London trip 8/1/08

First railway trip of 2008 and it was a big one, visited London.

London Bridge was the first station to be visited for some more SE units and Southern units whhich makes a nice difference from seing SE units all the time. A 375 was seen in plain white with yellow doors (375613) this might be the sign of change in the livery because 375624 is also in plain white. Weather wasn’t the best as it was raining and gusty so i only spent an hour at the station.

Next station on the London trip was Lewisham in south east London, didn’t really spend much time at the railway station as i was there mostly for the buses and the DLR (Docklands Light Railway) but i got a good few shots of the station.

Next and last stop of the trip was Hither Green also in South East London. Saw a GBRF 66 66710 which paused at the station for a minute or so. A few units were seen but nothing eventful.

Pictures will be posted up here soon so watch this space.

SPECIAL: Ebbsfleet 12/12

Another day free resulted in visiting Kent’s recently opened Ebbsfleet International. The trip was more succesful than my earlier attempt late last month (i was given road directions). I couldn’t get to the platforms at the station but the concourse had me interested and one thing in particular had my attention for most of the time spent there. There is a full scale class 395 ‘Javelin’ EMU end coach mock-up on display which shows roughly what the yet-to-be introduced bullet trains will look like. The mock-up is in the older South Eastern trains livery minus the grey skirt at the bottom and the interior looks quite similar to the class 375′s. Cant wait until they get introduced in December 2009.

Ebbsfleet International is not a bad station, very bright and spacious. The first thing anyone who walks to the station will notice is the huge amount of parking spaces there are. When i visited the station was very quiet, only people i saw were staff and very few passengers but hopefully when the Javelin units are introduced (along with the new services) more passengers will use Ebbsfleet.  I would like to thank the staff at Ebbsfleet International for letting me walk around and taking a few pictures.

On to another subject and this may seem pointless but im gonna write this……..

I managed to travel on a class 376 for the first time and i must say these should be used for the Charing x – Gillingham services than the Dartford and Gravesend. They are much better than the older BREL 465′s which are already showing their age. Hopefully Southeastern will read this and consider using the Electrostar Metro’s on longer services.

And to another subject…….

On the same day i managed to photograph 3 more EWS 66′s two of which i jumped out of the train i was on to catch at Strood. 66146 passed Strood light engine and was unusually heading towards Paddock Wood via the Medway Valley line which hardly see’s anything other than EMU’s. Overall the entire trip was quite a decent one and it will be my last big trip before Christmas.

Below: The class 395 ‘Javelin’ EMU mock up on display at Ebbsfleet International.

Below: The bright and rather empty interior of the concourse at Ebbsfleet International, the rear of the class 395 mock up can be seen to the left.

Another North Kent trip.

Done another trip on the North Kent line to get a few more freight. But i visited Stone crossing and Dartford, the weather was terrible for most of the day mostly wind and rain but it didnt stop me from taking pics. I saw 4 more class 66′s (66030, 66198, 66502 and 66539) and an unusual Network rail plasser machine 999700 or as some call it a DMU on steriods which i saw whilst passing Rochester and again at Stone Crossing where i got a few pics of it passing by. After spending a while at Stone i headed to Dartford to get a few units in, the station is like a minature London bridge and one day i will do a full day there.

Plasser thing 999700 passes Stone Crossing at speed heading west.

 Freightliner 66539 cruises pass Dartford whilst heading towards Thamesport.

Early morning trip to Gillingham level crossing.

Just done a trip to Gillingham level crossing at dawn, the reason? well because i had a restless night the previous night and i thought it’ll be good to photograph the railway at a different light. 465903 ‘Remembrance’ was stabled at the depot for a short while and i tried to get the name on it but unfortunatly it was too dark and 465903 pulled off before it got any lighter. Got a few pics that are reasonably good although it was difficult in the dark. Overall it was a good trip (and cold).

Below: 466030 and 465184 await their duties at Gillingham depot at about 7am.

Few more updates.

Another few updates.

I have been creating a new gallery for the freight/railtours/odd movements that i have seen since January this year. Considering i dont frequently go outside the Medway towns i think i’ve seen a few good stuff other than the constant madness of Southeastern EMU’s. These range from the Northern Belle to Serco workings and there’s also freight (which i dont often see in the Medway towns).

Click here to see the new gallery

Got a few more trips planned before the year’s out, hopefully i’ll get a few more ‘unusual stuff’ like freight.

On another subject i have done a few videos of the Kent’s railway network, these were put on Youtube. So far 6 videos are on youtube and i must admit they aren’t the best but at least it shows something.

