Spotting 2024 – Week 37

With lots of photos from our holiday still to process, week 37 was not the most active of weeks and I didn’t get anywhere near my steps target. I intended to go to the football away at Cray Wanderers new ground but that got shelved due to the ongoing family issue I mentioned a few posts ago. However, I did fit in one trainspotting trip on Thursday the 12th of September.

There are plenty of opportunities to photograph the Belmond British Pullman during the year and that often means the chance to photograph Clan Line. She is my most photographed steam locomotive but that doesn’t mean that some more shots aren’t welcome! The battle is to find different locations or angles. Last time I caught up with her at Peckham Rye. This time I decided to play with the light and shadows of Denmark Hill.

There are so many options when it comes to travelling to Denmark Hill. In the interests of getting some new haulage I routed via Kings Cross, Farringdon, London Bridge and Peckham Rye – Picking up Northern Line 51706, Metropolitan Line 21062, Southern 377328 and Southeastern 465035. Only the Thameslink 700142 was a duplicate!

At Denmark Hill I found there was already a small gathering of fellow enthusiasts, one of whom I have met before and we had a pleasant chat during our time on the station. Some are only there for the Steam loco but we both like to photo a wider range of subjects. First up was 66718 on the Hoo Junction to Whitemoor Yard engineers train – a solitary wagon on this occasion…

…I shared a shot of one of these engineers trains on X/Twitter a week or so back and explained to my German friend Jürgen that these trains vary in length considerably depending on what needs to be transported. This one is taking recyclable materials for processing – clearly it had been a quiet week of engineering work on the South-eastern division.

Taking photos of a steam train involves working around the other enthusiasts and members of the travelling public – you can tell from the photo above that I had already fitted the long zoom. My colleague and I had already agreed where he would be standing and I knew I could take him out of the photos by judicious use of zoom and some fancy footwork when the time came. In the interim there was time for a friendly chat with a member of the public on his way to work complete with his morning coffee. Then we spotted the steam in the distance – Cameras!… Action!..

…Clan Line approaches down the grade from Cambria Junction. You can just make out the arm of another photographer near the end of the platform on the left. First shot taken, time to brisk-walk back from my friend’s shoulder. Twenty yards back down the platform I was able to get this…

…and even fit in a third! before turning to get in a going away shot having stepped further back into the shadows to avoid getting in my friends shot…

With the Steam loco gone most of the other enthusiasts departed. Just a younger autistic man with his mother remained videoing trains at the end of the platform. My friend and I picked our spots for two freights that we were expecting – 69006 with the Eastleigh Yard to Hoo Junction engineers service…

…repositioning 66794 and five Auto-Ballaster wagons ready for planned works at the weekend. In this case I included the passenger in the shot for human interest. Then it was back over the bridge to photo 66041 on the Cliffe Brett Marine to Langley aggregates…

…A loco that I needed👍 It appears that someone forgot to clean the bit above the windows😅

Then we parted company and I headed off to Lewisham, picking up 465167 for haulage on the way. Rain was forecast for later in the afternoon, so I spent just over an hour there. The autistic guy and his mum turned up a while later to do some more videoing. That caused me to reposition as he had no concept of being in someone else’s field of view – it’s not his fault and once again, I can work around that situation. 66017 showed up on the Angerstein Wharf to Woking, a second new loco sighting for the day…

We had some brief spells of sunshine as the approaching weather front moved in. Here’s 465919 catching the rays…

…and just 10 minutes later, 375923 in the gloom…

…The first spots were falling and I decided to head home.

I took the Docklands Light Railway to Bank, passing through a really heavy shower in the Greenwich area. Then the Northern Line home to Finchley where thankfully it was dry. Totals for the day: 133 logged of which I needed 12. The 5 I picked up for haulage are listed in the text above.