Tag Archives: Rolling blogs

Rolling blog. Loop the loop…

26 Thursday Mar 2026

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

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10:15.

We were greeted by a bright but frosty morning here in the Calder valley and I’ve decided to make the most of the sunshine by heading out for the day. The plan in to traverse the Harrogate loop, a railway line that runs from Leeds through Harrogate and Knaresborough to York, stopping off a few times on the way.

Right now I’m on Northern’s 09:58 from Sowerby Bridge, heading for Leeds. The service is worked by a 2-car Class 195 so it’s pretty full with plenty of prams and their occupants clogging the vestibules, on their way to God knows where. Thankfully, the motion of the train seems to have sent the kids to sleep as it’s blissfully quiet! I’ve managed to find an airline seat, plug in and set up the mobile office to begin today’s rolling blog. I’ll keep you all updated on my progress as time goes by, so feel free to pop back later.

Time to go…

11:10.

My trip into Leeds was both quick and easy. I had under 20 mins to make my connection which was plenty of time to breeze through the crowds to platform 0 where an ex-Scotrail Class 170 sat burbling away. These units haven’t had a full refurbishment so I’m now esconsced in the  former 1st Class section with 2+1 seating – and only me in it!

And relax…

The service patrern on the loop has changed considerably since I was last here in November 2020. Now LNER run a 2 hourly service from Harrogate to London Kings Cross via Leeds rather than just a couple of trains a day. Northern used to turn back half their trains at Knaresborough, leaving the section from there to York with an hourly service. Now, nearly all trains run through to York. Gone are the old Class 143/153s too. The line’s now worked by 158s and 170s.

12:45.

I’ve stopped off at Harrogate to get a few pictures as the character of the line changes from here on. We’re back under the control of mechanical signalboxes abd semaphore signalling whose origins date back to the early days of the railways.

My train from Leeds departs from Harrogate.

15:30.

I’ve stopped off in Knaresborough and had just enough time to upload these pics from my travels. I’ll add captions and explain more about what I’ve been up to soon.

An LNER ‘Azuma’ leaves the carriage siding at Harrogate in readiness to form a service to London Kings Cross. It’s passing a fascinating array of modern modular colour light signals and possibly the last original LNER lattice gantry on the mainline network.
A Northern Class 170 crosses the river at Knaresborough. I’ll add more about this historic old town later.
Cattal station, East of Knaresborough is on the single track station with passing loops. It still possesses these hand-operated level crossing gates worked by the signaller based in the box behind.
Having deposited me at the attractive station at Poppleton my train heads off to York.
Poppleton is unique in that next door is the UKs only surviving plant nursery served by a narrow-gauge railway which is run by volunteers. Here’s a link to their website. Here’s some of the vehicles.
Back at Knaresborough, the old station buildings have been converted for several uses, including the wonderful Track and Sleeper pub.
Here’s the pubs cosy second room

17:10.

I’m about to close the loop by heading back from York via the direct line to Leeds, one that’s recently been modernised and electrified as part of the Trans-Pennine route upgrade. To be honest, it’s a section I’ve neglected visiting for a few years and something I need to put right. As much as I had planned, things have gone slightly awry due to a few commissions coming in via email which I’ve prioritised. On the bright side, I’ve now bookings until November!

York station and a classic view of its curved roof.

18:10.

I’m on the last leg from Leeds to Halifax aboard a peak-hour train. It may be going as far as Blackpool North but right now its primary function is to take Leeds commuters home.

The previous part of my trip ftom York was interesting as I’ve not used it for a while. The Trans-Pennine Route Upgrade (TRU) has really kicked in with electrification and associated works. I’ve realised I need to spend a day exploring just to document the changes.

I couldn’t help grimacing when we passed through Church Fenton. This was where HS2 phase 2 was meant to end, providing a by-pass of Leeds and Doncaster on the (even then) congested East Coast Main Line (ECML). Then – as usual – politicians with their penny-pinching and ever changing minds got in the way to waste billions without providing any workable alternatives. Now they’re all gone but the problems they left remain.

21:30.

