I hadn’t intended going anywhere today, exactly the opposite. I’d a shedload of pictures to sort out after my trip to the North-East the other day plus paperwork and all manner of gubbins. But I was up bright and early so managed to crack on with a lot of stuff, then realised that – actually – we’d been gifted a stunning day weather-wise. I didn’t want to venture too far, but the North’s railways are very much in the news at the moment due to the weapons-grade dishonesty from the Prime Minister and Grant Shapps (the Transport Minister, but don’t feel embarrassed if you’ve never heard of him before, he’s a classic Johnson appointee in that respect). So, I decided to head out to the railway between Leeds and York which is being electrified. Well, sort of – ish.
At the moment the wires are extending West from Colton Junction on the East Coast Main Line (ECML) along the route to Leeds but they peter out just before they get to the junctions East of Church Fenton. For those in the know, Church Fenton was *meant* to be where HS2’s Eastern leg joined the existing network. Well, before Johnson mothballed it anyway. Here’s the view from the footbridge at the station looking East. No, that’s not a railway bridge in the distance. That’s where the overhead masts end…
Although the day was sunny it was also bloody cold – and the existing train service isn’t exactly what you’s call ‘metro style’ either. Having arrived at Church Fenton I hung around long enough to get some useful shots and the early signs of hypothermia, then decided to move on to Ulleskelf, slightly further East. The only thing was – it was quicker to walk the two miles between them than it was to wait for the next train! OK, maybe I’m a glutton for punishment (and exercise) but the walk seemed like a good idea. Besides, this part of Yorkshire’s flat – which is why it’s so cold! Little old me was one of the few things in the way of the wind.
To be fair, there’s not a lot of reasons to hang around in this part of the world anyway. The old station building at Church Fenton’s been converted into an Indian restaurant but it’s not open until later. Neither’s the pub, but there is a very good community run shop only a few minutes walk away. It’s a friendly little place that stocks an amazing range of stuff – including some bottled real ales from local brewers.
The walk to Ulleskelf was mostly on farm tracks apart from the last mile, so it wasn’t taxing. Sadly, my timing wasn’t particularly good as I still had far more time to hang around than I’d needed to get the shots I’d planned – and the nearby pub only opened 3 minutes after my train was due to depart, so I spent a fair bit of time wondering what the hell I was doing this for. Talk about suffering for one’s art! Still, I did get the pictures I wanted – and more – as the light played ball for once.
Here’s a sample.
Remember, this line was meant to have been electrified years ago, but it was cancelled by a Tory Transport Minister. Now it’s being done piecemeal with no real plan, but this is the line Boris Johnson’s spinning as a ‘quicker’ upgrade than HS2. The fact HS2 would have acted as a bypass here and would have meant places like Ulleskelf (where this picture’s taken) could have had a far better service than the piss-poor one it has now is the last thing he’s bothered about.
I’m of the opinion George Osborne, the Tory Chancellor who championed the ‘Northern Powerhouse’ actually meant it. With Boris Johnson, what we’re left with is a (Peppa) Pig’s arse…
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 appreciate all the help that we can get to aid us in bouncing back from lockdowns. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
It’s an unconscionably early time to be up nowadays as I’m out of practice as this – especially in the winter months, but I’m now up and preparing to head to Newcastle for a job. I’m actually rather looking forward to it as I’ll be visiting a rail system I really don’t get chance to very often – the Tyne and Wear Metro, which is about to undergo a vast change as the trainfleet is being replaced for the first time since the system opened in 1980.
Stay with me through the day to see how my travels unravel, and what I get to see…
06:20.
My stroll to the station was rather enjoyable today. I love this time of day before the town wakes up. The weather was ideal too. Cold but not freezing, still but not damp. My breath was hardly noticeable and the pavements remained dry which is just as well. Yorkshire stone may look decorative but it can become an ice rink in winter! The station was starting to spring to life with a steady flow of foot passengers and taxis arriving to drop people off.
Cobbles may be a pain in the arse underfoot, but they do make for good reflections at night…
I’m now ensconced on Northern’s 06:17 from Halifax to Hull which is a 4-car Class 150/158 lash-up. Needless to say, I’ve plumped for the rear 158 so that I can grab a table and set up the mobile office. OK, there’s no power-points, but set 849 does have USB sockets so at least my phone’s getting a boost.
06:45.
Despite the earliness of the hour and after leaving New Pudsey, this train’s filling up nicely as early morning commuters begin their journey into the city. Several more joined us at Bramley (the last stop before Leeds) so by the time we arrived in the city we’d quite respectable loadings.
