One day of my Wessex Rover left, and not much going on. Heard early that the Weymouth 31s were not out today - not entirely sure I could manage another hot, crowded slog down to the coast anyway. Also considered West Wales once again, hoping for a 37. Finally decided just to wander, and not to spend any money.

So, a swift run to Cardiff. Watched the Rhymney 37s for a bit, then to Bath. Tried to buy a new notebook from a stockist who I knew carried them, but found they didn't any longer. The city was heaving with tourists, who seemed to assume that everything had been deliberately made 'quaint' for their pleasure - including the hairdresser 'Nick Brain' - who's name they thought was some sort of clever pun. 31454 and 31128 passed ECS at speed - heard they later resumed the Weymouth diagram.

Back to Bristol - briefly running with pet HST powercar 43130. Up to Cheltenham, then to Newport. High-velocity wander around town, remembering locations of bookshops and watering holes from earlier visits. In the late afternoon heat, the place felt murderous - crowds of drunken Welshmen and even more frightening screaming women outside the winebars and cocktail lounges of Newport! Picked up a slim collection of Nicholas Moore poetry in a shop which now proudly boasted of a licensed 'Adult XXX' section upstairs! Back to Bristol once more...

Long fester waiting for traincrew delayed on a Severn Beach service, during which the Network Rail Measurment Train arrived.

Queues for Weston train full of pointless and factually incorrect complaining which was driving me nuts. A hot and bothersome end to a strange but entertaining day.

Took advantage of the 'calm before the storm' of the early weeks of June to take a day off work, using up some of the masses of extra hours I've done lately. Took the opportunity to get up late, waste time, and finally get around to contacting my mobile phone company to upgrade to a new handset.

The real business of the day however was to try to get some mileage in behind both sets of Wessex Trains' Class 31's - including a first ride on the newly repainted 'flying plum' liveried set.

Started with a run behind the surely cursed 143611 - slow running, and looped at Yatton - although this has happened to me several times previously on 2W20. Time to wander a bit at Temple Meads, then onto the 1252 Brighton service as far as Westbury. Lots of the usual faces aboard, many piling in at Bradford-on-Avon seemingly having done the early Weymouth turn. 31454 and 31128 running very smoothly.

A quick dash under the subway at Westbury and onto a jammed 153 back as far as Bath Spa. Time to wander a little in Bath, in the hope of finding some food and drink. Back to the station for the 1446 to Weymouth, running with Wessex liveried 31601 at the front. Both first and last carriages locked out of use - apparently the front is due to a fire onboard this morning! A solid run, but hampered by some track problems at Witham and slow running later. ETH fails too, meaning no lights or air-conditioning. Just like the old days of Crosscountry haulage - wedged Mk 2 stock with no aircon! Utterly pitch black through the tunnels too, much to the delight of excited children heading for the seaside.

Quick change of ends at Weymouth. Packed solid from here - stood all the way back to Temple Meads. Heavy loading and a late arrival means a late departure. Some passengers trying to make an 1820 connection from Castle Cary inspire the driver to attempt to make up time in style! Some really quick running throughout. Open vestibule windows and wonderful countryside wreak havoc with the hayfever however! Ventilation is welcome as the lack of air, plus lots of hot and bothered passengers has made the interior of the stock quite uncomfortable!

Connection at Temple Meads not as tight as I'd expected so grabbed a quick snap of 31601 before heading off to Weston. A long, tiring and hot day - but some good running.

Really wasn't sure if the Class 31s would be out and about today, since Bank Holidays seem to play havoc with their diagramming. Reasonably assured from some mailing list posts, so set out at 0745 for Bristol. As we crawled through Bedminster awaiting a platform at Temple Meads, noted 31454 and 31128 sitting outside the station - a good sign, but a shame it wasn't the freshly painted Wessex Trains liveried set - which I think looks pretty good, whatever others might say!

