The End of Steam

It was forty years ago today that the last steam hauled train ran under British Railways - 1T57 The 'Fifteen Guinea' Special. Although this brought the curtain down on standard gauge steam in the UK and many thought it would never return to the main line, steam has never died. In fact it is perhaps ironic that now the preservation and heritage railway movement is more lively than ever and there is a full programme of steam-hauled excursions on the mainline year round.

A brief look at the re-run of 1T57 with Oliver Cromwell I found on the BBC News web site and is worth a look: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7553483.stm

Finally, a favourite photograph from my own collection of 34067 Tangmere storming through Fareham with the 'Southern Phoenix' last July, celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the End of Steam on the Southern:

Long live steam!

Visit to Nuneaton PSB

Last Thursday I went on a visit with other members from the local Railway Correspondence & Travel Society (RCTS) branch to Nuneaton Power Signal Box (PSB). The photo above is a close-up of the station area on the Panel. This is an Entry Exit Panel with the signaller setting the route by pressing or pulling the buttons (I can't remember which!) shown. Once the route is set the track circuits light up in green. When occupied by a train, they turn red and the small rectangular boxes that appear blank in this view will be populated with the 4 character alpha-numeric description of that train.


Nuneaton Box was opened in 1963 and will be abolished at the end of August 2008 as part of the West Coast modernisation programme with control moving to Rugby Signalling Control Centre (SCC). Other boxes to be abolished include Coventry, Rugby PSB, Bletchley and Watford - all of these with the exception of Coventry which has already closed, will be abolished in the next 4 years. Already the two lines nearest Nuneaton PSB are controlled from Rugby SCC and these serve the cross country route from Leicester to Birmingham New Street.


The view above shows the full extent of Nuneaton Panel. The station area is to the left of the Panel, with the West Coast mainline across the top of the Panel and a continuation of the four main running lines shown at the bottom. The area of control fringes with Rugby to the south (around Brinklow) and north to Tamworth. The Panel also controls the branch to Coventry (roughly centre in this picture - the two lines diverging from the WCML). The original box ended approximately where the clock is in this view, with an extension added later. The Panel itself also includes an extension, for control as far Colwich but ultimately this was never realised.


Seen on the evening were the usual diet of Virgin Pendolino's and London Midland Desiro's as well as Cross Country 170s on the Birmingham-Leicester axis. Freight wise it was more interesting with Scotrail 90024 piloting EWS 92004 and almost unique 60007 in the defunct Loadhaul livery. There was some drama a little later with a report that train 1V71, a Cross Country Voyager was on fire at Birmingham New Street. Needless to say New Street was evacuated and Virgin Pendo's made additional stops at Nuneaton as a result. The incident couldn't have been serious as 1V71 was on the move a short while later heading ECS back to Central Rivers.


It was a thoroughly interesting evening and fascinating watching trains on the move both on the Panel and from an excellent vantage point in the PSB.

Out and about in London

I chose the above image of a Metropolitan Line tube train at Amersham to illustrate just how far it is possible to travel on the London Underground system. Amersham, is the furthest point west on the Underground although branches also run to Chesham and Watford. Beyond Amersham, Chiltern Railway run to Aylesbury, whereas the Underground runs just a short distance to the turnback sidings, before heading back into Central London.

The day of my London trip was 21 June - the longest day - although any hopes of fine weather were immediately dashed as a drizzle had set in before I left home to catch the 0757 London Midland service from Bletchley to London Euston. Despite the attempts of leaden grey skys which hardly lifted all day and an 'incident' with an officious member of Underground staff at Amersham, I had an enenjoyable day out. What follows is a brief piece on my travels during the day, which took me on an idiosyncratic and varied journey across London using train, tube, tram, DLR and bus.

At Bletchely I noted that Virgin's Pendolino's were using Bletchley Junction just to the south of the station to cross from the down fast to the down slow and conversely from the up slow to the up fast. 390046 Virgin Soldiers and 390014 were both observed snaking their way acros the junction. This is unusual as far as I know as most passenger services using Ledburn Junction further south. Passing through the station ahead of my service was 92001 in its striking EWS livery on southbound containers.

Passing Wembley Central I noted 66207 (light engine) and 92001 (again!), which my train overtook having been routed onto the up fast from Watford Junction. In Wembley Yard noted werre 66140, 90026 and 66051. Others were present but these were the only ones that I can definitely confirm.

