To Wales by Car

I'd agreed to attend a business meeting near Bangor on Tuesday 22nd August, 2023. The people we're working with on this project were travelling from the south-west on Monday to be at the meeting and they suggested that we might travel together by car and that they would collect me around 1 p.m. This allowed me to work in the office in the morning, before they arrived at lunchtime.

The weather was good, so there was time for a brief tour of the garden and the Hall before we set-off together. It was agreed that we'd take the 'pretty route', using the A5 through Llangollen. Since this would take us near the commercial woodland at Ty Gwyn, it was further agreed that we'd make a short detour to Ty Gwyn as neither of my friends had previously visited the plantation.

After a pleasant journey, the weather remained mild on arrival at Ty Gwyn and we were able to explore the forest roads on foot.


Alex and Steve at Ty Gwyn 2023


Ty Gwyn 2023: Progress achieved by the sitka spruce which was replanted in 2016.


Splendid Rowan berries: Ty Gwyn 2023

Leaving Ty Gwyn, we headed on through the spectacular scenery around Snowdonia as the weather rapidly deteriorated. Having negotiated heavy rain, conditions improved as we approached Bangor at dusk. Overnight accommodation had been arranged at The Management Centre operated by Bangor University. The main university campus at Bangor is at the summit of a hill overlooking the town and the Menai Strait. The Management Centre is a Residential Training, Conference and Events Venue housed in three buildings built in 1910 on the slope below the main campus. After restoration and refurbishment, these three buildings were re-opened with their present role in 2010. My pleasantly-situated room in one residential block gave a view of the main Management Centre building to the left, faced a similar residential block and revealed the Menai Strait looking to the right.


Main Management Centre building, Bangor


View of the Menai Strait from The Management Centre, Bangor

We'd arrived early enough to take dinner in the '1884' restaurant at The Management Centre (1884 was the founding date of Bangor University). Informed that fish had run out (my usual choice), I opted for vegetarian tagliatelle which was very good. After the enjoyable meal with my friends, I was happy to retire to my well-appointed bedroom for a good night's sleep. On Tuesday morning, we took the buffet breakfast at the '1884' before setting off for our meeting.


Bedroom at The Management Centre, Bangor


Breakfast at '1884' Restaurant, The Management Centre, Bangor

Since our meeting was scheduled to last all day, we made a brief stop on the way at the large Marks and Spencer's supermarket to select sandwiches, snacks and drinks to sustain us. The meeting was near Bethesda at Felin Fawr Cyf. Here, a series of early industrial buildings have been converted into 'Units' for small business use. Concentrating on the business of the meeting, my antenna failed to alert me to the significance of the location until Steve said "There's an abandoned railway out the back!". When the meeting finished, Steve was hoping to drive back to South Wales, dropping me off on the way so there wasn't much time to explore, but I made sure of a few pictures to prompt further study later. I was puzzled that the truncated trackwork, with a gauge of around two feet, included some modern sleepers, indicating fairly recent (say within 10 years) maintenance. Well, that was a puzzle for the future. I was returned home safely by car after an interesting couple of days and eventually added a post about the Penrhyn Quarry Railway here.


Railway sidings at Felin Fawr

Related posts on other websites

The Management Centre, Bangor.


Related posts on this website

My posts on Brewood Hall are here.
My posts on Ty Gwyn are here.

My pictures

My pictures of Brewood Hall are here.
My pictures of Ty Gwyn are here.
My pictures of The Management Centre are here.
My pictures at Felin Fawr Cyf (showing the reconstructed trackwork) are here.


[Link to Penrhyn Quarry Railway post added 31-Oct-2023]

By Train to Newport

A visit to the site which is to become the Global Centre of Rail Excellence (GCRE) in South Wales to attend their 'Open Day' involved a Sunday journey to Newport on 11th June 2023, returning the following day after a visit to the extensive GCRE site.

Sunday travel is rarely convenient on the British Railway Network as it's a favourite day for Network Rail to carry out engineering works, frequently substituting Rail Replacement Bus Services for part or all of the route of scheduled trains. I expected to find a Cross Country service via Bristol Parkway but, instead there appeared to be a number of trains running between Nottingham and Newport via Gloucester, with a bus service forward to Cardiff. I pre-booked tickets online.

On Sunday, Dean took me by road to Wolverhampton station in plenty of time to catch my first train to Birmingham New Street. At Birmingham, I made my way to the wide concourse area connecting the different platforms. The station was very busy but I easily located the Passenger Information Screens which showed my train approaching platform 12 on time. After purchasing food for the onward journey, I made my way to the platform which was crammed with passengers. Platform 12 is the highest-numbered platform, sharply-curved on the southern side of the station.

The first station in Birmingham was the 1838 Curzon Street, equipped with a suitably grand building by the London and Birmingham Railway. Although the grade 1 listed building survives, it has been neglected for years. It's to become subsumed into the ridiculous new terminus being built for the unwanted and expensive HS2 railway.


Curzon Street station building in 2007

Curzon Street was relegated to a goods depot when New Street Station was built, one kilometre to the south-west. The rail approaches to New Street were all by tunnel so the cramped station was built in a 'hole in the ground' between the North and South tunnels. The London and North Western Railway managed to get straight platforms but the Midland Railway had to settle for curved platforms which are little changed today. Glazed, arched train shed roofing originally covered the platforms. That on the London and North Western side was lost, I think to bombing in the second world war, so I only remember the utilitarian umbrella roofing which replaced it but I remember the Midland side train shed which survived the war in a dingy and delapidated state. British Railways rebuilt the station by burying the whole area beneath a multi-storey building and its approaches. Even after electrification (and still today) many of the services remained diesel powered, ensuring an unpleasant environment for waiting passengers. Birmingham New Street held my 'Britain's most unpleasant station' award for many years until it was decided to rebuild the station again, creating years of additional confusion for passengers as the work proceeded. Unfortunately, because of the site constraints, few of the fundamental defects could be remedied, although I think platform ventilation is improved. The station now boasts an even larger shopping centre, styling itself 'Grand Central'. Having visited the rather better-known Grand Central in New York, I think the appropriation of the name at New Street is unjustified.


Grand Central, Birmingham New Street: Atrium showing retail outlets at Concourse Level and around the Gallery.

My train, a Class 170 3-car diesel multiple unit, arrived on time and a stream of passengers got off, to be replaced by the hordes waiting on the platform. I gratefully found my reserved seat and tucked myself in the corner. If I'd noticed just how many young people had boarded, I might not have been surprised when, at our first stop at University after just five minutes travel, a large number of passengers abandoned the train. Even after the exodus, the train remained pretty crowded. The next stop was Worcestershire Parkway. This is a recent addition, opened 2020, with a large car park. In addition to the two platforms on the former Midland route to Bristol (now called the 'Cross Country Line'), the station has a third platform on the Oxford and Worcester line which crosses over at this point. The Oxford and Worcester is marketed as the 'Cotswold Line' and is single line between Norton Junction (a little to the west of the new station) for the ten miles to Evesham.

