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Tag Archives: London

Rolling blog: foodie Friday

21 Friday Dec 2018

Posted by in Food and drink, London, Rolling blogs, Travel, West Yorkshire

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06:34

I’m preparing to head to London for an Christmas lunch with old friends and colleagues today. It’ll be a very convivial afternoon, as will this evening, as I’ve got to head back to West Yorkshire as Dawn and I are out for a Thai meal with a couple of friends – such is the fun of packed social diaries in the run-up to Christmas.

08:21

For once, the Yorkshire weather defeated me. Persistent drizzle (the sort of stuff that manages to defeat umbrellas or waterproofs) meant I abandoned attempts to walk to the station and cadged a lift off Dawn – which got me there considerably quicker and a lot drier! I’m now watching the rain from the comfort of my mobile office, otherwise known as Grand Central’s 08:10 from Halifax to London Kings Cross. Here it is pulling in to Halifax, past the old signalbox which was made redundant in October.

For once, my train’s not too busy, that’s possibly because it’s so close to Christmas, but also the fact the first service of the day (the 07:07) tends to attract most business people as it arrives in London at 10:10 whereas this one doesn’t arrive until 11:14. As I don’t need to be there so early I’m enjoying the space and relaxing atmosphere, although I’m still catching up on some work.

09:32.

The path for this train is characterised by generous timings on the way to Doncaster. We’ve swung between being 1 minute late and 4 early. Having waited for a platform at Wakefield Kirkgate we’d been running early until we reached Marshgate Jn just outside Doncaster where we were held waiting time and for a platform to be free. Platform space has been at a premium here for years, which makes timekeeping difficult. We’re booked a generous 6 minutes to clog one of them up, which has meant our slightly late arrival has turned into a right – time departure. Next stop – London Kings Cross…

10:08

We’ve just passed through gloomy Grantham where the low cloud that’s dogged us all the way from Yorkshire still persists. Despite the fact these Grand Central Class 180s are capable of 125mph I doubt we’ve touched that today until now. We’ve dropped a couple of mins behind time but we’ve obviously got a clear road as the driver’s opened her up for a bit. The speed app on my phone tells me we hit 124 after Stoke Jn at the same time a rainstorm on the edge of the weather front hit us! We weathered that (literally) and now the sun’s managing to break through the momentarily fragmented clouds.

10:35.

The burst of speed didn’t help us as we crawled from Werrington Jn (where Network Rail are preparing to build a new ‘dive-under’) through an empty Peterborough station and on to Holme Jn, which we passed 7 mins late. Sun and speed have both deserted us. This section of line’s very busy, with Thameslink stoppers added into the mix as Great Northern locals, so could well lose more time.

11:54.

I take back my last comment, we did make up 5 mins!

Now, lunch beckons…

17:15

I’m Northbound again after an excellent lunch (if you ignore the eye-watering bill) that included one of my favourites: seared scallops.

Chatham House rules prevent me talking about the event, but there you go.

Right now I’m doing a Jeremy Corbyn – sitting on the vestibule floor of LNER’s 17:03 to Leeds. Any resemblance to ‘Magic Grandad’ is purely coincidental.

17:58.

We’ve just left Peterborough so I’ve graduated from a vestibule floor to a seat.

19:55.

Ho hum. Everything went well until I got to Leeds, when I found my connection (the 19:36) was cancelled. This meant I’d be 15 minutes late as my next train wasn’t until 19:51. I’ve now swapped this..

For something a little less speedy and spacious!

Saturday postscript.

What a fun day! Lunch in London and Thai tapas in West Yorkshire has led to a slightly slower than usual start to the day (I blame the Tequila shots that Froso insisted we buy). Both meals were delicious but I think it’s time to give my stomach a rest today!  If you’re in the area I can recommend Café Thai in West Vale. We’ve eaten here several times and never been disappointed. They have a traditional Thai restaurant on the ground floor whilst upstairs they serve a tapas style menu. Here’s one of last nights dishes.

A good time was had by all…

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Down memory lane; When Eurostar’s visited Clapham Junction.

