Tag Archives: Rolling blogs

Rolling blog: North of the border…

29 Wednesday May 2019

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

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06:45.It’s a beautiful morning here in Glasgow, a real contrast to the stormy weather I saw yesterday, although I’m not sure how long it will last. I’m about to head down for a quick breakfast before heading to Glasgow Queen St and my first train of the day. I’ll be catching the 08:00 to meet up with Pip Dunn in Falkirk. We’ll be heading to Edinburgh where we’ll be starting our Scottish train tests. I’ll update this blog throughout the day as we go…I rarely eat anything like this, so a full Scottish breakfast at my hotel is a treat. I justify it on the grounds that I’ll soon burn it off with the amount of walking I’ll be doing today!

07:59.Having walked to Charing Cross and caught a train to Queen St I had time to look around and grab a few pictures before catching the train I’m on now (the 08:00 to Edinburgh). Times have certainly changed here. Not only is the station undergoing another huge rebuild, the fleets using it have changed too.

I still can’t get used to seeing 4-car High Speed Trains! This is one of the unrefurbished sets. The power cars carry Scotrail branding but the coaches are still in the old First group ‘dynamic lines’ livery. Another noticeable difference at Queen St is how many services are operated by the Hitachi built Class 385s, including the recently electrified line to Alloa

09:33.

Having met up with Pip, we’re now on one of Scotrail’s refurbished HST sets. The 09:28 Edinburgh to Aberdeen. You’ll be able to read the full train tests in future editions of RAIL magazine. Here’s a couple of pictures for now.

10:05.

I’ve been kept busy photographing all the changes and features of the train whilst Pip’s been busy with his tape measure and notepad. Now I can relax for a bit and enjoy watching the beautiful Fife countryside flash past the window for a while.

11:01.

We only went as far North as Dundee, the town on the Tay that’s transforming itself. The waterfront around the station (and the station itself) are unrecognisable from just a few years ago. It also gives fantastic views of the famous Tay Bridge.

From here we picked up an unrefurbished HST to carry us to Stirling, another station that’s been transformed by electrifying the lines through the city to Dunblane and Alloa. Unfortunately we left the sunshine behind in Dundee. Perthshire’s covered in thick cloud and showers.

13:28.

We’ve been busy! After revamping from our HST in a soggy Sterling we caught up with another of our targets in the form of Hitachi’s new Class 385 electric trains. A quick trip to Dunblane and a return to Glasgow Queen St provided us with all the pictures, data and measurements we needed. We then walked through the rain to Glasgow Central, hoping to catch a Siemens built Class 380 over to Edinburgh. Disappointed, we found out that it was another Hitachi set, so we quickly changed plans and leapt on a 380 working the branch to Gourock, which us where we’re heading for now!

22:55

Sorry for the gaps in the blog but it’s been a very hectic day. After abandoning this train at Port Glasgow we made our way back to Glasgow, then crossed between Central and Queen St to head back out to Edinburgh for a final burst of pictures and note-taking. Pip headed off to prepare for another job whilst I had time to catch up with an old friend an colleague from RAIL days – Phil Haigh. After which I shuttled back to Glasgow to get a few more pictures, then bumped into these Gentlemen outside Central station. With all the political shit that’s going on right now and the disturbing rise in racism and intolerance it was an absolute pleasure to encounter these three guys from the local Guru Nanak Sikh temple who were out in the rain, distributing food to homeless people.

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OK, I’m off to bed. It’s going to be another long day tomorrow and a busy few days after that. G’night!

Rolling blog: Another ‘rat up a drainpipe’ sort of day…

28 Tuesday May 2019

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08:40.

After a relaxing and very sociable bank holiday weekend at home, normal service is resumed and I’m back on the rails again. As is often the case, there’s a lot of travelling involved. First, I’ve got to head down to Milton Keynes for a meeting with Network Rail, then I’ll be making my way up to Glasgow ready for a job in Scotland tomorrow. I’ll update this blog throughout the day, so stay tuned…

10:24.

My first train of the day’s the 10:06 from Sowerby Bridge to Southport which I’m taking as far as Manchester Victoria. It rolled in 5 minutes early, which took me by surprise as I’m more used to them being delayed! Northern have turned out a Heaton based Class 156, which makes a pleasant (and more comfortable) change to the normal Class 150s. The 156s are roomier, with deeper windows, so they’re better on scenic routes like this. Their 2×2 seating helps too.

The stormy skies seen in Yorkshire are replicated in Lancashire so I wouldn’t be surprised if I get a soaking at some point today!

10:41.

As this trains only a two car it’s now rammed after calling at Rochdale, a town that always provides plenty of passengers. According to figures from the ORR (Office of Rail and Road) over 1.2 million folk use the station every year.

12:15.

