Tag Archives: Railways

Rolling blog. Metropolitan meandering…

20 Tuesday Feb 2024

Posted by in London, Photography, Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel

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10:00.

Having had an enjoyable evening with an old friend I’m taking time to explore some old haunts and byways of the capital – and a new train. Old friends brought me from Clapham to Waterloo.

Life in the old girls yet. 4 years after they should have gone to the scrapyard the BR built Class 455s still carry passengers in and out of London Waterloo.

Now I’m waiting to join one of their replacements – albeit four years later than planned! The Bombardier class 701 ‘Arterio’ has finally entered service, but only in a very limited fashion. They work a diagram on the line from Waterloo to Windsor, and I’m about to catch one…

10:11.

I can’t quite believe that 17 years have passed since I was photographing the very last Eurostar to depart from here the night before services moved to their new home at St Pancras.

11:00.

Well, I *was* planning on catching one of the new Arterios but SWR had other ideas. The service is running a ‘shadow’ path on the Windsor line, only today it decided not to play ball. Having arrived late the set was run as empty stock. I’m now chasing it in one of the Class 455s it was designed to replace. I’m hoping it’ll run back from Windsor as a service train and I can pick it up en-route. Watch this space…

Not an Arterio…

14:45.

S’cuse the gap but I’ve been moving – a lot! Having made it out to Staines in hot pursuit of the Arterio I managed to catch it on its way back from Windsor.

Not a 455…

First impressions? From a passenger’s perspective they’re not bad. They’re a modern train with all the amenities you’d expect and (unlike the 455s) they have toilets onboard.

17:30.

Grr…I’m now on my way back to Yorkshire via the West Coast Main Line on another Avanti Pendolino. I’d hoped to have been able to relax and spent some time blogging my thoughts, but the wifi’s knackered, leaving me typing on my phone which is hardly conducive to reporting on all the things I’ve been up to today. Plus, I’ve enjoyed the lengthening days and the opportunity to watch the (flooded) world go by so blogging was taking a backseat until now.

I’ve certainly had an interesting couple of days. As an ex-Londoner I’ve been surprised at how quieter the city seems right now. Euston yesterday and Clapham Junction today were far quieter than they used to be. But then – when I catch a train to faze into people’s back garden and see all the home offices/sheds folk have built that’s hardly surprising. The world of work’s evolved. Especially office work.

Another thing I noticed which was also really annoying was the fact so many folk wander around whilst completely disconnected from this world. I’m not talking about the ones who never look up from staring at their smartphones (although they’re bad enough) but the ones who compound that by wearing earbuds or headphones as well – so deprive themselves of another of their senses. Several tines I had to stop on station stairs as the person coming up them was too busy staring at a screen whilst listening to whatever they had playing via their headphones to engage with the real world and realise someone (me) was stood in their way. I’ve started doing it deliberately now just to see their reaction when reality intrudes on them. Is it just me getting old, or do other folk find this annoying?

17:50.

We’ve just left Stoke (on Trent) on our way to Manchester and I’ve realised I’m back in the wet weather band. Bugger! It’s been so mild these past few days I’ve ditched my waterproof. Walking home could be fun…

22:15.

Fortunately, I made it home without getting soaked. My timing was impeccable as I arrived in Manchester after the rain had departed. It was the same story back in Halifax. Now I’m relaxing with my feet up, editing one or two pictures to finish this blog off with. Here’s a look at the interior of this beastie.

701037 calls at Staines on its return working to Waterloo.
Lino flooring and basic seats without seatback tables or armrests but there’s plenty of plug sockets and some small tables. The overall impression is that the sets are spacious. They also seem reasonably quiet and the ride was good. I suspect passengers will like them provided they prove to be reliable.

I’ll be adding many more pictures to my Zenfolio website over the next few days, but for now – it’s goodnight!

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/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

Rolling blog. Plan B…

19 Monday Feb 2024

Posted by in London, Photography, Rolling blogs, Travel

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09:00.

Due to events mentioned yesterday today’s trip to London is less of an imperative so my plans have changed. Now, I can take time to track down a certain train in order to get some internal shots for a magazine. That means heading over to Manchester this morning. Thankfully, the high winds we suffered overnight have abated. I was beginning to wonder if the day was going to go pear-shaped straight away if there was storm damage on the West Coast Main Line. Fortunately, everything seems fine, which is just as well as the train I’m hunting started its day in Glasgow. It’s currently en-route to London.

