80. Christmas Eve walk-24.12.21

THE ARCHIVE FILES > Archive-2021 > 80. Christmas Eve walk-24.12.21
On a foggy and miserable Christmas Eve, I took a morning walk across the muddy fields from home. Despite not expecting to see much I did sling my camera over my shoulder and, in the end, I am glad I did!
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Images 1-7 of 7 displayed.

66534 & 66505, 10.45 Wembley Yard-Crewe Basford Hall (0Y62, 45E), Roade Hill As I was walking across a field close to the line between Roade and Ashton I was aware of a train heading north. It emerged from the shallow cutting to the left in this view just in time for me to get the camera out. 66505 and 66534 'OOCL Express' run light engine as the 0Y62 10.45 Wembley yard to Crewe Basford Hall. It is clear in this photograph how grey and dull the day before Christmas was! Incidentally, I have just been reading about the construction of the extremely troublesome embankment seen in this photograph and of Roade cutting itself by the thousands of navvies who descended on this rural quarter of Northamptonshire from 1834. The history of the cutting is superbly documented in a new book written by Chris Hillyard and published by Roade History Society, see.... https://www.roadehistorysociety.org.uk/ Keywords: 66534 66505 10.45 Wembley Yard-Crewe Basford Hall 0Y62 Roade Hill Freightliner OOCL Express
390131, VT 10.50 Birmingham New Street-London Euston (1B34, RT), Victoria bridge 390131 'City of Liverpool' sweeps around the reverse curve between Roade and Ashton in South Northamptonshire. The Avanti West Coast Pendolino is working the 10.50 Birmingham New Street to Euston service. It is services such as this, taking eighty-seven minutes stop to stop that HS2 will seek to usurp when it commences operations. Whenever this will happen, the same journey will take forty-nine minutes saving an impressive thirty-eight minutes. Keywords: 390131 10.50 Birmingham New Street-London Euston 1B34 Victoria bridge Avanti West Coast Pendolino City of Liverpool
350108 & 350121, LN 10.49 London Euston-Birmingham New Street (1W09, 6L), Victoria bridge Looking bright with its recently applied vinyls on what is a very dull and misty day 350108 leads 350121. The pair of Desiros were working the 1W09 10.49 Euston to Birmingham service. The vinyls applied to both sides of the lead carriage of 350108 are reminding the public about the perils of trespassing on the railways with messages such as 'Everyone loses when you step on the track' ; not very original is it really? Keywords: 350108 350121 10.49 London Euston-Birmingham New Street 1W09 Victoria bridge London Northwestern Desiro
390010, VT 10.43 London Euston-Preston (diverted via Trent Valley) (5S60, 7E), Victoria bridge 390010 'Cumbrian Spirit' works the 10.43 Euston to Preston carrying curious reporting number of 5S60. Unfortunately, things did not go to plan with this service later in its journey with it taking the Trent Valley route rather than the advertised route via Birmingham New Street. I suspect that the cause of this was staffing issues relating to very high numbers of staff testing positive for the COVID-19 Omicron variant that was impacting all TOCs not just those of Avanti West Coast. The train is seen passing Victoria bridge between Ashton and Roade in South Northamptonshire. Keywords: 390010 10.43 London Euston-Preston diverted via Trent Valley 5S60 Victoria bridge Avanti West Coast Pendolino Cumbrian Spirit
323239, 11.46 Wolverton Works-Allerton Depot (5Q36, 29E), Victoria bridge One of just seventeen Class 323 units operated by Northern, 323239 is seen just a short distance into its return journey home to Allerton Depot. The unit had spent a short time at Wolverton works before returning as today's 5Q36 11.46 Wolverton to Allerton. With no incoming balancing working, I suspect that the driver would have travelled to Wolverton on the cushions earlier in the morning. Keywords: 323239 11.46 Wolverton Works-Allerton Depot 5Q36 Victoria bridge Northern
DR73923, 10.10 Dorridge-Tring (58E), Victoria bridge Probably in connection with some sort of planned engineering work over the Christmas/Boxing Day shutdown Colas Rail's DR73923 heads south past Victoria bridge near Roade on Christmas Eve with the 10.10 Dorridge to Tring working. I have photographed this particular Plasser & Theurer switch and crossing tamper a number of times locally, for example...... https://www.ontheupfast.com/p/21936chg/29965829804/colas-rail-ballast-regulator-dr73923. Keywords: DR73923 10.10 Dorridge-Tring 58E Victoria bridge Colas Rail
390042, VT 10.59 Preston-London Euston (Cancelled Glasgow C-Preston) (1M09, 3E) & Class 350, LN 12.25 Northampton-London Euston (1Y20, 2L), Roade Hill I have been attempting to take a successful photograph from this position of Roade Hill including the residents of the field, a herd of alpacas, for a long time now. On walking past the gate today I was delighted to see the animals grazing close by and in a photographable position. Standing very still to avoid frightening them away I consulted Open Train Times to see what was about and the answer was very little for about ten minutes. So I stood stationary hoping that they would not wander off. Fortunately, they stayed in the shot and I got the added bonus of two trains exactly in view at the same time! 390042 working the 10.59 Preston to Euston is overhauling an unidentified Class 350 working the 12.25 Northampton to Euston. It's nice when something comes together even if the wait has been considerable! Keywords: 390042 10.59 Preston-London Euston Cancelled Glasgow Central-Preston 1M09 Class 350 12.25 Northampton-London Euston 1Y20 Roade Hill Alpaca Avanti West Coast Pendolino London Northwestern Desiro

Images 1-7 of 7 displayed.