Having spent the morning completing household chores and giving the gardens a good soaking before I go it’s now time to begin my journey over to Crewe to join the rest of the Railway Children volunteers and prepare for the arrival of this years teams and the train that will be our home until Saturday night. The weather here in the Calder valley’s bright and sunny, but I’ve packed for all eventualities.
But first, I’ve got to get to Crewe. I wonder which way I’ll go? I’m not going to be walking far as I have a rather large kitbag with me as well as a fully-stocked camera bag. So, let’s see. Next stop, Halifax station…
12:30.
Dawn very kindly gave me a lift to the station which saved mucking around with taxis. I managed to make Northern’s 11:16 to Chester which was ‘fun’ as a stock shortage meant that it was formed of a single 2-car Class 195, so it was full and standing when it arrived. I ended up standing all the way to Manchester as there was no way I was going to get a seat.
By the time we left Rochdale it resembled a sardine-can but after leaving Manchester it was only around 20% full, so now I’ve time to blag a table, plug in the mobile office and relax for a while. Unfortunately, we’ve lost the good weather now. The further West we go the gloomier the skies are.
14:15.
I’m now in Chester. Yes, I know it’s a little bit of a detour but I was still working on the train at Warrington and decided to stay on to finish what I was doing. Plus, there’s method in my madness. I can catch a direct train to Crewe from here and hopefully sample of of Avanti’s new Class 805s in the process. Mind you, it’s all a bit shambolic here. One Holyhead train was 72 minutes late. Diagrammed to leave from platform 3, announcements were made it would leave from platform 4, so passengers and luggage traipsed over the footbridge to the new platform – only to have to traipse back at the last moment when the signaller decided it could leave from its original platform anyway! Here’s a few shots;
Schrödinger’s 13:25, simultaneously cancelled and on time…
Chester is the Southern outpost of the Merseyrail 3rd rail network. 197005 sits on platform 3 whilst passengers on the island wait for their next service.
10:05.
The adventure’s about to begin…
We’re on the way! Our train left on time at 19:14, we’re now on our way to Chester and the North Wales coast before a layover at Llandudno Junction, where we let a service train pass. We’ve 42 teams aboard comprising 190 people, from companies like Siemens, train operators like Avanti and SouthEastern, engineering companies like Volker Rail and others such as HD2 and RSSB.
For the railway enthusiasts amongst my readers we have 47593 on the front and 57311 on the rear of the train.
23:55.
It’s almost time for me to go, but here’s how things have gone so far. As we hugged the North Wales coast the walkers were treated to a hot meal prepared in the kitchen cars that’s part of the train. Here’s the staff busy serving the walkers with the first course of a two course meal (the second course was cheesecake, which was divine). As you can imagine, it’s a military style operation to serve hot food to so many people in such a short time – and on a moving train! Some of the servers were ‘newbies’ to 3 Peaks , which is a challenge in itself.
We dropped off the walkers at Bangor at 21:26. Eve though they’d already been fed and watered they were provided with plenty of snacks to keep ’em going overnight.
Snack anyone?
Just as soon as they were all off the train the empty (well, empty of walkers) train continued to Holyhead where the onboard crew had the train cleared of rubbish and vehicles tanked. Meanwhile, the kitchen staff prepared a second meal, this time for the onboard crew. Now it’s time to get our heads down for a few hours before we’re up at silly o’clock to head back and pick up the walkers. Before our train departs Bangor for Ravenglass at 04:37 on Friday…
The train at Holyhead earlier. A short break before a very busy day tomorrow.
Right, see you in a few hours…
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We’re being treated to glorious sunshine here in the Calder valley this morning, although I’m not going to be around to enjoy it as I’m on my way to Manchester for another visit to Manchester’s Newton Heath depot in order to get the pictures and info I need for a future RAIL article.
My fellow passengers on the 09:02 from Sowerby Bridge are all dressed for the summer as everyone’s making the most of the good weather whilst it lasts. Finally, the winter layers and rainwear have been discarded – for now at least. The Class 158 I’m travelling on is in summer mode too – all the windows are open as the air-conditioning is struggling already!
