The opportunity to get out and about midweek doesn't arise very often these days. However, with a few days off this week and a chance to sample a free first class journey courtesy of friends at First Great Western, I decided to design myself a day catching up on changes on the network around London. My visits to London usually take two forms - either fleeting cross-city dashes to get from one station to another, or long drawn out psychogeographical rambles which lead me into hitherto unexplored bits of the area. Today though was to be dedicated to new track and new trains. This short break having crept up on me, still found myself shuffling about and deciding what I needed to take this morning. Would I get a chance to take pictures in the now enthusiast-unfriendly city? Would I need a coat, as Highbridge was very wet indeed. Erred on the side of caution and took both camera and raincoat. Soon on board the 07:12 to Paddington which provided a relaxing, easy journey into the capital.
A swift Circle Line trip to Kings Cross followed, and then a rather long walk to the Highspeed Suburban platforms at St Pancras International. They weren't well signposted, but I suppose this is the 'preview' service, and they wouldn't have been ready when the station opened and original signage was erected. Used my vague knowledge of the track layout to get myself into the far northeastern corner of the station, and sure enough found a small temporary sign pointing up to the concourse. Took the opportunity to pack my coat away, as despite the dreary weather at home, London was sweltering in a steamy, humid haze. Ascended to the platforms and spied a line up of Hitachi Javelin trains. The sleek, blue forms were rather breathtaking up close - a real vision of the future like we used to see in science fiction books. A friendly and helpful member of the gateline staff came over to chat. He was happy for me to take pictures, and seemed proud of what Southeastern were doing here. Finally boarded 395011 finding a comfortable and cool - but strangely rather ordinary interior. I'm not sure what I expected, but I was happy enough with a good seat and plenty of legroom!
And then the entertainment began...a crawl out of the station and onto the CTRL relief lines was taken slowly, but as we climbed towards the covered tunnel high above Kings Cross, the train began to accelerate. Once inside the tunnel, there was a sudden feeling of speed and dive-bomber whine from the train. It's difficult to gauge speed underground, but from the tunnel lights flashing by it felt fast! It wasn't until we breached ground at the concrete box which is fast becoming Straford International Station, that I appreciated just how quickly we were moving. Blasting back into tunnel, there was a perceptable pop as my ears adjusted to the sudden change in pressure. Meanwhile onboard, things were far from futuristic. Announcements were made, and the polite and friendly staff checked my ticket and crossed it with a pen mark. It seemed almost like the staff had been told to play down the fact we were hurtling along at high speed.
We burst into open air again near Rainham. The yards at Ripple Lane and Dagenham beside the line flashed by, and we skirted the road to the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge. Once again into tunnel, this time to pass under the Thames. And strangely, all too soon, we were slowing for Ebbsfleet! We entered another concrete box - the lines connecting to North Kent leapt up and over, and we came to rest in platform 2 beside another pair of Javelins on test. A surprising amount of people had travelled, and some were waiting to come back. People are taking the new service in their stride it seems, which made my furtive photography and foolish excitement seem all the more strange. I calculated 14 minutes for the 22 miles or so to Ebbsfleet - an average speed of 94mph including all the accelerating and decelerating around the stations. Sadly, as the route is mainly in tunnel, I couldn't get a maximum speed reading from my GPS. I can't wait to get a longer run on one of these remarkable machines when they enter squadron service next year!
Next it was time to sample another way in which London was catering to it's embattled commuters needs. After making my way back to St Pancras via another exhilarating trip on 395011, I hopped back onto the tube to Liverpool Street and after a quick bite to eat onto a 321 to Stratford. Seemed odd to be arriving at a station I'd just passed under at extreme speed. Had a brief wander around the busy station front. It was now fairly bright and very warm out, and I was suffering under the weight of my ill-considered raincoat, now stuffed into a bulging rucksack. Dodged the charity muggers and headed back to platform 1, where the London Overground service has been diverted into new platforms to leave those bisecting the concourse free for the DLR extension. Here I became rather muddled about which diagram was planned for one of the new trains. However, waiting around here wasn't an option - there were a huge amount of staff milling around, and their constant looks and patrols indicated that they felt my presence was a threat in some way. Decided to find a place further along the line where my presence wouldn't be questioned. Naturally selected Dalston Kingsland - if there is anywhere it's possible to fade into obscurity it had to be there. So compromised by doing the first bit of my trip on a battered but still reliable 313, covering the new curve and passing the Olympic Park with its profusion of frames and skeletons. Popped out into Dalston on arrival for a brief walk around Ridley Road market and the shopping centre before heading back down to the platforms. I comfortably let two trains pass here with no comment or concern from anyone. While Stratford becomes nervous in anticipation of it's Olympic future, Dalston soldiers on - unsuspecting and unsurprised. Finally my patience was rewarded. The sight of a high intensity headlamp signalled the arrival of 378007 into the station.