27 Tuesday Nov 2018

Posted by in Down memory lane, Eurostar, London, Railways

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It’s a miserable afternoon here in the Pennines, for most of the day it’s been impossible to see across the valley due to the mist and murk, so I’ve been busy writing and catching up scanning more old rail pictures, this time from Sunday 21st April 1996, which was a bright sunny day in London. Engineering work Between Latchmere Junction and Kensington Olympia had closed the line, which meant that Eurostar trains running from their Depot at North Pole into Waterloo International had to be diverted via Kew East Junction and Clapham Junction. This involved hauling them with pairs of Class 37 diesel engines and translator vehicles as far as Clapham Junction, where the Eurostars could pick up the 3rd rail and proceed under their own power.

This was such an unusual sight that I spent a few hours at Clapham recording the process. I’m glad that I did as now – 22 years later – it’s not something you’ll ever see again. You can find the bulk of the pictures in the Eurostar gallery on my Zenfolio website, but I wanted to flesh out the details in a blog.

05540. 3223 being dragged ECS via Kew from North Pole. 37074. 37185. Clapham Jn. 21.4.1996crop

Two hired-in Class 37s, 37074 in Mainline Livery and 37185 “Lea and Perrins” in Civil Engineers ‘Dutch’ livery  stand in platform 4 at Clapham Junction, attached to Eurostar set 3223/3224 by translator cars that have couplings and air hoses that are compatible to both. The 37s have hauled the set from North Pole depot but will leave it here to run into the carriage sidings, ready to return to North Pole with another Eurostar. The company had its own fleet of Class 37s (37601-612) which had been rebuilt to haul the cancelled ‘Nightstar’ trains and also provide assistance like this. I’ve no idea why these two were hired-in,  but they made a colourful sight!

05562. 3216 stabled in the yard. Clapham Jn. 21.4.1996crop

Eurostar set 3216/3215 stabled in the carriage sidings at Clapham Junction. It certainly made a change from the usual slam-door stock.

05569. 3223. Clapham Jn. 21.4.1996crop

Staff uncouple the Class 37s from 3223. Note the protective shield placed over the live 3rd rail to allow the crew to get between the two vehicles safely.

05575. 3223. Clapham Jn. 21.4.1996crop

The 37s have moved off, the nose doors are shut, and 3223 prepares to head off under its own power to Waterloo International.

05577. 3224. ECS to Waterloo. Clapham Jn. 21.4.1996crop

Away we go! with 3223 leading and 3224 trailing, the set heads for Waterloo International.

05583. 37185. 37074. Clapham Jn. 21.4.1996crop

Job done, 37185 and 37074 move into the carriage sidings to wait their next turn, with barrier vehicles at either end. 10 of these were converted from old parcels vans by removing the bodies and adding weights and  compatible couplings.

05567. 37604. 37605. stabled in the yard. Clapham Jn. 21.4.1996crop

Eurostar 37s 37604 and 608, along with 37074 and 37185, plus 37605 on its own, stabled in Clapham Yard

 

 

 

 

Rolling blog: it’s Showtime!

14 Wednesday Nov 2018

Posted by in Rolling blogs, Talgo, Transport, Travel, Uncategorized

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06:45

I’m up early and waiting To grab a quick breakfast before heading off to the Institute of Mechanical Engineers with my colleagues from TALGO, ready for this morning’s press conference where the company has an exciting announcement to make…

07:25

Sunrise over Hounslow.

My fellow conspirators on the tube.

The District line may be busy, but at least the stock is full size – and air – conditioned!

08:50.

Ready to rock and roll…

09:43. The President of TALGO, Carlos de Palacio (right), discussing the future with The Scottish Transport Minister, Michael Matheson.

09:55.

It’s official: TALGO’s factory site is Longannet in Scotland, with an Innovation centre to be built in Chesterfield, England.

DG312922crop

11:43.

Job done, I’ve taken my leave of IMechE and popped over to Parliament to offer my support to the people opposing the madness of Brexit which is carrying on across the road right now.

Weather wise, it’s a beautiful day in London.

Politically, it’s an utter shambles. The area around Parliament’s swarming with camera crews eager to grab shots of the political circus. Will we still have a Government in a couple of weeks? Who knows?

