Gawd, what miserable weather. All we’ve seen in the Calder valley (apart from NOT seeing the other side of the valley) has been fog and low cloud that’s felt like we’re living in some dystopian future. Admittedly, after Trumps election and the rate of climate change he’s denying – that future may not be too far away…
Weather aside my day has been spent going through the last entries for the community rail awards in one of the two categories I’m a judge. It’s tough as there’s some fantastic submissions.
Tonight I took a break and headed up to my local pub to join a group of friends who indulge themselves by reading the quizzes from our local pub paper (thanks Stuart, your efforts really are appreciated). Afterwards a few of us discussed the American elections with a Yorkshireman friend who’s just moved back from the USA after many years. His insight was both interesting and depressing. We are about to live through some interesting times. For the moment my focus is on the present. The past is set, but the future has yet to happen – and that’s the bit that interests me – although right now I haven’t got a ‘Scooby Do’ what that looks like.
In the meantime, here’s today’s picture, which is one from a series I took on a little jaunt around Bradford the other day. The city’s railway system is a shadow of of itself. During the heyday of the railways the city was crisscrossed by lines. Here’s the remains of one you can see today, but only if you know where to look.
This is what you might notice on a train from Leeds as it drops down into Bradford Interchange. See that bricked up tunnel to the left? That’s the old line towards Queensbury (one of the few triangular stations in the UK) that finally closed in 1963. The line from here dived under the industrial estate you see in the background. Bradford has a fascinating railway history. I hope to explore more of it soon. Right now, other things take precedence, so expect a new HS2 blog coming soon.
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Today’s been one where I’ve managed to cut myself off from the troubles of the world (and the results of the American election) to concentrate on something uplifting. Right now I’m knee-deep in judging the Community Rail Awards 2025 entries, specifically the ‘It’s your station’ category. We’ve had 39 entries this year, many of them from stations which have never applied before. I’ve spent the day reading through the submissions, checking the information supplied and doing my first sift of the entries to see which categories they fall into. Bronze, Silver, Gold or Platinum. I can assure you, it’s nor all about station gardens either. Here’s some of the winners from this years Community Rail Awards.
As always, there’s some fantastic entries. Most of the stations I’m familiar with as I’ve visited them some time in the past (or even recently), a few I don’t really know at all. It doesn’t matter as we judge on the entries, some of which are incredibly inspiring as they showcase the best of the areas they represent and the total cross-section of people involved. Sometimes it’s easy to become jaded and cynical. These people, their achievements and their commitments to their communities restore your faith in humanity – something very much needed right now!
So, today’s picture is a reflection of what I’m seeing, although it’s not from a station that’s entered this year. These are some of the fantastic local history boards on display at Marple station in Cheshire.
I’ve a gallery dedicated to community rail on my Zenfolio picture website. You can find it here.
I’ve a small favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
After my trip to London yesterday I’ve been pretty much confined to Bigland Towers today as I’ve needed to spend most of my time picture editing and sorting out paperwork. It’s been no loss as the weather’s been crap. We woke up to low cloud and mist this morning which never cleared, leaving us with a gloomy, damp and sunless day all day – hardly one to be heading out with the camera, so I’ve made the most of my time staying indoors in the warm.
I’ve resisted the temptation to try and follow anything to do with the American presidential election, other than write this blog. There’s far too much misinformation out there and the reputable polls that do exist leave one none the wiser. According to them it’s too close to call so all the media are doing is speculating. I’ll wait to see what tomorrow brings instead, although it’s quite likely we won’t know the actual result until Thursday as the few swing states that matter may not declare until then.
Instead, the pair of us are going to have a quiet, relaxing night in watching a film. After all – tomorrow’s another day. In the meantime, I’ll leave you with today’s picture which was taken shortly before I left London last night.
Platforms 5-8 inside the Western arch of Kings Cross station. Opened in October 1852, the station was designed by Lewis Cubitt, the younger brother of Thomas Cubitt.
