I’m up showered and in dire need of coffee (no such luxuries in an ‘Easyhotel’ room) here in Reading, ready to head off to London to take part in the farewell tour of the Class 315 trains which have plied their trade in and out of London Liverpool St station since 1981. It makes me feel old. I moved to London in 1986 when these trains were just 5 years old. I used to watch them pass from the balcony outside our flat. Now they’re nearly all gone. Just last few sets remain and two of those will be working the tour to Shenfield today.
Right, time to go…
07:55.
I’m on my way! It’s another rail strike day so Reading station was deathly quiet this morning. On the bright side, Costa coffee was open so I’ve been able to get my caffeine fix.
The Elizabeth line isn’t affected by the strikes, so they’re running a normal service. Here’s my train.
What’s also running normally is revenue protection! Two officers are on my train and immediatelycaught two arrogant young men who thought buying tickets was for other people. An expensive mistake!
08:10.
My trip along the Great Western main line’s been an interesting one. So much has changed since I left London. And it’s still changing. I’ve just passed Old Oak Common and the site of the new HS2 station. I was here on a press trip the other day but it looks completely different when you pass it on a train as you get to see the start of work on the new main line station.
10:30.
Despite the strike a lot of people have turned up for today’s commemorative trips. Here’s the train before the first run.
21:45.
I’d intended to blog about the trip today but in the end I was just too busy taking pictures, so I’ll do a separate report on what turned out to be a very good day out. I don’t often do railtours nowadays, but I found this one really interesting because of the demographic it appealed to. Oh, and full credit to all those involved in making it happen. MTR, the Branch Line Society and Network Rail especially – not to mention many others. For now, I’ll leave you with a picture of the team at the end of the trips. My special thanks go to an old friend (Jon Bradley, bottom right) who was instrumental in making the event happen.
Right now I’m relaxing in my hotel in Reading after an ‘interesting’ journey on the ‘Lizzie Line’ thanks to an earlier incident outside Paddington on a day when (because of the strikes) plan B’s were hard to come by. Tomorrow I head back up North, so expect a more relaxed rolling blog as I’m under no pressure.
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/
I’m off to Reading on a fine and sunny autumn morning, which is a welcome change from all the wet weather we’ve been having recently. It certainly made walking to Halifax station far more pleasant! Despite being awake since the early hours (I often am when setting off on a trip) I left slightly later than planned so as not to disturb ‘the missus’ who’s not been sleeping too well recently.
The view across the Clader Valley as I slogged up the hill to Halifax this morning.
So, I’m now on a heroically late 07:52 Blackpool – York service. A signal fault en-route meant this 3-car Class 195 didn’t depart until 08:35, 42 minutes late! Still, it’s warm and not too crowded, so I’ve bagged a table to set up the mobile office and begin blogging. Let’s see how the rest of the journey goes…
‘Delay repay’ anyone?
09:30.
And relax! I’m now on an LNER ‘Azuma’ service to Kings Cross. This 10-car train originated in Bradford and it’s certainly busy. Most of the remaining empty seats are reserved for later in the journey so I expect it to be packed by the time it arrives in London. Still, I’ve blagged a table as far as Grantham so I can have a breakfast roll (or ‘teacake’ if you’re from Yorkshire, ‘barmcake’ if from Lancashire) and enjoy watching the world flash by the window whilst I do.
09:50.
We’re pulling out of Doncaster where dozens of people crammed into my coach, so I guess my guess this train will be full by London’s come true earlier than expected. Three bays are reserved from Grantham, which will come as a surprise to the people who’ve occupied the seats and not noticed! If the large group who’ve made the reservations turn up this could be fun! I’ll be gone by then as I’m moving to the other unit as soon as we arrive!
10:30.
My Grantham set-swop proved to be a wise choice. There was a big party of elderly people waiting to join us when we pulled in. Whilst it’s not unusual for individual reservations to be unused, such a big grouping is normally taken up. I can only imagine the chaos in the car when they descended on their reserved seats! I was long gone, having skipped into the rear set as soon as we arrived. There were far less reservations here and I managed to secure a table seat opposite a young lady busily bashing keys on her laptop. I’s say the rear set’s about 70% full, which makes for decent loadings when the front set’s jammed. And we haven’t stopped at Stevenage yet – where I’m going to bail out again, this time to catch a Thameslink service down to Farringdon. The cross-platform interchange here saves mucking around walking through two mainline stations and sets of ticket barriers at Kings Cross and St Pancras.
