Today was one of those days that didn’t really go to plan because of the bane of the outdoor photographer’s life. The weather. It started well enough. I was working from home, wading through all the pictures I took on Merseyside yesterday whilst also dealing with emails and other correspondence. But I could see the weather was ideal for photography. Dawn was going into the Community Rail Network office in Huddersfield for a meeting with Network Rail and TPE so she suggested I might want a lift into town. It sounded like a good idea to me as I could get pictures of some of the Trans-Pennine Route Upgrade (TRU) work and diverted services for the the archive. I really should have checked the weather forecast first…
All was well until we got to Huddersfield, the weather looked cracking. Then I dug the camera out. Just as soon as I did dark clouds marched in from the West – bugger! Huddersfield station was quiet as only a few services were running (to Sheffield, Bradford Interchange, Marsden, Leeds and Hull) the busiest place was the station forecourt where fleets of coaches were ferrying people across the Pennines to Manchester. My plan was to hang around for half an hour before catching the first available train to Brighouse where I’d intended to get a series of lineside shots of the TPE services diverted via the Calder valley, only the bloody clouds followed me and the weather got gloomier – and wetter. I ended up retreating to the Market Tavern in order to have a pint and make a series of work phone calls to make something of the day whilst hoping the weather would clear again. It teased me a couple of times with brief flashes of sunshine, but then the rain arrived so I gave up and came home via a train to Sowerby Bridge before slogging up the hill to home and my desk. Ho hum!
Still, I did get the picture of the day at least. The friends of Brighouse station have done some fantastic work over recent years, transforming the station with plants and flowers. Now they’ve branched out and added a series of local history boards which tale the tale of the town and some of its inhabitants. One in particular caught my eye. Do you remember the old song about the man who broke the bank of Monte Carlo? Well, he was real – and he was local…
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/
Amazing the difference a good nights sleep makes. I woke up in a much more positive frame of mind this morning. Mind you, stepping straight out of your door to a wonderful river view does rather help. Here’s where I’m staying.
There’s such wildlife to enjoy here (and I’m not talking about the ‘girly’ bars). The river’s teeming with fish and the birdlife (of the feathered variety) is amazing. I’m quite content to pass the time sat outside my room on the verandah and watch the world go by. I’d only booked a couple of nights but I’ve decided to extend that by a few days as today’s been spent exploring the town and catching up on picture editing. It’s a sleepy place in the mornings. The town doesn’t really wake up until the heat of the day’s passed – apart from around the bridge where the tourist tat stalls are. A couple of bars open for the hardened drinkers, all old Western men who’ve either retired here or take long holidays to Thailand. I passed one such large group of Englishmen tucking into their beers at 10 am!
One place I did visit today is the war cemetery run by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. A group of Thai workers were busy keeping it looking immaculate. A party of Thai schoolchildren on a trip were there at the same time. Each child picked a grave at random and wrote down the details of the soldier contained on the plaque. It’s a sobering place. Each one of these allied soldiers died building the railway, along with an estimated 100,000 Asian forced labourers.
The youngest soldiers (and a sailor) I found were 20. The oldest was 51. The average age would have been mid 20s. Such a waste of life – and sadly it’s still going on today thanks to the meglomania of old men like Putin. We never learn.
Now I’m back at my room, relaxing as the sun sets before heading off to eat. Tonight I’ll be busy finishing off some work so expect more pictures and commentary later. It’s Friday, so the place is beginning to fill up with folks from Bangkok who come here for weekend breaks. This could get interesting…
21:20 (Thai time).
Having had a wander for a bite to eat and enjoyed some fiery noodle soup (my fault, I loaded it with dried chilies) I’m now relaxing at home whilst the town gears up for the weekend. Here’s a couple of pictures taken on the main drag.
Not quite streetfood as it’s cooked in a cafe, but you eat it on the street! One of the main ‘girly bars’. Trade’s slow…
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Here’s my first blog from Greece where the pair of us are doing our best to kick back and enjoy a holiday whilst trying to take a break and ignore as much as possible the political and economic madness of the UK (and the rest of the world). To that end we’ve even booked a hotel where we don’t have wifi in the room so that we’re not tempted to be constantly checking t’internet and have a bit of a media detox – hence my lack of blogging. I’ve even had days out where the camera’s stayed at home. Lordy!