I’m back at home catching up with bits and downloading more pictures. I’ll be working from home all day so I’ll flesh this blog out with more pictures and links over the weekend.

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Cheers,

Paul

Rolling blog. Tonight’s the night…

19 Thursday Mar 2026

Posted by in Community rail, Community Rail Network, Derbyshire, Photography, Railways, Rolling blogs

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12:00.

Myself and the rest of the Community Rail Network team and our hosts from East Midlands Railway are currently working like Trojans, getting the stage (and bar, and lounge, and everything else) set for tonight’s annual Community Rail Awards. We’ve a record attendance this year – over 600 people, so this is the biggest venue we’ve used in the 21 years of the event. We change location every year, so each time we’re faced with different logistical and technical challenges which makes for an ‘interesting’ time! I’m not going to give any spoilers other than to say there’s going to be a fantastic event some very worthy winners. Here’s the brochure.

I’ll update this blog off and on during the day…

You’ll be able to see more of what’s going on by following Community Rail Network here on Facebook, Bluesky, Twitter (aka X) and their own website.

15:30.

Bliss! I’ve 5 mins to relax back at the hotel after popping down to the station for a few pics of the rail awards bunting – and a couple of EMR’s new Class 810 ‘Aurora’ trains.

I’ve got to be back at the Arena at 16:00 for the staff briefing and final checks before the guests start arriving at 17:00. I’ve already bumped into a few old friends at the station so I’m expecting another busy night.

18:30.

Drinks reception over, we’re in the main hall having food before the main event.

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Cheers,

Paul

Rolling blog. Destination Derby…

18 Wednesday Mar 2026

Posted by in Community rail, Community Rail Network, Derbyshire, Photography, Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel

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14:00.

The pair of us are off to Derby to prepare for tonight’s social event before tomorrow’s Community Rail awards. Weatherwise, it’s a fantastic day to be travelling. As we had plenty of time we haven’t had to rush or get up at sparrow-fart to get there, which has been nice. Instead, we’ve had a leisurely morning packing before heading off to the station.

Due to congestion in the Calder valley our intended train from Halifax was late. Instead, we caught a Halifax to Hull service that was running just ahead of ours. The 3car Class 158 that was working it was almost empty so we had a relaxing journey to Leeds where we’d arranged to meet up with a couple of CRN colleagues to catch Cross-Country’s 13:15 to Derby. I’d noted that this was only a 4-car train and likely to be rammed, so prepared a plan B. Sure enough, it was standing room only, so whilst our colleagues braved it Dawn and I followed behind on Northern’s 13:38 to Sheffield. As this started from Leeds we’d no trouble getting a table bay, allowing me to set up the mobile office and for Dee to answer emails. The two of us are in no rush as neither of us are officially on duty tonight and the social event (sponsored by East Midlands Railway) isn’t until 17:00.

So, next stop Sheffield, where we’ll pick up an EMR service onwards to Derby…

15:00.

It’s one of those days! We arrived at Sheffield to meet up with another of the gang only to find that all London bound EMR services were cancelled due to signal failure. Fortunatly, there was a 14:56 Cross-Country to Plymouth that we could catch. Even though it’s 5-car (formed of an ex Avanti unit) it’s packed to the gunwhales.

18:00.

We’re kicking off celebrations with an event in the gorgeous old Derby central library.

Local community rail groups had stalls advertising their routes.
EMR Managing Director Will Rogers welcomed everyone to the event.
Students from Graves Youth theatre performed their play ‘I am Stephenson’

23:00.

Right, that’s the social side over with. Now it’s time for an early night before the big day tomorrow.

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Cheers,

Paul

Rolling blog. Getting away from it all…

11 Wednesday Mar 2026

Posted by in Manchester, Photography, Politics, Railways, Rolling blogs

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10:17

Well, sort of. I’m still in the UK (sadly). But I’m escaping the confines of the Calder valley to do some exploring whilst the weather’s good and we have sunshine – even if the temperatures dropping due to a cold wind with snow threatened for later in the week.