My Virgin Pendolino’s just pulling out of Piccadilly. Next stop for me is Milton Keynes. As is my wont I walked across a busy city centre from Victoria to Piccadilly, narrowly missing an earlier train, but as I had plenty of time I spent a profitable hour getting pictures. One thing that I noticed at Piccadilly was how the train Northern fleet’s changed in recent years due to the almost continuous cascade of second-hand stock. The ex-Thameslink Class 319s are a common sight on Manchester Airport turns now that electrification of the Bolton and Liverpool corridors has been completed. At the same time, more 2nd generation diesels have joined the fleet, such as this one which has just been transferred from the London Midland fleet now that it’s been displaced from services on the Bedford-Bletchley line by Vivarail’s Class 230 underground train conversions.

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150107 is working Manchester – Chester services today. It was pictured at Manchester Piccadilly earlier.

These extra units and the introduction of the Class 195s will soon spell the end of the old BR Pacers which are still plying their trade around Northern metals.

14:28.

Appointment time…

16:22.

My meeting with Network Rail’s Asset Protection (ASPRO) people went well. We talked about needs and ideas plus some provisional diary dates. I even managed to make it back to the station before the heavens opened, dodging the deluge I’d predicted earlier. I dunno why but every time I’ve visited the area recently it’s co-incided with rainstorms. Now I’m sat on the 16:13 Virgin Pendolino to Glasgow Central for the next five hours! It’s a busy train despite it being the school holidays. I hate to think what this 9-car would be like if the schools weren’t out. Although I’ve managed to get an airline seat I’ve no plug sockets enabling me to keep the laptop powered up. This service goes via Birmingham New St as it’s one of the Brummie turns that was extended to Scotland in the last franchise. Hopefully I might be able to grab a table seat later but I’m not optimistic.

16:42.

We’ve just pulled into Coventry and this train’s even more rammed now as well over a hundred folk have joined as this service may be long-distance, but right now it’s a commuter train on this section of the route. That these Intercity trains have to occupy rush-hour paths between places like Coventry-Birmingham-Wolverhampton’s a great advert for building HS2. Get the Euston-Glasgow on Hs2 and turn it into a proper Intercity train that can lead to modal shift from road and air through shorter journey times and use the existing path for a fast people move like the Siemens Class 700s that can absorb the commuters in comfort.

17:36.

Much to my surprise, I did manage to bkag a table seat when we arrived in Birmingham. As expected, this train’s still busy, but the holiday periods clearly taken the edge off it. Right now we’re approaching Wolverhampton. We’re running late as we’re caught behind a stopping service. This really is a waste of a 125mph train as we’ve staggered most of the way through this congested corridor from Coventry. On the plus side, the weather’s brightened up so I’m hoping for a lovely run through the scenic North of England and into Scotkand. I’m afraid sunshine can’t really help Wolverhampton!

19:22.

We’re now between Preston and Lancaster, running at least 18 mins late due to being stuck behind local services around Birmingham. This has meant we’ve missed our connection at Preston with the Edinburgh service which is now ahead of us. Our Train Manager’s apologised and asked control if we can be put ahead of it between Lancaster and Carlisle so that folk can make the connection in the border city.

19:36.

Despite the power and performance of the Pendolino’s, we’re losing more time. We passed Carnforth 21 late. The only bright spot was literally on the horizon as the weather through Lancashire was gorgeous. I could’ve got a suntan through the train window! Now, as we get closer to leaving England, the clouds are regrouping, which meant that the spectacular Lune Gorge wasn’t seen at it’s best.

20:19.

We’ve arrived into Carlisle and to everyone’s credit the TPE service to Edinburgh has been held so the the few dozen people off our train can make their connection. Who says the railway can’t be joined up when needed?

21:00

Oh joy. We’ve ground to a halt at Beattock summit and our Train Manager has just announced on the PA that this is because Network Rail have lost power to a signalling panel. That said, we’re still on the move, albeit stop and start. I have a feeling that this is going to be a loonnng day…

21:16.

I should have been in Glasgow Central a minute ago. Instead, we’ve just pulled past the signal failure and a freight train stuck in the Beattock loop 43 minutes late. It’s no-one’s fault and it sounds like Network Rail had staff out to the problem PDQ, but that’s not going to placate some passengers.

23:20.

I’m off to bed. We arrived an hour late into Glasgow so by the time I got to my hotel I’m more than happy to call it a day. Watch out for another rolling blog tomorrow as I’m up here testing trains with Pip Dunn for RAIL magazine.

Rolling blog: Another day on the rails.