07:25.
I’m now heading North on another service entirely. LNER’s 07:08 from Leeds to Aberdeen. To be honest, before I’d booked this I didn’t even know LNER ran such a train. I normally associate Aberdeen services with my old home town – London.
The 07:08 runs light from Doncaster Carr depot to Leeds before starting in passenger service. Today it’s a 9-car Azuma (106 for the number-crunchers). There’s no shortage of space at this point of the journey although there’s plenty of reservations in the system for further North. I’ve found a vacant table bay and set up for the journey to Newcastle.
07:35.
We’ve just left York after a less than stellar performance en-route. Working on diesel power as the line’s yet to see electrification completed we arrived in Yorkshire’s capital three minutes late, not that there were many passengers around to be upset. This train’s still quiet. We’re now ‘under the wires’ and working on electric so I’ll be interested to see if we make up any of that time. Either way, I’ve got a comfortable seat from which to watch the sunrise!
08:05.
Having called at Darlington where dozens of people were awaiting our arrival we’re now heading North once more. The morning’s beautiful. The sunrise over a misty Vale of York was more than enough to tear me away from the laptop to take time and stare. Unsurprisingly, the performance of the Azuma’s (plus a less than tightly-timed diagram) meant my train soon made up the deficit it accrued from Leeds.
12:30.
Pardon the gap but I’ve been busy working. Today’s job was to visit the Nexus depot at Gosforth to see a mock-up of the cab of the bew trains and enjoy a guided tour of the depot site. The depot was built by the LNER in 1920 but is about to be demolished as the site’s being rebuilt to cope with the new trains from Stadler, the first of which will be arriving this time next year.
15:30.
As is often the way in this game, the weather’s been playing silly buggers! Whilst we were at the depot we had blue skies and low sunshine – exactly the conditions I didn’t want! As soon as I left the clouds rolled in and we lost at least four stops of light. I’d decided to explore the metro’s Airport branch to scout out some photographic locations. I managed a few shots but the dark clouds that had taken over made conditions challenging. In the end, having got a few new pictures I gave up and headed tack into toon – sorry, town! Conditions weren’t any better so I cut my losses and called it a day. I’m now making my way home whilst the weather closes in more. As I approached Durham there was a series of impressive rain showers sweeping across from the coast. I was half-expecting snow now the mercury’s dropped as much as it has but the further South I go the more rain I hit.
I’m currently aboard a TPE service from Newcastle to Liverpool which is almost pre-Covid busy but at least it’s warm and cosy. I didn’t realise how cold conditions had got until I took my laptop out of my camera bag once aboard and found it was like a block of ice!
16:20.
I’ve swapped services once more as I wanted to take a short break in York to pick up a couple of books from WH Smiths on the station. As the station’s such a popular place with the railway enthusiast fraternity they stock the very useful ‘Trackmaps’, allowing me to update a couple that are well past their useful life as there’ve been so many changes in the past few years. Their ‘buy one, get the other half price’ offer was a welcome bonus! The station feels very festive right now as an enormous Xmas tree has appeared outside the stationers – and well away from the overheads! I didn’t hang around as I picked up a Northern service to Leeds to continue my journey. Worked by a 3-car 195 the 16:08’s a semi-fast service and busy, but that’s nothing unusual now that passenger numbers are really bouncing back. Earlier today Nexus informed us that their Tyne and Wear trains are already back to 80% of pre-Covid levels.
21:00.
I’m back home in the warn and slowly processing today’s pictures. You’ll be able to read about my visit to Gosforth depot and the work that’s going on there in a future edition of RAIL magazine. Meanwhile, here’s a couple of T&W metro pictures to whet your appetite.
With the depot rebuilding work going on in the background, a pair of units perform a shunt maneuvere to move between stabling roads.Inside the 1920s depot building that was built to servixe the original Tyneside electric fleet that was withdrawn in the 1960s and replaced by diesel multiple units until the lines were converted to the Tyne and Wear metro in the late 1970s. This 13 road building will disappear as it’s no longer needed for the forthcoming Stadler trains. Instead, the site will be occupied by new stabling sidings and a much smaller, 4 road shed. The wheel lathe (seen on the right) will be replaced by a brand new Hegenscheidt machine in its own single road building.A pair of the original units climb the bank between Bank Foot and Callerton Parkway stations heading for the Airport. Whilst the incline is exaggerated by my telephoto lens, it doesn’t actually look that different to the naked eye!
So (for now) it’s goodnight from me. Expect more pictures to appear on my Zenfolio website tomorrow. I’m off for a good sleep!