Arrival in London was slightly ahead of schedule and seeing as the Caledonian Sleeper was still in Platform 1, I took myself over there to grab a couple of shots of EWS 90018 at the buffers; 90039 was at the ‘country’ end to take the empty stock to Wembley. An 'old friend' 57306 Jeff Tracy was present at Euston, stabled between platforms 16 and 17. 57306 I have seen so many times that I have lost count, whenever I see a Virgin Thunderbird it seems to almost invariably be this one!

Euston itself was very quiet, with only a Virgin Pendolino shuttle operating to Northampton due to closure of the WCML for engineering works at Rugby, in addition to the normal London Midland and London Overground services. From 28 June, Virgin is due to start an hourly service between Euston and Birmingham International using Voyagers routed via Willesden and Greenford onto the Chiltern Line and onwards to Coventry and Birmingham International. There was nothing I could see at Euston to advertise this fact and indeed the PA was advising intending passengers of other routes from London including the Marylebone - Birmingham Moor Street route to avoid the replacement buses from Northampton to Birmingham International.

From Euston my first trip of the day in London was on the 68 bus to Waterloo, a route that I came familiar with during my brief time working in London last year. A brief stop at Ian Allan’s before taking the Bakerloo to Embankment from where it was the District Line out to Earl’s Court. I arrived here just in time for the fire alarm test! The service form Earl’s Court to Kensington (Olympia) – the addition of the brackets I had not noticed before – was not running so it was a brisk walk round to West Brompton to see 220013 heading north on the 0915 Brighton to Birmingham New Street.

I took the London Overground from West Brompton to Willesden Junction (High Level) and then back towards Central London on the Bakerloo (again) to Marylebone. Comfort break here and a chance to get photos of Chiltern’s 165 and 168s plus 67023 and 67025 top and tailing WSMR’s 1215 service to Wrexham. Marylebone was a good deal busier than Euston and I had about half-hour before my train to Harrow-on-the-Hill. I alighted here for a brief leg stretch before getting the Metropolitan Line to Amersham. I took some photos around Amersham before I was told by a rather officious although polite member of LU staff that taking photos on the Underground was prohibitied due to the terrorist threat, utter nonsense as it happens but nevertheless I decided to get the next tube back to Central London.

I crossed down to Victoria to catch the 1420 Southern service to Epsom, which I alighted from at Mitcham Eastfields. This station has only recently opened and in a joint-promotion Southern and First Capital Connect were offering free tickets to selected destinations from here. Finding this out was more by chance, as it only appeared to be advertised on the Southern web site and presumably in the local press; there was certainly no publicity at the station and the ticket machine seemed happy to sell full-priced tickets, although free ones were available from the ticket office adjacent! The station was built to a modular design and looks smart and functional. The lifts on the footbridge were not working and crossing between the two staggered platforms over the very busy Eastfields Road is far from ideal. The best opportunity appears to be waiting for a train and then taking your chances while the gates are down!

A round about trip took me back to London Bridge with a stop in East Croydon for a quick tram ride and some more photos. This was a first for me - the first time that I've taken tram pics. What next buses! From London Bridge it was a short hop on the Northern Line to Bank to pick up the DLR, which took me, via a change at Westferry to Beckton. This is the first time that I have travelled the full length of this leg of the DLR, previously only being as far as Custom House and means that I’ve now completed the whole network, although there will of course be the extension to Woolwich Arsenal, due to open in 2009. Beckton though seems an odd terminus and as far as I could make out it is not close to anything other than an Asda supermarket across the road. The station is one of the more spartan on the network. I was particularly struck by the innovative design Beckton Park and Cyprus DLR stations, which are housed in the centre of roundabouts. A trip back on this line is definitely required to photograph these unusual stations.

From Beckton, another change of mode with the bus taking me to Stratford for the Central Line back to Holborn. My final journey for the day was from Holborn on the bus to Euston in time for the 1854 to Northampton. This was formed of 321420 and 321430. The 321s are beginning to look rather shabby especially as they are shorn of any company identification since London Midland has not applied any branding after removing the Silverlink Trains names. Some still retain Silverlink Trains branding on posters inside although most of these have either been blanked out or replaced with London Midland stickers. The 321s are due to be replaced next year by more 350s with some of the 321s expected to go to First Capital Connect, so they could well be still serving London for a good many years yet.