I’ve not traversed the ECML in daylight for a while, so I was surprised to see how many fields are flooded – a testament to all the heavy rain we’ve had in the North. Combined with the blue skies we’ve got today it would have made ideal conditions for lineside photography and reflection shots. Ho hum!
15:00.
Sorry for the gap but I’ve been busy. I’m now in the leafy Thames Valley (yep, even this time of year the trees are hanging on to their fiage). Getting here was fun. My Thameslink connection worked well so I was at Farringdon in no time. Then it was a fast walk down steps and escalators to get to the “Lizzie line” and a train Westwards to Paddington. Considering Crossrail has only been open a few months the passenger loadings are excellent.
Whilst I could’ve got a train straight through idecided to stop off at Paddington for a while – just for old times sake as I rarely visit nowadays. When I lived in London it was an old haunt as it was the gateway to the Thames valley, where we often went cycling, or further trips to the SouthWest.
Thames valley service have changed out of all recognition now. Not only is the route electrified but the GWR services are interspersed with Elizabeth line services that (as the old name implied) cross London, bypassing Paddington.
21:45.
What a fascinating but rather surreal day. Most of it was spent exploring Thames valley rail services which made me appreciate just how much has changed. Nearly all of it’s been for the better, although I mourn the old overall roof at Maidenhead that used to cover the branch line to Marlow. So few of these Great Western features have survived. I ventured West of Reading to catch an electric train to Newbury, which was a first for me. It’s an instructive lesson in how previous Government Ministers and the Dept of Transport have made penny-pinching decisions that make absolutely no sense in the long-term. But long-term isn’t a concept in many politician’s minds. On arrival at Newbury I hung around as the next train back to Reading was 30 mins away. In the meantime passengers from London to Bedwyn (the limit of GWR regional services) had to change to a DMU for the rest of the journey, which takes all of 19 minutes. Madness.
A waste of resources, much?
Now I’m relaxing in my hotel in Reading, editing pictures from today and (half) watching some memory lane TV. Flicking through the channels I discovered the Kenny Everrett video show – a programme I loved which has taken me straight back to my youth which has helped make this trip very much the old football analogy of ‘ a game of two halves’.
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/
Normally, my rolling blogs would be winding down at this time of day, but this one’s just begun. The reason for that is that my diary has too many back-to-back events in it this week, not helped by timings changing. This evening I had an appointment near Huddersfield which I didn’t want to miss. That was a bit of a bugger as I need to be in London early tomorrow morning for a press event I can’t disclose right now. I’d originally arranged to stay with an old friend in the metropolis, but the times of the press event were moved forward. This meant I wouldn’t have arrived at his gaffe until after midnight, only to leave before 6am! So, having perused various railway timetables, looked at the weather (wet) and considered various options I’m now taking the opportunity to get a few night shots as I make my way South via York.
My first train was a TPE service from Huddersfield, worked by a Class 802. It wasn’t busy. Passengers consisted of students, a few late-finish workers and the odd shoppers who’d been hitting Manchester for a spot of Xmas retail therapy. Our trip to Leeds was easy. I had time to set up the laptop at a spare table and catch up on some work before we arrived. That’s when it got interesting. Our Geordie Conductor came on the PA to announce we’d be taking longer than usual to get to York as we’d be taking ‘the long way’ round via Castleton and Milford Junction – a very unusual route for TPE services and one I’ve not traversed for years. What a shame it was in the dark!
802205 during its layover at Leeds. The fact what should be the front is displaying tail-lights suggests all is not normal.
23:55.
Here I am at York, taking time to relax, charge up my various devices in one of the super-duper waiting shelters whilst watching the trains go by and plan a few photos. I’ve been coming to York station since I was a boy – which feels like a bloody long time ago right now! With the town hosting the National Railway Museum I’ve been here lots of time for various work events too – something I’d never have dreamt of as a kid. Funny how life turns out, isn’t it?
Whilst I’ve been observing the place I noticed these new switch panels laying in the space where the old through tracks used to pass. On closer inspection I noticed something that’s very unusual for the UK but typical in Europe. Can you spot what it is?
08:00.
Sorry for the gap. I fell asleep on the train to London. Here’s my steed at York before we departed. – 91105.
We arrived in London at 07:00. After a brisk walk on a cold morning with clear skies I swapped lines to catch this.