And what a week it’s been. Talk about a mad, mad world! Trump’s busy trashing the world’s economy at the same time he’s trashing Iran, and the longer this goes on the more and more obvious it is that he has no plan. Iran lashing out in response is causing even more issues. Meanwhile, I’ve had bad news at home (which I won’t go into in this blog) which makes me conscious of the future and my own mortality. So, I need a break.

Right now I’m on a Northern service from Sowerby Bridge towards Manchester. I’ve a vague plan in mind, but that depends on the weather when I get across the Pennines. Let’s see what happens…

Leaving, but not on a jet plane…

11:45.

My journey into Manchester flew by. The train was crowded but that’s what happens when you only run a 2-car that time of day. Manchester city centre was equally busy with shoppers and the odd shoplifter getting nicked by police! There’s always plenty of life to observe in the city..

Having made my way to Piccadilly I’m now sat on an old friend to head out to New Mills Central.

The plan is to walk to a photographic location I’ve not visited for 26 years. I kept meaning to go back but never made it. Today’s the day, and a day where I expect to get a lot of steps in…

16:00.

I’m back as I’m taking a break, having wandered for miles. On arrival at New Mills I wandered the backroads to get to a bridge that overlooks New Mills South Junction. Here’s how it looked the last time I was here in May 2000.

158744 heads for Manchester past New Mills South Junction signalbox on the 26th May 2000.

Here’s how it looks now. Not much has changed.

A pair of Trans-Pennine Express Class 185s thunder through the junction on their way to Sheffield.
This trans-pennine route sees a lot of freight traffic due to the Peak District quarries and cement works.
The old Midland Railway signalbox has had a bit of a makeover in recent years. Now the signallers have the benefit of a outside loo at working level!

Having got the shots that I wanted I walked back into New Mills and caught the train to Edale, where I am now, enjoying a pint, a warm and the wifi in the Ramblers Inn by the station. It’s a cracking pub to stay the night in, or just pop in for a meal or a pint. Here’s a few shots from when I first arrived.

Another TPE service scurries through the Hope valley, this time bound for Cleethorpes.
An empty stone train from Bletchley (near London) makes its way back to the Peak District quarries for another load.
There’s worse views to gaze upon whilst you’re waiting to photograph trains. Here’s Lose Hill, part of the ridge that I love walking as the views are sublime.

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Cheers,

Paul

Rolling blog. More Piccadilly pictures…

24 Tuesday Feb 2026

Posted by in Manchester, Photography, Rail Investment, Railways, Rolling blogs

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10:45.

The past few days have been quiet here in the Calder valley, although Saturday did see us spending time over in Mytholmroyd, visiting old friends to help them out with a little project for the future. Beyond that we’ve been very much home-based. The weather’s beginning to turn drier, swapping with high winds that have turned our bird feeders into something of a challenge for our feathered friends. It’s akin to trying to land a plane on an aircraft carrier in high seas! Now we’re into a new week where I’ve decided to make the most of the brightening skies to return to Manchester and check out how the approaches to Piccadilly look from a photographic perspective now that the station’s reopened after the engineering blockade.

Right now I’m on a Northern service from Sowerby Bridge to head across the Pennines. It’s a quiet train, so there’s plenty of available table bays in which to set up the mobile office to type this.

I’ll be blogging (intermittently) throughout the day, so feel free to pop back and have a look at what I get up to (and where)…

Here we go…

13:30.

Phew! Time for a break and chance to upload a few images. Piccadilly station’s back to its normal buzzy self with both concourse and trainshed full of activity. What isn’t easy to see is the fruit of the past 9 days labours as the track that’s been renewed is some way away from the station itself. Hoping to get a better look I walked the backstreets to Manchester’s least used railway station – Ardwick. Just two trains a day call here, with a 2024/25 footfall of a mere 262 souls. The state of the entrance probably helps explain that.

The walk through some of the city’s less salubrious areas is fascinating from a photographic and social perspective, but I certainly wouldn’t want to be wandering around there after dark! When you catch a train from Piccadilly you don’t appreciate how much life there is in the arches below you. Despite the outward signs of decrepitude and decay there’s a myriad of small businesses. Many involve catering. Others supply hairdressing products or repair e-bikes used by Deliveroo drivers. Some are really rather posh behind the anonymous shutters. Here’s a few pictures.