After my depot visit’s concluded I’ll be spending some time exploring the railways around Manchester and making the most of the sunshine. Feel free to pop back later and see what I get up to….
16:00.
Sorry for the gap but things haven’t gone entirely to plan! My visit to Newton Heath was excellent. I was given a full tour, learned a lot more about operations and future plans whilst also getting pictures of different depot facilities.
An empty ‘parlour’. This is the only part of the 1876 steam shed that remains. Note the WW1 memorial which has been installed at the end. Here’s a look inside the new St Mary’s building which is a world apart from the old steam shed.
It was only afterwards that things went a bit ‘Pete Tong’. I’d decided to make the most of the weather and explore the old ‘Oldham Loop’ rail line to Rochdale which is now part of the Manchester Metrolink tram network. I’ve not travelled this line for several years so today seemed like an ideal opportunity. I traversed Oldham on foot to get pictures then caught a tram out to an old haunt – Shaw and Crompton.
Tram 3097 calls at Oldham Central tram stop in Union St. To the left the old Prudential building is slowly reclaimed by nature. Tram 3139 leaves Oldham Mumps tram stop on its way into Manchester. There’s a lot of regeneration happening around here but the amount of empty commercial properties is depressing. The old mainline station was down the hill to the right. It’s changed a bit since I first got to know the area! The Metrolink station has been built to the South of the level crossing and site of the national rail station.
It was then I became aware of an issue with my footwear. I was wearing a pair of safety shoes with steel toecaps – sensible and required footwear for wandering around a depot – but I’d not worn them for a while as most of the jobs I do require safety boots, not shoes. As I walked along the platform at Shaw and Crompton I became aware of a flapping sound. Looking down I realised my shoe soles were very rapidly disintegrating as well as coming away from the uppers! There was nothing for it to head back home for a change of footwear and hope they’d last long enough to walk back in. Thankfully Dawn had a free moment and was a star. She drove down to Halifax station to deliver me spare shoes in order that I could complete my explorations. Talk about a life-saver. Needless to say, she now has even more credit in the bank!
I wasn’t expecting this!
Leaving Halifax I caught the local shuttle down to Huddersfield in order to check out TRU work. Since my last visit one of the platform shelters has vanished, while the scaffold and crash deck that’s being built under the existing roof has extended even further Eastwards. The wooden waiting room on the island platform is slowly disappearing too. It’s being dismantled piece by piece so that it can be stored before being re-erected on the station at a later date. The interior’s now been stripped out and the windows have all disappeared.
Notice anything missing?
Right now I’m on a TPE service back to Manchester to pick up where I left off. The weather’s changed with cloud building up but I’m optimistic I’ll still be able to get some good library shots.
22:15.
I’m back home after a busy but productive day. I did manage some extra library shots but for once the weather changed for the worse in the evening, meaning we lost the sun and gained low cloud instead so I called it a day earlier than planned and made my way home.
Having been transferred to Northern from the West Midlands, 323220 has become a common sight in Manchester. It was at Piccadilly this evening before working a service to Crewe.
I’ve still got over 27,000 steps in the bank, which isn’t bad when all I’d had to eat was 3 bits of bacon and an egg for breakfast and an apple for lunch. Mind you, I’ve been guzzling water like it’s going out of fashion, so that’s helped fill the gaps. I’m surprised (and rather relived) that my fasting regime isn’t more challenging, although I was looking forward to getting home and consuming my last allowance. I’ve found baked beans fill you up nicely – and so far, there’s been no unfortunate side effects…
Tomorrow I’ll be working from home all day and prepping for both 3 Peaks by rail and the holiday afterwards, so expect a picture dump and a few other bits on the blog. Until then, goodnight!
