800315, GW 11.31Weston-super-Mare-London Paddington (1A16, 6L) & 802003, GW 14.03 London Paddington-Penzance (1C84, RT), London Paddington station
Paddington station is a very different place to the one
that I knew from my time as a young spotter in the 1970s. Visually it is much altered with the arrival of the electrification wiring and of course, the actual trains are all new. However, the thing that I noticed during this particular visit was that it was so quiet. There was not one diesel train observed on this Sunday afternoon with IETs gliding silently in and out of the station all very different to when Class 50s and Westerns sat at the blocks after arriving from the West Country. In this scene, 800315 has just arrived with the 11.31 from Weston-super-Mare whilst 800003 will soon leave with the 14.03 to Penzance.