Jon Searles' photos with the keyword: leeds

Maybe the best known service worked by 333s other than the Heathrow Express is the Metro Trains service from Leeds New Station to Skipton. This service, which is monsterously fast for a local service, with 100 m.p.h. sometimes possible, was originally worked by old Class 307 EMUs with slam doors!! I actually had a chance to ride some of the last of those in 1998 before these 333s came into service. When I rode the 307s, it was on the way to Keighley for my first ride on the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway.

This was yet another random shot in Leeds, this one of 155347, which while quite old, was nevertheless painted in the new Northern Trains advertising livery.

The weather was a bit rainy the while time we were in Leeds, so the lighting on this shot is a little dark, meaning a slow shutter, and hence some blurring. I still like it, though.

Silverlink normally operate the local services from London Euston to Birmingham New Street, so 321423 is definitely outside of its home territory here. I'm assuming that it was substituting on another service for a diffrent TOC.

Here's another shot of a Class 185, only this time pulling into Leeds New Station. It wasn't going anywhere close to its full 125 m.p.h. speed, of course, but was blurred because I was shooting at f4 and 1/30, I think.

Not convinced that I had gotten the earlier shot of 185140, I moved in as close as I could while still getting the whole front end, and used my flash. This was what I got, decent, but surprisingly not as good as the first shot. It's that ugly bleaching from the flash, as usual.

I only just barely got this shot. The light in Leeds station was terrible, and then my camera malfunctioned, or rather, I had it set wrong. My friend heard a General Motors 710 prime mover bearing down on us, and saw the Class 66 coming in the distance, so it was obvious that it was going to run light through the station. Freights occassionally come through Leeds, even though its a passenger station, but this 66 was light engine only.

Among the newest trains in Britain are these Class 185 DMUs, which are intended for express and longer-distance regional services outside of electrified territory. Obviously, they often wander in and out from under the wires, and here's an example of that at Leeds, where 185140 is waiting to depart with a service to Middlesborough. In order to allow them to make full use of the British rail network and not hold up traffic, Class 185s are authorized to run at 125 m.p.h. where track conditions permit, as on this service. I originally never expected this shot to come out properly, as I shot it at f4 and 1/45, which I was sure would blur, but in reality it came out quite crisp, to my amazement.

This was after we got to Leeds, in the rain. I decided to attempt some photos, though, since I'm not in Leeds everyday, and I saw these Class 158s waiting to go.

Here's another shot of "East Lothian," allowing you to see the number and name.

Services from London King's Cross to Leeds, while not as long a haul as services to Newcastle and Edinburgh, are nevertheless run by GNER with Intercity 225 high-speed trainsets. 225s, while matched sets, are not actually EMUs, but loco-hauled, and all of the locomotives but one (89001 "Avocet") are Class 91 electrics, although sometimes a Class 90 will substitute on the Leeds services since they're far from as fast as the Newcastle and Edinburgh services. Most of the Class 91s have names, this one being #91106 "East Lothian."

This was as we were arriving in Leeds. I didn't get any station shots since I was in too much of a hurry to get my connection and the light was horrible.