Jim M's Railblog

Tejada nails it (again)

2006-11-11T23:51:00.001Z

It's not all trains trains trains here at the Railblog, as music happens to be my second passion, so if you don't like music you best skip this one (and see a psychiatrist while you're at it)...

Poker Flat have been releasing records crafted in a minimal Detroit-inspired techno kind of way since 1999. The label is named after an obscure rocket testing centre in Alaska, which I assume means each release is destined to either soar to great heights or fizz disappointingly like a cheap firework... Irrespectively, their new "Volume 5 - Bets and Bluffs" compilation is highly enjoyable, but the one track which blew my toupee back comes from the prolific yet slightly mysterious Californian musician John Tejada. "Asanebo" was the b-side to his "Big City Music" 12" which came out earlier in the year. I've long been a fan of Tejada's music, as I find his ability to inject soul into the coldest of mediums completely bewitching. On "Asanebo" (which AFAICT is named after a Japanese restaurant local to Tejada's studio!!) he weaves his magic thread into a thumping, clicking rhythm which builds brilliantly up to the moment he presses the "Release Deadly Bassline" button. And it is.

BleepPlayer courtesy of Bleep.com, note playback stops every 30 seconds to prevent bootlegging.

One mans football is another mans truncated icosahedron

2006-10-27T01:07:00.000+01:00

A few weeks ago while discussing the lack of UK-bias railway blogs on the Preserved-Diesels Forum I made this passing remark;

"Mike GTN - well presented blog if a bit, um... well, boring."

Well swipe my Oyster Card if Mike GTN himself does not redress the balance by, er... agreeing with me! No really, see for yourself. What I should have said was that I found some of his content uninteresting, but instead I fell back on the "forum chatter" version which was much quicker to type.

I don't know Mike GTN from the next man but I'm glad his feelings weren't hurt. Three cheers for the railway bloggers I say, and long may we witter inanely about our obsession!

The Great British Night Out

2006-09-06T21:38:00.000+01:00

Brooding portent upon Bury

2006-09-02T23:33:00.000+01:00

Pictures from today's diesel event at the East Lancs Railway are here.

Griddled Jim with a white rose garnish

2006-08-25T22:50:00.000+01:00

I am currently looking for work in the rail industry sector - today I went over the border to York for an interview with a well-known railway company. Obviously the outcome of that will be pending for a couple of weeks so I wont dwell on it, but I feel it went quite well. I fielded the questions as required and only floundered slightly over one point, but recovered. Dare I say, I was pleasantly surprised by my own confidence, but to be fair I was a concentrated ball of nervous energy beforehand, so determined was I to make a good case. Watch this space...

Once that was over with I found myself back on York station with brew in one hand, camera (don't leave home without it!) in the other and a mild case of the post-interview shakes. A loose end was duly grasped and a short while later I was in Doncaster.

Ah, Doncaster! Home of... Lesley Garrett. And, these days, Post-Modernist architecture.

The last time I was at Doncaster, this hideous building was in the early stages of construction. It seems to have taken a long time to build, by modern standards at least. I'm not sure what's inside it altogether, but part of it is a multi-storey car park and there is also a bus station underneath it. Aside from that I thought the featureless expanse of pre-fab cladding contrasted nicely with the colourful Class 185 DMU which was parked between me and it.

The rail traffic was as varied as ever, although the Doncaster - Mexborough line closed briefly due to a "bridge strike" and things started to back up. It's at times like that the local signallers would have really been earning their keep. It also rained, as it does every time I go to Doncaster. "My suit!" I cried. "We love you Jim!" said the clouds. Cheers then!

Speaking of the suit, I don't wear one often because I simply don't like wearing them, but I always forget how people's attitude toward you changes when you're pimping a jacket and tie. I think the general public, in the UK at least, are not used to seeing Joe Trainspotter looking businesslike. Readers in the US and elsewhere may be unaware of the rail enthusiasts' perceived lower social standing in the UK, but to see the stereotypical "anorak" character played out one does not have to look far. Unfortunately there are plenty of enthusiasts out there who do nothing to dispel this view either! So I might start wearing a suit more often, but first I need one with pockets big enough for my dictaphone and foil-wrapped sandwiches. Thermos containing Weak Lemon Drink notwithstanding...