Our next stop was Cheltenham Spa. Because of the Byzantine complexity of the pricing structure for train tickets, 'Split Ticketing' is now commonplace. For instance, it is often cheaper to buy a Birmingham-Cheltenham Spa ticket and a separate Cheltenham Spa-Newport ticket, rather than a combined Birmingham-Newport ticket. Many of the online booking services now incorporate this feature in their pricing automatically, requiring me to print and manage two tickets for the journey from Birmingham to Newport on one train. Leaving Cheltenham Spa, we bowled along happily until Barnwood Junction, where we diverged right onto the northern leg of the triangular junction leading to Gloucester. Once again, there was quite an interchange of passengers before we continued on our way, showing a decent turn of speed in between stops at Lydney, Chepstow and Caldicot.

Just after Caldicot, our route converged with the Great Western Main Line, rising up from the Welsh portal of the 4 mile 628 yard long Severn Junnel. It was clear from the 'Freightliner' Class 66 on a ballast train and the collection of yellow-liveried track machines that the tunnel route was under an Engineering Possession and not available to normal trains that day.


Ballast train and Track machines on the Great Western Main Line just east of Severn Tunnel Junction station viewed from Caldicot line

Continuing west from Severn Tunnel Junction, there are four running lines, paired by direction. The Bishton Flyover re-arranges the order of the lines into paired by use. This was presumably to facilitate freight traffic entering and leaving the massive Llanwern Steelworks site. Steelmaking ceased some years ago and much of the site is being re-developed by St. Modwen. Spain's CAF are assembling Class 197 'Civity' diesel multiple units for Transport for Wales at a thirty million pound new factory here. My train negotiated Maindee East Junction and Maindee West Junction where the Welsh Marches line to Hereford and Shrewsbury makes a triangular junction with the the South Wales Main Line, crossed over the River Usk and quietly came to a stand in platform 1 at Newport. On that day, the service was terminating at Newport, rather than continuing to Cardiff, so passengers for Cardiff were forced to complete their journey by a Rail Replacement bus.


Newport Station Platform 1, after arrival of Class 170 from Nottingham

I was booked into the Mercure Hotel for the night and had arranged that Steve M. would meet me later at the hotel for an evening meal. I toyed with the idea of a taxi for the short distance to the hotel but the weather was fine and I only had a small pull-along case so I decided to continue on foot. My route took me through what I imagine is now called the 'Hospitality Quarter' - pedestrianised streets of colourful bars and restaurants. Judging by the amount of litter I waded through on that Sunday afternoon, the previous night had been a commercial success. The hotel entrance was an unassuming affair in pedestrianised Upper Dock Street opposite Friars Walk Shopping Centre and Leisure Complex. Steps and a ramp led through glass doors to a spartan reception with a reception desk at the far end and lift doors on the left led to the rest of the hotel. Checking-in was quick and friendly and the lift took me to my room on the eighth floor. The room was well-appointed with a decent bed and an excellent en-suite shower, wash basin and W.C. The large window gave a splendid view across the River Usk and the east of the city. Upstream, to the left, the river was crossed by the arched road bridge called Newport Bridge, adjacent to the remains of Newport Castle, with the railway bridge beyond.


Newport, Wales: View from 8th floor, Mercure Hotel showing railway and road bridges over the Usk

Downstream, I could see the stark, modernist Newport City Footbridge, opened in 2006. This cable-stayed bridge is supported by two tubular steel 'A'-frames 80 metres and 69 metres in length giving the bridge a span of 145 metres. In the foreground, I had a detailed view of the flat roof of Friars Walk, covered with all sorts of heating and ventilating equipment and ducts. I took a leisurely shower and relaxed. My inclination is always to get out and explore an unfamiliar location but, tired from the travelling, I decided to settle for a 'virtual tour' by studying the book 'Newport History Tour' given to me by Steve. In the evening, I enjoyed a good meal in the hotel's restaurant with Steve and his partner before they returned home and I retired as I knew the following day would prove taxing. Steve arranged to return next morning in time for us to both have breakfast at the hotel before setting off for GCRE.

After a good night's sleep, I arose early and decided there was time for a brief exploration before Steve arrived for breakfast. My interest had been piqued by a reference in the 'Newport History Tour' book to Early Power Transformers in Park Square and I judged there was time to walk there and see for myself. It was a fine morning and the city centre was just starting to awake. I was delighted to see contractors scrubbing and washing pavements ready for the new day. I found a disused, preserved transformer near the top of Park Square. I'm used to cast iron cabinets installed on pavements mounting substantial fuses to protect street mains but the cylindrical, decorated pillar I found was a much grander affair. At some point, it had been nicely repainted in blue, with detailing picked out in pale blue and although there was obvious damage, it still looked quite handsome. I believe this relic dates from around 1894 when a power station in Llanarth Street, Newport distributed alternating current at 2,000 volts via rubber insulated cables to a series of these pillars where transformers extracted power at 200 volts a.c. for domestic use.


Newport, Wales: Park Square Transformer

There were tall, hinged doors at low level and smaller doors at high level. One of the larger doors had been opened and rusting on the hinges now prevented it from being closed, resulting in a collection of litter and leaves inside. The original transformer was still in situ, as shown below, but further study is needed to better understand the design.




Excited by what I'd found, I hurried back to the hotel for a sustaining English buffet breakfast with Steve before checking out. Steve and I then set off for the visit to GCRE.

Book references

[1] 'Newport History Tour' by Jan Preece (Amberley Publishing 2019) ISBN: 978 1 4456 9292 0.

Related posts on this website

Lionsmeet 2012 (A live-steam model event at Newport in 2012)
A Trip to South Wales (Part 2) (A visit to Newport in 2014)
Caldicot by Train (Travel on the same route in 2019)
Global Centre for Rail Excellence Open Day (Visit to GCRE)

My pictures

West Midland Railways.
Newport, Wales.
Newport area rail.

[Link to GCRE Visit post added: 9-Dec-2023]

Book-buying in Morecambe by Train

Events of Thursday, 26th May 2022

There's a rather special second-hand bookshop in Morecambe called Old Pier Bookshop. Because of the pandemic, I'd not made a visit since 2019 (see post here) but in May 2022 I determined to venture back.

I took the familiar Avanti 'Pendolino' service from Wolverhampton to Scotland as far as Lancaster. The weather forecast hadn't been very good and, as we headed north, the skies darkened and we went through patches of rain. At Lancaster, it was dry but not very warm and, having walked the short distance to the north end bays, I was happy to board the waiting Diesel Multiple Unit (DMU) to Morecambe.