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 appreciate all the help that we can get to aid us in bouncing back from lockdowns. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
*This is another blog that will be fleshed out with more and more pictures as I have the time. When it’s completed, this message will disappear*
When I was passing through Peterborough station last month I realised I’d been visiting and taking picture’s around the station for over 30 years, making it ideal for a memory lane blog. In that time the stations changed tremendously, both in terms of trains seen passing through as well as physically, with the expansion and rebuilding of the station itself
So, here’s the start of my memories, with images taken back in BR days, in 1990.
It’s the 12th March 1990 and the pride and joy of Stratford depot in East London 47007 is heading South from New England sidings with empty 4-wheel tank wagons used on the Fletton flyash trains. The loco was named after the depot (at the depot) in November 15th 1986. It remained in service until October 1991 when it was finally withdrawn. It was scrapped at Booth Roe in Rotherham in February 1994. On the 8th June 1990 Class 08 number 08528 shunts Civil Engineers wagons outside Crescent Rd wagon repair shops which can be seen to the right of the loco. Peterborough was home to several of these shunting engines for use in the yards around the station. The wagon works closed many years ago but it’s grade 2 listed as it’s believed to be the only surviving timber wagon workshop in Britain – albeit the wooden frame is hidden behind asbestos cladding!
There used to be extensive freight sidings at Peterborough, including an old hump shunting yard called New England which was to the North-East of the station. The sidings still survive to this day but they’re mostly disused and overgrown as the days of hump-shunting and wagon-load traffic are long gone. At the far end of the sidings used to stand a lone signal box. It was already dilapidated and abandoned when I took this picture of it on the 12th March 1990. Its full name was “New England East Shunting Cabin A”. It disappeared a few years later. I always thought this would have made a good cabin for a preserved railway somewhere.
Now let’s move forward to 1996…
It’s the 19th September 1996 and a row of Class 31s sit in the loco sidings at the North End of the station. These locos would be stabled here most of the week until they were required for engineers trains at the weekend. As a consequence, they suffered from appalling reliability! This shot was taken on the same day in 1996 as the previous shot. Peterborough has a small, one-road locomotive depot which was used for fuelling and inspections, the shed provided at least some protection from the elements but little in the way of facilities. The locomotive in the foreground was already withdrawn and dumped at the depot to provide a source of spares to keep other Class 31s running. Such engines were known as ‘Christmas Trees’. A slightly different angle to the last pictures shows 37885. 37057. 37054. 37220 and 08529 stabled by the shed. 37885 was running in grey undercoat prior to having the new privatised EWS red and gold livery applied that’s carried by two of its sisters.
Also taken on the 19th September 1996 was this image of one of the single-car Class 153 units that used to work along the GN/GE joint line from Peterborough to Doncaster via Sleaford and Lincoln. If I remember correctly this ran every two hours. It was certainly a Cinderella service. Nowadays the route’s benefitted from a massive £270m investment (see this blog) plus the recent opening of the Werrington dive-under to turn it into a vital freight artery. Even the passenger service has been extended with the 153s being replaced by 2-car trains.
Let’s take another leap. This time to 2002.
Here’s power car 3311 leading a ‘North of London’ Eurostar set that was on hire to GNER to operate their ‘White Rose’ service between London Kings Cross and York. These sets had originally been built to operate through services from Europe to the North of England, but the services were cancelled and never ran. GNER was suffering from a stock shortage so in 2000 they hired in 2 of the sixteen car sets, some of which then had GNER livery applied. In 2002 They added a third train which ran from Kings Cross to Leeds. The leases expired in December 2005 when the sets were handed back to Eurostar and the trains disappeared from the East Coast Main Line.
Here’s 325012 calling at Peterborough with 1S04, the 16.01 London – Edinburgh mail on the 23rd May 2002. The city had always been an important hub for Royal Mail trains, hence the bridge just above the train which was used to take mail across to the large RM depot out of shot to the left of the picture. Sadly (and bizarrely), Royal Mail opted out of using rail the following year, although a change of heart in 2004 saw these trains return, but only to the West Coast. It was only in June 2013 that one service a day ran on the East Coast again, but by that time the Royal Mail facilities at Peterborough had contracted and sights like this became history. Now the London – Newcastle mail and return working both fly through the station just after midnight without stopping.
I’ve many more pictures to add, which I’ll do as time permits…
Today’s a bit of a mixture. After a slow morning I’m currently on the train to Leeds in order to fulfil a magazine commission. It’s only for a couple of hours as this evening the pair of us are out for a meal with my in-laws. Whilst I’m doing this Dawn’s busy with one of her favourite hobbies – baking (at which she’s exceedingly good), so I expect to return home to a house full of wonderful smells!