14:56.

I left the political madness and headed to old haunts out East to see how the Great Eastern suburban service from Liverpool St to Shenfield’s changing now. Having been absorbed into the London Underground a few years ago there’s further changes now. The Class 315s which have been the backbone of the route since 1980 are being replaced by the Bombardier built Class 345s. Only a handful of the new trains were running today, but the writings on the wall for the 315s as several have already headed off to various scrapyards. Mind you, I’m not complaining. The new trains are a lot more comfortable! Here’s what the interior of the 345s looks like.

17:10

I’m now homeward bound on Grand Central’s 16:27 Kings Cross – Bradford Interchange – and it’s absolutely rammed! This 5-Car Class 180 has people camped out in the vestibules in Standard Class whilst there’s just a single seat spare in 1st Class. Not bad when you consider this service is non-stop as far as Doncaster! Gone are the early days of the West Riding service when having a couple of dozen on was an average load, now GC are incredibly successful. The problem now is how they cater for future growth as the 180s are fixed formation sets – and a small fleet to boot.

The 16:27 has been retimed recently, which appears to have contributed to it’s excellent loadings (this is a Peak service too). It used to leave London at 16:05. That extra time in London means business folk have more flexibility, making it more attractive. Here’s how it looks in Standard and 1st today.

The twilight of the Class 313s (part 2). NLL and DC lines services in London.

31 Wednesday Oct 2018

Posted by in Class 313, London, Rail Investment, Railways

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Whilst the Class 313s that still operate Great Northern services are being withdrawn and replaced by Siemens built Class 717s, there was an earlier extinction in London, but this time the units didn’t head to the scrapyard, only the South Coast!

In 1985 17 Class 313s (313001-017) were transferred from Great Northern services and sent to work the DC lines from Euston to Watford Junction. To do this, they were fitted with extra shoegear. Later, other units followed to take over North London Line services from the Class 416s. All the units were were renumbered to 313101- 313117, 313119-123 and 313134. At the advent of privatisation they were operated by Silverlink and continued to work both routes until 2010, when they were replaced by the Bombardier built Class 378 ‘Capitalstars’. Here’s a selection of pictures from their Silverlink and Lorol days.

10721. 313101. Stratford Low Level. 10.6.02

313101 pulls away from a weed chocked Stratford Low Level station on the 10th June 2002. This section of line was later converted to become part of the Docklands Light Railway.

12111. 313102. Watford - Euston local. North Wembley. 04.04.03.

On the 4th April 2003, 313102 stops at North Wembley on the Watford DC lines with a service to Euston.

RG08147.

On the 13th September 2006 a trio of Class 313s sit inside Willesden depot. From L-R are 313104, 313115 and 313106

DG03337. 313105. 450056. Clapham Junction. 2.5.05

313105 arrives at Clapham Junction and passes a South-West Trains Class 450 on the 2nd May 2005.

 

DG29846. 313106. Gospel Oak. 31.7.09.

313106 calls at Gospel Oak on the North London Line on the 31st July 2009.

DG08583. 313107. North Woolwich. 4.12.06.

313107 sits at North Woolwich with a service for Richmond on the 4th December 2006. This station and the line as far as Stratford closed 5 days later.

DG08572. 313108. Albert Rd. Silvertown. E London. 4.12.06.

313108 trundles towards North Woolwich past Albert Rd in Silvertown on the 4th December 2006, just five days before the line closed. After being abandoned for several years, this track-bed is now part of Crossrail – although at this point Crossrail’s disappeared underground!

DG05131. 313109. Willesden Jn. 15.12.05.

On the 15th December 313109 rounds the sharp curves at Willesden Junction on the North London line as it works a service from Stratford to Richmond.

10901. 313110. Watford Jn. 28.7.02.

313110 arrives at Watford junction through weed-chocked tracks on the 28th July 2002.

DG01530. 313111. West Hampsted. 28.7.04.

313111 arrives at West Hampstead on the North London line with a service to Richmond on the 28th July 2004.

DG29836. 313112. Caledonian Rd and Barnsbury. 31.7.09.

