It’s another of those ‘fun’ days on the railways. We were meant to be travelling from Halifax to London on Grand Central’s 10:36 service, but it was cancelled due to a shortage of drivers. Not the greatest of starts as the railways are under pressure this weekend because of the floods and engineering work which meant East Coast services were being diverted via the GN/GE joint line via Lincoln. Instead, the four of us (we’re travelling with our friends Fran and Aubrey) caught a Northern service to Manchester which was bound for Chester. It was one of the few that hadn’t been cancelled, so we knew that it would be busy. I’d hoped we’d have got a 3-car Class 195. Instead, Northern threw out an unrefurbished 2- car Class 158! It was already rammed by the time we left Halifax. We managed to find some space in a vestibule which became more and more crowded as we stopped en-route. It got especially ‘cosy’ when a chap with a bike got on at Todmorden! There were some grumbles, but when he explained that he really needed to catch that train as he was on his way to work (with disabled kids) in Manchester, folk made room for him. Quite why Northern could only spare a 2-car to work this service is a mystery. It certainly didn’t enhance their reputation with many of the passengers.

On arrival in a freezing cold Manchester we opted to get a tram across town to Piccadilly where Fran and Aubrey had booked seats on the 12:15 Virgin Pendolino to Euston, which is where I’m typing this now. Piccadilly was packed with travellers and late-running services. A check on Real Time Trains showed me that many Virgin services were running late. The inbound working for our service was 25 mins down. Quick work by Virgin staff turned the train around rapidly, meaning the Southbound working was only 5 minutes late departing.

We’re now enjoying a few drinks on the train, glad we’re not driving as the road conditions down South are pretty miserable!

16:17.

Having negotiated our way from Euston via the tube and the Docklands Light Railway we’re now relaxing at our Docklands hotel before heading out to meet up with the rest of the gang before going for a meal at the superb Café Spice Namaste. Once thing we didn’t expect to find was this. It seems the AA are now interplanetary!

08:30.

After the past few days glorious weather up North the rain’s reappeared and today’s forecast is less than optimal. Because of this I’m heading down to London to fulfil a more unusual commission. One of my clients needs pictures of Buckingham Palace. No, I’ve no idea why either, but ours is not to reason why…

Whilst I’m in the capital I’ll be getting some library shots of the ever changing railway scene, so expect a few bits of interest to appear throughout the day…

09:30.

I’m on the road slightly later than planned as I had to send a batch of pictures one of the rail magazines had requested. To speed up the trip I’m getting a lift into Huddersfield with Dawn so I can take the direct TPE route to Leeds rather than walking to Halifax for the meander via Bradford. Typically, just as we left the house the drizzle started! Not only that, but a few minutes before we drove past, this came down on our road.

10:06.

Normal service has been resumed on TPE. I’m stood in the vestibule of a packed Class 185 on it’s way to Leeds. On the drive across I was scanning the news about the latest Brexitshambles and BBC story that Johnson is about to ask the Queen to suspend Parliament, thus enacting the political coup that will allow him to crash us out of the EU with no deal, rendering Parliament powerless to stop him. Truly, this country has become a dictatorship and the effects are going to be appalling. The Brexit zealots have no idea of the consequences of what they’re doing. They want Brexit at any cost, no matter how damaging. I fear the UK isn’t going to survive if they get their mad way.

11:21.

I’m now speeding my way to London on LNER’s 10:45 Leeds – Kings Cross. The train’s not too busy but I’ve drawn the short-straw as I’m now surrounded by a group of middle-aged women on a jolly to London, one of whom insists on showing the rest of the group the video contents of her phone. Why anyone would want to watch video’s of a baby screaming is beyond me! We’re just calling at Doncaster, so I expect the train’s going to get even louder. I’m kicking myself for not packing my iPod this morning, especially as I had it to hand just before I left the house. Instead, I’m taking refuge in work and trying to thin out the contents of my email inbox.

12:18.

We’re on our way from Peterborough now and the weather’s looking a lot more promising than at home. Although there’s high cloud it’s very broken. If this keeps up I should be able to get the pictures I need. Meanwhile, I’m making the hoped-for inroads into my inbox and clearing a backlog of pictures filing so it’s been a pretty productive trip so far…

14:43.