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I’m on my way to London to see a locomotive being named after a very old friend. I’ll give our the details after it’s happened.
Right now I’m on a train from Sowerby Bridge to Leeds under leaden skies. The weather is still mild here in West Yorkshire but it’s also damp and misty – hardly great weather for outdoor photography. Hopefully conditions will be better the further South I get.
Unusually, I’m on a four-car Class 158 set. Normally these units work Wigan to Leeds services via Brighouse and Mirfield.
Now they’re diverted via Bradford Interchange, after which they run non-stop to Leeds. This is due to the Trans-Pennine route upgrade affecting their normal diagrams where they’re being replaced by buses.
12:45.
Sorry for the gap, but I was busy working on the LNE service from Leeds all the way to Peterborough. I’ve been sent a PDF copy of the 3rd in my trilogy of trips around Britain for RAIL magazine so that I could supply captions for the pictures they’ve chosen. It’s kept me busy all the way from Leeds. I took a short break at Peterborough in the hope that there might be a couple of pictures to be had but sadly, the weather’s just as bad ‘dahn sarf’ as it is up in Yorkshire. Oh, hang on, doesn’t Peterboro count as the Midlands? I live in hope then! Another problem was that several services were cancelled. It seems East Midlands Railway and Thameslink are having a bit of a dodgy day. I’m now speeding towards Kings Cross in another ‘Azuma’. This one’s 5 not 9 cars and seems well loaded.
18:00.
Well, that was a fun day and one where I ended up being rather busy with the camera. Having arrived at Kings Cross I met up with the rest of the gang – and a real gang it was! A large chunk of the railway industry (past and present) was there to see Nigel name an engine after himself – along with many of us who’ve worked with him at RAIL magazine over the years he was Editor. Introductions were made by John Smith (CEO of GBRf, whose locomotive it was) after which Nigel gave a speech, talking about about the honour being bestowed upon him along with some background on locomotive namings.
The man and the machine named after him – 66312.Just some of the crowd attending. How many people from different parts of the rail industry (and politics) can you recognise?
Afterwards we adjourned to the Betjeman bar at St Pancras where GBRf had booked a room and very kindly laid on food and drink. It was a lovely event and chance to catch up with so many old friends and colleagues.
As I’ve got to get back home I’ve left those remaining to begin my journey back to Yorkshire and I’ve got a great ride to take me there.
One of the old East Coast racehorses, 91110, named ‘Battle of Britain memorial flight’
19:30.
My train to Leeds was relaxed as it wasn’t busy – and we had a quiet coach so I could knuckle down to some work which included editing some of today’s pictures. Now I’m on the lady leg aboard an equally quiet 2-car train from Hull to Halifax. Leeds station was bereft of passengers for a change – the quietest I’ve seen it for some time. That said, some of the gardens and playing fields are anything but due to folk celebrating Guy Fawkes night. There’s bonfires and fireworks aplenty!
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There’s been lots of stuff to unpick in Wednesday’s budget which was the first one from Labour for 14 years. Much of the endless speculation running up to it proved to be wrong. What wasn’t wrong was an expected announcement that High Speed 2 will be running to Euston.
Chancellor Rachel Reeve confirmed that the Government will directly fund the roughly £1bn cost of completing the 5.4-mile tunnel drive from Old Oak Common. The Tories has said this would only go ahead if private finance funded it. The new Labour government knows this was just an excuse for more dither and delay, so has committed to funding the work from Government funds.
Some people have expressed surprise that – whilst the tunnels will be built, there’s no announcement on building the HS2 station at Euston. There’s a reason for this.
The TBMs to bore the tunnels are already being assembled on site at Old Oak Common. There’s a tight window for launching them as any delay would impact on the construction of the HS2 station at Old Oak Common, so the decision had to be made quickly and the budget was a handy event to include it in.
