Seeking Autumn

Over the last 3 weeks I’ve been out on the North London and Goblin lines a couple of times looking to photograph the changing colours of the trees and other plants alongside the railway. Maybe I’m looking with a jaundiced eye but it no longer seems to be the spectacle that it once was. Even so, I’m pleased with the images I’ve collected so far and hope to get some more over the next couple of weeks. Here’s a selection of shots from those local trips.

Taken back on October 15th this first shot at Crouch Hill shows perhaps the most vivid of the yellows in two isolated patches above the platform. 66567 is passing through on a Basford Hall Yard to London Gateway intermodal…

…At least the Hapag-Lloyd containers have introduced some orange to the scene. not much change to the vegetation at the other end of the station – just a little splash of light yellow amid a mainly green background for 710270 on a Barking Riverside to Gospel Oak service…

There’s quite a bit of animal and bird activity at Crouch Hill – Foxes, Squirrels and Wood Pigeons mainly. However, on this occasion I had one big surprise – A Pheasant calmly walking just a few feet away from me!..

Not to be outdone, this lady Squirrel hopped down on the tracks, made her way to a specific location in the six-foot and moved some lumps of ballast. She then retrieved this morsel, which I can only assume she had hidden there previously, and hopped back up on the platform to eat it!..

Later the same day and 66509 approaches Hampstead Heath station on a London Gateway to Ditton intermodal…

…The background trees here were showing a bit more colour variation.

Autumn also means leaf-fall, a serious issue for our modern railways where environmental concerns mean allowing trees to grow on embankments. Wet leaves on rails quickly get turned into mush and form a slippery coating which seriously affects train acceleration and braking. To combat this, Network Rail issue contracts to operate Railhead Treatment Trains from the beginning of October through to December. Here’s one at Gospel Oak with 66715 leading and 66766 bringing up the rear…

…They were operating the Broxbourne Down Tamper Siding circular covering the lines around north London.

A follow-up trip on the 16th also failed to show much Autumnal colour – Here’s 378204 approaching Canonbury on a Clapham Junction to Stratford service…

And passing Intermodal services at Hackney Central…

…66541 working a London Gateway to Leeds run.

378205, on a Richmond to Stratford service, brought her own colours with her…

…wearing Pride vinyls with the slogan ‘Every story matters’.

Two weeks later and there seems to have been a gentle shift towards the yellow end of the spectrum. Taken on October 28th, 66561 is seen approaching Harringay Green Lanes with a Basford Hall Yard to London Gateway service…

…The trees forming the backdrop are growing in the old Harringay goods yard which is now Railway Fields Local Nature Reserve. Yellow was definitely the colour framing 66602 at South Tottenham…

…working the Dagenham Dock to Wembley aggregates empties and there was more yellow at Crouch Hill too…

…66568 passing through with a London Gateway to Lawley Street intermodal.

The trees at Upper Holloway were turning too…

…710273 on route to Barking Riverside from Gospel Oak.

Finally, a pleasant sighting at Upper Holloway – 66689 ‘Evening Star’…

…working a Ferme Park to Grain aggregates service. The loco is finished in British Railways Brunswick Green livery. The name Evening Star was originally carried by 92220, the last steam locomotive built for British Railways. 66689 was the last Class 66 to roll out of EMD’s London, Ontario plant for the British market so it is a fitting choice of name. There will be no more new Class 66’s as they no longer comply with European emissions regulations. How long they will remain in service now is subject to some debate – modifications to make them more compliant apparently lead to increased weight and fuel consumption. Additionally, there is environmental pressure to use electric traction for as much of each journey as possible. With this in mind some operators have orders for European built bi and tri-mode locomotives and if these prove to be as reliable in service as the 66’s have been, there could well be repeat orders and a gradual phasing out of the 66’s. At the moment it’s speculation…