Yesterday I took advantage of the weather to take a look at TRU work at the locations mentioned above. Here’s a selection of shots from my travels.
A Liverpool – Hull TPE class 802 sweeps through Deighton. The new station is being built on the site of the old behind the bridge (itself being replaced) in the background. The new Fast lines will be laid to the left of the picture.Here’s the new Leeds Rd bridge the previous picture was taken from. When fully open it will contain two lanes for vehicles, cycle lanes and footpaths. The old bridge is behind the barriers to the right of the picture. Bradley Junction, where the single line chord to/from Brighouse joins the Trans-Pennine route. The junction and all other lines have been renewed in recent blockades. Preparations for laying the new Fast lines to the left have reached the stage where the original formation has been dug down ready for membrane to be laid before ballasting up to the required level to allow sleepers to be laid. I’ve zoomed in to show the new single span steel Colliery footbridge which replaced the old double arch stone bridge which can be seen in the next picture which was taken last year. The new bridge isn’t open to the public yet, but it’ll make a fine vantage point when it is. Looking in the opposite direction at Bradley Junction. Yet another new bridge can be seen in the background. The same view as 802211 working 9E09, the 0953 Manchester Piccadilly to Newcastle speeds past some of the new OLE masts which have been installed during previous possessions. Here’s a view from the West side of Deighton where four-tracks have been installed. The tracks to the right (which will be the Fast lines) were the original lines. The 802 is running on the newly laid track. In the background the platforms and footbridge lift tower of the new Deighton station are taking shape. Welcome to the UKs newest four-track main line! Here’s a view looking towards Huddersfield as 185147 working 2U47, the 1101 Manchester Piccadilly to York traverses the new tracks.A view from the new footbridge at Huddersfield looking along the viaduct to the East of the station. The new Fast lines will be laid across the right of the viaduct whilst the new through platforms are taking shape behind the camera to the left. A wider shot to the last showing the new platform canopies and extended platforms at Huddersfield.Work continues to build the new island platform. The walls are partially in place, now they’re being filled in to platform level. Looking across the site of the new island platform. This area was once the stabling sidings. Work continues on refurbishing the main trainshed roof. Worthy of note are the counterweights in the foreground. These were used on one of the stations water columns used for topping up steam engines!
If you want to browse other pictures of upgrade work I have a gallery dedicated to the TRU on my Zenfolio website, just follow this link. You’ll find photographs going back as far as the start of the project in 2021.
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One of Merseyrail’s battery fitted Class 777s at the end of the line at Headbolt Lane station which opened in October 2023. This section from Kirkby isn’t fitted with electrified 3rd rail, hence the need for battery-electric trains to bridge the gap. 7 of the 53 strong fleet have been fitted with batteries in order to run the service which runs every 15 minutes, taking just 20 minutes to reach Liverpool Central. The yellow poster with an X on it in the cab window indicates that this unit can’t work in multiple coupled to another set. Meanwhile, over on the Wirral. Here’s Rock Ferry station, which used to be the terminus of Merseyrail electric services until 1985 when the 3rd rail was extended to Hooton, Chester and Ellesmere port. Before then, electric services used the two platforms to the left of the picture (now only used for stabling) whilst a diesel DMU shuttle ran to Chester and Helsby on the centre lines. There used to be six platforms here. On the far right were two more on the old GWR route from Birkenhead Woodside, which closed in 1967. Those lines were still used for freight to/from Birkenhead docks until 1993. They’re now disused. As you can see, the station is about to be fitted with lifts to make the Southbound (Chester) platform accessibleNow here’s a mystery! I spotted this at Birkenhead Central. It looks suspiciously like a trip-cock. A signal protection system used on the London Underground. I’ve never heard of (or seen) these being used on Merseyrail before, so I wonder if any reader can explain. A Northern Class 323 at Liverpool Lime St. These 1992-95 built trains never used to escape the Manchester area to make it as far as Liverpool until recently, when the fleet was strengthened with surplus units transferred North from the West Midlands. Originally, the plan was to keep them in service until the early 2030s. Now they’re all due to be replaced in 2027 as Northern are acquiring the fleet of stored Class 350/2s. Enjoy them whilst you can…The tower and clock of one of Liverpool’s classic palatial pubs – the Vines on Lime St. The interior is even more striking than the exterior.