My original plan to work at home today has been altered by a change in the weather. The forecast for the next few days is lousy but today (so far) has bucked the trend – and the forecast – so I’m heading over to Manchester for a couple of hours in the hope of checking on progress on Trans-Pennine electrification and return clothes I bought from Uniqlo the other day. I’m flattered to say that ‘medium’ size is just too big!
Right now I’m on the train from Sowerby Bridge to Manchester Victoria. It’s a Chester bound service operated by a pair of 2-car Class 195s which is pretty busy for the time of day although I had no problem bagging a table seat to set up the mobile office. This is a lovely time of year to be traversing the Calder valley as the colours in the remaining leaves on the trees are glorious and the low winter light shows them at their most intense. I only hope the sunshine I’m seeing now stays with me. Let’s see. Expect some pictures soon…
11:15.
Neither my luck nor the weather’s held, so it’s time for a different mode of transport to Shank’s pony…
13:50.
That was an interestinginterlude! I caught a couple of trams out to Ashton-Under-Lyme which turned out to be a good idea as the rain persisted until a few minutes after I arrived. The plan was to have a look at progress electrifying the line from Manchester Victoria to Stalybridge. This should have been completed years ago but it was one of the schemes delayed by political dithering. Now it’s well underway. Now, most of the masts and stanchions are in place.
802206 speeds through Ashton-under-Lyme en-route from Liverpool Lime St to Newcastle whilst the masts march towards Stalybridge.
16:00.
I chose to walk between Ashton and Stalybridge in order to check out the views from various bridges on the way. It was an interesting trip as it took me down all sorts of streets I’d never explore otherwise. The area’s a maze of brick-built, late Victorian terrace houses with patches of much wealthier properties. But not all’s well. In the space of a couple of hundred meters I passed three closed pubs. One was derelict, one was ‘closed until further notice’ and the other was up for sale.
I find derelict pubs terribly sad buildings as I can imagine all the happy times people must have had there in the past. They were community centres, but now they’re dying.
I arrived at ‘Stalyvegas’ station just as the rain did, so ended up with a soaking, but I dried out on the train back into central Manchester, where I am now, indulging in my least favourite activity. Shopping!
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/
We’ve another misty morning here in West Yorkshire, where little cotton wool clouds cling to the sides of the valley. Not that t matters to me as I’m escaping for the day. Right now, I’m preparing to head down to Sowerby Bridge to catch a train across the Pennines. Let’s see how it goes…
08:18.
Another fun day on the railways. I walked down to Sowerby Bridge in plenty of time to catch the 08:23 to Chester. The service is having a torrid time. The station PIS shows the 07:23 was cancelled and the 09:23 is “delayed”. In contrast, the 08:23 turned up 7 minutes early and is now sat waiting time. Looking on Real Time Trains I see it left Leeds 6 minutes late and looks to have been diverted to run non-stop via Brighouse.
195119 approaches Sowerby Bridge on the Chester service, passing a Leeds bound set.
09:55
After arriving at Victoria I ambled theough central Manchester to Piccadilly. As I passed the gardens I heard a car making an awful racket. Then I saw a young guy driving (as fast as he could) a red hatchback with a smashed and flat front tyre and all the passenger side of the vehicle caved in. A few minutes later I passed this scene…
13:12.
We’ve unveiled the plaque to Paul Abell at Ashburys station in the area of Manchester Paul grew up in. Present were his Widow, Shirley, his sons Brian and Malcom and his daughter Anne. I’ll add more pictures later.
Paul composed this local history board which has been on the station since 2019.The Abell family with Paul’s plaque. (L-R) Anne, Shirley (Paul’s widow) Brian and Malcolm. The plaque (chosen by the family) depicts one of the engines that used to operate station pilot duties at Manchester Piccadilly and original Manchester tram No 756, which was restored in 1985 and now resides on the Heaton Park tramway.
15:30.
Following the event, we headed off to Guide Bridge station for coffee and sandwiches kindly supplied by TfGM and hosted by Northern in the station offices. On leaving I headed off into the city as an old Network Rail friend was up from London for the day, liaising with stakeholders on forthcoming blockades, so I arranged to catch up with him for an hour before he headed back to London.
Earlier, I had managed to make the most of the sunshine by bimbling along to get a few shots along the notorious railway bottleneck of the Oxford St corridor. Here’s one of them.