The weather’s still mild here in West Yorkshire so the walk to Halifax station was a pleasent spot of exercise. I must admit to being surprised how busy the town centre was. The roads and pavements were packed, but then I noticed the fairground in the courtyard of the Piece Hall, which is obviously proving to be a draw.
I arrived just in time to catch the 11:53 to York via Leeds which was very busy.
12:10.
We’ve left Bradford and the train remains packed with a mix of day-trippers, shoppers and a handful of long-distance travellers encumbered with suitcases. Sadly, mask-wearing is minimal. Only a handful of us are taking such precautions. Clearly, the news of how the pandemic is growing in Europe or the number of UK cases means little to many people, who seem think Covid has magically disappeared.
14:45.
That was an interesting couple of hours. Leeds station was absolutely heaving with people, with lots of younger ones dressed up to the nines for a night on the town – although how many of them will survive that long is a good question as several seemed ‘well oiled’ before they arrived!
No-one’s using trains anymore, allegedly…
People-watching aside, trying to get the shot I had in mind proved to be quite a challenge, not least because the sun appeared when I least wanted it to! Hopefully, what I have captured will work.
One unexpected pleasure was seeing a Pathfinder railtour arrive and bump into an old friend travelling with it. ‘Cookie’ used to drive coaches on some of our epic tours across the channel to join railtours in Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands organised by Mercia charters. Brexit has put an end to these events as the logistics (and cost) have made them unworkable. Still, it was a pleasure to swap stories of ‘the old days’ back in the mid 2000s when the world was a much freerer place.
Now I’m heading back to Halifax on a rammed 2-car Class 195/0 operating a Leeds-Chester service. Normally you’d expect these services to be 3-car 195/1s, so it’s ‘cosy’ on here to say the least. 3 into 2 really doesn’t go – especially on a Saturday.
16:30.
Bugger! The good weather we’d had early in the day turned to murk and drizzle by the time I arrived back in Halifax meaning the walk home was damp to say the least. Even so, I decided to takea quick detour through the Piece Hall just to see what was going on. This…
It wasn’t just the Piece Hall that was busy, the rest of town was packed too. The Westgate Arcade that is lined with bars and eateries was just as rammed. If I hadn’t already had something else booked I’d have been well tempted to hang around.
By the time I descended the hill to home trying to see the world through my ‘specs was like looking out of the ripple glass in a bathroom window! Still, I made it home in one (soggy) piece and now it’s time to dress up for the next act, so it’s off with the walking boots and on with the brogues as we’re off to this place. Devour in Holmfirth.
22:45.
We’re now home after a lovely evening. The four of us were joined by an old school-friend of Dawns (Viv), her new husband Gary and Viv’s step-mom, Marge. The atmosphere at Devour was really good. The place was extremely busy and the food we had was very enjoyable. Dawn and I shared a starter of King Scallops, braised sticky Pig cheek with budino nero puree and apple crisp.
For my main course I enjoyed the braised lamb shoulder, handmade wild mushroom tortellini, rec hard, confait shallot, sauteed wild mushroom and masala wine.
My only complaint about the place was the ambient noise and music, which made it difficult to hold and hear conversations. Maybe I’m just getting old, but then I wasn’t the only one who noticed…
Tomorrow is another, rather different day. I’ll be taking portraits of a Lawyer friend to be used in his new chambers, after which, our little band will probably adjourn to a pub in Halifax for a couple of drinks…
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 appreciate all the help that we can get to aid us in bouncing back from lockdowns. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
As promised by the weather forecast Saturday turned out to be a bright, crisp and sunny day – so the pair of us tore ourselves away from computer screens and headed over to the Hope Valley in Derbyshire for an afternoon out walking somewhere where we’d been promising to revisit but had never got around to doing so. The 517m high Mam Tor and the ridge Eastwards to Lose Hill along the South side of the valley is a wonderful (if at times challenging) walk. The views South across the Hope Valley and North across Edale are sublime.
With the weather being so good the area was teeming with walkers and it was great to see so many people of all ages and backgrounds enjoying walking. Oh, and not to mention the paragliders who were also out in force! The skies above the ridge were teeming with them as they drifted lazily on the winds.
Here’s a few pictures from the day.
