This gallery will feature images from a short break in London while I'm over to attend an IRO function on Thursday.

Day 1: Wednesday 14th August.
The first surprise of the day was on arrival at Gatwick Airport on EI232 from Dublin that the arrival procedures have changed and arriving passengers no longer have to suffer a bus transfer after disembarking the plane via an airbridge. Departing passengers never suffered the same fate. This restores the situation as it was in the 2000's.

When buying the rail tickets at the airport ticket desk (i.e. not the railway station as the airport desk is quiet compared to the main station queues, we were advised that services were suspended between East Croydon and Victoria due to a person hit by a train. That would make getting to Clapham Jct. interesting! We hopped on the first train leaving Gatwick which was the 1103 to Bedford, slow to East Croydon. Great but at least we were moving. Checking Twitter I discovered that the route had reopened 25 minutes earlier, so the plan B to get a tram to Wimbledon and a train to Clapham Jct. from there wasn't required. A swift cross platform interchange at East Croydon to a train ex East Grinstead soon found us at Clapham Jct. and the my hotel.

With the weather absolutely chucking it down, I've taken the opportunity to get a few hours rest before I venture out for the evening.

Well the evening time wasn't much better weather wise. A trip from Wandsworth Town to Covent Garden and back to Clapham Jct. to bunker down for the night.

Day 2: Thursday 15th August 2019.
It was an early start to the morning with an 0630 alarm clock call so I could get up and get down to the other side of Clapham Jct. to photograph the 0628 Southampton Airport Parkway - London Waterloo which is currently booked for a 10 car Class 442 "Wessex Electric". These trains are returning to the South Western Division after a 12 year break from the route. During that time the sets spent some time in storage and in use on the Gatwick Express route. During the hour or so I spent around the Clapham Jct. area, I also visited for the 1st time the memorial to the Clapham Jct. rail crash at Spencer Park.

Later in the day I had a IRO presentation in the Brick Lane area and spent an relaxing evening in the Wapping area watching passing traffic on the River Thames before we had to head back into Central London for an engagement.

Day 3: Friday 16th August 2019.
Our third day in London would consist of a day trip to Oxford, but with a slight detour. Making our way from Clapham Jct. to Paddington via West Brompton was swift and efficient 34 minutes with a 60 second interchange from the London Overground West London Line into the LU District Line.
On arrival at Paddington the queue was tickets was big but moving fast. A quick check of real time trains ( http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk ) revealed our train, the 1045 Paddington - Swansea was at Platform 4.

The reason for taking this train? To sample the Welsh Breakfast in the Pullman Restaurant carriage on-board one of the new Intercity Express Trains. As we were about 25 minutes early and the Pullman cutely was yet to be set up we were invited to wait in the adjacent carriage until they called us, which occurred just after departure from Paddington when 8 customers made their way to the Pullman carriage. The 1st class carriage used for the Pullman Dining is the PDTRBF vehicle and has 15 seats.

We certainly didn't leave the train hungry at Swindon after a two course breakfast. I'll highly recommend taking the GWR Pullman Dining as a treat if heading to/from London on the GWR network at somestage. Plus it is open to both 1st class and standard class customers.

At Swindon we quickly retraced our steps to Didcot Parkway where we got the shuttle to Oxford. The weather today was once again abysmal and sightseeing was constrained as a result. A few good pubs were found instead which kept us dry.

For the return back to London we were visiting family in Carshalton Beeches and a novel way to get there was found. Arriving at Oxford Station shortly before 1730, I found that the 1335 Newcastle - Guildford Cross Country service was on-time. This is the only XC service of the day to reach Guildford. This offered a 6 minute connection into the 1903 Guildford - London Bridge which called at Carshalton Beeches. A nice way to avoid the rush hour crowds in London and the journey times were comparable to going via Central London.

After several hours in Carshalton Beeches, the return to Clapham Jct. was via the 154 and N44 bus routes bringing me up through some of my old haunts in Mitcham, Tooting and Wandsworth.

Day 4: Saturday 17th August 2019.
It was a late start to the day with check out from the hotel at 1140, then down to Clapham Jct. to meet a friend for brunch. After that we headed over to Wandsworth to retrace steps I haven't taken in over 30 years visiting the shopping centre and my one of my old Grandparents houses in London.

After the trip down memory lane, a quick trip into Waterloo was taken to visit the Ian Allen bookshop in Lower Marsh Street. With the news that the Birmingham outlet is closing one has to wonder how long their final shop in Waterloo will last?

With the bookshop visit done and the bank card taking a hit once again, it was time to head to Birmingham International courtesy of Virgin Trains to catch EI3277 back to Dublin. If airfares from the London Airports are high, Birmingham is always a good option to check out, only being 70 odd minutes from London on a fast service. You would spend that long heading from the Kings Cross area to Heathrow on the Piccadilly line. Stobart Air EI-FSL was on hand to fly us back to Dublin on EI3277.