Welcome to Ardwick station!
The view from Ardwick. Fresh ballast (stone) and cleaner rails give away which tracks have been renewed during the blockade – as do the clean speed restriction signs!
Shopping by numbers. Each of these arches are a small business – or available to be one.
Looking back to Piccadilly along Temperance St. The bridge in the foreground carried tracks into the former Mayfield station, latterly used for mail trains until it closed completely in 1986.
A train calls at platform 14 at Piccadilly whilst a mural of Ian Curtis from the band ‘Joy Division’ on the side of the Star and Garter looks on.

18:20.

Due to the spring-like conditions I decided to hang around in the city centre in order to enjoy the weather, explore and get some  architectural shots (which I’ll upload later). This also gave me time to pop into my favourite store in Chinatown to pick up some more goodies. This time it was different types of rice…

Now I’m heading back across the Pennines, which hasn’t been easy due to very busy (and short-formed) trains. I made it as far as Rochdale where I thought numbers would tail off. Bad move, as there were crowds of young men (well provisioned with bottles and cans) heading East on their way to some sporting event. Ah,well. At least I’ve managed to find a seat…

21:15.

Home!

It turned out that the sporting event was in Halifax, at the Shea stadium. I’ve no idea what as I’m not tribal and don’t follow these things. Half a dozen police officers kept an eye on the crowds flooding off the station, whilst more hung around pubs in town where supporters congregate. I was amused to see dozens of teenage lads – all dressed the same – in trainers, black jogging pants, black hoodies and baseball caps. So much for individuality it seems!

Finally, after 15 miles and 33,000 steps I made it home. Now it’s time to curl up with Dawn, enjoy a film and relax. There’s now a lot of new pictures to edit tomorrow. Here’s a couple of samples…

The glazed brickwork of the Midland hotel really caught the sun this afternoon…
A slightly different perspective on Metrolink trams.

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Cheers,

Paul

Rolling blog. Oh, go on then…

20 Friday Feb 2026

Posted by in Manchester, Photography, Rolling blogs, Travel

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12:00.

I hadn’t intended to be on a train to Manchester right now. My day had been set as I was expecting to be at home waiting for a plumber to check out our boiler. Only he came early. Dawn’s out for the day as it’s her mum’s birthday, so I was sat twiddling my thumbs after completing my chores, and thought ‘bugger it, i’ll nip out for a few hours’.

As usual, the weather’s dank and dismal but that doesn’t matter in a city, where rainy reflections and opportunties abound.

Let’s see what I get up to…

13:00.

For once, it wasn’t actually raining in Manchester when I arrived. This gave me time to amble over to Piccadilly whilst observing life (and photographing trams) en-route without getting soaked.

Piccadilly was even more deserted than on my last visit. Even the engineers trains had decamped. All that lingered inside the trainshed was the smell of fresh paint.

Echo, echo, echo…

15:30.

Talk about changeable weather! I made my way from Piccadilly to Oxford Rd by train, just to see what the loadings were like – and to avoid a soaking as the heavens had opened. I spent the next hour ducking between downpours as I tried to photograph a series of freight and passenger trains trying to find paths through this constricted corridor (pix soon).

Despite the appearence of the odd flash of blue sky I’ve decided to abandon the city before rush-hour. Partly because I can see the colour of the skies to the East (doom-laden) and partly because I hope to stop off en-route…

17:00.

As suspected, the weather changed my plans. I was intending to change trains at Rochdale in order to pop into the delightful ‘Old Post Office’ micro pub in Castleton. Then the heavens opened – again!

I’ll pass, thanks – even though it’s my favourite tyoe of old train…

Abandoning such a visit I caught the next train East across the Pennines where the weather was considerably more clement, allowing me to stop off in Todmorden for a  swift pint at the Alehouse (blogs passim).

Now I’m heading to Halifax on a hot and steamy Northern service to Leeds which is doing a passable impression of a Chinese laundry thanks to the number of damp passengers.

