This wasn’t quite how I was expecting to be travelling, but when needs must…
Dawn and I packed the car early this morning before driving over to Huddersfield to pick up her parents as we were all going to be travelling down together. There was only one problem. Four of us, all the clothes and presents plus the other Xmas supplies (and my camera bag) meant that there was so little room left in the car that it would’ve been a very uncomfortable journey down to Surrey. We’d looked at hiring a bigger vehicle but the rates this year were ridiculous, it would have cost us nearly £1000! I’d a sneaking suspicion this might happen so I’d already planted the seeds of a plan B – which was me catching the train and meeting them down there. When Dee saw how little space was left in the saloon for her parents even she agreed! So, here I am on my Jack Jones heading down to London. It was cheaper to come via the West Coast and there’s less cancellations too (LNER have knocked out a lot of services due to Covid staff shortages). I jumped on a TPE service from Huddersfield across to Manchester and now I’m sat on Avanti West Coast’s 12:15 to Euston. It’s worked by a 9-car Pendolino which is around 60% full but I managed to find a table seat where I’ve set up the mobile office to get some work done – something I couldn’t have done in the car!
I’ll keep you posted how the journey across London and down to Farnham goes as it unfolds. Right now we’re heading for Stoke-on-Trent in the same miserable weather that’s followed me all the way from West Yorkshire. I hear from Dee’s mum that they’re heading down the M1 right now. I hope their weather’s better on that side of the country…
13:50.
We’ve had a classic Pendolino journey so far, speeding South with ease. Say what you like about these trains but they can’t half sift and you never even notice when you pass another service as there’s no pressure pulse or juddering like there used to be with the older Mk3 carriages. After leaving Stoke the train had filled up to around 70% occupancy. Now we’ve stopped for the final time at Milton Keynes where dozens more folk have joined us taking that up to 80-85%, thankfully the vast majority of people are wearing masks so the atmosphere doesn’t feel uncomfortable. There’s been no ticket check en-route, which is hardly surprising at the moment with the numbers of rail-staff off due to contracting Covid or self-isolating.
14:05.
We’ve just sped through Cheddington which (in 1963) was the site of the infamous ‘great train robbery’ which took place just up the line at Ledburn,. The weather here’s dry but just as gloomy as the rest of the country I’ve traversed today. It’s 2 o’clock in the afternoon yet most cars have headlights switched on and industrial estates security lighting has tripped in!
16:15.
Tempting as it was I didn’t hang around in London. Instead I caught a tube straight across to Waterloo. The Underground was far quieter than you’d expect this time of the year although Euston station was rammed with people heading North.
Waterloo was much more subdued but as much of its traffic is commuters that was no surprise. Rather than get a direct train I hopped my way down to Clapham Junction in order to see how busy services were. Here’s a Shepperton service after leaving Vauxhall. Good to experience an old friend (the Class 707) again. I drove one of these when they were being shaken down on the Siemens test track at Wildenrath in Germany!
Now I’m on another (earlier) Siemens product, a Class 450 heading for Alton. There’s half a dozen of us in this car, which is one of 12 making up this train…
17:05.
Beat them! I’m now sitting in the ‘Mulberry’ pub next to Farnham station waiting for the car team to catch me up. They pulled off the M4 20 minutes ago so it might be a while before they get here. In the meantime I’m nursing an indifferent pint of the local Hogsback IPA whilst downloading pictures from the camera to the laptop. I’d originally intended to go for a wander when I arrived but the weather’s even wetter here than it was up North. So much for the sunny South!
My train from London to Alton passes a service heading in the opposite direction at Farnham.
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/
Here at Bigland Towers we’re in the final wind-down to the festive season although (to be honest) it seems more like a wind-up as there’s so many things to do! Dawn’s ‘demob happy’ as she finished work yesterday but today’s hardly been restful as there was a long list of things for her to do in preparation for us heading South to Surrey for the festive season. Part of that list included her cooking Bakewell Tart and Millionaire’s shortbread to take with us to feed the family so the house has been filled with delicious smells all afternoon. I’ve also been busy finishing various bits of work and stockpiling enough other stuff to keep me occupied and fruitful if we get poor weather or enforced downtime due to Covid whilst we’re away as none of us have any idea how things might change.