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 a busy weekend here at Bigland Towers and it’s one that’s (finally) been blessed with good weather. There’s been several days in a row with glorious sunshine and lovely evenings, which is a first for 2024 as normally rain follows the sun as night follows day. Today both of us managed to get out for a long walk and enjoy an hour in the beer garden at our local, topping up on liquid refreshments and also vitamin D. The timing’s been excellent as I’ve got a very busy week ahead so having time to recharge both mentally and physically has been a Godsend.
Tomorrow I’m back in Manchester with another visit to Northern’s Newton Heath depot. I’ll blog about some of it but the rest you’ll be able to read about in a future edition of RAIL magazine. My fasting regime kicks in again tomorrow which should be interesting as so far I’ve only stuck to that when I’ve been at home. On Thursday I set off for another major event where fasting will not be part of the programme (I’ll need all the calories I can get) as I join the Railway Children’s annual ‘3 peaks by rail’ as the event photographer. Regular readers will know I’ve been volunteering every year since 2017, it’s a fantastic charity fundraiser but it’s hardly a walk in the park for either the teams or the volunteers who keep the whole event running. We finish next Saturday night after living on the train for two nights and two days. I’ll try and blog as I can, but you’ll be able to read about the whole trip in RAIL magazine.
I’ll need a holiday after that. But then I have one planned, because just as soon as I finish I’ll be travelling down to Dorset to meet Dawn and her parents as Bigland Towers is moving to that neck of the woods for a couple of weeks – so expect many more blogs with a travel flavour.
Right now it’s time to go as I’ve stuff to prepare for tomorrow. I’ll leave you with today’s picture, which is from a previous ‘3 peaks by rail’ adventure, 2021 in fact…
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/
Here we are, halfway through June and on the cusp of summer and all the weather’s done here is rain! Only now, this evening have the clouds (sort of) cleared and the sun found some space to put in an appearance. There’s a pattern developing here, crap weather throughout the day that gives way to a nice evening – just to tease you!
Today’s plans went out of the window for a couple of reasons, the weather being just one of them. A couple of days ago Dawn had ordered a variety of fish portions from the excellent ‘Sailbrand’ in Huddersfield, with the delivery date of today. Dee had to go out, which left me holding the fort until the delivery arrived. Sadly, this wasn’t until 15:30, Coupled with the pouring rain it meant our plan to escape and go for lunch somewhere was thwarted. Ho hum…
Instead, my day’s been one spent kicking my heels at home, although it’s not been entirely wasted as I’ve been busy researching my next RAIL magazine article as well as fulfilling some household chores. I even managed to get out for a walk and a swift couple of pints in our local, the Big 6 whilst Dawn kept herself busy in the kitchen, cooking up some delicious delights for Father’s day tomorrow as well as a great meal for tonight.
Now we’re kicking back, looking enviously at the evening sunshine and thinking ‘why weren’t you here this afternoon’? Ah, well. Tomorrow’s another day. Now it’s time for me to knock off and leave you with today’s picture. Whatever the weather, Yorkshire does produce some amazing skies…
Something wicked this way comes…
I’ve a small favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
*I originally wrote this as an article in RAIL magazine, where it appeared in April 2024.*
One complaint that’s levelled at the new HS2 railway is that it’s hardly going to be Britain’s most scenic rail journey! With 105km of tunnels on the section between London and Birmingham that’s no surprise. Much of the rest will be in cuttings. HS2 will be Britain’s most invisible railway. But there are a few structures that will afford views from the train (however fleeting) as well as provide iconic landmarks that can be admired from afar.
One such structure is the Wendover Dean viaduct which is being built just a few Km South of the town. In January RAIL was invited to take a look at construction progress in the week after the first 90 metre section of the deck had been pushed out onto the piers that will carry it. It’s an impressive structure which crosses above Durham Farm, a portion of Bowood Lane (which is being realingned) and parallels King’s Lane – which will allow views down over the structure.
A crane used to lift the infill panels into place. A stack of panels can be seen in the foreground. This view is looking South.
