It had to happen eventually, I suppose ... I went to Stockport on Saturday for the 11:28 to Doncaster, which Arriva cancelled as their contribution to the Open Day, a fact which Virgin told us a minute before booked departure time. To pass the time I wandered along platform 2 to take a telephoto picture of 47 746 The Bobby coming over the viaduct with a 'Tyne Yard on Tour' headboard attached.
As I was standing in a perfectly safe position in the middle of the wide platform, on the place where a filled-in bay used to be, and well short of the actual platform end, I became conscious of a man in a yellow vest yelling at me across the tracks from platform 3,and another shouting at me from twenty yards away down platform 2.
Now if there is one thing that winds me up, it is being shouted at, so when the man finally reached me and told me to move I was in no mood to be docile. He went on about me getting behind some white line, and said that I had gone past a sign saying 'do not pass this point' so we went to look and it said 'passengers must not cross the line.' I told him that I believed this meant I should not cross the railway lines, not some line painted on the platform, and that for the last 40 years I had been happily taking pictures on this station and nobody had said anything.
He nattered on at me saying it was 'not safe' to stand where I was, and if I was allowed to then 'kids' would do the same. (I think if kids stand in safe places watching the trains, rather than skateboarding all over the platforms or sniffing lighter fuel in the waiting room, then the railway should be pleased.) I asked him who he was anyway, which caused him to say that if I did not move he would fetch the railway police. OK, fetch them then, I said, so he did! Needless to say, I got a lecture about 'he's only doing his job' (What sort of job involves harrassing law-abiding citizens on the day before their 54th birthday?) At this point I decided to go quietly, as did the one other railfan who was in a similar position and got the same treatment - I had to agree with his comment, something like 'they have faxed up my trip to Doncaster and now this.' Is there anyone out there who can explain why apparently safe parts of the platform should be out of bounds now that the bay platform has been completely filled in? Is the railway so lacking in confidence that it expects trains to arrive on the platforms at any time, or is there some other subtle reason?
Just a few minutes before all this incident, I had heard how Davenport station booking office (just a mile from Stockport but run by impoverished First North Western and thus not watched so carefully by the British Transport Police and their hired help) had been trashed by vandals while I was away on holiday. Reportedly a train crew noticed the window broken on Sunday afternoon, so FNW sent someone round who boarded it up with a piece of wood and just four nails - later that evening the intruders returned, levered off the wood, removed the burglar alarm and proceeded to trash the place, with the result that no tickets have been sold all week as it is considered unsafe to take any money.
Can readers understand why I lost my temper a little? I have written to Virgin trains suggesting that if anyone is not happy with my behaviour then they should approach me and discuss it in a polite and civilised manner, and also that they should not rely on playing tricks with the English language in order to explain their intentions. At least they didn't accuse me of being a terrorist, which I suppose is a small blessing. - 27 July
On a happier note, here's a couple of views from the excellent Open Day at the Wabtec works which I did eventually reach ... here's 47 635 Lass O'Ballochmyle standing proudly outside the paint shop.The rendition of Scottish large-logo livery is excellent, right down to the space between the 47 and the 635, which Virgin failed to get right on 847 even after two attempts. Well done to to EWS and Dupont: an amazing transformation from the scruffy post office red machine we have come to know.
Also noted among the trade stands was First North Western unit 156 423 waiting its turn for attention: no doubt it will appear in 'Barbie' purple and pink in due course. - 27 July
Something completely different! A St Moritz - Tirano train headed by Rhaetian Railway electro-diesel locomotive 801 rolls down the main street of Le Prese, Switzerland, 19 July. (Charlie Hulme)
47 756 Royal Mail Tyneside passes Winwick Junction with the 17:20 Manchester - Holyhead, 24 July. (Tim J. Rogers)
A bit off the North Wales track but perhaps worthy of mention were the strengthened services on the Heart of Wales line in connection with the Royal Welsh Show. Wales & Borders ran a special train from Cardiff to the show hauled by a Class 37.
37408 was in charge on Monday 21 July, seen above at Llandrindod Wells ...
... and at Builth Road.
37 402 Bont y Bermo worked on Tuesday: the picture
above
is at Cilmery. Ordinary services on the Swansea-Shrewsbury line were
strengthened
from the normal 153s to either a pair of the single car railbuses or a
153 and a 150 unit.
Wednesday 23 July's special was in the capable hands of 37422Cardiff Canton. The ex-Virgin coaches now form the Cardiff Railway fleet in place of the West Coast Railway Co. vehicles previously used, following some sort of contractual dispute.
These pictures show the train stabled in the passing loop at Llandrindod Wells. - 25 July
John Lewis writes: '47 781 Isle of Iona departing Holyhead on the 13:54 service on 17 July - a horrible, overcast, foggy day which was such a contrast to the rest of the week. And it just got worse later in the day! - 25 July
As yesterday's rain had cleared and it looked like it would be a fine day on the Coast, I decided to take another ride out to Wales to try and catch on camera both of the FNW loco-hauled sets. It was a bit of a last-minute idea, and I missed the 10:09 from Eccles (to connect with the 10:17 from Piccadilly,) so my planned move to get 1D67 at Chester and ride to Holyhead and back backfired.
So I meandered over to Piccadilly and caught the 11:17 Llandudno service, which was a 175/1 (115?) Sadly we had to change trains again at Oxford Road as we were swapping units with the Windermere service. Thankfully this was also a 175/1, so I was still able to make use of the at-seat entertainment. I've always liked the scenery on the coast, but Warrington to Chester does nothing for me.
I realised that missing 1D67 would mean I would be able to get a photo of 1A77, so I decided to go through to Llandudno Jn and then as long as the Holyhead service behind was on time, go through to Bangor. This move was fine, so I wound up at Bangor ready to take a photo of what would be 1A77. Normally, this service runs through to Euston, but because of the derailment on the Trent Valley line, Virgin were only running a shuttle service between Holyhead and Crewe, where passengers would have to change onto another service.
The service is booked for an HST, and 43101 + 43084 "County of Derbyshire" worked the service today. What happens to the stock when it reaches Crewe?
The first object of the day, albeit belated and in the form of 1G11 appeared a few minutes later, hauled by 47 733 Eastern Star - I rode this service back to Chester. I decided to have a change and sample the Cheshire lines route back to Manchester. I haven't been on that route since the Farewell to the 37's FNW tour a few years back. This would get me to Piccadilly just in time to catch the second diagram, the 1D45 17: 19 Piccadilly to Holyhead service. We were slightly delayed (3 minutes) at Stockport, with a slow run into Piccadilly from Longsight, and I was a little worried that 1D45 would be sent out in front of us, but thankfully we arrived at Piccadilly at 1718.
Being the evening rush hour and some services inevitably running late, there was some congestion on the platform at Piccadilly, but there was just enough time to get into space and get my camera going when 47 756 Royal Mail Tyneside approached on platform 14. A quick ride to Newton-Le-Willows on 1D45, with enough time to catch a FNW stopping service back to Eccles and home. - 25 July
A treat for loco fans on the morning of 16 July - the Bangor to Manchester service rolled into Shotton ten minutes late due to a loco failure somewhere further up the coast, but imagine my delight as two class 47s rolled into the platform: 47 798 Prince William and 47 756 Royal Mail Tyneside. Above is a picture of the two locos at Manchester Oxford Road. - 25 July