Click here to view my videos on Youtube

Please do not put in stupid or abusive comments please!!.

Below: Bit of a suprise at Northfleet when 1Q14 Serco working pased by on 29th November. 37612 (below) and 37608 handled the working.

 Below: Its that time of year, DR98917/67 passes Northfleet on a wintry 29th November.

Here’s my video from Northfleet station, 465025 (pest) departs with the all too common no smoking policy announcement in the background. 

Eurostar farewell on 3rd rail.

14th November is when Eurostars moved to St Pancras and are no longer using 3rd rail, the previous day (13th November) was the last day of them using Waterloo international station and using 3rd rail so i decided to head to Bromley South to see the last of them through the station. The weather was less than desirable, well it was overcast, freezing cold and at times raining but the station had plenty on show, i even got to photograph my first low emission class 66 First GBRF 66727 which passed light engine towards Wembley from Tonbridge west yard.

 Back to the Eurostars. In the hour or so spent at Bromley south a few passed by but with them passing at high speed you have to be ready at all times because the warning announcements are a little late. Fortunatly 3229/3230 passed slow enough for a few shots but it was my last ‘Euro’ before i headed home. They will be missed at Waterloo and on 3rd rail territory, hopefully one day they might be diverted or even make a return but this is highly unlikely.

Rest of the pics can be found @ http://st-transport.fotopic.net/c1407436.html

Below: Scene now history, 3001/3002 passes Bromley South on 13th November.

Below 3230 approaches Bromley South slowly on 13th November 2007. This was my last Eurostar that passed before i headed home.

 Below: First GBRF passes light engine through Bromley South towards Wembley. This may have came from Tonbridge West Yard.

Late: EDs at Gillingham

This is about a week late but i had my reasons.

Tuesday 23rd October: 3 class 73′s paused at Gillingham whilst working an unknown special, the loco’s were Gatwick Express liveried 73202, Heritage BR blue 73136 and SWT 73109. The special only stopped at Gillingham for two minutes which ment a few railway enthusiast (including myself)  running from one end of the platform to the other. If i were to be honest i was more interested in 73109 because the SWT livery is not very common in Kent (excuse the sarcasm here).

Below: 73202 with 73136 arrive at Gillingham with a Birthday special. 73109 was at the rear of the consist.

Bromley trip.

Yesterday i had a whole day free so i decided to go to Bromley South station to see the Eurostars before they get re-routed via Ebbsfleet. I spent about an hour at the station and caught a few Eurostars bombing past platforms 3 and 4 and a Network Rail MPV passed by, unfortunatly i couldnt get a good shot of the MPV because a Southeastern unit blocked the view (as they always do when something good passes). Didn’t really bother with the local EMU’s so i didnt get many shots from the station but it was a good trip overall.

Below: Powercar 3217 at the rear of the Paris bound service, this time next month this picture would be impossible to re-create as the services will be diverted via Ebbsfleet.

Below: Not the shot i wanted of DR98978 as it sped past Bromley South but a Southeastern 375 blocked the view. But i managed to get a shot of it to say the least.

Finally given up

Neen thinking about this for a while now but i have finally given up photographing Southeastern EMU’s. The reason?, well they are all basically the same and theres almost no variety in the fleet of 330+ that Southeastern owns. I will still go out and photograph Kents railways but not very often and only when/if something special comes (railtours, freight, odd movements etc). There is some good news, on 23rd October 3 class 73′s (73136, 73109 and 73202) are working the Queen of Scots railtour to Gillingham so fingers crossed that i’ll be able to see it.

I have taken up an interest in buses because they are easier to photograph and theres more variety in much smaller areas.

Trip to a new location.

Visited a new location in the name of Cuxton railway station on the Medway valley line.

The station is very quiet (service wise) with only 1 train every 15 mins or 4 trains per hour. There maybe no variety at Cuxton (mostly 466′s) but it makes a change from visiting Rochester and Gillingham non stop.

Although Cuxton is a nice quiet station, getting to it was a nightmare. Started out at Gillingham and every service towards London was delayed, the train i was on (1244 Gillingham to London Charing X service) was delayed by 6 mins which i cant really complain about because i’ve had worse than this.

After arriving at Cuxton i noticed a few signs that still has the Network SouthEast logo. They are fairly common along the Medway Valley line but they wont be around forever as the stations are having a repaint. Still nice to see NSE live on even though the livery on the rolling stock is gone.

Below: One of two signs at Cuxton that still has the NSE red, blue and (the remains of) grey logo.

 Below: The mainstay of the Medway Valley line. 466027 arrives at Cuxton with a Maidstone West to Strood service.