Spotting 2026

It’s been a while since posting one of these – That’s been down to a mix of issues around personal health. I’ve been fitting in some train activity but there have been a number of things that get in the way. I’ll leave it at that and show some recent photos with comments because photos are usually good 👍👍

Last away game of the Football season and a chance to photograph the units operating the services along the south coast east of Brighton. Here’s 387303 arriving at Lewes…

…An exile from the Thameslink Great Northern network enjoying the coastal sun after thrashing her way along the Kings Cross to Cambridge, Ely and Kings Lynn for East Anglian commuters.

A trip out on May 6th saw me doing my first proper spotting for a while. It included a couple of new venues. Here’s 66122 approaching Dalston Kingsland with the Peterborough to Bow Plasmor…

I turned that outing into a haulage hunt for the Class 710’s that I need on Weaver Line services and whittled it down from 12 to just 5 – Here’s 710127 arriving at Hackney Downs…

…One of those that I needed on the day and subsequently rode.

During the course of the day I wound up at Clapton – Never been there before, so this was a first photo for me…

…720584 passing through on a Liverpool Street to Hertford East service.

I ultimately made my way home via Walthamstow – walking across from Central to Queens Road where I caught the Wentloog intermodal behind 66518…

…First time I’ve photographed here too and quite pleased with the shot. Had an amusing encounter immediately after with a person and girlfriend on some form of ‘medication’ – It was very friendly and there were lots of thumbs ups exchanged 😎👍I find that’s often the way if you treat people who others see as threats as possible friends – A smile diffuses a hell of a lot of things!

Not everything is trains… 10th May was the annual Old Comrades Parade for the Cavalry units in Hyde Park. A chance to get some pomp and circumstance and also to touch base with some of Epi’s customers. There are two clear uniforms here, The Lifeguards and The Blues and Royals…

…For those wondering the key thing is the tunics and the tassels on the helmets – Think Blue tunic and red tassel for Blues and Royals. Both form the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment and perform a mix of protecting the King and Ceremonial Duties. The Corporal in the foreground is going to remind them of the turning round procedure as they arrive at the formation point.

The military may pride itself on precision but on this sort of event it can quickly fall into a ‘when you’re ready’ scenario. Officers take the chance to chat…

But we’re here to remember those who fought as members of the Cavalry in past wars and this day belongs to their surviving colleagues…

… The Officers wear Bowler Hats and carry Brollies…

…While other ranks are expected to wear a suits… Here is the Honour Guard with the wreath for fallen comrades…

Back to train travels. Not all my train outings get photo’d – Epi leaves her mobile at home… Guess what, she can’t log in at work without it so I have a trip down to Knightsbridge. That produced two new Piccadilly Line trains for haulage and also one that I hadn’t logged before. I also picked up a Jubilee Line unit for haulage alongside one from the Victoria Line, so not a bad day out!

Back out again on Friday 22nd with a target in mind – The Branch Line Society have a special running that will take the Hastings units up to Scotland! That is such a radical situation – In their working lives the Hastings units did, almost exclusively, just that – trips from Charing Cross to Hastings via the narrow tunnels that dictated their design. I doubt that a trip to Scotland was ever envisaged for these units. But here we are – 1013 leading 201001 – hammering through Harrow and Wealdstone on their way to Polmont…

Heading back via Clapham junction, I got to see the shape of things to come at Waterloo. The new Great British Railways livery on 701006 working the 12:22 Waterloo to Weybridge service…

This is the future of our railways? Many Rail enthusiasts are unimpressed. It’s bitty and lacking cohesion. It also seems aimed at salving the jingoism of some current political parties and their followers.

Ok – Back to Walthamstow for 66514 to close out this post…