We’re staying at a little place called Lardos in the South-East coast of Rhodes. It’s unheard of for us but we’re actually on a package holiday, staying in the same place for a fortnight for the simple reason that this really is meant to be a holiday. Chance to relax, have a base from which we can explore – or just sit by the pool and sun ourselves. The area we’re staying in is a satellite development of the original village. It’s by the beach whilst the old town is inland. Again, it’s not where we’d normally stay but we’ve a great little hotel. (the Cosmos Maris) and the village is only a 25 minute walk away. We pop up there most days for a coffee in a great little local café which is an ideal place to sit and people watch as it’s on the edge of the town square and frequented by many locals, unlike the nearby tourist orientated restaurants, where people (mostly, but not exclusively Brits) are swilling beer and cocktails by 11:00. Instead, we sit with a cup of java (in my case Greek coffee) and watch the world go by. There’s normally a handful of old boys who turn up on their scooters and sit for hours chatting, occasionally swapping hello’s with some of the Greek grannies who regularly pass by to/from the local supermarkets. It’s quite funny to watch as many of the old dears are using prams as shopping trollies! The first time I saw it I did a double take. You don’t expect to see a silver-haired, black-clad, headscarf-wearing Greek granny to be pushing a buggy!
As well as tourist restaurants the village possesses a couple of local Greek tavernas, one of which does a roaring trade as a local-take out. The menu’s good and the prices are very reasonable. It’s run by a couple who must be in their 70s, so don’t expect fast service early-doors until the younger staff arrive!
We’ve been here a few days now and established somewhat of a routine, splitting our time between exploring and relaxing. Yesterday we walked East along the coast from Lardos to nearby Pefkos, which is a much larger version of a tourist town. You can tell the fact most visitors are English by the fact restaurants are advertising English breakfasts (complete with black pudding) and Yorkshire tea. Despite the fact it’s almost the end of season the main beach was packed. We didn’t linger, just stopped long enough to have a coffee and a snack at a place overlooking the beach, then continued walking up into the hills along the coast. I’d realised that the classic Hollywood war film ‘The Guns of Naverone’ was filmed nearby. In fact, the bay where it was filmed is now officially known as ‘Naverone beach’. It’s all cobblers of course. Alistair McLean, who wrote the novel invented ‘Naverone’ and a whole chain of fictitious islands for the plot of his yarn, but as this is where the film was made the name’s been adopted.
It’s quite a walk up into the hills above Pefkos to get to the viewpoint, the last mile is on an unmade road that’s little more than a dirt track, but when you get there, the views across both bays are wonderful and there’s a handy tree for shade whilst you take in the sights. But bring your own water and food as you won’t find anything after leaving Pefkos. The trek isn’t that popular. We were the only ones there and we didn’t pass anyone else either, but that made it part of the fun as we were well off the tourist trail.
Naverone bay seen from the cliffs above them. In the middle distance is the Acropolis at Lindos (see next picture). The beauty of a 400mm lens! Here’s a close-up look at the Acropolis at Lindos taken from the same location as the last photo (which used a 50mm lens). The cliffs of ‘Naverone’ – and not a gun emplacement in sight! That’s the wonders of Hollywood for you…
On the way back we passed a local taverna on the edge of Pefki where we stopped for a well-earned beer. Dawn was tempted by their Baklava and ice-cream, so we shared a portion, which was gorgeous. I don’t know if it was home-made, but it was far superior to what you can buy in the supermarkets.
Baklava and ice cream. Just the thing for topping up the blood sugar after a long walk in the sun…
Our spirits restored we decided to walk all the way home but stopped off at a little bar en-route and the smaller Plakia beach on the edge of town, where there’s the Blue Waves ‘cantina’ which is a little shack with a few shady tables set back from the beach. It serves the locally made Magnus Magister beer on draft which was a bonus for me!
Plakia beach seen from our table at ‘Blue Waves’…
By the time we got home, sweaty but happy – we’d covered over 11.6 miles. Not everybody’s idea of a relaxing holiday, admittedly – but we enjoyed it!
Over the next few days, we’ll be taking local buses to visit Lindos and Rhodes town which we’re both really looking forward to. The island’s got a fascinating history which we’re keen to learn more of. Don’t expect a blog every day, but there will be more updates – and pictures.