Feel free to pop back later to see what I get up to (and where).

10:38.

I’m on the move. Having strolled down to Sowerby Bridge sans hat and gloves due to temperatures making it into double figures I’m now aboard Northern’s 10:23 to Chester via Manchester Victoria. Tody the service is made up from a pair of 2-car Class 195s so there’s plenty of space aboard – at least for now.

Sunshine in Sowerby Bridge.

14:30.

Apologies for the gap but I’ve been rather busy and it’s only now that I’m heading South that I’ve found time to take a break on a train with working wifi!

I was kept busy in and around Manchester stocking up on library shots of the refurbished interiors of some of the new Avanti Pendolinos. It was a bit of a hit and miss game as not every set has been refurbished, but as there’s three trains an hour into Piccadilly the odds are in my favour! As it is, I struck lucky early on so had to to ride a couple between Manchester and Stockport before a last change at Stoke-On-Trent. You’ll be able to read the full train test (written by my old friend Pip Dunn) in a forthcoming edition of RAIL magazine. Right now I’m on another refurbished Pendolino heading South to London. I wasn’t entirely convinced by the refurb when the first sets came our but I have to admit I’m beginning to warm to them – and certainly see the advantages when I’m using them as a mobile office. The table layout with all their mains and USB sockets (plus an induction charger for mobile phones buried in the table top) is much more efficient – as is the sockets buried in the seat back in front of you when you’re sitting in an airline seat. The new two-part tables are good too.

When I’ve have time to glance out of the window as we’ve passed through Staffordshire I’ve been taken aback at the amount of flooded fields. I know it’s been wet in the Pennines and the land wasn’t exactly dry when I was down this way the other month, but I’d have expected levels to have subsided by now.

15:30.

We’ve reached the outskirts of London. I’ve been busy editing pictures (I’ll add a couple when I get to Euston) whilst keeping one eye on the weather. The clouds have broken here in the outh and we have watery sunshine which may allow me some photographic opportunities. I’m still on a learning curve with the new camera, trying different settings and experimenting. One thing I’ve noticed is that the Nikon Z9 (because it has so many features) is much more menu-based that the older, simpler D5 so it’s not as instinctive. No doubt I’ll learn, but a learning curve it is.

16:00.

On arrival at Euston I couldn’t resist the temptation to try out one of the new Class 730s sat in an adjacent platform, so now I’m en-route to an old stomping ground: Watford Junction. I’ve not got time to fully explore this train but first impressions are positive – apart from the quirk that there are no armrests on the seats. Admittedly, that makes them feel more spacious, but on a long journey it could be a problem. On the plus side, there’s decent sized tables, plenty of power sockets and also wifi.

23:15

Welcome to the end. After what’s proved to be an interesting day it time to call it one. I met up with my old friend Hassard earlier and now the pair of us are relaxing at his gaffe in Clapham having enjoyed the home-made Lasagne and Bakewell Tart food parcel that Dawn supplied before I left Yorkshire!

The two of us met at Euston, which was an interesting experience as the place was so quiet compared to how I remember London. Hass’ explained that Monday’s become very quiet as it’s the day many people work from home. Thinking about it I can see the parallels in Yorkshire, it’s just the fact that in London – it’s writ large.

Anyway, it’s now time for me to sign off. I’ll leave you with a last couple of pictures from today. There’ll be a lot more tomorrow.

The changing face (and livery) of regional services from London Euston.
Going underground…

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/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

18th February picture of the day…

18 Sunday Feb 2024

Posted by in Photography, Picture of the day, Railways, Travel

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Dontcha just love the freelance lifestyle? There’s me, spending my Sunday evening prepping all my kit to head South tomorrow in order to be in position for a job on Tuesday morning – when I get an email late this evening evening to say that the event’s been postponed again. To be honest, I feel for the Comms people organising things as this is completely beyond their control but I just know some sections of the media will be less than sympathetic. It throws everybody’s plans and schedules out of kilter, but that’s life.

On the bright side, I’m not going to change my plans. I’d intended to kill two birds with one stone thanks to this event. I still have one in my sights and other things I can profitably fill in my time with. Plus, I’d arranged to stay with an old friend in London but now I don’t have to be up at silly o’ clock to get there from his place – so the pressure’s off. Besides, these next couple of days will give me the opportunity to really start to put my new camera through its paces – something I’ve not been able to do so far.

