Reception committee
Freightliner 'Shed' 66588 runs the gauntlet of Friday night passengers and station staff as it rumbles slowly through Reading's platform 8 with the 6.34pm Churchyard Sidings - Whatley Quarry discharged aggregate hoppers (6V51).
Most freight is scheduled to run through platforms 12 and 13 (and, occasionally, 15) but keeping an eye on the virtual signal diagram while staying close to the footbridge can pay dividends for those last minute platform changes - as happened here.
In what is now a mostly rebuilt station, I do like the way the main legacy building has been retained and incorporated into the new structure - a comforting link to the station's heritage. Note too the homage to the station's previous name, Reading General, on the large-scale totem at right. Have to say I thought the 'General' name was given to the station much earlier during Great Western Railway ownership rather than post the 1948 nationalisation, but I could be mistaken.
What isn't in doubt are the sheer numbers of passengers using the facility - some 17million in the year prior to Covid. And, while current numbers are still well down on that, catching a train for the 36 mile ride to London, even in the mid-morning off-peak period, can still be a sardine-like experience.
I also noted that the line at platform 8 is roughly where the through line was in the 1970s. This was where the daily joy could be experienced of a Western passing through the station at speed at the head of the Up "Cornish Riviera Ltd'. Heady days for diesel-hydraulic spotters and snappers alike!
For this image I've opted to not over-egg the lighting, but instead keep it similar to the levels it actually was.
Shot at 1/60s @ F7.1, and 8000asa
8.38pm, 13th October 2023
Reception committee
Freightliner 'Shed' 66588 runs the gauntlet of Friday night passengers and station staff as it rumbles slowly through Reading's platform 8 with the 6.34pm Churchyard Sidings - Whatley Quarry discharged aggregate hoppers (6V51).
Most freight is scheduled to run through platforms 12 and 13 (and, occasionally, 15) but keeping an eye on the virtual signal diagram while staying close to the footbridge can pay dividends for those last minute platform changes - as happened here.
In what is now a mostly rebuilt station, I do like the way the main legacy building has been retained and incorporated into the new structure - a comforting link to the station's heritage. Note too the homage to the station's previous name, Reading General, on the large-scale totem at right. Have to say I thought the 'General' name was given to the station much earlier during Great Western Railway ownership rather than post the 1948 nationalisation, but I could be mistaken.
What isn't in doubt are the sheer numbers of passengers using the facility - some 17million in the year prior to Covid. And, while current numbers are still well down on that, catching a train for the 36 mile ride to London, even in the mid-morning off-peak period, can still be a sardine-like experience.
I also noted that the line at platform 8 is roughly where the through line was in the 1970s. This was where the daily joy could be experienced of a Western passing through the station at speed at the head of the Up "Cornish Riviera Ltd'. Heady days for diesel-hydraulic spotters and snappers alike!
For this image I've opted to not over-egg the lighting, but instead keep it similar to the levels it actually was.
Shot at 1/60s @ F7.1, and 8000asa
8.38pm, 13th October 2023