Inside the unit gave an impression of space. The longitudinal tube-style seating and full-width gangways allow sight all the way through the train. Settled on a sort of 'perch' seat beside the doors and watched how people avoided standing near the corridor connection. This however allowed a travelling busker to set up his stage for a swift rendition of 'King of the Road'. The guard came to move him on and a dungaree-clad Islingtonite and her friend defended him "Leave him alone, he's done no harm" they protested. Confidentially, a fellow passenger beside me whispered "Dunno, I thought he murdered that one". I nodded tacit agreement and stared ahead in the time-honoured London fashion. At Willesden, a small gaggle of Bombardier workers boarded and began a complicated series of ambient temperature checks on the unit. This seemed to involve them leaning over passengers and waving a probe about, quite unsure of where it ought to be. The unit was cold - for me pleasantly so, because I appreciate well air-conditioned trains. However the chill wasn't to everyone's taste and I can only assume it's this the deputation had been sent to asses scientifically.
We progressed around the North London Line, and I heard plenty of positive comments about the new train as people remarked on it's arrival. Eventually into Richmond where the turn around allowed time to get a quick snapshot of the unit before it worked back. I travelled back as far as Willesden Junction, with the Bombardier guys struggling to finish their measurements before getting off too! With the start of a nagging headache from the humidity, feeling much too hot and weighed down by my rucksack, I decided to get a coffee - I must have looked downtrodden because the barista was extra nice to me today! Spent a pleasant few minutes drinking coffee, chatting and watching trains pass by on the West Coast Main Line below. Eventually time to do one of my signature moves - back to Paddington via West Brompton.
Enjoyed a quiet ride back on the busy 16:30, regarding today's trip as a success. Perhaps most excitingly I've seen the developments which have caused so much speculation and debate in railway circles over the past few years finally come to fruition. Of course the common thread in terms of both the Overground renewal and the Highspeed Service is the Olympics - an uncomfortably transient phenomenon. London is beginning to get the modern railway it deserves, but I hope the momentum can be sustained into projects like wider electrification and new trains for the provinces.
It was also interesting to think that thundering west in a 1970s built HST on a century old rail alignment, I wasn't really going so much slower than the Javelin...
There hasn't been a good old fashioned spin'n'win tour for a good while now, so when Spitfire announced this trip, using a variety of traction from the varied and interesting DRS fleet, I was keen to book. Thus I found myself in the familiar surroundings of Birmingham New Street at an unearthly hour once again, grabbing a rushed breakfast whilst trying to find a member of staff willing to commit to a platform for the tour. In the end descended to a very congested platform 7 still in some doubt, but sure enough the parade of Voyagers all left for their various destinations in time for our stock to crawl into the platform behind 66430 - and then to stop dead at the mid-platform signal. Rushed back to board as close to my carriage as possible, and found myself seated in a very strange saloon called "The Red Knight" - clearly not one of WCRC's finest efforts. The train did eventually pull forward enough for it all to be accommodated, and we finally left around ten minutes down. However, things soon seemed to be picking up as we gathered speed via a pick-up at Burton-on-Trent and then took the Stenson to Sheet Stores freight line to head through Toton and further stops at Alfreton and Sheffield. As we headed north again via the Dearne Valley, noted that the skies were darkening somewhat. Indeed from Wakefield Westgate onwards the storm deepened. As we arrived in Leeds via the Copley Hill Chord, the rain was falling hard from a slate grey sky. Thus, only headed briefly out onto the platform to see that 37607 and 604 were already on the back of the train and preparing to work forwards. The start-up on 37604 was particularly noisy, smoky and impressive! One of these locos was of course supposed to be a Class 20, but the shortage of this class while most members are at Eastleigh receiving attention made this impossible. Not a big issue for me, with the second 37 being an fine choice of replacement.