I’ll still be heading down to London tomorrow so expect a couple of rolling blogs over the next couple of days. Heading to the capital could be interesting as the East Coast Main Line (ECML) is closed South of Peterborough due to engineering works. That’s not a problem for me as the secondary job I had planned involves the West Coast route anyway. Serendipity! Now, if only the Gods can arrange some sunshine…

In the meantime, here’s today’s picture. I expect to be spending a fair bit of time on one of these tomorrow – the Pendolino. Here’s (numerically, but not really) the first of the class – 390001 – working 1A34, a Liverpool Lime St to Euston service through Rugeley on the 7th July last year.

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/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

13th February picture of the day…

13 Tuesday Feb 2024

Posted by in Photography, Picture of the day, Railways, Travel, Virgin Trains

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Today’s been another long one here at Bigland Towers, the pair of us have been working from home (upstairs and down) which means we keep meeting up in the kitchen to swap those ‘watercooler moments’ you get in mainstream offices. Admittedly, I have managed to me more mobile than Dee and nip out to do some shopping as well as get my daily steps under my belt. The weather’s certainly been conducive to working at home. It’s not that we’ve had torrential rain (nice for a change) more that it’s been dull and rather dismal – although there’s signs of life in the garden with plants poking their heads above ground, promising lushness to come. I can’t wait – I’ve had my fill of winter, the thought of spring fills me with joy.

Talking of Spring, the office ‘spring clean’ is reaching its end. There’s mounds of old paperwork stacked up in front of the shredder (which has been working overtime) whilst the office bookcase is looking decidedly empty. I’ve also discovered stacks of old photographs stashed away in various files, which included today’s picture, which in some ways seems like a different world. It’s certainly from a different railway age. It was taken at Penzance on the 13th August 2003, almost 21 years ago…

Myself and a group of fellow railway journalists and photographers were guest of Virgin Trains on a rather special adventure. Having rendezvoused in Aberdeen two nights before where we were entertained by Virgin PR staff including the irrepressible Alan McLean we’d travelled down from Penzance on what was the longest single railway journey in the UK – from Aberdeen to Penzance in a day, crossing three of the railways most famous bridges on one trip – The Tay, Forth and Royal Albert bridge at Saltash. In those days the service was still operated by HSTs (Voyagers were yet to take over). Virgin though it would make an interesting press trip – and who were we to disagree? We jumped at the chance! Having enjoyed a second night of Virgin’s hospitality we were making our way back to Birmingham where the group would disband to head off to our individual abodes. In my case – London.

I wrote up the trip for RAIL magazine. On board I’d met what could have been Britain’s longest regular commuters. Two fishermen from Buckie on the Moray Firth travelled down to Penzance to join their Scallop boat for the season. They’d do the round trip once a fortnight.

Here’s our HST ready to depart Penzance, working the 09:15 back to Edinburgh.

As I gradually digitise these old prints I’ll add a few memories to the daily pictures. I hope you’ll enjoy the stories.

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/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

Happy Mondays…

12 Monday Feb 2024

Posted by in Halifax, Musings, Photography, Politics, West Yorkshire

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Right – I’m back! My enforced absence from blogging is coming to an end. From now (and for the foreseeable future) normal service will be resumed. There’s plenty for me to blog about as my travels around the UK rail network will resume shortly, along with magazine articles and site visits.

On Friday I spent time with friends from the nearby Mytholmroyd station group who were having a planning meeting to give new members the chance to have their say and offer idea on the groups 2024 programme. This year sees the 150th anniversary of the opening of the station building they’ve worked so hard to restore and bring back into community use. Here’s a couple of pictures from the event.

Admiring a selection of vintage photographs of Mytholmroyd and the railway which had been brought in by one of the new members.
The results of the brainstorming was a plethora of suggestions and new ideas for activities in 2024.

A you can see, there wasn’t just food for thought on offer but an excellent supply of pies, quiches, sandwiches and other goodies sourced locally from Jo’s kitchen.

My weekend’s been spent at home, sorting out the contents of my office in order to have a good clear out of stuff I no longer need but that’s been hanging around for ages. In some cases since I moved here from London. Our shredder’s been working overtime to deal with a mound of old bank statements and other confidential paperwork. The local charity shops and our recycling centre are getting a fair share of trade too! Part of the clear out saw me having to take a trip into Halifax itself and a visit to the market, so I couldn’t resist trying out my new Nikon Z9 and 50mm lens I’ve just bought to get a few shots whilst the refurbishment of the building is underway.