Today’s the day of the awards in Manchester so Dawn and I have been up early to head off to the event to help in the preparation, not that there should be too much to do as it’s always a well-organised event with a good team behind it. Even so, we’ll be on-hand if needed and to go through the rehearsal later in the day. There’ll be a fair bit of time-killing too, so expect a few pictures of Manchester to appear at some point. The beauty of the event being in Manchester this year is that it’s on our doorstep. The awards visits different towns and cities every year. For example, last year we were in Southampton and we’ve been everywhere from Plymouth to Glasgow and all points in-between.
Right now, the pair of us are on the 08:05 train from Sowerby Bridge to Manchester Victoria, having driven down to the station ‘cos we’ve got so much kit. This brings me to my first picture. Sowerby Bridge has a fairly big station var-park. It was almost full by the time we arrived. Cars were already lining the street outside. But, hang on. I though those opposed to us building new railways like High Speed 2 swore blind it wasn’t needed because everyone’s working from home nowadays. Clearly, a lot of citizens of the Calder Valley didn’t get the memo!
Getting through the ticket barriers at Manchester Victoria was a bit of a scrum too…
10:50.
We’re here at Manchester Central where the awards will be held tonight. In another few hours this auditorium will be full of people…
I’m back in dear old Blighty (with the accent on the dear thanks to our ‘new’ Government’s policies) after a decent night’s sleep on the ferry from the Hook of Holland. To be honest, I’m looking forward to getting home now as I’ve a huge amount of pictures to edit and file – as well as begin writing my series of RAIL articles from my around Britain trip.
Right now, I’m on Greater Anglia’s 07:45 heading for Ipswich where I’ll take a pit-stop to have breakfast – and get a few pictures. Tempting as it was to have a trip to Manningtree on one of the few remaing Class 321s I’ve opted for a direct train in the shape of a Stadler Class 755. Here’s what I could have won!
08:05.
Just as well I planned to bail early. The weather here is awful and driver’s having difficulties as the motor for his windscreen wiper’s failed meaning there’ll be a unit swap at Ipswich anyway!
11:00.
I’m on the move again, this time from Norwich to Ely. It’s a roundabout way to get to Ely from Ipswich but the direct service is only two-hourly. Plus, with the weather being so dull it made sense to try my luck elsewhere. The plan worked. Norwich was (mostly) sunny so I managed a few decent shots before catching a Stansted bound train. I’m now set up on a comfy Class 745 and enjoying the scenery.
A pair of 755s at Norwich. The left hand unit is the 10:34 to Stansted Airport.
15:10.
I’m now on my way back to Yorkshire behind some vintage East Coast traction after stopping off at Ely and Peterborough en-route. Ely’s a delightful little station with friendly staff, a variety of refreshment outlets and a busy train service as it’s a major junction for the Fens. You also have entertainment provided by military aircraft on training exercises, although you can always hear the fast jets, you rarely see them. Train services are provided by Greater Anglia, East Midlands Railway, Cross-Country Trains and also Great Northern. I was surprised to see one of the Class 387/3s there as I’d forgotten they’d been transferred to the TOC in July from both C2C and Great Western.
Having shot a variety of pictures I moved on to another old haunt – Peterborough. Nowadays it’s not the most ideal place to get pictures but there’s a real variety of services and train fleets to be found, including this very shabby East Midlands Railway Class 156 working GN-GE services.
I stayed to grab a few shots before catching this beastie Northwards.
This takes me back in more ways than one.I first encountered the Class 91s here at Peterborough in 1990 when they were brand new and still being tested.
16:00.
I’m having another short break in Doncaster where this Trans-Pennine interloper has put in an appearence.
20:45.
I’m finally home and calling it a day for today. Now it’s time to unpack, wind down, eat some delicious veggie food that Dawn’s prepared and have some quality time together. Tomorrow’s another day…
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/
A quiet night in a hotel in Rotterdam has allowed me to start catching up on sleep after a very hectic week. I resisted the temptation to go out and explore yesterday and elected to stay in my room with a beer and a laptop in order to catch up with the volume of pictures I’ve been taking this past week. Food was provided by a little Persian supermarket around the corner where I bought the Iranian version of the Greek Dolmades (stuffed vine leaves). Only the main ingredient in Dolmeh appears to be chickpeas rather than rice. They were delicious!
Now I’m about to check out of my hotel to spend the day exploring the city before heading to the Hook of Holland to catch the night boat. Sadly, this one isn’t to Cairo but back to Brexit Britain run by the asset strippers of the Tory party…
13:30.
