Tag Archives: Railways

Rolling blog. Breakaway…

06 Monday Dec 2021

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

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10:00.

I’m breaking free of a damp and dismal Calder Valley today to head down to London for business and a break. There was no leisurely stroll to the station for me today as the rain was too heavy. Instead I hitched a ride with Dawn who was off to work in Huddersfield. I was just in time to catch the 09:44 to Manchester Victoria which is ‘cosy’ as Northern have only provided a 2-car Class 195/0 to work it – much to some other passengers dismay! It was already busy by the time it arrived in Halifax, I expect it to be full and standing by the time we leave Rochdale! The good news is that mask wearing is being taken seriously again with almost everyone on this train sporting one. I’ll be interested to see what the situation’s like on other services and in the capital…

It feels good to be travelling again. As much as I’ve enjoyed time at home recently, my feet were starting to itch. Sadly, it doesn’t look like I’m going to see much sunshine as the forecast is dismal across the country. Never mind, there’s always things to photograph anyway as I can always disappear underground in London.

10:15.

We’ve pulled out of Rochdale and may prediction we’d be full and standing was optimistic as for once, Rochdale was quite quiet! Even so, our loadings look to be around 80-85% which is pretty good in such awful weather. Why would you venture out in such gloomy weather unless you had to? It’s so dark security lights are on all over the place and cars headlights are beaming as low grey cloud’s filtering out most natural light.

11:30.

And breathe! I’m now on a very busy Avanti Pendolino heading for Euston via Crewe after a cold and soggy trudge across Manchester city centre which was hardly looking its best. The homeless people who congregate around Piccadilly Gardens looked even more wretched. I saw one guy in a sleeping bag who was oblivious to the fact he was getting soaked. Others huddled miserably in doorways, waiting for the rain to stop. Still, it’s nice to know that despite ordinary people’s privations our political ‘leaders’ will still be enjoying Xmas parties at everyone else’s expense as rules are only for the little people…

This is the busiest Pendolino I’ve been on since COP26. Even the unreserved coach (U) is packed which is highly unusual – especially on a Monday, but then passenger numbers really are bouncing back and the latest Covid variant appears to be having little effect other than making people wear masks. I’m sharing a table with a younger couple travelling to London who got on at Wilmslow, something I’ve rarely had to do these past coupe of years.

11:40.

The weather’s not getting any better as I head South! We’re South of Crewe now and it’s still raining cats and dogs. The amount of flooded and waterlogged fields we’ve passed on the way bears testament to how heavy and persistent the rain’s been. Crewe was interesting. A new W Mids Class 730 sat in the station on a test run, whilst East Mids Rail normal Class 153 on the Derby service had been supplanted by an ex-Scotrail 3-car Class 170! The Arriva traincare shed South of the station contained a pair of ‘new’ Vivarail D78 trains for Transport for Wales whilst the yard hosted several newly-built Stadler EMUs for Merseyrail. With ‘no room at the inn’ on Merseyside these vehicles are cycled between Kirkdale and Crewe depots in order to gather their acceptance mileage.

South of Basford Hall yard I noticed several orange-clad teams out in the surrounding fields and lanes who looked like they were preparing the ground for the early stages of construction of the new High Speed 2 railway, part of which will join the existing line at this point. It’s something I’;ll have to keep an eye on.

12:25.

Having sped through Rugby we’re less than an hour from London. I’ve suddenly realised how many locations on the West Coast line like Rugby I’ve spent Easter or Xmas day trackside for Network Rail or its alliance partners recording the work upgrading this vital artery. In one way I miss that life, although many wouldn’t envy me or any of the other men and women putting in 12 hour shifts in all weathers and living out of hotels whilst ‘normal’ people are spending time on their family festivities.

17:45.

Sorry, where was I? I got rather distracted just as soon as I landed in London. I’ve missed the buzz, hustle and bustle but I couldn’t spend long soaking it up as I had things to do. My first task was to head over to Vauxhall to collect an old friend. My Nikon D5 and a long lens has been languising in camera specialist Fixation since October as they’ve been waiting for parts to repair them both. Last week I finally got the all-clear on the D5 which I was keen to get back in time for Thursday’s Community Rail Awards. I took a tumble with both bits of kit back in September and it’s taking an age to get them repaired. Whilst I’ve been able to fall back on uising my Nikon D4 I’ve really missed the D5 as its performance is up another notch.

Thankfully, my insurance company were excellent and approved the four figure repair bill without a quibble. They were really helpful throughout the process too. All I had to pay was the £150 excess. Now I’m looking forward to putting the D5 through its paces again – although the weather here in London’s been less than helful as it’s been unremittingly awful. Still, there’s always tomorrow…

In the meantime, I met up with a friend at Victoria for a quick drink then set out to explore some old haunts to look at photographic possibilities. Here’s one such location (Denmark Hill) which has changed enormously since I first visited due to enjoying a dalliance with a young lady nearby back in 1981…

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/

Thank you!

HS2. Work continues…

28 Sunday Nov 2021

Posted by in Hs2, HS2Rebellion, Protest, Railways

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Whilst all the recent news about HS2 has been about the Eastern leg to Leeds being mothballed it would be easy to forget that the rest of the new railway is still being built – especially Phase 1 from London to Birmingham and beyond (which contains the most impressive structures on the line) – and Phase 2a to Crewe, although that’s still in the early stages of utilities diversions and site clearances as part of the preparatory works, before full construction begins next year.

