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Tag Archives: Scotland

Rolling blog: the Talgo tango…

09 Tuesday Oct 2018

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

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It’s going to be a looong couple of days that will take in Wales, England and Scotland, but I’m here in Cardiff ready for the first press conference where Spanish train builder Talgo are ready to announce the shortlisted sites for the factory they intend to build here in the UK. I’ll be blogging throughout the day, so stay tuned.

Here’s the view from the room in the St David’s hotel where we’re holding the event.

The shortlisted site in Wales is at Mostyn, a port on the North Wales coast.

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From L-R, Jim o’ Toole, MD of Mostyn port. Jon Veitch, UK MD, Talgo and Carlos de Palacio, President of Talgo

You can read more about what we’re up to in this article on the RAIL website. Here’s Rail’s Richard Clinnick having an exclusive interview with Jon Veitch.

11:34

Phew! We’re all packed up and the 5 of us are off to the second event of the day. We’re travelling on a Cross-country service to Birmingham, where the English part of the shortlist will be announced. These are sites at Chesterfield, St Helens and Leeds

Whilst we’ve been travelling, the news has broken that two sites in Scotland have been shortlisted, these are Longannet and Hunterston.

13:50.

We’re ready to rock and roll in Birmingham now. The stage has been set..

Oh, and the views out of the windows are amazing!

Now we’re waiting for the rest of the guests to arrive. Here’s material produced by two of the potential English sites. St Helens and Chesterfield.

17:10.

The Birmingham event was very well received. Here’s a couple of pictures.

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Carlos de Palacio, President of Talgo, speaking in Birmingham

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L-R Sir Simon Hughes, Talgo Strategic UK Advisor, Jon Veitch, UK MD, Talgo and Carlos de Palacio, President of Talgo

19:23.

We’re now over the border and heading for Edinburgh aboard a Virgin Pendolino. It’s been a fascinating day but we’re all looking forward to getting to our hotel. Tomorrow the fun and games starts again with a series of radio interviews before the main event.

Because of this – and for the sake of continuity I’m going to roll this blog over into tomorrow. Right now I’m going to enjoy a glass of wine and catch up with the world..

Meanwhile, next to me, Carlos, Simon and Jon are doing the same and chatting about the day.

Day 2

10:00

We’re all set up and ready for the Scottish event which is being held in a hotel with a fabulous view. I took this from the balcony of my room this morning!

Here’s the event set up to go. As well as being the Talgo photographer I’ve been mucking in to do the stage setting. Here’s one I made earlier…

11:57

Phew! Event over!

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It’s been a very hectic few days but also hugely enjoyable. I’ve learned a lot about Talgo and I’m looking forward to visiting their Spanish factories in the future. Right now I’m looking forward to a few days at home in order to catch up with some writing and picture editing.

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Pausing for breath – but only momentarily…

07 Sunday Oct 2018

Posted by in ACoRP, Railways, Scotland, Travel

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After a fantastic few days up in Scotland at the ACoRP awards and some of the wonderful events that Scotrail (and Abellio) arranged for us I’m back at home for a night. The awards was a brilliant showcase for community rail that attracted the biggest audience since its inception in 2005 with over 470 folk attending. I’ll blog about it in greater detail soon, but for now, here’s a few pictures from the night.

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The tables are set, ready for the 470 guests to arrive…

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Just some of the people who won awards that night…

I’m now back in the bosom of West Yorkshire – but not for long! Whilst I was in Scotland I was commissioned for a new project that will see me on the road again tomorrow. I’ve got to be in Cardiff tomorrow evening ready for an event on Tuesday morning. After that, we head up to Birmingham, then I’m back in Glasgow before finally getting home on Wednesday. I’ll flesh out more detail later. In the meantime, here’s a few other shots from Scotland after a trip out to Gourock and the ferry across to Kilcreggan.