The ridge affords some excellent photograph opportunities to capture shots of trains passing through Edale between Manchester and Sheffield. Here’s a Trans-Pennine Express service made up of units 185103 and 185123 working.1B79, the 1226 Cleethorpes to Manchester Piccadilly. Northern trains run the only local stopping service. Here’s one of their Class 195s working 2S72, the 1349 Manchester Piccadilly to Sheffield passing the base of Lose Hill. The autumn colours and low light in Edale were stunning. Walkers descending Lose Hill on their way East into the Hope Valley with the railway curving away in the centre of the picture. The edge of the village of Castleton can be seen to the right.This is the 463m high Win Hill seen Eastwards across Edale from Lose Hill along with some rather moody skies on the horizon.The same view from Mam Tor and zoomed out to show the landscape and colours in slightly different light.
All the high-res versions of these pictures can be found (and purchased) from my Zenfolio website by following this link.
Sadly, I don’t think I’m going to be getting out to do much exploring like this over the next week. Instead, I’ll be glued to a screen at home writing for a living. Not that I’m complaining as there’s a damn sight worse ways of earning a living, and if I get lots of type-swiping done quickly, who knows what I might be able to get up to later in the week?…
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 appreciate all the help that we can get to aid us in bouncing back from lockdowns. 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 a ‘come-down’ day after all the running around and excitement of the past couple of weeks working up in Scotland during COP26. Most of my day’s been spent sitting in the office at home wading through and editing hundreds of pictures taken at various events. I’ve managed to get the last batch out to a client who needed them for press releases and publicity, now I can take my foot off the gas as the last ones are less time-sensitive. Now I’ve got to move on to the words, not pictures as I’ve a whole series of articles to write for various magazines.
I must admit, as much as I enjoyed the fun and games in Scotland it’s nice to be home for a while – even if the weather’s been crap! I’ve really not minded being chained to the computer today when then rain’s lashing down and the winds doing its best to whip the remaining leaves off the trees. Being so busy I didn’t get chance to venture out for my normal exercise and had to make do with a late in the day walk to the supermarket to pick up some bits for the weekend. Even that earned me a soaking, leaving the bathroom looking like a Chinese laundry as all my waterproofs were spread out to dry as they’ll be needed again tomorrow.
The pair of us have decided to have a day off tomorrow. Next week is going to be full on and we’ve not had much quality time together recently, so the idea is to have Saturday off and get out for a long walk somewhere with lunch as part of it. The forecasts looking favourable for a foray into Derbyshire, so (for now) that’s the plan – unless the weather changes overnight. There’ll be no rolling blog, but there might be a few pictures…
Talking of pictures, here’s today’s. This shot was taken in Glasgow earlier this week and shows a pair of old BR ordered Class 156 diesel multiple units approaching Glasgow Central station, threading their way out of the station through the complex trackwork on their way to East Kilbride. Built between 1987 and 1989 by Metro-Cammell’s Washwood Heath works in Birmingham, 114 of these 2-car, 75mph units were built. All remain in service
Two of the lines these trains operate an extensive service on (East Kilbride and Barrhead) are being electrified at the moment with the work expected to be completed in 2022, so these trains are living on borrowed time. Scotland has an ambitious transport decarbonisation plan that’s legally binding so these trains are likely to find themselves being cascaded to services in England – probably in the North-West, where many of the rest of the class already operate. I wonder what will replace them in Scotland?
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 appreciate all the help that we can get to aid us in bouncing back from lockdowns. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
Apologies for the lack of a blog yesterday but Wednesday turned out to be extremely hectic. As usual, plans kept changing due to ‘events’. I had to miss the last day of the railfreight conference as there was just too may things going on at once. I really could’ve done to clone myself. I kept getting phone-calls from agencies who’d spotted that I was in town and wanted to book me for other COP26 events. Us photographers were much in demand, which made a pleasant change after 2020!
Whilst I was at Glasgow Central I got t a tip-off that the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson was arriving by train and would be visiting (albeit very briefly) the Battery and Hydrogen trains on his way through the station. Needless to say, this turned into the usual security hoo-ha involving police sniffer dogs and heightened security, but I managed to be in the right place at the right time and get the shots I needed. Including this one…
Apart from the fun and games I also travelled on the Hydroflex and the D-Train, pictures of all these events will appear on my Zenfolio website by the weekend.
Today *should* be less frantic. I’m working on the Hydroflex again covering events taking place on the train, after which I get to go home, although I’ll be just as busy there editing and writing up my experiences. I’ll add more to this blog later in the day, hopefully from the Hydroflex, but if not, certainly from my train back South…
17:00.
17:00.
