iving into the grand Victorian station onboard a Great Anglia class 755, my first impressions of Bury St Edmunds were of a once important town that has found itself of diminishing importance in recent years. The station building was much too grand for its three services every two hours between Ipswich, Cambridge and Peterborough and the large gap between the east and westbound lines hinted at through lines once being present.
Last time I ventured into Anglia for a proper railday the branch lines and rural routes were served by a fleet of Sprinters and Turbos. Since then, when I’ve travelled through, I’ve gradually seen these replaced by Greater Anglia’s new class 755 FLIRT trains, however until now haven’t had a chance to try one out.
Arriving at Crewe onboard one of East Midlands Railway’s class 156s from Derby, I ventured out of the station for what was, despite numerous trips to, from and via Crewe, the first time. With my destination not mentioned on any of the directional signage out on the street, I was in the hands of Google Maps and thankfully, after a walk of about 15-minutes, arrived at the gates of Crewe Heritage Centre.
The evening of Friday 21st January 1876 was not a pleasant one for Huntingdonshire, with blizzards raging across the county leading to poor visibility and overall poor conditions. It was these conditions that led to the Abbots Ripton rail disaster, the worst rail accident in the county and one which changed some of the fundamental practices of the railways for the better.
Following on from my Railway Bucket List earlier in the year, I’ve decided to do an Aviation Bucket List covering 10 flights that I really want to tick off at some point in my lifetime. It goes without saying that I’d like to tick off some of the great Business and First-class offerings available, but this is about the flights themselves and not the airlines or products.
Just as we all thought there was some semblance of order to this series of blogs and vlogs with me heading further and further north from Peterborough, I decided to mix it all up a bit and head to London to do the six most southerly stations on the East Coast Mainline (ECML). From the bustle of the terminus of King’s Cross, via the busy commuter station at Finsbury Park to the suburban stations of Harringay, Hornsey, Alexandra Palace and New Southgate, this section of the ECML is very varied with plenty to see and do.
Flights & Times 