Photo Class 390154 Virgin Trains Pendolino Through Lichfield Station 2014

Virgin Pendolino Tilts At Lichfield

Photo:  Charles Moorhen

Virgin Trains Class 390154 EMU Pendolino tilting train which will, a few days after this photo was taken, carry the name, 'Matthew Flinders', is seen flashing at speed through Lichfield Trent Valley station on the 7th July 2014.

 

Pendolino Class 390154 electric multiple unit UK passenger train was named 'Matthew Flinders' at a ceremony on the 18th July 2014 at London's Euston station.  The Duke of Cambridge performed the naming.

Please note: Second Virgin Penolino photo at bottom of page

 

Mystery of the Missing Body

There is an interesting mystery surrounding Captain Matthew Flinders.  Even more so due to the fact that it has a UK railway connection.

Matthew Flinders was born on the 16th March 1774 in Donington, Lincolnshire, England, the son of a surgeon, and became a navigator and map maker, circumnavigating Australia in 1795.  He said his love of the sea came from reading the novel, Robinson Crusoe.

However, Flinders' career as a Royal Navy officer was short.  He died at the age of 40, on the 19th July 1814 from kidney disease at his London home, 14 London Street - later renamed Maple Street - now the site of the BT Tower.

It is at this point that the mystery begins.

Matthew Flinders was buried in St. James's Church burial ground, opened in 1788 in Piccadilly, London.  When Flinders' sister-in-law, Isabella Tyler, went to visit his grave a mere 28 years after his death, the location of his burial plot was already lost.  Nothing remained to suggest that he had ever been laid to rest there.

In 1878 the cemetery became St. James's Gardens when built over to allow for the expansion of Euston Station.    

Rumours abounded as to what had happened to the burials disturbed during the Euston expansion.  What happened to the coffin and body of Captain Matthew Flinders?  Some people believed that he was in fact lying beneath platform 4.  Others say it could well have been platform 12, while others 'knew for a fact' that it was platform 15.

Now fast-forward 205 years to January 2019, and the excavation site for the proposed HS2 line to be built between London and Birmingham.  

Archaeologists respectfully unearthing graves from the lost site of St. James's cemetery, of which there are estimated to be around 40,000, they came across a grave with a coffin nameplate laying on the skeleton.  
Other nameplates had also been uncovered in the area, but they were made of tin and totally rusted and illegible.  This particular nameplate however had been made from lead and still in excellent condition.

The name on the coffin nameplate was none other than the explorer, cartographer and navigator - Captain Matthew Flinders.  

The life of Captain Matthew Flinders was highlighted recently on the BBC TV programme, 'Britain's Biggest Dig'.

 

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On the same day that I photographed Class 390154 Pendolino EMU flashing through Lichfield, I managed to capture this shot of Class 390010 just as I was about to leave for home.

                                              

Class 390010 Virgin Pendolino at Lichfield      Photo: Charles Moorhen

 

 

 

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'Along These Tracks' - blog update:

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Photo Class 43033 Intercity 125 HST First Great Western Train Didcot 2004

 Class 43033 Intercity 125 Train, Didcot Parkway

Photo:  Charles Moorhen

An early evening image of UK Class 43033 Intercity 125 High Speed Train waiting at Didcot station, Oxfordshire, whilst operating an express service from the South West of England to London.

In 2004, Class 43033 carried the name, 'Driver Brian Cooper  15 June 1947 - 5 October 1999', one of the drivers who died in the Ladbroke Grove rail crash on the 5th October 1999.

Although it cannot be seen in this black and white photo, Class 43033 Intercity 125, is in First Great Western blue livery.

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Blog update:

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Photo Class 43075 East Midlands Trains HST Intercity 125 Cab Front

East Midlands Train Class 43075 Intercity 125, Wellingborough

Photo: Charles Moorhen

A colourful close-up photo of freshly repainted UK Class 43075 Intercity 125 High Speed passenger train cab front taken at Wellingborough station.

It was purely the collection of rich colours that prompted me to take this photo, plus the fact that it suits the pointed shape of the Class 43 so well.   A real improvement on the early Midland Mainline livery that was a common sight for a number of years on this line.

East Midlands Trains Class 43075 diesel power unit was built at Crewe Works in January 1976.

The locomotive's depot is Neville Hill T&RSMD (Leeds).

 

SCRAPPED:

The end of the line finally came for East Midlands Trains Intercity 125 power car 43075 when, on the 27th October 2021, along with power car 43061, it was towed by diesel locomotive Class 57312 from Long Marston to Newport to be disposed of at Sims Metals.  The two power cars were the first to be sent for scrapping that had not been involved in an accident.

News Update;
Seeing East Midlands Trains colourful livery of red, white, orange and red flashing along the railway tracks, will soon become a thing of the past.

Abellio will take over the East Midlands Trains franchise on Saturday 18th August 2019. The Class 43 HST Intercity 125 and Class 222 diesel multiple unit will gradually be phased out by brand new Hitachi trains that will be a variant of the bullet-nosed Class 800 bio-mode DMU.

The new trains will have a lavender livery and be branded with 'EMR' on both sides.

Don't forget to subscribe to  'Along These Tracks' to get all new posts and updates sent directly to you.

Blog update:

Previous posts are now easier to find.  

All blog posts are now listed alphabetically on the right side of your screen; under the heading, 'Previous Photo Posts'.


"I hope this makes your search easier".

Photo Intercity 125 Class 43057 HST Train in Swallow Livery Wellingborough 1990s

Class 43057 Intercity 125, Wellingborough Station

Photo:  Charles Moorhen

Approaching Wellingborough railway station, UK Intercity 125 High Speed Train Class 43057 in 'Swallow' livery, as it heads for its destination of London St. Pancras.

In 1988 Class 43057 this train was carrying the name, 'Bounds Green'.  

Please note the oil-stained wooden crossing sleepers and lack of end-of-platform safety barriers in this pre-privatisation photo.  

Crossing sleepers such as these were once commonplace across the British Railway network, enabling station staff to move items by hand trolley from one platform to another.  

Although intended for railway station staff only, it was not unusual for passengers to use these crossings rather than walk up the steps of the station footbridge.

The two 'lollipop' lights only a few metres from the front of Class 43057 Intercity 125 carries a sign which reads, 'Caution  Cross Only When Light Showing'.

News Update:

Seeing East Midlands Trains colourful livery of red, white, orange and red flashing along the railway tracks, will soon become a thing of the past.

Abellio will take over the East Midlands Trains franchise on Saturday 18th August 2019. The Class 43 HST Intercity 125 and Class 222 diesel multiple unit will gradually be phased out by brand new Hitachi trains that will be a variant of the bullet-nosed Class 800 bio-mode DMU.

The new trains will have a lavender livery and be branded with 'EMR' on both sides.

Don't forget to subscribe to  'Along These Tracks' to get all new posts and updates sent directly to you.

  Blog update:

Previous posts are now easier to find.  

All blog posts are now listed alphabetically on the right side of your screen; under the heading, 'Previous Photo Posts'.


"I hope this makes your search easier".