Thursday 16th March 2017, 5.55pm (day 2,030)
Long day for me today. In on the 7am train out of HB and back on the 17.45 from Manchester, on which this shot was taken. I felt like the woman in the middle.
Being 42
Life, one day at a time
Tag Archives: rail travel
Waiting room, early train
Monday 27th February 2017, 6.55am (day 2,013)
I don’t make a habit of getting the 06:59 service from Hebden Bridge to Manchester — a two-carriage cattle truck most days. But when I’ve a 9am meeting that can’t be missed, it’s the safest choice. At least it is getting light at that time now. Don’t normally frequent the waiting room either, but it was raining outside today. Welcome to Monday.
Platform 5, Leeds station
Saturday 4th February 2017, 4.10pm (day 1,990)
Once again, Leeds becomes the place to change trains when on the way to somewhere else for an evening out: but once again it was quite fertile territory for photography today, bathed in golden late afternoon light. I had a couple to choose from today but in the end went with this one due to the randomly bendy child. Like a stray piece of wind just tried to whisk him away.
Observer magazine
Sunday 11th December 2016, 1.55pm (day 1,935)
I did consider giving you another photo from my Saturday night out, but taken at 1.30am so it would have counted for today. But in the end I preferred this one, taken on the train to London as we waited for it to depart from Leeds station. I have no idea who the magazine photo is of, but it’s a damn good picture.
The late train
Thursday 8th December 2016, 8:15am (day 1,932)
When the 07:42 cattle truck to Manchester turns up half an hour late, like it did this morning, you can be damn sure there’ll be a few people wanting to get on it. Why was I not among them? Because there was another three carriages along three minutes later, with blissful peace on board. Take this picture as an illustration of how humans typically fail to delay gratification.
Frosty morning, Cambridgeshire (or possibly Hertfordshire)
Tuesday 29th November 2016, 7.55am (day 1,923)
Another beautiful day — as have been many over the last four months, it cannot be denied. A very sharp frost, which lasted all day, across the entire country (I saw enough of it today — I know this); but once more, cloudless blue skies. I spent it entirely either on a train or working at home, so did not manage to capture it that adequately, but here’s my best effort from early this morning, as the train out of Cambridge whisked me through some rural county or other.
Cattle truck
Tuesday 4th October 2016, 8.20am (day 1,867)
11 years of using the Calderdale line, and one learns which services have CTS (Cattle Truck Status) and which are safer. I will never aim to catch the 1726 from Manchester, for example. It just ain’t worth it. The 0742 from Hebden (depicted here just about on its arrival to Manchester) is usually not so bad but today, for some reason, it suffered from a massive case of CTS.
Why monochrome again? Because it hides a multitude of white balance sins.
At Rochdale station
Tuesday 13th September 2016, 9.05am (day 1,846)
Second shot in a row of one or more of my commuting colleagues. Possibly he is lamenting the loss of his sunglasses — though I suspect more likely just to be tired…
More distinctive, though still trivial, is the fact that after years of passing through this place on a regular basis, this is the first of these blog posts to be definitively taken in Rochdale; we were stopped taking on passengers at that station. Place 176 on the official list, anyway.
Monday morning
Monday 12th September 2016, 8.05am (day 1,845)
As you can tell from this blog I don’t go into Manchester every weekday. But if I did I think I would try a project of taking a version of this view every time, whatever the weather or light or arrangement of passengers. It helps that it’s a quite picturesque station but I think it would be interesting anyway. Sometimes you see the same people, sometimes not, like a river that’s always the same and always different each time.
The track inspectors
Monday 5th September 2016, 9.35am (day 1,838)
I have developed this theory that, if I just acquire a hi-vis uniform, I will be able to go anywhere, do anything. I will be able to walk past “Authorised Personnel Only” signs with impunity, throw breaker switches, close public highways. I just need to swathe myself in fluorescent orange or green and it will all be possible.
Being 42 