Tuesday, 13 September 2011

Underbelly

As I love industrial archaeology, London offers a wealth of opportunities for exploring (even in these mad anti-terrorism times):


That sequence of brick bridges and retaining walls tells a complex story about the development of industrial London. Today, too much of it is fenced off:


But sometimes you can find an obscure path which suddenly opens up a new vista -- and shows the vastness of the impact of the railways on the city:


This is not far from Willesden Junction, where a footbridge overlooks the old London & North Western Railway mainlines from Euston to the north-west:


Today, piss-poor Pendolinos accelerate through here on the fast lines...


... while overhead, Bombardier CityStars pootle across on the West London Line:


This is one of the few places where you can see the products of all three modern train manufacturers in operation together -- from left to right Bombardier, Siemens Desiro, and an Alstom Pendolino:


Unless a train is in sight this place has a strangely tranquil air, the vast expanse of land appearing dead:


I can't tell you how much I enjoy this sort of random exploring, a stumbling discovery of the mechanical parts of my city.

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