2007

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. :-)

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.

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.

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.

Not convinced that I had gotten the earlier shot of 185140, I moved in as close as I could while still getting the whole front end, and used my flash. This was what I got, decent, but surprisingly not as good as the first shot. It's that ugly bleaching from the flash, as usual.

Here's another shot of a Class 185, only this time pulling into Leeds New Station. It wasn't going anywhere close to its full 125 m.p.h. speed, of course, but was blurred because I was shooting at f4 and 1/30, I think.

Silverlink normally operate the local services from London Euston to Birmingham New Street, so 321423 is definitely outside of its home territory here. I'm assuming that it was substituting on another service for a diffrent TOC.

The weather was a bit rainy the while time we were in Leeds, so the lighting on this shot is a little dark, meaning a slow shutter, and hence some blurring. I still like it, though.

This was yet another random shot in Leeds, this one of 155347, which while quite old, was nevertheless painted in the new Northern Trains advertising livery.

Maybe the best known service worked by 333s other than the Heathrow Express is the Metro Trains service from Leeds New Station to Skipton. This service, which is monsterously fast for a local service, with 100 m.p.h. sometimes possible, was originally worked by old Class 307 EMUs with slam doors!! I actually had a chance to ride some of the last of those in 1998 before these 333s came into service. When I rode the 307s, it was on the way to Keighley for my first ride on the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway.

When I went to Keighley to ride the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway for the third time, however, I departed from Bradford Forster Square rather than Leeds New. Here my train is on the left, with another 333 sitting over on the adjacent track.

This is, as many people know, the Great Hall of the National Railway Museum, formerly a shop. I used to do volunteer work here when I lived in York, and enjoyed every minute of it. From left to right in this photo, we can see the replica "Iron Duke," L&NW #790 "Hardwicke," SR #3030, BR #55019, "Royal Highland Fusilier," the original KF7 4-8-4 exported to China, BR #92220 "Evening Star," and 41001, which was the lead power unit on the original HST.

D6700 was the first of British Rail's Class 37 "Growler" diesels, and was also one of the first into preservation. These locomotives, in spite of their meager 1,750 horsepower and 80 m.p.h. maximum speed, are still used today, even occassionally working long-distance passenger services, although these more often than not are charters. #D6700 works charters and excursions exclusively, being a part of the National Collection.

7050 was one of the first diesel locomotives in regular service in Britain, being part of the London Midland & Scottish Railway's limited attempts at dieselising shunting duties in the 1930s. Surprisingly, it's been preserved, and this was largely due to its long career in the War Department, which didn't end until 1979.

"Guy Fawkes was a very naughty man!!" :-) This pub is allegedly where he planned his naughty actions, but I haven't been able to verify whether this is true, or just a local legend.

York Minster is the largest gothic cathedral in northern Europe, although so much of it is under scaffolding so much of the time it's often hard to get a good photo of it. This shot is an exception, since it doesn't show the whole Minster. Come to think of it, taking a photo of the whole Minster is quite a challenge if you don't have a helicopter, due to its massive size and the close proximity of other buildings. York Minster was built during the years 1220-1472, but there are believed to have been churches on the site since 627.