We set off on time for Morecambe and, crossing the River Lune. I noticed the poor visibilty on the seaward side with the Heysham Power Stations a looming, grey presence in the distance. At Morecambe South Junction we left the West Coast Main Line, swinging left onto the single line to Bare Lane where we were joined by the single line from Hest Bank which completes a triangular connection with the West Coast Main Line. The route immediately splits into two parallel single lines which continue to serve the two platform faces of Morecambe's modern station. Ten minutes are allowed from Lancaster to Morecambe, including a brief stop at Bare Lane.

It was raining in Morecambe but, undismayed, I set off along Northumberland Street to the seafront, turning east along Central Marine Road. In good weather, the location commands impressive views of Cumbria to the north. There's an exhibit called 'Lakeland Panorama' to assist visitors in identifying what they can see but it was rather redundant on my visit as only low, grey cloud was visible. I passed the Clock Tower and soon reached my destination, the family-run Old Pier Bookshop named after the older of Morecambe's two now-lost piers, which opened in 1869 and was named the Central Pier following the opening of the West End Pier in 1896. According to Wikipedia, the West End Pier was demolished in 1978 while the Central Pier closed in 1986 and was demolished in 1992.

In the bookshop, books crowd in from all directions with shelves fitted in every evailable space. A step ladder is provided to reach high-level shelves. An aisle between bookshelves will often turn a right angle, left or right to reveal more books. The convoluted layout of the bookshelves is reminiscent of ancient rectilinear key patterns (which I believe are strictly called 'meanders') used in geometric borders, sometimes referred to as 'Greek Key' designs. The overall effect is pleasingly eccentric and visitors should not be surprised to come across mannequins browsing the shelves.


Old Pier Bookshop, Morecambe
Old Pier Bookshop, Morecambe (The framed print shown includes a quote from Terry Pratchett's writing)

Did I find a book? Yes, I left the bookshop much later loaded with two large carrier bags of books (mainly from the transport section, as you might have imagined). Fortunately, the rain had stopped but the day remained overcast and none too warm. Fortified by a snack at the Clock Tower Cafe (which I consumed seated at one of the seats conveniently built into the base of the adjacent Clock Tower). I decided to cut short my trip to Morecambe and concentrate on transporting my rather heavy haul of books home. For variety, I took an alternative route through the pedestrianised town centre and Market Street onto Central Drive, quite near the station so this route proved a good choice as I was encumbered with my book purchases. Since I was travelling back earlier than anticipated, I was a little vague about available services but a well-patronised DMU was waiting in the platform so I was soon returned to the bay platforms at Lancaster station.

A number of passengers leaving the train were exiting the station by a pedestrian 'back gate' I'd not seen on previous visits so, despite being loaded with books, I decided to see where it led. Most of the passengers were walking towards the more modern, mainly residential area of the city to the west of the station but I followed the few who were taking West Road over a narrow road bridge, now only available to pedestrians, which crossed the railway revealing new views of the station.


View of Lancaster Station from West Road Bridge looking south

I trudged up the steep hill leading towards Lancaster Castle, where the Crown Court elevation was covered in scaffolding and the maintenance workers were just packing up for the day. I continued into the graveyard of Lancaster Prory Church of St. Mary. It was very peaceful and pleasantly warm so I rested for a few minutes on the steps adjacent to a memorial whilst quickly scanning my recently-acquired books.


Outside Lancaster Priory Church of St. Mary

Deciding it was time to return to the station, I made my way downhill to a pedestrian entrance to the up side of the station, just east of the West Road Bridge. This charming entrance features substantial, carved stone pillars and retains an elaborate iron gate. Of course, the current custodians of this feature, Network Rail have seen fit to adorn one pillar with a modern sign declaring 24-hour CCTV surveillance. They even managed to mount the gharish notice off-centre.


Pedestrian entrance to Lancaster Station (Up side) from West Road

Through the gate, a short, nondescript alley leads to the small, cobbled road access on the Up side of the station and the entrance to the buildings which now lead passengers through automatic doors to the overbridge with both steps and lifts leading to island platforms 4/5 on the Up side and platforms 1/2/3 on the Down side.


Lancaster: Entrance to station on Up Side

A Northern Class 195 DMU heading for Manchester Airport preceded my train in platform 4. These CAF-built units were introduced to finally dispel the abyssmal 'Pacers'and are the diesel-powered version of the electric Class 331. My Avanti 'Pendolino' followed and, having struggled aboard with my books, I flopped in First Class for the uneventful journey back to Wolverhampton, tired after a productive day.

Book References

[1] ‘A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain: Volume 10 The North West’ by G. O. Holt, revised Gordon Biddle published by David & Charles (ISBN: 0946537 34 8).
[2] ‘Wennington to Morecambe and Heysham via Lancaster’ by Roy Davies (Middleton Press 2021) ISBN 978 1 910356 58 6.

Related articles on other websites

Lancaster Priory (Wikipedia)


Related Railway posts on this website

Steam around Morecambe
Return to Heysham
Railways around Morecambe
Morecambe by Rail
My Introduction to the Railways around Morecambe

My pictures

All my Lancaster and Morecambe pictures:-
Lancaster (All pictures)
Morecambe (All pictures)

All my rail transport pictures showing areas passed through:-
West Midland Metro
West Midland Railways
Stafford Area rail
Crewe Area rail
Warrington Area rail
Wigan's Railways
Railways around Preston
Lancaster area rail.
Morecambe Area Rail

Depending on the display device, the right hand edge of pictures may not display. To see an uncropped image, click on the picture. Alternately, you can find the image by following the 'My pictures' links and display or download the image in various resolutions.

Blackpool by rail, Fleetwood and Knott End

On Thursday, 30th June 2022, I made a trip by rail to Blackpool, Fleetwood and Knott End. This was largely a 're-run' of an earlier trip in 2021 described here

I caught the 07:30 bus to Wolverhampton, walked towards the station and, once again, marvelled at the slow progress of the tramway extension to the railway station. For some time, the double tramway track from the existing route stopped at Victoria Square. Then, tracks were laid along railway drive, stopping just short of the destination. Special rail joints were provided either side of the bridge over the Ring Road, presumably to allow for some bridge movement.


West Midland Metro: Flexible rail joint on bridge over Ring Road in Railway Drive, Wolverhampton.

However, recently a number of deep, square holes have been dug adjacent to the tracks along this section, with groups of orange-clad workers often in attendance but the reason for these excavations isn't obvious. Work has also continued with tracklaying on the final section extending to the site of the tram station adjacent to the railway station entrance. This tracklaying is enclosed by two adjacent sets of fencing separated by a narrow walkway to allow public access to and from the railway station. The worksite gates are continually opened and closed as workers and materials move between the two areas.
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Wolverhampton Station: View from station towards the City showing tramway tracks under construction on Railway Drive (Trip to Blackpool)

The obstacle race involved in getting to the station gives an unwelcoming feeling to the area which is compounded inside the building by the bleak internal finish of painted building blocks more suggestive of a prison than a modern transport hub. But I suppose it serves as preparation for the high fares and frequent train cancellations on offer.

