Railways Blog

A blog about trains, covering photography, railway history, transport politics and modelling, in no particular order.

Further Up North

Posted on January 2, 2013 by Tim Hall

Northern Rail's 156448 enters Haltwhistle with a Newcastle to Carlisle train, on the northermost of the trans-Pennine lines.

A few more photos from my trip up north in June 2012. This one shows a Northern Rail class 156 at Haltwhistle on the northernmost trans-Pennine line, the one running from Newcastle to Carlisle. The station retains the old North Eastern Railway footbridge and tall signalbox.

Jazz four-piece Brass Jaw play an impromptu set on the concourse of Carlisle station to promote the Glasgow Jazz festival.

So there I was, drinking a coffee at Carlisle station, when suddenly this happened. The jazz combo were Brass Jaw, promoting their forthcoming appearance at The Glasgow Jazz Festival with a set at each major station between Glasgow and London

Freightliner Heavy Haul's 66553 pauses at Carlisle on a northbound train of coal empties returning to Scotland.

This was more the sort of photo I was expecting to take at Carlisle. Freightliner Heavy Haul’s 66553 on a northbound train of coal empties, which will probably have come off either the Newcastle-Carlisle or Settle-Carlisle lines, having delivered it’s coal to one of Yorkshire power stations.

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When will people realise that higher and higher train fares aren’t “investment in better services” but the entirely avoidable overheads of the cumbersome structure of the privatised railway?

Posted on January 2, 2013 by Tim Hall | Comments Off

North York Moors

Posted on January 1, 2013 by Tim Hall

SONY DSC

Some photos from The North York Moors Railway plus a few of Whitby, taken in June 2012, on one of the very few days that year when the sun actually came out.

Veteran class 24 locomotive D5061 at Pickering having just brought the first train of the day down from Whitby. This locomotive is almost as old as many of the BR Standard steam locomotives on the railway,

They’re not all of kettles; quite a few are of the veteran Class 24 D5061, which is probably as old as the 9F

The long-disused viaduct that once carried the Middlesborough to Scarborough coast line across the Esk at Whitby.

I do like this shot, taken from the train window, of the long-disused viaduct that once carried the coast line between Middlesborough and Scarborough across the Esk just outside Whitby.

SONY DSC

And finally, the ruins of Whitby Abbey, taken at sunset, after first taking precautions against being bitten by goths.

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Thunderer at York

Posted on December 29, 2012 by Tim Hall

Preseved Class 50 locoomotive 50008 Preseved class 50 locomotive No 50008 “Thunderer” standing in the December sunshine outside the National Railway Museum in York. It wears the “Laira Blue” livery from the locomotive’s final months in main line service, where it was used as a dedicated railtour locomotive after the class were withdrawn from regular service. It’s a sobering thought that this locomotive has now been a museum piece for almost as long as it was in traffic now.

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Class 08 on the blocks

Posted on November 8, 2012 by Tim Hall

First Great Western's 08836 on the blocks at Paddington at a quarter-to-midnight having top-and-tailed the empty stock for the evening's

Chance photo taken on the way home from a gig, when I had my camera with me. It’s First Great Western’s 08836 on the blocks at Paddington at a quarter-to-midnight. One of First Great Western’s oldest locomotives, it had brought in the empty stock for the evening’s “Night Riviera”.

I took this photo hand-held without a tripod at a ridiculously slow shutter speed, taking advantage of the in-camera image stabilisation of my Sony DSLR.

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Kettle!

Posted on October 27, 2012 by Tim Hall

GWR No 6024

A photo from a couple of years ago. GWR No 6024 “King Edward 1″ with a full rake of chocolate and cream coaches passing Coryton Cove, Dawlish with the return “Torbay Express”. Only the solitary Mk2 coach in the formation gives away the fact it’s not a genuine 1960s train.

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N Gauge Society to do a Hawksworth BG

Posted on October 20, 2012 by Tim Hall

Photo by Les Gregory

As anounced on RMWeb, the N Gauge society’s next ready-to-run model will be a GWR designed Hawksworth BG, to be manufactured for them by Dapol. It’s a very useful model for Western Region modellers either for the steam or diesel hydraulic eras, since these vehicles saw use for parcels traffic throughout the 1970s, long outliving the Hawksworth design passenger coaches which had all gone by the late 1960s.