The announcement of Euston station is much more complex. Plans for the station had changed a number of times due to the Government changing its mind on the size of the oversite development (OSD) and latterly, due to the station being designed by a Committee, the Euston Partnership Board. There’s an old adage that a camel is a horse designed by a committee. It’s similar in intent to ‘too many cooks spoil the broth’. All the different partners in the partnership wanted their needs and aspirations included in the station design and the costs escalated massively as a consequence. Now the new Government has redrawn plans yet again. Another budget announcement was the appointment of Bek Seeley to chair the Euston Housing Delivery Group which will be involved in Euston station design and the surrounding area. Meanwhile, funding for Euston station redevelopment isn’t expected to be announced until the March 2025 spending review. As things stand, there’s still considerable uncertainty over what the actual HS2 station will look like, many platforms it will have, or even when construction will begin – only that HS2 WILL get to Euston. For the rest, we’ll just have to wait and see…
Before the Tories dithered and delayed to waste 100s of £ms on HS2 at Euston…Here’s a 20th October 2021 view of the station’s Western wall under construction.
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After the past couple of days travels and exertions I’ve been having a far more sedentary day here at Bigland Towers. That doesn’t mean I haven’t been busy (and I’ve still walked 5 miles) but I’ve not been carrying kilos and kilos of kit, which my knees have rather enjoyed!
Most of my day’s been spent either writing or editing the hundreds of pictures that I’ve taken over the past several days. Yesterday’s are all ready to go to the client and the final part of my bi-annual trip around the UK for RAIL magazine is almost finished. I’ll be having another quiet day tomorrow in order to get everything wrapped up before the weekend as the pair of us will be away again for a little celebration, but more of that another time.
Right now I’ll leave you with today’s picture, which I took on the way home yesterday evening.
A pair of Hull Trains Class 802, (802302 and 304) sit at Kings Cross station, London before working train 1H06, the 18:48 to Beverley. The sets will split on reaching Hull, with only the rear unit continuing on to Beverley. The company run two direct trains a day between the two. Leaving Beverley at 06:06 and 07:53 they return to the Minster town at 18:43 and 21:58. This is the only one of the two services diagrammed for a double set.
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/
Good morning from Swindon. It’s time for breakfast before the group heads off to the local Atkins offices for a briefing and training session, after which we’ll be spending the day at Network Rail training centre at Cocklebury sidings. The centre is separate from the live railway but is fitted out with tracks, switches and OLE. It’s an idea place to learn about the railway without getting in the way of trains.
I’ll add update through the day as I can. I’m only here for the day so this evening I’ll be heading back to West Yorkshire (which could be fun). Watch this space…
08:55.
The trainees and staff from companies involved in the challenge are being briefed at Atkins office.
10:00.
Site briefing before tasks start and people are split into teams.
17:00.
Well, that was an informative and challenging day! I’ll add a few pictures later but what happened was the people who joined the challenge were split into four teams in order to gain hands on experience of assembling overhead equipment from drawings. After that they had the opportunity to get hands on with various tools and also learn about more aspects of the equipment used to electrify the railway. Some of those taking part had never been trackside before.
The training school replicates the real railwayAssembling a new type of adjustable dropper.
The final challenge of day 1 was running out and fixing a catenary wire under tension.
Now the day’s over. The teams have headed back for the night and I’m heading back to West Yorkshire. Hopefully, that won’t be too bad a journey. GWR services are running to time (or very nearly) and it’s a lovely evening to travel. Even so, I don’t expect to get home before 22:00 but hey – I’ve had a profitable and interesting couple of days, so I’m not complaining!
20:00.