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Rolling blog: the fun begins…

03 Wednesday Oct 2018

Posted by in ACoRP, Railways, Rolling blogs, Scotland, Travel

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I’m currently sat on a Pendolino heading for Glasgow in readiness for tomorrow’s annual ACoRP awards. We’ve got a hectic programme of events over the next few days which have been laid on by our friends at Scotrail and Transport Scotland. First up is a civic reception at Glasgow city chambers this evening. Tomorrow we’re on one of the fabulous Glasgow Central station tours (a real must if you’re ever in the city) before the main event – the awards ceremony itself.

On Friday we’re off for a trip on the Borders railway, so you’ll be seeing plenty of pictures in the next few days. Here’s the first one, taken when we changed trains at Preston – I wasn’t expecting this!

‘Black 5’ 44871 was one of the locomotives used to haul the last steam service on British Railways, the Fifteen Guinea Special on 11th August 1968. It was withdrawn from service the following day.

14:48.

Well, we’ve arrived in Glasgow and picked up our Scotrail passes, goody bags and guides.

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16:20

Plans have changed slightly due to a technical issue, so I’ve had some free time and chance to wander down to Glasgow Queen St station. Like many in the UK. it’s undergoing extensive modernisation. Now it’s also the place to find the latest Scotrail EMU’s, Hitachi’s Class 385s. Here’s a couple of shots.

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This evening we went on to a civic reception hosted by the Deputy Lord Provost of Glasgow, Bailie Philip Braat, who welcomed us to the city. This was held at the magnificent Glasgow City chambers. Here’s a few photos from the event.

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From L-R James Ledgerwood, Head of Economic & Community Development at Scotrail, Deputy Lord Provost of Glasgow, Bailie Philip Braat and Brian Barnsley, Deputy Chief Exec of ACoRP at the reception.

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The end of the line beckons for Scotrail’s Class 314 EMUs

26 Wednesday Sep 2018

Posted by in Class 314s, Rail Moderinsation, Railways, Scotland, Scotrail

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This week Scotrail have announced the withdrawal of three of their fleet of sixteen BR built Class 314 3-car EMUs that have been a familiar sight around Glasgow for the past 38 years, 314207, 314212 and 314213 are now off-lease and will be returned to their ROSCO for disposal. The rest of the Class will follow as soon as they can be released by the arrival of more Hitachi Class 385 EMUs, which will allow other vehicles to be cascaded

The 314s were constructed at York in 1979-80 to the same design as the earlier Class 313s and 315s plus the 750v 3rd rail Class 507s and 508s. What was unique is that unlike the others, they have a top speed of 70mph rather than 75. Built with aluminium bodies and roofs on a steel underframes they were a step change from earlier BR design EMUs. The design followed on from the experimental PEP units of the 1970s. Here’s a look back at each member of the class and some of the places they visited.

DG108144. 314201. Mount Florida. 29.3.12.

On the 29th March 2012 the first of the class approaches Mount Florida station on the Cathcart circle in South Glasgow

DG21205. 314202. Cathcart. 8.4.09.

Back on the 8th April 2009 314202 calls at Cathcart, heading anti-clockwise on the circle.

DG108141. 314203. Mount Florida. 29.3.12.

On the 29th March 2012 314203 in the new Saltire livery leaves Mount Florida with a service to Neilston. This unit’s unusual in that the lead car was rebuilt from a Class 507 vehicle (no 64426) in 1996 as the original 64588 was scrapped after being written off in the Newton rail crash of 1991.

DG150985. 314204. Paisley Canal. 14.6.13.

14th June 2013. 314204 stands at the end of the Paisley Canal branch with a service to Glasgow Central.

DG147891. 314205. Glasgow Central. 15.5.13.

It’s the 15th May 2013 ad 314205 waits to leave the magnificent Glasgow Central station with a Cathcart circle service via Maxwell Park.

DG21295. 314206. Glasgow Central. 9.4.09.

A busy time at Glasgow Central on the 9th April 2009 as 314206 arrives with a service from Neilston.

DG21211. 314207. Cathcart. 8.4.09.