Returned to our strange carriage to dry off and enjoy a run along the legendary Settle and Carlisle line. It's been a while since I've been in these parts, and I'd forgotten just how impressive the scenery and the isolation is up there. The Ribblehead Viaduct as ever, made a huge impression on everyone on the train. Amazingly too, as we passed over the Pennines and into the west, the clouds broke and the sun came shining through. We descended into Carlisle in strong midday sunshine, with a few hours to spend in the border city. Since my injured knee was still giving me a fair amount of grief, I hobbled carefully into the centre and found some food which led to an impromptu picnic in the grounds of the Cathedral. Decided I wanted decent coffee now, and thus made for the Market Square, formed by the confluence of English Street and Scotch Street. The significance of this was not lost, as while I cooled off in the coffee shop, the sound of pipes drifted in. Drank up and headed out to find a small band of pipers and brass musicians performing for charity. Stayed and watched for quite a while, particularly enjoying the moment when two Buckfast-swilling neds on tour persuaded the bandleader to strike up 'Flower of Scotland'. The locals took it in good humour, however!
Back to the station to find out what Kingmoor Depot had turned out for our trip back. After a short exploration of the station, 57007 arrived with the stock of our train - indicating that this would be hauling the final leg of our tour after a reversal at Wakefield Kirkgate. Walked to the front to find DRS 37087 paired up, rather unexpectedly with WCRS's 37676! Another failure at Kingmoor had meant this late substitution - and while 676 wasn't a winner for me (having featured on a couple of trips this year) the leading 37087 was. Back on board in great weather for and on-time departure, and things were looking good for a fine run home...
..but these things almost never work out quite that easily - and would of course, be dull if they did. What would people find to gossip and whinge about on the internet for starters! Out first problem, it seemed related to the roof-mounted horns on 37676 which were out-of-gauge for tunnels on the booked route via Barnsley! A substitute plan was concocted with us heading instead via Wakefield Kirgate, not reversing as planned but progressing presumably via Crofton and Hare Park to gain the route via Moorthorpe. We would then reverse at Sheffield and take the 'Old Road'. However, just west of Blackburn the brakes went on pretty sharply. At this point someone leaning out of a window said with some dismay "Hmm. We seem to be on fire!".
Indeed there was a great deal of smoke pouring from one of the wheelsets on 57007. Whether there was in fact a fire, or just lots of heat, oil and therefore smoke is hard to establish. Suffice to say that 57007 had appeared to have been moving for a good few miles with it's brakes on. Enough in fact to cause the tyres to shift. After a long, quiet delay when the broken PA meant that at least we didn't get any speculation, 6201 'Princess Eliabeth' arrived with it's steam special. We endured a good few minutes ribbing from the steam cranks' on board, but they were soon away and that just left the local youngsters to have their own pop at us!
Finally the decision was taken to move forward to Blackburn on the Up & Down Goods line, then to detach 57007. All this was duly accomplished very swiftly and efficiently and we were under way once more - delayed, but with some prospect of making up time as a reversal would now not be necessary at Sheffield. Despite some slow running, presumably due to following units over Copy Pit, we seemed to be holding time and not getting any later. The loss of a potential haulage was disappointing, but we were moving which was positive. Until of course we stopped - just outside Wakefield Kirgate, and for no apparent reason. As we had no PA in "The Red Knight" we had to wait for the news to filter back - a points failure, and cable theft in the Dearne Valley. We sat for a long time, chatting through the various options available. A mention had been made of travelling via Doncaster - but that meant a likely very much longer route out to the ECML. Eventually, as we set off through Kirkgate and turned north at Altofts Junction it became clear. We in fact travelled via Methley Junction and almost back to Leeds, before taking the Whitehall Curve and the spur line to avoid the station. Throw in for good measure a second traversal of the Copley Hill Chord in the other direction, and within the space of a few minutes we'd scored a fair bit of very rare track indeed! Feeling much better about things now, we sped off south towards Doncaster, crossing over the bridge above the spot where we'd waited outside Kirkgate almost an hour earlier!
