St. Nicholas’s Church, Deptford
London is thought of as a fairly recent city, but dotted amongst the later buildings are some old parish churches, that wouldn’t be out of place in an English country village.
This is St. Nicholas’s Church, Deptford. The parish has a Wikipedia entry, Christopher Matrlowe was buried in an unmarked grave in the church.
The Statue Of Peter The Great, Deptford
Peter the Great came to Deptford and as I said in this post, I can remember a school history book, which said he worked in the shipyards there.
He may or may not, but there is a statue of him looking out over the river.
The guy sitting next to the statue, was a teacher who lived locally , who told me how he enjoyed living in Deptford
The Navy Pops Into Waitrose
I couldn’t resist posting this picture of HMS Bulwark, by Waitrose in Greenwich.
The Navy Pops Into Waitrose
It’s just a pity the gap inthe buildings isn’t larger, so that you could see more of the warship.
HMS Bulwark At Greenwich
HMS Bulwark is in Greenwich to mark the 350th anniversary of the Royal Marines.
Lsrge ships are always impressive on London’s river.
SS Canary Wharf Is Approaching Launch
Canary Wharf station is starting to resemble a large cruise liner, as more and more of it gets completed, in the dock beside the towers of Canary Wharf.
Although, Crossrail will not open until 2018, I have read that some of the shopping centre on top, will open earlier in May 2015 according to this information.
I suspect too, that the walkway to the Docklands Light Railway at Poplar station will be in place before 2018.
A Visit From A Clean Rat
I saw the rat scamper across the kitchen and luckily I had a camera handy, as he went down the stairs.
A Visit From A Clean Rat
He didn’t seem too unfriendly, but I wish he’d stop eating my bananas.
Innovations In Diesel Locomotives
All across Europe there is a shortage of locomotives to pull both freight and passenger trains. In some ways this may well be good news, as it could be said that the economies of some countries are at last picking up.
In the UK, there have been orders for the new Class 68 to pull both freight and passenger trains and for some more of the ubiquitous Class 66. As the latter class doesn’t meet the current emission standards, the order for the Class 66 will probably be the last for the type. In my view that is a good thing, as I’ve talked to drivers and although the engines are reliable, the working environment could be better. They also aren’t popular with some residents, who live near busy freight routes, as they aren’t the quietest.
So in the UK, we’ve seen a scraping around for motive power, and this partly explains, why some elderly engines, like the Class 20, I saw a couple of days ago, are still working.
But we have also ordered some new Class 88, which are an electric engine, with an on-board diesel engine, so are capable of going all over the network. So for say Felixstowe to Manchester via the routes through London, could be done without changing the engine en route.
I also found another interesting idea on the web yesterday. This article in Global Rail News describes the delivery of a new TRAXX locomotive in Germany. What is unique about the TRAXX P160 DE is that instead of one large diesel engine, it has four smaller ones. So the power can be adjusted to the load, therefore using less fuel and creating much less noise.
This technique has been used on some diesel multiple units like the Class 185 used by Trans Pennine. On their hilly routes, some parts need more power than others, so these trains have an eco-mode.
Over the next few years, we will see a lot more serious developments with respect to more power, better fuel economy and less noise.
I Can’t Bear To Look At The Times Website Today
The headline story is of the poor woman sentenced to death in Sudan for a love of a man of the wrong religion, giving birth on the floor of a prison cell in chains.
What has all this got to do with religion?
Why We Should Improve Train Lines
I’m biased and love trains and other forms of public transport.
But everybody should read this document, which describes how and why a group wants to upgrade all the train services in the Lea Valley.
It details various solutions and the benefits they will bring.
It is also a report that has been listened to!
Lea Bridge station is being reopened and the London Overground, is taking over the Lea Valley lines.
The report is also full of innovative and sensible suggestions about how to improve the area for work, rest and play. Typical is the idea to create a footpath and cycleway to Northumberland Park station across the Lea Valley.
If the Overground can do for the Lea Valley lines, what it has done for other parts of London, it’ll be a good start.
Lea Bridge Station From The Train
After travelling round the Walthamstow Reservoirs, I continued on the train to Stratford. I took these pictures, as the train passed the disused Lea Bridge station, which is going to be reopened.
There ewas no sign of any work going on.
The Anonymous Widower 