All this was achieved on an ordinary One Day Travelcard with Oyster pay-as-you-go used for the journeys on the Underground outside of Zone 6. If I’d had more time journeys up the Chesham and Watford branches of the Metropolitan Line would have been done but alas these will have to wait till next time!

1968 and all that

I went to the National Railway Museum's '1968 & all that' event on Friday and was to be fair a little disappointed. I was expecting something on the scale of 2004's Railfest but I guess that was being a little unrealistic. Interestingly the weather was almost identical to that day four years ago being an accompaniment of overcast, grey skies and feeling warm nonetheless.

The main feature of the event was the line-up of 7029 Clun Castle, 70013 Oliver Cromwell and 92220 Evening Star, three very fine engines and each with a special place in the last days of steam. Clun Castle was the last steam locomotive to leave Paddington, Oliver Cromwell was one of the engines used to haul the '15 Guinea Special' on 11 August 1968 bringing the curtain down on mainline steam on British Rail, whilst Evening Star was the last steam locomotive to be built for British Rail, being completed at Swindon Works in 1960. Seeing the latter two locomotives together was quite a sight and standing beside Cromwell, which was in light steam, it was easy to imagine the power and majesty of this fine engine at full throttle. Although I am far too young to remember the last days of steam, seeing sights such as these magnificent locos lined up can't not make me wonder what those last days must have been like.

As well as these grand examples of steam, there was a selection of smaller and nonetheless important locos on display, including Trangkil, the last UK commercially built steam locomotive, completed in 1971. Not just steam either as examples of the diesel and electric traction that was introduced to modernise Britain's railways in the 1950s and 60s were also represented with D1023 Western Fusilier, 31018 and electric traction by E3035.

Despite the 1968 and all that event being less than what I expected, the rest of the NRM remains as visually arresting and interesting as ever. Indeed, there seems much more there now than when I last visited, with the new Search Engine facility open and access to more of the National Collection in the Warehouse.

Where else could you see such a fine collection of locomotives, rolling stock and a visual and physical record of the long and proud history of railways? It may be the largest railway collection in the world but I also feel it is a treasure trove, which the whole nation should be proud of and worth a visit at any time.

Who says the current railway scene is boring?

321404 at Wolverton, 9 May 2008

One of the oft-repeated criticisms that I hear from railway enthusiasts is that the modern railway isn't that interesting or lacks the appeal that it once did. I've never been a subscriber to this view and while I doubt that current railway operations can combine with the awesome spectacle of steam and railways in their heyday, there is nevertheless plenty to be seen and enjoyed.

An often complaint is that the railways today are just a dull diet of multiple units with 66s dominating freight. Well, I grew up in Portsmouth, where seeing anything other than a slam-door was a rarity! I do have vague memories of seeing a Class 08 taking empty stock out of Portsmouth Harbour and the occasional sighting of 31s, 47s and 50s but these were only occasional visitors, as I recall and certainly by the late 80s, it was wholly a diet of multiple units of one sort or another, mostly in blue and grey. By contrast, today's railways are far more interesting with a plethora of liveries, different operating companies and seemingly endless reformations of stock and other modifications. There is, I would argue still plenty to see.

To prove the point, I spent just over two hours yesterday evening at Wolverton station and during that time I either noted or photographed, a pair of 90s, two 92s, numerous 321s, 350s and 390s, 325s on the mail, a 221, 56 and just one 66. That is nine different classes of multiple unit/locomotive in 2 hours, not bad I think! For me also the railways are more than just the trains that run on the rails and I think many enthusiasts loose sight of this. I am equally interested in the infrastructure, how the network operates and fits together, the stations, history of lines and the people that operate the railways. There is much more to see and enjoy than just noting train numbers or recording the passing of trains.

West Coast progress?

A Virgin Pendolino at Crewe on Saturday 5 April 2008

The West Coast Main Line through Milton Keynes is in disarray yet again this evening. Hardly a week goes by without some incident or a complete blockade over a weekend. Back in March there was the serious incident of two containers being lost from a freight train near Cheddington. Worryingly the fact that the containers were missing was not discovered until the train had reached Rugby! One can only imagine of the serious consequences if this had happened during the evening peak rather than in the early hours of the morning.