Built by EKFB with ASC (Arcadis, Setec, Cowi JV) as its design partner and Moxon as the architects the design has used as inspiration similar French structures like the Vicoin viaduct on the LGV Bretagne – Pays de la Loire high-speed line. When complete the viaduct will be 450m long, sitting on nine piers, some of which are 14 meters high, giving the structure a maximum height of 20 meters (not counting OLE masts). This method of construction is well known in Europe but it’s a first for the UK.
Traditional decks tend to use what is effectively a continuous block of concrete. A drawback of this is that concrete manufacturing is one of the most carbon-intensive parts of such structures. Instead of being constructed of concrete sections built in situ before lifted atop the piers then fixed together, at the Wendover Dean site, EKFB is using a pair of long ‘I’ beams of weathering steel sandwiched between two slabs of concrete with a hollow inner. These beams are constructed by specialists in France before being delivered to the Wendover site in 25 metre sections. They’re then welded together at ground level on the launching platform – a much safer method than having to do it in-situ at height.
This double composite structure is both super strong and lightweight. Compared to the traditional method (pre-cast concrete beams lifted into position with cranes) the overall carbon footprint gives a carbon reduction of 56% over the lifetime of the project. Most of this is in the materials themselves, with transport the next largest contributor. This method should save an estimated 7,433 tonnes of embodied carbon – the equivalent of someone taking 20,500 return flights from London to Edinburgh.
Another interesting aspect of the engineering is the nine piers that will support the deck. The foundations (piling began in June 2022) themselves aren’t unusual They consist of four piles between 38-45 meters deep. A steel cage is inserted into each borehole before being filled with concrete, then topped with a pile cap. Then, a steel cage is built above the pile cap with pre-cast concrete shells slotted over them. Finally, a hammerhead shaped shell is added as the final piece, with a steel cage dropped into it before the shell is filled with concrete. Having these pre-cast concrete shells made off-site at a facility in Northern Ireland is one of the ways that HS2 has managed to reduce disruption to the local area in Wendover as well as control the quality of the finish compared to being built on-site. It’s also a good illustration of how HS2 is generating jobs and income right across the UK, not just on the route. Northern Ireland’s contribution to the project amounts to £140 million in tier two contracts.
Looking North from atop one of the piers. The haul road can be seen to the right of the picture. The red structure on the end of the girders is there to allow the permeant bridge to be guided into place. The first section after being pushed into place, with some of the infill panels already positioned.
The deck is being assembled in three stages ranging from 90m to 180m sections, with each one pushed out from the north abutment before the next section is attached behind it. This slow and painstaking process means that the weight of the deck will increase with each push, up from an initial 590 tonnes to 3700 tonnes by the end of the year. With the deck moving at roughly 9m/hour, the process will take most of 12 months with the finish point at the South abutment approximately 1.8m higher than start point. The deck is pushed out over temporary bearings, sliding across Teflon plates which are fed across the bearings by hand. Pushing power is provided by cable winches which are anchored to the massive Northern abutment which was specially designed for this purpose – hence its size and weight.
Looking South from the Northern abutment.
When you visit the site you appreciate just how constrained the layout is. The HS2 Hybrid bill defined the limit of land that could be used to built HS2. As you’d expect at a viaduct site, this is quite narrow with most of the site to the West of the viaduct. There’s just enough room to store the concrete panels that form the top and bottom of the viaduct as well as the plant and other machinery needed for construction, plus the offices and welfare facilities which are on a temporary site nearby. One difficulty is the need for a haul-road to pass by the site. This is to allow for the movement of spoil from constructing cuttings to the South towards Wendover where it will be reused. To do this an extra strip of land had to be purchased to the East of the trace so that wagons could traverse the site without interrupting work on the viaduct. This land will be returned to its owners once work is finished.
Looking South from atop one of the piers. The wood on the horizon to the left of the pier is the (in)famous Jones’ hill woods which anti HS2 protestors occupied whilst falsely claiming it had a link to Roald Dahl. Their abandoned camp still lies there, rotting, polluting the very woods they claimed to have been trying to ‘save’.