Anyway, after several hours of gricing it was time to head back to York for my Trans-Pennine back home, scratching in 91111 "Terence Cuneo" in the process. Line in the book! Or should it be mouse...?

Bank Quay Nitez

2006-08-22T23:20:00.000+01:00

Something hellfire this way comes...

2006-08-16T23:58:00.000+01:00

I had a rare trip out to the West Midlands today with my brother (his treat!) with the aim of doing some trainspotting and beer drinking, both of which were achieved. Rugby and Nuneaton were fairly busy, Bescot was disappointingly quiet but Water Orton was a winner. More importantly, this beast was even more of a winner:

56301 is one of three Class 56s which have recently made a return to the mainline after the entire Class was taken out of use at the end of March 2004. They are employed by Fastline Freight, a subsidiary of the Jarvis group, who obviously have their brains engaged when it comes to traction. 56301 (ex-56045) and 56302 (ex-56124) were overhauled (at great length) by Brush Traction and are wholey owned by Fastline, while 56303 (ex-56125) was "prepared" by FM Rail who retain ownership. Unfortunately 56303 seems to be failing rather more often than the other two... allegedly.

But I digress! My point is that it's fantastic to see these purveyors of screaming death back where they belong. Of all the variety of traction types that have battered the rails over the years, Class 56s are my absolute favourite. As you can see in this case it was a train of empty "flats" which is hardly a match for 56301's 3250 horsepower, but hopefully it wont be long before I see one on a heavy train again.

Whilst at Water Orton I also bumped into Richard Norris, who is one of those railway photographers (!) and a top man for location gen and real ale suggestions. A browse of his Fotopic site is highly recommended. Meantime my brother Chris and I rounded the day off with some light beverages at the Great Western in Wolverhampton.

Right that's all, I'm knackered. Xo)

Deltic Snooties

2006-08-12T23:50:00.000+01:00

It was the Deltic Preservation Society's open day at Barrow Hill today, a "collect them all" type of event with every remaining Class 55 locomotive in attendance. Pedants should note that this does not include the prototype! I'm not exactly mad about the "Deltics", as they are universally known, so I went mainly because it was a good excuse to go to Barrow Hill again and it was also an opportunity to photograph all six of the things at once and be done with them!

The event, pitched as "Doncaster Works - A Deltic Tribute", was originally intended to be held at the Works' Crimpsall repair shop, that place having a long association with the 1961-built Class. But following some Health & Safety concerns regarding that venue Whoever Makes These Decisions decided it should move to Barrow Hill with its superior facilities (better snacks, adjacent brickworks, etc). Barrow Hill also happens to be where the DPS have their own depot, which was open for curiosity-ridden enthusiasts to look around. Various other "entertainments" were layed on, such as two "Deltics" trundling back and forth on the short length of running line with all of two carriages in tow, weighed-down slightly by numerous "Deltic" obsessives who are generally not getting any thinner.

So what have I got against "Deltics", you might ask? Well... nothing really, it's more to do with the hype which surrounds them. I'm touching on something fundamental to the whole "rail enthusiasm" genre here which I hope to expand on in the future, but for now it will suffice to say that I just don't see what all the fuss is about. Some older enthusiasts have suggested to me that "you had to be there", presumably meaning my parents should have copulated a bit more rampantly thus bringing my arrival into the world forward by a few years. Maybe they have a point. In the late 1970s the popularity of the Class was intense. Upon the "Deltics" withdrawal from the mainline in 1981 there was actually crying, grown men weeping into their Travellers Fayre napkins, kissing of nameplates and shortly thereafter a wave of post-Deltic depression which swept the tear-stained platforms of the UK. Apparently, I was too young to notice.

