Photography, Surrey, Travel

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Sunday turned out to be far lazier than we expected. The original plan involved going into Farnham to do some shopping and watch Dawn’s nephew Sam play rugby before her brother Darren flew off to Italy with a wine-tasting group. Then, late morning, things went a bit pair-shaped. Darren received a text telling him his flight was cancelled. After some frantic phone calls another (later) flight was found. Then another problem reared its head. The name on Darren’s ticket didn’t match the full name in his passport – and airlines can knock you back when that happens. Of course, when you’re in a hurry stressed and the clock is ticking, you just know technology will let you down to make even the simplest of tasks more difficult and/or expensive so it took Darren ages to sort out that one.

Whilst the drama unfolded there was no way any of us were going anywhere, so I decided to put the dead time to use and go through some old picture folders on my laptop and do something productive. Early last year I’d scanned several hundred old travel slides but never got around to editing them and loading them onto my Zenfolio website. So, today was a good day to start! I’ve managed to wade through a couple of hundred of them. They’re pictures from the marathon 18 month round the world trip that Lynn and I made in 1997-1999. This particular batch are all from India taken in 1998 and you can find the first of them here. The latest scans start in Chennai in the South of India, encompass Puri and the Sun temple at Konarak in Orissa, then take in Calcutta and finally Varanasi.

Whilst I waded through pictures the airline fun and games was finally resolved and a plan hatched. The three of us would drive to Gatwick Airport, then Dawn would drive Darren’s car home whilst I rode shotgun and did the navigating for Dee to help her concentrate on driving on unfamiliar and very busy roads like the M25.

Everything went like clockwork – apart from Darren’s plane being delayed leaving! By that time he was airside and self-medicating in the bar, so it wasn’t an issue! This evening we’ve had a quiet one at home, Dee’s been cooking whilst I’ve been editing and preparing for a little job tomorrow.

Despite all the shambles of the Tories rowing back on just about every promise they’ve ever made, work on building phase 1 of High Speed 2 continues. 30,000 folk are employed on the project and tomorrow I’m off to see work on the existing railway between Princes Risborough and Aylesbury where HS2 will pass under the present line. It’s rather a unique bridge that’s being built there and I’ll be trackside, seeing the existing railway being reinstated over HS2. I’ll be posting a few bits about my trip but you’ll be able to read much more about what’s going on in future editions of RAIL magazine.

Expect daily rolling blogs from tomorrow as I’ll be out and about on the network each day, looking at various projects and locations across 3rd rail land so there’ll be plenty to write about and photograph.

I’ll end tonight with one of the pictures I’ve scanned. Here’s the ghats at Varanasi, India just after sunrise one morning in February, 1998.

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

Rolling blog. Surrey road trip…

23 Saturday Sep 2023

Posted by in Musings, Photography, Rolling blogs, Surrey

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10:30.

I’m eschewing my usual mode of transport as the pair of us are driving down to Surrey. Bigland Towers will be in exile in the home counties for the next week, which means taking the bare bones of two office setups with us.

Today’s a good day for travelling, unlike earlier in the week. The sun’s shining, the roads are dry and there shouldn’t be too much commercial traffic on the road…

11:10.

So far so good. We cut across country from Halifax to the M1 via windy A roads that provide the most direct route, although the potholed conditions leave something to be desired. Now we’re on the M1.

11:30.

All was going well until a couple of miles before the junction with the M18 when we hit a jam which we’re now stuck in, crawling along at 7mph.

11:34.

Free! Some poor sod was unlucky enough to break down on a carriageway reduced in size due to roadworks!

12:00.

We’re back on the road again after taking a wee (literally) break at Woodall services – not one I’m familiar with. The place was busy with others with the same idea, doing similar for their four-legged friends and smokers, sucking on fags as they hung around their cars.Motorway services have gone upmarket since my hitchhiking days in the 80s-90s. This one even has a Waitrose supermarket!

13:50.

Having called in at our usual pitsop at Watford Gap we sat in the sun, watching the world go by whilst munching a sandwich on the grass bank at the rear of the service area. The car-park was packed with vehicles as this is such a strategic services due to its location near were the M6 motoway diverges from the M1. One thing I noticed on this visit was how many EV charging stations have been installed and were in use.

Now we’re on our way South, but not by our normal route. The A43 is closed between the M1 and Towcester, so we’re sticking on the M1 and heading for the London orbital carpark (aka the M25).