The displays showed my train, the 08:37 Edinburgh, as 'On time'. Once on the platform, I used my mobile phone to interrogate Railcam UK (described here) to show the approaching train, reporting number 9S44, near Coseley, but preceded by an all-stations local, terminating at Wolverhampton. As frequently happens, my train was slowed or stopped near Monmore Green, waiting for the local to tuck itself into bay platform 5 before the route could be reset and signal BW4271 cleared for my train to follow into through platform 1, arriving 2 minutes late.

The trainset was an 11-car unit, 390117 named 'Blue Peter', re-liveried since the days of the Virgin Trains franchise but without the re-furbishment carried out by Avanti on some of the sets. I found my seat in coach J near the rear of the train and, as we sped north, I was quickly provided with a cooked breakfast. The staff were friendly and the food was good quality, promptly supplied so I enjoyed the journey. I still consider modern arrangements fall short of earlier standards although my experience of railway restaurant cars only extends back to the 1980s, when many travellers already thought on-train catering a lost cause.

We were back on time approaching Crewe but were brought to a stand briefly at signal CE107 (again, as frequently happens), making our arrival in platform 11 one minute in arrears. Our departure was seven minutes late but I didn't discover the cause. On our journey north with brief station stops at Warrington and Wigan, some time had been made up before Preston where I alighted but I never found out whether I would have made the advertised connection with the 10:09 departure to Blackpool as the platform displays indicated that the train had been cancelled. Following the Covid19 pandemic, typically no apologies are made for frequent cancellations. Fortunately, there was another service at 10:25.

I walked along the straight, broad platform 3 towards the footbtidge admiring, as always, the gabled overall roof. Such structures are often called 'train sheds' which seems a rather mean description. The airiness and sense of space combined with generous admission of daylight I find very appealing. The arched structures at, for instance, Liverpool Lime Street, Manchester Piccadilly and York are perhaps better-known but the Preston design is very effective.


Platform 3 at Preston with 9S44 preparing to leave: Trip to Blackpool


Preston platform 3, view looking south from the footbridge with platform 2 on the right: Trip to Blackpool:

The train forward to Blackpool arrived on time from the south comprising two 4-car sets of Class 331 EMU built by CAF in Spain. Although I'd seen Class 331 in various locations this was only my second chance to ride on this class introduced in 2019 (the first was a short trip from Edge Hill to Lime Street described here). The modern interiors are decent standard but I didn't find the ride particularly good on the way to Blackpool. The train formed part of a regular Northern Trains electric service between Hazel Grove (the limit of electrification on the Buxton branch from Stockport) and Blackpool North. My train (reporting number 2N63) had left Hazel Grove at 09:03 and travelled via Stockport, Manchester Piccadilly, Bolton, Horwich and Chorley before joining the West Coast Main Line to reach Preston. Our arrival at Blackpool North was on time at 10:47.

The pedestrian route from the station to the town remained initially via the rather inconvenient arrangement of narrow ramp and stairs to reach the Talbot Gateway area still dominated by building work. The tram station at Blackpool North was still under construction but, having noted the overhead conductor system had been installed and that the tram signals were lit, I was not surprised as I walked along Talbot Road to the seafront when a tram marked 'Not in Service' passed me. Afterwards, I found out that my visit coincided with a week of testing the new line with empty trams running every ten minutes during the day.


Tram carrying out test running on the new extension along Talbot Road: Trip to Blackpool

There had been a little light rain on my journey along Talbot Road, ignored by lightly-dressed holidaymakers, but this soon stopped as the sun emerged and the day warmed. I joined a few passengers waiting for a northbound tram at the North Pier Tram Station and, after a few minutes wait, one of the fleet of Bombardier 'Flexity' trams arrived. I secured a seat at the front offering a view ahead and, having purchased a return ticket to Fleetwood Ferry from the friendly conductor with a rapid contactless payment, settled down for the eight mile journey punctuated by frequent stops to the northern terminus.

It's just a few yards from the tram terminus across the Esplanade to the ferry and, despite just missing a departing ferry, I couldn't resist wandering around the area whilst waiting for the next departure thirty minutes later, finding one of the 'Heritage' trams awaiting its next trip and then exploring Euston Park, with the North Euston Hotel in the background.


Blackpool 'Heritage' tram on loop line at Fleetwood Ferry: Trip to Blackpool


Euston Park, Fleetwood with the North Euston Hotel background left and the Lower Light background right: Trip to Blackpool

Fleetwood Ferry Port is a substantial square-ended dock which towers over the modern Wyre Estuary Ferry 'Wyre Rose'. A long ramp leads passengers down to board the ferry via a short power-operated gangway mounted on the port side of the ferry.


Fleetwood Ferry Port and 'Wyre Rose': Trip to Blackpool

The ferry is operated by two men - the 'skipper' has an elevated 'pilot house' giving improved visibility, the other looks after mooring, the gangway and collecting fares (cash only, collected in a white plastic bucket).


Wyre Estuary Ferry during the crossing showing gangway in raised position, raised 'pilot house' and white cash bucket: Trip to Blackpool

The crossing takes only a few minutes to Knott End (or Knott End-on-Sea to give its full title) on the far side of the Wyre Estuary where the ferry moors alongside a long concrete slipway leading to the expanded village forming part of Parish of Preesall and Wyre Council. It's an odd mixture of old, not-so-old and modern. There's a cafe and shop aimed at tourists, the Bourne Arms public house and restaurant and a long esplanade looking across the bay with Cumbria to the north but my eye is always drawn to the incongruity of the view of the two nearer nuclear power stations at Heysham.


Knott End-on-Sea: View looking north showing Heysham Nuclear Power Stations with Cumbria in the background (Trip to Blackpool)

A nearby postbox carried a 'postbox topper' celebrating crimefighting in Lancashire, which reminded me of my last sighting of these knitted adornments in Wallasey (mentioned here).


Postbox Topper 'You can run but you can't hide' celebrating Lancashire Constabulary in Knott End-on-Sea (Trip to Blackpool)

I decided not to explore beyond the esplanade with its modern apartment buildings facing the sea so, having recorded the Bourne Arms, I made my way back to the Knott End Cafe and indulged in a vanilla ice cream cornet.


The Bourne Arms, Knott End (Trip to Blackpool)

Although I was well aware that Knott End had formerly been connected to the West Coast Main Line via a single line railway to Garstang, it wasn't until I started to write this report that I realised the Knott End Cafe is actually on the site of Knott End Station. I believe the disused station buildings served as Knott End Cafe for some years before being rebuilt and expanded into the current structure. Refreshed by the ice cream, I hurried to the slipway, just in time to catch up with the last of the passengers boarding the next ferry for the short return trip.


View in 2021 from Knott End Slipway showing Knott End Cafe and H. M. Coastguard

At Fleetwood Ferry, a modern tram was waiting at the terminus, with the crew enjoying the warm sunshine on the adjacent pavement. After exchanging a few friendly words, I secured a seat at the front for the return journey and we set off almost immediately. Although we didn't have to stop at every tram station, plenty of passengers boarded and alighted on the way back to Blackpool.