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Friday saw me travel back from Southport to West Yorkshire, swapping the coast for the hills and sunshine for cloudy weather – along with a significant drop in temperature!
I was in no rush to get back as Dawn was busy working all day so I had plenty of time to soak up the sun, stretch my legs and get in some exercise before catching the train. I’ve really enjoyed staying at my sisters and reacquainting myself with the town I grew up in (but left so long ago). Splitting my time between between Southport and Halifax gives me the best of both worlds. I’ve lots of stories in the bank to blog about when I have time. But for now I’ve other things in mind.
Dragging my suitcase and camera kit to Meols Cop station I caught a type of train from another chapter of my life – my 25 years living in London, when the Thameslink Class 319s often carried me around the capital. Now, most have gone for scrap, but a few have been converted to bi-mode (diesel and electric) Class 769s which are a staple on Northern services from Southport to Stalybridge and Manchester Oxford Rd.
Once, these 100mph electric trains carried passengers from Bedford, though central London to Brighton. Now they’re seeing out their retirement as bi-mode units, but still working from city to coast – just a very different city and very different coast! Here’s 769434 arriving at Meols Cop, a station in Southport which is well looked after by local station friends.
They’re a definite improvement in quality compared to the old 1980s built Class 150s which are also regulars on the route. Especially as they still have the former 1st Class area with its roomy 2+1 seating, making them ideal to sit back and relax in as the rich farmland of the West Lancashire plain trundles past the window before we call at Parbold where the landscape becomes more hilly. By Wigan the landscape changes again, as the route onwards to Bolton was dominated by the mines and cotton mills of the industrial revolution. Nowadays all the pits have disappeared, as have many of the mills, and the scars on the landscape they left behind are gradually healing.
On arrival at Manchester Victoria I swapped the comfort of my 4-car Class 769 for a rammed 2-car Class 195 which was working a Chester-Leeds service. This was totally inadequate for the numbers travelling but Northern seem to have problems with short-formed services at the moment. I’m glad that I don’t have to do this part of the trip every day as I ended up standing all the way back to Sowerby Bridge. Fortunately, Dawn was available to pick me up as pulling a suitcase a mile uphill whilst wearing a 12kg camera bag is a bit of a minority sport!
Now I have a full day back at Bigland Towers before we’re on the move again – but not by train this time. The pair of us are driving down to Devon where we’ll be staying with friends for a week. Hopefully, I’ll find time to blog. They may not be wordy, but they’ll certainly contain some different pictures of a part of the UK I’ve not visited for many years.
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Apologies for absence but I’ve had little time to blog these past few days. After the CRN awards on Thursday night there was little rest for the wicked (despite the late finish) as we were off early the next morning, joining a special train laid on by East Midlands railway as part of the celebrations. Our destination was the Barrow Hill roundhouse near Chesterfield, traversing a line that normally only sees freight trains. About forty hardy souls took the trip to enjoy a guided tour around the site which is now a commercial and operational railway depot with a museum (the roundhouse) attached. We were lucky enough to be shown around by the museum’s founder Mervyn Allcock and get a sneak preview of Barrow Hill’s brand-new £6m research centre building.
Catching the special train back to Chesterfield Dawn and I headed home whilst the rest of the group were treated to a George Stephenson tour (he’s buried in Chesterfield). I needed to get back as my work wasn’t finished. I’d still a huge number of pictures from the awards to edit and prepare. In the digital age post editing is almost as big a job as actually taking the pictures. Gone are the days when you just handed over some rolls of film that you’d had developed!