This section of the motorway brings back so many memories of my hitchhiking days, heading to/from London. When I moved to the capital in 1986 I couldn’t afford the train fare or to hire a van so I spent several weeks hitchhiking back and forth, moving my stuff South by the rucksack load! Happy days!

I had a series of white plastic cards that fitted in my bag, each one bore the number of a main motorway such as “M1 please”, plus one for emergencies when you got stuck for ages. It read “anywhere but here!” It would raise a smile if nothing else but also a lift sometimes.

Funny the way the memory’s jogged sometimes. Near Luton we’ve passed a couple of bikers. Years ago I often came to see a friend who’d moved here and we’d go out and about on this 250cc Honda. Of course, you’re immortal when you’re in your 20s and riding pillion with Duncan could be an ‘interesting’ experience as Duncan enjoyed his beer and exotic substances. So much so his nickname was ‘Duncan disorderly’…

Then (the early 80s) there was a pub in nearby Dunstable that was popular with bikers and hippies. The Wheatsheaf didn-t have a jukebox. Instead it had twin decks so people could bring in their own albums. We’d often bike over there. One time Duncan was a little overzealous with his overtaking and I felt the car coming inthe opposite direction brush against my jeans!

What’s changed so much since those days is the landscape around the motorway. Where it once passed through open fields it’s now hemmed in by massive distribution warehouses for the likes of Amazon, H&M and Lidl.

16:20.

And relax – we’re here in Tilford. The car’s unloaded and it’s time for a breather. The Southern end of the M1 and M25 were very busy but kept flowing, as did the M3. Then we headed across country past Aldershot and the Hog’s Back to reach our destination.

19:00.

Having sorted ourselves out it was time to have a mooch and take Tilly, the family’s Cairn Terrior for a walk. Tilly has a set route, oddly enough, she was insistant thart we called in here – The Barley Mow…

22:45.

‘Tis time to bid goodnight. We’ve had a lovely evening full of food and drink here in Tilford, but now it’s time to call it a day. Tomorrow the Platt family are off to watch the youngest male member of the clan play Rugby. Me? Rugger’s never been a game on my horizon, so I’ll take the camera for a walk somewhere. I just don’t know where yet. Watch this space…

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

That went well!

20 Wednesday Sep 2023

Posted by in Hampshire, Musings, Railways, Travel, West Yorkshire

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I’m typing this from Bigland Towers, which is rather unfortunate as you should be receiving this missive from darkest Devon…

On Tuesday Dawn and I were due to drive down to North Devon in order to stay with some old friends who moved there from West Yorkshire a few years ago. It would have been the first chance we would have had to visit them as Covid got in the way before now. Then on Monday we received a message that the pair of them had gone down with a stomach bug so we provisionally knocked the trip back for 24 hours. On Tuesday we found out the bug wasn’t of the 24 hour variety so we reluctantly (but sensibly) decided to postpone our visit until next year due to hectic schedules between now and then. We were all gutted as our friends had planned some brilliant trips such as beach walks and (of course) railways.

Our ‘rain-check’ proved to be eminently sensible in more ways than one as the weather here in West Yorkshire and in North Devon was shocking – and in many points in between it seems. We’ve had torrential rain and gales so driving all that way on motorways would not have been fun at all – especially as we’d planned to do the 300 mile trip in a day. So, we’ve stayed at home, which has been frustrating as the climatic conditions have made it impossible to get much exercise in. I could have gone walking but even with full waterproofs it would’ve been a miserable experience. Instead I’ve been trying to stop the garden blowing away as my Gladioli and other plants have taken a battering. We’re now on day 3 and the weather’s finally changed. We nipped out for lunch with Dawn’s parents over at a garden centre near Holmfirth where I picked up some Pansies to replace some of the summer plants that are past their best. Late afternoon blue skies put in an appearance, the wind abated and the rain finally sodded off. So, tomorrow, rather than enjoying the hedonistic delights of Devon I’ll be at home, repairing the garden and putting up shelves. However, all’s not lost, we’re only stuck here until Saturday, then we head down to Surrey, where we’ll be based for a week – and the weather forecast is looking very promising indeed. I’m hoping I may be able to take the camera for a walk around this neck of the woods on Friday, but we’ll see how much gets done tomorrow…

I’ll leave you with a picture from one of the lines I should be back exploring next week. Here’s the old signalbox at Haselmere station, seen on the 5th July 2017.

This London and South Western Railway type 4 design is 127 years old and listed Grade 2. There are plans to preserve it in situ when the line is resignalled.