The multi-faced clock which dominates the centre of the covered market in Halifax.

Meanwhile, Monday has seen me busy as Bigland Towers, continuing the office clear-out and lining up various activities for the coming week – although some are dependent on the weather behaving itself, which is looking doubtful. Mind you, it’s Valentine’s day on Wednesday so my focus (as you can imagine) will be elsewhere! To add to the weeks entertainment we have two by-elections on Thursday, one in Wellingborough and the other at Kingswood near Bristol. Both were Tory safe seats but with the Conservatives being as popular as a fart in a spacesuit the chances of both seats being lost is very real. Expect lots of wailing and gnashing of Tory teeth on Friday. My reaction?

Either way, I’ll try and keep you entertained with comment, analysis (and pictures) on a regular basis from now on. Cheers…

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/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

8th February picture(s) of the day…

08 Thursday Feb 2024

Posted by in Photography, Picture of the day, Railways, Weather, West Yorkshire

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There’s no day like snow day! Admittedly, I took some convincing this morning as when I woke up and looked out of the bedroom window all I saw was wet roads and sleet, with no indication that snow was going to stick. It was only after I’d been working away in the office for a few hours that I noticed the sleet had turned to ‘proper’ snow and that it was coming down rather heavily. Even so, I decided to stay busy indoors, finished a magazine article I’d been writing, then sorting through yet more stuff for eBay whilst preparing the latest sales for postage. Dawn had decided to cook this evening and needed some fresh veg, so by 14:00 I decided to head down to Sowerby Bridge and take the camera with me in the hope of getting some snow shots. There wasn’t a breath of wind, so the trees around us were coated in a thick layer of the stuff. They looked beautiful, so I was hopeful of finding the same effect alongside the railway in the valley below.

No such luck!

Something I’ve learned to appreciate living here in the Pennines is just how much of a difference a few hundred metres in height can make – especially when it comes to snow. By the time I got down into Sowerby Bridge conditions had changed. I was faced with more miserable sleet and trees completely clear of the white stuff. I’d half-hoped to recreate the picture I posted a couple of days ago but there was no chance. Sowerby station had a light dusting but even the ballast wasn’t covered, making pictures pointless. There was nothing to do for it but slog my way back uphill into the snowline. Here’s a couple of pictures to illustrate the contast.

Our road at 20:00 with the snow still clinging to the trees around a deserted street.
Sowerby Bridge station mid afternoon with just a dusting of snow. All a bit disappointing really.

This evening the weather still remains above freezing with the snow gradually melting. I expect most of it to have gone by morning, which is a shame as I’ll be in nearby Mytholmroyd tomorrow for a catch-up with he station friends. I’ll still be wielding the camera but it’ll be with people, not snow scenes in mind…

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/Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

Rolling blog. Sallying forth (despite the weather)…

06 Tuesday Feb 2024

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10:15

‘Tis yet another wet and windy day here in’t Pennines. Despite that I’m going to get out with the new camera for a few hours. I’ve got to nip down into Sowerby Bridge to post some eBay purchases and pick up some shopping anyway, so I thought I might take a little detour to check out a couple of local rail sites. All will be revealed shortly. But first, it’s time to get kitted-out in waterproofs…

11:15.

It’s just as well I did don the rainwear. To say it’s somewhat inclement out there is an understatement. It’s bin day today. on my walk downhill I oassed thiis clutch of wheelie bins which have all been lashed to a gatepost due to the wind and torrents of water running down the hill.

Having deposited my deliveries at the post office I’m now drying out on the late-running 10:58 to Leeds as far as Bradford, where I’m probably in for another soaking.

13:10.

Yay! Despite the crap weather in the Calder Valley I managed to bail across Bradford without getting wet. Even better, when I arrived in Shipley the weather had broken. For a spell I was treated to patchy blue skies and watery sunshine whilst thunderous looking clouds hung around on the horizon.

Why was I in Shipley? I’d come to look at the site of the old rail connected Crossley Evans scrapyard on the branch from Bradford. This is going to be the site of the new Northern electric train depot that will be home to the company’s class 331 and 333 fleet. It’s very early days yet. Right now the site has been cleared of mountains of scrap and decades of woodland growth. Here’s a couple of pictures.

