Photo Class 350257 London Midland Desiro EMU Train Wolverton 2013

 

Class 350257 EMU flashes through Wolverton      Photo: Charles Moorhen

A lucky photo of London Midland Trains Class 350257 Desiro EMU passing at speed through Wolverton station, UK.

 

It had been a busy afternoon at Wolverton, grabbing photos of trains on this particular day.  A variety of Class 390 Pendolino EMU's had belted through the station on the far track, too quick for me to even attempt a shot, a regular supply of London Midland Train Class 350 EMUs had kept my shutter finger busy and a small amount of freight had passed by.  

And it was due to a passing freight train that I nearly missed the above image.

I had just managed a grab-shot (the story of my life!) of a couple of Class 90 diesel locomotives double-heading through the station, when flicker of movement at the corner of my eye caused me to look to my left.

The last wagon of the freight train was about to pass under the bridge at what I refer to as the London end of the platform, when a profusion of green, black and white burst forth from under the road bridge.

Oh dear! Panic panic!  I wasn't ready.  My camera was still in its 'view images' setting. 

Fumbling, I switched the camera controls to the 'camera icon' and raised it to my eye so fast I thought I might blind myself in the process.  I had no time to check the camera settings. All I could hope for was that the settings that were in place to take the photo of the Class 90s would work for this shot. 

The shutter clicked, Class 350257 flashed past at speed heading for Crewe, and it was all over.   Did it work?  I was not very optimistic.

Gingerly, I lowered the camera and flicked the switch to 'view image'. It was then that I realised I had been holding my breath, probably since the moment I caught sight of the London Midland Trains EMU.  With a satisfied whoosh I breathed out,  fogging the screen on the camera's back in the process. 

When the 'mist' had cleared, and my impatient foot had stopped tapping, I dared to take a look. 

Well, there it was in all its glory. But, taking everything into consideration, I was quite surprised.  The image was not as bad as I feared it would be.

Looking at the picture again and again, I swore to myself that from that moment on I would learn to be more alert - more on the ball.  

And did I succeed? Well, not really.  Within minutes of making that solemn oath I managed to miss yet another passing train.  

Oh well! Keep working at it.

Photo Class 350105 London Midlands Desiro EMU Train Enters Wolverton Station 2013

Class 350105 London Midland Trains EMU Heading For London

Photo:  Charles Moorhen

UK passenger train Class 350105 electric multiple unit (DMU), in London Midland Trains livery, photographed entering Wolverton station, Buckinghamshire, with a regular commuter service to London Euston.

London Midland Trains would, on the 10th December 2017, be taken over by West Midlands Trains whose franchise will run until March 2026.


Wolverton railway station historical note:
It was at Wolverton railway station in Buckinghamshire, on the 9th September 1845, that bare-knuckle fighter, Bendigo, stepped from a carriage of a London & Birmingham Railway train surrounded by a horde of his supporters.

His destination was the nearby town of Newport Pagnell where it was arranged that he would take part in an illegal fight with Ben Caunt.

At the last possible moment, for various reasons, the venue was switched to the village of Lillington Lovell, 4 miles north of Buckingham.


The match went ahead with Bendigo being heralded the winner after 96 gruelling rounds.

 

 

 

Two Class 350 EMUs Pass at Bletchley Station

 

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Night Photo London Midland Trains Desiro Class 350233 EMU Train Bletchley 2018

London Midland Trains Class 350233 Electric Multiple Unit, Bletchley

Photo:  Charles Moorhen

The railway station of Bletchley looks deserted in this night image of 2018 as desiro 12-car London Midland Trains, Class 350 233 electric multiple unit (EMU) passenger train, waits before continuing on towards Wolverton and Northampton.

 

This was the last night photo, out of a total of around fifteen which, happily for me included Southern Trains Class 377701 Turbostar, I took on this particular summer night.

The West Coast Main Line station of Bletchley, once came to the public's attention for all the wrong reasons!