As usual with this shambolic Government we haven’t got a clue what to expect them to do next – other than it’ll be too little, too late. Whilst the Welsh and Scottish administrations have announced plans in advance to give everyone certainty and chance to prepare the only announcement from Downing St is – “ummm”… Very helpful.
Despite this, we’re determined to make the most of the time away whilst still staying safe and not taking any unnecessary risks – especially when one considers the number of daily Covid cases has just passed the 100,000 mark for the first time. Unlike the shit-show that governs us I may be eating cheese and drinking wine in rather more isolated (and enjoyable) company.
So, tomorrow the four of us travel South for few days. Sadly, our old moggie, Jet, won’t be going on his holidays with us this time as he’s on a permanent and far-ranging ‘holiday’ beyond the rainbow bridge, but no doubt we’ll have a few fond memories of his first and only venture earlier in the year as a Northerner down South!
Expect a few gaps in blogging over the next few days but not too many as I’ve a series of articles previously published in the print media that I’ll be posting as blogs. Plus, I’m sure there’ll be the odd day out and chance to grab pictures (railway or otherwise) that I’ll have time to turn into a commentary.
In the meantime, I’d like to wish all of my readers (and there’s over 40,000 of you so far this year, reading over 80,000 articles – and you’re spread all over the planet, which is amazing!) a very merry Christmas and a Happy (Gregorian calendar) new Year!
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 article has appeared in the latest Rail Director magazine. I’m reproducing it here with extra pictures taken during my visit.
HS2 Euston visit.
On the day that HS2 Minister Andrew Stephenson announced that Euston station was to have only 10 HS2 platforms but the whole station would be redeveloped in one phase I was on a site visit looking at progress on this massive project. The visit began with a briefing from Tom Venner, Managing Director of the Euston Partnership. The partnership (established in July 2020) brings together all the stakeholders and delivery partners to enable Euston to be developed together as a single scheme, under a board chaired by Network Rail’s Sir Peter Hendy. Tom updated us all on the Partnerships strategic aims whilst outlining the complexities of redeveloping the 5th busiest station on the national network, integrating it with HS2 and meeting the aims and aspirations of the local communities who have many different (and sometimes competing) priorities.
The task is vast in scale and fraught with challenges. 60 acres of the Euston area is under Government ownership and incorporated in the scheme. It’s the largest real-estate development in the capital that will take many years to complete – hence the desire to minimise disruption to local residents and users of the station by completing the scheme in one phase rather than two, even if these competing ambitions mean the Hs2 station’s platform numbers are a sub-optimal solution. It’s a difficult balancing act. Whilst the £2.6bn redevelopment will now be constructed in one long project it’s still being broken up into elements. Phase 1 is the concourse, 2 is the trainshed and 3 is opening up the Eversholt St side of the station with commercial development. The Somers Town side of Euston has always seemed to have had its back turned to this deprived area of London and the Euston masterplan is determined to address this deficiency and give the whole station more permeability
Because of all these changes a revised concept design for the new Euston won’t be available before the end of the year, so none of us yet know what the new Euston may look like in the future.
Our briefing in the HS2 office in the podium was held against the competing background noise and vibration from heavy machinery breaking up the foundations of the old Grant Thornton tower block outside. This site will become part of the expanded London Underground station that will take the HS2 strain off the existing cramped concourse. Across Melton St’s the HQ of the Royal College of General Practitioners where every GP in the country visits to sit their exams. As a considerate neighbour, HS2 has agreed to halt noisy work like this when these crucial events take place. It’s a good example of the balance that needs to be struck.
The remains of Grant Thornton house seen from our briefing room in the Podium. The cellar levels are gradually being excavated and cleared.
Our inspection tour began on the site of the HS2 platforms on the Western side of the current station that’s been cleared of residential and commercial properties – plus the 50,000 bodies exhumed from the former St James’ burial ground which will be re-buried at Brookwood cemetery near Woking. It’s now one vast open area that exposes the footprint of the new station.
This will be the site of the HS2 platforms, albeit below present ground level. In the background you can see the old London Underground station entrance and the grey clad building that covers the current work to build the new Underground Traction Sub-Station (TSS) which will replace it. A view looking North showing the piles installed to build the new Western Wall of the HS2 station. Beyond the grey HS2 offices and hoardings are the Hampstead Rd and some of the new homes built to replace those demolished to make way for HS2.