Back to the 8th April 2009 when 314207 is dropping off passengers at Cathcart station on its way to Neilston. As one of the first three sets to come off-lease its next journey is likely to be to the scrapyard.

DG147965. 314208. Glasgow Central. 15.5.13.

On the 15th May 2013 314208 has just arrived at Glasgow Central from Paisley Canal. This line had only been electrified the previous year, allowing the 314s to add it to their sphere of operation.

DG21410. 314209. Glasgow Shields Rd. 9.4.09.

The 314s have spent their life based at Glasgow’s Shields Rd depot. Here’s 314209 receiving an exam inside the depot on the 9th April 2009.

DG107942. 314210. Wemyss Bay. 28.3.12.

The 314s did sometimes venture outside Glasgow, one such place was the superb station at Wemyss Bay, to the West of the city on the coast of the Firth of Clyde.  Here’s 314210 at the town on the 28th March 2012.

DG147810. 314211. Glasgow Central. 15.5.13.

Another of the class that lost the attractive Carmine and Cream livery for the Saltire livery is 314211. Here it is leaving Glasgow Central with a Cathcart circle working on the 15th May 2013.

DG21192. 314212. Patterton. 8.4.09.

The second of the off-lease trio is 314212. Here it is at Patterton on the Neilston branch on the 8th April 2009 whilst working back to Glasgow.

DG107825. 314213. Glasgow Central. 28.3.12.

Also off-lease now is 314213. On the 28th March 2012 it could be found threading its way through the maze of tracks on the approach to Glasgow Central whilst working a Neilston branch service.

DG108133. 314214. Newton. 29.3.12.

Another service covered by 314s was the route from Central to Newton on the East side of Glasgow. Here’s 314214 at the end of the route on the 29th March 2012.

DG121362. 314215. Glasgow Central. 16.8.12.

After being a familiar scene for nearly 40 years, this sight will soon be history. On the 16th August 2012, 314215 approaches Glasgow Central.

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The final member of the Class, 314216 at Glasgow Central on the 9th October 2016

Here’s a couple of internal views of the 314s, which were very much in original form. The yellow panelling was shared throughout the various classes from the 313s onwards. The seating has changed in other units but the 314s retained their original low-back 3+2 seating arrangement. These views date from April 2009.

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DG21185. Interior. Scotrail Class 314. 8.4.09..JPG

Time to get my breath back – if only for a moment.

10 Monday Sep 2018

Posted by in Musings, Railways, Scotland, Travel

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Phew! After 8 days continuous travel around the UK by train it felt rather odd to be sleeping in our own bed and not having to head off anywhere this morning. Instead, the furthest I’ve had to travel has been from the bedroom to the kitchen and then my office at the back of the house. I’ve spent the day writing the first of the trilogy from my trip, plus editing the pictures and catching up on all the bits of life I couldn’t whilst out on the rails. It’s also great to be eating home-cooked food again, rather than living off sandwiches and supermarket meals.

I’ll be trying to get back to blogging again ASAP. It’s not that I’ve nothing to talk about or pictures to show – anything but as yesterday was a fascinating trip down the Fife coast after leaving Perth. Here’s a couple of shots to whet your appetites.

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Harvest time in the kingdom of Fife.

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Crossing the River Tay on the railway bridge

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A lovely poem on display at Kirkcaldy railway station

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The original Burntisland railway station. Opened in 1847 it was the site of the worlds first train ferry until it was made redundant by the opening of the Forth Rail bridge in 1890. Derelict for many years, it now houses artist studios and community groups. 

The difficulty (as always) is time. I’ve got the next two days at home, then Dawn and I are off to the National Rail Awards in London as VIP guests. After working there since 2003 as the event photographer, that’s going to feel very different. On Friday we’ll return home for some time with friends back in Halifax, but I’ll be on the road again later on Saturday as I’m off to Innotrans, the massive rail trade show in Germany from Sunday – Friday. Expect a few blogs from there!

In the meantime, I’ll be finishing my RAIL articles, doing my best to add all the recent pictures to my Zenfolio website – and also have some down time – somewhere (somehow).