The journey home’s been quite painless for once. My GWR train into Paddington was 10 late as it was stuck behind a late running service From Reading, but I had time in the bank but wasn’t too worried. Much as I’d liked to, I didn’t hang around at Paddington as we hadn’t got to the ‘blue hour’ when the sky performs the transition from daylight to dusk where it makes powerful pictures. Instead, I joined commuters on the Metropolitan line for a trip across to Kings Cross. By the time I arrived the skies had darkened enough to make it worth grabbing a few pictures. Now I’m on LNER’s 19:03 heading to Leeds. Today it’s a 9-car train so pretty quiet. I’ve managed to blag a table seat and set up the mobile office and begin editing today’s pictures. Chatting to a regular traveller on this service earlier it seems this is normally a very busy service, but today it’s a 9-car, hence me getting some space. Having wandered through the train to the buffet after the stop at Peterborough I can see what he was saying. My coach is probably the least busy on the train. That said, I’m sat opposite a woman who is slaving away on what’s obviously a company laptop (it has an asset register sticker on the front). Judging by the amount of huffing and puffing she’s obviously not a happy bunny! There’s workers of all kinds on this trip. I’m not the only one with a hard hat on the side of their rucsac. There’s a smattering of leisure travellers as some schools are still on holiday. There’s also a few people with airline baggage tags still attached to their suitcases, which is always a bit of a giveaway.
21:50.
The last leg. Rather than changing at Leeds I’ve had a brief break at a very quiet Doncaster station before catching the following Grand Central service which is mow carrying me directly home to Halifax. I *could* have chosen to use it from Kings Cross but I saw it was a veritable sea of reservation labels. So, choice of a 9 car on which I cold do some work, or sit in the vestibule of a 5 car. A bit of a no-brainer really.
22:20.
Home again…
The cobbles kinda give it away as Yorkshire, don’t they?
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/
It’s a calm morning here in West Yorkshire as I pack my bags and prepare to begin my journey down to Swindon. I’m not taking the quickest or most direct route, far from it. I don’t need to be there before this evening, which gives me time to stop off on the way. But where? You’ll soon find out…
08:20
My stroll down to Sowerby Bridge coincided with the arrival of a heavy shower which made for a soggy walk. I ended up waering rather than carrying my waterproof PPE jacket!
At the station it was business as usual on Northern with many trains cancelled or delayed. My 08:02 is 7 minutes late, which means I’ll be sprinting between Victoria and Piccadilly later if I want to make my connection.
The state of Northern is an object lesson for those who think ‘renationalisation’ is a magic wand cure for the railways ills. Northern was taken back ‘in house’ by the Department of Transport way back in 2020. Yet, more than four years later it’s plagued with issues. Timekeeping is awful, cancellations rife and Sundays a day to avoid travelling as complete routes are canned on a regular basis.
On my way (finally)…
09:45.
And relax..
Despite the conditions, our Northern driver managed to claw back enough time that my sprint across Manchester paid off. I made Avanti’s 09:15 with less than a minute to spare. Now I’ve stripped off and am cooling down in air-conditioned luxury. Well, standard class anyway!
I see that punctuality is an issue on the West Coast too. We were 4 mins late into Stockport, where we picked up a healthy load of passengers. We gained even more at Macclesfield, which means this 9-car, peak time train is already almost full.
I wonder if we’ll manage to make up any time?
10:15.
– as if!
We crawled much of the way to Stoke-on-Trent where we arrived 10 minutes behind time. Now we’re making slow progress towards Colwich, where we’ll join the main trunk of the West Coast Main Line (WCML). We’re not scheduled to stop again until Rugby but with the route being so congested and with us having lost our path I’m not optimistic. I have a 12 minute connection ahead of me. I suspect the chances of me making it are minimal.
To add to the fun the onboard wifi is awful as it keeps glitching and dropping out, leaving me typing this on my phone. Oh well, there’s little for me to do but window gaze and admire the clouds. They reflect my mood. Dark.
11:30.
Things are picking up. I decided to abandon my connection at Milton Keynes as something interesting was due. Here it is.
Hello stranger!