313112 pulls away from Caledonian Rd and Barnsbury on the North London line and heads for Highbury and Islington (seen in the distance) on the 31st July 2009. At this time the NLL was being expanded and the tracks to the left of the train doubled.

DG08564. 313113. Silvertown. E London. 4.12.06.

Back on the old North Woolwich line on the 4th December 2006 and 313113 is about to enter the 600 yard long Silvertown tunnel on its way to Stratford. The air of neglect is easy to see from this photo. The tunnel is now part of Crossrail.

DG22797. 313114. Euston. 15.5.09.

On the 15th May 2009, 313114 arrives at Euston from Watford Junction. Notice the Silverlink branding has been replaced by white London Overground panels.

DG54401. 313115. South Hampstead. 11.6.10.

Moving forward to the 11th June 2010 and the 313s are gradually being displaced by the Bombardier built Class 378s. Here’s 313115 approaching South Hampstead on the DC lines with a service for Euston.

DG12405. 313116. Kensington Olympia. 14.9.07.

A driver takes a swig of his cuppa whilst 313116 stops at Kensington Olympia on a Williseden Jn – Clapham Junction service on the 14th September 2007.

DG41334. 313117. Kentish Town West. 4.12.09.

On the 4th December 2009, 313117 arrives at Kentish Town West on the North London Line.

 

09959. 313119. Clapham Jn. 10.12.01.

313119 is captured at Clapham Junction and framed by a superb winters sunset on the 10th December 2001.

DG03169. 313120. 2012 livery. Euston. 16.4.05.

On the 16th April 2005, 313120 was presented to the press at Euston in a special ‘back the bid’ livery, supporting London’s bid to host the 2012 Olympic games.

DG54376. 313121. South Hampstead. 11.6.10.

313121 passes under the bridge carrying Chiltern lines services to/from Marylebone at South Hampstead on the 11th June 2010 whilst working a DC lines service to Watford Junction. This unit stayed in the London area as it was converted to a ERTMS signalling test bed for use on the Hertford loop.

DG08596. 313122. Custom House. 4.12.06.

The area doesn’t look like this anymore! 313122 pulls into Custom House station on the North Woolwich branch on the 4th December 2006. Crossrail tracks now cover the site whilst 122 went back to old haunts, helping strengthen Moorgate services on the Great Northern.

DG35564. 313123. 378013. Caledonian Rd and Barnsbury. 28.9.09.

Old and new. 313123 passes one of its replacements in the shape of ‘Capitalstar’ 378013 (built as a 3-car) outside Caledonian Rd & Barnsbury on the 28th September 2009. 123 has also stayed in London as it was transferred back to Great Northern service.

DG54443. Tube and 313134. Kensal Green. 11.6.10.

– and finally…On the 11th June 2006, 313134 emerges from the 320yd long, single bore tunnels at Kensal Green on the DC lines, passing a Bakerloo line train working in the opposite direction. The two very different types of train shared the same tracks between Queens Park and Harrow and Wealdstone.

 

 

 

Digging up graveyards for Hs2. It’s not as if it hasn’t been done before…

30 Tuesday Oct 2018

Posted by in History, Hs2, London, Railways, StopHs2, Travel

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There’s always synthetic outrage and hypocrisy surrounding Hs2, none so more than around the issue of old graveyards being built on and the dead being exhumed and reburied.

Anyone would this this is somehow unique. In fact it’s very common. Many stations were built on old graveyards – including Euston itself. Between 1887 and 1892 the station was extended Westwards. This meant diverting Cardington St over the burial ground of St James’s, which had closed to 40 years earlier. Each corpse was provided with a new coffin and reinterred at St Pancras cemetery, Finchley, at the expense of the London and North Western Railway. This was done sympathetically due to the furore over an earlier graveyard clearance at nearby St Pancras in 1866 which rather puts today’s building into perspective.

