The Limbo Connection's photos with the keyword: HST

8.15 am on 16 August 2010.

8.15 am on 16 August 2010. Challenging, but not impossible, to get much improvement of a photograph which was never anything other than a JPEG. I have given it more exposure and reduced the contrast, as well as tackling lens distortion for which the Nikon 18-135mm was notorious. The last few occasions I was here the low parapet had been augmented by a higher chestnut paling fence while official discussions took place about a more permanent safety barrier. I don't know why this step is perceived as necessary; maybe there have been incursions, accidents, or worse. Maybe the train drivers are unnerved by photographers. I wouldn't blame them if they were, though none of them ever gesticulated or sounded their horn at me. However, I always stayed on the safe side of the wall. Others may have trespassed. It's easy enough to vault over. This section of the line was planned for electrification but the project was stopped part way through because of cost overruns. The new trains had therefore to be capable of generating their own electricity from Chippenham to Bristol. That rather defeats the objective of improved efficiency provided by using entirely overhead power. UK infrastructure projects seldom run smoothly and to budget. So now the 125 sets have been allocated elsewhere, I believe they can be seen between South Wales and Cornwall. Their replacements were built abroad. The British were pioneers of railways but less than 200 years later they cannot build their own trains. It is intolerable and a national disgrace.

Fujifilm FinePix S3 Pro with a Tamron AF Zoom 55-200mm f/4-5.6 Di II LD lens. Photographed in Sydney Gardens, Bath, in 2016. These trains no longer ply the London - Bristol route, having been replaced by modern sets.

Nikon D2Xs + Tamron SP AF 17-50mm f/2.8 XR lens.

A freight train carrying quarried stone was derailed at the East Somerset Junction, just outside Witham Friary, on 20 March 2017. The line was closed between Castle Cary and Westbury and trains from London Paddington to the West of England were diverted through Bath and Bristol for several days whilst repairs were made to the line. Trowbridge became the stop for passengers wanting to get to Westbury but the 125s made no further stops until reconnecting with their usual route at Taunton. This is a wider view of a previously posted similar snapshot. Canon EOS 30D + Canon EF 35-135mm f/4 - 5.6 lens.

A freight train carrying quarried stone was derailed at the East Somerset Junction, just outside Witham Friary, on 20 March 2017. The line was closed between Castle Cary and Westbury and trains from London Paddington to the West of England were diverted through Bath and Bristol for several days whilst repairs were made to the line. Trowbridge became the stop for passengers wanting to get to Westbury but the 125s made no further stops until reconnecting with their usual route at Taunton. Canon EOS 30D + Canon EF 35-135mm f/4 - 5.6 lens.

Nikon D2Xs + Tamron AF 70-210mm f/2.8 SP LD lens.

Sydney Gardens, Bath. The rush hour. Nikon D2Xs + Tamron SP AF 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di II LD lens.

As the railway nears Chippenham the land rises a little and here at Kellaways are the last of the embankments before the contours change. There are two bridges: this is the northern one on the road from Maud Heath's monument at Kellaways to Sutton Benger via Sutton Lane. The flat land does not, however, persist for long, for just beyond Chippenham station are the Western Arches where the railway is once again elevated to keep it nice and even. The railway is very close to the river Avon at this point, much as it is at Christian Malford where the bridge building was a big undertaking. Nikon D2Xs + Nikkor DX AF-S 35mm f/1.8G lens.

Brunel built bridges for ramblers and farmers and horse riders as well as road users. It's exhausting cataloguing all of them. Nikon D700 + Nikkor-O.C Auto f/2 35mm lens. 200 ISO; f/16; 1/80th.

HST arriving at Westbury at 16.24 with a power car named 'Reading Panel Signal Box 1965-2010' at the front. Photographed with a Nikon D50 and an AF Nikkor 28-80mm f/3.3-5.6 G lens.

The train in the picture has just crossed the River Avon as it heads north-east towards Swindon. This section of the original Paddington to Bristol mainline presented engineering challenges necessitating deep cuttings and high embankments. There are streams and tributaries draining into the Avon and quite long stretches of standing water. The place is blissfully quiet save for birdsong in Spring and passing trains, but here and there along the line mysterious packs of materials are being put in place for the electrification project. In 1840 the locals would have lamented the changing scenery as the railway came through. At least they were spared ugly gantries decorating the skyline. Nikon D700 + Nikkor 20mm f/3.5 AI-S lens.

Nikkor 28-105mm f/3.5-4.5D lens on a Nikon D700.

Eastbound HST under acceleration through Sydney Gardens, Bath. Fujifilm FinePix S3 Pro + Tamron AF Zoom 55-200mm f/4-5.6 Di II LD lens.

Nikon D50 + 18-135mm Nikkor.

For almost forty years these elegant machines have been plying the London to Bristol railway. Soon they will be superseded by new electrified trains. Canon EOS 30D with Canon 100-300mm f/4.5-5.6 EF USM lens.