Our visit allowed access to the top of one of the piers where we had a grandstand view of construction and an impression of how the viaduct was set in the landscape. On the edge of the rise to the South-East corner is the (in)famous Jones’ Hill ancient woodland, the edge of which (0.7 Ha) had to be felled for HS2. This privately-owned wood had been occupied by protesters who falsely claimed it was linked to author Roald Dahl. Their camp still exists, abandoned and rotting, polluting the very land they claimed to be trying to ‘save’. In mitigation, HS2’s planted 4.1 Ha of mixed woodland, some of which is adjacent to Jones’ Hill.
Seeing the red-painted launching-girder attached to the bridge deck at eye-level is quite a sight, as is knowing you’re standing atop a pier that will soon be carrying high-speed trains between London and Birmingham. Our guides also took us to the Northern abutment to see the temporary bearings and show us the Teflon plates that were used as flat rollers, allowing the weathered steel beams to be launched Southwards. Once the completed deck is in place it will rest on jacks which will gradually lower the whole structure onto the permanent bearings that will support it thereafter.
One of the temporary bearings used whilst the bridge deck is pushed out. Demonstrating how the Teflon plates are used to slide the bridge girders along the structure.
After the main viaduct deck is complete the parapets will be installed along with derailment walling and noise barriers. The parapets will be creased rather than flat. The crease will create inward and outward leaning surfaces that catch light and shade making the structure much more interesting, attractive (and photogenic). Once the civils side is finished the structure will be handed over to the rail systems teams to allow track, signalling and overheads to be installed.
Finally, the adjacent historic field boundaries and hedgerows will be recreated to provide uninterrupted access for farmers and local residents, leaving little to no trace of the construction compound and years of activity.
I suspect this viaduct will become a popular site for photography as it’ll be one of the very few locations where HS2 will be able to be seen in the context of the landscape it passes through. The sight of 400m long trains whizzing through the Chilterns atop a viaduct at speed will be one not to be missed!
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/
OK, I’m fed up of this weather now. It’s starting to try my patience. Although I’d planned to work from home today I was hoping to get out with the camera tomorrow. Looking at the forecast I think there’s fat chance of that! Truly, this has been an awful June so far. Despite the pair of us being wrapped up like a pair of Eskimos we cracked and put the central heating on for a while just to take the chill off the place. Then, this afternoon the rain started…
So many folk we’ve talked to are feeling the same frustration. By now all the winter clothing should have been packed away and the drawers packed with T-shirts and shorts. Instead, I’m back wearing woolly jumpers whilst Dee’s in a ‘hoodie’! Instead of tucking into salads we’re on winter food. Dee made a gorgeous meat and potato pie tonight – something we really wouldn’t expect to be scoffing in June.
Please God, let the weather change soon, so that I can plan more than 24 hours ahead. There’s a lot of scenic rail pictures I’d love to be taking, but when you can’t rely on more than one day of sunshine it makes arranging trips (in the UK, anyway) very difficult and expensive if I come back with nothing that I can use. Costs have risen massively as it it without the added uncertainty of the weather.
OK, weather gripe over. Now I’ll talk about politics…
No, not really, I’ll spare you that at least. When it comes to the Tory campaign, the expression ‘same shit, different day’ springs to mind. Now all the main parties have released their manifestos and people can see what’s on offer. So, i’ll quickly observe that none of it is moving the polls in any significant way and move on…
One of the jobs I finished today was completing stocking the new Trans-pennine Route Upgrade gallery on my Zenfolio website. You can find it by following this link. As well as migrating all the old pictures from other galleries I’ve added yesterday’s selection. I’ll be keeping a regular eye on the project, so expect many more picture to appear through the course of the year.
Now I’ll leave you with the picture of the day. Bugger the British weather, I fancy something exotic and beachy. How’s this then? The stunning Cachorro and Conceicao beaches on the beautiful and amazing Brazilian Island of Fernando de Noronha, seen on the 16th August 2002.
You can find many more pictures of the island and the Brazilian mainland in this gallery.