Phew! Yet another busy day. I’m writing this from my Southbound Pendolino as I head home. Part of me is glad it’s all over as it’s been a frantic time and there’s oh, so many pictures to edit and words to write, another part is going to miss the buzz as (from a railway perspective) it’s been brilliant and very positive couple of weeks. On a personal level, I’ve had a great time catching up with old friends (and making some new ones) as well as getting to know Glasgow far better thanks to Peter who took me to places I’ve never explored before. I’ve also enjoyed the camaraderie, which is something that Covid had put the mockers on for the past year. My only hope now is that COP26 actually delivers on the changes we need…
My Pendolino’s busy but not overly so. I’ve managed to bag a table on which to set up the mobile office in order to edit pictures and get then out to a client in time for a press release. Opposite me is a chap who’s been at COP26 who’s on his way back to London. He’s as knackered as I am and is snoring gently as he catches up on some much needed sleep! Sadly, the great weather we enjoyed in Glasgow didn’t last more than a few dozen miles outside the city. We’re forging our way South through the dark and rain.
18:25.
I’m back to kicking my heels in Preston, waiting from my connection home. The Glasgow train arrived 14 minutes late due to being trapoed behind late running trains but that’s actually worked to my advantage as I’d nearly an hour to wait here anyway.
Having been away in the in the land of Saltire liveried trains for so long it seems odd to see Northern trains bland blue and white again.
19:00.
On the last leg home care of a 3-car Northern Class 195, which is busy but not unbearably so – and not as packed as my Southbound Pendolino! As COP26 is drawing to a close thousands of people are departing the city. Many of them by rail. Well, unless you’re an idiot Green Party Council Leader from Brighton who decided to take an internal flight from Gatwick as the trains were “too unreliable”. The other irony? He opposes us building HS2! Oh, he was at COP26 to lecture others on cutting carbon emissions too. I hope Greta kicked his sorry arse…
22:40.
Right, I’m home, fed and watered and about to spend the rest of the evening away from screens to catch up with my other half as it’s our 4th wedding anniversary today! Goodnight!
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 appreciate all the help that we can get to aid us in bouncing back from lockdowns. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
I’m currently on my way from Central Glasgow to the freight conference at Mossend for the morning session. Hopefully it will be just as interesting and informative as yesterday although sadly, I’ll have to leave early.
23:30.
OK, apologies for a really crap blog today. I was full of good intentions but the day just ran away with me as I had so many things to do and places to be in.
Day 2 of the freight conference was just as interesting as day 1. The focus changed slightly which helped to keep it fresh and the range of speakers and their experiences added to that. I managed to stay longer than I expected but still missed one of the speakers I was really looking forward to listening to (Freightliner’s Heather Waugh) due to technical issues and a rejigging of the timetable. Despite that, I’ll give full credit to all the organisers for putting on a great event.
I made it back into Glasgow in time to meet up with friends from Vivarail, Porterbrook and the Rail Industry Association (RIA) – and enjoy the sight of battery and Hydrogen train together.
RIA had arranged an event on the Vivarail D-train which involved young and old rail professionals to meet and chat on an out and back trip to Barrhead and back. Meanwhile Porterbrook were just as busy showing people around their Hydrogen train between its regular runs out and back on the Cathcart circle.
I’ve many more pictures and anecdotes to add, but they’re going to have to wait for tomorrow when…
After a decent (but short) nights sleep I’m about to wander across the road to Carlisle station to head on up to Scotland for more COP26 rail events. I’ll update this blog throughout the day, so feel free to keep popping back and see what I get up to. My first port of call will be Glasgow before heading across to Mossend for the opening of the three day ‘low carbon logistics’ event…
07:10.
Carlisle station’s a bit ‘brown bread’ (cockney rhyming slang for dead) at 06:30 on a Monday morning. A couple of folk were keeping warm on the early train to Morpeth but it wasn’t until the London and Glasgow trains arrived almost simultaneously at 06:48 that the station started to wake up. I’m now sat on Trans-Pennine Express’ 07:48 to Glasgow which has made its way North from Manchester airport. Bizarrely, those who oppose High Speed 2 (HS2) argue that services like this help airport expansion. Despite their mental gymnastics they can’t cope with the fact that if people are going to fly it’s far better than people take less carbon-intensive forms of transport to airports. It’s why more advanced countries than our are phasing out internal flights and putting people on services like this instead. It’s yet another example of why the UK ‘green’ movement is often anything but.
07:30.
I’ve just had a wander through the train and reckon loading is at about 15%, which isn’t bad (but isn’t great either) for such an early morning service. There’s a real mix of ages. An old lady in a wheelchair is in my car, along with several dozing younger people. In the next coach are a a couple of guys working (one with his table strewn with paper printouts) whilst a besuited gent grabs some shut-eye.