On the bright side. I’ll be back in Halifax in time to join friends in our local pub for the Friday quiz – and free pork pie…

21:55.

I’m home after a day I didn’t expect. The wind and rain’s beating on the cottage windows, not that it matters for me as I’m warm and dry and able to present these pics…

A bus rather than a train all the way From Manchester to Chesterfield is less than desirable, especially if you have to stand outside in the p*ssing rain.
A ‘top and tailed’ Freightliner service threads its way through the Castlefield corridor towards Trafford Park with 66589 on the rear as insurance.

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Cheers,

Paul

Rolling (ish)blog. Every cloud has a silver lining…

17 Tuesday Feb 2026

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

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It’s nealy 14:00 and I’m gradually making my way back from an unexpected night in Southport, which turned out to be rather enjoyable. I didn’t get to meet up with the friends I’d expected to – but after getting marooneed I called in for a beer at a backstreet pub by the light show. I’ve not been in the Masons Arns for years and it was the last place I expected to see anyone. But by pure chance I stood at the bar next to a chap I’ve not seen for what must be 30 and more years! Alan (or ‘Bod’ as he was nicknamed in those days) was instantly recogniseable and was completely taken aback by seeing me. I ended up staying for a couple as we caught ip after so many years.

This morning I got to meet one of my neices (who’s growing up fast) as my sister was looking after her today. So my stay turned out to be very sociable.

Now I’m on my way back to Nanchester after a bruef stop in Burscough to make the most of the weather. Here’s some pictures.

One of the new Stadler built Class 777s bought by Merseyrail. These units are proving to be troublesome for a whole host of reasons.
A pair of the oldest diesel units left on the national network, the Class 150, make their way from Southport across the West Lancashire plain at Burscough
It’s a far cry from their Thameslink days! A class 319 converted to a bi-mode (diesel and electric) crosses the Leeds and Liverpool canal at Burscough.
Is there something about the residents of Burscough that we’re not being told?

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Cheers,

Paul

Rolling blog. The light fantastic?…

16 Monday Feb 2026

Posted by in Liverpool, Manchester, Photography, Railways, Rolling blogs, Southport, Travel

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10:25.

The beginning of another week sees me combine business with pleasure for a varied day that promises to be fun – despite the poor weather. Yep, we’re back to heavy grey clouds, rain and possibly snow here in the Calder valley, so I’m having a day out.

Right now I’m on Northern’s 10:00 from Sowerby Bridge, heading for Manchester. Piccadilly, the city’s main railway station is closed for the next 9 days to allow the old trackwork on the approach to the station to be replaced. Only the two through platforms remain open to allow for freight to run to Trafford Park container terminal, and a handful of passenger services to Blackpool North and Liverpool Lime St with a shuttle service working to Oxford Rd to allow connections to elsewhere. Want to go South? Then you’ll be bussed to Stockport where all other trains are terminating.

After checking out how things are going my plan’s to head over to Liverpool, then to Southport, where something rather special is happening. This evening’s the last performance of ‘Lightport’. Billed as “free immersive light and sound experience produced by leading international artists Lucid Creates, that will turn Lord Street into a walk-through rainbow of colour and creativity”. Apparently it will light up a 400m stretch of the famous street, including the Monument, so I though it would be worth checking out.

Watch this space…

12:30.

My arrival in Manchester coincided with what Manchester’s famous for. Rain. Lots of it, which made walking from Victoria to Piccadilly a very soggy experience. Have you ever seen the film ‘Bladerunner’, where it’s always raining? That’s how Manchester felt. Sadly, there wasn’t much to see at Piccadilly. Whilst the concourse is open, the normally bustling trainshed was devoid of activity. A solitary class 66 sat burbling away, whilst a couple of Kirow rail-mounted cranes occupied another platform, having deposited their load of new pointwork.

At present much of the engineering work is taking place out of camera shot so I didn’t hang around and caught a train to Oxford Rd instead, which was rather more interesting (and photogenic). As well as passenger services there was a continuous stream of container trains, all of which were ‘top and tailed’ with a locomotive at each end as insurance in case of a failure (which would really bugger things up).