22 Wednesday May 2019

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

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08:30

I’m out and about on the rails again today, making the most of the weather and getting client shots on a range of topics, including hunting down more of the news trains which are gracing the North’s tracks in increasing numbers, although many of them are on training runs rather than carrying passengers. At the moment, there’s vehicles for Northern, LNER and Trans-Pennine Express out on test, with more to follow for Hull Trains soon. This creates its own challenges. I was talking to LNER MD David Horne at the Azuma launch the other week. He explained that it was an ASLEF requirement that driver had 20 hours training driving the new trains before being passed out as competent. Real trains, not simulators. David pointed out how difficult it was to find paths for these trains on our increasingly crowded network – one that’s become even more crowded since the May 18th timetable change. Imagine what it’s like when you add in the other operators vying for space at places like Leeds, Doncaster and York, not to mention Manchester and Preston! It’s one of the unappreciated challenges of introducing new train fleets. Still, it makes me laugh at HS2 antis, who (cluelessly) still insist that no – we don’t need HS2 because some trains still have spare seats in the off-peak!

09:15.

I’m currently bouncing my way to Huddersfield on a 2+3 Pacer lash-up of a 144 and 142. Say what you like about Pacers, but there’s plenty of cycle space in 142004!

On arrival at Huddersfield my Oacer lash-up was split. The rear 142 was detached and scurried off, squealing, to the sidings, whilst the 3 car 144 remained in platform 4a ready to work the 10:03 to Castleford via Wakefield. I’m sure this is a new diagram as I don’t remember through services to the town before.

Huddersfield station layout is old and was built for a different age. It has two Easterly facing bay platforms (5 and 6) in the large island platform which are very restricted in length. 5 can only take 2 cars and 6, 3 cars. For a modern railway they’re a bit of an operational nightmare, hence plans to build a new through platform on the site of the stabling sidings to the North of the existing island platform. Here’s a view of the bays with a 153 in platform 5.

No 4 to the left is a through platform but its normally split and used for terminating trains coming from Mananchester in the West and Leeds in the East.

Making Huddersfield fit for a growing railway presents huge challenges. If you build a platform on the stabling sidings, where do you then stable the trains? There’s a train crew depot on the station. If you stable trains elsewhere, what happens to that? The station’s a grade 1 listed building, so how does that impact on major alterations? It all adds to the complexity and expense of rebuilding a Victorian railway network.

16:30.

Today’s plan didn’t survive first contact with the enemy. I was planning to head East to York and Doncaster, then found that one of the new Hitachi bi-mode trains for Trans-Pennine Express was working a training run across the Pennines from Heaton (Newcastle) to Manchester Airport. I was very keen to get a shot of this so changed plans and hot-foot it to Greenfield station, the first stop on the line West of the Standedge tunnel. Slightly further East is the pretty and very busy tourist town of Uppermill which the railway passes high above on a dramatic viaduct, as you can see in this picture.

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From here I walked along the Rochdale canal before cutting up a quiet lane to a lovely vantage point on a footbridge which gave me a commanding view of the lane and the valley, where I waited and prayed the cloud Gods would smile on me for once. Eventually, I managed to get this shot. For once I was glad the train was a few minutes late. If it hadn’t been, I’d have missed the sun!

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17:15.

Afterwards I couldn’t resist nipping down the road a few miles to pay homage at one of the original and best station bars in the country, the Stalybridge buffet bar.

I’m glad to say it’s no longer a rare beast, just a long time survivor and precourser to a new generation of station bars.

17:33.

I’m now heading back to Huddersfield on a late running Northern Pacer to meet my wife from work. Whilst the new timetable may not have caused any grief, I’m not sure it’s solved any problems on this line either. Late running still seems to be the norm, although I don’t know the root causes.

Rolling blog: Swanning around sunny Yorkshire.

21 Tuesday May 2019

Posted by in I love my job, Railways, Rolling blogs, West Yorkshire

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Well, not exactly swanning you understand. It’s already been a busy morning that’s seen me editing a backlog of pictures of Railtex, Community Rail in the City and HS2 work at Euston then getting them out to clients. I had other plans for today but an email from RAIL magazine means I’ll be off to Leeds for the afternoon. Life often seems to take unexpected turns at the moment with plans changing all the time. Still, any commissions are always welcome as they top up the coffers. Plus, as a photographer, I can’t afford to waste weather like this! Let’s see how the day goes…

10:37.

I’ve just left Bradford en-route to Leeds on a slightly late and rather dirty, disheveled unrefurbished Northern Class 158. The sunlight streaming through the windows makes you realise just how dirty they actually are!This is my first outing since the May timetable change, which the media doom and gloom merchants were waiting to label a fiasco. Only it wasn’t. There were a couple of delays on Calder Valley services but nothing out of the ordinary. It was the same for other operators from what I saw.

12:10.

I’m now pootling around Leeds, looking at various railway locations for a client. Not everything has gone to plan, whilst there’s no timetable chaos there is the perennial problem of the ‘knitting’ coming down on the East Coast Main Line! I did wonder when I saw so many LNER trainsets sitting in the station, the problem was soon confirmed by an announcement that the overhead wires had come down at Retford, so LNER were running a Leeds-Doncaster shuttle service for connections South to Kings Cross using the GN/GE joint line via Lincoln. Part of my mission on this trip was to explore the future site of Leeds HS2 station which will abut the existing station at right angles from the South. Here’s where it will be built across the river.