Rolling blog: Caledonian interlude.

31 Tuesday Jul 2018

Posted by in Railways, Rolling blogs, Scotland, Travel

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Greetings from Glasgow! After a convivial night in the city we’re ready to go judging again. We stayed in an Ibis in the city centre. It’s a nice hotel, but the views aren’t up to much!

There’s only one station to visit today before Paul C and I head off in different directions and I begin to wend my way back to Yorkshire. I’m not sure which way I’m going as it depends on the weather, which seems to be on an East-West divide today. There’s a few things I’d like to have a look at, so we’ll see. Scotland’s investing a lot of money in its rail network so there’s lots of changes to check out.

Right, we’re off…

09:18.

Our first train of the day is a refurbished Scotrail Class 158 fitted with high-backed seats and plug/USB sockets.

11.15

We’ve completed out visit and I’m now back in Glasgow. We’ve only a handful of stations left to judge now but both of us agree this is the toughest year for us to judge so far as the standard of the entries is so high.

As I crossed the city from Central to Queen St I stopped to admire a fine old Glasgow tradition which is clearly thriving! I especially like the stash of spare cones.

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13:20

I hung around Glasgow for a little while getting pictures before catching one of Scotrail’s brand new Hitachi built Class 385 EMU’s to Edinburgh. The Scotrail Twitter account was more than happy to let me know which services the pair that are in traffic were working, so here I am.

First impressions are good. We’re currently bowling along to Falkirk High and I’ve my laptop set up, plugged into the between seat power socket and connected to the onboard wifi. I’m in the front car of the second set. The acceleration of these trains is certainly good. The internal ambience isn’t bad either. The lighting’s not too bright, the seats are comfortable and the tables are large and certainly sturdy. Legroom in the airline seats is good and the seatback tables are solid, with a useful lip around the edge (with a depression for a cup to stop it sliding). There are a couple of things I’ve noticed. The toilet’s out of order in my vehicle (444104) and there’s a whistling noise from the door seals when we’re at speed. The suspension seems a tad harsh too. The PIS is a bit basic compared to the Siemens Class 700/707 too, it’s a simple, scrolling dot-matrix system that tells you the time and what station you’re arriving at next, plus your final destination. I do like the seat moquette on the priority seats adjacent to the doors. They have a different motif which feature pregnant women and those with children, the elderly and folks with injuries! Signage is good, although the seat numbers (which are displayed on the walls above the seats) are tiny and very difficult to see – even close up. If seat reservations will be used they’ll have to be the good old fashioned paper kind as there’s no electronic system provided.

I walked through into the leading set (385003) to see if there was any difference and noticed that the door whistling I’d noticed earlier was a one-off. This set was perfect. Looking around both sets I was impressed with the construction of the trains, they’re solid and well-made. I think they’re going to be a real hit with passengers.

Here’s a selection of pictures showing what the 385s look like from the inside.

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A table bay of four. Note the slots in the top of the seats for paper reservation labels and the fact that (like nearly all modern trains) seats don’t align perfectly with windows. The seats have folding armrests and there’s a power socket (one between two) located just under the front of each pair.

 

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Seating at the back of one of the driving cars in set 385104. There’s tip up seats on the opposite side by the toilet and the area’s designated as bicycle storage. Note the seat back tables for the airline seats.

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There’s five tip-up seats in the bicycle storage area which is clearly marked as such.

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One of the door areas in 385014. The door controls are at a height that anyone can use them. Note the difference in seat moquette. The seat to the left is designated as priority seating.

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Imaginative moquette on priority seating gets the message across!

 

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The vestibules are roomy and feature lots of curves rather than just straight lines. Beyond is the disabled access toilet.

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Inside the disabled toilet, showing the features which include a baby changing table.

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There’s space for two wheelchairs on the opposite side of the vestibule to the disabled access toilet. Note the tip back tables, power sockets and flip up companion seats.

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Seats aren’t cantilevered off the body side, but there’s still plenty of space underneath. Note the position of the power socket.

