After a run out to west Wales yesterday, decided to head for the south coast today, on a trip to Portsmouth using one of the free Day Return ticket vouchers which Wessex Trains have distributed via the local newspapers. It seems everyone waited for the last week of the offer (which has run for the past month) to travel. Since the ticket is valid from 0930 onwards, the 0934 from Weston was extremely full. Mainly, it has to be said, with older people who probably haven't used the network for some time, and appeared a bit bewildered by things.
Changed at Bristol to find Platform 9 heaving with bodies awaiting the increasingly delayed 1022 to Portsmouth Harbour. Added myself to the crush and smiled wryly at the 1042 arrival of a single Class 150. The journey was reasonably uncomfortable at first, but the crowds thinned out after the popular destinations of Bath and Salisbury. Unfortunately, missing our path and further delays en route caused the train to be cancelled and turned around at Fareham. I left the train at Southampton Central, leaving a bunch of passengers wishing to travel on to Portsmouth to haggle with a South West Trains employee about using their 'Wessex Only' freebie voucher on SWT services!
A nice quiet run back on the next Wessex service, getting the chance to have a good look at what was happening at the Southampton Maritime Freightliner terminal. Not a hugely successful trip, but its always nice to get out on the rails for free, even if you don't quite get to your destination!
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.