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Today’s our last day here in North Norfolk as tomorrow we head back to West Yorkshire. There’s going to be a very short blog from me tonight as there’s too much to do in the way of packing and also – how do I blog about the events of the week in just a few minutes? A week where we’ve ‘gained’ a new Prime Minister and a right-wing disaster of a government – and also lost a Queen who’s been on the throne for 70 years? To quote Bob Dylan, “the times, they are a changin”…
The UK’s reaching a critical path in its history and I’m really not sure how this is going to pan out, so I’m going to take time to ponder to myself and enjoy the last day of the holiday before facing a new reality. Right now, I’ll leave you with the picture of the day, which is of a place we visited today – Blickling Hall.
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After the past few days exertions and travels I’ve enjoyed having a day at home sans camera bag. If nothing else it’s allowed my skeleton to begin to re-assemble itself in some semblance of a correct posture without any compression. Oh, I also had the luxury of a lie-in! Beyond that most of the day’s been spent wading through the hundreds of pictures I’ve taken over the past few days and getting the early edits out to a magazine whilst dealing with a completely different picture request from another. This has led me to being chained to my desk for much of the day, not that I’m complaining as the weather’s been as predictable as the national lottery! Come late afternoon I’d had enough and broke free to head out to our local pub for the Friday quiz with friends. Poor Dawn was even busier than me so remained home working.
The pub was an entertaining interlude. The quiz exercised the little grey cells whilst the humour that flowed as a consequence gave the chuckle muscles a work-out too! Oh, and the beer (in my case Salopian brewery’s ‘Lemon Dream’) helped lubricate both. Now I’m back at Bigland Towers. There’s been no need to cook tonight as we’re living off batch cooking spaghetti bolognaise tonight so we can relax with a film and ease ourselves into the weekend – although in my case that means captioning hundreds of pictures in the morning!
Talking of pictures, here’s today’s picture which is from my stay in Banbury earlier in the week. I saw this decoration on a building called the Old Wine House, which made me do a double-take as it says it dates from 1537. What fascinated me was the design is a representation of what appears to be Indian Hindu god or even a Buddha. Look at the posture, the arms positioning and the fact they’re sitting on what appears to be a Lotus flower, yet the British didn’t come to India until the 17th century. The East India Company started in the year 1612.
All is clearly not what it seems. The building is listed Grade 2 and listings details give away the fact that – whilst this was a house that dates from the 15th century it’s been much knocked-about and altered in the 19th and 20th centuries. Mystery solved! Well, sort of…There’s still no explanation of what an image of an Indian deity is doing on an old English building called the old wine shop.
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It’s another short blog from me today. After yesterday’s day out I’ve been very much home and office based trying to catch up on stuff. I’ve been threatening to get back to selling surplus slides and other railway memorabilia on eBay but having let my account lapse over the past year that’s been made even more complicated by the fact I’m starting from scratch. I’m having to relist everything, which is a major PITA, but it’s allowed me to be more organised this time when it comes to record keeping. In theory I’ll benefit in the long run as I’ll find it easier to keep track of stuff. Well, that’s what I keep telling myself anyway!
I’ve managed to reload a couple of hundred surplus slides so far and hope to at least double that over the weekend before getting into all the memorabilia. All this stuff’s been sitting in cupboards for years so it’s time it went to new homes. I’ll be adding the occasional link to stuff in the future, bit for now, the picture of the day is a slide that’ll be on eBay very soon.
I took this shot in Limerick, Ireland way back in 2003 when Irish Rail was still using locomotives and coaching stock on a lot of services. This meant many locations had station pilots – engines who’s only job was to shunt empty coaches around the place. Like this one.
‘Baby GM’ 146 prepares to haul a rake of the old ‘Cravens’ coaches out of Limerick station whilst a brand new railcar sits in the opposite platform. Their introduction would lead to the demise of scenes like this.
As well as UK railways going back to 1990 I’ll be putting pictures up for sale from other countries (like Ireland) that will include Sri Lanka, Malaysia and also the last days of Indian steam trains. Watch this space…
I’ve a 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/
Only a short blog from me tonight. It’s been a quiet day here at Bigland Towers with the pair of us making the most of the bank holiday to catch up on jobs around the cottage rather than try and compete with all the others who’re trying to ‘get away from it all’ which normally means prices rise as you’re all competing with each other!
