A 125 mile per hour Pendolino heading for London .

January (09) saw the monthly NMRA (BR region) Swans meet - this time at my house. I decided to erect the scenic modules in the living room for all to see - without realising either the number of group members that would turn up or indeed their collective girth. Still, we all managed to fit in. Was very grateful to Aysh (my other half) for all of her help, particularly in the catering department. It was a case of reverting back to the traditional "spag bog university cooking for a huge gang menu" but with a few refinements such as decent wine rather than cheap cider and roasted vegetables in balsamic, etc.

The following Saturday a few of us went rail fanning on what turned out to be one of the coldest days over the past twelve months. We ventured up to Willesden Junction and Old Oak Common by the Western Region Mainline. This is quite an area.

Sad old Type 5's, Class 56's stored at Old Oak Common Shed since returning from mainland Europe.
Burnt out carriage wreck at Old Oak .

There is the Western Region mainlne going into London Paddington serving the west of England and Wales (Brunel's old GWR - the Great Western Railway, otherwise known as God's Wonderful railway) alongside which is the famous Old Oak Common engine shed (now a shadow of its former self and soon to be demolished to make way for Crossrail), associated carriage sidings, Heathrow Connect servicing facilty and on the other side of the tracks is the old Eurostar sheds where the Eurostars used to be serviced when they ran out of Waterloo prior to the opening of HS1 and the new St. Pancras terminal.

As if this isn't enough, a very short walk away is the West Coast mainline into London Euston serving the northwest of England and west of Scotland (into Glasgow) together with the intermodal depot standing where the famous Willesden Steam engine shed once stood with the Bakerloo London Underground and SilverLink communter lines running alongside. In between the mainlines and the the local commuter lines is the shed and maintenance depot built to service the old Class 87s and 86s.

Both the Western Region mainline and the West Coast mainline have passenger trains rushing by at high speeds up to 125 miles per hour, the Pendolinos out of London Euston and the High Speed Trains (HSTs) out of London Paddington.

There is also the Willsden High Level / North London Line connecting Richmond and the east of London and also the line to the south of London through Kensington to Clapham Junction (Britain's busiest railway station) and various lines connecting these various routes. Google Earth highlights the intensity of the railways in this area. There are also some quite nostalgic buildings, not least of which is the old Roll Royce car manufacturing plant. It was particularly interesting walking the area with fellow SWAN, Jim as he used to be in the fire brigade and stationed here. He had tremendous first hand knowledge of the area and its buildings / industries - and fire hazards.

Commuter trains into / out of Euston.
Batman and Robin (with the remains of the old Rolls Royce factory in the background).

A sad sight - the two photos above show what was once the Rolls Royce factory where cars were hand-crafted for royalty. It's a second hand car warehouse now.

A rather sad looking Old Oak Common - once, one of the most loved railfanning sites in the UK.
The London Underground Bakerloo line actually shares the same lines as the North London commuter trains out of Euston.
Willesden High Level with the West Coast Mainline running at right angles underneath.