Saturday saw us take a little time off and nip out to enjoy the sunshine and a meal at the Olive Branch near Marsden in the Colne valley, which made a nice break. Then it was back to the grindstone until today when I had the decks cleared of pictures and (just as importantly) invoices!
Now I’m sitting at home listening to the wind roaring around the cottage as the weather’s taken another turn for the worse with heavy rain and gales, which meant my daily constitutional was rather cut short this afternoon. I don’t mind walking in the wind, but when it’s whipping horizontal rain at you that’s a different matter! But, tomorrow’s another day, so lets see what it brings. Chaos, probably as that seems to be the prevailing mood thanks to the madman in the White House….
In the meantime, here’s a few images from the past few days.
The view from a train ordinary passengers don’t get to see – only Drivers and Conductors. We were given access to the rear cab in order to catch views like this of the Victorian Clay Cross tunnel entrance with its imposing towers and crenellations.Inside the new 2-road research shed at Barrow Hill. Behind the camera is the new offices areas that can be used for a variety of training and research. Seen on Saturday near Marsden. A Trans-Pennine Express service makes its way East through the Colne valley.
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Another working week begins, but this one’s different due to our change of location. In truth, today wasn’t that different for Dawn as she had to head back to Halifax and work from our real home for various reasons. For once Dee had a real commute rather than just wandering across the landing for the bedroom to the office!
I stayed behind in the Todmorden ‘annexe’ to look after our feline charge, although to be fair to Luna, she doesn’t take much looking after. Being a young female cat (just a big kitten, really) she’s very independent, doesn’t crave much attention and spends most of her time outside. My main task is to keep here fed and ensure she doesn’t get up to mischief in the house.
As the weather here is so closed in, with very low clouds and mist, I wasn’t going to be venturing far anyway. Plus, most of Todmorden’s closed on a Monday, which adds to a general feeling of isolation. Undeterred, I went for a wander to at least try and get a few photos, despite the murk, and check out a few new photographic possibilities – just in case the weather does pick up. I also wanted to get a shot of the only scheduled freight service via the Copy Pit line to Burnley which is a limestone train from Shap in Cumbria to Drax power and the return empties. The loaded train only runs on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but the empties are scheduled to run Monday to Friday.
Long gone are the days when there would be banking engines based at Todmorden to assist heavy coal trains up the line to Burnley. The engines vanished at the end of steam traction in the late 1960s and the coal trains a couple of decades later. Until recently there was a regular oil train between Lindsay oil refinery in Lincolnshire to Preston docks, but that finished last year. Now, there’s just the stone train. So, I thought I’d try and get a picture for posterity. Only the bloody thing was cancelled! Still, I did manage a few other shots, as you’ll see here…
The classic view of Tod over the rooftops, with two trains passing on the viaduct. As you can see, the weather was less than ideal…Taken at the same location, a Headbolt Lane (Kirkby) to Blackburn service crosses Stansfield Hall Jn on the Todmorden curve which was only reopened in May 2015. Before then a short spur had been retained as a siding for banking engines, but it hadn’t been used for decades. Nearby is Hall Royd Jn where the line to/from Burnley (on the left) joins the Calder valley line. Here’s a DB Cargo Class 66 working an empty Tees Yard to Knowsley (Merseyside) empty ‘binliner’. It’s Monday, so the shops are (mostly) shut, including this cafe in the lovely former Co-op building. ‘Tod’ does have its bohemian elements, hence this book repository fixed to a telegraph pole on one of the backstreets. Having climbed the hill behind the town I found this gap in the trees for a more elevated view of the viaduct. Now, if the weather would only clear…
As the clouds closed in I returned to our temporary home to warm up and make the place cosy for when Dawn got back. I think Luna appreciated my efforts too!