During the first half of 1866 several thousand houses in Agar Town and Somers Town were demolished to make way for St Pancras. some 10,000 people were evicted (without compensation) and crowded into adjoining slum areas, making conditions even worse. Meanwhile, a corner of the graveyard of the old St Pancras Church was cleared. Like most old graveyard, it was packed with bodies to a considerable depth. Working conditions were appalling and the disinterred remains were treated with scant respect. Bones were left lying around and open coffins could be seen on the worksite. A furore arouse in the newspapers and influence from high quarters led to more care being taken. The problem was twofold. The sheer amount of bodies buried in poor conditions and the fact the graveyard was making way for a cut and cover tunnel for the link between the Midland and the Metropolitan railway.

Nowadays, this has let to one of the more unusual local tourist attractions; the Hardy tree. The work of removing gravestones was delegated to one Thomas Hardy (yet, that one) and he arranged them in a rather interesting art installation. Here’s how it looked a few years ago.

T14164. Gravestones stacked around a tree. St Pancras churchyard. London. England

You can read more about it here.

When Broad St station was built in 1864-66 similar problems occurred. Excavations revealed layers of human remains several feet thick. This was thought to be either a plaque pit or the burial ground of the old Bethlehem hospital.

The same problem was encountered when nearby Aldgate station was built in 1875. This was described by Daniel Defoe in his book “A Journal of the Plague Year” As an aside, did you know several London parks are old plague pits – including Green Park?

When the viaducts on the approach to Charing Cross station were being constructed in 1863 well over 7,000 corpses were removed from the College Burial Ground of St Mary, Lameth and reburied at Brookwood, on of the seven great satellite cemeteries established by an Act of Parliament between 1832-41 because London’s dead were buried in small urban churchyards, which were so overcrowded and so close to where people lived, worked and worshipped that they were causing disease and ground water contamination.

It’s not just something that happened in London either!

Manchester Victoria occupies Walker’s Croft which was once a 19th century church and graveyard linked to a nearby Victorian workhouse. As recently as 2013 remains were found when the station was being rebuilt. They were removed and reburied. A plaque at the station records this.

DG261981. Remembering the graveyard. Manchester Victoria. 11.12.16

Of course, nowadays, exhumations and reburials are conducted with far more care and attention than our Victorian forebears did, which rather puts the fake fuss into perspective, also, building Hs2 has archaeologists and historians genuinely excited as 1000s of them will be working on the course of the railway for the next two years. You can learn more here.

If you want to learn more about London’s plaque pits, visit this link.

UPDATE.

Since I wrote this blog, John Bradley (@flypie) has been in touch via Twitter with this interesting link to an 1828 road widening scheme in Liverpool that led to the exhumation and reburying of several thousand bodies.

 

A fascinating day…

25 Thursday Oct 2018

Posted by in Hs2, London, Travel

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After the past few days working at home I had to head back to London today to have a business meeting with a potential new client. Fortunately, I didn’t have to be on the very early train from Halifax, just Grand Central’s 08:08 which was a bit of a luxury. I had a very productive few hours aboard, writing part 3 of my rail rover for RAIL magazine (part 1 came out yesterday) on the way to the metropolis. On arrival I met up with a new client for a fascinating chat about new technology and a demonstration of the potential of augmented reality for the rail industry which left me both fascinated and enthused.

After the meeting I spent an hour or two wandering around Camden, looking at how much the area’s changing because of HS2. It’s clear from that there’s no visible opposition to the project nowadays. There’s no banners, placards, posters in windows – nothing. What there is instead is a huge amount of people in Hs2 branded hi-vis changing the face of Euston (and beyond) – although some Muppets still try to pretend it’s not happening!

Now I’m heading North aboard Grand Central’s 16:27 to Bradford. It’s packed – even in First Class, but then many of their services are nowadays. To paraphrase the actor Roy Scheider’s famous line in the film ‘Jaws’ – “We’re gonna need a bigger train”…

Expect some pictures later..

Rolling blog: On the march…

20 Saturday Oct 2018

Posted by in Brexit, London, Politics, Rolling blogs

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Literally. It’s 06:23 and I’m sat on a rail replacement coach in Halifax which will take me on the first leg of my journey down to London to join the ‘Peoples March’ protest against the shambles that is Brexit.