As we neared Blackpool, work in setting up the annual Illuminations (sometimes called 'The Lights') was in progress. The website for the 2022 Illuminations (2nd September 2022 - 2nd January 2023) is here. The major displays are largely mounted on substantial long steel tubes mounted vertically in prepared foundations in the margin on the seaward side of the tramway, held in place by wooden wedges. At least some of these tubes appeared to be re-purposed supports for the tramway catenary or similar. We passed a Blackpool Council articulated flatbed lorry at work, fitted with a serious-looking Atlas crane (probably from their 'medium' range). Atlas manufacture in Germany but there's a UK website here.


Blackpool Illuminations being erected (Trip to Blackpool)

A few of the large displays were already in place, featuring Sooty and friends (who were appearing at Blackpool North Pier in 2022).


Blackpool Illumination 2022 being erected (Trip to Blackpool)

I left the tram at North Pier and, spotting another Heritage Tram waiting in the loop at North Pier, went across to take a picture. It was a rather attractive open top, 'Gondola' style tram with a driver, conductor and a couple of passengers on board.


Heritage Tram, open top, 'Gondola' style, waiting in the loop at North Pier (Trip to Blackpool)

The tram didn't seem about to move so I then spent a short time on the pier, taking yet one more picture of Blackpool Tower viewed from the pier.


Blackpool Tower, viewed from North Pier (Trip to Blackpool)

It was so warm, I'd ended up carrying my coat. I'd intended to travel home on a 'Pendolino' from Blackpool later in the afternoon not requiring any changes but knowing I could travel an hour earlier with a single change at Preston and starting to get tired and feeling warm, I crossed to Talbot Road and started walking towards the station. The walk took longer than expected and, for a moment, I wondered if I'd catch the earlier train but all was well. As I hurried through Blackpool station, I noticed that the later, direct train I'd intended to catch had been cancelled so I gratefully flopped onto the 14:28 Blackpool North to Hazel Grove, another Class 331. This made stops at Leyton, Poulton and Kirkham. The reporting number was 2H00. On arrival at Preston, I crossed to platform 4 and found a station seat, having around half an hour to wait for my connaction.

The connection was a 'Pendolino', reporting number 9M56, timetabled to depart Preston 15:18, Wigan 15:30½, Wigan 15:41½, Crewe 16:01½, getting to Wolverhampton at 16:33½. The train was a few minutes late into Preston and, with plenty of passengers boarding and alighting, the computer logged departure as 8 minutes late. I settled myself in First and there was amusement when the catering lady came to take 'orders from Preston' as we each recognised the other from the Down journey that morning. After I'd left the train at Preston, trainset 390117 'Blue Peter' had continued to Edinburgh and returned on its London-Edinburgh-London diagram to pick me up again. The service was friendly and attentive, although I found the afternoon menu rather limited. I'm afraid I didn't pay a lot of attention on the journey. The Openrail computer logged us 8 late at Wigan, 5 late arriving Crewe (we'd been brought to a stand outside Crewe North Junction) and I made us 7 late into Wolverhampton. The earlier than planned train home meant that I was in time to catch the last bus to Brewood (at 17:10!). The warm weather and the walking had left me tired but I'd had a very enjoyable day.

Garstang and Knott End Railway

Although I never saw the railway operating, I made one brief visit by road some years after closure of the line. For a rather obscure railway, I was surprised how much history was readily available on the internet and I list a few sites below:-

Garstang and Knot-End Railway
The Garstang and Knott End Railway – Part 1
The Garstang and Knott End Railway – Part 2
THE GARSTANG & KNOTT END RAILWAY
Disused Stations Site Record: Knott End

Related posts on this website

Previous trips to Blackpool are linked below. Note that the dates below are posting dates, not the date of the events described.

Halfex to Blackpool 5-Jul-2008
A Trip to the Seaside 17-Jan-2014
Railways around Blackpool 18-Jan-2014
Return to Blackpool and Fleetwood (part 1) 19-Feb-2016
Return to Blackpool and Fleetwood (part 2) 15-Oct-2016
Blackpool by Train 17-Feb-2019
Blackpool by Electric Train 28-Aug-2021


My pictures

Pictures taken on this trip:- Blackpool Trip


All my rail transport pictures showing areas passed through:- West Midland Metro
West Midland Railways
Stafford Area rail
Crewe Area rail
Warrington Area rail
Wigan's Railways
Railways around Preston
Blackpool's Railways
Blackpool Trams


All my Blackpool, Fleetwood and Knott End pictures:- Blackpool and Fleetwood


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Old Locomotive Committee Annual General Meeting, 2022

The Covid19 pandemic resulted in cancellation of both the 2020 and 2021 Annual General Meetings of the Old Locomotive Committee (OLCO). The 2022 A.G.M. was held on Saturday, 7th May 2022 at the Museum of Liverpool.

Getting there

I travelled on the same West Midland Trains service from Birmingham to Liverpool Lime Street that I'd used a short time before for my New Brighton trip (described here). This train leaves Wolverhampton at 08:21 but on Saturdays there is no bus early enough to get me to Wolverhampton, so I next considered catching the train at Penkridge, where the 08:21 calls on weekdays but, I discovered, not on Saturdays so instead I travelled by car to Stafford to pickup the train there.

The 8-car Siemens 'Desiro' Class 350 gave us an uneventful and on-time journey to Liverpool Lime Street where I transferred to the underground Merseyrail station for the short journey to James Street by one of the elderly Class 507/508 3-car sets which are due to be replaced by Stadler Class 777. Back at ground level, it was sunny but rather windy as I walked to the Waterfront. The ten o'clock Mersey Ferry had just left Pier Head but my attention was drawn to the adjacent Cruise Terminal where Tui cruise ship 'Mein Schiff 3' was moored.


Cruise ship 'Mein Schiff 3' visits Liverpool: OLCO A.G.M. 2022

I then walked to the Museum of Liverpool, housing the 1838 locomotive 'Lion'. The museum is home to some interesting artefacts but I will never forgive the 'dented shoebox' architectural design of the building, opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 2011 (my report is here). A few years earlier, in 2004, Liverpool had achieved World Heritage Status from UNESCO for the "outstanding universal value" of its waterfront. But this was withdrawn in 2021 (only the third site in 50 years to lose the coveted status) because of "significant loss to its authenticity and integrity" caused by the host of ghastly redevelopments including the museum itself.

'Lion' was on display in the Great Port Gallery, but it was disappointing to find most of the display screens provided to interpret 'Lion' and the Great Port Gallery were out of use. There's a short post here describing the arrangements commissioned in 2011. I understand that, such is the pace of technological change, maintenance of these systems is becoming problematic.