37087 and 676 did solid work in getting us home, especially as I understand they were being driven in tandem due to problems persuading them to work in multiple. We made very good progress south via the Erewash Valley and into the Midlands, and arrived at New Street at around 00:38 - about 80 minutes late - which given the challenges which the day presented, is far from bad going! The tour terminated here as Network Rail had already taken possession of the line between New Street and Wolverhampton. So we were efficiently shepherded out of the station via a secret exit onto the cab road and while the Wolves-bound passengers headed for their coaches, I very gratefully descended the stairs to Station Street and my hotel. It would be easy to use the usual term 'farce' for this tour - and some of the situations were pretty unlikely. For them all to crop up on the same trip is incredibly bad luck. However, the way things were handled, the positive attitude to getting everyone home and the general good humour on board reflected very well indeed on Spitfire. The bonus of some extra mileage and some extremely hard-to-get track made my day, and you'll get no complaints from me!
I dislike Blackpool. Please don't think this is some sort of snobbish response to the traditional British seaside resort - after all I've spent much of my life in and around them, and have always enjoyed visiting them on my jaunts around the country. No, this is something special that I reserve for Blackpool. I've been there three times, and each visit has exceeded the previous one in it's unpleasantness for me. So why would I visit again? A fair question, and one answered in the usual vein around here - because there is track to be done. It was announced recently that the iconic Blackpool Tramway is to close for renewals between Cleveleys and Fleetwood for no less than three years and that some of the southern sections might also close whilst a new depot is constructed. With this closure likely after the end of the illumination season in 2009, there wasn't much time to waste. Ideally, I'd not be heading for Blackpool in the middle of July - but there seemed few realistic options in the calendar within the deadline.
The journey itself was pleasant enough to begin with. A quiet and rather lazy trip up to Bristol, then onto a Manchester train. Concerned I might have a brief scuffle regarding my reserved seat with a local character who makes a beeline for the one I was allocated and gets very anxious and abusive when challenged, but today he didn't get beyond muttering and gurning at me. A pleasant run, leaving the wet weather behind in the South West as I headed for Manchester. The plan here was to change for a TransPennine Express service direct to Blackpool. I knew this would be busy - and had booked a cheap advance first class ticket for this very reason - but I wasn't prepared for the vast numbers of people crowded precariously onto the narrow platform 14! Fought my way to the first class carriage and after another brief disagreement, to my reserved seat. At this point, in typical TransPennine Express style the train was declassified and the hordes swept in. Spent a very uncomfortable trip with people leaning over me and at one point practically sitting on me!
Arrival at Blackpool North was no less eventful. The holidaymakers were as surprised as I to see new ticket gates. However, they seemed to struggle with the general concept and despite four gates being available, formed two queues which straggled across the concourse preventing access to all of them. One of these queues was also for a gate far too narrow for the big wheeled suitcases people insist on tugging around these days, so this led to plenty of fractious lane-switching at the crucial moment. People were getting testy, not least a large, rather elderly man who was getting redder and redder as he shouted at a rather frail old woman and a pair of younger girls. At first I thought they were all related, but it became apparent that whilst the apologetic looking older lady was indeed his wife, the others were totally unrelated and just unfortunate to be in front of him in the queue. As one of these younger women managed inevitably to get her vast luggage trapped in the gate, he stepped forward to be assailed with cries of "don't you DARE try to help me after what you've said". I spotted my moment and slipped through the gates in the middle to freedom. As I left, a hitherto absent young man had stepped in and it seemed that fists were flying.
Welcome to Blackpool.
I reckoned I had just enough time to make a full circuit of the tramway, and trudged down a greasy, congested Talbot Road towards North Pier. The place was even more run down, even less friendly and far far dirtier than I remembered. For the first time in a long time some building work had appeared and improvements were happening - but in this interim stage, this just made the place less accessible and more crowded. The trams were no less confusing - with extra trams out there was congestion and chaos on the busiest parts of the route, and this led to a huge gap in the service. Made my way along the inside of the long bus shelter which serves as a tramstop only at the very last moment, to avoid waiting in this dirty, urine sodden tunnel any longer than strictly necessary. Finally onto a southbound tram and making very slow progress towards Starr Gate, the driver hooting at the hapless holidaymakers who frequently strayed into our path.