Sadly, Dawn can’t join me, but I won’t be marching alone, far from it. Thanks to the wonders of social media I’m in contact with other members of the railway family who are marching too.

My intention’s to update this blog throughout the day, although that might be difficult as I get the impression that this is going to be a very big event, far bigger than last time (and that was major) so I expect the central London phone network will struggle again.

06:38

We’re on the move. There’s 10 of us on this coach which is taking us to Wakefield, where it connects with the Grand Central service to London. This weekend the final stage of the Calder Valley resignalling is commissioned, so there’s no trains running through Halifax.

My readers outside the UK are more than likely bemused by Brexit. I don’t blame them as it doesn’t make any sense to many of us either, and we’re living with the shambles day in, day out!

Brexit is an object lesson in how easily an old, complacent democracy in a country that’s always had far too high an opinion of itself can be manipulated in the internet age. In short, the result of the 2016 referendum was manipulated by the use of social media. Sadly, our politicians (of all parties) have proved they’re not up to the job of dealing with the mess caused. Instead of being honest about the fact the promises made by Brexit leaders couldn’t ever be delivered we’ve had 2 years of political farce that’s damaged the country’s economy and international reputation as well as created a climate of hostility towards non-natives. The genie of racism and good old fashioned fascism has been let out of the bottle.

So, many of us are marching. We want our country back. We want it back from spineless politicians who (in private) admit they’re leading us over the edge of a cliff but won’t do anything about it. We want it back from the emboldened racists and populists. We want it back from the millionaires and spivs who funded and ran the corrupt Leave campaign and who stand to make money from this mess. We want it back for the young, who’re being denied the opportunities and freedoms we’ve enjoyed for 40 plus years by the old and poorly educated (who make up the majority of Leave voters).

Will we succeed? Who knows, but we’re not going to give up easily…

09:23

My Grand Central train’s currently being held at Peterborough due to a points failure. Hopefully we’ll be on the move shortly.

Meanwhile, I’ve been busy editing pictures and keeping track of the progress of some other members of the ‘railway family’ who’re on their way to the march.

12:58

Made it!


19:40

Well, what can I say other than wow! I’m now on a train back North after an incredible day. I managed to meet up with two other railway folk at Kings Cross (Colin E and Gary K). The three of us walked to Marble Arch to join the march and it was only when we got there and started to see the crowds that we realised “this is going to be big, very big”.

We made it down to the Hilton hotel and waited, and waited and waited. Eventually, more than an hour late, the march set off. That’s when we realised the true size of it. It dwarfed the previous march (which had been pretty damned big by an order of magnitude.

Now, I’m no stranger to these events. I first went on demos back in the 1970s and I’ve been to all the major ones (one day I’ll get round to scanning all my old photos). I was at miners strike demos in the 80s-90s and the infamous poll tax riot. I was also at what was the largest demo the UK had seen to date – the anti Guf War demo in 2003. To my mind, this was the biggest I’ve ever seen.

20:53

OK, I’m taking an enforced break in Doncaster on my way home, so here’s the first few pics from the event from the lens of my camera (not my phone). I’m not allowed to use a drone over the crowd, so this is what you can do with a camera lofted high above the crowd on the end of a monopod!

DG311955crop

DG312073crop

DG312281crop

Sunday. 14:17

I’ve spent the morning editing the pictures from yesterday and adding 103 of them to my Zenfolio website. You can find them here.

Rolling blog: a tale of two cities.

01 Monday Oct 2018

Posted by in Birmingham, Hs2, London, St Pancras station, StopHs2, Travel

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I’m on the move again right now, heading for both London and Birmingham, firstly to drop in to St Pancras station and say ‘happy 150th birthday’, then go in search of the massive Stophs2 protest outside the Tory party conference. OK, that last bit was a lie. I’ll probably have difficulty finding them as it looks like it’ll be very much a one man and his elephant sort of protest.

Watch this space…

09:06.

My first train of the day, a ‘nodding donkey working the 0906 to Southport.

