tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28086408716995193192024-03-13T01:31:00.017+00:00Rail RevisitedUK railways, revisited.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger50125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2808640871699519319.post-23381353893248309412021-07-14T19:22:00.001+01:002021-07-14T19:50:46.061+01:00Five Crazy Railway Photography Ideas You Won't Believe Actually WorkIt's like having a magic wand. Guaranteeing a sunny shot even when it's cloudy...
...And would you like some sunshine in that picture? Details in the body text, further down the post.
The images in this post may look deceptively normal. But their creation path was anything but. Whether the surprise was in how they were taken, or what happened after they were taken, these images are proof thatUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBirmingham, UK52.486242999999988 -1.89040124.176009163821142 -37.046651 80.79647683617884 33.265849tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2808640871699519319.post-72765614597660675032021-07-10T18:20:00.009+01:002021-07-30T19:49:10.157+01:00The Central Trains / London Midland / West Midlands Class 153 DieselsThe class hit the headline news in November 1999, when two separate Central Trains units' engines fell off, in separate incidents, in less than a week.
In the summer of 2000, Central Trains 153383 lends its extra seating to the operator's green liveried 158844.
After witnessing a collection of former Central Trains Class 153s tootling off to Long Marston in a final shift away from the West Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBirmingham, UK52.486242999999988 -1.89040124.176009163821142 -37.046651 80.79647683617884 33.265849tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2808640871699519319.post-29428423700589205492021-07-04T16:57:00.010+01:002021-12-20T13:49:22.998+00:00The Almost Accurate History of Railway Gen"I will give you three bona fide Travellers Fare sandwiches, all made within the past twenty-eight days and still recognisably triangular in shape..."
What goes up, must come down. 31419 and 31413 provide unusual power for the 16:28 Sundays only Paddington - Hereford, on 24th May 1981.
Gen. Advance information relating, in the context of this article, to specific railway vehicles on specific Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBirmingham, UK52.486242999999988 -1.89040124.176009163821142 -37.046651 80.79647683617884 33.265849tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2808640871699519319.post-945897623985662212021-06-27T11:47:00.005+01:002021-06-27T12:21:51.897+01:00Back in the Day: Dudley Port JunctionDudley Port Junction offered the area's largest volume of loco-hauled passenger trains, coupled with total freedom to roam and relax.
For the rail enthusiast of the millennium period, it had everything. A relaxed, canalside setting, a range of photo vantage points within walking distance, and in the thick of the day an average of six or so loco-hauled trains per hour. Diesel and electric. Unknownnoreply@blogger.comDudley, UK52.512255 -2.08111224.202021163821158 -37.237362 80.822488836178849 33.075138tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2808640871699519319.post-45073838095992620202021-06-23T14:35:00.003+01:002021-06-27T11:47:52.169+01:00The Old Normal: Classic British Rail Traction in ProcessionIn 1999, Dudley Port saw the passage of over a hundred scheduled, loco-powered runs per weekday.
Loco-haulage. A relentless stream at Dudley Port canal junction in 1999.
We're now deep in the era of “bespoke trainspotting”. We usually know what's coming before we leave home, and we can monitor the journey(s) of the train(s) so that we don't have to wait around long at the location. For some, “Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBirmingham, UK52.486242999999988 -1.89040111.715163233153177 -72.202901 90 68.422099tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2808640871699519319.post-79105807525772929152021-06-19T14:14:00.002+01:002022-10-07T10:38:54.757+01:00Tamping Machines: The Trains We Love to IgnorePost 1978, after a flurry of 07-16 incomings and the arrival of a new batch of thirty-seven 07-32s, Plasser's 07 series tampers rapidly became a very familiar sight across the British Rail network.