The Portsmouth direct line is in the process of being renewed and resignalled. You can learn more about the project here.

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

Has Labour changed its mind on building HS2? No!

18 Monday Sep 2023

Posted by in Hs2, Politics, Rail Investment, The Labour Party

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The past few days has seen even more confusion than usual about the future of the HS2 rail project. There’s the usual dither and delay as a dysfunctional Tory government can’t make its mind up what to do about anything with HS2 just being one item on a long list of issues and policies it’s incapable of tackling with any consistency or rationality.

In many ways, that doesn’t really matter. Most people, including many Tory MPs, can smell the stench of a dying government. What the smart money is on now is what Labour will do when they come back to power at the next election. Labour (who started the HS2 project) have always backed it in opposition, but over the past couple of days sections of the media have cast doubt on the idea and speculated that Labour are somehow backtracking. Today, a group of Labour Shadow Ministers took to the airwaves and Twitter (I refuse to call it ‘X’) to make it very clear that wasn’t the case. I’ve gathered those comments together here. First up is Lou Haigh, the Shadow Secretary of State for Transport, who reinforced the message put out by Shadow Paymaster General Jon Ashworth in an interview on Sky news.

The message was further rammed home by Shadow Rail Minister Stephen Morgan in this trio of tweets.

Mark Walker of PR agency Cogitamus tweeted the fact that Shadow Minister without Portfolio Nick Thomas-Symonds had also been making Labour’s position clear on the BBCs ‘PM’ radio programme in an interview with Evan Davies.

Meanwhile, the BBC put out this tweet of the interview.

That’s four Labour Shadow Ministers making the party’s position crystal clear in what’s obviously a concerted approach which will almost certainly have the blessing of the Labour Leader’s office. It’s easy to see why. HS2 has massive support up in the North and Midlands where the Tories vacillation on the project has gone down like a cup of cold sick. Labour are smelling blood and capitalising on this to highlight the Tories ‘selling out’ the North and abandoning all pretense of ‘levelling up’. Labour are being handed an ideal opportunity to lambast the Government and erode any support they may still have in the ‘red wall’ seats. After all, why wouldn’t they support building HS2? It was their brainchild after all. Will the Tories realise the trap they’ve set for themselves? Possibly not as they’re so dysfunctional right now. They’re too busy listening to the swivel-eyed loons who got Liz Truss into such policy debacle.

Of course, Labour coming out in force to stamp out any confusion over their HS2 stance will be ignored by some sections of the media and also by the tiny number of Nimbys, right-wingers and faux ‘greens’ who still think them muttering on Twitter can possibly change anything. Labour can safely ignore them as most of them would never vote Labour anyway and none of them have the clout to affect an election in any meaningful way and barring something like an asteroid hitting the Earth, it’s almost certain that Labour will form the next Government…

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

16th September picture of the day…

16 Saturday Sep 2023

Posted by in Brazil, Musings, Photography, Picture of the day, Railways, Travel

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The (alleged) old Chinese curse ‘may you live interesting times’ springs to mind right now. Having returned from Thursday’s national rail awards I’m finding life odd to say the least. Seeing so many familiar faces at the NRA was lovely – as was having time to chat – even though time flew by all too quickly and I didn’t get to talk to half the people I’d have liked to. Plus, the awards felt very much like the end of an era with Nigel Harris retiring, plus other changes that are going on I’m not going to reveal here. The railway ‘Oscars’ felt different this year because the rail industry is in a mess. Not one of it’s own making to be fair, the railways are just another victim of an utterly incompetent Government that hasn’t got a clue what it’s doing – about anything. Forget re-arranging the deckchairs on the Titanic, with this lot you can add musical deckchairs as Ministers constantly change their minds depending on which loon – Sorry, ‘think tank’ or special advisor has got their ear. The sooner we have a general election and this miserable lot are put out of their misery the better. Sadly, the mess we’re in isn’t all down to the Tories. There’s a sickness throughout the UK body politic which means we’re ill-served by the political classes as they just can’t be honest with people – hence Labour’s insistence that you can actually polish a turd and they can make Brexit ‘work’. Oh, and don’t even get me started on the ‘green’ party – a collection of Nimbys who seem to spend most of their time opposing solutions to climate change (solar farms, nuclear power, HS2) as they know they can posture all they like as they’ll never hold power. I should mention that the Scottish greens are an exception to this. They’re a separate party who’re pragmatic, positive and not in thrall to Nimbyism the way their cousins South of the border are. In a lot of ways I’d be quite tempted to move North of the border as Scotland seems to be so more progressive than England. Shame about the weather tho’…

Looking around it’s hard to remain positive about the future of this septic Isle as honesty and realism in politics is about as rare as rocking-horse shit right now. Meanwhile, as many folk who tear themselves away from gawping at TV screens may have noticed, we’re having some really weird weather due to climate change. But what are we doing about it as a nation? Answers on a postcard please…

You may have got the impression that I’m feeling rather cynical at the moment. In which case all I can say is – damned right! I’m normally a glass half-full sort of guy but right now it’s difficult to maintain that perspective. Hopefully, my equilibrium will be restored soon. Whatever, it’s time to think about my own future in a changing world.