I also had a look for some aerial views of the city.

14:22.

Having done what I needed to do in Leeds I’ve headed back West and broken my journey in Dewsbury, where I’m enjoying some refreshment at the wonderful station bar. Dewsbury’s an odd place. It’s best days are long gone although some of the shoddy and mungo mills still exist and can be seen from passing trains. Nowadays the town is more known for its poverty and social/ethnic divisions – and the utterly bizarre case of the ‘kidnapped’ girl who was actually hidden by her parents under their bed.

There’s a young chap in his late teens/early 20s on the outside table adjacent to mine. He’s been on the phone telling his mates how he’s just left court, having escaped jail for some unspecified offence. I can see he’s not bulshitting as I saw the court papers kn the table when I passed. When I glanced over he was texting a friend. His mouth was pronouncing each word as he typed.

18:22.

I’ve made it home and I’m potentially regretting not carrying sunscreen today! I’ll upload a few more pictures later.

22;54.

Oops! Things sort of happened so there’s just one more picture of Leeds to add today.

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Rolling blog: back to Railtex

16 Thursday May 2019

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09:59.

After a decent night’s sleep I feel ready to tackle another day tramping round the Railtex trade fair at Birmingham’s National Exhibition centre. There’s lots to see and photograph, people to chat to and lectures to learn from. Let’s see what happens…

14:30.

I’ve been run off my feet this morning getting pictures for clients and to clients, so there’s been no time for blogging at all. I’m writing this as I’m sending pictures of yesterday’s events to ACoRP right now.

I had a long shortlist to get this morning, which has really kept me busy. Plus, I needed to get shots of the keynote address by the Shadow Transport Minister, Andy McDonald MP. Despite the froth from the Taxpayers Alliance and the Lord’s Economic Committee, Andy made Labour’s unswerving support for HS2 plain

19:47.

Well, this ‘rolling’ blog turned out to be far more static than I thought it would be. There simply wasn’t the time to take the volume of pictures clients required and blog at the same time. I had an extensive picture request list from one client handed to me this morning, which had a silver-lining as I learned an awful lot about some industry innovations that would otherwise have passed me by – which is why I really enjoy working at these events. You get so much from them. Afterwards, a few friends and I decamped and ended up in an old haunt. The ‘Great Western’ pub in Wolverhampton which is sandwiched between the high and (former) low level stations. Let’s just say that it’s not a pub you’ll stumble upon – and they had a long-time favourite beer on, “summer lightning”

Chatham House rules apply to the conversations we had but it was a great end to a hectic few days. Now I’m on the 19:15 from Wolves to Manchester Piccadilly which is just pulling into Macclesfield. I’ve been doing this trip for years and moaned about it in blogs several times so I won’t reprise the argument. All I can say is – roll on HS2!

21:01

I’m now on the last train of the day, heading home from Manchester Victoria to Halifax. As is my wont, I always walk between the two stations, which isn’t always easy with the amount of kit I’m normally carrying. Tonight it had grown because my friends at the Talgo stand had given me a huge amount of unused fresh fruit and snacks to take home with me. In Piccadilly Gardens I spotted a charity that had set up a stand to feed the dozens of homeless people living on the surrounding streets. Without a second thought I went over and donated the food I was carrying. I’ve blogged about this before, so regular readers will understand my feelings about the issue. I know that Carlos, the President of Talgo would approve of my actions…

Rolling blog: community rail in the city.

15 Wednesday May 2019

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In a wonderful contrast to Railtex (which I’ll be back at tomorrow) I’m down in London to cover ‘community rail in the city’. This event showcases all the work various Community Rail Partnerships do around the country. There’s events on several main line stations in the capital, as well as Birmingham New St and Glasgow Central. I’ll update this blog with pictures throughout the day.

08:35. Kings Cross.

We’ve a huge stand on the concourse with several Scottish pipers giving out goody bags. They’re proving very popular with folks wanting pictures

09:28. Liverpool St.

There’s another impressive stand here where you’ll find an 18 foot replica of the ‘Mayflower’ along with goody bags and lots of useful information on the community rail lines in the Anglia region.

11:55.

There’s been plenty of hi-jinks at Kings Cross, where the Scots have been putting on a display of bagpipers and Scottish dancing.

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15:02.

Phew! It’s been a busy day. I managed to get round to all the London stations where events were held and even had time to see the very first (fare paying) passenger run of LNER’s new Azuma trains. 800113 made history working the 11:03 from London Kings Cross to Leeds.

At nearby St Pancras, members of Kent Community Rail partnerships and Sustrans had a stand on the Southeastern railway platforms. As well as giving out goodie bags and leaflets on places to visit on foot, train or bike they were also carrying out a survey into cyclists taking bikes on trains.

Meanwhile, over at Waterloo, staff and volunteers had turned a patch of the concourse into a rural oasis, complete with trees!

