Jon Searles' photos with the keyword: Cardiff

I took this on New Year's Eve, after getting to Cardiff in the nick of time to meet my friends. I took several other cameraphone shots along the way, although nothing to speak of. I originally had hoped to get the number of this unit, but again I was using a cameraphone, so the exposure from the headlights was too much. This had been my first trip on Great Western after it reverted to its pre-1948 name, after having operated as "First Great Western" (in reference to First Bus) since privatization, and the creation of the train operating companies (TOC's) in 1996.

Created by the Government of Wales Act of 1998, the Welsh Assembly is another example of devolution to the constituent countries of the United Kingdom, in line with the Scottish Parliament (also created in 1998), and "Home Rule" in Northern Ireland, initiated in 2007. Perhaps surprisingly, this Assembly Senedd (Senate) building was constructed at Cardiff Bay, rather than in the city centre, in 2006. The old Pierhead building is also controlled by the Assembly, but is used as a museum to educate citizens and visitors about the Welsh government.

The Norwegian Church, now used as a community centre with dance lessons and other services, was originally constructed in 1868 to serve Norwegian sailors. In contrast to most British churches, which were Anglican (Church of England), the Norwegian Church was originally Lutheran, which may explain why it was built. Roald Dahl was baptized in the church (probably) in 1916. In 1974, following a drastic decline in the size of the congregation, the church was deconsecrated, and in 1987 it was dismantled with an eye towards preservation and eventual reconstruction. Roald Dahl actually chaired the society responsible for the effort. It had actually been located on the site of what is now the Millenium Centre, so the present location was chosen in 1992, when the church was reconstructed as seen here.

This is a lock gate (chaisson?) to one of the dry docks(?) in Cardiff Bay. I took this as one of a series of shots I took of the Bay, mostly without any background research. Obviously, further information would be appreciated.

The most notable ship preserved in Cardiff Bay, or at least the easiest to access until 2015, was this light ship, called variously Lightship 2000, Lightship 14, Goleulong 2000, and Helwig. Built in 1953, it was literally a "light ship," which served as a floating lighthouse to prevent other ships running aground. In spite of the development of radar before its construction, it remained in service until 1991, before being bought by an entity connected to the Cardiff Bay Development Corporation (I haven't been able to find a source specifically naming the buyer). For a time, it served as a chapel upon preservation in 1993, until it was closed to the public in 2013 and moved to Gloucester in 2015, with an eye to opening it as a museum following another restoration (which it has also served as over the years), but in Newnham-on-Severn, rather than Gloucester or Cardiff. At the moment, it is supposedly is being restored by Fred Larkham, although I have been unable to verify the owner. Their is an official website for the ship at: www.lightship2000.co.uk ...but the site appears to be down at the moment (June 12th, 2016).

Originally constructed in 1897 for the Bute Dock Company, which almost immediately became the Cardiff Railway Company. It was transferred to the Port of Cardiff in 1947, as part of the Nationalisation of the railways to form British Rail. Following privatisation, it eventually was acquired by the City of Cardiff, and then by the Welsh Assembly. Today, it is used as a museum to educate citizens and visitors about the Welsh government. The clock tower, often called "Little Big Ben," had its mechanism replaced in 1973, with the original mechanism eventually being displayed in Cardiff's city centre in 2011, at the corner of Wood Street and St. Mary's Street.

This is the entrance to the station, which is, as far as I know, up on that bridge to the right. The sculpture on the wall looks really 1970's, even Communist, although in this location that would be virtually impossible. In truth, a lot of similar artwork existed in America at the time. However, I know next to nothing about its actual origins.

This visit to Grangetown was completely unplanned. I was running an errand with one of my friends, and just spotted this BR-era "barbed wire" station sign. To avoid confusion, perhaps, most of these signs have survived, not only in situ, but also on maps, and the logo also still appears on tickets and in timetables. Grangetown is located south of Cardiff, and is often counted as part of the city, although the maps I've seen are confusing so I don't know if it technically is Cardiff.

This was my train, still worked by an Intercity 125 after all these years. These trainsets date to 1976, but in some respects they're still the most advanced diesel passenger trains in the world. At the moment, I'm also unaware of anything faster than them, although some DMU's and ICE-TD variants can match them.

I took this on my way to Cardiff Central Station. The old Great Western Mainline is on that viaduct you can see on the right, and you can see a steam-era water tower on the left. I've taken shots from this angle several times before. This wasn't actually a sunset, but a sunrise, as I had to get a train very early in the morning in order to get the Eurostar in London.

That last shot wasn't very good, and neither is this one, but here you can see the entirety of the locomotive a bit better. The unit caught me by surprise so I wasn't able to get the cameraphone awake fast enough to get a good shot.

This was my first look at one of the new Class 70 freight diesels, this one working for Freightliner. Actually, these locomotives were already four years old when I took this, but I had been away from Britain for awhile so I hadn't been able to get a photo. They have several interesting facts about them, in addition to the usual specifications. First of all, they're made by General Electric, which would make them the first large order of G.E. diesels in British history, in spite of the popularity of G.E.'s in North America. Being completely authentic G.E.'s, they were built in Erie, PA, just like the Dash 8's I chased as a teenager. Secondly, they are perhaps the first BR class to reuse a previous class number, as 2 SR electrics and one Southern Region BR electric from the 1940's were considered Class 70 electrics under BR. 20 of these units are reported to have been built, although they aren't numbered sequentially, carrying the numbers 70001-70011 and 70013-70023 (Wikipedia says 70001-70011 and 70013-70020, but this makes no sense). There is also a demonstrator numbered 70099, and Freightliner's order is for 30 units, so more will likely be built. GBRf also have expressed interest in buying some of them. Their horsepower rating is 3,690, making them the most powerful diesels ever to be used in Britain (unless someone can correct me), and they are rated for a top speed of 75 m.p.h., which is typical for a G.E. freight diesel.

This is an Alstom (BR) Class 175 Coradia DMU. They were intended as a new generation of DMU that could operate at 125 m.p.h., although this was quickly downgraded to 110 and then to 100. 125 m.p.h. DMU's were eventually produced (in the form of the Virgin Voyager and BR Class 180), but the 175 Coradia never ended up filling such a role. Originally introduced in 2000 on First North Western, they have since been transferred to Arriva Trains Wales. Given the absurdity of the BR privatisation scheme, they have never been owned by a railway or Train Operating Company (TOC), but are instead owned by Angel Trains and leased to the TOC's, at much greater expense to the taxpayer. On this trip, I was on my way to Abergavenny for some hiking.

This was the first of many trains I had to take to get home to Prague, this one being an Intercity 125 for London Paddington. I never got the number, but on magnifying the photo I'm fairly certain that this lead Class 43 power unit was #43192.

I'm not sure if I took this on my way out of Cardiff, or on my way in, but I'm 90% certain it was on my way out or sometime soon before. Notice the original "Great Western Railway" lettering, which is still relevant as this station is still served by First Great Western.

Next to the Cardiff railway viaduct is this water tower, which I'm assuming was originally for steam locomotives, and behind it in the distance is Brain's Brewery, with the slogan "It's Brains you want!"

Although it's just a railway viaduct, and not a particularly long or high one, I've always like how this one looks. This is in Cardiff, of course, and takes the former Great Western into Cardiff Central.

I did several versions of this shot, and this one, converted to black and white, is my favorite. I wanted to convey the sheer ugliness of the malls currently wrecking Britain and everything of value in Britain.