I’ve got a table bay of four to myself and set up the mobile office to do some work en-route. The trolley’s been round meaning I have coffee (and a Kitkat) so all’s well with the world!
10:45.
Getting to Mossend was easy. There’s regular Scotrail trains to nearby Bellshill where the event had arranged for shuttle buses to carry people to the site where marquees had been set op to hold the event which was opened by Scottish Transport Minister Graeme Dey MSP who gave an in-depth speech on the way Scotland is determined to tackle transport Co2 emissions.
12:28.
We’ve had some really interesting presentations (details later) but now we’re off to see one of the freight locomotives being named. So (of course) the heavens have decided this is a good time to open! The organisers were prepared and we’ve been given natty DB red umbrellas.
13:55.
We’re about to kick off the afternoon session after lunch and the the loco naming. GBRf named one of their Class 92s after the founder of PD Stirling. The engine was named by Stirling family members.
From L-R: Andrew Stirling, Julie Stirling, David Stirling and Tim Hartley from GBRf.
23:00.
Time to bring the day to an end. The afternoon session at the conference was really interesting. Alex Hynes came back to speak once more, then we had an excellent panel session chaired by Bill Reeve of Transport Scotland. Called “Scottish Businesses & Industry Delivering Low Carbon Logistics” the panel consisted of Tim Hartley, Business Development Director, GB Railfreight. Kenneth Russell, Commercial and Strategy Director, John G Russell Transport. David Turner, Rail Director, Malcolm Logistics. Chris Swan, Head of Rail, Tarmac and Catherine Hall, Head of Strategic Planning, Network Rail.
The final session of the day came from Stephen Carr, Group Commercial Director of Peel Ports whose presentation on changing the face of how logistics networks work in the UK demonstrated how many road miles and tonnes of carbon could be saved by reappraising how the existing networks worked.
There was far too much ground covered to fit in this blog but I’ll be writing about it in detail at a later date.
As the afternoon unfolded emails I received changed my plans yet again. It seems that I’m much in demand here at COP 26 as two more short-notice jobs were arranged for me. This means I’m going to be doing a very good impression of a blue-arsed fly for the rest of my time here in Scotland.
Tonight I’m back in Glasgow staying with a good friend. Tomorrow is another day. Watch out for a disjointed rolling blog as I bounce around from event to event…
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 appreciate all the help that we can get to aid us in bouncing back from lockdowns. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
As I’m busy with other things and I’ll be busy reporting on positive progress with building the new HS2 railway I haven’t paid what passes for a campaign to stop Hs2 much attention recently. Mainly because it’s collapsed into a farce. Yes, there’s still four or five people holed up in a tunnel at Wendover, waiting to be dug out by bailiffs. But as they’re not even in the way of HS2 construction and aren’t achieving anything, what’s the point? Their few friends are realising no-one else is interested either, so spend their time trying to drum up support by pretending this self-isolation is somehow heroic rather than what it really is. Dumb and pointless.
The eviction of the Wendover camp brought an end to the protest camp network, depriving those involved of refuges. Now, many of the tiny hard-core have drifted away. The arrival of winter’s speeded up that retreat. Oh, a few still turn up to HS2 compound gates to wave flags and video themselves before buggering off again, pretending they’ve actually achieved something, but it’s painfully obvious to any impartial observer this is just window-dressing as there’s over 300 active HS2 worksites and less than three dozen regular proteters.
So, like StopHS2 before them, HS2Rebellion have little left other than social media. They try to keep up the pretense of actually doing things by posting whatever they can find that’s critical of HS2, or even high-speed rail per se. Because this was never really about ‘green’ issues at all. Like Extinction Rebellion they’re an offshoot of – this is all about politics, not the environment. XR and HS2rebellion are (laughably) all about trying to bring down capitalism and democracy which they want to replace with the ‘dictatorship of the proletariat’ through citizens assembly’s. Or in other words, they want power.
There’s one huge problem. They’re politically inept and hopelessly naïve. Many of them have as little understanding of politics as they do of real environmentalism. Their ideology’s a mess, as is their knowledge of the real world influencers (who aren’t who they think). Here’s an example. Yesterday HS2rebellion published this on their Facebook page.
Apart from the fact this obviously nails their colours to the anti-rail mast, you have to ask, did any of them bother to check who the Cato Institute is, what its beliefs are, or who funds it? Clearly not.