No confirmation on liveries, but I expect to see both BR maroon and BR blue versions. This model will be sold exclusively through the N Gauge Society for members only, but I can imagine that Dapol, having tooled for one 64′ Hawksworth vehicle, will go on to add other Hawksworth vehicles to their own range. Let’s hope so.

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Graham Farish 2012-3 Programme

Posted on March 13, 2012 by Tim Hall

Bachmann have just announced the new models for the Graham Farish 2012/3 programme. It’s an interesting mix of new and retooled items. The obvious modern-era highlight is Freightliner’s class 70s “Powerhaul” locomotive, but I notice the refurbished 37 and the Deltic are being retooled as all-new models. Several new and retooled steam locos as well, with an emphasis on big Pacifics, although the humble GWR pannier tank gets a partial retooling.

Highlights for me include

  • Mk2a coaches, with TSO, BSO and FK being produced. Early Mk2s have always been a big gap in RtR N gauge. Bachmann shrinking down their existing OO models isn’t entirely unexpected, but nevertheless is greatly welcomed.
  • Retooled FK added to the Mk1 range. Probably more useful, to me at least, than the already-announced FO.
  • SR-design Bullied coaches. Again, the 4mm ones scaled down, and will add a bit of variety to my transition era fleet. They did make it to the Cornish main line at times.
  • 50′ Polybulk covered hopper. This doesn’t duplicate the Grainflow hopper of the N gauge society kit; it’s the shorter swing-roofed wagons used not only for grain but a variety of other traffic flows, including china clay and assorted chemical traffic. For a Devon and Cornwall layout, it’s an important signature item for the 1980s/90s.

While no doubt some people might be disappointed in which OO items haven’t been “shrunk”, I’m more than satisfied by the announcement of the Mk2s and Polybulks – Those are two of the most significant gaps for the region and era I’m interested in.

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Mini Modules

Posted on October 2, 2011 by Tim Hall

I’ve been reading a thread on Mini Modules on RMWeb. This is a modular layout concept based around tiny modules, each roughly the size of an A4 piece of paper. Yes, that small!  Using Kato Unitrack, they clip together using Unitrack’s rail joiners to connect the modules. The small size of the individual modules mean you can go to town on the detail, yet still have something finished in relatively short time. While modular layouts can be somewhat toy-like with a lot of focus on gimmicks, Sir Madoc’s thread shows the scope for building far more realistic layouts using this approach.

Mini-modules have been promoted for people who lack the space a permanent layout, but I can also see the potential as an alternative to a more traditional approach for those of us who do have the space.

I’ve been intrigued with the concept for quite a while. I’m interested in both British and Swiss outline modelling, and often considered modular concepts where common elements like fiddle yards could be shared between multiple layouts. Mini-modules based on the popular T-Track standard, or something similar may be a good way of implementing this.

While I’m still looking for a new job I’m staring down the barrel of a potential relocation with no guarantee that any future home will have a suitable space for any layout of fixed size. The inherently flexible nature of mini-modules is a huge bonus here, in that they can be reconfigured to fit a space of any size or shape which might be available for a layout, something which isn’t the case for a large piece of benchwork.

Certainly there are some projects I’ve considered in the past which are ideal candidates for the mini-module approach, most specifically anything that’s centred on a “parade of trains” approach on a simple double-track main line rather than an attempt to model an operational hub. “Marine Parade”, based on Dawlish in Devon is a case in point. A six-foot stretch of main line with a variety of buildings behind the tracks is a relatively ambitious project for it’s size and simplicity, even if the majority of the buildings are adapted from commercially available kits rather than scratchbuilt models of the real buildings. Building it twelve inches at a time, completing and detailing each module before moving on to the next one has a lot of appeal. The same applies to my Swiss outline interests, which have a similar parade of trains approach. A small passing station on the Lötchberg line will fit into three or four module lengths. Big-time main line modelling based one of the classic trans-Alpine routes really rules out modelling an operational hub; they just take up too much space.

And that’s before we get into diversions and side-projects. I’ve always fancied building a small working diorama-style layout based on the Cambrian lines in the early 70s, and already have much of the rolling stock needed. And there are a few spectacular scenic locations in Cornwall that I’ve never quite managed to work into a room-filling layout plan. The Luxulyan valley on the steeply-graded and sharply-curved part of Par to Newquay branch is a prime example. It saw, and indeed still sees quite heavy traffic, both passenger and freight, but the narrow valley means you can capture the essence of it in quite a small space.