Three classic British Rail era Plasser & Theurer machines in a lineup at Wolverhampton (WolverTampton?) on 11th January 2001. At the front, 07-16 No. 73241. More details on this lineup later in Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBirmingham, UK52.486242999999988 -1.890401-12.913149859607046 -142.515401 90 138.734599tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2808640871699519319.post-81673687264588816652021-05-19T19:54:00.008+01:002021-05-22T10:03:47.556+01:00The Digital Camera's Entry Into Railway Photography"The game-changing new releases came from a variety of brands, but they all had one of two main capture systems: a Sony 3.34 megapixel ICX252AK chip, or a Fujifilm Super CCD."
Let the tournament commence... In the late 1990s, poor quality digital cameras were competing against sensationally colourful slide film such as this, the landscaper's old favourite - Fujichrome Velvia 50. The digicam hadUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBirmingham, UK52.486242999999988 -1.89040124.176009163821142 -37.046651 80.79647683617884 33.265849tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2808640871699519319.post-78623664810966802802021-03-01T23:01:00.010+00:002021-04-23T13:24:44.302+01:00Chiltern Class 168 - The Early YearsThe story of the post-BR era's first new trains, in their initial ten years.
At Tyseley station on 28th April 1999, 168003 models the original Class 168/0 livery with non-contrasting doors.
It appeared that, had they not made history as the first post-British Rail motive power to enter service, the Class 168 'Clubman' units would have received no more than a pictureless footnote in the late 'Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBirmingham, UK52.486242999999988 -1.89040124.176009163821142 -37.046651 80.79647683617884 33.265849tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2808640871699519319.post-42284797254302708862021-02-20T20:00:00.008+00:002021-04-23T13:25:16.029+01:00A Railway Month in Pictures: February 2001"Through the latter part of the month, the whole country commenced a farmland shutdown, which affected a huge number of public footpaths and saw many popular railway photography vantage points labelled out of bounds."
Virgin Trains 43194 at Wolverhampton.
If you keep a diary and you were a UK railway enthusiast at the beginning of the century, you may notice quite a downbeat tone across your Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBirmingham, UK52.486242999999988 -1.89040124.176009163821142 -37.046651 80.79647683617884 33.265849tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2808640871699519319.post-88898545405101354222021-02-13T13:48:00.009+00:002021-04-23T13:25:47.865+01:00Tug Aesthetica: Making Sense of the Class 60's Earlier Visual History"Most Loadhaul Class 60s remained either in full Trainload livery, or had the Trainload decals removed to render an unbranded triple-grey look."
Battling the Arctic-style conditions of New Year's Day 2002, 60034 flies the flag for Transrail grey livery.
With thanks to those who shared links to my Class 60 article last week, I'm making this payback time. Yes, I've dug deep into my photo Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBirmingham, UK52.486242999999988 -1.89040124.176009163821142 -37.046651 80.79647683617884 33.265849tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2808640871699519319.post-5344708302025603132021-02-05T18:15:00.025+00:002021-04-23T13:38:48.382+01:00British Rail's Class 60 in the EWS Years"One really interesting use of a Class 60 that encapsulated the transience of EWS cascading, was the Lickey banking duty."
60076 in the EWS-branded version of BR's triple-grey livery, with a Round Oak - Margam run on 6th June 2007.
They still felt new. It just wasn't what we were expecting to happen...
If any locomotive type seemed safe from the effects of post-BR renewal, it was the Class Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBirmingham, UK52.486242999999988 -1.89040124.176009163821142 -37.046651 80.79647683617884 33.265849tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2808640871699519319.post-87714185258297889112021-01-28T17:54:00.013+00:002021-04-29T17:29:14.389+01:00The Complicated World of Modern Traction Naming"British Rail did not name any locomotives at all between the beginning of 1967 and the end of 1975. That's nine full years without any namings. Just let that sink in for a moment. Nine years."
