Tragedy and New Vistas

Today it was tragically announced that the young player injured at the Wingate & Finchley vs Chichester City match last Saturday had passed on. I’m still processing that news and I’m not sure that I will wish to continue photographing football in future. If you saw my original post, you’ll know that I think the FA have a lot to answer for in this. At present all I can do is offer prayers and thoughts for his family and friends.

While my football involvement is under scrutiny, my transport photography is not and this week while unaware of what was going on in the hospital I’ve been out doing my best for my own mental health.

There are many branches of train enthusiasm although they often meet in most aspects. One that is a relatively recent phenomenon is the ‘All Stations’ game. If you visit YouTube you will find a number of enthusiasts pursuing the goal of visiting every station on the UK rail network. That’s a great idea but one I’m not about to take at my age. All I can say is good luck with visiting Hawick or Ballater – I went to both as a child and neither is a current station 😅 That’s the nature of things – moving targets 🙄 But it does give some impetus for my younger colleagues should they wish to chase that goal 👍 In my case, there are lots of stations in London that I’ve visited but some have remained outside of the sphere of my photography. Sometimes it’s just luck of the draw and sometimes it’s a conscious decision on my part.

This week saw me visiting Surbiton for the first time – I’ve passed through on numerous occasions in the past. It’s not a fantastic venue for train shots but there is some potential. Here’s a Waterloo to Yeovil service hurrying through at speed…

…and a Portsmouth Harbour to Waterloo service…

…I guess that there will be more from this location in future but it’s not a prime photography site.

That was on Tuesday. Come Thursday I was off on a local trip to the Goblin – Sorry, I mean Suffragette Line😅 We’ve visited South Tottenham before but it still produces nice shots. Here’s one of the local units, 710270, approaching on a Barking Riverside to Gospel Oak service…

…And here’s Freightliner’s 66517 on a London Gateway to Lawley Street intermodal…

I looked at the Realtime Trains detailed view and realised that maybe I could change the view by heading back to Harringay Green Lanes for the next couple of shots. I’ve been there before and it’s ok but not brilliant. Then I had the idea of visiting Crouch Hill – one more station back down the line. I’ve passed through this station on numerous occasions. It sits in a deep cutting and always looks a place of deep shadow and not a lot else. I’ve never, in the past, thought of getting off there!

Built in 1868 it’s a shadow of its former self with just bus shelters on the platforms and no ticket office. The platforms are shorter these days than they were when this line actually saw boat trains to the docks! But some evidence remains of those days as we shall see. Services are maintained by the 710’s – here’s 710260 arriving on a Gospel Oak to Barking Riverside service…

…And 66565 passing through shortly after…

…on a Trafford Park to London Gateway intermodal. Then there was an intermission during which I watched a Squirrel cross left to right and then a Fox walk along the platform before crossing right to left – All without any fear of my presence just a few feet away 😅

I crossed over to the other platform for my next shots. Here’s 710264 on a Barking Riverside to Gospel Oak run…

…And 66416 on a London Gateway to Ditton intermodal…

…You can see the remnants of the previously longer platforms in those shots!

Two takes from this – Sometimes a location that seems unpromising from the train is still worth investigating as there can be some nice shots to be had. Also – This will be a very nice location once the trees are in autumn leaf. Noted and I’ll try to plan a visit to take advantage of that! 🤣