The service itself is rather good. Conductors are friendly, knowledgeable and professional - and its far from the heritage tourist service I expected. Once at the southern terminus, failed to make a dash for a Fleetwood-bound tram in front of us, so stepped back and caught the next northbound tram to Cleveleys. Given the low speeds, I was worried about the schedule and would review things as I went along. Turning back before the end of the line and needing to do this trip all over again was a depressing, but realistic prospect! The trams themselves were interesting, but photographing them was fraught with difficulty unless you had time to hang about one of the busier bits of the system. Stuck to my main priority and ended up being the only passenger for much of the journey due to a bunching up of trams in the central section. Took the opportunity to chat to the staff and we were soon out of town and onto a faster paced section through Bispham. Thought about turning back at Cleveleys, but noted a Fleetwood service just behind us. Boarded this and settled in to finish the circuit again as practically the only passenger. Very concerned now that my time before the train back was very limited, and the journey north seemed to have taken a very long time indeed.
The tracks eventually left the road and became a more conventional railway type alignment as we approached Fleetwood. This place, regarded as much more depressing than Blackpool by the conductor, actually seemed to have a little life about it. Ignored the tongue-in-cheek remarks about the suicide rate in the local park related to the presence of a large Social Security office in the town. Not long to wait here though, as once we'd reached the harbourside terminus, I was able to make a dash for the large blue tram I'd missed at Starr Gate, and get an early departure back towards town. Much busier this time, but made fairly swift progress, eventually arriving back at North Pier with around twenty minutes to return to the station and catch my train. This, thankfully limited my further exposure to Blackpool, and despite a telling off for daring to wander onto the platform (I thought that the new ticket gates might have relaxed the draconian 'wait inside the building' policy here) I had a fairly uneventful time before departure.
The trip back, on a pleasantly cool and rather quiet service to Birmingham follwed by a near empty connecting service to Bristol was relaxing and for me, rather sleepy. Not sorry to be out of Blackpool, and to have finally managed to cover the tram lines. On arrival at Bristol, noted 47760 awaiting the return of a steam hauled charter it was due to take forward. Took some snaps, then found myself in just the right spot to get a shot of 70013 'Oliver Cromwell' as the steam service arrived, before hopping onto my local service home. It had been a trying day which reminded me just why I don't like Blackpool - but the journey, as ever, had been enjoyable and cathartic. In theory, it should be at least three years before I need to go back!
Despite my near obsessive collecting of odd bits of track and covering the railway network in interesting ways, I've not done many of the tours offered by the Branch Line Society. I am of course, a proud member of this sometimes turbulent organisation - and it's certainly no reflection on the well-organised and thoughtfully designed tours. It's perhaps more about balancing this side of my interest with a degree of comfort and leisure. Not all of the BLS tours tick these boxes - being somewhat lengthy, prone to delay due to their complexity, and usually featuring all standard stock with no room for the larger gent to stretch out. However, this one had grabbed my interest from the start. Initially, part of this was due to the inclusion of the Sinfin branch in the itinerary. This tiny stub, predominantly retained to serve a Rolls Royce works near Derby was an early obsession for me. Formerly served by Matlock DMUs crossing Derby and reversing on the branch, the new generation of Sprinters proved unsuitable. Thus by the time I began my travels, the DMU service had become an occasional taxi - and with it, Sinfin had become something of a holy grail - elevated far above it's importance by it's difficulty to score.
I'm not the only one who was bitterly disappointed that the over-running Derby Station refurbishment caused this to be cut from our itinerary. However, rather than cancelling my booking in protest as some did I stuck it out and was interested to read a new plan which covered some much needed track in the North East, as well as the planned colliery branches in South Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire. Perhaps the oddest part of all though was heading out for a tour on a Sunday morning. Descended from my usual hotel in Crewe to find a fair crowd of recognisable faces congregating. Found breakfast and waited with them in fairly damp conditions - with perhaps a threat of later brightness in the sky. Nothing much happened for a while. Then, a rather confusing rake of stock, labelled in a seemingly random order with a Class 47 on either end passed through the station. More waiting, and then some information. Our Class 66 had failed before it started, and the replacement 47 was low on fuel thus we would be somewhat delayed. Eventually left a not disastrous 30 minutes down and started with an early highlight - out on the Salop Line as far as Gresty Green Goods Loop, then a reversal, into Basford Hall Yard via the Gresty Curve. This was due to be covered on Pathfinder's 'Lancs Links' trip last December, but was missed due to a much discussed but still somewhat mysterious oversight by the traction provider. Since then it's become something of a feature in these tours, but the BLS of course did this thoroughly, passing through the yard slowly on the arrival lines, before traversing the ladder crossing at Basford Hall Junction to gain the fast lines. We were finally underway. Soon heard that a lack of driver knowledge of Class 47s around Doncaster meant we would gain an additional engine at Wolverhampton, with 66090 joining 47843 on the front of the train, while 47812 continued to bring up the rear. With a little time gained back, we made good progress in improving weather through the Midlands, and out to East Midlands Parkway - our last pick up. From here we proceeded north via Toton Centre. Nothing quite prepared me for the sight of a large proportion of the fairly modern, useful Class 60 fleet parked up and idle at the depot. As a bonus, I saw the last two class members I required - but the disturbing sight betrayed an uncertain future for these locos.