 

 

 

Video Clip - Two Class 350 EMUs Pass at Bletchley

 

Bletchley Train Crash - 1939

Today, as Class 66s, Class 86s and Freightliner Class 70 diesel locomotives haul long and heavy freight trains along this section of the West Coast Main Line, and Class 350 electric multiple units transport thousands of commuters into and out of London each day, and Class 390 tilting trains pass one by in the blink of an eye, it is hard to imagine that the Buckinghamshire station of Bletchley, was once the location of an horrific train crash during the early months of World War 2.

In the morning gloom of Friday the 13th October 1939, the 07:37 Euston - Inverness express train was stopped in the station (approximately where Class 350233 is standing in the photo above), whilst a shunting locomotive - a London & North Western Railway 0-8-0 Class G1 number 9168 - was attaching an extra coach to the rear.

Whilst this operation was in progress, the 07:50 Euston - Stranraer express, double-headed by two immensely powerful steam locomotives - one a 4-6-0 Royal Scot class, the other an LMS Stanier 'Black Five' No. 5025 (subsequently re-numbered 45025) - was bearing down on Bletchley station; running at high speed and three minutes behind schedule.

'Black Five' 5025 in Preservation

An inevitable disaster was merely seconds away.

The impact of the resulting collision was so powerful when it happened, that it lifted a number of coaches and one of the locomotives up onto the adjacent platform, a height of around 4 feet, totally demolishing the waiting and refreshment rooms.

Amid the carnage - station staff, passengers, volunteer members of the ARP unit (Air Raid Precautions) and a number of doctors offered what assistance they could to the injured, while ambulances summoned from the surrounding towns rushed to the scene.

A postman, a railway porter, an RAF serviceman and the engine driver of the G1 shunter locomotive were killed instantly.  40 other people were injured.

The more seriously injured, among them a shunter and a refreshment room waitress, were transported by road to Northampton hospital 20 miles away.

The inquiry into the cause of the crash put the blame squarely on the shoulders of the driver and fireman of the Euston to Stranraer express train.  They inquiry panel cited; excessive speed and the passing of a number of track-side signals set at red as the main cause.

On a happier note:  Against all the odds, one of the steam locomotives involved managed to survive the events of the 13th October 1939.  'Black Five' No. 5025 was eventually repaired and put back into mainline service.  It worked for a further twenty-nine years until retirement on the 31st August 1968.

Saved from the scrapyard, it survives to this day on the preserved Strathspey Railway in Scotland.

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Night Photo Class 350372 London Midland Desiro EMU Train Bletchley 2018

Class 350372 Desiro EMU, Bletchley Train Station

Photo: Charles Moorhen 

Photographed at night Class 350 372 electric multiple unit (EMU), built in 2014 and allocated to NN - Northampton King's Heath EMUD, in London Midland Trains livery, spotted at platform 4 of Bletchley station around 20:15 on the 19th April 2018 about to depart for London Euston station.

Unit coach numbers for this commuter train set are as follows: 60145  60515  60655  60155.

 

 

 

Video Clip - Two Class 350 EMUs Passing at Bletchley Station

 

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Photo Class 450108 Desiro South West Trains EMU Brookwood Station 2014

Class 450108 EMU Brookwood, Surrey

Desiro Class 450108 EMU
Photo: Charles Moorhen

South West Trains Class 450 450108 third-rail electric multiple unit, is seen at Brookwood station operating a stopping service to London Waterloo on the afternoon of Sunday the 29th June 2014.

Class 450108 commuter train was built between 2002 and 2006 and allocated to Northam (Southampton) EMUN.

Class 450108 unit coach numbers are as follows: 63708  66858  66808  63758.

Although it was a Sunday I saw a fair amount of Class 450 and Class 444 EMU activity on the line - but no freight.  

It was my first trip to Brookwood station, although I passed through it many times as a boy in the 1950's behind a variety of Southern Region steam locomotives on my way to Basingstoke for my school holidays.  

Apart from the absence of smoke-stained Southern Railway green paint, not to mention equally smoke-stained railway staff, it seemed as though it had hardly changed a bit.

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Brookwood station features elsewhere on this blog under the title, Brookwood Cemetery Station and the London Necropolis Funeral Railway.  

The blog post makes for interesting reading if you are partial to a bit of unique railway history.

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