Another nice day today, though quite cold to start with. It’s been a while since I circumnavigated London on the trains, and I was keen to see the effect of the new names given to the various Overground lines.

First train was to Lewisham (delayed!) then the DLR to Poplar and Pudding Mill Lane. We’ve used this station in the past to get to the Olympic Park; it’s nice to see the area finished instead of being a building site:

It’s really close to the Olympic park and the area is a maze of railway lines, paths and canals/rivers:

Unfortunately, one of the paths I wanted to use was “closed for construction”, so I had a fairly boring walk to get to the River Lea:

It was a short walk from the river to Hackney Wick station and a train (on the newly named “Mildmay” line to Gospel Oak:

See tfl.gov.uk/modes/london-overground/overground-line-naming for more information on the new names. All of the audio announcements on the trains have been updated with the line names, though some of the gaps where they’ve been patched in are a bit obvious…

From Gospel Oak, it’s a short walk to Hampstead Heath past Parliament Hill Lido:

The view from the top of Parliament Hill (surprisingly crowded) is nice:

I then headed down past the ponds to Hampstead Heath station:

Next train was to Willesden Junction, again a hub of activity with railway lines everywhere, though not much activity outside the station itself:

Then another train to Imperial Wharf:

There is a fairly new development here (“Chelsea Harbour”) full of unaffordable hi-rise apartments on the banks of the Thames. This is Battersea Railway bridge, over which I shall travel later:

It’s nice to see so much freight slowly threading its way through London!

The local “Sensory Gardens” was a pleasent spot to stop for lunch:

Then on to Chelsea Harbour itself, complete with a strange sculpture and a lock gate:

Then back to the Thames Path to what used to be Lots Road Power station (see en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lots_Road_Power_Station), which supplied a lot of electricity for the tube network back in the day and is now yet more apartments:

From there it was back to Imperial Wharf station and a train to Clapham Junction, another to Denmark Hill (“Windrush Line”), a train to Shortlands and a final train to Orpington.

So around London without going anywhere near the main terminii!

I had a free day today, so it was off to West London to explore some of the railway routes and places I’d not visited before. I got the train to Waterloo where one of the old Class 455 units has been painted in a new livery:

A bit more elegant than the bright red that these trains normally have. Next stop was Wimbledon Station, looking suitably posh:

Then caught a train to Southfields, looking quite unmodernised:

From there, another train to Earls Court, with its classic indicator boards:

Next stop was Ealing Broadway, with a surprisingly nice park by the station:

Then Greenford, and time to find somewhere nice to have lunch:

I’d spotted a green space on the map nearby, but disappointed that the route seemed to be blocked by metal gates:

As I was now walking on the Capital Ring route (last visited in 2018, see Capital Ring Section 9), I investigated further and found that they could actually be opened. On the other side was an information board that explained why:

This certainly wasn’t here when I last visited. Didn’t see any beavers, but did see a small dam:

After going through another gate, the path crossed the Grand Union Canal:

On the other side was a peaceful sports field, ideal for a lunch break:

Walking back to the station, I spotted the Capital Ring signpost by the shopping centre:

There was a new battery powered Class 230 train at Greenford that will eventually replace the diesel trains on this route:

The other end of this branch is West Ealing; this is one of the charging rails for the new trains:

West Ealing has been smartened up for the Elizabeth Line Trains:

Next stop was Paddington – I do like the “clouds” painted on the ceiling of the Elizabeth Line entrance:

Nearby was a clock that a friend had recommended I look out for:

The “man” inside continually wipes out and redraws the hands!

Next stop was Hammersmith, where I changed lines:

From there, I headed home via Edgware Road, Farringdon and London Bridge. A nice day out in the sunshine.