Thus are used to be covered in mountains of scrap. Now the old tracks are revealed. The main part of the scrapyard is beyond the bridge in the background. Tucked away under the bridge are two old diesel shunters that were used to move wagons in the scrapyard sidings. Unfortunately there’s no way to get a decent picture of them. The plan is to build a four road shed with each road capable of holding a four car set at the left of the site.
Looking down on the still-active scrapyard and rail connection to the Bradford branch with Shipley station in the distance. Regular scrap trains haven’t run from the site for many years. Once, the site was known for having a steam engine which was kept for shunting trains. Blogger Kris Ward has some good pictures of the industrial locos and mainline workings which you can find here. Access from the main line will be retained whilst four dead end stabling sidings will be built where all the blue skips are in the background.

To say this is a rough neighbourhood is an understatement. Even the XL bully’s walk round in twos! So, I was circumspect with the camera as the footbridge I was perched on to take some of these picture was an absolute dump that looked like a hang-out for some of the local ne’er-do-wells. The skilled and semi-skilled jobs the depot will bring to the area will no doubt be welcome to some, although ironically, the local MP is a right-wing Tory who’s not a fan of rail. Quite what he’s ever done for the area (or why they keep electing him) is a mystery as – having had a wander around the place I can honestly say it’s a bit of run-down dump.

17:00.

Whilst I was lucky with the weather in Shipley It was clear that wasn’t going to be the story elsewhere, so having achieved my aim I didn’t hang around other than take a slight detour on the way home to admire other work nearby. Guiseley station on the line to Ilkley is having both platforms extended, so I popped in between trains to have a quick look.

Guiseley, looking towards Leeds.

The extensions will allow 6-car trains to use the Ilkley line in rush-hour. I must admit, I’ve not travelled the line since Covid struck so I really should take a trip up there soon.

Catching the next train into Leeds I changed to get home via Dewsbury in order to have a look at progress on the Trans-Pennine Route upgrade as far as Heaton Lodge Junction where my train swung off to head back to Sowerby Bridge. There’s a lot of earth-moving around Ravensthorpe but no massive changes that demand another photographic visit just yet. Maybe when the weather improves…

Right, time to bring this blog to a close as I’ve other stuff to keep me occupied this evening, such as writing for a living rather than fun!

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/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

5th February picture of the day…

05 Monday Feb 2024

Posted by in Musings, Photography, Picture of the day, Railways, West Yorkshire

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Hmm, last week didn’t end well and this week’s carried on in the same vein. Bugger.

Saturday evening saw the fun sight of me having to break into Bigland Towers via the front door, which turned into an ‘interesting’ exercise. The front door lock seized, leaving us with no way in as all the windows and back door were firmly closed, so getting through the front door was the only option. Thankfully, two of our lovely neighbours were at home and Gary had the ideal tool for the job (a mini circular saw) – and the cable to run from their house to power it! Fortunately, we’d returned from an evening out in Halifax at a sensible time so the sound of me cutting out a panel of a pretty solid front door – whilst noisy – wasn’t going to keep anyone awake (just provide entertainment). Having removed said panel I managed to crawl through the gap and open the back door to let Dee in. It’s fortunate that both of us are on the ‘svelte’ side – otherwise we’d have been stuffed (literally)! Having effected a temporary repair overnight Sunday involved a trip to our local DIY chain to buy new timber to reinforce the door. Our plan was to replace it in the future anyway. Now that future’s moved forward.

Today I was meant to be preparing for a trip down South tomorrow in order to be in place for a big media event on Wednesday morning. This afternoon I received an email to say the event’s had to be postponed due to technical difficulties, so that’s this weeks plans up the swannee. Drat and double drat! To add the icing on the cake the weather forecast is looking decidedly ‘iffy’. We’ve lots of rain on the way and maybe even snow – although I’ll believe that when I see it. All this uncertainty makes this week a sod to plan. On the bright side, I do have an event locally on Friday, so come hell or high-water (or even snow) I’ll be able to make that.

So, apologies for the lack of new photos being added to my Zenfolio website. Ironic. I have a brand new, start of the art camera and it’s hardly been out of the bag (except for one job) since I bought it! Instead, I’ve been stuck at home to continue my clear-out, which means there’s now a lot my old railway memorabilia for sale on my eBay site – which you can find here.

