Tag Archives: RAIL magazine

23rd September picture of the day…

23 Wednesday Sep 2020

Posted by in History, Musings, Picture of the day, RAIL magazine, Scotland, Travel

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The weather’s been stereotypically grim up North, with low cloud, wind and rain most of the day, so the Calder Valley – well, what you can see of it – hasn’t been at its best. My day’s been spent type-swiping, as an old girlfriend once described her secretarial duties! I’ve been busy writing up part 1 of my Railrover trilogy and (as usual) the problem isn’t what to write – it’s what to leave out. 12,000 words over 3 articles souns a lot until you realise that’s only 4,000 words per article and one of them is three days worth of travelling the country. To be honest I could easily fill a book.

Whilst I’ve been ‘type-swiping’ (copyright Mary Jones!) I’ve been bouyed by the reaction to an article that’s hit the bookstands today. I’d written an eight page piece on the Tay bridge disaster and Sir Thomas Bouch (the man who designed the structure) for RAIL magazine a couple of months ago. It was a complex article as it required a lot of technical research to tell a story many people weren’t aware of. So, when you see reactions like this from an expert in their field it makes you feel it was worth the effort…

Hopefully people will find my travels around the UK’s rail network as interesting!

All this brings me neatly to the picture of the day – which was used to illustrate my Tay Bridge article. This was taken on the 29th May 2019. It shows the new bridge with the piers of Bouch’s ill-fated structure in front.

It’s a fascinating story as this was (thankfully) the only major railway accident in which their were no survivors. You can read the full story in the latest copy of RAIL magazine which is on sale today (you can buy electronic copies by the way…)

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 to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site – and right now (because of Covid), us freelances need all the help that we can get. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Rolling blog: Doncaster detour…

27 Thursday Jun 2019

Posted by in I love my job, Northern Rail, Photojournalism, RAIL magazine, Railways, Rolling blogs, Transport

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08:48.I’m on my way from Halifax to Doncaster for a Rail Safety week presentation at DB Cargo’s offices. My first train if the day is Northern’s 08:44 to Leeds, which is worked by a Class 150/153 combo. I’ve plumped for the better all round visibility of the 153, which is busy but not rammed. The only problem with these units is there’s very little leg-room in the airline-style seats.

Today should be an interesting event as it deals with mental health well-being and my old friend, RAIL writer Richard Clinnick is speaking. I’ve already had a busy day as I was up at 6am to polish an article I’ve written for RAIL about the ‘3 Peaks by Rail challenge’.

09:47.

I’m now ensconced in the quiet coach in LNER’s 09:45 to Kings Cross as far as Doncaster. Leeds station was busy with inbound commuters who moved like a shoal of scared fish through the barriers only to break in different directions due to changes in the concourse layout. The entrance to the concourse has been widened by removing the old ‘Upper Crust’ cafe and a new gateline is being installed further back from the platforms. The whole area’s a building site at the moment as it’s dotted with scaffolding holding up the decking from which the new roof’s being installed.

I’m travelling on a Mk4 set as this service hasn’t yet gone over to ‘Azuma’ operation, although that won’t be for much longer…

11:14.

I’m now at the DB offices at Donny and the first session today is about Defibrillators.

16:30.

Wow! That was an even more interesting day than I expected. I’ll blog more about it later when I can download my camera pictures. Right now I’m heading back to Leeds aboard one of LNERs brand new ‘Azuma’ trains. They’re quite impressive as they’re fast, the ride quality’s far better than the old Mk4 sets and the legroom in the airline seats is very good. Oh, the seat reservation system’s rather good too as it has coloured lights to indicate if seats are free or reserved.

18:00.

My final train’s just pulled out of Bradford Interchange en-route to Halifax on a glorious summer’s evening. What a day to have been cooped up inside an office! That said, I did manage to get a few library shots in the sunlight which I’ll add to my website soon. But not tonight as Dawn and I are out with friends enjoying bar food at the Moorcock Inn at Norland Moor. If I don’t get told off for being anti-social I might add a couple of restaurant pictures later. If not – expect another rolling blog tomorrow as I’ll be back in Doncaster for a press event.

Rolling blog: back in the groove…

12 Friday Apr 2019

Posted by in I love my job, New trains, Photography, RAIL magazine, Rolling blogs, Siemens, Travel

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06:32

Another day, another early start. Right now I’m sat on a train to Leeds on a frosty but sunny morning that promises to be a glorious day weather-wise. Sadly I’m sans coffee as I left the house slightly later than planned. I had to power walk to Halifax station, arriving with a minute to spare. That defect will be remedied when I reach Leeds!

