Tuesday 24th March 2026, 7.00pm (day 5,325)
I got out of the house, at least. One doesn’t often see trains like this, but let’s enjoy it while it lasts, and take a relaxed attitude, as this person seems to be doing.
Not so busy
Being 42
Life, one day at a time
Tag Archives: rail travel
Pontypridd station
Wednesday 18th March 2026, 4.45pm (day 5,319)
Random railway station, number…. quite a few. The train is the one I was catching, so from this shot you can see where I was; where I was going; and how long I had to wait. In a world where all movements are tracked I might as well be honest about it.
In reflective mood
Saturday 14th March 2026, 12.45pm (day 5,315)
This one is the result of me sitting on a train (somewhere in the vicinity of Bolton) and feeling experimental. I did my best to capture the reflection of this man in the hat in the train’s window, really just to see how it turned out. And, well, it’s OK. It’s the shot I intended to take, anyway, and that’s always the source of at least a little satisfaction.
Waiting for the 9:57
Tuesday 3rd March 2026, 9.55am (day 5,304)
Yes, it was a comfortably late start to the day but then again I am still teaching until 6pm on Tuesdays. Much more preferable to go in later, particularly as we are, finally, having some pleasant weather.
Evidence of commuter
Tuesday 24th February 2026, 9.45am (day 5,297)
I was about to post a picture of the year’s first cherry blossom in Sackville Gardens, flowering above the seated statue of Alan Turing, but then I realised I had done exactly the same in both the preceding Februaries (the evidence is available at this tag). I would still like to avoid such repetition if I can — for my own self-satisfaction if nothing else — but I spent all day in the office and didn’t really capture much else. Bloke on Train with Someone Else’s Half-Completed Crossword is my best alternative. But I guess it at least records a trip to the big city. With a comfortably late start (thanks to teaching until 6pm again).
Routes on from Warrington
Saturday 10th January 2026, 10.05am (day 5,252)
Warrington was the intermediate stop on today’s journey. Which way on from here? Left & further south? Right, and eventually north? Do we score 45 points one way and 100 points the other? And the wiring looks just as complex as it did yesterday…
The 12:10 to Edinburgh
Wednesday 24th December 2025, 12.15pm (day 5,235)
As seen crossing the Tay rail bridge, more-or-less on schedule. The shot is taken from Newport-on-Tay, on the opposite side of the firth from Dundee. I am feeling minimalist this Christmas Eve, it seems.
The 9:31, according to Northern
Thursday 20th November 2025, 10.05am (day 5,201)
I do appreciate the notion of ‘First World Problems’ and that there are parts of the world where trains can run days late, if they run at all. But for Christ’s sake, Northern….. at this time of year particularly (‘leaves on the line’ plus the cold snap of the last couple of days). This train was due to arrive in Manchester at 10:01, so there went the first twenty minutes of my 11 o’clock.
Sir Nigel Gresley, and admirers
Saturday 15th November 2025, 12.30pm (day 5,196)
We were passing through York station today when this impressive hunk of metal pulled in on platform 9, and we were almost crushed in the stampede of trainspotters and steam enthusiasts which greeted it. But it’s a photogenic object, so I joined the crowd for a minute or two. The Sir Nigel Gresley, named after the engineer whose oversized statue now stands at King’s Cross, holds the post-war steam speed record of 112mph — and unlike Mallard this speed was achieved not on some specially organised run but with a train full of passengers. And it arrived more punctually at York this afternoon than any of the other train companies’ services.
Cancelled
Monday 3rd November 2025, 10.25am (day 5,184)
An early morning derailment at Shap, in Cumbria, meant the West Coast Main Line was completely closed. Fortunately we were heading south and not trying to get to Scotland, but I suspect this gentleman was one of the many people in Preston station this morning for whom that was the intended destination.
Being 42 