Paddington

Bearing in mind that it was in May 1972 that I had taken my only one-week, all-line rail-rover, Paddington station was now on the agenda again. On the 28th of that month, I had travelled down in the afternoon from Lime Street to Euston via Birmingham, barely leaving myself enough time to get to Paddington for the 11.45 overnight sleeper to Penzance, which I then took as far as Plymouth. Unfortunately, I had not booked a berth and my night “on the cushions” was just about bearable without any sleep, as I fidgeted away for hours trying to get comfy. It gave me a banging headache that I remember to this day. As dawn broke, and I got my bleary-eyed bearings, I wondered why all the world’s rabbits had suddenly descended on the West Country. It is my second strongest recollection of the journey.

I see now that I was hauled by D1011 Western Thunderer. Arriving at Plymouth at 06.35, I also notice that I set off straight back towards London on the 07.35, hauled as far as Exeter St David’s by D146, where Type Three D6510 was presumably waiting in the loop with stock destined for London Waterloo later that day. From Exeter to Bristol Parkway D143 was in charge and from Parkway to Paddington I was behind D1029 Western Legionnaire on a service from Cardiff, which was due in at 12.49. During my brief stop-off at Parkway, Type Two No. D5180 drifted through with three of the short-lived Hymek Class Type Threes, no doubt on their final journey to a South Wales scrapyard.

Over fifty years on and I was back at Paddington, this time joining the Heathrow Express bound for Terminal Five. A combination of being on the wrong side of the carriage and the speed of the train meant I missed most of the diesel locos on the main line and we were soon in the tunnel to the airport and travelling at a fraction of the speed. On the way back I made sure I was sitting on the correct side of the coach but it was a quiet, early Sunday morning with not much doing on the north side of the tracks into the capital.

We had a wander round the station. Having hoped to admire the overall magnificence of the place, I was a little disappointed, though the original train shed certainly fits the bill. I don’t think the commercial café and retailing bit works as well as the similar provision at either KX or St Pancras. It seems somehow very detached from the rest of the place, as is the former station hotel, now the Hilton Paddington with its nevertheless impressive facade. Even in the side street where you catch the buses, you could really be anywhere that wasn’t immediately outside one of the country’s major terminus stations. It all seems very hemmed in by development and they clearly haven’t finished with it yet, as much of the north side of the approach is hidden behind hoardings. It looks like they are going to squeeze even more new bits into an already over-crowded scene. Reminders inside the station, however, of how much Brunel managed to cram into his short lifetime, with quaint sections of former offices, waiting and refreshment rooms alongside platform one, adorned with the old GWR art deco logo as the give-away features, were much more to my liking. We also found Paddington bear, of course, and a photo opportunity with the grandchildren in mind. Paddington is not an overly bearly sort of bear, of course, but getting down to the bare bones in order to lay him bare entirely would be a bare-faced cheek that could lead to a bare-knuckle encounter and who would want that.