Whilst I ponder I’ll leave you with today’s picture. I’ve updated my Zenfolio website with a host of different pictures taken over the last couple of weeks. Follow this link to see which galleries they’re in. Now, what to choose? OK, how about this…

Although I was away for the first couple of months of this year the one thing I didn’t manage was any beach time. I need to put that right on my next trip. Here’s a beach on a very special island few people will have set foot on due to its isolated location. This is Baia do Sancho on the island of Fernando de Noronha off the coast of Brazil, seen on the 19th August 2002.

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

Rolling blog. National Rail Awards 2023…

14 Thursday Sep 2023

Posted by in London, National Rail Awards, Photography, Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel

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12:15.

The pair of us are currently bouncing along from Bradford to Leeds on a Northern Class 195 in order to head down to London for tonight’s National Rail Awards, an event I’ve only missed once since (gulp!) 2003. Jeez. Were’s the last 20 years gone?

Tonight will be rather special as the awards host and Editor of RAIL magazine, Nigel Harris, leaves Bauer after 28 years tomorrow so it’s very much the end of an era. Nigel’s an old friend. The pair of us first met as volunteers on the Lakeside and Haverthwaite railway back in the mid 1970s. Then, in 2001 I started working for RAIL as a freelance photographer which brought me to the attention of the wider railway industry. The rest (as they say) is history…

12:45.

We’ve swapped our Northern 195 for some ‘classic’ traction to Kings Cross in the shape of 91111 ‘For the Fallen’

16th September update.

Sorry, I was overtaken by events that evening (literally) so never finished this blog. Despite the awards opening at 17:45 and going on until the early hours of the morning there’s never enough time. There’s so many people to see and say hello to, never mind get into conversation with – and Dawn and I have been privileged enough to have the run of the place and access to the VIP area which is the bar above the Great Hall.

Seeing so many old faces was lovely and (as usual) there was lost of stimulating and informative conversations. The Rail awards really are the railway ‘Oscars’ so pretty much everybody in the rail industry who can be there is. Only this time there was a twist due to Nigel retiring after so many years. Nigel’s co-presenter this year was the always entertaining TV journalist Steph McGovern, a person who has a host of stories and not afraid to call a spade a spade – or someone a tw*t! You should hear her anecdotes about meeting Donald Trump!

Here’s a few pictures from the night.

The VIP balcony. Folk in the rail industry may be able to spot a few familiar faces.
The view from our table as Steph McGovern gets into her story-telling stride…
Sir Peter Hendy was one of the people who bid farewell to Nigel (seen on the right).

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

Rolling blog. Southport surprise…

13 Wednesday Sep 2023

Posted by in Railways, Rolling blogs, Southport, Travel

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12:30.

The surprise is I wasn’t meant to be going to Southport today at all! I was meant to be working at home. However…

This morning I went to my wardrobe to dig out my Tuxedo ready for tomorrow’s National Rail Awards. I knew it’d still fit so I’d left it to the last munute as usual. My lastminute.com behavior is the bane of my wife’s life but that’s another story. So, you can imagine the scene as I’m ruffling through my collection of clothes but can’t find it. I’d lent it to my brother in law in Southport last year and could have sworn I’d collected it earlier this year. Surely, I hadn’t left it on a train? Five minutes of frantic ruffling (it must’ve looked like a Tom and Jerry cartoon scene) established that it was nowhere to be found. One worried phone call to my sister established that it was actually still with her in Southport. So, here I am, on the 12:02 from Sowerby Bridge to Manchester, sheepishly heading to Southport to collect it!

Still, it’s a nice day for it and I can do some work on the way/way back…

13:15.

