Monday 22rd July 2013
I love travelling but I love being home, too, and Monday dawned a bright, warm day. I managed to work in between walking in the garden to re-acquaint myself with what we sometimes call "The Magic of Brewood". During Monday night, we had terrible thunderstorms followed by torrential rain. I hoped that this didn't mark the end of our Summer.
Tuesday 23rd July 2013
The rain had stopped by the time I got up on Tuesday. It was another bright day but distinctly cooler. I had an afternoon meeting in London so I caught the bus to Wolverhampton with a view to catching a Virgin 'Pendolino' service to London. There was no London service showing on the departure board but I didn't worry. In general, there's a departure to London every hour but additional trains start from Birmingham so I'm used to catching the first available service to Birmingham and picking up a London train starting from there. I caught a crowded Arriva Trains Wales diesel multiple unit which necessitated standing in a packed vestibule throughout the journey.
At Birmingham, I started to worry - the first London train was shown as 'Cancelled' and a message over the public address was talking about delays to all trains in the vicinity of Birmingham International. If I heard correctly, there were problems with the overhead catenary. In disgust, I decided to walk to Birmingham Moor Street and see what the options were with Chiltern Mainline to London Marylebone. It had been a few years since I'd used the Chiltern service and it had been accelerated. Some of the London trains remain multiple-unit operated, but the better ones comprise refurbished coaches operated by a Class 67 diesel-electric in push-pull with a Driving Van Trailer (DVT) on the other end. I was lucky and, within a few minutes, I was aboard a locomotive-operated service.
I'm not too familiar with more modern motive power but there's a useful article on the Class 67 here. The DVTs were originally used on routes like Wolverhampton - Birmingham - Euston when they were locomotive hauled push-pull. I once travelled with a friendly guard in a DVT at the back of a Euston - Wolverhampton train - at full line speed, it was quite impressive. I found the refurbished coaches on my Marylebone train very satisfactory with good quality seats and excellent soundproofing. Once again, I was struck with just how much more pleasant full-size coaches are, compared with the cramped profile of the 'Pendolino' stock.
The spacious accommodation on my lightly-loaded service to Marylebone.
I took the usual lousy pictures from the speeding train and arrived at Marylebone feeling fairly relaxed and in plenty of time for my afternoon appointment.
The DVT of the Chiltern Mainline train on arrival at Marylebone.
I managed to grab a few pictures of Marylebone station and some additional shots of the S.E.C.R. side of Victoria Station on the way to my meeting in Victoria Station House. Incidentally, there's an article about Victoria Station here. After the meeting, I decided to return via Marylebone. This time, the first available service was a heavily-loaded multiple unit but it got me back to Birmingham Moor Street safely, then I walked across to the (half-modernised) New Street for a train back to Wolverhampton and then a bus home.
Wednesday 24th July 2013
On Wednesday, I had a gentle day driving the single-unit diesel railcar at Shackerstone. Locomotive 3803 had just arrived by low-loader, following repairs (the tender had returned to Shackerstone separately some weeks previously). My earlier article Summer Saturday with a '2884' has some technical information and history on this class.
An unusual cab view of 3803, prior to being re-united with its tender.
The weather was fine, passenger numbers were quite good and I enjoyed the day, making four round trips from Shackerstone to Shenton with an intermediate stop in each direction at the increasingly-popular Market Bosworth Station.
There's an article about the diesel railcars at the Battlefield Line here. All my articles about the Battlefield Line can be found here.
The attractive station building at Shenton was originally at Leicester (Humberstone Road).
Saturday 27th July 2013
I was rostered to drive the 'Planet' replica at the Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI) on Saturday and it was another warm, sunny day. Alan took me to Wolverhampton station in time for the direct train to Manchester at 6.49 a.m. However, I decided to take the slightly-earlier Virgin 'Pendolino' Edinburgh service as far as to Warrington (Bank Quay), changing there to an Arriva Trains Wales train to Manchester (Oxford Road).
My train from Warrington pauses at Manchester (Oxford Road), where I got off.
A short walk took me to the Museum (taking a few pictures of Manchester's varied architectural heritage on the way). Together with Richard, Stuart and Lauren we ran the normal service with 'Planet' and the two blue coaches. The weather remained hot and we were kept busy right up to 4.00 p.m., after which we carried out disposal and used the Battery Electric locomotive to position 'Planet' and the two coaches back in the Power Hall. All my articles on MOSI can be found here.
At long last, the Liverpool and Manchester route, the 'first Inter-City railway in the world' is being electrified. To carry the overhead conductors, a bewildering variety of structures has been erected next to the Museum's demonstration line and 'wiring' is now in progress, as the photograph below shows.
Driver's view at the limit of our demonstration line.
On leaving the Museum, I walked to the nearest 'Metrolink' tram station, Deansgate. Quite a complex network is now operated, as you can see from the route map here. On arrival at Piccadilly, I found that I'd just missed the Arriva Cross-Country 'Voyager' service to Bournemouth which I sometimes catch. Instead, I boarded the Arriva Trains Wales 3-coach Class 175 diesel multiple unit to Cardiff. This service travelled via Wilmslow and Crewe, where I changed to a London Midland 4-coach Class 350 Electric Multiple Unit operating from Liverpool to Birmingham.
South end of Crewe, viewed from Platform 5: The Class 175 which I'd travelled on from Manchester is departing on the Shrewsbury line, passing a Virgin 'Pendolino' arriving on platform 5 before continuing to Manchester.
My Pictures
(Includes pictures taken on previous occasions).
Chiltern Mainline to Marylebone.
London: Marylebone Station.
London: Victoria Station.
Midweek DMU Service.
Shenton Station Building.
Stafford Area rail.
Crewe Area rail.
Warrington Area rail.
Manchester Area Rail.
Manchester.