Would you ‘Adam and Eve’ it! Despite dashing across London to Buckingham Palace, I arrived at the same bleedin’ time as clouds and a brief shower. This was despite leaving Kings Cross which was baking in sunshine! So, there was me, sitting on the steps of the Victoria statue across the from the palace, pondering the place on the day of our deepest political crisis since world war 2 and thinking ‘kin ell! Eventually the weather played ball long enough that I could get a couple of shots that were fit for purpose. I’m now off to Victoria to head across London to hunt a different quarry: Class 710s.

15:25.

After travelling on my old friend the Victoria line I’ve emerged from the foetid atmosphere of the tube into the fresh air at Blackhorse Rd, North London. The station is an interchange with the ‘Goblin’ (as the Gospel Oak to Barking line’s known to locals). After years of difficulty with delayed electrification, cancelled services and late-delivery of new trains the line’s beginning to settle down and look forward to a reliable and prosperous future. In a scene replicated across so much of this area, the station’s overshadowed by a multitude of tower cranes building new high-rise blocks of flats, although who can still afford to rent them is a mystery.

16:58.

Whilst I was on the ‘Goblin’ I saw the last of the day’s sunshine in which I managed to grab a couple of decent shots at Blackhorse Rd and Harringay Green Lane before deciding to call it a day and begin my trek back to Yorkshire. As I was back in an old haunt I couldn’t resist getting one of the Turkish flatbread stuffed with minced lamb and spices that are popular fast food on Green Lane.

The area may have gone more upmarket from when I know it in the 1990s-2000s but there’s enough that’s familiar and the area still holds some wonderful memories for me. Wandering up the ‘ladder’ as the streets there are known I caught a train from another old haunt, Hornsey station and hopped between a few of the tired old workhouse Class 313s and their shiny new replacements, the Siemens Class 717s. The rush-hour hadn’t begun to bite so there were plenty of spare seats. At Potters Bar I changed once more, this time to a Siemens Class 700 which will carry me to Stevenage where I’ll pick up an LNER train. The weather across the Northern suburbs has turned dark and dismal with small showers, hardly ideal for photography so the camera’s getting a rest!

18:21.

My penultimate train if the day’s an ancient HST working a Kings Cross to Harrogate service. If there’s many typos in this part of the blog I apologise, the rocking and bouncing on this train at speed is awful! They may be liked by enthusiasts but the ride quality’s not a patch on an Azuma!

19:44.

We’re just leaving Wakefield under some exceptional skies as the edge of a heavy band of cloud is meeting the setting sun which is picking out a few stray clouds like a search light. It’s glorious! The effect was the same in Leeds but there was no chance of ne getting in a place to get pictures I was straight on to my last train of the day, Northern’s 20:06 to Huddersfield via Halifax which is worked by a neatly kept but tired Class 156.

20:07.

The final trip of the day’s begun and I’m looking forward to getting home and relaxing for a few hours as tomorrow’s going to be another much-travelled day…

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

14:04.

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

06:50.

It’s a soggy start to the day here in the Calder Valley, but looking at the forecast the situation seems to be the same over much of the country, so my photographic opportunities may be a bit limited today. Right now my first job is to head off to the station without getting too wet and begin my trip Southwards to London. Let’s see how things go…Here’s the view across the Calder Valley and Sowerby Bridge this morning.

On the bright side, the train’s mostly drizzle.

0740.

I made it to the station without breaking my neck anyways. The problem is the Yorkshire stone pavements around here look pretty, but they’re like an ice rink when they’re wet. You never know when you’re likely to go arse over tit, so in this weather I usually walk on the road, although that has its own risks this time of morning as car drivers are rushing to get to work.I arrived just in time to catch the late running 07:23 to Leeds which had left Huddersfield 7 mins late. I was surprised to see it was worked by a rather tired looking single car Class 153, which could prove to be interesting to say the least…Sure enough, we’ve just called at the new Low Moor station and now we’re full and standing!

07:48.

The situation didn’t ease at Bradford Interchange as hardly anyone got off. Fortunately, hardly anyone got on either.08:00.We’ve now called at New Pudsey which was packed with people expecting the Grand Central relief service from Hebden Bridge to Leeds. There were several looks of consternation when our little ‘dogbox’ rolled in. It’s now very cosy aboard!

08:43.