Rather than changing trains at Victoria I opted to travel to Salford Central and have a look at the refettled platforms. The station was closed for several weeks for an upgrade which has seen the platforms resurfaced along with other cosmetic changes that reflect its growing importance due to the massive changes to the area it serves. Forty years ago the station was surrounded by abandoned goods yards which had become temporary car parks. It was a depressing place. Now it’s full of high-rise residential blocks, multi-storey car parks and new offices. It’s quite a transformation.

The 13:12 to Southport calls at Salford Central, worked by a former ‘Thameslink’ Class 319 converted to a bi-mode Class 769.

13:45.

Having bolted to Bolton under electric power we’re now burbling to Wigan on diesel. The problems with changing over power that used to bug these units seem to have been ironed out.

17:30.

Well, that was a mixed day. I’m now on an ex-East Midland Railway Class 156 from Southport heading back to Manchester. I had time to kill in my old hometown as my sister didn’t get home from work until after 16:00 so I mooched around the town centre near the station. It’s a sad place nowadays. The impressive old Victorian Chapel St station was a real gateway to the town. It was demolished in the late 60s early 70s, to be replaced by an unattractive shopping centre with the truncated station hidden behind it. Even the shopping centre’s looking sad. It lost it’s flagship M&S store a few years ago. Now it’s losing one of its other staples – Wilko, which shuts in 5 days time. I had a quick look around and whilst there were some bargains there was nothing I could carry and it’s not what I was in town for.

Not many bargains left…

Moving on I had a look at the old Cambridge arcade which led from Chapel St to Lord street past another old flagship department store which closed. Talk about an air of dereliction!

To be fair, part of the arcade roof is being restored, but many of the the shops sheltering beneath it have closed.

I elected to walk up to my sisters as I could shadow the railway to get a few pictures en-route whilst viewing places I grew up in. It was all rather sad. I passed a former shoe-shop where my parents took me to buy my school shoes. The father and son who ran it until recently have both gone now and the shop with its iron and glass canopy has been turned into this.

That’s progress I suppose. The world has moved on from local shops to the internet and small businesses are struggling. That area used to be a thriving shopping village but all that’s left now is a few fast-food and booze shops, although one business has at least tried make the place look attractive and welcoming rather than just being a car-park.

Cars have had a huge impact on the character of the town. So many houses have what were attractive front gardens when I was a kid turned into hard-standing for cars. It’s both ugly and unsustainable but the council seems all too happy to let it happen.

Having picked up my Tux from my sisters there was one last and very unexpected surprise in store for me. As I entered Meols Cop station to catch the train I heard a voice shout ‘Paul’ from the shelter. It’s once in a blue moon that I bump into anyone in Southport from the ‘old days’ but I recognised the face immediately even though I hadn’t seen him for over 30 years. It was the eyes – and the hair (lucky barsteward!) This was a lad called Wayne whom I knew in the 1980s. Only he’s not a lad anymore! He was there with his teenage son who must have been about the age Wayne was when I first met him! Talk about a blast from the past!

22:30.

I’m home and relaxing after my impromptu trip to the seaside. My last surprise of the day was catching the train from Manchester and sitting next to an old acquaintance who now works as a Driver for Grand Central. Kieran had been in Manchester with a Northern colleague so the three of us ended up chatting about the state of the rail industry all the way to Hebden Bridge. What an unexpectedly sociable day.

Now it’s time to wind down, so I’ll leave you with a couple more pictures from today.

Due to a shortage of working units and with so many already gone for scrap the old 507/508 fleet often works as single sets nowadays. Here’s 508131 at Southport.
The changing face of Merseyrail as the sidings at Southport hold a mix of old and new trains. But not for much longer…
Bi-mode 769456 passes under Windsor Rd footbridge on its way into Southport. This is a scene of decrepitude and decay nowadays. A far cry from how I remember it in its heyday.

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

York interlude…

12 Tuesday Sep 2023

Posted by in Photography, Railways

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Having been tied up at home recently (not literally you understand) and having had an appointment down in Sowerby Bridge this morning I thought ‘bugger it’ and escaped the valley for a few hours – even tho’ the weather was less than clement. I caught a train from Sowerby Bridge to Leeds via Dewsbury which allowed me a window-seat to observe progress on the Trans-Pennine Route Upgrade (TTU) – not that were huge changes. The most obvious sign that something’s afoot is the amount of new cable troughing that’s sat on pallets by the lineside, waiting to be installed. Well, that and the new stations of course. Morley’s coming along. The old platforms are being demolished and the new station’s slowly gaining a new footbridge with lifts. Farther up the line (or should that be Down the line?) ‘White Rose’ station’s taking shape. I’ll venture out next month to get pictures of progress.

