Old Flickr Rail Photos

I again apologize for the sloppy composition of this photo. I often get my timing wrong at 100 m.p.h. This may be the fastest flat crossing in the world, and no, they haven't stopped using these things, whatever ignorant people on the internet say.

This was as we were rolling into Doncaster, where we stopped before continuing to Leeds. I didn't get the number on the other Intercity 225.

This was as we were arriving in Leeds. I didn't get any station shots since I was in too much of a hurry to get my connection and the light was horrible.

This wasn't my train, but it was one of the first ones I noticed upon arrival in Bradford.

This is the new Northern Trains livery, sort of a purplish blue, on the train that took me over the final leg of my journey to Bradford Interchange.

Northern Trains is also part of the Metro Trains system serving West Yorkshire, and this is an advertisement included in their new livery on some of their trains.

Here's an additional bonus shot of my departure from King's Cross, which I forgot in include earlier. I hope you like it. Notice that in addition to the Intercity 225s, there's also an older Intercity 125 peeking out. GNER use them to serve cities north of Edinburgh that don't have electrification.

Bradford, a city of a quarter of a million people, is large enough to have two major rail stations, Bradford Interchange, which hosts diesel trains, and Bradford Forster Square, which can also host electrics. This is the throat for Bradford Forster Square, as you can see from the cantenary. The train is a Class 333 EMU, once used only on Heathrow Express services in London but now common in other parts of Britain as well, most notably on the Metro Trains services operated by First Northern in West Yorkshire, as here. These trains, while only EMUs designed for local services, and originally the Heathrow Express, can operate as fast as 100 m.p.h., and do so even on the Heathrow Express, making them the fastest trains in Greater London. This, however, is not London. :-)

Here's another shot of the Class 333 a second or two later.

This is another arrival by a different Class 333. Although it's on the outgoing track, notice, that it's being switched over from the arrival track to take an out of the way platform on its far right.

Here's a departure from Bradford Forster Square, heading straight out on the outbound track, which in Britain is of course on the left.

Here's the same departure a few seconds later.

This was the Class 158 that took me and some friends to a concert in Leeds. I wasn't the only railfan, but I was the only one with a camera. :-)

This was after we got to Leeds, in the rain. I decided to attempt some photos, though, since I'm not in Leeds everyday, and I saw these Class 158s waiting to go.

Services from London King's Cross to Leeds, while not as long a haul as services to Newcastle and Edinburgh, are nevertheless run by GNER with Intercity 225 high-speed trainsets. 225s, while matched sets, are not actually EMUs, but loco-hauled, and all of the locomotives but one (89001 "Avocet") are Class 91 electrics, although sometimes a Class 90 will substitute on the Leeds services since they're far from as fast as the Newcastle and Edinburgh services. Most of the Class 91s have names, this one being #91106 "East Lothian."

Here's another shot of "East Lothian," allowing you to see the number and name.

Among the newest trains in Britain are these Class 185 DMUs, which are intended for express and longer-distance regional services outside of electrified territory. Obviously, they often wander in and out from under the wires, and here's an example of that at Leeds, where 185140 is waiting to depart with a service to Middlesborough. In order to allow them to make full use of the British rail network and not hold up traffic, Class 185s are authorized to run at 125 m.p.h. where track conditions permit, as on this service. I originally never expected this shot to come out properly, as I shot it at f4 and 1/45, which I was sure would blur, but in reality it came out quite crisp, to my amazement.

I only just barely got this shot. The light in Leeds station was terrible, and then my camera malfunctioned, or rather, I had it set wrong. My friend heard a General Motors 710 prime mover bearing down on us, and saw the Class 66 coming in the distance, so it was obvious that it was going to run light through the station. Freights occassionally come through Leeds, even though its a passenger station, but this 66 was light engine only.