1. Journey there & a semi-circle of South London-21.11.23

THE ARCHIVE FILES > Archive-2023 > 82. Trip to London-21-23.11.23 > 1. Journey there & a semi-circle of South London-21.11.23

The journey to London from Northampton was straightforward enough. In the early evening, I took an interesting ride from Victoria to London Bridge, a sixteen-mile large semi-circular trip through south London.
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Images 1-13 of 13 displayed.

350410, LN 09.06 Birmingham New Street-London Euston (1Y26, 5L), Northampton station Former TPE Desiro 350410 (the highest number of all the class) leads the 09.06 Birmingham New Street to Euston into Northampton station. My wife and I took this service to the capital finding the train unusually quiet. Keywords: 350410 09.06 Birmingham New Street-London Euston 1Y26 Northampton station London Northwestern Desiro
Class 777s & 66952, stabled, Wembley Yard The old and new stand side by side in Wembley Yard. A pair of brand-new Merseyrail Class 777s are lined up with a warm-stored Great Eastern Class 321 just visible behind. The Class 321s have been in this spot for a number of months now facing an uncertain future that will probably involve a final trip to South Wales for scrapping. 66592 stabled to the right is not one of my most photographed members of the class with just one other image captured to this date. Keywords: Class 777 66952 Wembley Yard
67021, stabled, Wembley Yard I have plenty of photographs of 67021 but opportunities to capture members of the under-utilised class (now much reduced in size) are getting more and more rare. With lines of warm-stored former Great Eastern Class 321s behind the dedicated Belmond British Pullman locomotive is seen on a gloomy November day. Keywords: 67021 stabled Wembley Yard Belmond British Pullman
Frontage, London Victoria station With the afternoon light fading fast Victoria station is seen dwarfed by the surrounding buildings. The history of the station is fascinating to which a whole book could be dedicated! This Renaissance-style building, designed by Charles Langbridge, replaced the original building that was opened in 1860. It remains a busy and somewhat cramped and, if I'm honest, a little run down and tatty station not helped by the 1980s work inside that included an over-platform shopping precinct named Victoria Place. Keywords: Frontage London Victoria station
NSE click-clack clock, London Victoria station I took this photograph quickly and discreetly before lowering my hat and moving off into the melee of Victoria station! The reason, of course, was that I was committing some sort of offence not because I was photographing a fabled click-clack clock but due to the CCTV camera installed above it. Victoria remains a bastion of these Network South East installed clocks with a number of them scattered around the station but this one is interesting as it has its NSE flash running along the bottom. This particular example is located under the canopy right at the front of Victoria, raise your head next time you are entering the station! Keywords: NSE click-clack clock London Victoria station
LB & SCR tiled map, London Victoria station Like the NER glazed tiled maps of which a small number still remain in place this example of an LB & SCR (London, Brighton and South Coast Railway) is the only one in existence. It is located just inside the entrance to Victoria station passed by tens of thousands of commuters daily and going completely unnoticed hiding in a dull alcove and looking rather unloved being in need of some restoration. At the other end of the short passageway is a similar map but showing the suburban network. Keywords: LB & SCR tiled map, London Victoria station
377309, SO 16.50 London Victoria-London Bridge (16.50 London Victoria-London Bridge) (2F48, 3E), London Victoria station Southern's 377309 waits at Victoria station's platform nine. I was to travel on this train making a sixteen-mile journey from here to London Bridge taking about forty-five minutes to complete its almost perfectly semi-circular journey through South London. I suspect that no customers would complete the journey in its entirety as they could have taken the District or Circle lines to Westminster and then the Jubilee line directly to London Bridge which would have taken about fifteen minutes and considerably less in distance but this Southern service was crying out to be taken by me! Keywords: 377309 16.50 London Victoria-London Bridge 2F48 London Victoria station Southern Electrostar
377440, SO 17.00 London Victoria-Epsom (2B02, RT) & 377414, SO 17.11 London Victoria-Dorking (2L46, 2L), London Victoria station Side by side at London Victoria stands two Southern Electrostars. To the left, 377414 will work the 17.11 service to Dorking whilst 377440 will depart first with the 17.00 to Epsom. It's hard to believe that the two hundred-and-eleven-strong fleet of Electrostars was introduced to service thirty years ago back in 2003; where has that time gone? Keywords: 377440 17.00 London Victoria-Epsom 2B02 377414 17.11 London Victoria-Dorking 2L46 London Victoria station Souther Electrostar
171728, SO 18.07 London Bridge-Uckfield (1E41, 8L), London Bridge station London Bridge station has become a very busy and important hub and interchange just south of the River Thames. At its peak in 2019, it handled nearly seventy-five million passengers but the COVID effect slashed this figure with it now running at just over over a half of its pre-pandemic figure. Whilst it was certainly busy on this Tuesday evening it was not as packed as one would suspect. 171728 will depart soon with the 18.07 1E41 service to Uckfield that remains diesel-operated due to the third rail ending at Oxted with no immediate chance of it being installed beyond there. Services to and from Uckfield remain the only ones operated by diesel in and out from London Bridge. Keywords: 171728 18.07 London Bridge-Uckfield 1E41 London Bridge station SouthernTurbostar
465162, SE 17.43 London Charing Cross-Dartford (1N94, RT), London Bridge station Southeastern's 465162 pauses at London Bridge station working the 1N94 Charing Cross to Dartford service. The Networkers are the mainstay of services in Kent and the South East and have been for over thirty years now; hard to believe isn't it! In their latest incarnation, I think that the livery looks smart and unfussy keeping them looking good despite their advancing years. Keywords: 465162 17.43 London Charing Cross-Dartford 1N94 London Bridge station SouthEastern Networker
707016, SE 17.06 Sevenoaks-London Charing Cross (2F54, 2L), London Bridge station Having arrived at London Bridge on a Southern service from Victoria I passed through the barrier using my overland ticket. I then tapped back in again using my contactless card thus making the final leg of the journey to Charing Cross on TfL. Southeastern's 707016 comes to a halt at London Bridge forming the 17.07 Sevenoaks to Charing Cross service. It was still peak time (17.50) when this train arrived and it was very busy being full and standing that was a surprise when considering that it was going against the perceived flow of passengers back into the city; the post-COVID effect perhaps? Keywords: 707016 17.06 Sevenoaks-London Charing Cross 2F54 London Bridge station Southeastern Desiro City
Tickets, Northampton-London Euston My wife's and I's off-peak advanced tickets (complete with our Two Together discount loaded) were pretty good value. The return journey from Northampton to Euston coming to just a tad over £50 for the pair of us. Keywords: Tickets Northampton-London Euston
Ticket, London Victoria-London Bridge My everyday single ticket from Victoria to London Bridge came in at £4.10. I could have travelled contactless via TfL which would have saved me sixty pence. It goes to prove how travel around the capital is a bit of a lottery when it comes to cost and the uninitiated. Keywords: Ticket London Victoria-London Bridge

Images 1-13 of 13 displayed.