To this day there are militant "Deltic" officianado's who will attack anyone who dares to suggest the Class 55s weren't all they were cracked up to be. There are even men who don't actually like trains at all - but make an exception for "Deltics". These days I'm all too aware of the Class 55's semi-mythical status, yet remain uninspired. Yes they are loud, powerful locomotives capable of some serious high speed running, but I find their exhaust note - emotively described as "Napier music" by some - to be an uninteresting drone which just barely stirs my bowels, let alone my soul. Indeed the £12 entry fee stirred me more than anything I witnessed during this event.

That said, I quite like them visually (although the "nose" is a little on the high side for my liking) and there can be no disputing the fact that they are well designed machines and, for their time, masterpieces of engineering. The body is constructed much as some aircraft are, with lightweight internal "ribs" covered by a thin "shell", and the whole is powered by two (count 'em!) Napier "Deltic" power units. These unassuming two-stroke lumps - the root cause of all the attendant commotion - actually contain a triangular arrangement of cylinders with opposing pistons (more info here) and the resultant mess of coolant channels, air intakes, fuel injectors and exhausts is fearsomely complex. The DPS have wisely sourced a number of spare power units to ensure a decent supply of spare parts for these comparatively uncommon engines, and these were strewn about the place in varying states of demolition making interesting subjects for photography.

All in all it wasn't a bad day. I thought the gate price was a bit steep, and if you're wondering why I'm continually whining about that it's because the Diesel Gala a few weeks previously had been cheaper and that had considerably more going for it! True enough it's not every day you get all six preserved "Deltics" in one place... but my overriding feeling, especially during the finale when they attempted to line them all up in an almost completely unphotogenic spot, was that quality is better than quantity. Was it worth going? Yes, but only just.

Schadenfreude: Stand-in stooge sits down!

2006-08-11T21:49:00.000+01:00

Just a little note following on from the Arriva Trains Wales loco-hauled stock saga...

The returning unit, 175103, managed an impressive seven days in service before suffering a rather unpleasant-sounding gearbox failure whilst on a Windermere - Manchester working. Passengers were, I assume, chucked off the train at Oxenholme before "hippo" 103 was put into Oxenholme engineers siding, where it remains!

In case you're wondering, these units are nicknamed "hippo's" because they look a bit like hippo's, they enjoy wallowing in mud and they have really bad breath.

But what about the railways?

2006-08-10T22:38:00.000+01:00

Just a quick whine about Costing the Earth, a weekly environmental science show broadcast on Radio 4 in the UK. Tonights programme focussed on Sweden's recent pledge to become the first oil-free country in the world by 2020.

The presenter looked at bio-fuel cars, a bio-fuel heating plant and briefly at houses which apparently are now built with such efficient insulation that they don't even need a heating system. This is in Sweden by the way. Where the average temperature in the winter is around -3°C. And it works. But I digress...

What pissed me off about the programme was that nowhere did it mention Swedish State Railways (SJ AB). The Swedish rail network is made up of 12821km of track, 7918km of which is electrified. A fairly significant factor, I would think, in a scheme as far-reaching as this one. It would surely have been interesting to hear how the railways and rolling stock manufacturers were going to adapt to the non-oil environment, and also how they were going to continue to generate power for the 62% of the network which has overhead wires. But no, railways were never even referred to.

I suppose I'm more annoyed that the producer was probably correct to assume that "pitching" the story from a car-use angle would be more interesting to the UK audience. The sad fact is the general UK populous are not interested in railways, nor do they see them as a viable transport solution. I'm sure the Swedes do, but thanks to the wildly perceived disinterest Radio 4 leaves it up to the listeners to fill in the blanks themselves.

Soap and banal

2006-08-08T23:44:00.000+01:00

One of the few railway locations from whence you can return home smelling like soap powder.

Stand-in stood down

2006-08-01T22:52:00.000+01:00

Today turned out to be the last day of the aforementioned Arriva Trains Wales loco-hauled diagram, with ~~Demic~~ Diesel Multiple Unit 175103 back from its lengthy repair and recuperation period or whatever the hell it's been doing for the past nine months.