Just time to grab a coffee before heading for the train which hadn't been cleaned. Aside from that, both locomotives sounded in good form. As ever the first coach was full of cranks - with a subtle alteration from the norm - it seems some cranks "other halves" had demanded a day at the seaside today!. Took my usual seat half way along the coach - close enough to hear the locomotive, and far enough back to see it on the curves.

Ran to time all the way down, with some stretches of very good running indeed. Noted how the Mark 2 coaches seemed to load and unload much quicker than a DMU. Quite busy as we progressed toward Weymouth too. Very pleasant Wessex countryside views too.

Weather had deteriorated on arrival. Had the choice of staying for a few hours and getting the service on its second trip of the day, or returning on the 1100. Decided that I'd see how the weather was later, and hopped back abord behind 31128. Wise move, as the 31s returned to Barton Hill after arriving at Bristol and didn't work the afternoon trip at all - I'm guessing availability of suitable drivers isn't great on Bank Holidays.

Over to Cardiff to see if anything interesting was happening around the Third Division Playoff. Arrived a few minutes before kick-off to find Cardiff City Centre in disarray. The walk along the Bus Station to the shops is never pleasant - a sort of beggars alley with greasy pavements and a drab look about it. The main streets were a really dreadful mess - can only imagine what the two more major games produced. Eerily deserted except for clumps of Heddlu Trafnidiaeth Prydeinig near the station and in the streets, with more security guards than shoppers on what is normally a busy day I'd imagine. Strangely, as three'o'clock passed, the people of Cardiff appeared slowly, blinking into the devastation of their city centre. Must be awful to have to endure this several times each year.

After a brief farce with the 15:30 Portsmouth Harbour service being delayed whilst a very sick looking 143611 was tacked on the front, headed back to Bristol. 143611 formed the Taunton service too, so stayed in my seat back to Weston, wondering if the ailing unit would make it home. It did, just...

Didn't seem to hang around for more than a few minutes anywhere today. This means, in effect almost ten hours of continuous rail travel. Pretty exhausting, even for me! Out on the 0809 from Weston, and a quick change to the 0905 to Cardiff which was awaiting departure in the Platform 1 bay. The presence of a large number of West Ham shirts persuaded me of the wisdom of getting a seat on this one, and I'm glad I did. We left a few minutes early, packed to the gills. They were a good natured bunch of fans though, and their singing was actually pretty tuneful. Given the result I don't imagine there was singing on the return journey.

Prepared myself for the journey with food and drinks, since I wasn't entirely sure what facilities were at Fishguard Harbour. Waited patiently for the 1016 - which duly arrived. A two-car Class 150 in place of the expected locomotive and coaches! It seems that short-formations on the Valley Lines along with the additional pressure of the football gave the loco hauled stock work elsewhere. Almost despaired, but couldn't really afford not to use the ticket, so hopped aboard for nearly three hours of DMU travel. Luckily the 150 was refurbished, and careful seat selection provided reasonable legroom. Not the journey I'd planned however. The service became very crowded from Llanelli onwards too with passengers for Ireland.

Some confusion over the routing of this service too. South Wales Mainline to Briton Ferry, thence via the Swansea District Line to Morlais Junction. On the return leg we were booked nearly an hour to do the 22-minute average journey from Bridgend to Cardiff. Chatting to the (always friendly and forthcoming) Arriva Trains staff revealed more confusion. The loco hauled service was supposed to go via the Vale of Glamorgan (hence the timings), but this replacement DMU was booked via Leckwith Junction and Ninian Park into Central. All very weird. Still, this meant an earlier than expected arrival - and a chance to get well away from Cardiff before the match ended.

The journey itself was pleasant enough - some quite striking scenery in West Wales, and from what I saw, Fishguard seemed like a pleasant little town. On the return leg, the tide was in south of Carmarthen, which made for some nice views too. Despite the disappointments and confusion, a fine day out with plenty of new track.