At Paddington, folk were advertising the South-West’s connection with the voyage of the Mayflower and the forthcoming 400th anniversary. To keep folk entertained, 25 members of the ‘Kingsmen’ choir sang on the hour.

Now, I’m on my way to Birmingham via Chiltern trains to see what volunteers from the Midlands are up to.

19:53.

Well, that was a whirlwind! I arrived in Birmingham just in time to catch the volunteers who’d been staffing a stall at Birmingham Moor St all day. They were very positive about the reactions they’d had from the public as they were promoting one of four new designated community rail lines (the Shakespeare line). Having caught them I hot-footed it over to New St where there were two very different stalls on the concourse. What was great was to see the way passengers took time out from rushing home to stop and engage, which isn’t always easy as many commuters are on a pre-programmed ‘mission’s & don’t want to be diverted from getting home or to work.

With the final pictures in the bag I decided to have a pint in an old haunt before checking into my hotel, only to find that the Shakespeare was full of old friends from the rail industry who’d had exactly the same idea as me after their day at Railtex! So, one pint turned into a bit more than that..

I was with five people ageing in range from early 50’s to mid 70’s All of them had worked for British Railways (BR) in the ‘good old days’. Some of them still have senior jobs in the rail industry now. So, no names, no pack- drill, but some of the stories they were swapping about that era were both hilarious and criminal in what went on in those days.

Bidding farewell I finally checked into my hotel and dumped several kilos of kit that I’d been lugging around all day. My ‘Fitbit’ tells me that I’ve walked over 10 miles today, so I feel I’d earned that beer!

Food was uppermost in my mind. Hot food at that, so I popped into one of the growing number of noodle bars that you can find in cities nowadays for a spicy fix of Udon noodles, chicken and veg leavened with a very respectable chilli sauce.

I’ve never been a burger fan. In fact I can’t think of the last time I ate one. This is the food for me, born of spending so much time in SE Asia.

22:02.

It’s time to draw this rolling blog to a close. I’m back at my hotel, looking through some if the hundreds of pictures I’ve taken today, but soon it’s going to be time to crash out. I’ve another busy day at Railtex ahead of me…

Rolling blog: and so it begins…

14 Tuesday May 2019

Posted by in Birmingham, Engineering, I love my job, Photojournalism, Railtex, Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel

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06:18.

It’s a bright and beautiful morning here at Sowerby Bridge station. The sun’s shining, the birds are singing and I have fresh coffee, thanks to the Jubilee refreshment rooms on the station.

I’m here to catch to 06:23 to Manchester in order to get to Birmingham and the Railtex trade fair.

06:52.

The first chariot of the day was 158849, one of Northern’s refurbished fleet and one that’s been fitted with new seats and USB sockets. It’s only a two car so it’s packed after leaving Rochdale. It’s also remarkably quiet as most people (including me) are staring at their portable devices! This is a great example of how you can have a large group of people who are together in the flesh but are miles apart mentally!

07:38.

I’m now on TfW’s (Transport for Wales) 07:30 to Milford Haven as far as Crewe.

I walked between Victoria and Piccadilly which is always a depressing experience this time of morning as it’s painfully obvious how many people are sleeping rough. Forget the stories about “professional beggars” who return to their council flats each evening, these are real people curled up in doorways or huddled on pavements. A decade of austerity and a government that doesn’t really give a shit has made the problem worse than when I worked in housing back in the 1990s. It’s not going to get any better either. The UK’s flirting with fascism in the form of Nigel Farage and his Brexit party. People who blatently lie through their teeth and have no manifesto or policies other than crashing us out of the EU and who say they won’t tell us what they stand for until AFTER we’ve voted for them! How the hell has the country got itself in this state? I’ve never been more pessimistic about the future of the country as I don’t see much sign of people waking up to what’s going on and the road we’re heading down.

07:50.

We’ve called at Wilmslow, where a sizeable chunk of the folk on this two-car train decanted. Clearly, this time of day this train is a commuter service masquerading as a long-distance train. Next stop is Crewe, so I’ll be interested to see how many get on.

08:18.

I’m now on London Northwestern’s 08:18 to Birmingham New St, which is a 4-car Class 350, which is pretty much full and standing. There’s a few spare seats, but they’re the middle ones in sets of three, which most folk avoid. I’m sharing a vestibule with a bunch of LNW drivers who’re clutching notices about splitting and joining trains at New St. I’m assuming this has to do with the May timetable change. In age old fashion they’re grumbling about the new diagrams and rosters!

09:42.

Almost there! I was delayed changing trains at New St because some of the toilets are closed for refurbishment. New St being New St it was a trek to the alternatives which had folk queuing out of the door! Now I’m on a slightly delayed TfW service to Birmingham International.

14:54.

Phew! It’s been a full on day so far and started as soon as I walked through the Railtex door at 10:00. I’ve finally found time to sit down for a few minutes and get some pictures edited. Here’s a glimpse of the show so far.