See you tomorrow – come rain or shine!
I’ve a small favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
I’m currently in Huddersfield, having travelled in with Dawn in order for the two of us to work from the Community Rail Network office in the old water tower at the station. Getting in to the office is ‘fun’ nowadays as it sits inside a fenced off TRU compound!
The CRN water tower surrounded by building materials and plant. We have to skirt the edge of this lot to get into the office…
My morning’s been spent on a couple of ‘teams’ calls with some Northern Rail staff as background for a forthcoming RAIL magazine article. The chats were really informative, which will really help the article. Now, they’re finished I’m heading out to have a look at some more upgrade work on the line from here to Leeds. Feel free to pop back and see what I get up to…
14:20.
Platforms at Huddersfield slowly disappear under scaffolding.
I’m currently at Mirfield, where the new platform 2 is really starting to take shape.
Earlier I popped in at Ravensthorpe where an awful lot of earth is being moved around.
The new alignment is going to pass through the middle of this picture taken from the existing Ravensthorpe station. The existing alignment to the left will be abandoned.
17:30.
After a very long diversion at Ravensthorpe due to a footpath closure, I made it to the bridge West of Ravensthorpe where I got these pictures (captions later). As you can see there’s going to need to be some tree trimming before the line’s electrified!
185134 passes the site of the new Ravensthorpe station whilst working 2M78, the 1458 York to Manchester Piccadilly which is routed via Castleford and Healey Mills. Whilst the other side of the line at Ravensthorpe has had vegetation cut back, the Eastbound side is in serious need of the same treatment.
21:45.
I’m back at home on what’s turned out (weatherwise) to be a lovely evening – something all too rare this year. Now it’s time to bring this rolling blog to an end with a couple more pictures from my TRU travels.
This scene will change dramatically over the next few years. Here’s 66847 approaching Thornhill LNW Jn from Healey Mills. The site of the new Ravensthorpe station slowly takes shape. The bridge some of the other pictures were taken from is seen in the background.
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
I’ve taken a short break from blogging these past few days. It’s not that there’s been nothing to write about, I merely wanted to change focus slightly and give myself some time off. Dawn’s been away with friends so I’ve had the place to myself and decided to catch-up on reading rather than writing. Plus, the absolute shit-show that is the Conservatives election campaign could have led me to another bout of spleen-venting. I really don’t know what to say about Sunak. His incompetence and arrogance (in equal measure) have led him to make the most jaw-droppingly ridiculous mistakes – and there’s still several more weeks of the campaign to go. Rather than narrowing the polling gap with Labour he’s actually managed to increase it! God knows what foul-ups he’ll make next.
Away from the political circus I took time out late last week to have a look at progress on the Trans-Pennine route upgrade between Huddersfield and Dewsbury. One of the biggest worksites is at Ravensthorpe. Not only is the existing station being relocated, there’s also a flyover and brand new section of line being built to the South of the existing alignment. Right now there’s a huge amount of earthmoving going on to prepare formerly derelict land to receive the new railway. Piling work has also commenced. Here’s a few pictures taken from a passing train.
Meanwhile, Huddersfield station roof is gradually disappearing as the area’s being shrouded in scaffolding.
The Sheffield bay platform seen through the scaffolding.Over in the old goods yard this massive office block has appeared.
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/
It’s a bit of a busman’s holiday for me today. I’m travelling to London for lunch with an old friend, then heading back later as both Dawn and I have another (railway related) appointment tomorrow.
On my walk to the station I couldn’t resist taking a detour past the Big 6 to see what the film crew were up to. The surrounding streets are now clogged with trucks and vans whilst the pub itself has disappeared behind scaffolding which is holding the blackout curtains in place.
The front……and back.
Right now I’m on Grand Central’s 08:13 from Halifax to Kings Cross. There’s been a last minute set swap which has led to the service being worked by one of their hired-in Class 221 ‘Voyager’ trains rather than the expected Class 180. This has caused some confusion amongst passengers as the seat reservations are all mixed up!