Here the first permanent structures are appearing in the shape of some of the 161 piles for the foundations of the station’s Western boundary wall. There’s much work to do yet. Another 7-10 metres comprising 820,000m3 of earth has to be dug out to reach basement level and negotiations are ongoing on the best way of removing the earth from site in a manner that will have the least impact on the roads and neighbourhoods around Camden. The HS2 platforms will be built 8 metres below ground level In a concrete box 90 metres wide and 500metres long. To prevent blocking nearby roads there will be a basement below which will have road access for service vehicles and staff parking as well as containing equipment rooms.
A completed section of the Western boundary wall of the new HS2 station with the old station in the background.
Meanwhile, the London Underground Traction Sub-Station (TSS) in the former station building on Melton St is being relocated with work expected to be complete in 2024 when it will be replaced by ‘the sugar cube’. Work’s currently taking place under a temporary building to lessen the noise impacts on neighbours such as the GPs college. During site clearance a Victorian cobbled Rd was found near the site of the former Maria Fedelis school. This was identified as Little George St which featured in the very first Sherlock Holmes novel (A Study in Scarlet) written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in 1887.
Forming the boundary at the North end of the station site is the Hampstead Rd bridge which will be reconstructed and extended to allow HS2 to pass under the busy A400. Like the TSS, this work is expected to be completed in 2026, removing the last constraint to completing the new tracks into Euston. This is another complex operation due to the need to provide sufficient clearance for HS2 tracks.
Our next stop was the new multi-storey site offices located on Stanhope St opposite the former Euston Downside carriage shed. There’s an excellent viewing platform atop the site which gives grandstand views South across Euston and central London and North to where the HS2 tunnel portals are to be built. The birds-eye view lets you appreciate the sheer size of the site and the amount of activity taking place as well as the proximity to the existing Euston station throat, which presents its own challenges. Opposite, we could see the truncated Granby St bridge, another crossing which will be extended to allow HS2 to pass beneath. Alongside Park Village East the original brick retaining wall is being reinforced to prevent movement by the insertion of ground anchors. Fixed in double or single rows, these are between 12-20 metres in depth. This work will continue until March 2022. The site is squeezed in the middle by the Western abutment of Mornington St Bridge, a delicate site as one of the HS2 tunnels will exit at this point. To make exit from the cramped Northern part of the site easier a wagon turntable for road vehicles is to be installed.
A view of the North end of the old Euston Downside carriage shed site. Looking back towards Euston station from atop the HS2 offices on Stanhope St.Granby Terrace bridge has been severed (for now) but it will be extended over the HS2 tracks. A general view of the old Downside site wit North London beyond.
Currently piling’s taking place to build the walls which will support the roof over this part of the site, as plans for the future include building homes above the tracks – some of the 1,700 that the scheme will provide at Euston.
The piling work with temporary sheet-metal piles in place as protection.
The site will also include the three-storey Euston Cavern Headhouse which will provide emergency access to the HS2 tunnels with access from Park Village East. When built the roof will also shield local residents from noise whilst the tunnel entrances are constructed. These piles have been constructed using the innovative “zero trim pile technique” which involves sucking out excess concrete while still wet using a new vacuum excavator. Traditional piling sees concrete overpoured before workers have to break out the excess. The old method can cause many health problems, including hand-arm vibration syndrome, hearing loss and silicosis, not to mention the noise, dust and disturbance caused to those living nearby. One of our guides for the tour was Lee Piper of the Skanska Costain STRABAG joint venture (SCS JV) who worked with colleague Deon Louw from Cementation Skanska to develop the pioneering approach. SCS will be installing around 2,000 piles over the next three years in the Euston area with all but 15 using the new technique. The new method will bring benefits in terms of reduced carbon, noise reduction and safer ways of working. Chatting to Lee it was clear to see his pride in the new technique which he told me had cut 38 weeks from the piling programme, a major saving. He also told me that the zero trim pile technique was to be trialled on the Old Oak Common box where it had the potential to make huge savings in time, money and carbon on the construction of the 1.8 km long diaphragm walls. The piles finished using the method stand out because they look pristine. The rebar remains upright and undamaged whilst the base of the pile is a neat circle. Anyone who’s seen the mangled remains of piles that have been broken in the traditional method out can’t fail to notice the difference! Accompanying the concrete piles are a row of sheet piles driven into the ground to give support. These will be removed once the concrete piling is complete.
Here’s how piles produced by the zero trim pile technique look. Pristine!