Arriving at Leeds I swapped from Northern to a late-running TPE (surprise, surprise) service to York. There’s TPU work happening on this section too but I’m not familiar with the specifics other than the overhead wires having spread West from Colton Junction to end in the middle of nowhere – for now.

When I arrived at York I found it strangely quiet, although the fact it’s a September Tuesday may have had an impact as there’s bugger-all going on. That said, there’s always something of railway interest, as these pictures prove.

Former East Midlands Trains ‘dogbox’ 153311 is now used as a test train. I managed to catch it in the sidings during its brief layover.
Former Calder Valley class 155 set 155345 rattles the station roof as it rumbles its way to Bridlington. Nowadays, this small class of 7 units are all based at Hull’s Botanic Gardens depot.
Mind the gap. Level boarding is a dream on lots of the railway network, as this shot of passengers detraining from a Blackpool North – York service illustrates.
Grand Central have been having an awful time with reliability of their Angel trains class 180 fleet recently. So much so units have been hired in. Here’s former East Midlands Railway 180110 working 1N95, the 1427 London Kings Cross to Sunderland.

I’ll add these and other pictures to my Zenfolio website shortly. Right now I’m back at home and taking the night off. See you soon…

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

11th September picture of the day…

11 Monday Sep 2023

Posted by in Essex, Musings, Photography, Picture of the day, West Yorkshire

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There’s only a short blog from me today. It’s late and I’ve had a long day glued to the computer editing pictures which have now appeared on my Zenfolio picture website. As usual, they’re spread around various galleries which are dedicated to particular train companies, aspects of the railways – or other interests. There’s still more pictures to edit but the majority have been uploaded. You can find them in these galleries;

Greater Anglia

Govia/Thameslink

Infrastructure and engineering

East Midlands Railway

Social issues

UK travel photography

Odds and sods

Another of today’s chores was to package and parcel the latest eBay sales of old railway slides and memorabilia and get them down to to post office for dispatch to the lucky winners. There’s still plenty of items on offer (I’ve just started another 5 day sale now) so if you want to browse what’s for sale, click on this link.

I’m having break from the office tomorrow so expect a rolling (ish) blog, although I can’t tell you where I’ll be going as I don’t know myself yet! It depends on the weather and what’s happening.

In the meantime, I’ll leave you with a taster from my new travel pictures. This one’s of Saffron Walden in Essex. It’s a delightful little market town that couldn’t be more different in character and design than West Yorkshire…

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

10th September picture of the day…

10 Sunday Sep 2023

Posted by in Calder Valley, Musings, Photography, Picture of the day, West Yorkshire

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We’ve had a mixed weekend here back at Bigland Towers. Much of the time’s been taken up with catching up on daily chores that have been neglected after a week away. The one item missing from our accommodation was a washing machine, so ours has been working overtime to process a weeks work of dirty clothing. Thankfully, the sunny weather continued over Saturday, which was probably the hottest day we’ve had here in the Calder Valley this year. The pair of us were too busy to venture far but we did manage a wander into Sowerby Bridge to pick up some shopping, stop for a quick drink, then wander back along the canal. I even managed to nip out for a few games of pool and catch-up with friends before returning to evening cooking duty when I experimented with a new Thai recipe.

Today’s been in similar vein with the exception that Dee’s been out most of the day at a relaxation and meditation course whilst I’ve stayed at home to wade through more washing and get stuck into editing the hundreds of pictures I took whilst we were away but which haven’t (yet) made it onto my Zenfolio website. I’m making good progress and many of them will appear by tomorrow.

I still managed to get my daily constitutional in and 12.5k steps but it was a close run thing as the weather really has turned the afternoon. I’d hung around until late in the afternoon before getting out and just managed to dodge a heavy shower. That said, we’ve escaped the storms that seem to have hit to the North and South of us. all we’ve had is a few mild rumbles of thunder, but (disappointingly) no lightning – otherwise I’d have had the camera out as I love a good storm. Today’s picture is an illustration of all the weather offered us, hardly dramatic compared to some pictures I’ve seen.

Here comes the rain again…

Now I’m typing this listening to more distant rumbles of thunder as storms are moving through our area this evening but they’re still failing on the pyrotechnic front. Tomorrow’s going to be another day stuck at home as I’ve a load of eBay sales to dispatch, pictures to edit and stuff to sort out for later in the week. It’s the National Rail Awards on Thursday, so it’s time to dust off the Tuxedo…

See you tomorrow!

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312