From Toton, we pressed on via the Erewash Valley and the Old Road to Aldwarke Junction. Here we covered the alternative route to Thrybergh Junction - a bit of line which retains a couple of trains for driver knowledge, but these remain very unpredictable. Instead of curving away on the passenger lines, pressed on over the Doncaster avoiding line to Hatfield & Stainforth where we reversed. With 47812 leading again, we again avoided Doncaster, travelling via Applehurst and Skellow Junctions, before finally passing through Doncaster only in order to achieve the access to the Yard. Interesting to be inside the cordon of trees which leave Carr Depot hard to see from the mainline, and we crawled carefully and slowly through the sidings, before taking the Low Ellers Curve to access the South Yorkshire Joint Line. I did this line in the opposite direction on the Retro Retracer tour back in 2007. On that trip I benefited from a fellow passenger with a good knowledge of the line, its history and the local collieries which it supported. Without that commentary, I found the run slow and a little bit dull. With the air-conditioning completely failed on the Mk.II coach we were in and the temperature slowly rising, I was soon snoozing my way to Shireoaks, where we joined the Robin Hood Line and too a much needed break on the platform at Shirebrook. Suitably cooled, but not able to get anything like a decent picture, we were soon off again and curving on to the line to Welbeck and Thoresby Collieries.
The knot of lines in this part of the country existed almost entirely because of the coalfield, and despite some fairly sizeable populations in places, there is little evidence of passenger railways remaining. At Welbeck Colliery Junction we reversed and headed up the branch, skirting the settlements of Market Warsop, Church Warsop and finally Meden Vale. Here we came to rest at the site of an excursion platform used for miners' holiday trains, the colliery proper being around a further tree-lined curve a little to the northwest. With UK Coal unwilling to let us further, we were soon heading back to the junction. Here we reversed again and pressed on over the junctions forming the triangle at Clipstone to reach Thoresby Colliery Junction. Here, among a cavalcade of GBRf coal hoppers - showing that the site was still very much active - we reversed again and progressed up the very short branch, once again as far as permitted. This was a much shorter run as the colliery is closer to the mainline, beside the large village of Edwinstowe. Another reversal, and a shame we could press on eastwards where the extant former Great Central line continues towards the East Coast Mainline at the site of Dukeries Junction. With the warm weather turning somewhat thundery, we began our homeward journey. By the time we were heading south on the Robin Hood Line once again, the rain had closed in - but it was pleasant to hang at a droplight in the steaming carriage and watch us cover our last bit of unusual line - the Lenton Curve, bringing us back on course for our set-down stops in the Midlands.
Despite a fairly disastrous start and some slow running at times, we caught up time admirably and arrived at Birmingham New Street a little early! I left the tour here, having had a fine day chasing some very rare bits of line. I hope there will be more of these tours soon - not least to cover the bits around Derby which had to be missed off this itinerary. Whilst many of the BLS 'old hands' have done it all before, there are plenty of us who haven't!
Lost::MikeGTN
I've had a home on the web for more years than I care to remember, and a few kind souls persuade me it's worth persisting with keeping it updated. This current incarnation of the site is centred around the blog posts which began back in 1999 as 'the daylog' and continued through my travels and tribulations during the following years.
I don't get out and about nearly as much these days, but I do try to record significant events and trips for posterity. You may also have arrived here by following the trail to my former music blog Songs Heard On Fast Trains. That content is preserved here too.
