Spotting 2026…

Much of the last two weeks have been taken up with resting indoors after going down with a virus – One that culminated in me visiting the doctors last Monday. My last football outing was to our cup game against Kingstonian on the 20th where I photographed a well contested 3-3 draw…

…with some very heavy rain during the second half. Ultimately we won 5-4 on penalties at the end. By Thursday night I was really feeling rough.

We were due to play away at Folkestone on Saturday 24th but I knew I wouldn’t be fit and informed the club that I couldn’t be present. However, I had intended to photograph a special railtour locally on my way to that match and although I wasn’t good, I decided to make the short trip to Crouch Hill to catch up with the special and then come straight back home.

By good fortune of the timetabling arrangements I was out at 09:00 and home around 11:00! Even so, you might wonder what was so special to be a strong enough lure to entice me outdoors when suffering somewhat? The answer was the chance to photograph a Peak! In another example of good timetable planning, the special was booked through Crouch Hill immediately behind the Saturday morning Tescoliner. This in itself was worth the trip as it produced a Class 88 electric – A new one for my collection…

…88003 with the 4M07 Tilbury to Daventry intermodal. Crouch Hill looking a bit bare in the depths of Winter – it even looks like Network Rail have hacked away at some of the vegetation in the cutting since my Autumn visits. The resident Fox, Squirrel and Woodpigeon were there but sadly moved out of shot as the train approached.

Then, just 4 minutes later and running under single yellows, the special appeared with 45118 ‘The Royal Artilleryman’ leading…

…The ‘Peaks’ are probably my all-time favourite class of locomotives. It was their demise in 1988 that prompted my move away from trains and onto planes. After the long gap between then and now I was really pleased to have the opportunity to photograph one on the mainline and recall the many wonderful trips I had behind them in their heyday.

Of course, being stuck indoors has meant finding other things to fill my day – Perhaps it’s time for a gaming post as I have been trying out some different games which may be of interest. But today I’m considering whether to go to football or hold off until Tuesday. The side need our support as they are struggling with poor form but I’m still not really 100%… It’s a dilemma… See you with another post soon 😎👍