The bad news reached J M Towers around lunchtime, giving me plenty of time to launch into a impotent fury at the unfairness of it all, bang my head against the wall several times, cry, sulk, and eventually decide to have one last trip.

Cut scene to Manchester Oxford Road and the 1D81 17:41 Manchester Piccadilly - Holyhead hoved into view bang on time to a remarkably low turn-out of enthusiasts. I soon realised this was due to them having already boarded at Piccadilly! Got to get that extra half a mile of haulage in I suppose. The locomotive in charge was 57315 "The Mole" (don't laugh, they are all named after Thunderbirds characters), much as it had been for the past few days. Conversations with several ATW train drivers revealed that they rated the Class 57/3s very highly; fast, powerful, reliable and quick off the mark. My own experience of the Class tends to support that, having done a few miles behind them.

Speaking of mileage, I broke through the 1000-mile barrier myself as we left Newton-le-Willows. That's 1000 miles behind Class 57/3s sports fans - very low by "professional bashing standards" but a nice milestone for little me.

All too quickly we were at Warrington Bank Quay (as far as I could go on my current budget) where the above shot was hastily taken, before standing back and listening to the great-sounding 2750hp General Motors 645-F3B power unit load up and draw the train away to North Wales. I expect that's the last time I'll be hearing one of those for a while.

"Are we there yet?"

2006-07-12T22:05:00.000+01:00

"Where?"

"There. That place."

"Which place?"

"You know. That place."

"You mean the place where there are no regular mainline loco hauled trains? The place where the only passenger trains are inadequate Multiple Units? The place where the trains are overcrowded in the rush hour? The place where the infrastructure has been cut back so much that the system has become an operational nightmare? The place where stations and rolling stock take a back seat to profits? You mean that place?"

"Yes, that place!"

"Ah right... We're almost there."

To the Barrow

2006-07-09T15:52:00.000+01:00

Once a year, Barrow Hill Roundhouse opens its doors for an event specifically taylored for diesel enthusiasts. I missed it last year for one reason or another. This year they bolstered the event with a few trips out onto the mainline from within the otherwise private site, so after finding out at the eleventh hour that the Saturday trips would involve a Class 31 it quickly became a must-do event!

This was my chariot for the first leg of the journey. The shiny and new Class 185s are gradually entering regular service on the Manchester Airport - Cleethorpes route, and the trip from Manchester Piccadilly to Sheffield was my first reasonably long journey onboard one, having previously only been as far as Stalybridge. Other than being very shiny and new, there is little to set them apart from other Classes of unit - except the accelleration. They go like a buttered squirrel out of a catapult (now try getting that mental image out of your head).

They sound quite good too, for a unit, but inside I noticed that where you sat greatly affected how much thrash you got. :o)

A quick High-Speed-Train+Free-Shuttle-Bus move later and I was at my destination. There was a good display of locomotives both in and outside of the roundhouse, with the above loco needing the most protective eyewear to view. It is 20056, returned to working order and customized by HNRC for use at the Corus Steelworks in Scunthorpe. What a beast.

I heard a few people whining about how it looks "stupid" painted like that and so on. These are the sort of people who take my "Faith In Humanity" level down a few notches. Can they really be so out of touch that they think Corus have their loco's in that livery for "fun"?

Anyway, it was soon time for the mainline mini-tour to Deepcar along part of the former Woodhead Route with 37603 and 31454.

On the right you can see the old Deepcar station platform. The line carries on for a short distance and a branch off the Woodhead line still serves Stocksbridge Steelworks (for how much longer?) but this is as far as we went. Is there a more anti-climactic location for a railtour anywhere in England? Still, it was a good run with both loco's and the route all being "winners".

All told it was a very satisfying day out, even if doing it meant I would have to miss the ELR Summer Diesel Gala. The Barrow Hill event organizers do seem to put a lot of effort into keeping things interesting for the punters, so I'll be intrigued to see what they pull out of the bag for next year.