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As usual, Siemens have a big presence at Railtex. This is one half of their stand!

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The Talgo stand. The company are bidding for the HS2 train contract (amongst others).

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It’s a Breeze! This is a model of the Class 321 train that Alstom are converting from electricity to Hydrogen.

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The Tratos stand always serves a good lunch for anyone leaving their business card.

19:54.

Right, where were we? Oh, yes – Railtex. I left the show an hour ago and I’m currently on virgin Trains Pendino snaking it’s way to London. Today feels like a bit of a blur as it’s been so manic. Trying to get round the show to take it all in is bad enough. Then there’s the need to be in certain places at set times, constantly bumping into friends and colleagues and trying to blog/upload pictures. By the time the day winds down you’re knackered. That said, the end of the event was fun. Alstom had a really interesting drinks reception to chat about their ‘Breeze’ hydrogen train, so a lot of us hacks met at that, afterwards we moved over to the main networking event which was a great opportunity to catch up with folk and shoot a few more pictures like this one of the band who did a great job of keeping us all entertained.

22:45.

The final update. It’s been a brilliant day. After tearing myself away from a very convivial couple of hours with friends at the end of the show I emerged, blinking, into the light and realised just what a stonking day it must have been weather wise. Now, having caught a train down to London I’m ensconced in the basement of a hotel in Kings Cross that makes me think of scenes from the bunker in ‘Downfall’ – only with better bathrooms. When you realise that to get to your room you have to press -2 you do start to get suspicious…

Hopefully I might actually see a bit of sunshine as I tour the London stations taking part in tomorrow’s event. Watch this space…

Rolling blog: Friday fun…

10 Friday May 2019

Posted by in Hs2, I love my job, Modern Railways, Photography, Rail Investment, Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel

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05:15.Although getting up at 04:45 isn’t much fun at all to be honest! I’m just about to walk to the station to head back to London. At least the rain’s (mostly) holding off as I walk to the station. Here’s the view over the valley this morning.

06:13.I’m on the first train of the day, the 06:03 to Leeds, which started from Hebden Bridge. Today it’s worked by an unrefurbished ex-Scotrail Class 158 which still retains its old First Class section, so some people are travelling in style!

06:24.Whilst on the train I’ve been catching up with posts from friends on social media and found that a friend of a friend has bought and is doing up the closed Wigan pub I mentioned in yesterday’s blog. Talk about a small world! Apparently, it’s going to become a railway themed real ale pub. No doubt I’ll be paying it a visit and blogging about it once it reopens.Right now, coffee, not real ale is foremost in my mind. It’s going to be a long day…07:17.I’m settled in on LNER’s 07:00 off Leeds which started off from Bradford Foster Square. It’s just left Wakefield. Next stop is Kings Cross at 0859…09:13.We arrived on time at Kings Cross. Here’s hundreds of folk from Bradford, Leeds and Wakefield flooding off the train to earn their daily bread in London. Most of them will return later today.

13:04.Paul Stephen and I have just finished our tour of the Hs2 work at Euston which was amazing. The sheer scale of what’s going on, the complexity and the ambition is breathtaking and the archeological work is in another league. We were shown what’s going on in St James Gds and it’s on a vast scope. You’ll be able to read all about it in a future edition of RAIL. All I’ll do now is give you a teaser. This is the site of the old Euston Downside carriage shed. The portal for the Hs2 tunnel to Old Oak Common and on to Birmingham will be at the far end of the site.

15:21. After leaving Euston to head North I was planning to try and get a trip on the Vivarail Class 230s on the Bletchley Bedford line but bad luck struck again. Firstly, I arrived in time for another torrential downpour and secondly, when the service turned up it was worked by an older class 153 DMU. In the end I gave up and headed North on the next train to Milton Keynes, which was basking in glorious sunshine.Now I’m aboard a London Northwestern service to Crewe as far as Tamworth. It’s a four-car and it’s standing room only. For the number of passengers using these lines 4-cars is clearly inadequate. This is a journey that you put up with, not enjoy.

16:28. I changed trains at Tamworth, a station that’s hardly my favourite. Although facilities have improved in recent years it’s still pretty basic and few intercity services stop here nowadays. They were sacrificed to speed up West Coast services after the West Coast Route Modernisation. When Hs2 takes those long-distance, non-stop trains off the WCML there’s the opportunity to improve the situation. I headed up to the even more basic high-level platforms where I taught the late running 16:20 to Glasgow. Despite the fact it’s worked by a 7-car HST set, this Cross-Country service has plenty of folk standing in the vestibules – including me in Coach E!

Rolling blog: home again, out again…

09 Thursday May 2019

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

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12:30.

I’ve been working from my satellite workplace in Huddersfield this morning, occupying an empty desk at the ACoRP office as I had to be in the town for a dental appointment first thing. The weather’s dismal, so I’ve not minded being stuck indoors editing pictures for a client before sending them out via the web. The old days of burning them to DVDs then sticking them in the post seem as antiquated as taking pictures on slide film. Now I can send up to 2 Gb of pictures via Wetransfer almost instantly – for free!