'Lion' on display at the Museum of Liverpool: OLCO A.G.M. 2022

Informal proceedings started around 1.00 p.m. as the Chairman, John Brandrick, described the David Royle Archive of ‘Lion’-related documents held by OLCO and displayed a number of drawings for examination. There was then a special illustrated talk about the Museum of Liverpool Transport Collection given by Transport Curator Sharon Brown which was very vell received.


OLCO A.G.M. 2022 (Photo: Sharon Brown)

The formal A.G.M.followed. In his report, the Chairman particularly thanked the editor of the OLCO Magazine 'Lionsheart' for informing and entertaining the membership during the Covid Pandemic when face-to-face activities were not possible. It was noted that Rapido Trains are introducing an 00 gauge model of 'Lion', based on John Hawley's drawings of the prototype, which should be viewed as an opportunity to expand OLCO's activities. [Progress on this project is shown here]. A full report on the A.G.M. has been circulated to OLCO Members.

The A.G.M. finished at 16:20. The weather was glorious but, already tired, I was not tempted by further exploration. I walked back to James street and caught the next train to Liverpool Lime Street.


Class 508 entering James Street station, inbound to Liverpool before traversing the Liverpool Loop and becoming an outbound train: OLCO A.G.M. 2022

I had intended to catch the next hourly West Midland Trains service back to Wolverhampton but I discovered that there was an earlier Avanti West Coast train to London which called at Stafford. Having confirmed the validity of my ticket on this train (Train Operating Companies seem obsessed with having very complicated and irritating restrictions on which trains different tickets can be used), I had a decent journey by 'Pendolino' to Stafford, with only a few minutes to wait there for a connection on to Wolverhampton.

It was good to meet my OLCO friends face-to-face after being restricted to remote communication for so long.

Related posts on other websites

The Titfield Thunderbolt 70th Anniversary Range (Rapido Trains UK)

Related posts on this website

Royal Visit to the Museum of Liverpool
Audio Visual Installations at the Museum of Liverpool

To find all my posts about the Old Locomotive Committee and the locomotive 'Lion', click here or select 'OLCO' under 'Labels to select a blog topic'.

My pictures

OLCO A.G.M. 2022
The Old Locomotive Committee and Lionsmeet (All my OLCO Collections)


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Manchester by rail

On Friday, 8th July 2022, I made a trip by rail to Manchester area to visit a friend.

Over the years, I've made many trips to Manchester, particularly when I was a volunteer at what was then called the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry. My previous trip on the route, as far as Stockport, had been in November 2021 and that is described here.

I caught the 07:30 bus to Wolverhampton, then walked to the railway station passing the West Midlands Metro extension where numerous workers in high visibilty clothing and hard hats swarmed over the new construction. I made my way to platform 2 for the 08:14 train to Manchester. I used Railcam UK (described here) to confirm that my train, reporting number 1M18 had been scheduled to depart Southampton at 05:15 that morning, leaving Birmingham New Street at 07:57, Wolverhampton 08:14½, Stafford 08:28½, Stoke 08:44½, Macclesfield 09:01½, Stockport 09:14½ and arriving at Manchester Piccadilly at 09:23. On that day, the train was reported three minutes late leaving Birmingham. When the train arrived, I had some confusion identifying the correct coach for my reservation as, although the passenger information display on the platform indicated the marshalling of the two 4-coach 'Voyager' sets was with the two First Class areas in the centre of the train, on that day, the leading set was in reverse. Anxious to get the train away, the platform staff advised "just get on and walk through". However, the nearest door was blocked by what I assumed was an assistant guard who only relectantly let me use 'his' door. We left two minutes 'down' and I walked through the leading set to reach my booked seat. That seat was already occupied but a number of adjacent seats were available so I settled down for the journey.

After our Stafford stop, we were only one minute late departing, passing a Down train of sand in bogie vehicles headed by 66160 waiting on the goods line next to platform 6. Departing from our Stoke stop, we were two minutes late as I noted the Northern Electric Multiple Unit reporting number 2H82 in platform 3 ready to work the all-stations to Crewe. As expected, we picked up a crowd of commuters at Macclesfield, leaving three minutes late. We left Stockport two minutes late and I didn't note our arrival time at Piccadilly but the leisurely timings specified combined with the reserves of power provided by the eight Cummins QSK19 diesel engines on the train offer plenty of scope for recovering lateness where local speed limits permit.

I'd travelled early to allow a visit to witness some testing in Stockport before visiting my friend but, at the last moment, the testing was cancelled so I had some time free. I'd decided to make a visit to the former Manchester Museum of Science and Industry which is now part of the Science Museum with the logo 'SCIENCE+INDUSTRY MUSEUM' with a website here. I'd started volunteering at the museum back in 1988 and you can find the posts about my involvement here. Back then, my travel to the museum from home would either be by car door-to-door or by train to Manchester Piccadilly. Sometimes, I'd walk from here to the museum, just over a mile away. If I was lucky, I could cross to platform 14 and catch a local train to Deansgate, leaving a walk of only 0.3 miles to the museum. Not all trains stopped at Deansgate so an alternative was to alight at Oxford Road and walk the 0.7 miles from there to the museum but I rarely adopted this strategy. In 1992 the Manchester Metrolink trams started running from Piccadilly to Deansgate Castlefield tram station and then on to Altrincham, offering another method of reaching the museum.

On 8th July, I decided to use the tram so I descended into the undercroft at Piccadilly, part of which forms the tram station. A tram for Altrincham arrived after a few minutes and I boarded for the journey to Deansgate Castlefield tram station. The tram runs at street level through Piccadilly and St. Peter's Square but then climbs above ground approaching Deansgate before continuing on part of the Castlefield Viaduct which originally carried the approach tracks to Manchester Central Station which was the Manchester terminus of the Cheshire Lines Committee and featured a remarkable arched train shed, listed grade II*, now re-purposed as Manchester Central Convention Complex ('GMEX'). When this tram station first opened, there were just two lines passing through but, since it serves 'GMEX', it has been expanded to three platform tracks with facilities for reversing trams.


The expanded Deansgate Castlefield tram station in 2016

In a welcome improvement, the original fearsome steps between the tram station and ground level have been supplemented by a lift so I was able to descend to Deansgate itself in comfort and then walk to Liverpool Road.


Manchester: Deansgate, looking north from the junction with Liverpool Road.

The museum didn't open until 10:00 so I spent some time in Castlefield Urban Heritage Park which displays remains of Roman Castlefield and a quite nice re-creation of the appearance of the North Gate of Mamucium Roman Fort. My attention was drawn to the set of stairs leading from Beaufort Street to the approach to Castlefield Viaduct which serves as Collier Street Car Park which is now joined by a nearby lift I didn't remember. This prompted a bit of searching which revealed that the National Trust is converting a 300 yard section of the listed viaduct structure into a 'Urban Sky-Park', presumably inspired by New York's High Line. Public viewing, I read, should start at the end of July 2022.