I’m taking a short break to rest my weary bones and enjoy the sun having spent the past few hours wandering miles around Rotterdam. I’ve realised that I’ve not bee here since 2007 when I was working for a French firm who build train simulators. In one way it seems like the blink of an eye, in other ways it’s a lifetime. Here’s a few phone piics from my wanderings. As you can imagine, my real camera has been kept very busy!
I love the mix of architecture here. I spotted these doors on a building opposite my hotel.Rotterdam is a city built for people, not for cars. The old docks and a preserved ‘Sik’ (Goat) shunting engine.A memorial to Jewish children killed in the war.As you can imagine, there’s plenty of bridges here. The tall one is a former railway bridge. The view from where I’m sitting right now.
20:00.
I’m finally on my way to the Hook of Holland after a lovely day exploring the city. There’s so much that I could write about the place and my experiences through the day, but here’s a few. Holland is a melting pot. I passed and took photos of a silent march by members of the Muslim faith where the sole purpose was to remind people that no-one is free of opression. I had a lovely chat with one of the stewards whi saw my interest. Heading back to thr hotel I popped in to a Persian supermarket to buy some if the delicacies I’d seen last night. I had a chat with the lovely he old guy running it where he talked about what’s happening in Iran right now. When I got to the metro station and started poring over the map a chap of Indisn origin worked out I was English and offered to help. We struck up a conversation as he was Sri Lankan but had livef in the Netherlands for 40 years whereas I’ve been a regular visitor to the island. I love these chance meetings and interatctions.
21:40.
It’s time to say goodnight. I’m now on the ferry back to Britain and there’s no free wifi on this one. See you on the other side as they say…
Time to get on the road again, only with a slight change of plan. I’d originally intended to get the ferry from the Hook of Holland back to the UK tonight but having seen the way punctuality of the German rail network isn’t what it was – and my connection in Rotterdam being tight I’ve decided to have one last night in the Netherlands and not have to stress about connections as I change trains four times on the way. Right now, I’m ready to begin the first leg from Frankfurt (Oder) to Berlin. Let’s see what happens…
09:55.
I had a pleasant stroll to the station as the weather’s still mild here. En-route I passed this sobering reminder of the country’s dark past. These two brass plaques were sunk into the pavement outside an apartment block. They’re a permenant reminder of local Jews who were murdered by the Nazis.
I’d given myself plenty of time to get to the station so that I could get some shots on the way. I’d hoped to get a selection of the meter gauge tram network but the little buggers proved elusive. It was only when I was almost at the station that a gaggle of them appeared, including this example.
The weather turned gloomy by the time I’d dug the camera out at the staion which was a shame as it’s a busy place. Rehional services to Berlin are interspersed with local trains and even international expresses from over the Polish burder just the other side of the Oder river. Heavy freight trains pass through every few minutes, carrying mix of containers, new VWs, minerals, chemicals and steel.
Not wanting to push my luch and knowing just how unreliable DB are nowadays I decided to hope on an earlier train (the 09:34) to get me to Berlin Ostbahnhof rather than my booked 09:58. It was a wise move. Despite starting from here it left 20 mins late at 09:54 so I hate to think what time the 09:58 will run at! My connection time in Berlin’s 24 minutes…
11:34.
In reality the journey panned out OK. Yes, the train I should have caught was late, but only by six minutes. The extra time I had in the bank allowed me to have a wander before my train arrived in the shape of a pair of the older Intercity (ICE2) sets. I’m now set up in the quiet coach, laptop plugged in and charging. The advantage of getting the train from Ostbahnhof is the sets arrive empty off the depot, so you have plenty of time to settle in as only a handful of other passengers do the same. Next stop is the Hauptbahnhof which is mayhem as the platforms are full – and now so is my train!
It doesn’t look like this anymore…
13:45.