Yestrday saw the first passenger (albeit empty stock) trains running on the East-West line between Bicester and Bletchley, terminating at Milton Keynes. Both GWR and Chiltern have provided stock. GWR will be using part of the West Coast route as the line into Paddington will be blocked whilst construction begins on the Old Oak Common interchange station with HS2.
13:00.
I continued on to Bletchley where I took a little diversion. There’s a line from the town to Bedford. It’ll become part of East-West rail but right now it’s worked by a trio of Class 150 diesel trains borrowed from Northen. I’ve not travelled on it since these DMUs took over from the aborted Vivarail Class 230s so I thought I’d have a trip out to Apsley Guise and back.
150139 ready to work the 11:45 Bletchley to Bedford.
On my return to Bletchley, and with the clouds closing in I decided it was time to head into London.
15:20.
The last leg! After having a mooch around Euston station – which is much improved now that giant advertising screen’s been switched off – I caught a tube to Paddington and a fast train to Reading.
I rarely travel along the Thames valley by GWR nowadays, so I’m wondering. When did it become fashionable for the majority of passengers to sit in the aisle seats, so that they can ‘reserve’ the window seat for their bag? It’s endemic down here! Having stopped off between trains to get a few shots of Reading I’m now on my final unit of the day – another GWR Class 800 to Swindon. The weather’s bucked its ideas up around here, so there may be the opportunity for a few more shots in the sunshine before I’m due at the hotel.
800321 was my chariot from Reading to Swindon. I’ll give it one thing, it can certainly shift!
17:00.
I’m now checked into the hotel. Yet again my arrival somewhere coincided with the appearance of rain clouds, so there was little point in hanging around at the station. At least there was this welcoming sign on the old Great Western hotel opposite the station.
Arkells is a beer that doesn’t seem to travel well. I’ve never encountered it outside Wiltshire. The irony? There’s another pub across the road. What draught beer was it selling? Timothy Taylors – from Yorkshire!
Back soon. It’s time to meet up with everyone else…
23:55.
So much for ‘back soon’! I’ve had a really interesting night catching up with old friends and some of the people who’ve signed up for this hands-on training session. We had time for a quick drink in the bar earlier. This is what the future of the railway industry looks like. And I like it.
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/
Today’s been one dominated by the weather which has been a complete contrast to the day we arrived here in Wales. We had very heavy rain on and off throughout the night, which made sleeping just under an old barn roof interesting to say the least!
Upon waking we found the area around us was blanketed in low cloud and fog, so there there was little point in rushing out to sight-see. Instead we had a leisurely morning at ‘home’, giving me chance to catch up on some work emails and Dawn to relax.
Eventually we ventured out to head over to Pwllheli our first stop of the day. Whilst it’s the biggest town on the peninsula and the railhead for the area, it’s hardly the most attractive town. Admittedly it has some interesting buildings but the place has a shabby air redolent of so many faded seaside towns, especially at the end of the season. That wasn’t helped by the fact it was blanketed in fog! We stayed long enough to pick up some fresh hake from the excellent Llyn seafoods and for me to visit the station to see how busy the incoming train from Birmingham was, then it was time to head off to explore further.
The crew of 158830 exchange banter having arrived with 2J07, the 0808 Birmingham International to Pwllheli.
The weather cleared as we headed East, the sun almost managed to break through at one point en-route, but that didn’t last. However, we did manage to beat the same train on its return, which allowed me to get this shot of it leaving Portmadog.
Hello again! 158830 leaves Porthmadog as 2I24, the 1338 Pwllheli to Birmingham International. It will join another set from Aberystwyth at Machynlleth, working forward as a -4-car to Brum.
Porthmadog is a far nicer and more interesting town for a whole host of reasons. There’s much more going on thanks to the two narrow gauge railways which are a huge tourist draw. There’s a far better selection of shops too, including many small businesses. The air is more bohemian and arty and less traditionally touristy. Plus, there’s also the excellent Moose Head brewery, brewery tap and next door shop.
