Since the timetable change last winter, I've been meaning to take a day off mid-week to cover the interesting locomotive-hauled diagram which was designed to fill some of the gaps left by South West Trains discontinuing services west of Exeter. It's been a while since it was possible to pick up a reasonably timed service beyond Taunton from my home shack - not since Alphaline days in fact, when this was one of my regular wanders when things were perhaps a little stressful or strange. Moving forward, the resort has seen me visit chasing locos too - the Class 47 hauled Manchester-Paigntons during the late 1990s, then the Class 67 powered Virgin Holidaymaker additionals back in 2004.
Today it was just a familiar pair of 67s as used on the local service for a while, but the walk out to Goodrington Sidings took me back to happier - and indeed some rather bleaker times. Not much has changed - a few more shops are closed, a few less people around perhaps. But the sight of a train on the level crossing in town still draws waves from the youngsters and creates something of a spectacle among the Bank Holiday crowds.
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.
