Spotted today - Loo-less for over an hour!

Today I travelled to Portsmouth Harbour (from Angmering in West Sussex) to have a look at the Spinnaker Tower and was dismayed to find that in amongst all the shiny, new(ish) Class 377 'Electrostars' that Southern uses all over it's network there are also a number of these in use…

313201 stands at Portsmouth Harbour station, 21/5/15

A class 313/2, one of 19 three-car electric multiple units dating from the mid-1970s. Day in, day out, they ply their trade up and down the 'West Coastway' from Brighton to Hove, West Worthing and Portsmouth Harbour… The latter being a 45 mile journey that takes around 80 minutes.

313201 stands at Brighton station with another Portsmouth Harbour service.

Whilst I acknowledge that anyone taking a four minute trip from Brighton to Hove may not have need of a loo en route, a 45 mile, 80 minute journey on a train without a toilet is a very different prospect and the Class 313s are sadly lacking in that department! During my journey one young mum was forced to leave the train with her pre-school son for him to use a station toilet and of course would have to continue their journey on a later train. Perhaps the Class 313s should carry adverts for TENA® and Huggies® products?

Volk's Electric Railway - A taster!

Having a couple of hours to kill in Brighton this week I went looking for a historic little railway that runs along the seafront.

Volk's Electric Railway car No.9

The Volk's Electric Railway was the brainchild of one Magnus Volk, the son of a German clockmaker born in Brighton. An inventor and engineer, he was the first person in Brighton to equip his house with electric light and he went on to win the contract to provide the Royal Pavilion with the same.

In August 1883 he opened an electric railway running from the Aquarium to the Chain Pier. The line was later extended considerably and even though it was shortened in 1990 it still runs for over a mile!

I'm certainly planning to revisit this, the world's oldest operating electric railway, in the near future…

Spotted today - London Underground trains… In Nottinghamshire!

Eleven years ago (almost to the day) I had the best carvery lunch of my life at the Pullman Inn in Widmerpool, Nottinghamshire. Lunch was interrupted by a Virgin Trains Class 390 'Pendolino' flashing past the window as the Pullman Inn was located at Widmerpool station on the former Midland Railway line between Nottingham and Melton Mowbray that went on to form the Old Dalby Test Track (used to stage a crash between a Class 46 locomotive and four BR Mk.1 coaches into a nuclear flask on 17 July 1984).

Driving past the now closed Pullman Inn today I spotted this…

London Underground S7 stock at Widmerpool, 2/5/15

Just one of many London Underground S stock units that are undergoing testing on the line at the moment.

S Stock as far as the eye can see!

More S Stock stabled at the south end of the station, 2/5/15

The new Hitachi IEP units (the first of which recently arrived in the UK from Japan) will also be tested at Old Dalby.

Spotted today - Van bodies in Ashbourne

Two entries in two days? Blimey!

One of my many interests is what are known as 'Ghost' signs (see my gallery of them on flickr) and while photographing one in Ashbourne today I also spotted this…

Improvised storage shed, Ashbourne, 25/4/15

Railway van bodies as used as storage aren't unusual, even in areas far from the nearest railway line and Ashbourne was served by both the North Staffordshire Railway and the London & North Western Railway but this particular pair are the products of the Caledonian Railway's workshops at St. Rollox in Glasgow!

How long before these are snapped up by preservationists?

Spotted today - 'Proper' locomotives at Derby

For a long time dad has been running a 'scene today' series of entries on his blog (Rails, Roads & Runways) and I thought it was time I did something similar…

On my way to Sheffield today (coincidentally dad's home town) I was pleased to spot a couple of 'proper' locomotives at Derby amongst the 'Turbostars', 'Meridians' and 'Voyagers' that populate the modern railway scene.

31601 & 31190 stand at Derby station, 24/4/15

Two class 31s (or Brush type 2 if you prefer) were sitting in the sunshine in the north dock siding and I quickly took a couple of snaps before boarding an East Midlands Trains class 222 'Meridian' unit northwards.

31601 (the former 31186, originally D5609) carries a plain green livery with DCR (Devon & Cornwall Railways) branding whilst 31190 (the former D5613) not only carries British Railways green livery (complete with white stripes and small yellow warning panel) but its original number too!

31190 stands at Derby station, 24/4/15

Both locos are owned by British American Rail Services and are often to be seen moving other locos and rolling stock around the country and don't look half bad considering they entered service 55 years ago!

Return to Butterley… Chop! Chop!

After the grumbling about the Midland Railway-Butterley in my last post you might be surprised to know that I was back there today buying a ticket!

The reason for my return visit was the news that not one but two Class 20s would be running today, one of them for the first time in preservation.

20205 (the former D8305) not only had never run in preservation but is believed to have not worked a train at all since 1989! (apart from a test train yesterday that is).

20205 & 20189 arrive at Swanwick Junction, 8/2/15

Also running were Balfour Beatty liveried 20189 (the former D8189) and MR-B resident 20048 (the former D8048), topping and tailing a packed rake of six BR Mk.1 coaches with 20205 swapping ends throughout the day.

The published timetable (on the PLEG website) was thrown into disarray quite early on by unscheduled stops at Butterley (to cope with the volume of passengers I suspect) and 20048 running out of fuel part way through the day didn't help either!

20205 drags 20048 off to be fuelled at Swanwick Junction, 8/2/15

On display at Swanwick Junction were fellow class members 20142 (the former D8142) and 20057 (the former D8057), looking a lot less tatty than it did when it arrived at the MR-B a year ago.

D8057 (20057) at Swanwick Junction, 8/2/15

20142 at Swanwick Junction, 8/2/15

The mild weather made up for the lack of train heating and brought out the lineside photographers in force! (Including my Dad, read his blog post here).

I understand that 20205 is to join the ranks of its classmates (known as 'Choppers' by enthusiasts) in action on the national network (including 20189 and 20142) where they are put to a variety of uses day in and day out…

Heads out of windows to enjoy 20205 & 20048, 8/2/15

Just a thought…

I've got a couple of photographic projects on the go this year one of which is a Photo-A-Day and as a result I'm always looking for something different to photograph…

Yesterday saw me paying a brief visit to my local heritage railway, the Midland Railway-Butterley who were advertising 'Winter Warmer Trains' on their website.

Railbus 141113 trundled in from Swanwick Junction at 12.30 and stopped to allow a few passengers on board before setting off with the 12.40 departure, I took a couple of photos and headed for home… noticing that the cost for a rover ticket for today was a whopping £11.50!

I say 'whopping' because 141113 was the only train in service and belongs to a group of trains known as 'Nodding Donkeys' which are universally disliked by both enthusiasts and the poor souls who have to suffer them day in, day out on the national network!

The nearby Ecclesbourne Valley Railway, operating a fleet of heritage DMUs, charge £10.00 for a rover ticket while Peak Rail only charge £8 to travel behind a steam loco, so yes, I thought £11.50 was a bit pricey!

Should you fancy a ride on a 'Nodding Donkey' then you could do much worse than travel from Sheffield to Chinley through the beautiful Hope Valley, with an off-peak day return setting you back £10.80.

Just a thought…