It’s often difficult to get a sense of the progress being made on the project as much of the route is in the countryside and not always visible, unless you happen to stumble across it. It’s why drone footage such as this latest one by Michael Warner is so useful.

You can really see the enormous progress being made building the route of HS2 in open country, as well as some of the ecological mitigation that’s being put in place in many locations. It’s all the stuff the opponents of HS2 deliberately ignore. Of course, much of the route looks like an open scar at the moment due to the sheer amount of landscaping work that’s being done as part of the project. HS1 looked very similar, but you’d be hard put to identify any of the sites that were used in its construction. HS2 is very much a work in the early stages of progress with the earthworks, which is why it looks this way. Once those earthworks are complete and bridges and tunnels are in place and the land’s been landscaped, this scene will look very different. It’s another reason why drone footage like this is valuable, we’ll be able to look back at in future years and see the changes as the route’s developed from a few trail bores and test pits to a completed railway.

Another useful ‘go-to’ for information on ecological work is a farmer, Penny McGregor (@Penmcgregor on Twitter). Penny used to be anti HS2 and joined the protests against it but has come to realise that campaign was based on falsehoods. Now Penny (who’s become a critical and unbiased supporter of HS2) often tweets pictures showing how the ecological planting is becoming established, and indeed even thriving. This is the antithesis of HS2 antis who always ignore these inconvenient facts and try to pretend this stuff’s been a disaster. Here’s two of Penny’s most recent tweets.

I’m hoping to spend more time looking at the work on the ecological mitigation (as well as the construction sites) myself shortly, but as you can imagine, there’s a heck of a lot of ground to cover. In the meantime, why not follow Penny on Twitter as she’s much closer to the work than I am.

One thing conspicuous by it’s absence in this drone footage (or anything else) is evidence of any protesters or genuine attempts to stop HS2. That’s because the anti HS2 campaign’s dead in the water. The eviction of the last protest camp on Phase 1 at Wendover (and the lack of publicity that received) has effectively killed it off. Add in the advent of winter and the fact there was only ever a few dozen hardcore protesters pretending they could close down over 300 active worksites spread over a huge geographical area and you can see why their claims always were laughable.

Now, the only place left where there’s any regular protests are at Swynnerton in Staffordshire on the Phase 2a route to Crewe close to the ‘Bluebell’ camp as the protesters call it. It’s the only refuge the protesters have left (not that it’ll last long). Here a continually revolving door of (normally) less than a dozen people are pretending they can stop Hs2 by trying (and failing) to block a single site access gate!

You have to laugh! ‘New’ camps? There aren’t any. Not a one, ‘bluebell’ is all that’s left and that was established ages ago. “Grows ever stronger”? Oh, my aching sides! In this picture you have a rag-bag of people who’ve been evicted from elsewhere, or are Phase 1 Nimbys, like the woman on the far left of the lower picture, the hilarious self-publicist Caroline Thompson-Smith of…Calvert, In Buckinghamshire, who pitched up in Staffs for a few hours one day. Caroline is (in)famous for this nonsense about ‘Black Alder’ trees, one of a long series of things she just can’t help making up. Interestingly, several of the old faces have never put in an appearance at Swynnerton as it’s too far from London for them to get to. Mind you, I expect many of the old bangers they drive would never make it there and back anyway!

Quite how failing to block even a single gate on a single site is going to stop Hs2 is a mystery. This seems more like a desperate effort to appear relevant in order to get more gullible people to donate (hence the ‘gofundme’ link included in the post). Sadly for the protesters, the mugs money is running out and they’re increasingly reliant on mysterious large (three figure) donations from an anonymous source. Still, you know what they say about fools and their money. No amount of cash is going to bring the anti HS2 campaign back from the dead!

Now the weather’s turning wintery I don’t expect to see many more of these pointless stunts, and in the New Year this camp will be living on borrowed time as an eviction is inevitable – and unstoppable. 2022 is going to be a huge year for HS2 as construction will be in full swing with several Tunnel-Boring Machines (TBMs) working on different sites, the Colne Valley viaduct taking shape and also major works at Euston, Birmingham Curzon St and Old Oak Common. I’m looking forward to having lots to write about!

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/

Thank you!

Have sunshine, will travel…

25 Thursday Nov 2021

Posted by in Hs2, Photography, Politics, Railways, Yorkshire

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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/

Thank you!

Rolling blog. Tyneside trundle…

24 Wednesday Nov 2021

Posted by in I love my job, Photography, Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel

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05:00.

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/

Thank you!

Down memory lane: Peterborough station then and now…

21 Sunday Nov 2021

Posted by in Down memory lane, Nostalgia, Peterborough, Photography, Railways

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*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…

Rolling blog. Mixed fayre…

20 Saturday Nov 2021

Posted by in Photography, Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel, West Yorkshire

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12:00.

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/

Thank you!

13th November picture(s) of the day…

13 Saturday Nov 2021

Posted by in Derbyshire, Photography, Railways, Travel, Walking

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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/

Thank you!

12th November picture of the day…

12 Friday Nov 2021

Posted by in Glasgow, Musings, Photography, Picture of the day, Railways, Scotland, Transport

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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/

Thank you!

Back to Scotland and COP26. Day 4 (and home)…

11 Thursday Nov 2021

Posted by in COP26, Glasgow, Photography, Politics, Railways, Scotland

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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/

Thank you!

Back to Scotland and COP26. Day 2…

09 Tuesday Nov 2021

Posted by in COP26, Glasgow, Railways, Scotland

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09:00.

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…