My day started out in Liverpool at Liverpool Lim Street station catching the 08:09 from Platform 10 with London North Western Railway taking me to Derby. I changed trains at Crewe to catch the 09:10 with East Midlands Railway on a Class 170. It was a very early start for me and I was very tired but I was really looking forward to the day at Alstom.

Once onboard, the train wasn’t so busy to begin with but as we travelled towards Derby it became very busy with families & children all heading for Derby to the Greatest Gathering at Alstom in Derby. Apart from that the Journey was rather smooth however we did arrive into Derby a few minutes late.

However I was greeted at Derby Station by the emblem along side that I was told there were Shuttle buses to take us to the main entrance of the event its self, which was great which meant I didn’t have to walk. I would be on my feet pretty much all day at the Greatest Gathering.

Once I got to the main entrance, it was quite a long walk to the ticket areas. Eventually I made it onto the site and I was blown away. Honestly it was so cool arriving into such a unique place that is Alstom in Derby. I was so excited and my first port of call was to go and find 507 001 which was located in the EMU Section, however I was first greeted by a Class 331 specifically 331013 just near the main entrance.

Next I headed towards the EMU Shed where a number of units including 507001 was being featured, other units such as 313201, 455868 & even a Class 350106 by London Northwestern Railway (LNR) Was also in attendance. Another one that was interesting to me was the Class 456 by South Eastern in Network South East Livery as I haven’t seen it in person until Saturday just gone.

After visiting the EMU Shed, I decided to have a wonder round and see some of the other exhibits in the Alstom site, from steam locos to diesels and so much more. At around half two in the afternoon I was booked to take a trip out on the test track towards the edge of the site on an Elizebeth line train which was originally built here.

The whole day was just really enjoyable despite being tired having not got enough sleep the night before. I really hope that something like this happens up here in Merseyside and Manchester when we celebrate 200 years of the Liverpool – Manchester railway opening in 1830.

I even had a few people say hello to me who recognised me from YouTube & on TikTok. I am finally back and enjoying creating content once again and I have made a video which you can find at the end of this post. Being here and seeing all the locomotives, trains & multiple units up close was such a surreal experience. It reminded me of the time I got to visit Kirkdale on Merseyrail.

Unfortunately I no longer have the photos from that trip, however it was a similar surreal experience something I may never get to do ever again to explore and walking along side some fantastic trains & locos a like. If you have attended the event it’s self I would love to hear what your thoughts and opinions of it were.

Thank you so much for reading and joining me on this journey, if you would like to watch the video I filmed whilst attending the event, you can do so below. Do please head over to my YouTube Channel & Subscribe drop a like & a comment and thanks for stopping by. Hopefully my next blog will be another bus adventure so watch this space.