Seeing the work at Euston move on from utility diversion and demolition to the start of construction makes one appreciate the length of the task ahead. The station isn’t currently scheduled to open until sometime between 2031-36 which gives an idea why the Partnership is anxious to prove itself to be a good neighbour that leaves a positive legacy. Rebuilding Euston’s going to a long process, but – if it’s done right – the long overdue redevelopment has a real opportunity to be a showcase for city redevelopment and transport integration. Time will tell…
You can view many more pictures of HS2 construction work at several sites along the route on my Zenfolio website. Link here.
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 wish! The weather here in the Calder Valley’s gloomy and murky still, only with added drizzle for interest. So, I’m escaping the confines of the valley to head Westwards, mixing business and pleasure in order to drop in on a couple of family members before Christmas as the way things are going with Omicron we could well be in another lockdown in January – so who knows when I’ll get to see people again?
I’m currently on Northern’s 09:22 service from Sowerby Bridge to Chester. The train seems reasonably busy but as it’s only a two-car Class 195 instead of the normal 3-car that’s hardly surprising. There’s the usual mix of ages and reasons for travelling with ramblers rubbing shoulders with Christmas shoppers and other folk heading for a day out in the bright lights and colour of the big city, which must seem very attractive after a few days of monochrome weather here in the Pennines!
It’s grim up North…
I’ll update the blog as the day unfolds, so feel free to keep popping back…
10:20.
As expected, most passengers bailed out at Manchester Victoria, leaving a handful of us still aboard. I’ll be doing the same at Newton-Le-Willows in order to check out the rebuilt station before catching a connecting service to Liverpool Lime St.
10:45.
Flying visit to NLW complete I’m on my way to Liverpool once more. Newton station’s been massively improved with a purpose-built ticket office and staff facilities, level access to both platforms provided by lifts, a new bus interchange and a massive (and busy) car park. The original building still exists on the London-bound platforms but its shutteted and closed. The subway underneath the tracks is decorayed with a variety of artworks from local sources and lit with changing coloured lights. It’s a vast improvement on the old station where you had to climb a multitude of steps to reach the platforms. New waiting rooms have been installed at platform level too.
A copy of the commemorative tablet which is in a monument on the spot further up the line where William Huskisson was struck by a train is located by the new subway.
11:50.
Curses, foiled again! I’m currently en-route to Southport having lingered long enough in Liverpool to grab a series of shots at Lime St station before wandering across to Central.
Lime St contained a couple of shots worth grabbing. East Midlands Railway have a Class 156 on loan to Northern and the unit graced us with its presence. Meanwhile, Transport for Wales had scraped together a pair of Class 153s for their service from Chester. Nicknamed “dogboxes” many, these single-car units aren’t normally allowed out on their own anymore as most have toilets that aren’t disabity legislation compliant so have to work with a set that is.
I wonder what the Welsh is for “dogbox”?
Central station was eerily quiet. I’d have expected it to be buzzing this close to Christmas but many folk seem to be staying away. Having read the latest SAGE predictions on the way over this morning that’s probably a wise move. If it wasn’t for the fact what little moral authority this Government had has been shot to pieces I’d expect a new lockdown to be declared in January. Now, I’m not sure they dare…
Empty platforms…
My curse was due to the fact I’d hoped to have been able to get more shots of the new Merseyrail trains on test runs today but none are running. Mind you, the weather’s hardly conducive. The railways are starting to be hit hard by Covid with many staff self-isolating or off sick. This is bound to have an effect on maintaining service levels but also on training. I expect to see further delays in introducing new fleets on South-West Railway and Merseyrail next year.
Still. I’m now off for lunch with my Neice and her Husband, so not all’s bad..
15:45.
Well, that was a lovely interlude! The three of us had a lovely lunch in Birkdale, a village subsumed by Southport but a place that’s very much kept its villagy feel and become quite a little community. The area around the railway station’s a thriving place full of restaurants, cafés and independent shops, many of which nestle under Victorian canopies. When Adi had to go back to work Charlotte and I stayed for another hour chatting and swapping stories. Like me, she’s inherited the footloose gene and misses travelling. We’d arranged to meet up in Bali last year (a place we both love) but Covid put the kibosh on those plans. Who knows when we’ll be able to return?