A sea of reservation labels aboard this GC service.
I rarely travel by GC nowadays so it was lovely to bump into an old friend working the train. Javid is one of the original West Yorkshire crews. Most have left or (like Javid) been promoted. He’s gone from a Customer Service Assistant to Train Manager (Guard in old money). Quite a few of his contemporaries are now Drivers with GC or other train companies. We had time for a catch up after leaving Halifax and before the train filled up even more at Brighouse. GC is a real success story. Their passenger numbers have grown massively with most trains being fully booked (one of the reasons I don’t use them as much) so it’s good to hear they’ll soon be introducing a 5th West Riding service.
I’d planned to do some work on the train but on unpacking my bag I realised I’l left my laptop lead at home! I’d been sneaking around this morning in order not to disturb Dawn so hadn’t checked. The battery won’t last there and back, so I’ll take it easy, save it for later and enjoy the journey instead.
09:00.
We’ve just left Wakefield Kirkgate, which is a busy exchange stop for GC because many people use the train to get there from Bradford and Halifax. They’re replaced by other passengers for Doncaster and London.
En-route I had chance to observe TRU progress. The most noticeable changes are the massive mounds of earth being moved at Ravensthorpe where the ‘dive under’ junction is being created. I need to pay another photographic visit soon. The abandoned marshalling yard at Healy Mills is seeing some changes too with many of the old sidings being lifted to create space for the new TRU construction yard.
09:55.
Having found the wifi wasn’t working on my GC set, and having something I wanted to get shots off at Doncaster I opted to change trains. This gave me just long enough to photograph what I was after, grab some library shots of the GC train and crews swapping over, then board the following LNER service. I’m now chasing the Voyager which I’ll catch up at Kings Cross! The 10-car LNER service (ex Harrogate) is the train I was originally aiming for at Leeds. It’s packed full of families and groups en-route to the capital although I have managed to bag an unoccupied seat that had been reserved from Wakefield. The wifi’s working, so I’m quickly blogging from my laptop and catching up on some work before switching off again.
11:15.
We’re now South of Stevenage and the weather’s rather disappointing. I’ve left behind sunshine in Yorkshire for the grey and dismal South! Hang on, isn’t it meant to be grim up North? Apparently (according to the Met Office) my Southern sojourn may be enlivened by heavy showers and even thunderstorms. Ho hum…
11:40.
Arrived…
21:30.
Mind the gap..
Sorry about that but I’ve had a lovely time in old haunts in North London with a group of friends from the industry where Chatham House rules (and more) apply. Gosh, did we all cover some territory – from both ends of the political spectrum – but, as old friends we still remained civil. Now I’m back in’t North, aboard a train from Leeds to Halifax.
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/Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312
Another day of mixed fortunes here at Bigland Towers. The pair of us have been busy in our respective home offices, only meeting up in the kitchen to swap news and gossip. Still, from my perspective it’s been a productive day. I’ve finished penning my next article for RAIL magazine and even begun the next with some forward research and commitments from various players within Northern trains that will make it possible. I won’t say what it’s about just yet but it will give a ‘behind the scenes’ insight into an important operational area.
If only the weather had been so good. Frankly, if you were spending much time outside you’d have no idea that we’re on the cusp of June and only a few weeks away from the official start of summer. It’s neither warm, dry nor sunny here in the Pennines. Instead, we have the sort of weather that makes you hanker for foreign holidays and sunnier climes.
As Dee’s off to a meeting in Manchester tomorrow I’d had half a mind to follow her but the forecast tells me it would be a wasted day. Instead, I’m going to stay at home, scribble some more and work on the cottage whilst I have the chance as I don’t want to waste some sunny days – if and when they arrive. Plus, I’ve a rather full diary over the next couple of months.
Talking of sunny days, we have plans for later in the year which will involve just that. Today’s picture’s a clue about our intended destination. This was one of the first pictures I ever had published – in a spread in the Sunday Telegraph way back in 1996. But can you guess where it was taken?
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 