The weather here in West Yorkshire stunning. It’s a beautifully crisp and sunny autumn morning with the temperature in single figures. The railways are readying for the leaf-fall season now as I’ve just passed one of Network Rail’s RHTT (Railhead Treatment Trains) that blast leaves off the rails using high-powered water jets. It’s remindex me that must get some lineside shots later in the month, when the leaves gain their full colour before falling.

10:27

I’m now on train number 2 – the 10:2€ Cross-country service from Manchester Piccadilly to Bournemouth via Birmingham. It’s a relatively quiet service (for now) which is just as well as it’s only a four-car. I’ve no doubt it’ll fill up en-route.

Whilst a half-hourly service between Manchester and Birmingham’s an improvement on BR days it’s a pretty poor offering in 2018, mainly because of the time it takes and the type of train. This service will take 1hr 31m.

13:04

So, here I am in Birmingham at the Tory conference, Stophs2 elephant hunting. As expected, they were a bit hard to find, mainly because they’re outgunned and outnumbered by ever other demonstration here! Once I made my way past the ‘God squad’ (who had at least half a dozen people  here) I was held up by a very colourful (and noisy) anti-fracking group of men and women – many of whom had dressed up before I found Joe Rukin, who’d dressed down! Apparently, he was accompanied by Archie Taylor from Warks, but he was nowhere to be seen

Here’s Joe on his own, trying (and failing) to give out leaflets whilst the anti-fracking people behind him heavily outnumber him, in the very back, you can see ‘Ellie’ the inflatable elephant all on her own in a corner!

DG310071crop

Here’s poor Ellie, looking very abandoned…

DG310061crop

So, this is the ‘relaunched’ Stophs2 campaign. Sad, isn’t it? meanwhile, inside the hall, the Government has re-iterated its support for HS2 and there’s several events going on with rail industry leaders throughout the day. Over at New St station, Siemens and the High Speed Rail Industry Leaders have a virtual reality tour of Hs2 and a model of the Velaro Novo…

DG310026crop

DG310047crop

23:11

My tour of two cities turned into one. I got caught up in the completely surreal atmosphere of the Tory party conference and meeting up with colleagues. I also ended up spending an hour or two dealing with picture requests. I have to say, I can’t help thinking this country is screwed, the rhetoric that was coming out of the conference (plus some of the delegates I met) are utterly bonkers. I can’t help thinking that the EU will be breathing a collective sigh of relief to see the back of us…

 

Down memory lane. No 5. London Bridge

28 Tuesday Aug 2018

Posted by in Down memory lane, London, Photography, Rail Investment, Railways

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Despite the fact the rebuilt London Bridge station has been open some time now I’m still amazed at the transformation. As a Londoner I used to pass through its narrow confines on a regular basis and I always cursed that narrow, claustrophobic footbridge and those long corridors up from the tube station. I’ve watched and photographed the redevelopment from start to finish, so here’s a selection of pictures from 1989 to the present day that show just how much the place has changed.

This blog will take time to complete as there’s many more pictures to dig out of the archive, but here’s a start.

Part 1. The BR years.

00016. 9009. London Bridge. 2.9.89.

Its the 2nd September 1989 and Motor Luggage Van (MLV) is being loaded with mail in sacks as it sits at platform 13. The area’s full of red painted Royal Mail BRUTES (British Rail Universal Trolley Equipment) which were a once familiar site at stations up and down the country. Notice the loco release crossover, this was the only platform equipped with them.

00017. 9009. London Bridge. 2.9.89.

Loaded with mail and ready to roll, MLV 9009 waits for the road later that same day. My memory’s hazy now but this could have been working to Tonbridge, or Dover.

00969. 5610. London Bridge. 19.5.90.

Almost a year later, on the 19th May 1990, BR design 4 EPB No 5610 leads a Southern design unit into platform 3 after leaving London Cannon St. The headcode indicates the unit was working to Gillingham or Ramsgate (my money’s on Gillingham).

02985. 33012. London Bridge. 31.8.91.

It’s the 31st August 1991 and that bank holiday Cannon St was closed to allow for engineering work to take place. Here’s one of the Southern regions ‘Cromptons’, 33012 with a rake of 4-wheel engineers wagons sitting in platform 2.