After spewing out its load of weary commuters, our little 153 filled up completely once more, this time working to Brighouse. I was surprised how many people were travelling in the opposite direction – presumably to work in Bradford. As usual, the station was teeming with commuters coming into the city. The place is the 3rd busiest outside of London with a footfall of over 31.1 million souls so the morning and evening peaks can be quite intense. With that in mind I hung around to see the Grand Central service from Hebden Bridge disgorge its load. The Class 180 stopped at the far end of platform 11, allowing the human wave to flood along the platform and also swamp the bridge over to platform 8.

Now I understand why this train’s such a valuable service!09:15.I’m now on the way to London aboard LNER’s 08:45 to Kings Cross which is dashing through the wet Yorkshire countryside at a very respectable pace. It’s not too busy so I’ve managed to bag a table, plug in the laptop and set to work.

10:20.

The rain’s never let up all the way, now we’re speeding towards Huntingdon after calling at a very damp Peterborough where there were more puddles than passengers.The railway in this neck of the woods is rather different to my experiences this morning. You’ll still get single car Class 153s at Peterborough, but this stretch of the East Coast Main line’s dominated by 8-12 car Class 700s from Siemens and LNER expresses. The shortest trains you’ll see now are the Class 180s used by open access operators Hull Trains and Grand Central. I must admit I’m looking forward to sampling LNER’s new Hitachi built Azuma’s when they enter service later this month.10:44.We’ve just sped through Welwyn Garden City where more new trains are evident. A Siemens built Class 717 was waiting to return to London on a Moorgate working. They’re such an improvement over the old 313s, which I don’t think many passengers will be sorry to see the back of.

12:12.

Due to the power of social media and serendipity I’ve just had a meeting with an old friend and RAIL colleague Richard Clinnick as we were both passing through Kings Cross – albeit in different directions!Now I’ve headed across London on something a little bigger and busier than my first train of the day.

I’m now at the Rail Delivery Group offices in Aldersgate for a meeting. It’s an area I used to know well but for a very different reason. It was during my days in housing, when I was on the board of the old National Federation of Housing Co-ops.

13:56.

After a successful meeting I came out of RDG to find the weather was breaking and the sun was making a bid to shine. This made me head over to Euston to get some pictures of the Hs2 work that’s in full swing. Ironically, I’ll now be back here again on an assignment. Demolitions are ramping up. A few months ago this was the site of the old ‘Bree Louise’ pub and hotels.

Whilst I was here I bumped into a rather sad little StopHs2 demonstration outside the Euston Tap. Apparently, a couple of people had ended up here after walking the length of the Phase 1 route. A tiny group of no more than a couple of dozen folk,including Joe Rukin and the inflatable elephant, some paid lobbyists from the ‘Taxpayers Alliance’ and a trio of ‘Extinction Rebellion’ placard wavers were here to greet them and try to drum up media interest. Needless to say, they were vastly outnumbered by the people wearing Hs2 high vis who are gainfully employed on the project! It was all rather farcical. The genuine protesters (not paid lobbyists, media or hangers on) were almost exclusively retired. When you consider that 6.5 million folk live on the route of Hs2 and this (in one of their supposed strongholds, Camden) was the best they could do…

The guy in the green ‘Taxpayers Alliance’ windcheater was one of several at the demonstration. The TPA is a political lobbying group that refuses to admit who funds it. One thing’s for sure, it’s not ordinary taxpayers!

14:29.

I left the sad spectacle of the Stop Hs2 flop behind by catching a train from Euston Northwards as far as Bletchley, for a trip across to Bedford on one of the new Vivarail class 230s.

16:21.

Sadly, it wasn’t to be. The 15:51 departure to Bedford failed with a defective power unit and had to be swapped. This took over half an hour – in the middle of a thunder and hailstorm! So, rather than tempt the fates further I changed plans and caught a train to Milton Keynes after getting a few pictures. It was a shame as I had chance to have a look around the train before it was declared a failure. Vivarail have done a really good job with them. The interiors are very smart, they look comfortable, have a range of seating as well as plenty of power points and USB sockets.

17:13.

Now I’m speeding towards Manchester on a rather different conveyance, one of Alstom’s 11 car Pendolino’s. I don’t get to travel on them anywhere near as much as I used to, but their performance never fails to impress – or the way they tilt through curves.

18:32.

Back in Manchester.

22:08.

I’m now back in the bosom of Yorkshire and bringing this blog to a close. See you all tomorrow!