Flat Butterleys

2006-06-25T18:14:00.000+01:00

This shiny green beast is English Electric Class 40 number 40012 "Aureol". It has been preserved by the Class Forty Appeal (warning: ugly website!) since 1988 and lives at the Midland Railway Centre in Derbyshire.

The CFA have an annual "gala" involving their 3 loco's, the other two being 37190 "Dalzell" and 50007 "Sir Edward Elgar", and this weekend was one such event. The freshly repainted "Aureol" was supposed to be taking part both days but unfortunately due to a battery problem it wouldn't start up on the Saturday morning. The above picture was taken while the fitters attempted to get the voltage up high enough to start it.

This would be irritating enough in itself, but the exact same thing happened at last years' CFA event. To their credit they then got it going halfway through the first day, but this year 40012 simply would not play ball. Apparently they had to use a Class 25 to "jump start" it today, but I digress...

With 40012 making sad pinging noises at Swanwick it fell to 50007 and "large-logo" 37190 (renumbered as 37314 for the time being) to entertain the masses.

Well I say masses but there must have only been about 40 punters at the event. In my experience this is not uncommon for a Saturday at the MRC, with railtours et cetera also being a Saturday "thing". The situation was not helped by the Class 40 bashers who had turned out for "Aureol" refusing to ride behind anything else. Fair enough I thought, until I heard mutterings that they might be wanting their money back. To me this doesn't make sense - if some of that money goes to the CFA and the rest goes to keeping the MRC open (and therefore providing a home for the CFA amongst many others), why take that money back just because you can't ride behind your favourite Class? Okay losing a few tenners isn't going to finish the place off, but it's the principal I don't agree with.

Having said that, not everyone likes Class 50s...

Anyway me and my mate Tony, being the not-too-fussy-as-long-as-it-thrashes types that we are, made the most of 37190 and 50007, also taking time out to wander around the large depot site at Swanwick which is the main reason why the MRC is one of my favourite preservation sites in the UK.

In this shot we see 31421 parked next to St. Saviour's Church, a Victorian "tin tabernacle" rescued from the nearby village of Westhouses. I had to take this picture because the juxtaposition between the battered 46-year old Class 31 and the immaculate 108-year old church was too brilliant to pass up on. 31421 indeed faces an uncertain future, as it has already given up its power unit to another preserved Class 31, 31418.

As an "extra", we stopped by at Peak Forest on the way back home as you are practically guaranteed a decent haul of Class 60s, which are usually stabled here for the weekend. It did not disappoint! 60013, 60014, 60022, 60025, 60051, 60058, 60069 and 60099 were all present and correct.

Yorkshire wanderings, plus rant

2006-06-18T18:32:00.000+01:00

Toddled over to Yorkshire yesterday, which is a lot easier since they dropped the passport checks. The main aim was to indulge in a little throbbing chopper action at the K&WVR (calm down ladies, it's just a Class 20), but as that event wasn't happening until later in the evening I padded the day out with some additional railway stuff.

I realized that I hadn't been back to the Middleton Railway since they started rearranging their Moor Road site and built a new museum (!), so I headed there first. The museum is not finished but the progress made is quite amazing really, considering they have always been quite a small outfit. The staff however were the same friendly bunch as ever, which I think underlines the importance of having a keen group of people at the core of any project.

Saturday is diesel day at the Middleton and the booked loco was this beast, Hudswell Clarke #577, a 1932-built diesel hydraulic shunter powered by a very nice sounding 4 cylinder 102hp Gardner engine.

After a few trips up (and down) the line I wandered off to have a look at Freightliner's Midland Road depot.

As you can see, they are fond of Class 66's. I'm not, but I counted at least 15 on shed and I could hear another one pootling around somewhere although I couldn't see it. It's not the best depot for pictures, with this having been taken through the gate at full zoom. From nearest the camera we see "super Freds" 66609, 66618 and 66620 with yet more rubbish in the distance.