The museum frontage on Liverpool Road was completely obscured by scaffolding and hoardings proclaiming 'REVOLUTION IN PROGESS'. Additional signage read 'A multi-million-pound restoration programme is underway at our globally significant industrial heritage site to carry out crucial restoration work and reveal new spaces and perspectives for all visitors to enjoy, play and learn in.' The museum entrance is in Lower Byrom Street, with a separate entrance to a ground floor cafe which already seemed quite busy. The museum itself was still quiet but a young member of staff confirmed, after checking his watch, that they were open. Years ago, I made some useful purchases in the large retail shop but, on this visit I found only overpriced rubbish, I'm afraid. Because of the 'revolution in progress', most of the museum areas were closed. There was a large display of textile machinery I found interesting but the explanatory text was rather limited. On the first floor the 'Discovery' section introduces young children to various scientific principles. I found the alternating light levels between 'fairground primary colours' and sepulchral gloom rather irritating. The large first floor bistro was still closed. I didn't take in the temporary special exhibition of black and white pictures of Amazonian tribes but I was amused to see another temporary exhibition - one of Rowland Emett's eccentric steam train creations called 'A Quiet Afternoon in the Cloud Cuckoo Valley' but I didn't return later to see the demonstration of the 'kinetic sculpture' moving.


'A Quiet Afternoon in the Cloud Cuckoo Valley' by Rowland Emett: Science+Industry Museum, Manchester

I appreciate I didn't see the museum at its best, but the contrast with my happy memories of working at the site made me rather sad. Looking along the derelict Pineapple Line towards the new bowstring bridge on Network Rail's Ordsall Chord line which has truncated the site emphasises that offering the experience of real steam train rides in the future at the birthplace of passenger railways would be very difficult.


Now-derelict Pineapple Line looking towards the girders of the new bowstring bridge on the Ordsall Chord line which truncates the site: Science+Industry Museum, Manchester

I left the museum and retraced my route to Deansgate tram station, pondering my next move. I decided to catch a tram one stop back towards Piccadilly, alighting at St. Peter's Square and walking to Manchester Art Gallery, which seems to have resisted modernising revolution fairly well and I relaxed sufficiently to enjoy an orange juice in the Gallery Cafe before touring as many of the rooms as time permitted. The Gallery website is here. My lunchtime appointment was in Altrincham so I left the gallery in sufficient time to walk back to the St. Peter's Square tram station and catch the next service back through Castlefield and then on to Cornbrook, continuing on the former Manchester South Junction and Altrincham route.

The Manchester South Junction and Altrincham Railway opened in 1849 using steam traction. Following the 1923 Grouping, ownership and operation passed to the MSJ&AR Committee representing the L.M.S and L.N.E.R. An electric service using 1500 volts d.c. third rail started operation in 1931, using standard 3-car electric trains of a design already in use on the L.M.S. In 1971, a modernised service was introduced on the line, after conversion to the British Rail standard of overhead 25 kV a.c. electrification. This continued until the end of 1991 when the line was closed to allow Manchester Metrolink to take over much of the line. Many of the existing overhead supports were retained as part of a new 750 volts d.c. scheme. Towards Manchester, significant re-routing was necessary and the Metrolink trams now use part of the abandoned C.L.C. route as far Deansgate tram station before descending to street level and finally passing through the Undercroft of Piccadilly main line station. For more about the early history of the line, see the Wikipedia article here; for more about the line as part of Manchester Metrolink refer here.

Whilst running at street level, the speed of trams is fairly low but once on the dedicated former MSJ&AR route, the line speed limit increases to 80 km/h, allowing some spirited running between the original stations.


View from tram approaching Deansgate Junction, where the double-track Metrolink becomes single towards Altrincham: Manchester Metrolink


Manchester Metrolink, Altrincham: View from platform 1 looking south.

I arrived in platform 2 at Altrincham in plenty of time to walk to my friend's home. Together with my friend's daughter and her husband, we enjoyed an excellent salmon lunch and spent the afternoon chatting. Because of the pandemic, it was our first face-to-face meeting in three years.

I'd not pre-booked my return journey but knew that there was an hourly Northern Service from Altrincham to Stockport which then continued to Manchester Piccadilly. I'd first used this route in 2014, as described here and again in 2018, described here. I walked back to Altincham Interchange and booked a ticket to Stockport. As in 2018, the journey was in peak hours so the train was crowded and it was again raining heavily but at least the dreadful 4-wheeled 'Pacer' units had been upgraded to 'Sprinters'. At Stockport, I anticipated enough time to obtain a ticket for my onward journey to Wolverhampton: I had not anticipated that the ticket office would already be closed so I had to tangle with an unfamiliar design of automatic ticket machine with a large vertical touch-screen display. More by luck than judgement, I managed to purchase the appropriate ticket and proudly headed to platform 2 to await the Manchester to Bournemouth 'Voyager' service which would return me to Wolverhampton.

As I anticipated, there was a fair crowd awaiting the train which was already quite full when it arrived from Manchester Piccadilly. A number of passengers were content to remain standing in the vestibules at each end of the coaches but I managed to find a seat. Our first calling-point was Macclesfield, where a number of passengers I assumed to be regular commuters to Manchester left the train. I managed to secure the use of a pair of seats for the rest of the journey but I'm not a fan of the rather cramped seat layout in the 'Voyager'. I didn't pay much attention on the rest of the journey but approaching Stoke-on-Trent I caught a glimpse of a freight train attached to a Class 66 in the sidings on the Up side near Longport. Railcam UK suggested this was reporting number 6Z76 which had left Redcar at 21:20 the previous evening, arriving at 'Colas Longport' at 06:20.

On my arrival in Wolverhampton, I walked to the taxi rank and completed my journey home after an enjoyable, if tiring, day.

Related posts on other websites

Science and Industry Museum
Manchester, South Junction and Altrincham Railway
Altrincham Line
Manchester Art Gallery

Related posts on this website

Note that the dates below are posting dates, not the date of the events described.

To Stockport by Rail 14-Nov-2021
The Cheshire Lines Committee 2-Oct-2014
The Cheshire Lines Committee Routes Today 7-Oct-2014
To Altrincham via the former C.L.C. 27-Aug-2018

My pictures

All my rail transport pictures showing areas passed through:-
West Midland Metro
West Midland Railways
Stafford Area rail
Manchester Area Rail
Manchester Metrolink
Altrincham Station

All my Manchester pictures:- Manchester

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Retrieving my Camera

My day trip to Llandudno in April 2022 (described here) was marred by leaving my camera on a London-bound West Midlands Trains service on my return. West Midlands trains staff at Wolverhampton explained that their lost property is now dealt with through a website called MissingX.

MissingX (https://www.missingx.com/) is an international database of lost property covering the transport sector including airports and railways. It was started in Norway in 2000 to provide an easy method of reporting lost property and claiming found items. I found it easy to enrol online and I was invited to enter details of the loss and where it occurred. There's a separate section of the database with the details of found items. For a few days, nothing appeared in the 'found' section and I was fairly certain that the camera (with all my pictures of the trip to Llandudno which the camera does not backup automtically) was lost. Then, a description of a camera located at Euston appeared in the 'found' section so, as instructed, I made an online claim and printed a copy of the details. The website informed me that I would then be contacted by the location holding the item.