I’m on my way to Peterborough to meet up with an old friend and colleague from RAIL magazine to do a job for said mag. Years ago Pip and I used to do regular features for RAIL which involved travelling on new trains and seeing what they were like from a passengers perspective. The series carried on for many years and now we’re bringing it back. This time we’re going to be checking out the new (ish) Siemens built Class 700s built for Thameslink/Great Northern services. You’ll be able to read about it in RAIL soon so I won’t be blogging in detail about the trip, but you might get a few teasers!

07:52.

My connection at Leeds worked without problem and I’m now happily ensconced on LNER’s 07:15 from Leeds to Kings Cross as far as Grantham. I now have coffee and a sandwich, so all’s well with the world…

08:35.

After a rapid change of trains at Grantham I’m now on an East Midlands Trains Class 158 heading for Peterborough. According to the screens, this service is from Mansfield Woodhouse to Norwich, which is a service I never even knew existed! I’d have thought it would have originated from Sheffield. Still, you learn something new every day!

I rather like the refurbed EMT 158s. They’re a comfortable train, although I know some folk don’t like the high-back seats.v

14:13

We’re hard at work, honest! We’ve tried out 4 class 700s, two 12-car and two 8-car. Here’s Pip Dunn checking the technical details on our way to London.

14:55.

Job done, it’s time to begin the trek North from Peterborough, this time it’s on a rammed LNER service heading for Leeds. I was going to hang around and get some pictures but the weather’s changed completely from this morning full sun to being cloudy and cold, so hardly an incentive to hang around…

16:29

I decided to take a short break in Doncaster to get a couple of pictures and (as it’s Friday) visit this little gem on the station for a ‘swifty’ before heading home.

17:10.

Last train of the day now. I missed an earlier one by seconds as our platforms were too far apart. Now I’m on the 17:97 to Brighouse which is a rammed 2-car ex-Scotrail Class 158. There’s 10 of us stood in the vestibule by the toilets and aisle in the passenger saloon resembles a sardine can.

Too busy writing for a living…

26 Wednesday Oct 2016

Posted by in RAIL magazine, Transport, Work

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Apologies for the lack of blogs recently but I’ve been to busy writing for a living rather than pleasure! Earlier today I finished writing the final article in my trilogy for RAIL magazine. It was good timing as part 2 of the series hit newsagents shelves today.

Every two years RAIL commission me to travel around the UKs railways for a week. I get to see the good the bad and the ugly – then write all about it. As this is the seventh year I’ve been doing the trips (I started in 2004) we made it a little different. Instead of out and back, circular trips I started in Penzance and finished in Wick. It was great as it gave me the opportunity to include lines I’d not travelled on before. Here’s a preview of today’s piece, published in RAIL No 812:

20161026_101822

 

RAIL 812 is on sale from today until the next edition (and final part of my article) appears on Wednesday 9th December

Now this has been done and the nights are drawing in I should be working from home more, I’m hoping that will leave me a bit more time for blogging. That said, I’ve still got tens of thousands of slides to scan!

London bound, again (despite the fog)…

02 Monday Nov 2015

Posted by in Hs2, RAIL magazine, Travel, Work

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Having enjoyed an evening at home after a weekend in London with friends I’m heading back to the capital once more – this time for work. I’m at the Rail Forum (East Midlands) Parliamentary reception this afternoon. The Palace of Westminster is always a fascinating place to visit as it’s so rich in history and political power. Plus, events like this are normally a good time to catch up with people – and gossip.

Right now I’m sitting back in air conditioned luxury aboard one of Grand Central’s 125mph Adelante’s, sipping coffee & admiring the view from the window as we speed down the East Coast Mail Line. Well, what view there is as the countryside has been blanketed in fog since we started. Despite the fog we’re bowling along – unlike the airlines, who’ve had to cancel many flights, as the BBC reports here.

In contrast, the railways are unaffected. Here’s the running reports for services through Peterborough between 08:00-13:00 today – not a single cancellation reported. Needless to say this is a great advert for the railways & also Hs2…

Talking of Hs2 – On Thursday I’ll be at another important event: The National Rail Conference is maintaining its recent focus on Hs2 so it’s moved location to another crucial city on the route – Leeds. You can find the details of the event here. There’s an excellent line-up of speakers so I expect the event to be well-attended. There’s still time to book if you want to come along & hear the latest on this transformational project.

In between these events I’m looking forward to a few days at home. The new office at home is coming along but I’m desperate to have some time to get it more organised. Then there’s the backlog of paperwork to deal with before I decamp to the South once more. There’s going to be plenty to blog about in the next few weeks…