That little chore done I can concentrate on editing a few pictures whilst on the move – if I can find space on the train. It’s all very well folks talking about the value of doing that, but it’s very dependent on getting a seat and space to work, which often no easy feat on our increasingly crowded network.

Right, time to head out. Let’s see what happens…

14:29.

Despite forgetting my passport, I’ve ventured West of the Pennines into Lancashire to pay a flying visit to Preston. I changed trains at Bolton station, which is hoping to undergo a bit of a renaissance, assisted by the father of community rail – Professor Paul Salveson and the station friends group. The huge old buildings retain many original features and offer some interesting retail opportunities. Fancy opening a real ale bar on the station?

Ironically, despite the line having been electrified last October, my train from Bolton to Preston’s a refurbished two-car Class 156, not an EMU.

En route we called at Buckshaw Parkway, which is a station recently opened to serve the massive new residential and commercial development that’s being built on the site of the old Royal Ordnance factory at Euxton. The full car park bears witness to the success of the station. I need to pay a visit in the right weather to get some pictures as an illustration.

17:06

I’m leaving Preston now after a productive if frustrating time. There’s a lot of STP (Special Train Plan) times set up in the railway timetable system for the new Northern and TPE trains out on teat, but not all of them are used and it’s all a bit hit and miss. Quite a few are meant to reverse in the goods loops but it’s clear they’re normally sent into platforms instead to allow staff off and on if needed.

Still, it provides plenty of exercise running up and down stairs and platforms as you try and get a decent shot! I found three different Notrthern units on test today. Two 3-cars and a 2-car. Sadly, none of the TPE sets were out and about. Now I’m sending my way back on an older ‘new’ Northern train, at least as far as Wigan anyway…

17:59.

True to my word, I changed trains at Wigan. I got a telling off last time I blogged about the town as I was less than complimentary!

Here’s today’s experiences. Wandering between the two stations (it doesn’t take long) I noticed the old ‘Swan and Railway’ pub immediately opposite North Western station had closed down and was being turned into I know not what.

To say the pub had a certain reputation as a place where you wiped your feet on the way out will be endorsed by a few old railway enthusiast friends. The tragic thing is that the pub and the adjoining facade are really attractive. In another town they’d probably be prized because of their location.

Meanwhile, the pub next door to Wallgate station has also closed down. The building’s been reopened as a supermarket.

That said, it’s not all negative. Wallgate station’s been restored and the local station friends group (the Wigan Wallflowers) have done a fantastic job creating a garden and lovely plant display on the station. Here’s their new train.

18:14.

I’m currently on the train home to Sowerby Bridge from Wigan, travelling along a railway line I’ve been familiar with since the very early 1970s.

Sadly, (although I travelled on it as a young kid in the 1960s) I only ever remember the years of BR rationalisation and the 1980s industrial decline. This used to be a four-track Lancashire & Yorkshire railway main line that avoided Bolton so cut journey times from Manchester to Liverpool and Southport. In the late BR years it was a pale shadow of its former self.

Now, as I traverse it, I can see a huge amount of vegetation clearance and work being done to improve station amenities. Years of decline are being arrested. The ‘glory’ days will never be restored as the coal and steel industries will never come back, but even so…

I can see I need to have a day out here just to document the changes.

19:06.

The train’s now back in West Yorkshire as we’ve just exited the Summit tunnel. Whilst there’s so much I could blog about I’m going to bring this one to an end. Dawn’s meeting me at the station so that we can pick up some supplies in Sowerby Bridge, but it’s going to be an early night for me as I’m on an 06:00 train from Halifax in the morning as I have an assignment in London.

Tomorrow, RAIL magazine and I will be visiting the HS2 construction work at Euston so watch out for another tolling blog. .

Rolling blog: more wandering.

08 Wednesday May 2019

Posted by in London, Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel

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06:50.

It’s a soggy start to the day here in the Calder Valley, but looking at the forecast the situation seems to be the same over much of the country, so my photographic opportunities may be a bit limited today. Right now my first job is to head off to the station without getting too wet and begin my trip Southwards to London. Let’s see how things go…Here’s the view across the Calder Valley and Sowerby Bridge this morning.

On the bright side, the train’s mostly drizzle.

0740.

I made it to the station without breaking my neck anyways. The problem is the Yorkshire stone pavements around here look pretty, but they’re like an ice rink when they’re wet. You never know when you’re likely to go arse over tit, so in this weather I usually walk on the road, although that has its own risks this time of morning as car drivers are rushing to get to work.I arrived just in time to catch the late running 07:23 to Leeds which had left Huddersfield 7 mins late. I was surprised to see it was worked by a rather tired looking single car Class 153, which could prove to be interesting to say the least…Sure enough, we’ve just called at the new Low Moor station and now we’re full and standing!

