"Mind the Gap."
Every one is doing it now, the frequent admonition by the Voice on Transport for London's Underground network taken up by railways everywhere. And right they are.
This is an oldie (and uploaded before) taken by my wife back in September 2015 on the western end of Platform 1 at Paddington Station, London, a place that goes back for me to 1971 when Axiom's "My Baby's Gone" was well up in the Top 40 and in part filmed just behind me and behind Jenny. I was in late high school and having already been hooked on railways for many years, by 1971 it encompassed London and British Railways and has ever since. I decided as I watched the music video on "Happening 71" that I would go here one day and I did, not many years later in 1975. And a few more times since including two long fabulous trips since I retired 10 years ago.
Apart from my love of my birth country Australia, this place, London and the UK totally jagged my heart and it does flip flops just looking at the digital photos from two more recent trips we did. I still have unfinished business there but I am not seeing a further trip in my bucket sadly.
Paddington is the main London terminus of the erstwhile Great Western Railway, has been since 1838 (and would you believe the train operator there now is still called just that) with tentacles out into the west country, southern Wales and generally the pocket up to Birmingham and the Severn Valley area. The great trains of the GWR and their famous steam locomotives departed from this platform and the others that form the station. You can see I.K.Brunel's great glass trainshed in the distance which forms the main part of the station, he, together with Paddington Bear are celebrated inside.
The station is also an important location on the Underground including the recently opened Elizabeth Line which now forms one of the main railway connections with Heathrow Airport. The Heathrow Express which departs and terminates in main station shown here is the fast train to the airport.
The train here is a HST or High Speed Train, capable of 125 mph and introduced in 1975. These very popular and reliable trains have more recently been withdrawn from service after many years of faithful service except for a number of sets reduced in size and relocated to Scotland for more local services. And I always touch the train to make the connection!
Just a bit of nostalgia to brighten up my day! Sadly for the Brits, it was a Bank Holiday Monday, last day of summer holidays for them but the first for us.
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Paddington_station
Anyone remember this - you can see the scenes on the platform in the second half of the video. Go Axiom!
"Mind the Gap."
Every one is doing it now, the frequent admonition by the Voice on Transport for London's Underground network taken up by railways everywhere. And right they are.
This is an oldie (and uploaded before) taken by my wife back in September 2015 on the western end of Platform 1 at Paddington Station, London, a place that goes back for me to 1971 when Axiom's "My Baby's Gone" was well up in the Top 40 and in part filmed just behind me and behind Jenny. I was in late high school and having already been hooked on railways for many years, by 1971 it encompassed London and British Railways and has ever since. I decided as I watched the music video on "Happening 71" that I would go here one day and I did, not many years later in 1975. And a few more times since including two long fabulous trips since I retired 10 years ago.
Apart from my love of my birth country Australia, this place, London and the UK totally jagged my heart and it does flip flops just looking at the digital photos from two more recent trips we did. I still have unfinished business there but I am not seeing a further trip in my bucket sadly.
Paddington is the main London terminus of the erstwhile Great Western Railway, has been since 1838 (and would you believe the train operator there now is still called just that) with tentacles out into the west country, southern Wales and generally the pocket up to Birmingham and the Severn Valley area. The great trains of the GWR and their famous steam locomotives departed from this platform and the others that form the station. You can see I.K.Brunel's great glass trainshed in the distance which forms the main part of the station, he, together with Paddington Bear are celebrated inside.
The station is also an important location on the Underground including the recently opened Elizabeth Line which now forms one of the main railway connections with Heathrow Airport. The Heathrow Express which departs and terminates in main station shown here is the fast train to the airport.
The train here is a HST or High Speed Train, capable of 125 mph and introduced in 1975. These very popular and reliable trains have more recently been withdrawn from service after many years of faithful service except for a number of sets reduced in size and relocated to Scotland for more local services. And I always touch the train to make the connection!
Just a bit of nostalgia to brighten up my day! Sadly for the Brits, it was a Bank Holiday Monday, last day of summer holidays for them but the first for us.
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Paddington_station
Anyone remember this - you can see the scenes on the platform in the second half of the video. Go Axiom!