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Coathangers are an odd one. Not every seat seems to have one. Hitachi tell me that 2 are provided for every bay of 4, whilst airline seats have one each on the back of the seat in front. 

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The number 15 is actually the seat number. I hope these are only temporary as – unlike the rest of the signage – they’re very poor, extremely difficult to see and aren’t self explanatory. Hitachi tell me that these are temporary and for reference by the engineers bedding in the trains.  

DG304291. 385104. Edinburgh Waverley. 31.7.18

385104 after arrival at Edinburgh. Note the difference in the two front windows…

DG304286. 385003. 385104. Edinburgh Waverley. 31.7.18

Spot the difference…

 

Rolling blog: Northbound again (Sorry Dire Straits!)

30 Monday Jul 2018

Posted by in ACoRP, Railways, Rolling blogs, Scotland, Travel

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No rest for the wicked! My Sunday was spent visiting two different stations in Lancashire and Yorkshire with my Paul Cook, my fellow ACoRP awards judge. As one of them had no trains (the route was shut due to Bolton line electrification work) my wife Dawn ended up acting as chauffeur.

We couldn’t have chosen a worse day to drive! The weather had broken over the weekend so Dawn had the ‘joy’ of driving on the M62 and 61 motorways when you could have water-ski’d on them.

At one point we nearly did as we hit a huge sheet of water on the M61. Thankfully Dawn’s an experienced driver and kept her cool – tho’ the steering wheel did have finger marks in it afterwards! Fortunately, the weather began to break during our first visit and the drive back over to Yorkshire was far less tense.

Visits over we adjourned to the nearby Robin Hood pub in Cragg Vale to discuss the visits over one of their excellent Sunday lunches before going our seperate ways.

This morning I’m back on the rails and heading for Carlisle via Preston as Paul and I have stations to judge in Scotland. The weather’s still changeable but I’m not complaining. We desperately needed the rain and some more wouldn’t go amiss.

11:34.

I’m now in Carlisle, waiting for my ‘partner in crime’ to catch up with me. I’m currently enjoying a coffee under the station roof which was restored to its former magnificence in 2017.

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Carlisle station is now another on the network to be graced with a station bar called the ‘301 Miles‘ which serves an excellent range of draught and bottled beers (plus food) in a high vaulted room with a pair of superb old fireplaces and memorabilia about the railways, beer – and the  city itself.

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15:35.

Station visit done we’re now on the outskirts of Glasgow after heading up the GSW route from Dumfries via Kilmarnock.

22:55.

So many things I could have added today, but socialising with old friends got in the way – and don’t even ask about discussions on a Scottish view on Brexit! Tomorrow’s another day…

 

Footloose…

25 Wednesday Jul 2018

Posted by in ACoRP, I love my job, Scotland, Travel

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Sorry for the lack of a blog yesterday. It’s not that I wasn’t doing anything. Far from it – I ended up following the sunshine to Blackpool (of all places) to try and get pictures for two different clients. You’ll see some of the fruits of my labours on my website just as soon as I can upload them. Today I’ve been in Sconny Botland again, with the same sort of mission. The weather was far better than the forecast predicted. I ended up walking miles to research some locations so I’ve had a pretty good physical workout as well as getting pictures. Right now i’m coming full circle. I went from Halifax to Preston to Glasgow via the WCML before checking out locations on EGIP (Edinburgh- Glasgow Electrification Programne). Now I’m returning via the East Coast and York (plus Leeds).

Here’s what the view at Berwick looked like.

It’s funny the places you (unintentionally) end up in this game. After getting some lineside shots I was walking back to the road and spotted this. I’d never even heard of the event before now.

There’s an irony to this today as earlier a UKIP MEP and Brexit zealot called for the treason laws to be revised so that wanting to remain in the EU would be classed as treasonable!

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This is how far some folk in the UK have completely lost the plot.

Right, bedtime for me now. It’s been a long and sweaty day where my Fitbit stats don’t really reflect what I’ve been up to as they don’t account for the weight of my camera bag!

