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Written by Marcus Dawson - 28 Feb 2009
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Location notes
A road over bridge over the west London line just to the north of Kensington Olympia. The location is on one of the entrance road ways to the 'Westfields' shopping centre.
Railway type and traffic
The West London line is the main traffic artery taking traffic from the West Coast and North London lines at Willesden and taking them to the south at Clapham Junction. Passenger traffic consists of London Overground 313s and Southern 377s.
Freight traffic is varied and quite frequent with working from all the major operators.
Environment
You are on a concrete bridge over looking the line in a large empty space left on the bridge. You can only see in one direction from each side of the bridge due to the gap in the middle being big enough for 5 lanes of traffic. So it would be best to pick the location for a specific working rather than a days photography.
Road directions
Directly off the A3220 'West Cross Route' which can be accessed from the A40. If coming into London the A3220 is the junciton just after you see BBC Television center on your right and before the A40 elevated section.

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Shepherds Bush, Westfields map co-ordinates
Parking
Although untried the 'Westfields' shopping centre has places for 4,500 cars. So a space should be easy to find.
Public transport
There is the London Overground station at Shepherds Bush, with services from Willesden Junction, Clapham and Southern workings from Milton Keynes to East Croydon.
A new bus station - White City bus station, Bus routes 31, 49, 207, 237, 260, 607 and C1 will run from their current terminus at Shepherd's Bush via the Westfield Interchange and on to terminate at the White City bus station. Route 148 will run to the bus station via Wood Lane.
Shepherd's Bush also continues to be served by buses 72, 94, 95, 220, 272, 283, 295 and N207, to bus stops within a short walk of Westfield London.

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Amenities
The shopping centre should have pretty much everything you need.
Sun Compass
Sun Compass using Suncalc by brought to you by Vladimir Agafonkin:
It might be necessary to adjust the time to suit your visit, this link should open with the current day.
Shepherds Bush, Westfields

Googly map
Streetmap links
Shepherds Bush, Westfields general view map
Shepherds Bush, Westfields close up map

Windows Local Live Link - image quality may vary
Shepherds Bush, Westfields



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Photographic notes
Basically a one way, at a time, only shot. The favoured shot is north facing and will be better lit from mid day onwards. In the morning the light will be on the east of the line and large shadows will come off the road ramp onto the line. Also the clearance between the line and the ramp is quite tight.
The view over the bridge wall, which is around 5 foot high, is unrestricted. There is a large advertising billboard that will be left of frame and some may prefer longer lens to get over some debris in the car park below.
The south facing view will probably only be reasonably well lit in the summer months during the late evening, but the height of the shopping centre will make this pretty much unattainable.


General views - All photographs © Marcus Dawson unless otherwise stated
Fig 1 - Looking north


Fig 1 - Looking north

Taken at 38mm on a D-SLR, this wide view shows the 'untidy' area in the foreground. A 70mm + Lens will get you over this.

Fig 2 - Looking north


Fig 2 - Looking north

From the east side of the bridge, this view shows how tight the shot is from this side.

Fig 3 - Looking south


Fig 3 - Looking south

From the east side, the new Shepherds Bush Station is just at the end of the track in this shot.

Fig 4 - Looking south


Fig 4 - Looking south

From the west side, the new Shepherds Bush Station is just at the end of the track in this shot.

Fig 5 - The location



Fig 5 - The location

This view, taken from the road way, shows the area in which you stand for figs 1 and 2.

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