Finally it was time to nip over to Keighley for a celebratory run behind 20031, which was fresh from overhaul and sporting a totally outrageous new livery. 3 return runs from Oxenhope to Keighley were thoroughly enjoyed by all. Having had several Class 20s within the past 12 months or so, 20031's performance really took me by surprise. I don't know what they're feeding it but, while it didn't seem as loud as some other members of the Class, it did appear to be much more lively. The driver was playing to the crowd too, which was nice. Here it is looking extremely pleased with itself at Oxenhope.

So all told an enjoyable day... until it came to the "getting home" part.

It was my fault really. I should have just called it a day on the last return to Keighley as we were gradually getting further behind the timetable (which always happens!), but 20031 was just sooo goood that I decided to stay on. Maximum mileage and all that. Getting back to Keighley once the train had terminated at Oxenhope was easy thanks to getting a lift from my mate Andy (check his website for recordings of 20031, sports fans), so that was sorted. However on arrival back at Leeds it became abundantly clear that there was no way I was going to make it back to Manchester in time to catch the last local train home.

Leeds to Manchester takes about an hour. At this point it was 23:10. The last Leeds - Manchester is at 23:38 (SO) - there are no other trains. 28 fun filled minutes later I was on 158812 (yep it was on time).

Now at this point you might be thinking "Surely no-one uses trains at this time of night, what's the problem?" Well, you are wrong. The 23:38 Leeds - Manchester was full! I had to walk the length of the train to find a seat. At the two interim stops (Dewsbury and Huddersfield) there was a sizeable exchange of passengers getting on and off. But that wasn't the half of it.

On arrival at Manchester Piccadilly (so good they named it after some craphole in London) at around half-midnight, an amazing sight met my eyes; the station concourse was littered with bodies, mostly young women. Hundreds of them. Closer inspection revealed that they were not dead, but were in fact returning from a concert (Take That's reunion tour, I think?). They were all trying to get home. There were NO TRAINS. There are none in the timetable at that time of night. My local train was long gone and there isn't another one until 08:03 Sunday morning. Because hey, no-one uses trains at that time of night, right? Awesome logic, dude!

It is totally bizarre. 20 years ago we had a 24-hour railway, where you had a fair chance of getting somewhere no matter what time it was. Why can passenger trains not be operated late into the night these days? Lots of freight trains run at night, so signallers also work 24 hours. People like to stay out late. People are alive for 24 hours a day. Perhaps it's a conspiracy to keep taxi drivers in business? All I know is if the railway companies put on services until a totally ridiculous and crazy time like say 01:30, they would have made a small fortune last night.

I'm not blaming the railway for my getting home late, incidentally. That was my own fault since I know when the last train is and if I'd have taken a moment to think about it I would have been back in front of the roaring monitor before midnight. I just thought I would use this example to illustrate my point, which is that train services aren't what they used to be! Let me know your thoughts, especially if you are a train driver, guard or basher who either remembers all-night running or would potentially object to working at night.

Bunker shot

2006-06-15T20:58:00.000+01:00

There once was a man named Graham Bunker. He was the Managing Director of Arriva Trains Wales. He was also quite fond of utilising LHS (Loco Hauled Stock) on routes which he felt best suited that type of train. He arranged steam-hauled specials to promote the Cambrian coast line. He was making plans to use LHS on the busy Manchester - Cardiff route. He quit on May 25th. He was replaced by a man called Bob Holland. Bob likes buses. Oh dear.

On a similar note;

This is currently the only regular Arriva Trains Wales loco-hauled train, which works between Holyhead and Manchester four times per day SuX (that means Sundays eXcepted by the way, not "sucks"). It's still running despite the fact that we're now on the Summer timetable and, as far as I know, it's only still running because the Class 175 DMU it replaces has not been fully repaired since it had a fight with a pile of mud last year. Hopefully it will never be repaired and this train will run for another 12 years...

...but realistically I can't see that happening. Which is why I went out today to have a quick jaunt on it. I did a DMU out from Manchester, getting as far as Newton-le-Willows before realizing I wasn't going to make the connection with it at Warrington. No big deal as it made for a change and resulted in this view of it pulling in to Newton behind 57311 "Parker".