I have come to the conclusion that I am never going to complete a large, fully sceniced model railway layout. On layouts I’ve built before, I’ve got as far as scenery on some parts of the layout, but never fully detailed, and whole swathes never got beyond bare boards. Mini-modules may well be just the solution I’ve been looking for.

So now I need to stop talking about them on the Interweb, and build one or two.

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Trouble at Reading Station

Posted on September 29, 2011 by Tim Hall

I never had this trouble at Bristol a few weeks ago

With today’s glorious summer weather I decided it was an ideal time to document the old GWR station at Reading before the whole lot gets bulldozed to make way for the shiny new station.

When I got there I was told to find the duty manager to seek permission. She then told me I could only photograph the station infrastructure, and could not photograph trains. Given that I’ve taken thousands of photographs at UK and overseas stations over 25 years, and never before have train companies ever tried to stop me taking photographs, I really don’t understand what First Great Western are playing at.

I know some large stations tried to prevent photographers a few years back through a combination post-9/11 paranoia and corporate backside-covering, but changed their tune after the resulting PR backlash.

Has anyone else had problems at Reading or any other FGW stations? Is this a new policy? What exactly is going on? It’s certainly at odds with the official photography policy of Network Rail, who own the station, or the guidelines given by The British Transport Police.

I sent this complaint to First Great Western customer services

I arrived at Reading this morning with the intention of taking photographs of the Reading station prior to redevelopment. On arrival I was advised by the barrier staff to speak to the duty manager.

The duty manager then told me that while I would be permitted to photograph the physical station infrastucture, I would not be permitted to photograph any trains.

I was extremely surprised and very disappointed on being told this, and decided to leave immediately without taking any photographs at all.

Is this a specific local rule affecting Reading, or is there a blanket ban on railway photography across all FGW stations? This is very much at odds with the widely-publicised photography policy of other TOCs such as Virgin Trains. I have certainly taken many photographs of trains at FGW stations (most recently at Bristol Temple Meads a few weeks ago) without being challenged or questioned by platform staff.

I must stress that all FGW staff I encountered were unfailingly polite.

So now, rather than spending this glorious weather outside with my camera, I’m reduced to sitting at home complaining on the Internet. I wonder what sort of response that complaint will get. Given the stories of low staff morale I’m hearing from inside FGW, they seem to be suffering from serious management problems, for which I strongly suspect my troubles are another symptom.

Update

I have now received a rather bland and somewhat patronising reply.

Dear Mr Hall

Thank you for your email of 29 September 2011. I am sorry you could not take the photographs you wished to at Reading station on the same day.

We expect everyone representing our company to be as helpful as possible at all times. We do welcome rail enthusiasts at our stations who want to take photographs for private purposes. There are various guidelines designed to ensure you have a safe and enjoyable experience in the pursuit of your interest. A key priority for us is to ensure the safety of our passengers and staff. However it is the discretion of the Station Manager to set the photography limits at a particular station.

Thank you again for bringing your experience to my attention. I do hope that future journeys with us will be trouble-free.

Yours sincerely
Siddhi Minawala
Customer Services Advisor

I do not really consider this a satisfactory answer, and I’m assuming that Reading station is off-limits for railway photography for the foreseeable future. And I very much doubt that we’ll ever be given a satisfactory reason.

Update No 2

Now get a second reply, which strongly implies that someone in First Great Western has been reading either this blog or the thread I started on RMWeb with well over a hundred replies.

Dear Mr Hall

I am writing to apologise for the problems you had recently at Reading station, when you were not permitted to take photographs of trains. I understand you were unhappy with the last response we sent you on this matter and I am sorry.

We do have to work within certain guidelines when allowing customers to photograph our trains, however this is something we will permit where we can. There is no reason why you were not allowed to do this, and I am really sorry that you were misadvised at the station about only being able to photograph buildings. I have passed this feedback on to my colleagues at Reading, who I am sure will take the necessary action to make sure this doesn’t happen again.

If you wish to take pictures of the trains at Reading, you do need to approach the Station Manager first, who will go over the guidelines with you. We don’t want to stop you from pursuing your hobby and I am sorry that our response has not been particularly helpful.

I hope this now clears things up and that you will accept my apologies for the way this matter has been handled.

Please do feel free to get in touch if I can help with anything else in the future.

Yours sincerely

Jo Coverley
Customer Relations Senior Officer

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