Mechanical Landscapes

  • #294 – Old Urbex Reports – Pyestock Part 1

    #294 – Old Urbex Reports – Pyestock Part 1

    Number 10 Exhauster Cell Number 10 Exhauster Cell control room Hidden deep in woodland between the mainline railway and what is now Farnborough Airport, lies a huge, once top-secret aircraft engine test facility, abandoned and decaying, silent and eerie, no longer reverberating with the screaming wails of gas turbines and jet engines. This area was…

  • #293 – Re-visiting photos 2

    #293 – Re-visiting photos 2

    More reworked photos! These are from Edenwood Mill, which if still standing, must be a pile of soggy wood and rubble as it was in a right state back in 2008. This one hasn’t really benefitted much from the monochrome conversion compared to some, but the lens corrections have slightly improved things.   The next…

  • #292 – Re-visiting photos 1

    #292 – Re-visiting photos 1

    I’m in the middle of putting some themed Blurb books together and went for a rummage round the darker recesses of my Lightroom catalogue. Lightroom is a great piece of software and I now tend to do much of my photo editing on it (apart form mono conversions and multi layer work), and it’s a vastly…

  • #291 – Recommendation – Ilford Photolabs

    Recently, I’ve been using DS Colour Labs extensively to print out large quantities of monochrome prints, as their prices are excellent, and their quality is very good. But I thought I’d give llford Labs another go after a bit of a disaster a while back. As you might have guessed from the name, Ilford Labs…

  • #290 – Book Review – Detroit Disassembled

    Andrew Moore’s ‘Detroit Disassembled’ is a book that’s been on my wish list for a couple of years now. I’d discovered it just after it came out, as it was released at a similar time to the eye-wateringly expensive ‘The Ruins Of Detroit’ by Yves Marchand, but at about half the price. It’s certainly got…

  • #289 – Thresholds Of Change – Link, Gifford and the end of steam

    O.Winston Link – Train No.2 arrives at the Waynesboro Station, Waynesboro, Virginia Colin Gifford The increasing affordability of photography in the 50’s and 60’s meant that the end of steam traction in Europe and America was well documented. Two recent book releases by acknowledged masters of the genre present a fascinating contrast of styles and…

  • #288 – Big Wheel

    Ever since The London Eye brought Ferris Wheels back into vogue in the UK, they’ve been popping up all over the place in the UK. Manchester has had one semi-permanently in the Triangle for some years (although not this year), as have other large towns and cities, so I was quite surprised to see one…

  • #287 – East Lancs Railway Photo Locations 13 – Rawtenstall Station

    Unlike Ramsbottom, Rawtenstall is a terminus station, so if you’re travelling on the train, you will have more time to get out and walk round as the engine has to run round to the other end of the train to head back down the line. Rawtenstall is a good place to actually start your journey…

  • #286 – East Lancs Railway Photo Locations 12 – Townsendfold

    The spot by Townsendfold Signal Box is quite popular, and in the right light (such as above) can yield some nice results. It’s also a very easy spot to access and park at, which is always a good thing, especially if you’re not terribly mobile. It’s also possible to get a decent shot looking north…

  • #285 – East Lancs Railway Photo Locations – Ewood Bridge

    There’s only one view here, and it’s looking due south! Framing is important, as at the west side of the line is the decaying ruins of a non-league football ground, which last time I was there still had the floodlight posts in shot. A pity, because the more distant background is lovely. I wouldn’t recommend…

  • #284 – East Lancs Railway Photo Locations 9 – Irwell Vale

    This is a favourite location with those who like to leave the confines of the main stations. It is a small halt, and has a small car park next to it, and there is some street parking nearby. The standard view is a good one, but I’ve only ever done it twice, one of which…

  • #283 – East Lancs Railway Photo Locations 8 – Stubbins

    Heading north out of Ramsbottom, turn right after the garage on the right hand side. This will take you up past a playing field to a level crossing. This is a excellent place to catch the trains leaving Ramsbottom as they are working pretty hard to get up the incline to Rawtenstall. Some people venture…

  • #282 – East Lancs Railway Photo Locations 7 – Ramsbottom Station

    Ramsbottom station is a nice little to photograph, as it’s got some nice period features, especially since the addition of the wrought iron canopy over the up platform. This is adjacent to the main station buildings, and combined with the water tank and general platform paraphenalia, gives plenty of potential. The station is a passing…

  • #281 – East Lancs Railway Photo Locations 6 – Brooksbottom Tunnel

    A short walk from the previous location is one that I quite like, the entrance to Brooksbottom tunnel. Although there are various possibilities here, the best one seems to be on top of the tunnel entrance, offset to the west to get a nice three quarter shot, and the curve of the line going over…

  • #280 – East Lancs Railway Photo Locations 5 – Summerseat

    #280 – East Lancs Railway Photo Locations 5 – Summerseat

    Summerseat has a small halt, and there are a couple of spots worth visiting. I must confess to never having spent much time here, mainly because the best spot is standing on the road on a bridge, normally with a line of other photographers, which isn’t my style, but that doesn’t mean it is without…

  • #279 – East Lancs Railway Photo Locations 4 – Burrs

    Burrs is a popular location and one that has changed over the past few years with the opening of a caravan park. It will be changing again in the next few years if the proposed halt is built, so it is worth visiting soon before some more unique photo locations are lost. There are numerous…

  • #278 – East Lancs Railway Photo Locations 2 – Buckley Wells

    The yard at Barron Street is one of my favourite spots on the line, but is not open to the public except on night shoots. The shed itself is the Victorian loco works of the original East Lancashire Railway Company, and is now the home of Ian Riley’s Engineering business as well as the East…

  • #277 – East Lancs Railway Photo Locations 3 – Bury Bolton Street Station

    Not being a station dweller, this is a place I tend to get on and off trains rather than take photos. The station itself is a pretty large affair, and has plenty of parking next door and across the road, even on busy events like Santa Specials. There’s also a buffet on the platform, and…

  • #276 – East Lancs Railway Photo Locations 1 – Roch Viaduct

    #276 – East Lancs Railway Photo Locations 1 – Roch Viaduct

    As I mentioned in the first installment, there are few decent photo opportunities on the Bury – Heywood line. Certainly, the ‘ski-jump’ over the Metrolink can give some spectacular exhausts, but the area in the immediate vicinity is uninspiring. This location is more pleasant. The line crosses a wide valley, going over a river and…

  • #275 – East Lancashire Railway Photo Locations – Introduction

    As a regular visitor to the East Lancashire Railway over the last ten years or so, I’ve got to know many of the best locations for lineside photography. Regular readers will be aware of my tendency to look for something beyond the standard ‘train in station’ photographs, and as quite a lot of the lineside…

  • #274 – Le Havre Panoramas

    A belated follow up to the Southampton Panoramas from a few weeks back! I must admit to being not entirely happy with the composition of either, the top one has nothing at the right hand side to balance out the building and quay on the left, while the lower one has no space to the…