Needless to say, we couldn’t resist calling in to see activity at the Ffestiniog railway station where two of the line’s steam engines were present.
‘Linda’ waits in the sidings with the stock of the ‘Quarryman’ train to Blaenau Ffestiniog whilst ‘Palmerston’ shunts a train of coal wagons.
Sadly the rain arrived not long after we did so we decided not to hand around but risk our luck by heading into Snowdonia to visit Beddgelert. It was a lovely drive due to the changing seasons and colours that have appeared in the trees along the route. Plus, the Afon Glaslyn river which the road follows made a fine, swirling sight due to the heavy rains.
Beddgelert was quiet but still an enjoyable diversion despite the rain. The low clouds meant we played hide and seek when it came to views of the surrounding hills whilst fog on the river added to the climactic effects.
Whatever the weather (and there’s normally no shortage of rain in Snowdonia) the place is always worth a visit.
With the day rolling on and the weather determined to rain on our parade we made our way back West with one last stop. We had a wander around Cricceith, yet another Welsh town blessed with a castle – although I know that’s not how the Welsh saw them at the time! We didn’t stay long as the fog was really rolling in, it was atmospheric but rather wet! I’d love to see it like this at dawn with the colours of the new day illuminating the mist.
Now we’re back at home, toasting in front of the fire. The forecast for tomorrow is vastly improved and we have plans for further explorations. Let’s see…
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/
Another early start for me, even though I only got home late last night. This morning I’m travelling down to Bicester to meet up with a small band of fellow specialist media to have a look at progress on phase 1 of HS2 between Calvert and Quainton. But (as usual), first I’ve got to get there, which involves several trains. Let’s see how the day unfolds. This could be ‘fun’ in this neck of the woods at least as we’ve got heavy rain this morning…
06:55.
My walk to the station was damp, but the ‘heavy’ rain failed to materialise. Instead I was treated to the steady drumbeat of persistent but hardly torrential rain on my umbrella as I trudged through the deserted streets of Halifax.
Now I’m aboard the first train of the day, a 2-car Class 150 working the Bradford to Huddersfield shuttle service. It’s surprisingly busy for the time of day, although – as I’m not a regular user I couldn’t tell you if this is normal or not. The main thing is – it’s warm, dry and I’ve got a seat!
Early-bird workers catch the Huddersfield shuttle.
07:20.
We arrived at Huddersfield on time but now I’m in TPE territory so the next few Westbound trains are all running late. One’s 30 down (fault on the train) but mercifully, mine’s shown as just 1 min late – but we’ll see.
The station continues to change thanks to TRU rebuilding. The old tea room had disappeared. The area where it stood has been resurfaced and seating installed, which helps restore space for passngers but there’s no shelter from the cold in the winter.
07:35.
Success! My service was just a minute late! I’ve now got the ‘mobile office’ set up in a Class 185 forming the all stations to Manchester Piccadilly. This is another busy train which I expect to be full and standing by its destination. Dawn’s breaking now and I can see that the Colne valley’s just as wet and miserable as the Calder. Cloud level’s low enough that it’s cut off the tops of the surrounding hills.
07:50.
After traversing the Pennines through the Standedge tunnel we called at Greenfield and Mossley. As I predicted, this train is now rammed! Dozens of soggy commuters were waiting at each location. Most people think of this as an intercity route between Leeds and Manchester (which it is) but it also has a large commuting catchment which hasn’t been best served in recent years. Hopefully, when the TRU upgrade is completed this will be rectified. TRU is becoming more evident on this section of line now. There’s work going on at the lineside with vegetation clearence and mikes of new cable troughs – the first solid sign of action rather than talk. Plus, plans have been published to resite Greenfield station.
What’s still an unknown are any details of the erstwhile ‘Northern Powerhouse Rail’ new line from Liverpool which was meant to magically end at Marsden.
08:35.