Today's disruption is apparently due to signalling problems in the Bletchley area, which is resulting in a much reduced service - two London Midland all-stations services between Euston and Bletchley with a third train an hour running to Northampton while Virgin West Coast is reduced to running one train an hour between Euston and the North. The National Rail site also says that the Bletchley to Bedford branch has been suspended, although London Midland indicates that trains are terminating at and starting from Fenny Stratford. Alternative routes suggested by National Rail include Paddington to Reading for CrossCountry and stations to Brimingham and the North, St Pancras to Leicester for stations to Birmingham or St Pancras to Sheffield for Transpennine services to Manchester! None of those seems a particularly attractive option.

This disruption comes after the WCML through Milton Keynes was closed over the weekend - only on Saturday was a reduced train service operating as far north from Euston as Bletchley, with no trains at all yesterday or Sunday.

A few weeks ago while on my way back from Birmingham New Street services were again disrupted due to signalling problems at Bletchley and at the beginning of April the wires were down at Rugby, again throwing the West Coast timetable into disarray. The most severe delay I witnessed on this occasion was a Glasgow-bound Pendolino, 4 hours late from New Street!

None of this really is good enough. Of course it is expected that things will go wrong from time to time but the number and scale of disruptions recently seems to be a cause for concern. Interestingly these recent spate of incidents all seem to have occurred in or near where engineering works are taking place.

Already I understand that Virgin has pushed back its proposed Very High Frequency (VHF) timetable from December 2008 to May 2009 due to concerns that engineering work will not be completed at Rugby on time. Whether this timetable will prove robust remains to be seen and one can only wonder at the chaos that would ensue if a similar incident occurred as that today at Bletchley when VHF is running. As I understand it the turnarounds will be cut to as a little as 20 minutes, which seems optimistic even assuming everything is running on time! Also, Virgin are short of one Pendolino set, following the write-off of 390033 City of Glasgow following the crash at Grayrigg last February. I've read in the railway press that Virgin want to keep on standby the Class 90-hauled Mk3 set, presumably to cover for a non-available Pendolino.

Work at Milton Keynes seems to be progressing well. My walk home takes me across the WCML to the south of Milton Keynes Central and I noticed this evening that sleepers and rails were being laid on the alignment of the new fast line, which will form a new down fast while the existing down fast will become a reversible loop. Despite these changes it seems unlikely that Milton Keynes will see any additional Pendolino's stopping as the new loop will allow stopping services to be platformed while fast services can proceed unimpeded through the new Platform 6. On the slow lines side, the bay, which is currently Platform 1 will become a through reversible slow, while the current Platform 2 will become the terminating line with a new bay and Platform 2a. This is being provided for the possible extension of Bedford to Bletchley services to Milton Keynes and the possible restoration of through services to Oxford via Bletchley and Bicester. The works at Milton Keynes are due for completion before the end of 2008, with I believe commissioning of the new track and signalling to take place over the August Bank Holiday weekend. Further works are envisaged in the Bletchley area but these are not critical to Virgin's VHF service and will not be completed until August 2010.

In summary it seems that it could be at least 2 years before the major engineering phase of the WCML is completed in the Milton Keynes area and only then might we see a return to a normal level of service seven days a week. One thing which I am particularly hopeful for is the restoration of early Sunday morning services as currently the first southbound train is the ex-0930 from Bletchley. I seem to remember when I first moved to Milton Keynes there was a much better Sunday service than currently, although I don't have a timetable from the period to prove it! Of course, that was before the major phase of works on the West Coast got into full swing.

Another public relations disaster

On the day that the Office of Rail Regulation fines Network Rail for engineering possession over-runs at Christmas, the Chief Executive of Network Rail is at Buckingham Palace collecting a knighthood for 'services to transport.' Further irony or worse timing is hard to conceive and of course the media loved making a deal out of this. It unfortunately feeds into this prevalent media-led idea that our railways are mismanaged and unfit for purpose. There is rarely, if ever, any good or positive news about the railways.

At the same time as ORR was slapping its fine on Network Rail it was also warning that the upgrade works to the West Coast Main Line could slip into 2009. Network Rail has admitted that its something like 2 weeks behind schedule and is seeking further possessions over 13 weekends, if I remember correctly, during the summer. This is in addition to the Bank Holiday closures and the major works being undertaken at Easter. It seems that we are still a long way off from that seven days a week railway that Network Rail have recently been promising.

It is not hard to see the amount of work that is going into the WCML upgrade, it can be seen everywhere, especially I note around Milton Keynes Central and Rugby. Both stations and their approaches at the moment resemble building sites and there still seems to be an awful lot of work to be completed before either will be ready for Virgin's Very High Frequency Timetable from January 2009. It is a real concern that the works might not be finished in time as undoubtedly it will make the presumably ever-more weary travelling public wonder when they will see the benefits of these disruptions.