I’m tempted to come back to get pictures when the weather’s better. As it was, I departed the city under apocalyptic skies to head to Liverpool and my next port of call – which wasn’t a bad choice as the weather’s drier. We’ve even been teased by a few snatches of blue skies!

My 6-car train to Liverpool isn’t too busy. I’ve managed to set up the mobile office in a table bay and download some of the Manchester pictures which I’ll add shortly. Right now, it’s time to enjoy the journey…

22:30.

Sorry for the gap but today’s turned into a very different one to the one I’d expected – for a whole host of reasons. Right now I’m updating this blog from my sister’s sofa in Southport – where I’ll be staying the night due to Northern cancelling enough trains towards Manchester that I haven’t got a hope in hell of getting home. Not a good look when you consider today was the last night of the light show.

I’ve so much to blog about but the rest is going to have to wait until tomorrow when I have more time. Right now I’ll leave you with this…

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Cheers,

Paul

Rolling blog. ‘Turned out nice again’…

10 Tuesday Feb 2026

Posted by in Derbyshire, Photography, Rail Investment, Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel

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08:10.

George Formby’s catchphrase was running through my head as I made my soggy way to Halifax station. The Pennines are obscured by mist and rain yet again today –  and the forecast is no better in Derby, my final destination.

It’s grim up North – and everywhere else apparently…

Right now I’m on a packed and humid Northern service to Leeds which is full of damp humanity heading to work. We’re running several minutes late but it shoukdn’t affect my connection. I’ll be transferring to Northern’s new ‘Yorkshire flyer’ service which is a fast service to Sheffield with just one stop at Wakefield Westgate. It’ll make a useful alternative to Cross-Country trains on the same route as they’re normally packed.

Hopefully, there’ll be enough room on that train to set up the mobile office. Right now I’m jammed in an airline seat with my camera bag balanced on my lap. We’re currently reversing at Bradford Interchange and there’s not a single seat left free in my coach. This train’s going to be extra ‘cosy’ by the time we reach Leeds!

08:55.

My 10 minute late arrival at Leeds proved to be no great disaster as my connection was leaving from the opposite end of the platform I arrived in on – 12. I’m now aboard the ‘Yorkshire Flyer’, a grand name of an ex-Scotrail 2-car class 158, although I suppose its top speed of 90mph does count as ‘flying’ by Northern standards! It’s reasonably busy too – between 50-60% capacity at a guess. That’s allowed me to grab a table bay (which I’m sharing) to set up the mobile office and type-swipe. The only thing I miss compared to Cross-Country is an at seat trolley service. A coffee would have gone down very well right now as I admire the dreary skies outside. Not that you can admire very far, visibility’s limited to about 700m!

12:07.

Oh, hello!

Whilst the internal layout of the Voyagers hasn’t changed the seats have. There’s more legroom because of it.

19:10

Well, that was an interesting day! Not only did we get to explore the first of Cross-Country’s refurbished Voyagers (a project costing £70m), we also got to see a few poor old Class 455 cars hauled off for scrap, walk through the production line of the new Class 345 trains for the Elizabeth line – and have a ride on a 5-car Class 701 on the test track.

The first of the new Elizabeth line Class 345 sets on the production line.

Of course, part of the fun was talking to old friends and colleagues from the industry and his Majesties railway press corps! I’ll go into greater detail about the refurbishment tomorrow and hope to add a few more pictures when I get home later. Right now I’m heading back to Leeds on a late running ‘Yorkshire Flyer’ from Sheffield after having stopped for a quick pint in Derby with an old friend, Robert Pritchard, Editor of Today’s Railways UK.

One of the cabs of 37290 is preserved outside the Alexandra pub. It’s recieved a repaint and had its lights recomissioned.

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Cheers,

Paul

Rolling blog. Avanti!

06 Friday Feb 2026

Posted by in Avanti West Coast, London, Photography, Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel

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10:30.

Not quite the day I had planned…

Right now I’m departing a wet and dreary Calder Valley for London. I’m later thn expected for a number of reasons.