Cabride in a Class 50 anyone?

2006-06-09T14:00:00.001+01:00

Why not?

Mainly because the content has been removed! See below...

Ah, the wonders of the web! Since the "broadband revolution" (© The Independant) made it practical to put streaming media online, the web has been flooded with clips, mostly of gyrating (suspiciously) young ladies shaking their thongs and miscellanious "t3h funney clipzs" from The Simpsons. Fortunately as it becomes easier to upload, thanks to the likes of Google Video and YouTube, there is more interesting stuff finding its way online. Not that young ladies shaking their thongs (or things) is dull, but... I digress.

Railway videos are gradually increasing in numbers, and in this clip we can enjoy what would otherwise only be available to a select few - the view from the cab of 50031 as it heads down the WCML. The loco, working in multiple with 50149 behind, is leading the Glasgow Central - Birmingham New Street leg of Pathfinder's "The Celtic Hoovers" railtour on 16th September 2000. The loco's had been returned to the mainline in almost original condition with their old D-prefix numbers reinstated for added authenticity.

It doesn't say this in the caption, but the clip starts on the approach to Motherwell around 10 miles outside of Glasgow, with rows of Class 303 EMUs (now withdrawn) visible on the left. The train heads through Motherwell station, after which you can see the line into Dalzell steelworks curving away sharply to the left. It then passes Shieldmuir station with the single track chord line to Wishaw off to the left and the Royal Mail Terminal to the right. With a clear line ahead the "Hoovers" accelerate hard over Garriongill Junction, with the line to Morningside Colliery visible disappearing under the Wishaw line which joins the mainline again at Law Junction. The clip ends just short of Carluke station - compare how fast they are going here to the beginning of the clip and that gives some idea of the power involved!

Update:
It seems our friend "ReZiN8R" had uploaded some clips to which the copyright belonged to someone else! Yeah, I know, copyright infringement in this day and age - who would have thought?!

Clearly someone has had "a quiet word" with him and he's done the right thing by removing them. A little research reveals that this video by Locomaster Profiles was the original source of the clip. So if you want to see it again, I suggest you buy it!

The Esk Invader

2006-06-04T18:46:00.000+01:00

Yesterday it was time for another railtour with the Class Forty Preservation Society's 40145 from Crewe to Whitby via the Pennines... and fabulous Leeds. The presence of DRS' 37229 "Jonty Jarvis" on the train didn't go down too well with some of the Class 40 die-hards, but I'm not one of them so I found the extra loco only added to the entertainment. Add to this mix really fantastic weather plus a decent destination and you've got a pretty damn fine day out.

The Class 40 proving a hard subject to photograph at Battersby Junction.

37229 waiting for a local stopping service to pass at Glaisdale. It's very pictur-esk (see what I did?!) along this valley.

40145 after "running round" at York. 37229 was shut down to let 40145 do some hard work between York and Chester.

The pair were plugged in to each other at Chester, working back to Crewe in multiple making them the first 37+40 combination to work multi'd on the mainline for about 3000 years (roughly). It's very rare anyway, that's what I'm saying... Arrival back at Crewe was at four past midnight, tired but happy.

Milepost 0

2006-06-01T23:05:00.000+01:00

Before we set off I suppose I should introduce myself to the masses (!); my name is Jim and I was born, raised and have lived my entire existance thus far in Manchester (England, UK), only leaving to exchange library books and buy groceries.

I started this blog, which seemed like a great idea at the time, because there doesn't appear to be many people in the UK blogging about railways, be they railways on our "funny little island" or elsewhere in the world. My hopes for this blog are to post a few casual observations from a rail enthusiasts perspective (I do not work in the rail industry at present), get a few comments, post a few pics and share the odd bit of "gen" - for viewers outside the UK that's a kind of enthusiasts' slang term for railway information. I will be using that word a lot!

Hopes are, it seems, set fairly low but to begin with I thought I'd set them low enough so that they might be obtainable...