Now I’m back in Southport proper, hoping to be able to meet up with one of my siblings…
This morning I woke up to the welcome news that Johnson’s Tories had been humiliated in the North Shropshire by-election, losing a seat they considered theirs as a right to hold to the Lib-Dems. It was a massive 34% swing that saw the previous Tory majority of 23,000 become a Lib-Dem one of nearly 6000. One can only hope that this is the start of a shift that will see UK voters reject the kakistocracy we’ve had in charge ever since Johnson was elected in 2019. But I’m not going to hold my breath…
As if to celebrate the news the weather decided to grace the Calder Valley with sunshine. Well, the tops of the valley anyway, the lower levels have been hidden in mist for most of the day! Undeterred I decided to have a day out and head West with the camera, escaping the confines of the office now my computer problems have been resolved. If only every problem was as easily solved by a phone call!
My day out saw me heading West to old haunts, in this case Wigan, Southport and Liverpool where the weather held and sunshine reigned. I needed some pictures of the ‘new’ Class 769s (former electric trains converted to bi-modes with the addition of a diesel engine) and also the brand-new Class 777s for Merseyrail which are being built by the Swiss company Stadler. For once my luck held and I managed to complete my quest. 769s were running services to Southport and when I arrived one of the new 777s was sitting in the station whilst the crew took a break. I had enough time to grab shots of it at the seaside resort before getting ahead of it to take pictures at Hall Road on the edge of Liverpool. Sadly, by that point the sun had been overwhelmed by cloud. Even so, I managed a reasonable shot of old and new together, which is today’s picture of the day.
On the left is a Class 508 unit which was built by BR at York between 1979-80. These units were built as 4-car trains for the former Southern region and operated out of London Waterloo for several years before being reduced to 3-car trains and sent North to Merseyside in 1984-85 to replace the Class 503 electric trains which had been built by the London Midland and Scottish railway in 1938. Now it’s their turn to be replaced by the Class 777s one of which is seen here on a test run from Southport to Sandhills in Liverpool. 52 of these new units are on order and will start entering into passenger service sometime in 2022. There’s around half a century of the evolution of train design captured in that picture. I remember the 507-508 taking over services on this line over 40 years ago. Barring medical miracles I don’t expect to be around in another 40-plus years to see what replaces the 777s! Still, never say never…
If you want to look back at the Merseyrail system over the years you can find pictures going back to the 1990s in two different galleries on my Zenfolio website. Images from 2003 to the present day can be found here. Shots taken when the franchise was run by Arriva (from 1997-2003) can be found here – and pictures from the British Rail era can be found in this gallery, but you’ll have to do a lot of searching!
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/
Supposed ‘eco-warriors’ Extinction Rebellion have a simple slogan. It’s “tell the truth”. There’s only one slight problem with such a slogan. XR wouldn’t know what the truth is if it bit them! Far from telling the ‘truth’ they’ve got a long and nasty habit of making up stuff to feed to their gullible supporters, not all of whom are fooled. Here’s an example from Tuesday, when XR members in the North pulled yet another stupid stunt involving trains to/from Drax power station.
For a while now, @hs2rebellion and XR have been trying to claim that trees chopped down to build the new High Speed 2 (HS2) railway are being chipped and sent to Drax as biofuel. It’s cobblers of course, Drax use trains to move massive amounts of wood chippings from the ports of Liverpool, Immingham and Hull. These trains, weighing in at 2,400 tonnes each carry 1600 tonnes of biomass and operate nearly 30 services A DAY into Drax. The idea the power station needs or requires this to be supplanted by a few hundred tonnes of green woodchips moved by road from scattered sites across the route of HS2 is laughable, but that’s HS2Rebellion for you. The truth is what you make up.
Here’s what those biofuel trains look like. These are the services from Liverpool Docks to Drax which use very high capacity hopper wagons (wood-chip being light, but bulky). All biomass to Drax is moved in long trains of hopper wagons similar to this.
Now have a look at this nonsense and bluster from XR North via one of the useless anti HS2 protesters in Staffs who bills himself as ‘Run Away Jim’!
Their claims are a complete fiction for several reasons. 1. That’s not a biomass train. 2. That silly person didn’t stop anything as a few seconds into the video the train starts pulling away, leaving the bemused protester looking very stupid indeed as she delivers an intellectually incoherent ramble to camera. It’s an incredibly stupid stunt. Believe me, as someone who’s held the PTS (Personal Track Safety) qualification, I can tell you trackside near moving trains is a very dangerous place to be even if you’re fit, active and trained to be there. For a clueless elderly person it’s a potential death-trap. By encouraging such dumb actions XR are putting people’s lives at risk. Plus, it’s no fun (at all) for the railway staff and emergency services who might (literally) have to pick up the pieces. You can watch the whole, ridiculous video on the XR North Facebook page (link).
