Tag: Northern

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Club Members Travels

Arnside 16/08/19

On the 16th August I decided to take a little photography trip up to Arnside on the border of Lancashire to try and get some pictures of the new Northern Class 195 units crossing the viaduct over the river Kent estuary.

The weather was heavily overcast when I arrived, however started to clear up in the hour I had to wait for the next trains. ‘Great’ I thought, as the conditions improved. I definitely thought too soon!

Around 10 minutes before the first train it would normally come into view across the estuary over in Cark and Cartmel however a very heavy rain shower made its way over from Barrow and quickly obscured any view I’d see of it approaching!

It made its way across the viaduct in horrendous weather conditions on a Manchester Airport service, the heavy rain making for a rather moody photo. I’m still not convinced it was worth getting as wet as I did for these pictures though!

Now drenched, I had another few minutes to wait for the next northbound train before my train home in another hours time. The weather quickly cleared up again after this brief shower, much to my annoyance, however just in time for the second train. Much better shooting conditions for this one.

It crossed the viaduct to Grange over Sands and onwards, clearly visible making its way along the Furness Coast across the estuary. I headed off back to the station suitably soaked head to toe to await for my Class 156 back to Preston and home from there.

Here are a couple of photos from my brief but wet stay in Arnside.

A Class 195 heads across Arnside Viaduct in atrocious weather conditions.
A northbound Class 195 departs the station and passed the starter signal leading to the viaduct.
The northbound train crossing the viaduct, the remnants of the shower on the distant fell.
Class 195 on Arnside Viaduct.
The northbound Class 195 across the estuary at Grange over Sands.
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Club Members Travels

What I do…

One of the multiple things that I do when I’m either not working or attending exhibitions is volunteering on the world famous Settle Carlisle Railway line. My role? On train guiding and photography.

On train guiding consists of pretty much just engaging with the travelling public – talking to them about the route, answering questions and mainly trying to improve their journey. Being such a world famous railway though, we get lots of group booking from excursion holidays with many people coming to see the lines stunning scenery, and of course Ribblehead Viaduct. As on train guides our role is also to stand up in front of the group and tell them about what they see, where to see it, some of the history of the line etc. In the 4 years I’ve been doing this role, I’ve accumulated approximately 130,000 miles on the S&C alone!

I’m also a photographer for not just the Settle Carlisle Railway, but Northern too. I travel across the network looking for good photo opportunities and try and capture them where possible – not as easy as it sounds! However, well worth it when it pays off.

You may have already seen my pictures on the cover of Northerns ‘delay repay’ forms and the Settle Carlisle Railway timetable. They are also attached below for you all to see here too.

The cover of Northerns Delay Repay form –
155346 returning from refurbishment through Settle.
The Settle Carlisle Railway timetable cover photo –
Dentdale viewed from Dent Station.
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Club Members Travels

Northerns New Train Introduction

On the 1st July 2019, Northern launched their fleet of brand new trains, Class 195s and Class 331s. They launched 9 new units that day, 5 in Cumbria, 2 in Liverpool and 2 at Leeds.

I decided that I had to take a trip out on one, being a historic moment – the north getting new trains for the first time in many many years – so decided to take a trip up to Ulverston after work and catch one from there back down to Preston and change for the usual pacer back home.

First impressions were good. Clean, comfortable, plugs and WiFi, aircon and very well spaced out, even seats that align with the windows. Acceleration for a diesel unit was fantastic…0-60mph within a matter of seconds.

Well worth the late night for the scenery of the stunning Furness Coast line and the experience of a proper modern train on Northern.

One of the new Class 195 units at Preston, 195112, on a test run accumulation fault free mileage.
A small snippet of the gorgeous scenery of the Furness Coast line – Morecambe bay from between Carnforth and Silverdale.