Oh, joy! Arriving at Manchester Piccadilly with a 12 minute connection time I thought everything was going well. Then I noticed that the 5-car Voyager I was meant to be catching was sat in platform 4 with engines off and lights out but dozens of folk stood outside waiting to board. Cross-country staff were wandering up and down (inside and out) but the engines didn’t start until after our departure time. With doors released their was a mad scamble to find reserved seats or vacant ones for those like me without a reservation. Still, at least I’ve got one this time.
We’ve left Manchester 9 minutes late which puts our path South in jeopardy and my 12 minute connection time at Leamington Spa at risk. Do Cross-Country ever make any time up on these runs? I’m about to find out.
09:10.
God, I hate this journey. As the only way of geeting between two of the major UK cities (Manchester and Birmingham) this is such a sub-standard product and thanks to that ignorant and capricious fool Rishi Sunak taking it upon himself to cancel phase 2 of HS2 this is the best we have to look forward to for decades to come.
We’ve lost more time, having left Stoke-on-Trent 10 mins late (who-hoo, we pulled back a minute!). The go/no-go point for me will be New St. Then I have to make the decision wether to stay on the train and try and make the connection at Leamington Spa or hotfoot it from New St to Moor St to pick up the train there. The latter could well be the better option.
11:00.
Bugger…
My optimism at making my connection faded just as soon as we left Wolverhampton still 10 minutes down, this rail corridor’s notorious for congestion and sure enough we lost more time and arrived at New St with me having 5 mins to make it across to Moor St. I arrived just in time to see my train pulling out. Now I’m 30 mins behind schedule with no option but to get a taxi from Bicester to the site for a rapid change into PPE.
Oh, I checked what time the Voyager got into Leamington. It was 15 down as that point – with the London train long gone. Just another frustrating day in the railway…
19:00.
An interesting but frustrating day. But first here’s a couple of phone pictures from earlier. I’ll add camera shots just as soon as I’m able.
Looking North along the HS2 trace South of Calvert with the waste incinerator to the left. The view’s from a new bridge being built over the tracks which will eventually number 6 at this location. HS2 will be on the left, the Aylesbury rail link in the centre, plus a pair of sidings for refuse trains to the right.Looking South from further up the trace. This will be a new green bridge with a bat mitigation structure adjacent to it. The route will be four track at this point. Sheephouse wood is seen to the left.
We finished our tour at Calvert, a site that’s seen many changes – and a lot of recent flooding due to heavy rain. Despite that, progress is impressive.
After the tour our merry band were dropped off at Bicester North to begin the trek home. That was fine as far as Banbury, then late-running Cross-Country trains thew a spanner in the works. I should have been heading home via Derby and Leeds. Instead, I’m perched in a luggage rack in a 4-car Voyager heading for Manchester.
Don’t ask how many people are crammed in the vestibule behind me…
21:15.
And breathe…
I’m on the last leg on the way home. The 4-car Voyager from Birmingham to Manchester remained busy throughout. Some seats swapped occupants several times but I gave up trying and stayed wedged in my luggage rack. There was no way I was going to get anything productive done on the train so why bother?
Needless to say, my train (1M61) was delayed arriving into Piccadilly by a series of signal checks due to congestion. We were 19 minutes late on arrival, having clocked up 18 of those from Stockport.
Having walked across a busy but somewhat subdued city centre I treated myself to a pint in the Victoria Tap as I had time to kill before catching the train I’m on now, the 20:57 to Leeds. Made up of a pair of 2-car Class 195s, it’s mercifully quiet after the Voyager – hence me having time to do this update from the ‘mobile office’
Dawn’s kindly offered to pick me up from the station so I’m not going to be back home at too daft a time, but downloading the camera and adding more pictures to this blog may have to wait. I’m looking forward to having a few days at home now to catch up on picture editing and writing before we both head off for a break in a pert of the country I’ve not explored for several years. But more of that another time…
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Paul Bigland 