For those living in Milton Keynes the misery is likely to continue a good deal longer. There are suggestions that less rather than more Virgin services will call from the timetable change, although a new through service to Birmingham will be gained on London Midland and also a service via the Trent Valley to Crewe. However, even when the project at Milton Keynes Central is completed, there is still remodelling and signaling works to be undertaken at Bletchley, which are not scheduled for completion until August 2010.

So, it seems like it could be a long drag, to pardon the pun, until we see any real improvements on the WCML and anything like the seven-days a week railway, Network Rail have promised for so long.

Smoke & Mirrors

At the end of January the Department for Transport produced its Rolling Stock Plan for 2009-2014, an incredible work of obfuscation and confusion. It appears to promise that by 2014 TOC's in England & Wales will receive an additional 1,300 vehicles. However, it is not at all clear that this will be the case as rather confusingly the notes to the table produced on the DfT web site appears to indicate that some of these vehicles will be cascaded from other operators. In fact it is just about impossible to unpick what are new vehicles and those that are cascaded.

It would appear from the press coverage that I have read that the 1,300 vehicles, while indicative, is a net gain figure. In other words, it does not include vehicles that would be cascaded between operators. However, if this is true, why are the notes attaching to the Rolling Stock Plan at pains to point out that some of the vehicles shown will come from cascades between operators? It seems a deliberate attempt at generating a confused picture and it is hard not to feel cynical towards a government department, which seems to have such a ill-formed attitude and understanding of rail.

Another source of confusion I found contained in the DfT's press release about government funding for the Birmingham New Street development. In the notes it mentions that Arriva-operated Cross Country Trains will receive an additional 40 vehicles in the next year, however according to the Rolling Stock Plan, Cross Country will receive just 6 extra DMU vehicles.

Other anomalies abound in the Rolling Stock Plan. For example, it is suggested that East Midlands Trains will receive just 3 vehicles in the period to 2009-2014! The table does not show existing franchise agreements for new vehicles and does not include vehicles for the Intercity Express Programme, Crossrail or Thameslink. In addition it shows 106 new vehicles for Intercity West Coast, which indicates that the additional 2 cars per Pendolino set will not be delivered until after the end of the current Virgin franchise. In fact the requirement should be 104 vehicles as the Pendo involved in the Lambrigg crash has subsequently been written off.

It all adds up to a rather muddled and confused picture so typical of the DfT's pronouncements on rail, where its policy seems to be an exercise in confusion. Maybe by 2014 we'll actually have a clear idea of exactly how many 'new' vehicles there will be.

No raving about rovers and rangers

A couple of weeks ago I decided to take advantage of a First Great Western Oxfordshire Day Ranger ticket to explore the line between Reading and Banbury and stop off at a few places in between. I'd only heard about this ticket from an article in The Railway Herald and there were no details, when I checked, on the National Rail web site. To give First Great Western their due, this ranger along with a selection of other rovers and rangers was detailed on their web site with a nicely coloured and simple to read map, which could be downloaded, showing the areas of validity. Two important pieces of information were missing though. No mention of whether this of the other rangers/rovers could be purchased with a Network Railcard and perhaps more importantly whether they are valid on other operators' services. I sent off an e-mail to First Great Western via their web site in the week before I was due to use the Oxfordshire Day Ranger and still, some two weeks later, I am waiting for a reply.

Similarly, I sent an e-mail to London Midland earlier in the year about whether they still offered Rover/Ranger tickets as Central Trains/Silverlink had done. In contrast to FGW, there is no information about this type of ticket on the LM web site. An e-mail query, which had to be chased produced a rather terse response. Yes, they are still offering Rovers/Rangers and they will be producing publicity in due course. Why not now?

It seems from my experience that most rail companies don't want people to know about their Rovers/Rangers and try their best to keep them secret. I did have an enjoyable week a couple of years ago using a 'West Midlands Rover' but that caused problems as not all the staff I encountered on my travels were aware of its validity.

Personally I think the range of rover and ranger tickets is excellent and if taking a day out where you want to visit several different places or just want to enjoy a number of trips, they represent great value. They should be publicised more and at least every TOC's web site should have details of the rovers and rangers they issue and/or accept on their services. If FGW can do it, albeit with some misgivings on the information provided, why can't everybody else?

