2014

This visit to Grangetown was completely unplanned. I was running an errand with one of my friends, and just spotted this BR-era "barbed wire" station sign. To avoid confusion, perhaps, most of these signs have survived, not only in situ, but also on maps, and the logo also still appears on tickets and in timetables. Grangetown is located south of Cardiff, and is often counted as part of the city, although the maps I've seen are confusing so I don't know if it technically is Cardiff.

This is the entrance to the station, which is, as far as I know, up on that bridge to the right. The sculpture on the wall looks really 1970's, even Communist, although in this location that would be virtually impossible. In truth, a lot of similar artwork existed in America at the time. However, I know next to nothing about its actual origins.

I took this on my way to Cardiff Central Station. The old Great Western Mainline is on that viaduct you can see on the right, and you can see a steam-era water tower on the left. I've taken shots from this angle several times before. This wasn't actually a sunset, but a sunrise, as I had to get a train very early in the morning in order to get the Eurostar in London.

This was my train, still worked by an Intercity 125 after all these years. These trainsets date to 1976, but in some respects they're still the most advanced diesel passenger trains in the world. At the moment, I'm also unaware of anything faster than them, although some DMU's and ICE-TD variants can match them.

When I got to Paddington, I got another look at the trainshed, which is impressive. The oldest parts of the current station date to 1854, and this includes the trainshed. Although many impressive projects had already been built at that time, it must have been one of the largest structures in the world at the time. Although Isambard Kingdom Brunel (founder of the Great Western Railway) was still alive at the time "Brunel's Paddington" usually refers to the earlier station built in 1838.

This was the lead unit on our Intercity 125, #43004.

This is the Paddington Underground station, which actually dates to 1863. This would make it one of the first subway stations in the world, as the original London Underground line was the Metropolitan, opened from Faringdon to Paddington in that year. Surprisingly, it was steam operated until the early 20th Century, which was achieved through ventilation, plus many stations that were open to the sky. Here you can see the remains of that, covered by a trainshed. The steam operation was probably chosen for lack of better technology at the time. The tunneling technology was similarly simple, being cut-and-cover. Essentially, the street was dug up to form a trench, the tracks were installed, and a stone structure was constructed above them to support the new streets, and the utilities, which even in those days were already being installed. Usually they were situated between the tunnels and the streets.

This photo, shot in the opposite direction from the previous one, shows a section open to the sky.

This train appears to be a C-Stock train, which is a 4-rail EMU (like all modern London Underground trains). I didn't see the builder plates on this one (looking on the doorsills also helps), but these were built in two batches in 1977-1978, and 1990-1994. These trains are too tall to use on the newer "tube" underground lines that have been bored 200 feet below the streets since 1890. Instead, they operate on the former steam, or "widened" lines.

Here's the St. Pancras trainshed, constructed in 1867 (although the station didn't open until 1868).

This is one of the newest classes of London double-decker bus, the "New Routemaster," which is not made by AEC (maker of the original Routemaster), but by Wright. These supposedly entered service in 2012 in time for the London Olympics. However, they are only one of many double-decker buses currently in use in London. In 2005, as the original AEC Routemasters were being withdrawn, the world's media, even the British media, got this story completely wrong, claiming that all double-deckers were going to be pulled from service. These buses, however, are also different from what was predicted in 2005, as they have a rear entrance with a conductor. The main difference is that the rear entrance can be closed, and the bus operated by the driver only, at off-peak times.

Here's the St. Pancras Station frontage, which is really the Midland Hotel. This was a white elephant until fairly recently, as it originally had been built without plumbing, central heat, or other modern features, and had cost far too much money. When St. Pancras was rebuilt for the Eurostar, the hotel was also modernized and reopened.

Next door to St. Pancras, you can also see the newly-restored London King's Cross station. You can see that the brickwork looks cleaner than it has in a long time, but if you look again, you'll notice that this is the first time since 1863 that the original frontage of the station has been visible (although that canopy is new). In 1863, a series of kiosks were added to the front of the station, serving as newstands, shops, and so on. The kiosk removal in 2013 freed up so much space in front of the station that the area was renamed "King's Cross Square." Incidentally, you can see the old Great Northern Hotel over on the left, behind the CCTV mast. It's called the Great Northern because it was originally the Great Northern Railway that opened King's Cross in 1853.

St. Pancras and King's Cross are literally across the street from each other, separated only by Pancras Road, which is really a narrow side street. The Great Northern Hotel is wedged between King's Cross and the street. The main street serving all three, Euston Road, is out of the frame to the left.

This was that evening, after I had taken the Eurostar to Brussels, and the ICE to Koln. This wasn't my train, but I wanted to try this pan shot anyway. I like to think I got lucky.

From Koln, I would take the EN457, the "Phoenix," all the way to Praha Hlavni Nadrazi. This was the arrival into Koln, but this cameraphone shot is so blurred you can't tell what kind of locomotive this is. I'm guessing it's a DB Class 120, judging from the rooflin, but I can't be sure.

This was the next morning, at the Usti nad Labem stop. I took this photo because I liked the low-lying clouds and the smoke from the various industries there.

After my arrival at Hlavni Nadrazi, I decided to take more pictures of the restoration work. This is the front portal, with the station clock, which for the moment hasn't had its "Praha" lettering restored. I actually took this from the lower level, through the same hole in the floor that I used when photographing the restored Fantova Kavarna, which is directly behind the portal.