As I write, the last couple of Wessex Trains services through my local station are on their way. In just a couple of hours the last train will have run (23:55 Paignton-Exeter St Davids), and it will all be over. During the last week, things have accelerated towards the new franchise - station signs getting covered in tape to obliterate the old operator, units losing vinyls, and service running around with a 'Wessex Trains 2001-2006' headboard.
Today, on arriving to catch my last ever Wessex service (8 minutes late, just to keep to tradition!) I noticed a slightly sad message on the departure screens ending 'Wessex Trains 2001-2006 RIP'. In the pleasant spring evening, I also noticed a single enthusiast at the platform end getting a last picture of a Wessex liveried 150. Strange times.
Lost::MikeGTN
I've had a home on the web for more years than I care to remember, and a few kind souls persuade me it's worth persisting with keeping it updated. This current incarnation of the site is centred around the blog posts which began back in 1999 as 'the daylog' and continued through my travels and tribulations during the following years.
I don't get out and about nearly as much these days, but I do try to record significant events and trips for posterity. You may also have arrived here by following the trail to my former music blog Songs Heard On Fast Trains. That content is preserved here too.