Instead, we spent the day enjoying the warmer weather here in the Calder Valley. Dee was busy indulging in some DIY whilst I spent the day cleaning windows, tidying up the garden, repotting and planting lots of seeds and cuttings. Not exactly the ‘rock and roll’ lifestyle admittedly, but who cares! I find gardening really therapeutic and it makes a change from staring at computer screens.
So, without further ado, here’s the picture of the day, which is one of the series I took yesterday. I found this plaque at Wigan North Western station. It’s new (well, nearly new) as it was only installed last year. Installed by the British Transport Police History Group outside their offices on Wigan North Western station it commemorates an officer of one of the precursors of the BTP, Detective Sergeant Robert Kidd who was murdered at Wigan on the 29th September 1895 by a gang stealing from railway wagons in the nearby sidings. You can read about the events and subsequent trial here.
I’ve a 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/
As it’s been announced that Southern will be retiring its BR built Class 455 units by the end of the year I thought I’d compile a picture gallery of the trains in use over the past 20-odd years, first with the late unlamented ‘Connex’ franchise and then with Southern which has run the service since August 2001 after buying Connex out of the last 2 years of its franchise (which Govia as winning bidder was originally going to operate from 2003). Originally run as Govia South Central the franchise began to repaint trains in the distinctive white and green livery in 2001 but didn’t introduce the ‘Southern’ brand and logo until 2003. It’s remained ever since even tho’ Southern were absorbed into the huge Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) franchise in July 2015.
The 455s were built from 1982 onwards but the first units didn’t appear on the South-Central network until 1986 after Selhurst depot had been modified to cope with the new trains. Their career’s lasted 36 years but sets are already standing idle on a daily basis as not all 46 trains are needed to run the current timetable.
The Southern sets look very different to their South-Western sisters. Between 2004-06 the trains were refurbished by Alstom at Eastleigh works. As well as internal work the nose-end doors were removed and replaced with a revised front end that incorporates cab air-conditioning. A new light cluster also changed their appearance. Unlike the SWR refurbishment the passenger doors weren’t altered, which leaves the Southern sets with the old cramped arrangement.
Here’s a look back over their lives. Please note. All the pictures are my copyright…
Here’s Wandsworth Common station on the 26th June 2001 with units 5809 and 5830 standing in the platform in the days when the trains regularly worked to Leatherhead.5812 is seen entering Purley station with a service to Smitham on the 16th July 2001. On the same day as the last picture Connex liveried 5818 waits at South Croydon with a service bound for London Bridge. 5815 seen at Streatham Common on the 16th July 2001 with a Caterham service. Only 16 out of the fleet of 46 ever received Connex yellow livery. Unit 5823 in full NSE livery minus branding stands at Sydenham on the 15th June 1997. Connex had taken over the franchise in October 1996 but were slow in branding their trains. The destination blinds indicate this is a service to Charing Cross, another place the 455s aren’t seen at anymore. Here’s 5833 and 5825 both on Victoria – East Croydon services passing just outside Wandsworth Common station on the 26th June 2001. Both units are in original condition.
The Southern years.
On the 2nd April 2014 class leader 455801 pulls out of Victoria with an unknown service. The modified front end with the air-conditioning unit in place of the gangway doors is evident, as are the revised headlight clusters. A sight that’s changed out of all recognition since this shot was taken on the 12th November 2010. Here’s 455803 at the old London Bridge station. On the 1st September 2008. 455804 gets a wash and brush-up at the carriage wash plant at Selhurst depot – although the plant is far closer to Norwood Jn station (in the background) than it is the depot. 455810 emerges from the highly decorative tunnel at Tulse Hill on the 14th June 2012.The classic view of the approaches to Victoria – although the background has changed enormously since this view of 455824 arriving at the terminus was taken on the 30th April 2003. 455827 traverses the viaducts on the approach to London Bridge on the 8th March 2008. Another part of London where the skyline backdrop’s changed dramatically. On the 1st December 2008 units 455828 and 455836 pass outside Clapham Junction station. 455830 calls at West Norwood station in South London on the 1st September 2008. In the background the Crystal Palace TV transmitter dominates the skyline. 455831 is framed by one of the old Southern Railway concrete signal gantries at it arrives at Honor Oak Park on the 19th July 2010.455834 leaves Horsham and returns to London on the 11th November 2015.455839 stands at West Croydon station on the 20th April 2010.The first unit to appear in the new livery was 455841 which is seen working the 14.53 to Victoria at Dorking on the 22nd October 2001. 455843 speeds through Penge West on the fast lines on the 1st September 2008.The last of the Southern units. 455846 sits on the reverse curves at Clapham Junction station on the 3rd March 2010.