Last night my laptop threw a strop. The battery (despite being new last year) decided that it wasn’t playing anymore and gave up the ghost, leaving the machine without power as it refused to run off the mains charger without it. Bugger!

Playing around with the benighted thing ate into the time I’d planned to get ready for going away, hence today’s delay.

I’m travelling sans laptop as a new battery won’t arrive until tomorrow, leaving me to blog/run the mobile office off my smartphone – which will restrict the number of pictures I can add.

To add to the fun and games there’s overhead line problems on the London end of the West Coast Main Line (WCML) but that shouldn’t affect services from Manchester..

So, as I’m restricted in what I can do I might as well sit back, relax and enjoy the journey. Dawn was kind enough to drive me to Sowerby Bridge station so I avoided a soaking and Avanti have provided me with 1st Class travel to/from London to attend this afternoons photo competition awards. 

Bye bye Sowerby Bridge…

Let’s see how things go…

11:45.

London bound!

My trip across the Pennines was a grey and grim as ever, making me realise just how lucky I was to get out in the sunshine the other day. The stroll between Victoria abd Piccadilly in freezing temperatures was only enlivened by watching a pair of Manchester’s finest nicking and handcuffing two teenage lads!

Now I’m relaxing in coach J of an 11 car Pendolino heading for the capital. There’s only a handful of us in the coach so I have a table bay of to myself.

Drinks? Oh, go on then…

The food offering was good too. Bangers and mash – just what you need on a miserable winters day like this.

Travelling 1st Class on a Pendolino brings back memories of a different life and a different era.

20 years and more ago I was one of a small pool of freelance photographers the then Virgin Trains (who introduced the Pendolinos) employed on a regular basis. Being London-based I was on hand for some of their most prestigious events involving Sir Richard Branson and many other famous people from the worlds of film, sport and politics. I ended up covering so many jobs and locations that I was given my own 1st Class pass. Of course, in those days Virgin ran both the West Coast and Cross-Country franchises, so I could travel the length and breadth of the Country, from Aberdeen to Penzance!

12:50.

We’ve left Nuneaton, our final stop before London. Passing through the Trent Valley was interesting. The amount of flooded fields and overflowing rivers is a testament to just how much rain we’re having right now. How farmers are going to get crops in this ground is beyond me – unless they’re going to start growing rice.

This line contains so many memories and stories for me, but then I’ve been traversing it for over half a century. Nuneaton reminded me of the time we came here by train for the annual rail press corps Xmas dinner. Arriving by train we were ferried by coach to the test track near Melton Mowbray. As we changed, a screw leapt out of my glasses, which lost an arm as a consequence. We couldn’t find the screw but thankfully someone had a paperclip, which I used to jury-rig a repair!

13:05.

We’re now South of Rugby, a town I have so many memories and stories of. Not least of which is spending much of Xmas day 2005 in full orange PPE trackside, watching the rebuilding of the railway go seriously pear-shaped.

The further South we get the worse the weather seems. We’re in gog and low cloud with rain beating against the side of the train and streaming across the windows.

13:25.

The curse of the WCML strikes again! We’ve just staggered through Milton Keynes on the slow lines. Our Train Manager came on to the PA to let us know this is due to a broken-down train in the Leighton Buzzard area ahead of us. We’re now running 10 down with more delays expected. Good job I don’t have to be at the National Portrait Gallery before 16:00 then! On the positive side – the weather’s brightening up…

14:05.

After lots of stops and starts and zig-zagging between the fast and slow lines we’ve passed Watford Junction, a place I also spent many bank holidays working trackside a decade after Rugby. Now we’re on the last leg into Euston…

14:43.

Here we are again (finally)…

22:15.

Is that the time? Despite the weather I had a lovely time re-acquanting myself with the centre of London as I walked from Euston, down the Tottenham Court Rd to Trafalgar and the National Portrait gallery. Today’s event has been a great celebration of photography – and diversity. I’ll add some links tomorrow.

Right now I’m tucked up in my single bed in an intŕesting ‘hotel’ in Ealing. I’ll explain more tomorrow.