Freight Trainspotting from Paddington?

[csinc]

Hello,

I will be in London staying near Paddington, and I was wondering if anyone had a suggestion on a nearby station to trainspot freights from.

Thank you,

Adam

 

[GW43125]

If you make your way down to West Ealing, you'll get all the freights coming from Acton and Ealing heading west. I think the next place you'll get a decent selection of freight is probably Tilehurst (other side of Reading) after that.

Hope this helps.

 

[Antman]

Hello,

I will be in London staying near Paddington, and I was wondering if anyone had a suggestion on a nearby station to trainspot freights from.

Thank you,

Adam

I think the West London line has quite a bit of freight?

 

[Tim R-T-C]

Kensington Olympia on the West London line has a nice long platform making it good for photography.


Colas 70802 on a departmental service by Timothy Young, on Flickr

Ealing Broadway is good for freight near Paddington, but can get a little busy and no access to the fast line platforms any more. Both can be quite inconsistent for workings.


60059 with Colnbrook to Lindsey tanks by Timothy Young, on Flickr

Tilehurst as said above is good further out and gets the Freightliners to the south coast - probably the busiest of the lot and you can get there on a Thames Valley Rover which also allows you to head up and down the line between there and Paddington all day.

Although the view is quite different now with the OLE, but I think the platforms are still open/


66568 passes Tilehurst on a Crewe to Southampton working by Timothy Young, on Flickr

 

[E_Reeves]

I like reading west. You get the freight coming up from the west that doesn't pass through Reading itself (as some turn left and head towards Didcot) and you have the services from Reading that are going to the west and will not pass through Didcot area.

 

[steveandrews]

It's also a 15 minute tube journey to Willesden Junction.

 

[csinc]

Thank you everyone for the advice!