Worst Great Western?

I read on BBC News this morning that disgruntled commuters in the Bristol area are staging another 'fares strike' against First Great Western (FGW). The company has been dubbed 'Worst' Great Western or another one I've seen is 'Forever Getting Worse.' Even in the railway media the coverage of FGW seems to be almost universally scathing. I use FGW from time to time and I have never had cause to be outraged or complain about its service, although admittedly I am not a commuter. Part of the problem seems to be the lack of reliable rolling stock available to the company, whether that is due to FGW's penny-pinching or Department for Transport (DFT) interference it is difficult to say. Certainly those pics of off-lease DMU's at Eastleigh last year which FGW had returned to the lessor despite suffering from severe overcrowding on its South West of England services, did the company no favours.

FGW is a company though that seems to lurch from one public relations disaster to another and it has only recently avoided a strike called by the RMT. I am sure that the constant bad news is having a drip-drip effect and even for those who don't use FGW regularly, it must put them off considering using the train or their services. Interestingly the BBC News article attributes one comment to FGW in defence of itself despite giving the More Train Less Strain group and RMT ample opportunity to voice their opinions attacking FGW. It hardly presents a balanced picture and sadly it is indicative of the slanted and unfair reporting often to be found in the mainstream media.

Oxfordshire Day Ranger

Yesterday I enjoyed a day out using First Great Western's recently introduced Oxfordshire Day Ranger ticket. At £15 it represents excellent value, allowing unlimited travel between Oxford and Reading, Oxford and Moreton-in Marsh (on the Cotswold Line), Oxford and Banbury and Oxford and Bicester Town. I choose to keep to the main artery between Banbury and Reading, with stops at Oxford (where I started my journey), Banbury, Didcot Parkway and Reading.

The ticket can be bought from most staffed National Rail stations although I found the knowledge of this Ranger at Milton Keynes Central to be rather lacking. Unfortunately with the revisions to the X5 bus service, which no longer services Oxford Rail Station, it is not possible to purchase a through ticket including the bus journey.

Although it may have been a bright, sunny day, it was not one without its problems. Firstly, the wind was bitingly cold, so I spent little more than an hour at any of my destinations. Any longer and I am sure I would have been frozen to the spot! Also, with the sun low in the sky I had problems with reflections and shadows in unwanted places. Getting a decent shot of anything was near impossible and a couple of times I felt like giving up. However, I hope that some of the results I got are worth it, which can be seen on my Fotopic site.

Fictitious Liveries

An interesting Fotopic web site I found last night was Fictitious Liveries, which is run by the AC Locomotive Group. The Fictitious Liveries site considers 'what if' matching locos with liveries that were never carried by that class. It is a clever idea and the standard of the photos is excellent, clearly the person who does this site has a lot of technical knowledge and time! Some of the liveries work well, others less so. I particularly liked the idea of an HST set in GWR Chocolate & Cream livery and the alternative Large Logo Blue that was applied to many locos during the 1980s. One of the odder conceptions is that of Virgin opting for a loco and stock rather than EMU for its Pendolino's. I am not entirely convinced by the end result but it is an interesting idea. A well worthwhile site though and one that I will definitely keep an eye on.

Also, I should mention Carl Watson's Fotopic site, which is far and above what mine is. The latest collection is from Cosham, where I was a few weeks ago although it seems that Carl was considerably more fortunate with the weather than I was.

Fotopic Gallery Updates

I have added two new galleries to my Fotopic site today. The first is a collection of photos from Rugby that I took yesterday lunchtime and the other is a miscellany of HST photos from around the UK taken over the period from 2004-2007.

The weather hasn't been too grand for the start of the year so opportunities to get out and do some photography have been limited. The trip to Rugby yesterday was the first real opportunity I've had this year, although as you will see from the pics it was a damp and miserable afternoon. Hence, I only stopped for about an hour before deciding to head back to MK.

57301 Scott Tracy was again the Thunderbird at Bletchley and it became clear to me yesterday why Virgin have been stabling their Thunderbirds there rather than Rugby. Currently, all the bay platforms at Rugby are out of use. It appears that the track serving the bays at the south end has been lifted while access to the north end bays appears to be out of use. Whether this is permanent or not, I am not sure, although I would imagine that the changes are only for the duration of the current works, of which there appears plenty yet to be done. Clearly with no stabling facilities at Rugby nor further south at Milton Keynes, due to the works being undertaken there, makes Bletchley the only option.

