Which busy London stations are photographer friendly

[Tim R-T-C]

Hello,

I am in London for a couple of days and have an afternoon spare for photography on Friday. I used to frequent Clapham Jct., Wilsden Jct, Harrow & Wealdstone, Finsbury Park and Stratford stations for a good mix of trains, but I was wondering which locations are still photographer friendly and which still give a good mix of passenger and freight traffic.

Cheer.

 

[heart-of-wessex]

Clapham seems to have no issues still not that I have had or heard of any problems, but Kensington Olympia is another freindly enviroment too (though less on the passenger side of things). One photter even took me up the road to show me a cheapo cafe place that is up the road. Top gen and very nice cheaper coffee too!

 

[TheJRB]

Sorry if this is a little late for a response, but I'll write this anyway!

Indeed, Clapham's great still and Stratford still offers good variety (especially if you like Underground and DLR stocks as well as the occasional 90 a little more rarely, a fast 357). Other places I recommend that I've been to this year are Barking, Bethnal Green (you can see everything out of Liverpool Street there) and Ealing Broadway.

Of the London Terminals: parts of Victoria, Fenchurch Street and Liverpool Street are a little dark; St Pancras is massive and there are some great spots for photos of the Eurostar platforms; parts of King's Cross are quite dark, but one platform which you see when you first enter the station is long and without barriers and you can get some nice photos there; I haven't spent much time at Euston and Paddington; Marylebone's a really good place and if you wait a little while you might see a 67 which is a nice bonus; Waterloo's an interesting place and I imagine if you head to the brighter platforms towards the old International part, you might get some good photos and the last time I was at the terminus part of London Bridge, it was practically a building site and rather dark.

Also, you might want to visit the "Had problems taking pictures of the railways?" thread which has some interesting accounts.

Now that's the end of that essay!

 

[electra27000]

Other places I recommend that I've been to this year are Barking, Bethnal Green

Bethnal Green is a good location, with the opportunities to the west of the station, looking towards Liverpool Street being particularly good. But, I'd advise caution about taking images - keep your wits about you and don't flash your camera around - given the reputation the station has for being the meeting point the local yobbos. I've been there, but never stayed long if I've been on my own...

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Bethnal Green isn't that bad ( unless things have deteriorated in the past few months ); I've spent hours there on my own on several occasions in the past three or four years with no trouble at all; the only potential incident of note was when another photographer decided the rules didn't apply to him and he went past the barriers onto the unkempt rough area at the London end of the up platform for about ¼ hour before walking back again.