Tomorrow’s weather isn’t expected to be any better than today, but I’m going to have another crack at that stone train…
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Yesterday (Thursday) the sun shone bright here in West Yorkshire, making a change from the dank and dismal weather which seems to be the norm nowadays. It spurred me on to get out and about for a few hours to look at some of the Trans-Pennine Route Upgrade work sites that I hadn’t visited this year, as well as some I’ve been popping into regularly. I was also driven by the fact Ravensthorpe station closes this weekend so that the site can be cleared for the new fast lines flyover. Here’s a selection of pictures from the day.
802204 speeds through Batley as 1K16, the 1103 Hull to Liverpool Lime Street, passing the platform extensions which are being added to both Up and Down line platforms at the North end. Looking down on Batley station from Soothill Lane bridge. It’s hard to believe this was once a junction, with the GNR Chicken Heath branch running off to the left towards Ossett.A 1915 OS map shows the station and goods yard. The dingy Batley station subway is due to be replaced by a footbridge with lifts which is being constructed at the Southern end of the platforms. I’ll span the tracks between the two lamp posts on the right. Meanwhile, at Ravensthorpe, hardcore is being laid between the two side walls of the flyover. This will be the location of the slewed lines to/from Healy Mills.Foundations of the Northern wall of the flyover are almost complete. A last view of Ravensthorpe station which closes this weekend. 150215 approaches with a service from Leeds to Bradford Interchange. That’s progress! Here’s the new bridges over the Calder and Hebble navigation. Since I visited on the 25th November two of the Eastern side girders have been put into place. A closer view of the two new girders. The pillar nearest the camera waits to receive its girder, which is already hooked up to the crane nearby. Passing under the new girders. The last train I’ll ever catch from the old Ravensthorpe station. 15020 calls on the 14.02 from Bradford to Leeds.
On the way back I stopped off at Brighouse to get a couple of pictures and to visit the renowned Blakeleys take-away and restaurant, which is famous for the quality of its fish and chips. It’s next door to another Brighouse institution, the Market Tavern. It seemed rude not to wash my food down with a pint, so I called in for a ‘swifty’. The beer was in great condition and the pub busy, but I couldn’t help noticing that the clientele were almost all pensioners (shit, that includes me now!). Admittedly, most younger people would still be at work, but I wonder what the place would look like at 16:00 in say, 10 years time? Times are changing, and so are demographics…
Back at the station I couldn’t resist getting a picture of this history board. I’ve mentioned the tale of the man who broke the bank of Monte Carlo before, but here’s the full story…
If you want to see more TRU construction pictures, you can find the complete gallery by following this link to my Zenfolio website.
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/
What a difference a day makes! Yesterday I was out and about, enjoying autumn sunshine and the chance to explore. Today? It’s back to normal in the Calder valley with low cloud, rain and generally dank and miserable conditions. A good day for staying in the warm here at Bigland Towers in order to edit yesterdays pictures whilst planning new adventures.
You can find yesterdays pictures in these galleries on my Zenfolio website.
The local weather forecast isn’t looking good for the next few days and I’ve plenty of things to do here at home. So, whilst I *might* nip out early for a couple of hours tomorrow morning to look at some TRU work the rest of this weekend will be spent getting Bigland Towers ready for Xmas. Dawn’s got her own programme and day out arranged for tomorrow, which frees me up from cooking/teaboy duties, so I might as well make the most of it! Watch this space…
In the meantime, here’s today’s picture.
One thing I’ll be looking out for over the next couple of weeks is railway station Christmas trees. Forget this ridiculous far-right nonsense about Christmas being ‘cancelled’ – the railway has always celebrated on stations up and down the country – often with gusto! I won’t be back in London for a couple of weeks but one effort that’s always worth checking out is at St Pancras station. Here’s their 2015 tree.
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Today was my last full day here in Asia and it’s been a good one, despite the wet start. I’d set my alarm for 07:00, but it wasn’t needed, thanks to thin walls and noisy neighbours – the only drawback to where I’m staying.