Here’s a comparison between the unmodified doors on the Southern sets compared to the rebuilt (and this wider) doors on the SWR 455s.
Note the poles on the opposite side to the open door that show the limit the doors open to. This can be seen with the open doors and how far they protrude into the available opening. Here’s the SWR rebuild.No poles and rebuilt runners without the protruding stops which mean the doors fit further into the unit body, allowing for a wider door. A far batter arrangement.
If you want to view (or buy) more pictures of the Southern 455s you can find them in these galleries.
It’s worth mentioning that the ‘Part-time Spotter’ WordPress blog is currently posting the daily allocations and diagrams of the Southern 455 fleet, so if you want to track and trace any particular members or travel on them before they disappear, give them a follow at this link.
I’ve a favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this blog, 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/
It’s a short blog from me today as the vast majority of my time’s been spent glued to a computer screen, sifting through and editing all the pictures that I’ve taken over the past few days as various clients are chasing me for them. In this line of work you get very little notice of jobs and when they’re done – everyone wants the results yesterday!
That said, after a few days running around I wasn’t too averse to a day or two sat at home. Admittedly, I’d been spoiled with the catering arrangements with being away and the novelty of eating other people’s well prepared food and the one luxury I enjoy when away – a full English breakfast! The odd thing is I never miss such things when I’m travelling abroad, it’s purely a parochial delight to be savored this side of the Channel. Anyways, tomorrow’s another busy day so let’s cut straight to the picture of the day which was taken on my recent trip to explore Crossrail – sorry – the Elizabeth line…
We were given the opportunity to explore the new station at Liverpool St which has a rather interesting history. Like most of modern London it’s built on the site of something else. In this case it’s Bedlam and I mean that literally as this glass panel on one of the levels explains.
I’ve a favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this blog, 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/
Here’s another in the series of picture blogs looking at the gradual demise of the old British Railways built train fleets. In this case it’s my favourite of the bunch, the Class 365 fleet which was retired (too early in my opinion) in 2021.
The 4 car, 100mph capable Class fleet were the last vehicles to be built at York works. 41 units were constructed at the Holgate Road factory between 1994-95. Part of the ‘Networker’ design (which produced the Class 165 and 465 diesel and electric fleets), these trains were produced for longer distance services. The first 16 originally went to work Network Southeast services out of Victoria before Connex took over what became the South-Eastern franchise. They stayed South of the river until 2004 when they moved to join their sisters working for West Anglia Great Northern (WAGN) out of Kings Cross. Units 365517-541 went straight to East Coast services, operating regional services from Kings Cross to Peterborough, Cambridge and Kings Lynn.
For many years they were the backbone of WAGN and later First Capital Connect express services. They were comfortable trains from a passenger perspective, despite the lack of air-conditioning (they had forced-air ventilation through hopper windows). They had 2+2 seating and tables plus bigger windows, which made them far superior to the earlier Class 317s they shared duties with.
The Class stayed on East Coast services until they were gradually retired from service from 2017 inwards, having been displaced by newer Class 387s. Many units went into store but a stock shortage in Scotland in 2018 (due to defects with the new Hitachi built Class 385 EMUs) saw 10 of the trains leased to Scotrail from April 2018 where they remained in service until March 2019, working services from Glasgow Queen St to Edinburgh Waverley. The final units were retired from Great Northern service on the 15th May 2021. Little fuss was made because of the Covid pandemic which was a shame as they’d served the railways well. After a period in storage most have gone for scrap which is an even greater shame. They were less than 30 years old and could have provided a useful fleet on newly electrified lines such as East West rail if only the Government hadn’t decided not to electrify the line and cut back other wiring plans. An earlier proposal to shift them to GWR services came to nothing as new Class 387s were ordered instead. Still, I’m fortunate to have lived on their route in North London and spent many years travelling on them and photographing them in service. Here’s a look back at their lives and times.
