Spotting 2024 – Week 47

As mentioned last time, this was another 2 match week though both games were at home. In between I intended to fit in some spotting. The downside was that we were about to experience our first cold spell of the winter.

On Tuesday, much of the country woke to a carpet of snow. But we, in London, had to put up with wet snow that didn’t settle…

…it wasn’t wet enough to require a pitch inspection either, so our evening match against Chatham Town was able to go ahead. Football photography at club level isn’t just about photographing the players unlike when photographing for the newspapers. Here’s a shot of our Kitman enjoying a cuppa during the first half…

…The game itself is best not talked about suffice to say that it was a 1-1 draw.

On Wednesday I wanted to go and get a photo of a steam special running out of Victoria. The initial plan was to photograph it at Wandsworth Common but my trip south was disrupted by issues on the Northern Line. There were long gaps between trains and I thought I wouldn’t be able to get there in time. Once on a train routing via Bank, I had the option of changing to the Victoria Line at Euston or continuing down to London Bridge. I decided to continue to London Bridge, take a Southeastern service across to Waterloo East and then the South Western Railway out to Clapham Junction where I arrived with around 15mins to spare. I decided that I should stay there and try to get a shot from Platform 14 as the Special was due to route through 15. I noted a number of other enthusiasts dotted about the station, mainly at the platform ends. There was a young enthusiast seated by one of the platform lights part way down 14 with his camera round his neck and mobile phone in hand, waiting…

One of the issues we all face is the other trains – will they conflict with the one we’re hoping to capture? I was keeping one eye on the Special’s progress via Realtime Trains while watching the indicator boards for Victoria bound trains using 14. It didn’t help that there had been some issues earlier in the day and most trains were running a few minutes late including the Special. It becomes a matter of personal judgement and trusting to experience. With the Steamer approaching, a 4-car train pulled into platform 14. Would it be cleared to depart before our special arrived and block our view? We could now see the smoke beyond the signal box. I had already repositioned to give myself a good chance of a shot with the extreme telephoto should the unit behind me move off but I was also gambling that it wouldn’t – one ear was listening for the whistles of the platform staff and I wasn’t hearing any. So I stood my ground and got this shot of Stanier Black 5 44871…

…with the tower blocks of Battersea and Nine Elms as a backdrop. The young man on the platform in front of me had lost his nerve though and bolted towards the end of the platform. I hope he was able to get his shot but I have to say that I had difficulties seeing over the fence / hedge and he was shorter than me.

After the Special had passed I had a short chat with the Southern’s lady dispatcher. She had wondered what the kid was doing but as he hadn’t looked like a suicide risk she’d let him be. Now with some explanation from me, she understood 😎👍I wished her a pleasant rest of the day and headed off to route home via Shepherds Bush for lunch and then Harrow & Wealdstone to see what freight’s I could pick up in Wembley yard. This was not my longest or most intense day’s spotting – it was way too cold when I got to Harrow for standing about – but it was a very productive one! Tally for the day: 110 logged of which I needed 15 and I also picked up 4 for haulage.

Thursday was spent at home processing the photos from football and spotting. I also wrote a post about Farming Simulator 25! Then it was time for my second trip out.

Friday saw a return to Barking for the first time since the spring. I hoped to get some of my outstanding TfL S7 stock and also my last Class 357 units. In the former, I was unsuccessful. As for the 357’s I got one and I still need one 🙄😅 It was really cold – I posted on Bluesky “I must be Barking… It’s bitter out here!” Part of me wanted to move on but the pro inside made me stay to get some shots. Here’s 66594, captured through the catenary uprights as she descends from the Gospel Oak line with a Basford Hall to London Gateway intermodal service…

…And here’s 357326 on a Fenchurch Street to Southend Central service…

As a bonus, there was also a leaf-buster headed by 66797…

…with 66764 bringing up the rear on a circular trip from Broxbourne to Broxbourne.

After 1.5 hours I called it a day and went to Stratford for lunch. It was very quiet there so I decided to head home via the North London Line to Gospel oak. Our journey ground to a halt at Homerton and we were asked to disembark as all services on the line were suspended – a set of points had failed at Kensal Rise and the whole route was log-jammed. Homerton is no-mans land but after quickly checking the local map – all TfL stations have them – I decided to walk across to Hackney Central / Hackney Downs. From there I knew I could get a train into Liverpool Street and make my way home via the Elizabeth Line and the Northern from Tottenham Court Road. Hackney is a new place for me to walk and an interesting experience. The North London was still out of service when I got home! Not a good day for passengers that rely on it. Not as good a day of spotting as Wednesday – 205 logged of which I wanted 5. However, I did pick up 5 for haulage and I was pleased with the photos from Barking – not an easy place to shoot👍

Saturday was another home game for The Blues with Horsham coming to visit. In heavy rain and strong winds the visitors just about shaded the game and scored the only goal just after half time. I did my best to get some good shots but there weren’t going to be many in the conditions. Here, Andronicus challenges one of the visitors for a high bouncing ball…

…our first defeat in 9 matches. Coming up next Tuesday we have a visit from Charlton Athletic in the London Senior Cup. They play at a much higher level than us but will probably field their ‘B’ team so who knows…

That’s it for this week. Lets see week 48 will bring 😎👍