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Tomorrow I’m off judging stations tomorrow, but expect a big photo update by the end of the day, Meanwhile, here’s a teaser. The new Hitachi Class 385s have finally gone into service this week.

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Rolling blog: North of the Border (down Glasgow way).

17 Tuesday Jul 2018

Posted by in Railways, Rolling blogs, Scotland, Travel, Virgin West Coast

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I’m currently heading up to Scotland as part of a recce for a job and to get some library pictures. Only to say that it’s all going a bit pear-shaped is an understatement!

The trip started well. My train from Sowerby Bridge to Preston was worked by a pair of ex-GWR Class 153s and I had no trouble securing a table on which to set up my laptop and do some work en-route. The ex-GWR units are comfortable enough and the journey flew. At Preston I managed to race across platforms to catch the 09:41 Virgin service to Glasgow. Congratulating myself on making the connection I looked for somewhere to sit and found the train was only around 30% full, making it easy to get a seat with a table and power socket in Coach C. I even treated myself to a ‘meal deal’ for £5.50 as I hadn’t had time to have breakfast. To catch up on some work I bought myself the £10 for 7 days wifi access, but I have to say the speeds are a bit pedestrian. The wifi was good when it was first introduced, but now that the world and his wife’s carrying a gizmo that can connect to it, it’s far too overloaded, and sloooowww…

Bowling North through under some turbulent skies everything was fine until we got to Carlisle where we sat, and sat and sat. Eventually the Train Manager came on the PA (apologised for not having done earlier) and explained a combination of a fault on the train and a signalling problem had delayed us by 25 minutes. Finally, we were on the move and I enjoyed watching the Scottish borderlands fly by and the weather improve. Then we came to a halt outside Carstairs…

Very quickly the Train Manager was back on the PA. You could hear the pain in his voice as he explained that there was another signalling fault ahead and that we were expected to be delayed by another 30 minutes. His apologies were profuse.

So here we sit. It’s 12.20. I should have been in Glasgow 21 minutes ago…

12:22.

We’re on the move, but how far? As we crawl closer to Carstairs I can see another Pendolino slowly rounding the curve from the station towards Edinburgh. We’ve passed another heading South in the station and now we’re free and accelerating to line-speed. Phew!

19:26.

Well, I made it to Glasgow and hour late, which rather cut down on what I was planning to do as this was a flying visit after all. Still, I did get chance to have a look at the work that’s being done to improve Glasgow Queen St – which really has made a  huge difference to how it looks. The awful 1960’s buildings that boxed it in have been demolished, so now it’s possible to appreciate the span of the roof – in the same process that’s made such a huge difference to Liverpool Lime St station.

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Goodbye to all that…The arch of Glasgow Queen St emerges from the ruins. Note the North British lettering on the building in the background

I also managed a quick trip on a ‘happy train’, which is the nickname given to the Class 365 EMUs that are on short term lease to Scotrail whilst the technical issues with Hitachi’s new EMU’s are sorted out. I’m a fan of the 365 as I used them all the time when I lived in London. To my mind they’re the best of the BR built EMUs. I was impressed with their performance in Scotland as I took one as far as Falkirk High. They go like stink! On the return I travelled on a modern Siemens Class 380. The passenger ambience is better as they have a/c, plug sockets and bigger tables, but the acceleration was little different.

DG302886. 365509. 365537. Falkirk High. 17.7.18

Ex-GTR Class 365 ‘happy trains’ No’s 365537 and 365509 call at Falkirk High whilst working a service from Glasgow to Edinburgh

Now I’m heading back South on the 17:40 Pendolino. I’d loved to have stayed in Scotland longer but I’m back on ACoRP judging duty for the next three days and I’ve got to get home and back as I’m off to Dawlish in the morning!

20:24

I’m kicking my heels in Preston waiting for my connection, so there’s time to use the wifi and upload a few pictures. I’m kicking myself as it’s been a beautiful evening which would have been ideal for some lineside pictures, but I’ve no time to spare…