So far, very encouraging. But after another week I'd not been contacted so I found a general West Midland Trains customer support telephone number where a friendly gentleman offered to send a chasing email to the team at Euston. After another week, I tried customer support again. A different gentleman diagnosed that the chasing email had indeed been sent but to the wrong recipient. He said he's speak to the appropriate person and get them to phone me directly.

A couple of hours later, I received a call from the West Midlands Trains Duty Manager at Euston who confimed that they were holding what seemed to be my camera in their high-value property store. Unfortunately, although I was happy to pay for carriage and packing to return it to me, they seemed to lack a mechanism for that. After some negotiation, I decided I'd have to go to Euston myself to collect the camera, so I booked a 'quickie' trip to London just to retrieve the camera. I was able to book Advance tickets there and back for Friday, 20th May 2022, allowing a little under two hours at Euston to actually make the collection, anticipating that matters might not be completely straightforward.

The journey to London on 20th May followed the pattern of my earlier trip on 8th April described here involving bus, Cross Country 'Voyager' service to Stafford then an Avanti 'Pendolino' service non-stop to Euston. This time, I travelled First Class so was able to have breakfast on the fast journey, distracting me from studying operations too closely. As before, my train was preceded by a West Midlands Trains service to Euston (reporting number 1U22) but we overhauled this train at Tamworth as it made a station stop when on the Up Slow. I noticed (using Railcam UK)that we were being followed by a Birmingham-Euston Avanti 'Pendolino' just a few minutes later. My arrival at Euston found me in an optimistic frame of mind, although the weather which had been dry at Stafford had deteriorated as we headed south and our arrival at Euston had neen accompanied by drizzle and overcast skies. We were routed into platform 16, on the Down side, close to the works for the new HS2 terminus but black hoardings limited views of the advancing works.


London Euston: HS2 works viewed from arriving train showing bulk storage silos

I'd been given directions to make my way to the ticket Gate Line for the suburban platforms and ask the staff there for the West Midlands Trains Duty Manager, who was summoned by radio. This seemed to create some interest among the staff and we had assembled a group of four employees chatting by the time the Duty Manager arrived. I was admitted through the gate to wait on the platform whilst the Duty Manager despatched a West Midlands train service then I explained my mission. He then telephoned another person who had the key to the high-value property store and asked me to wait for her arrival before leaving to carry out other tasks. As I waited, another West Midlands Trains electric multiple unit arrived and crowds of passengers swept past me towards the ticket gates. A little later, the lady with the key arrived, examined the copy of my online claim form and asked me to wait whilst she fetched the camera from the store which was located at the far end of the platform we were on. After a few minutes, she returned with the camera, intact with its case and spare batteries. A quick check showed that the pictures on the memory card were those I'd taken in April so the camera was returned to mr. Expressing my thanks, I was passed through the ticket barrier again.

I'd just under an hour before the departure of the train I was booked on to return. During my earlier trip in April, there had been no Tube service from Euston via London Bridge to Moorgate because of major engineering work at Bank station to improve the platforms. Realising that the line had re-opened a few days before, I decided that I'd time to travel to Bank underground station to look at the improved facilities, so I hurried across the concourse at Euston towards the underground station. As I've commented before, this transfer has been re-organised and now involves briefly going outside before re-entering the building by a separate entrance. I discovered it was now raining quite heavily, revealing the disadvantage of the altered arrangements. I made my way to the Southbound Platform on the re-opened City Branch of the Northern Line and was soon noisily speeding towards Bank, where we arrived at the wide, straight new platform which has replaced the narrower, sharply curved earlier arrangement.


Bank Northern Line: New Southbound Platform

Looking at my watch, I was a little alarmed at the time so, after a very cursory examination of the revised access from the surface, I moved to the Northbound platform so as to return to Euston. The Northbound platform, which appeared unchanged, is straight but much narrower than the new Southbound platform.


https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52087451527_49841d54c4.jpg

After a short wait, a Northbound Northern Line train arrived and I returned to Euston, discovering as I transferred from Tube to 'Heavy Rail' that it was still raining. My journey back to Wolverhampton was booked on the 11:43 'Pendolino' service to Blackpool North via Birmingham which was displayed on the Departure Screens, but without a platform number showing. This normally meant that the incoming train was late arriving and cleaning was still in progress prior to boarding. I amused myself by using Railcam UK to try to identify which platform was holding the trainset which would form my train. I'd just drawn the correct conclusion when the platform number appeared on the Departure Screen so I joined the mass of passengers heading for ramp to the indicated platform. Unless at trainset has become 'reversed', First Class is normally near the entrance ramp so I only had a short walk to my seat where (using Railcam UK) I identified our train reporting number as 9P65.

Our departure was 5 minutes late and we were routed on line 'X' which allows trains leaving from low-numbered plattforms on the 'Up' side of the station to cross under the other lines approaching Euston (lines A -E) so as to emerge on the 'Down' side, minimising conflicting movements. This re-purposed 'fly-under' was originally built to facilitate the removal of empty carriages from arriving services for attention at a carriage shed. Nowadays, with more intensive use of rolling stock, limited cleaning and replenishment between workings is carried out at the platform, deferring other work until arrival at the Traincare Depot at the end of service. Once again, I had limited views through the rain of the HS2 work in progress.


London Euston: HS2 works viewed from a departing train on Line 'X'

We'd lost a further minute by Bletchley, apparently because we were following a West Midland Trains Euston to Crewe via the Trent Valley Line stopping service (reporting number 1U33). When this train made its scheduled stop at Milton Keynes, I thought we might be allowed to overtake but, in fact, the stopping train continued to precede us, making us 9 minutes late leaving Milton Keynes. Three minutes of this was 'pulled back' by Coventry but, once in the congested West Midlands area, there seems to be little opportunity to make up lateness except by reducing 'dwell' time at stops like Birmingham New Street where this is possible.

My last leg, from Birmingham New Street to Wolverhampton, was particularly frustrating as we seemed to be following an 'all stations' to Wolverhampton (reporting number 2W28). On our arrival at Wolverhampton, I walked quickly to Lichfield Street hoping I'd still catch the bus home I'd planned on. I needn't have worried - the bus was ten minutes late arriving.

Not only was my camera retrieved intact but all my pictures taken on my trip to Llandudno were safe. I consider myself very fortunate that I had such a happy outcome. Mission accomplished!

Related posts on this website

Llandudno in April
Return to Croydon

My pictures

Northern Line
London: Euston Station

Depending on the display device, the right hand edge of pictures may not display. To see an uncropped image, click on the picture. Alternately, you can find the image by following the 'My pictures' links and display or download the image in various resolutions.