Onto its second name... 86229 was originally named Sir John Betjeman in mid 1983. It was renamed Lions Clubs International whilst with Virgin West Coast fifteen years later. This shot shows the loco at Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBirmingham, UK52.486242999999988 -1.89040124.176009163821142 -37.046651 80.79647683617884 33.265849tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2808640871699519319.post-37729791307898048772021-01-17T17:46:00.012+00:002021-08-01T20:28:46.572+01:00Virgin CrossCountry: The Timeline of Transition "Perhaps one of the most surprising facets of the Class 220s' early days, as seen from today's vantage point nearly twenty years later, is that the units were initially popular."
47826 was one of the Class 47/8 XC regulars paid tribute with a heritage repaint, courtesy of Chief Exectutive Chris Green.
After the renewal commitments of privatisation, the late 1990s brought a new climate Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBirmingham, UK52.486242999999988 -1.89040124.176009163821142 -37.046651 80.79647683617884 33.265849tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2808640871699519319.post-22342841839470017742021-01-09T21:40:00.020+00:002021-06-27T11:49:04.750+01:00Info-Pictorial: Livery Greats - Old Virgin Trains Red"Very, very, very briefly in early spring '97, Virgin outshopped the Class 43 with “XC” branding and a dark grey cab roof."
A year ago, I said that in the post-BR era, EWS was the UK rail operator with the greatest enthusiast appeal. But is that true? Well, some might argue that a passenger operator would have higher enthusiast appeal than a freight operator, since its trains were, or are, Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBirmingham, UK52.486242999999988 -1.89040124.176009163821142 -37.046651 80.79647683617884 33.265849tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2808640871699519319.post-27085035521157433142021-01-02T17:26:00.007+00:002021-05-18T14:07:22.482+01:00The 'Barbie' Liveried Class 180 Adelante Units With First Great Western"Developed and prototyped without Automatic Train Protection, the 180s were held back while the safety system's fitting was organised, and other safety considerations were dealt with."
If you thought the Virgin Voyager was the first true 125mph DMU to hit UK rails... Well, as regards actual service, you'd be right. But if you count testing, the Voyager was beaten to it by Alstom's Class 180 Unknownnoreply@blogger.comWorcester, UK52.193636 -2.22157523.883402163821152 -37.377825 80.503869836178836 32.934675tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2808640871699519319.post-75782399142717418402020-12-31T23:55:00.015+00:002021-05-03T14:58:00.232+01:00HSTs in the West Midlands and Worcestershire: 1999 to 2009Pictorially charting the period during which the HST's popularity really began to soar...
Looking seriously smart fresh from refurbishment, re-engined Arriva CrossCountry power car 43304 takes us back to the initial excitement of the new HST livery that emerged in 2008.
The ten year period between 1999 and 2009 marked a major rise in the popularity of the HST. The groundbreakingly futuristic Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBirmingham, UK52.486242999999988 -1.89040124.176009163821142 -37.046651 80.79647683617884 33.265849tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2808640871699519319.post-29224375826051326972020-12-19T20:46:00.007+00:002021-06-27T11:49:29.255+01:00The Class 156s With Central Trains"Central could not wait for the entire repair to be completed, and the lesser damaged of the two cars was rushed back into service about two months after the crash."
Looking pretty awesome in the memorable Central Trains green livery, 156401 approaches Bankers Bridge, Aston Fields, on 20th February 2004.
I said in the Virgin Electrics Loco-Hauled piece that finding coverage of the 25KV Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBirmingham, UK52.486242999999988 -1.89040124.176009163821142 -37.046651 80.79647683617884 33.265849tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2808640871699519319.post-56353554094620211842020-12-01T19:30:00.008+00:002021-05-03T14:45:25.096+01:00InterCity Class 47s With Virgin Trains"Most of Virgin's loco-hauled XC runs operated between the North West and the South West, or the North West and the South East."