Weather permitting, I’m hoping to get out for a couple of hours tomorrow to catch up on some local changes to the rail network. We’ll see. In the meantime, I’ll leave you with today’s picture. If we’re going to have snow, can I put in a bid for it to be proper snow, like this, not just a dusting that disappears in the blink of an eye? Here’s a train approaching Milner Royd Junction, Sowerby Bridge on the 5th January 2010.

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/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

29th January picture of the day…

29 Monday Jan 2024

Posted by in London, Photography, Picture of the day, Railways

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Apologies for the recent lack of blogging activity but life has taken on of those twists and turns that mean dealing with other things has been more important. It’s not that I haven’t anything to say, far from it. It’s just that right now it’s more important to hold one’s cards close to one’s chest – as sometimes staying schtum saves no end of hassle in the long run. I’ll be busy with other plans and events over the next few days but I’ll resume blogging as soon as I can. There’s certainly going to be plenty to blog about anyway. I should be able to keep you entertained in a variety of ways with blogs on numerous subjects that I’ll have more freedom to talk about (and the time to do it) than of late. 2024 is going to prove to be a very interesting year in so many ways, but also one tinged with real sadness…

Right now, I’ll leave you with a picture from Saturday when the Southern Electric Traction Group achieved their ambition of getting one of the old 3rd rail slam door trains back on the main line and into London’s Waterloo. The event featured many past and present stars of the rail industry including Gordon Pettit (the man whom 4-VEP 3417 is named after) as well as Chris Green, Sir Peter Hendy, John Smith (MD of GBRf) and many others.

See you soon…

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/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

Rolling blog. Driven by the wind….

26 Friday Jan 2024

Posted by in London, Photography, Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel, Weather

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06:30

Quite literally! I’ve been woken several times through the night by howling wind beating against the front of the cottage as it blows, unobstructed across the valley. By 05:30 I decided there was no point in trying to get back to sleep so I’m already out and about, finishing my preparations for heading to London via a roundabout route – depending on what damage the latest storm may have done to the railways. At the moment our local line seems to be running fine apart from the odd cancellation, so we’ll see…

08:30.

I’m heading West today so the trip’s started with a walk downhill to Sowerby Bridge. The winds abated and there’s clear skies over the valley on what promises to be a lovely day – not that I’ll be around to see it. I’m currently on the 08:02 to Manchester which is worked by a pair of 2-car Class 158s.

First train of the day…

It’s a quiet train. Well, at least it is in the front car! That said, we’ve just crossed the Pennines to call at Littleborough where there’s a healthy number of passengers waiting for us.

10:30.

Having strolled across an unusually subdued Manchester city centre from Vic to Picc I caught a train to my next change point. Crewe. The station’s been a long-time haunt of mine. I first started comming here on my own as a young teenager. Needless to say – it’s changed a bit since 1973! My stay was brief – just long enough to grab a couple of shots and pick up my onward connection to my next port of call, Wolverhampton.

The Crewe station canopies were in a lot better condition in the 1970s. At least they had glass in them then!

I’m currently travelling on a London North-western Class 350. They’re fine as regional trains go but a bit plain vanilla nowadays. They don’t have tables, plug-sockets or USB ports, which is a bit ‘retro’ in 2024 but the seats (even if they are 3+2) are comfortable enough.

14:30.

I’m gradually making it down (or Up in railway parlence) along the West Coast Main Line. Delays were to be expected and one happened before Birmingham International where we were trapped for 13 mins by a new train that was on test but that had failed. Here’s the culprit.

“hello control. That new train you gave me? I’ve broken it”!

Next stops were bittersweet as they contain a lot of memories. First off was Coventry where I admired the classic 1960s station and looked askance at the modern (souless) addition which seems to be more a carpark with ticket barriers than a station.

Want atmosphere? Bring Oxygen tanks…

I hopped from Coventry to Rugby, a place I had a lot of happy connections with and where I spent Xmas and Boxing day 2005 stood in the tracks as the big blockade to rebuild the lines all went horribly wrong. A lot of the atmosphere has gone since I first got to know it. The cafe/bar on the island platform’s long gone…

Still, there’s always something of interest passing through and the station sees regular test trains as the new Class 730s are ‘run in’ like this one.

Not broken…

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/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312