My plan had been to head out before 09:00 but the drizzle and gloomy skies persuaded me to delay my departure for an hour. That worked out well as I ended up seeing part of the school run, Jakarta-style – which includes how many people you can fit on a scooter! I still haven’t beaten five – although I still have time tomorrow!
I retraced yesterday’s steps to Tanah Abang railway station only this time I took a different route where I finished up at the end of the line at Tanjung Priok. The Dutch built the port in the late 1800s and they rebuilt the railway station into a rather magnificent edifice in 1925. Nowadays, only one platform under the huge trains he’d roof is used by passenger trains (a shuttle service from Jakarta Kota). The rest is used for stabling intermodal wagons and locos for freight services out of the docks.
The station’s still well worth visiting as a relic of the Dutch era and as a piece of railway architecture.
My next stop was Jakarta Kota, the more well-known example of Dutch stations on Java. I managed a range of pictures there before moving on to something more modern by catching the train to Manggarai. This station’s changed out of all recognition since my last visit in 2017. Now, it possesses an upper level as the trains to Bogor run on elevated tracks at this point. There’s plenty of empty platforms in the trainshed on the same level – just waiting to be plugged into the network when new elevated tracks are completed.
This snd Jatinigara station further up the line are great examples of modern Javanese stations. I’d go as far as to say they’re world-class when it comes to facilities on offer. In fact, they could teach us a thing or two – like this, seen at Jatinigara (another station which has been heavily rebuilt and modernised).
A ‘co-working’ space on the main concourse above the tracks which is used by young and old. I think the plants are a really nice touch.
I visited several other stations on the network but there’s far to many pictures to sort out now. Hopefully I’ll have time to write up my about my rail trips around Jakarta tomorrow as the system’s an excellent one. Having got home I had grabbed a shower then headed out to eat in one of the lack backstreet food stalls. Here’s today’s meal.
Rice, fish and loads of veggies (plus a potato cake). Oh, and that red blotch is chilis!
Whilst I was eating there the heavens opened which delayed me somewhat but then wet streets at night are so photogenic.
The backstreets where I’m staying are a maze, and on every corner there’s a place to eat.
Now I’m back at home getting ready for the off. My flight’s not until tomorrow evening, so I’m hoping to make the most of the morning. Let’s see…
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 had another thoroughly miserable day (weather wise) here in’t Pennines. The rain beating on the window and the high winds battering the house in the early hours made me decide that discretion was the better part of valour, so I canned my plans to get out with the camera and worked at home instead which gve me chance to edit some of the pictures I’d taken yesterday on a little trip up the West Coast Main Line as far as Carnforth. I should have written a rolling blog but I was too busy trying to keep up with other stuff – hence today’s reprise of events.
My first stop was Preston. An obvious choice as I had to change trains there, but also because the December 15th timetable change has seen Northern’s Class 323 trains working in pairs through the town on Blackpool North – Manchester Airport services. Some of these nippy units have been cascaded from services around Birmingham – hence combinations like this.
Ex- West Midlands 323206 along with original Northern unit 323224 are seen at Preston whilst working 1Y65, the1225 Blackpool North to Manchester Airport. Two pairs of these units were out on this route yesterday, supplementing 3 and 4 car Class 331s.
On the way North I stopped at Lancaster where the station’s having a bit of a revamp. Story rail are refurbishing the station canopies on behalf of Network Rail at a cost of £9.5m. You can learn more here.
Yes, the picture’s taken from the disused platform which was where the electric trains to Morecambe used. It’s not open to the public but an old friend was on duty and very kindly arranged access for me.
Next stop was Carnforth. Home of the famous tea rooms which featured in the classic 1945 film ‘Brief Encounter’. Whilst the tea rooms are remaining open the adjacent museum closed its doors for the final time in October. The tea rooms remain bus and looked rather festive yesterday.
On my return via Lancaster I popped into a rather more modern refreshment room, the Tite and Locke on Lancaster station. It’s a wonderful addition to station bars which can be found on the Northbound platform. Roof restoration means that the outdoor area on the platform’s rather cut off, but the multi-room bar is still as welcoming as ever.