The comments on the XR FB page show that some people weren’t fooled and knew this wasn’t a biomass train. XR North doubled-down on the lie by pretending its a ‘local’ service bringing in woodchip – which is utter rubbish, because there aren’t any.
How do I know this? Easily. Can I prove it? Yes, of course.
What idiot protesters like XR don’t understand is that even freight trains operate to timetables and those timetables and details of the train types are available online. So, what was that train? Well, it’s very distinctive because of those ‘Interbulk’ container tanks atop flat wagons. It’s actually ash from Drax which only runs on a Tuesday and Thursday when it’s worked from/to sidings at South Milford North of Leeds before travelling down to Appleford near Oxford where the ash is disposed of. Here are the copies of the actual (real time) timetables for Tuesday. Now, I can’t tell which of the two trains this is, but one of the little revelations is neither the inbound or outbound working was delayed at all by that silly protester. Oh, another thing to note. Look at the weights of each train. It went into Drax empty and came out loaded – exactly the opposite of what a biomass train does!
The train was seven minutes late leaving Milford and seven minutes late arriving at Drax. Some ‘delay’.The train was seventeen minutes late leaving Drax and clearly suffered no extra delays around Drax!
There you have it. Extinction Rebellion caught out lying and then when questioned they double-down on the lie. It’s time people started seeing these people for whom they really are – untrustworthy, dishonest and who couldn’t ‘tell the truth’ if their lives depended on it. Which (allegedly) they do…
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/
You know it’s going to be one of those days when you start the day with an optimistic frame of mind and technology decides it has other plans for you. Today was one of those days. Having bounced out of bed, made coffee and sat in the office ready to start the day I booted up the laptop.
Only it didn’t. It absolutely refused to be woken from its slumber. The expression ‘Oh, sh*t’ was one of several that passed my lips as I realised my plans for the day were well and truly out of the window. Fortunately, I have an old machine gathering dust on a shelf so dug that out. But because it hadn’t been used since August last year it took me quite a while to get everything set up and (mostly) reconnected. You forget just how interlinked systems are nowadays so when passwords and other gubbins are updated, old machines don’t always ‘get it’. Finally, after a few hours of cursing and shouts of ‘I don’t believe’ it I was operational again. Ish. Apart from all the pictures and files I’d not had chance to copy of my main machine or back-up to the Cloud. I few emails to Dell later and a several missed phone calls and I’d arranged to get tech support in the morning that will hopefully coax my recalcitrant machine back to life (fingers crossed).
Needless to say, this ate up much of my day which was doubly-frustrating as the weather was gorgeous and the trips I had planned were canned, so all I could do was admire the view over the valley as I fought with various systems. Thankfully everything was up and running enough for me to be able to respond to a picture request from RAIL magazine without any more blood sweat and tears although I did rediscover another idiosyncrasy of laptops that I’d forgotten about. The wifi on my old Dell couldn’t blow the skin off a rice pudding! It doesn’t like working from the office as the signal is really weak and frequently drops out – not good when you’re sending hundreds of Mb of data, so most of my working day’s been spent sat on the bed as that room’s directly above the router! On the bright side, I was thankful that I’d worked over the weekend to get all the pictures from last weeks Community Rail Awards edited and sent out, otherwise my computer problems could have been ‘fun’ to say the least.
I’m being optimistic and hoping the the tech wizards at Dell can sort things out for me tomorrow and that the issues are software not hardware related. Frankly, I can do without the expense this close to Christmas and having had to have a camera rebuilt recently.
Sadly, all the new slides I’ve been scanning recently are sat on the other machine, so today’s picture is going to have to come from the archives. But what to choose? Oh, I know…
Here’s a change from the recent exotic travel shots I’ve been feeding you. Clapham Junction may be a lot of things but exotic isn’t a word that springs to mind. This unusual shot was taken on the 7th December this year. It’s a view of the station few people see because it’s taken from the apartment block where an old friend whom I was staying with has a flat.