Please note, all pictures are my copyright.
On the 24th March 2002 class leader 365501 is pictured at London’s Victoria station in Connex livery.Sporting the later Thameslink livery and carrying Great Northern branding 365502 is seen speeding towards Kings Cross through Oakleigh Park on the 27th March 2017.365506 passes Denmark Hill on the 23rd November 2002 when the network was still suffering from the panicked rash of 20mph speed restrictions imposed after the terrible Hatfield 2000 rail crash caused by rail defects. To add to the problems a sister Class 365 had been involved in the Potters Bar crash only a few months before this picture. WAGN operated 365510 wears a special advertising wrap extolling the tourist virtues of Cambridge and Ely at Kings Cross on the 22nd December 2005. Towards the end of their careers 10 of the units were sent to Scotland for a year. Here’s 365513 at Glasgow Queen Street on the 30th July 2018.The classic view of the old complex Kings Cross station throat with 365519 and 365514 passing, seen on the 14th April 2017.Here’s a view of the new wheel lathe building at Hornsey on the 7th October 2013 when the building was being used to give 365515 a freshly painted white cab roof. I always thought The First Capital Connect dynamic blue livery and white cab roofs really suited these trains. Seen at Hitchin on the 24th July 2006, 365516 still carries NSE livery but with the addition of First Capital Connect branding on the vehicle sides. Rain, shine (or snow) the 365s maintained services on the East coast. On the 28th February 2018 365517 speeds through Harringay en-route to Kings Cross.365521 was one of 10 sets sent to Scotland in 2018-19. It’s seen here at Glasgow Queen St with a service for Edinburgh on the 17th July 2018.Set 365524 was chosen as the Guinea-pig to test a cab air-conditioning system, hence the odd box on the nose. It’s seen here at Harringay on the 30th October 2001. The tests led to the front end of the units being redesigned which left them with a smiley face, leading to their nickname ‘happy trains’. A not so happy train. Here’s vehicle 65960 from set 365526 being lifted clear of the tracks days after the tragic Potters Bar crash which killed seven people. This was the leading car which had come to rest sideways across the tracks and jammed under the platform canopies you can see to the left. The date is the 14th May 2002. The remaining vehicles from Potters Bar crash victim 365526 seen at Crewe works on the 10th September 2005. They never saw service again. Two ended up being used by the RAF for target practice at RAF Spadeadam in Cumbia whilst the other was stripped for spares before being scrapped. On the 13th December 2016 set 365533 sits inside the new Siemens depot at Hornsey which was built on the site of the former Coronation sidings North of the original depot site.The 365s rarely strayed from their established routes but on the 17th March 1997 365534 and 315803 are seen passing Stratford in East London whilst on their way from Hornsey depot to Ilford depot for attention. On the 25th July 2018 a pair of 365s with 365537 trailing pass Bonnymuir in Scotland whilst working from Glasgow Queen St to Edinburgh Waverley.Seven years earlier on the 27th August 2011 365537 was on more familiar territory. It’s seen here passing the old wooden signalbox at Watlington station on the line from Ely to Kings Lynn. The box carries the station’s former name – Magdalen Rd.Wearing the attractive First Capital Connect livery the last of the class, 365541 pulls out of Kings Cross on the 28th June 2014.The interior of one of the driving cars of 365505 shows why the units were such a pleasant environment for passengers. Spacious and comfortable with a far better ambience than the earlier Class 317s. Seen on the 3rd May 2013.
Most of these trains have already gone for scrap at Newport in South Wales, but at the time of writing several of the sets are languishing at Doncaster Belmont yard, although these are due to follow this month. Here’s the timetable for the first move on the 8th March. There’s speculation that set 365525 may be retained for departmental use but I’ve not seen any official confirmation.
Three vehicles are being preserved. The East Kent railway is taking two driving cars and a trailer from sets 524 and 540 which will be used as a restaurant, an exhibition area and a major events venue.
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Next up (when I’ve got time) I’ll be having a look at the Southern Class 455 fleet (in both Connex and Southern guises) as this fleet is expected to be withdrawn by the end of 2022.
Paul Bigland 