It was all going so well until we left Stendal…
A few minutes later we ground to a rather rapid halt. Not quite a full ‘drop the lot’ emergency stop, but a very rapid deceleration ending in a slow stop. Then the crew call alarm went – which is normally a bad sign. It means the driver needs to talk to the train manager. After a while the train manager explained the delay was down to unspecified ‘engineering work’. As I’ve bought my ticket online from the DB website, I get regular email updates about my delayed trains and suggested revised onwards connections. The latest on also mentioned engineering work and also told me I’d still make my onwards connection – which was reassuring. Of course, that depends on nothing else going tits up! With that news and the fact I’s no idea how long we’d be stuck, there was only one thing to do. Find the bar car…
The delay’s annoying as I was looking forward to some spare time as Duisburg to get a few pictures before boarding another train. Now we’ll have to see. Right now we’ve just pulled into Hannover Hauptbahnhof at least 25 minutes down. The train’s getting even busier too. One or two have got off but far more are joining and, on my trip, back from the bar car I had to step over young people sitting in the vestibules.
22:00.
I’m now relaxing in my hotel in Rotterdam after completing the trip, so I’m resuming where I left off earlier. My eventual arrival in Duisberg was over 30 minutes late which was a great shame as it looks like a fascinating station to take pictures at. It’s old and untypical of many German stations as the mix of shops in the subway is a mix of the exotic and the down-market. It was also incredibly busy. I had enough time to grab something to eat, find my train and that was about it. The station reminds me of Crewe back in the UK. It shares the same levels of faded glory and decrepitude – but with better food!
I was hoping for a more relaxed train across the border to Arnhem, but it wasn’t to be. A pair of units turned up which were busy before they arrived and absolutely rammed when they left, but at least I managed to get a seat. I’ve not travelled on the lines around here or through Oberhausen for years, so I was rather taken about by how much weeds and bushes are taking over. Again, it reminded me of the UK, apart from the fact German railways are so much bigger. The amount of freight is staggering, but then Germany is still an industrialised nation – unlike the UK, where most of our comparable industries were run down during the Thatcher government years.
I changed trains yet again at Arnhem, a recently rebuilt station which (compared to Germany) has few facilities. A Dutch four car double-deck EMU arrived to take us forward but this was far too small for the numbers and left hopelessly overcrowded. I ended up standing in a vestibule all the way to Utrecht, where I changed for the final time. The next train was another hopelessly packed EMU where I had to stand almost all the way to Rotterdam. Both trains contained lots of young people heading for a night out in various places, which may have exacerbated the situation. On the bright side? Both trains were spot on time. The downside? They were all dirty and graffiti covered, not that it seems to put people off from using them.
People often make unfavorable comparisons between the UKs railways and those of Europe. I can only assume the majority of those people have never spent much (if any) time actually travelling in trains in Europe, because if they had they’d know what simplistic nonsense is talked. The UK network is far from perfect, but the trains are in far better condition than those of many EU countries and that applies to the stations too.
Right, I’m going to bring this blog to a close. It’s time for bed. There’ll be time for a lot more thought tomorrow, before my return to little Britain…
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/
My day began at 06:00 as usual but today the trains behaved themselves and my service into Berlin was seamless. Now I’ve finished up some picture editing in the Innotrans press centre and I’m about to hit the halls. Watch out for loads of pictures today as I’m free to roam – and it’s a bright, sunny morning…
13:50.
Having spent the last several hours wandering around halls and outdoor displays I’m taking a few minutes break to download some of the pictures, top up my water levels and use the facilities. Today’s akways the quietest as many people have already left so it’s easier to get pictures. Even so, you still need patience.
The Dubai ‘Sky pod’.The new FPS PlusFPS plus interiorTrenitalia and Hitachi ‘blues’. ‘blues’ interior‘blues’ bike and luggage area. The new Siemens U-bahn car shows why you have to be patient. There’s often someone taking extreme interest in the underfloor equipment!Never complain about the hardness of UK train seats again. The Wein U-bahn trains are fitted with plain plywood ones!
17:10.
I elected to leave Innotrans before the bitter end as I’d done most of what I wanted. There’s not a cat in hell’s chance of getting around it all and it’s such a lovely evening I thought I’d explore the city’s railways. Here’s a couple of shots so far…
A Siemens built Class 182 calls at Friedrichstrasse.Alexanderplatz staion in the former East Berlin with a double-deck, loco hauled set working to Magdeburg.
22:30.
I’m now homeward bound after a great few hours exploring the Berlin S and U bahn (and the areas it passes through) before meeting up with an old friend for a couple of beers and chatting about life, the universe and everything. Here’s one of the paces I discovered, the wonderful architecture of the old Berlin Pankow station.
Strange to think I’ll be moving on again tomorrow. I’ve kinda got into the routine of being a commuter and living life in a city I really enjoy.
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Paul Bigland 