Choose your Christmas cheer…The entrance to the bar and the first of many rooms…
Much as I’d liked to have stayed I had to head home after a ‘swifty’. Hopefully I’ll have more time to explore next year.
Now I’m prepping for the next few days and decamping to Surrey for Christmas, but first I have a couple of days in London. Tomorrow I’m at the annual railway carols service at St Mary’s Somer’s Town, Eversholt Street, London NW1. The lessons will be read by: Ruth Cadbury MP, Chair of the Transport Select Committee; Rob Morris, Managing Director of Siemens Mobility; Elaine Clark, CEO of the Rail Forum; Mark Phillips, CEO of RSSB; and Maggie Simpson, Executive Director of the Rail Freight Group. If you’re in the area, why not join us? There’s mince pies and sherry to be had in the refectory afterwards.
I’ll add a rolling blog tomorrow. But right now it’s time to call it a day…
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We’ve had a busy day here in the middle of nowhere so there was no point in trying a rolling blog. I’m writing this at the end of the day instead.
Having made it to Cardiff I managed a decent half-night’s sleep before pressing on this morning in order to get to Neath. Fortunately all the trains heading in my direction were running, so I had time to get a few shots of the changing nature of the Transport for Wales train fleet in this neck of the woods.
Old meets new. One of the BR built diesel Class 150s from the 1980s sits next to a brand-new tri-mode Class 756 from Stadler at Cardiff Central.Reaching the end of the line. The Class 150/2s will soon be cascaded or sent for scrap. Here’s 150267 at Cardiff Central with the 07:52 to Bargoed.Many services to Barry Island are being taken over by the new Stadler built Class 231 bi-modes. Here’s 230003.
Having got to Neath my next trick was to get to GCRE, which isn’t the most accessible place in the world right now. The only way for me to make the journey was by taxi, which took half an hour. Unless you know the area you don’t appreciate just how isolated it is. The test track and other facilities are being built on the site of a vast opencast mine, which closed in 2021. It hadn’t run out of coal, but its license to mine had expired and wasn’t being renewed. The whole site is bigger than Gibraltar. In essense, imagine building a circular 7km long test track (with some serious gradients) around the base of a huge, hollowed-out hill.
Now GCRE have taken over the site as well as the old railhead at Onllwyn. Today they were having an open day for guests who were invited to see the site and learn about two of the groups who’re carrying out work here. Both are looking at how to cuts the costs of two major fixed assets on the railways. Signalling and electrification.
Dr Sam Bemment, CE of start-up Universal Signalling talks about their systems which could drastically reduce the costs of resignalling our railways. Noel Dolphin from Fueer and Frey talks visitors through their system for adjusting catenary contact wire heights to prove whether bridges may (or may not) need to be replaced to allow for electrification. Potentially a massive cost saving for the railways. Rob gives visitors a run through of how the F&F adjustable catenary works.
After the presentations and demonstrations we were given a short tour of the site by Land Rover. This really gave people a sense of how vast, isolated (and high up) the site is.
Part of the opencast coal workings which have been filled in and landscaped. One of the old coal seams can be seen to the left. The area’s still rich in coal, but it’s best for the planet that it stays were it is. One of the long term plans for the site inside the test track is a solar and wind farm. Three former Heathrow Connect class 360/2’s are on site. The intention is to use them as mobile test platforms in the future. In the foreground is test track 4. at just over 400m long (and with a steep gradient) this could be used for testing vehicles such as RRVs. A long way from Heathrow…
Right, it’s late and I’m due back at the GCRE site along with colleagues from F&F in the morning. We’ve got a busy day ahead of us, then I’ve got to travel back to West Yorkshire. Hopefully, there’s no buses involved! So, it’s time for bed.
See you tomorrow.
I’ve a small favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
Paul Bigland 