07:48.

The situation didn’t ease at Bradford Interchange as hardly anyone got off. Fortunately, hardly anyone got on either.08:00.We’ve now called at New Pudsey which was packed with people expecting the Grand Central relief service from Hebden Bridge to Leeds. There were several looks of consternation when our little ‘dogbox’ rolled in. It’s now very cosy aboard!

08:43.

After spewing out its load of weary commuters, our little 153 filled up completely once more, this time working to Brighouse. I was surprised how many people were travelling in the opposite direction – presumably to work in Bradford. As usual, the station was teeming with commuters coming into the city. The place is the 3rd busiest outside of London with a footfall of over 31.1 million souls so the morning and evening peaks can be quite intense. With that in mind I hung around to see the Grand Central service from Hebden Bridge disgorge its load. The Class 180 stopped at the far end of platform 11, allowing the human wave to flood along the platform and also swamp the bridge over to platform 8.

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Now I understand why this train’s such a valuable service!09:15.I’m now on the way to London aboard LNER’s 08:45 to Kings Cross which is dashing through the wet Yorkshire countryside at a very respectable pace. It’s not too busy so I’ve managed to bag a table, plug in the laptop and set to work.

10:20.

The rain’s never let up all the way, now we’re speeding towards Huntingdon after calling at a very damp Peterborough where there were more puddles than passengers.The railway in this neck of the woods is rather different to my experiences this morning. You’ll still get single car Class 153s at Peterborough, but this stretch of the East Coast Main line’s dominated by 8-12 car Class 700s from Siemens and LNER expresses. The shortest trains you’ll see now are the Class 180s used by open access operators Hull Trains and Grand Central. I must admit I’m looking forward to sampling LNER’s new Hitachi built Azuma’s when they enter service later this month.10:44.We’ve just sped through Welwyn Garden City where more new trains are evident. A Siemens built Class 717 was waiting to return to London on a Moorgate working. They’re such an improvement over the old 313s, which I don’t think many passengers will be sorry to see the back of.

12:12.

Due to the power of social media and serendipity I’ve just had a meeting with an old friend and RAIL colleague Richard Clinnick as we were both passing through Kings Cross – albeit in different directions!Now I’ve headed across London on something a little bigger and busier than my first train of the day.

I’m now at the Rail Delivery Group offices in Aldersgate for a meeting. It’s an area I used to know well but for a very different reason. It was during my days in housing, when I was on the board of the old National Federation of Housing Co-ops.

13:56.

After a successful meeting I came out of RDG to find the weather was breaking and the sun was making a bid to shine. This made me head over to Euston to get some pictures of the Hs2 work that’s in full swing. Ironically, I’ll now be back here again on an assignment. Demolitions are ramping up. A few months ago this was the site of the old ‘Bree Louise’ pub and hotels.

Whilst I was here I bumped into a rather sad little StopHs2 demonstration outside the Euston Tap. Apparently, a couple of people had ended up here after walking the length of the Phase 1 route. A tiny group of no more than a couple of dozen folk,including Joe Rukin and the inflatable elephant, some paid lobbyists from the ‘Taxpayers Alliance’ and a trio of ‘Extinction Rebellion’ placard wavers were here to greet them and try to drum up media interest. Needless to say, they were vastly outnumbered by the people wearing Hs2 high vis who are gainfully employed on the project! It was all rather farcical. The genuine protesters (not paid lobbyists, media or hangers on) were almost exclusively retired. When you consider that 6.5 million folk live on the route of Hs2 and this (in one of their supposed strongholds, Camden) was the best they could do…

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The guy in the green ‘Taxpayers Alliance’ windcheater was one of several at the demonstration. The TPA is a political lobbying group that refuses to admit who funds it. One thing’s for sure, it’s not ordinary taxpayers!

14:29.

I left the sad spectacle of the Stop Hs2 flop behind by catching a train from Euston Northwards as far as Bletchley, for a trip across to Bedford on one of the new Vivarail class 230s.

16:21.

Sadly, it wasn’t to be. The 15:51 departure to Bedford failed with a defective power unit and had to be swapped. This took over half an hour – in the middle of a thunder and hailstorm! So, rather than tempt the fates further I changed plans and caught a train to Milton Keynes after getting a few pictures. It was a shame as I had chance to have a look around the train before it was declared a failure. Vivarail have done a really good job with them. The interiors are very smart, they look comfortable, have a range of seating as well as plenty of power points and USB sockets.

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17:13.

Now I’m speeding towards Manchester on a rather different conveyance, one of Alstom’s 11 car Pendolino’s. I don’t get to travel on them anywhere near as much as I used to, but their performance never fails to impress – or the way they tilt through curves.

18:32.

Back in Manchester.

22:08.

I’m now back in the bosom of Yorkshire and bringing this blog to a close. See you all tomorrow!