Because of the hectic period of trucking after the release of the Montana map DLC in American Truck Simulator, I’m running a bit late with my entry for Clare’s Share Your Desktop Challenge. So lets start with the gaming pc and a screenshot from American Simulator taken during the event. On my last run of the day on August 9th, it shows Miss Lola heading south on route 212 past Laurel Refinery on her way from Bozeman (MT) to Cody (WY) with a load of Hay…
…The event started on the evening of 4th August. The target distance for the Community Goal of the event was 100 million miles to unlock the community rewards. It was reached on the evening of August 16th at 22:46 London time. My personal contribution was very nearly 24000mi 😎 You can read about the trucks I used during the event in Trucking Digest 👍 The event will remain open until 25th September to allow time for members of the community to complete their personal goal and earn the rewards.
On my photography pc I currently have an old photo that I took back in 1987. It shows Class 416 electric unit 6315 departing Willesden Junction High-Level with a train from Richmond to North Woolwich…
…Much has changed in the 35 years since. The 416 class worked the line between 1985 and 1989, having replaced the ancient Class 501 units. They were replaced themselves by dual voltage Class 313’s in readiness for the line being converted from the 3rd rail 630v system to 25Kv overhead electrification – something which took place over several years.
The cooling towers on the right belonged to Acton Lane Power Station. The station had already closed in 1983 but the buildings were hanging on in 1987 having been used the previous year as a filmset for Aliens. They were used again in 1989 for Batman but have subsequently been demolished. The site is now a major electricity network switching centre. The yellow gantry in front of them is for container traffic arriving a Willesden Euro Terminal – it’s still there but doesn’t handle international trains any more.
The lines on the extreme right are the connecting chord for trains leaving the North London Line at Kensal Green Junction and connecting to the London-Birmingham mainline at Harlesden Junction – normally only used by freight trains and also now 25Kv electrified.
One final change is the fencing of the footpath from which this shot was taken – it’s now 6ft high and made of thick metal railings. So replicating this shot nowadays is almost impossible 😒
Images from Finchley 