The trains in the foreground are a pair of Southwestern Railway Class 707s which will soon be displaced and cascaded to Southeastern trains as (despite the fact they’re only a few years old) SWR have planned to replace them with an even newer fleet of 10 car Class 701s built by Bombardier in Derby. Only the 701s are very (very) late and riddled with faults which is causing more than a few headaches all round. So, this is a sight that will eventually pass into history.
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’ve been too busy to blog today as we’ve been preparing for tonight’s Community Rail awards at the Guildhall in Southampton. We should have been here last year but Covid put the mockers on the event so we postponed it for a year. Tonight’s event will be hosted by Jools Townsend, Chief Executive of Community Rail Network plus Mark Hopwood, MD of GWR and Claire Mann, MD of Southwestern Railway. As I’ll be busy throughout the event I’ll add pictures when I can to give you a flavour of the evenin – so stay tuned. We’re kicking off in 10 minutes (at 17:00) when the drinks reception begins – so stay tuned…
Well, I hope our trip’s a cruise! We’re currently aboard Northern’s 09:44 from Halifax to Manchester Victoria on the first leg of out trip. Despite yesterday’s storm the railways seem little affected, which is great news. OK, out trains a couple of minutes late due to slippery rails and low adhesion, but when the weather’s as wet and windy as it has been that’s hardly a surprise. One of my first tasks this morning (well, after making coffee, obviously!) was to peruse various website to check on real-time train performance. Suitably reassured I’m relaxed about the trip.
Having stopped at Hebden Bridge where we picked up another member of the CRN staff we’re now on our way West though a dank and dismal Calder valley. At least Hannah and Dawn have added some colour!
12:05.
Everything’s going to plan! Our journey across Manchester went without a hitch and we rendezvoused with the rest of the CRN advance party at Piccadilly. Now we’re settled in on a 4-Car Arriva Cross-Country Voyager for the long trip to Southampton, which wouldn’t be everyone’s cup of tea (4 hours 18 mins on a Voyager probably qualifies for an ‘Iron Man’ award!) but so far, the train’s relatively empty so we’ve room to spread out.
The weather’s improving as we head South too. The rain was hammering on the roof of Piccadilly but here in Stoke-on-Trent we’ve managed to encounter some sunshine and a smattering of blue-sky. Meanwhile, the CRN staff have turned the train into a mobile office, sorting out some last-minute changes to the awards.
Yep, I’m outnumbered by the fairer sex…
14:10.
Leaving Birmingham we called at International where a railhead treatment train was sitting between turns Seeing these vehicles working this late in the year seems unusual, but as some leaves are still clinging on to trees by their metaphorical fingernails it’s hardly surprising. It’s been a long autumn!
Right now we’re heading for Oxford in the best weather I’ve seen for days as we’ve blue skies spattered with high cloud rather then the wall to wall dullness that’s been the norm. Our train’s filled up but seats are still available and the atmosphere’s stress-free.
15:30.
And it was all going so well…!
After an amble along the Thames Valley to Reading as we were already 5 minutes late we ended up kicking our heels for quite some time as one of the train crew who was meant to be joining us was stuck elsewhere. Five minutes became ten, then twenty, then twenty five, then – finally, whoever we were waiting for turned up and we got away twenty six minutes late. But we’d lost our path, so we were nearly 30 down by the time we passed Southcote Junction. We’re now at the mercy of signallers regulating the service and slotting us in as they can…
17:00.
Made it! As I predicted, we lost more time en-route, finally arriving in Bournemouth 39 minutes late. Judging by the amount of young women hardly dressed for the season who were joining the train as we departed there’s a concert in Bournemouth tonight!
We’re currently relaxing at the hotel sorting our kit out whilst watching the latest political omnishambles unfold via the TV. The PM’s Press Spokesperson, Allegra Stratton has announced her resignation but I don’t that’s going to stop the awkward questions. Such as – which press members of the Lobby attended, because it’s painful to watch some sections of the media completely ignoring the story. The suspicion is that there was a lot of colluding going on here and a lot of people have questions to answer – including the Metropolitan police. Now we’re being told there’s going to be a Prime Ministerial announcement at 18:00 which is sounding like another attempt to say ‘look over there’. Meanwhile, we’ll be watching the announcement with a drink in hand, hoping Johnson’s not going to try and pull a stunt that could affect tomorrow’s awards…
I enjoyed a very convivial night with an old friend in London last night. We didn’t bother going out. Instead we enjoyed a quiet evening in at his home overlooking Clapham Junction station, eating home-made chicken casserole and sharing a bottle of red wine whilst we swapped news and stories. This morning we were both up bright and early to shoot some local railway interest in the shape of railhead treatment trains (RHTTs) and a steam train which was working through on a special. Here’s the shots I took on the camera that I couldn’t post earlier.