One of the reasons why so few photographers can assemble quality pictorials recalling the InterCity Class 47/8s in the Virgin CrossCountry era, is simply that in the initial phase of Virgin Trains, IC 47/8s were considered a "waste of a photo". They were the default.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBirmingham, UK52.486242999999988 -1.89040124.176009163821142 -37.046651 80.79647683617884 33.265849tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2808640871699519319.post-22351612641843687642020-11-25T14:20:00.018+00:002021-06-27T11:50:02.939+01:00Millennium Turns - West Midlands Rail Scene Around the Year 2000"The Class 56s dug in their heels to the point where, in the second half of 2000, they actually made something of a comeback."
We kick off our nostaligic pictorial just south of Bankers Bridge, Bromsgrove, with a real encapsulation of the times. Virgin HST sets in mixes of InterCity and Virgin livery were common through the late 1990s. By 2000, most of the repainting was complete, but there Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBirmingham, UK52.486242999999988 -1.890401-15.920476401870843 -142.51540100000003 90 138.73459900000003tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2808640871699519319.post-27545159894291420462020-04-21T17:53:00.006+01:002021-04-24T08:16:16.925+01:00An Afternoon at Birmingham InternationalA seat beside the NEC, for a pictorial snapshot of the period right before the start of Operation Princess.
We so often represent a moment in train spotting time with just a single snapshot. How much more informative would it be to see a whole afternoon’s worth of traffic in a single post? Well, that’s the concept behind An Afternoon at Birmingham International.
For this post I’ve raided a Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2808640871699519319.post-81878043172648011392020-02-18T17:47:00.009+00:002021-04-24T08:16:42.605+01:00The Introduction of the EWS Class 66"The prototype bogie did not come with the same durability warranty as the production version. For this reason, it was always planned to update the prototype bogies to the ‘passed’ version at an early stage."
Still almost brand new in summer 2000, No. 66220 scales the Lickey Incline with a long rake of loaded coal hoppers, and some distant rear-end assistance from triple-grey 60068.
The Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2808640871699519319.post-83385627248832516892020-02-13T20:51:00.009+00:002021-06-27T11:50:32.634+01:00Cool Runnings: Memorable Midland Diesel Duties 2005 - 2009"The old era of long, pick and mix photo sessions had finally gone west, to be replaced by a new era of short, information-driven visits to targeted locations."
57302 'Virgil Tracy' on a Pendolino drag at Dudley Port, on 18th June 2005. See post text for more.
Summer 2005. For the first time in the living memory of West Midlands and Worcestershire railways, it was not possible for an Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2808640871699519319.post-49512973851772510622020-02-07T17:47:00.009+00:002021-04-24T08:17:57.957+01:00The Virgin Red Class 47/8s - Identification Guide & Trivia Trove"Particular areas of variation would include the type of marker light panels, and the number of lamp mounts on the cab fronts."
We all chased the celebrities, but today, even those good old bog-standard Virgin reds look mighty fine. Can you tell them apart though? Identify them in photos without knowing the number? Can you reel off those little bits of trivia that time is fast erasing? Well, Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2808640871699519319.post-84787853184338391372020-02-04T17:52:00.007+00:002021-04-23T14:04:17.005+01:00Sandite Syphons: Bescot's WKMS Class 37 Pool of 1999"Given the strength of the task force, any leaves that had fallen vaguely into the vicinity of a West Midlands railway line must by this time have been cowering in fear."
Battleworn and doomed 37384 - one of the first two operational locos to join the '99 WKMS pool - gunks the down road of the Lickey Incline at the old Bromsgrove station, on 6th October 1999.
For the fan of first generation Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2808640871699519319.post-13835705137609983222020-01-26T18:03:00.006+00:002021-04-24T08:18:36.570+01:00'Deltic' D9000 With Virgin Trains"And as the summer of '99 drew to a close, early signs began to suggest that Virgin's future imperative for hiring 'Deltics' might be heading for the buffers."
1999 was the summer you didn't want to end, and this was one of the reasons why. 'Deltic' D9000 arrives at Coventry with its weekly 12:10 Ramsgate - Glasgow Virgin CrossCountry service.
It was such an optimistic time. The notion of a 'Unknownnoreply@blogger.com