Interestingly, the only platforms open at Rugby are Platform 1(the new northbound platform) and Platforms 2 and 4 (the island platforms) for southbound services. Platform 4 appeared to be used by freight passing through the station and the London Midland service to Northampton. All other southbound trains were passing through Platform 2.

I am hoping the weather might improve next week as I plan to spend some more time out and about but we'll see.

Penny reaches a million and Catherine goes to storage

I read that 390022 Penny the Pendolino has become the first of Virgin's Pendo fleet to reach a million miles in service, doing so last week near Bletchley. She should have passed this milestone before Christmas but a withdrawal from service for a few days in December meant that the record was reached later than expected.

Certainly the Pendolino's seem to be settled in their role racing up and down the West Coast Main Line although it is more like an energetic walk at the weekends with the amount of engineering works taking place. At the moment all Virgin services on Saturdays and Sundays are being routed via the West Midlands as the Trent Valley line is blocked. This meant that what would be a 45-minute (at most) journey for me from Nuneaton to MK at the weekend took well over 90 minutes and involved a replacement bus between Nuneaton and Coventry. Considering that Sunday afternoons and evenings are one of the busiest periods on the railway network, I am sure I am just one of many who are inconvenienced. But is all the pain worth the gain?

Well living in Milton Keynes, if the reports are true, it would appear not. From the December 2008 timetable change Virgin are going to be upping the number of services from London Euston to Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Glasgow and cutting journey times. These changes will call for a greater utilisation of the 53-strong Pendolino fleet during weekdays and will also mean some stops, notably Milton Keynes will be omitted. That's not to say that Milton Keynes will loose its Virgin services altogether but it seems that they will be less than today. And considering MK is the fastest growing urban area in the UK and with a drive by the Government for all of us to use public transport more, this does not make sense. As a compensation, more services will be provided by London Midland; the through link to Birmingham via Northampton will be restored and a new hourly service via the Trent Valley to Crewe will be provided.

The former Bletchley shunter, 08874 Catherine has been moved to Long Marston for storage. I last saw 08874 during the Silverlink Swansong I in November. The future of Bletchley depot seems uncertain, my understanding is that it will likely close following the arrival of the new fleet of Desiro's, delivery of which starts from this December.

Hull Trains started its Class 86 diagram from last weekend using 86101 to cover several diagrams between Kings Cross and Doncaster on Friday evening and during Saturday and Sunday. The use of the 86 has been much delayed; originally it was to start last November. Details of the diagrams covered here.

The first trainspotter

There is an interesting article I found on the BBC News web site about a chap called John Backhouse, who is claimed to be the world's first trainspotter. A letter that he sent to his sisters in 1825 detailing the opening of the Stockton to Darlington railway included a detailed drawing of the train and a sense of wonder at this new mechanical beast. The article goes on to say that trainspotting as we understand it today really began in the 1930s and peaked in the early 1960s. It is true from what I have read that there was a sudden and serious decline in the late 1960s as steam disappeared from the rail network in the UK - it is 40 years ago this year that the last steam trains were withdrawn by British Railways from the mainline. I am not so sure that trainspotting is still in decline, as the article suggests.

I think that the UK rail scene is certainly less popular than it was. Often when I am at meetings or see other rail enthusiasts they bemoan the lack of variety on today's railway and how it is so much more interesting on the Continent or further afield. Personally, I have never been that much interested in foreign railway systems either in Europe or America or elsewhere. The UK system is the one that I know and cherish. It has a certain aesthetic to it - we know how to make good-looking locos and units here - and it has a charm all of its own. There is I suppose something very 'British' about railways and that is what appeals to me. Foreign railways always seem too high-tech, clean and clinical; too fresh and modern, not Victorian in origin and complex like ours.

It does worry me though that there seems to be so few young people interested in our railways today and by 'young' I would say anyone under forty. At any meetings or groups I've been too, without fail, all the members are exclusively male and for the most part old enough to be my grandfather! There are of course some younger enthusiasts around but their numbers seem very small. Thus meetings are often reminiscences of the glory days of steam and how everything has changed now, remembering lines and trains that were lost long ago. Looking back is great and I get a lot of pleasure from reading about old railways and going through books which recall steam in the 1950s and 1960s. But I am most keenly interested in the present day, the modern scene. There is I think a lot of variety and much to excite and interest still. It also seems that some enthusiasts forget that the railways are not run for our benefit but for that of the passengers who use them!