3810. 5467. London Bridge. 20.5.94

Moving forward to the 20th May 1994 is Southern design 4EPB 5467, sitting in the up passenger loop, waiting to head ECS to Charing Cross to pick up passengers heading home out of the city.

Part 2. Privatisation and the last days of the Mk1 DMU/EMU fleets.

The BR built Mark I fleets soldiered on at London Bridge until the mid 2000s. Here’s a few shots showing their lives and times.

DG01681. 3492. London Bridge. 19.8.04.

Connex liveried 4-VEP 3492 arrives at London Bridge from Cannon St. The French operator had lost the franchise the previous November but this graffiti covered example is typical of the state their trains got into! This telephoto lens shot shows off the curvature of the old platforms at London Bridge very well.

DG01889. 205032. London Bridge. 9.9.04.

‘Thumper’ DEMU 205032 sits at platform 9 inside the old London, Brighton and South Coast Rly terminus (the South side of London Bridge) on the 9th September 2004.

DG02179. 205033. The last thump railtour. Uckfield. 27.11.04.

205032 sits empty at platform 8 on the 27th November 2004 after returning on “The last Thump” railtour to commemorate the demise of the class. This was one of the final units left in traffic. They were all withdrawn the next month. 032 is preserved at the Dartmoor Railway.

DG02888. 1854. 3911. London Bridge. 1.4.05.

on April 1st 2005 Southern liveried 4-CIG 1854 sits across the platform from 4-VOP 3911 which was still in Connex livery. The end was already in sight for these units as withdrawals were happening at a steady pace. The picture shows off the ugly footbridge which linked both sides of the station in all its ‘glory’ (and naff cladding).

DG03029. 3482. London Bridges approaches. 5.4.05.

The London skyline doesn’t look like this anymore! On the 5th April 2005 a pair of VEPs with Connex liveried 3482 at the rear approach London Bridge from the East. The approaches have now been heavily remodelled as part of the station rebuilding.

Almost a year after the ‘Last Thump’ London Bridge bid farewell to the Mk1 EMU’s with the ‘Sussex Slammer’ railtour. You can find the full gallery and history of the units involved in this gallery on my Zenfolio website, but here’s a picture of the tour at London Bridge.

DG04928. 3514. London Bridge. 19.11.05.

4-VEP 3514 stands in the old LBSC terminus at London Bridge whilst working the ‘Sussex Slammer’ railtour on the 19th November 2005.

The very last Mk1 EMU’s ran on Southern rails the following week on the 26th November 2005. You can find pictures here.

Part 3. Change is coming…

DG19886. London Bridge. 1.12.08.

The old LBSC terminus seen on the 1st December 2008, only a few years before redevelopment started and the scene changed forever – not to mention the skyline as the ‘Shard’ was yet to appear…

DG123674. 466028. London Bridge. 11.9.12.

A view from the East of the 6 through platforms carrying services From Charing Cross, Cannon St and Blackfriars. The old slam door trains have been replaced by the BR built Class 466 ‘Networker’ (left) introduced between 1991-93 and the later Class 376 ‘Electrostars’ (right) built by Bombardier and introduced in 2004-05

Part 4. The rebuilding starts. Here’s a series of shots taken on 11th September 2012

DG123678. The Shard and London Bridge. 11.9.12.

A view showing the (almost) completed Shard dominating the skyline. Meanwhile, blue sheeting and scaffolding has appeared over the LBSC roof in preparation for demolition.

Building the crash-deck that will protect trains and passengers whilst the roof is dismantled.

DG123689. Readying for demolition. London Bridge. 11.9.12.

DG123710. Readying the roof for demolition. London Bridge. 11.9.12.

DG123687

DG123693. Readying for demolition. London Bridge. 11.9.12.

DG123698. Readying the roof for demolition. London Bridge. 11.9.12.

DG145521. Pax waiting for their trains. London Bridge. 12.3.13.

On the 12th March 2013 passengers watch the information screens inside the footbridge across the platforms (you can see the outside of it in the last picture). This section between platforms 1-6 was slightly wider but was always cramped as the people stood waiting would impede the flow of passengers heading for their trains.