Having had a spanner thrown in the works by the failure of the server's power supply, plans had changed quite a bit by the time I arrived at Paddington this morning. The 'one of those days' effect remained in action, as the HST stock was late coming off St. Phillips Marsh and was checked along the way arriving over twenty minutes late. Straight down to West Brompton, and then to Willesden Junction.

No problems at all in identifying the famous footbridge - conspicuous by the crowd of enthusiasts along its length! Took some time figuring out how to get from the High Level platforms down to the ground, then up again onto the bridge - ending up about fifteen feet from where I'd started but having walked for five minutes or more! Early highlight was the arrival of 66701 on the High Level platform with a train of EMUs for scrap, followed by 66710 on the main line.

Plenty of action, and lots of chances to test the new camera out. In hindsight I'd not chosen quite the best spot for pictures, but I enjoyed the chance to snap away at a constant stream of units, Pendolinos and several light engine moves. All good opportunities to figure out what all the buttons do! Noted 47832 and 47355 heading south of the river - reportedly to appear on one of the specials for Cardiff on Saturday.



Due to needing to go shopping, left earlier than I'd have liked. Things just kept happening, and as I was waiting on the low level platforms, 66711 passed above and 66139 descended the curve from the North London Line with a long Ford car train. Reluctantly boarded a 313 for Euston.

I'm attempting to puzzle out my new camera. The manual is as thick as some novels I've read.

Over the past few months of trying to improve the pictures I take, particularly in terms of railway photography, I realised that my Olympus C160 was not quite what I needed. Firstly, I missed the optical zoom which my previous (and rather ancient) Kodak DC210 had. I also felt that as I improved in my abilities, I would need more control over the setup - which is not possible on the smaller compact cameras.

So I settled on the Fuji Finepix S7000, which seemed to be versatile without being hugely expensive. So far, it seems easy to use - but with lots of clever tricks and low-level settings to tweak once I begin to understand them.

Off to Willesden Junction for some field tests tomorrow!

Today started out along much the same pattern as yesterday. First to Bristol in glorious sunshine, then onto a Birmingham-bound Voyager towards threatening clouds. Changed for an all-stops Walsall unit at New Street, and soon alighted at a very wet, cloudy and muddy Bescot Stadium. Wandered alongside the yard - no easy photographs within my limited camera range, so headed onto the footbridge. Pretty quiet, with a few arriving Class 66s and some shunting moves on the depot.

Attempted a walk along the riverside path, but gave up due to muddy conditions. Appeared only to be the distinctive 37402 lurking at the back of the shed anyway. Watched 86628 storm through the station, before heading back to New Street.

Wandered into Birmingham for the first time in a good few years. Amazed at the way the Bull Ring and surrounding areas have changed. Got quite lost, despite only being a few yards from the station entrance. Briefly stopped into a couple of shops, and picked up the new Wedding Present single, before having a coffee and heading back into the station.

Since I'd spent less time at Bescot than planned, decided to head for Stafford which always seems busy with enthusiasts. Arrived to find 47840 playing Thunderbird today.


Spent some time chatting with local (and not so local) folks, and watched 57010 pass through on a Freightliner, followed by 92010 and 92011 in turn. Just before I left, 57316 arrived from Oxley, reversed and departed via the Trent Valley.

Arrived back at New Street in good time for the 17:12 Voyager, which threatened to be extremely busy. Time to look around the station a little more, stumbling across 87030 awaiting departure for Euston.


Miraculously, got a comfortable seat easily enough on the Voyager with only a minimum of pushing and shoving. Quick, and slightly early run straight back to Weston.