Fotopic Site Updated

I've updated my Fotopic site with some photos I took whilst down in Portsmouth during the Christmas break.

Firstly there's a look at the modern scene around Cosham, dominated by modern EMU's and First Great Western's slightly ageing 158s. I still vaguely remember the days before the Solent Link electrification was completed in the early 1990s and the DEMU's that used to run through here and a little further back Class 33 hauled trains to Cardiff. Since the late 80s these have been in the hands of DMUs, firstly the Sprinters and now 158s. Cosham station itself hasn't changed much in those years, although modern passenger information displays and automated announcements are in place and the signalling has recently been replaced as part of Network Rail's botched Portsmouth Resignalling Project. It should have been completed last Christmas but it wasn't until October 2007 that it was finally commissioned. Control of the signals in the area and the crossing gates is exercised from the Havant Area Signalling Centre.

On 31 December I took a visit to Gosport to see the remains of the railway station, which I've seen only briefly in passing a few times before. It is not in the most central of locations for the town, owing to the insistence of the Board of Ordinance that the railway could not penetrate the town's defences.

It is sad to see what was obviously once such a magnificent building left to ruin. It has been closed since 1953 and any hope of a rail link being restored has been lost forever. Houses are built on the site of the old track bed immediately to the west of the station and the line as far as I am aware has been lifted all the way back to the junction at Fareham. There used to be stub that ran as far as Bedenham but I believe that even this is out of use now.

The future for the Grade II listed building and site does seem a little more optimistic with a proposed residential and office development - see here for details and pics: http://www.formatmilton.co.uk/news_gosport_aug07.html

Starting 2008 on the wrong track

Another New Year, another public relations disaster for the railways. The over-running engineering works at both Liverpool Street and Rugby have been a fiasco which the media has delighted in seizing as an opportunity to rubbish the railways. It seems that our railways are becoming almost as unloved as that other pariah of public transport, the bus. I often think that we hate our public transport systems with such an unjustified vehemence that we forget the vast improvements that have been made. It is a flippant comment often reeled that of course it was all so much better when the railways were state owned and the loathed British Rail is now recalled with misty eyed nostalgia. Come back BR, all is forgiven. The reality of course is a lot more complex than that. The main problem with the current system is that privatisation of the railways was botched. It was rushed through and further ill-conceived reforms by successive governments have resulted in the current ill-adapted structure we have today. There is the ludicrous suggestion that Network Rail could face a hefty fine from the Office of the Rail Regulator (ORR) for the over-running works at Rugby. What is ridiculous about this is that the government will provide Network Rail with the money to pay the fine, which is then passed back to the government coffers via ORR! Where is the sense or benefit to either the tax payer or the fare paying passenger in that?

What hasn't helped is that the problems at Liverpool Street and Rugby have coincided with the annual fares increase. You could be forgiven for thinking that the two are inextricably linked, rather than just unfortunate timing. As Tom Winsor, the former Rail Regulator pointed out when interviewed on BBC News 24 yesterday, the fare rises are as a result of a political decision that more funding for the railways should come from the fare box (i.e. passengers) and less from the tax payer. Hence, fares have in some cases increased by a substantial margin. But of course, in the spin of media-speak the greatest increases are mentioned as if they are typical across the country.

What I feel is unforgiveable is that Network Rail faced a similar situation to that at Rugby last Christmas. Over Christmas 2006 it planned to complete and commission a new signalling system at Portsmouth. The project fell behind schedule with a limited train service only possible until full commissioning, following further blockades of all lines in the area, in October last year. It is a failure to properly plan that seems to have been the cause of the current difficulties at Rugby, a lesson that does not seem to have been learned from the Portsmouth fiasco.

There is no question that projects such as those undertaken at Portsmouth and Rugby have and will deliver benefits to rail passengers. What is in question is whether the works are too ambitious and that again there seems to have been little thought given to contingencies in the event of an over-run. The problems are exacerbated by the lack of suitable diversionary routes although there are alternative rail links available for most journeys to and from stations on the West Coast Main Line north of Birmingham.

Network Rail really needs to get its act together because further delays such as those at Rugby will only further erode the perceived benefits that these works deliver. It is particularly important, with some key milestones in the WCML project to be delivered over the coming months not least the launch of a new timetable from December 2008 and the Bletchley/Milton Keynes re-signalling and remodelling project.