Why, because the Cato Institute is (yet another) right-wing, libertarian lobby group that’s been prominent and influential in spreading climate-change denial! It was set up and bankrolled by the Koch Brothers (Charles and David) in 1977. The brothers are (or were, David died in 2019) some of the richest people in the world. Their company, Koch Industries is the largest privately held company in the USA. It made its money through oil. For decades, the brothers have used their massive wealth to gain political and social influence, shaping American (and thus world) policy on a number of fronts which includes trying to undermine efforts to tackle climate change, opposing public transport projects (like high-speed rail) and pouring money into numerous conservative political campaigns. Friends of the environment they’re not. All this is well-documented and anyone with a real interest in these issues has known about the Koch brothers for donkey’s years.
But not HS2rebellion – who’re happy to promote the ideology of the climate-change deniers and puff their influence through advertising the ‘think-tanks’ they fund!
Mind you, HS2rebellion aren’t alone in this. Many supposed ‘greens’ are happy to promote similar propaganda from the UK version of the Cato, the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), another bunch of right-wing lobbyists masquerading as an educational organisation as a cover for what they really are – a bunch of political lobbyists.
Rather foolishly, the IEA complained about the broadcaster James O’Brien for calling them out. The OFCOM judgement is worth reading as – not only was the complaint thrown out – the judgement exposed the IEA for what they really are. You can read it here.
At the behest of their anonymous paymasters (the IEA refuse to come clean on who funds them) the IEA also engage in trying to undermine action on Climate Change. Here’s an example. This bunch of nonsense has appeared on the website of ‘Transport Watch’.
But who are ‘Transport Watch’? Well, until recently they were one man – Paul Withrington, a retired road planner who was obsessed with the idea that all the UKs railways should be tarmac’d over and replaced by fleets of coaches. It was quite mad and no matter how many times Withrington was challenged on the maths and the physics of the idea he was so obsessed nothing could convince him he wasn’t talking out of a fundamental orifice. Withrington used to turn up at events like Infrarail in the hope of buttonholing Ministers to press his lunacy but most saw him coming and managed to avoid him. Needless to say, Withrington was grist to the mill for the lobbyists of the IEA and fell in with their risibly named ‘Head of Transport’, Richard Wellings – a man who’s never held a proper job in his life – much less had any frontline experience in transport. The pair of them co-authored an IEA paper called ‘paving over the tracks’ in 2015. It’s completely crazy of course, but he who pays the piper…
Withrington died in January 2021 and it appears that he bequeathed his baby to the IEA, because who’s name is on the bottom of that climate change denialism and scaremongering? Yep, one Richard Wellings. ‘Transport Watch’ seems to be a way for the IEA to publish even more loony conspiracy theories in an attempt to undermine the fight against global warming whilst trying to maintain plausible deniability. In fact, the only articles that have appeared on the TW website have all been authored by Wellings. I’m not going to give them the pleasure of a boost by providing a link to their website, but if you’re really curious it’s easy to find and verify everything I’ve said about them.
These are just some examples of why I’ve long held the belief that much of what passes for a UK ‘green’ movement simply isn’t fit for purpose. They’re tone-deaf and utterly unable to tell when they’re being played by the far smarter and much more intelligent right-wing, which would be funny if it wasn’t so dangerous and damaging. The fact UK ‘greens’ are doing the climate-change deniers and oil and roads lobby’s job for them by opposing green public transport shows just how screwed-up this country is nowadays. Their European (and Scottish) cousins are far more savvy. Sadly, we’re lumbered with the dogmatic and disconnected likes of Baroness (“I like trains, me”) Jenny Jones, and the demagogues of Extinction Rebellion gluing themselves to or opposing us building public transport. What a time to be alive…
Meanwhile, we have the fun and games up at COP26, where Extinction rebellion protesters arrived by train. Here’s the ‘Red rebels’ on Glasgow Central earlier this week after arriving from London. These are the very same ‘rebels’ who could be seen protesting at HS2 construction sites.
‘cos dressing up in red rags and opposing HS2 is obviously going to save the planet…
An irony that is completely lost on these people is the very railway they’ve been protesting against would (by slashing Anglo–Scottish journey times) be a viable alternative to Europe’s busiest domestic aviation routes, those from Aberdeen/Glasgow/Edinburgh to the London airports as this graph makes clear.
You can find lots more information on Anglo-Scottish air traffic from Chris Ogilvie (@Ogilvie_CJ) on Twitter.
I’ll be back in Scotland next week for more COP26 rail related activities, so watch out for other blogs. Needless to say – unlike our Prime Minister – I’ll be letting the train, not the airlines take the strain…
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 appreciate all the help that we can get to aid us in bouncing back from lockdowns. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
Paul Bigland 