GBRf electro-diesel 73141 leads the railhead treatment train into Clapham Junction. This is a circular working as 3W90, the from 04:35 Tonbridge West Yard.‘Black 5’ No 44871 steams through Clapham Junction working 1Z56, the 08:46 London Victoria to Bristol Temple Meads special service.
Bidding adieu I stopped off at the station long enough to grab a few more pictures but as the weather was grey and miserable I didn’t hang around. Instead I did a mini-tour of London’s Major stations rather than sit on the underground. My first stop was Waterloo. As someone who lived i
n the capital for 25 years but who left a decade ago I’m fascinated by the way the city’s skyline has changed – and the mass of skyscrapers you pass on the railway through Vauxhall on the way into Waterloo is a supreme example of this. The area has changed out of all recognition, yet new developments are springing up all the time.
At Waterloo I swapped from South-Western to South-Eastern metals to head across to another place that’s nothing like when I was a Londoner – London Bridge station. Its £1bn makeover has turned it into a place you’d expect to find in Mainland Europe, not the UK. I didn’t tarry and caught a Thameslink service across the river to another station that’s been transformed – St Pancras International – although that redevelopment’s 14 years old now which seems hard to believe.
What hasn’t changed much was the streets of Somers town which I strolled through to reach Euston. There’s been some gentrification, but it sill has the feel of one of the most deprived neighbourhoods in Central London. One can only hope the redevelopment of Euston station that’s about to happen will deliver on its promise to make deliver positive change to the area.
I’ve now taken my leave of London on another Avanti Pendolino, this time bound for my birthplace. Liverpool. We’re already North of Rugby, but the weather remains just as gloomy as it was in London.
13:15.
I changed trains in Crewe as I was hoping to catch some of the new Welsh or West Midlands trains out on test but today wasn’t my lucky day as nothing was running. The weather was grim and I’d had a message from an Irish friend that he was in Manchester this afternoon so I didn’t hang around. As ‘luck’ would have it a Transport for Wales service to Manchester was running 35 mins late due to the weather and stuff being blown onto the line, so I caught that the 2-car 175 when it turned up.
Only to find out it was being cancelled at Wilmslow! Well, if it gets there! Right now it’s struggling to get through Sandbach in what’s known as ‘poor railhead conditions’ (greasy rails).
13:45.
My Wilmslow wait was a short one. No sooner had we arrived and unloaded that the Avanti Pendolino we’d held up came in on the adjacent platform and we were away again! The weather here’s crap. Wet and windy, so I can see why there’s some delays.
– Off one…– and straight on to another that had been trapped behind us as we slipped and skidded to Wilmslow!…
Once at Manchester Piccadilly I decided discretion was the better part of valour as heavy rain and electronics don’t mix – and don’t another trip to the camera shop again, so I sought refuge in a nearby hostelry where I waited for Neil, my Irish friend to catch up with me off his train from Southport. Whilst I waited the clouds gradually cleared and the temperature dropped as a result which made for an attractive if chilly afternoon. Neil arrived in time for a swift pint before we went to catch the 15.29 To Scarborough, one of the few locomotive-hauled passenger services to cross the Pennines nowadays. Typical of today – the train was late coming off Longsight depot so we left Piccadilly 15 minutes late. Even so, it was a pleasant trip East as we had the front carriage to ourselves, an unheard of experience on Trans-Pennine Express before Covid struck and still unusual today. Our time together was brief as I bade Neil farewell at Huddersfield as Dawn was working at the CRN office in the old station water tower so the pair of us drove home together.
21:00.
It’s now the end of the day. The wind’s really beginning to gust and howl outside as the next storm’s reached us, but we’re out of harms way at home indoors preparing for tomorrow’s jaunt. The two of us meet up with other Community Rail colleagues in the morning to begin the trek by rail to Southampton in order to prepare for the Community Rail Awards on Thursday. I wonder how that trip will go? Will this new storm Barra make things awkward I wonder, as there’s already reports of flooding in Hampshire. We may be in for an interesting journey…
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/
