I've resisted posting about the events of last Saturday so far. Partly, because I felt incompletely informed and didn't want to add to the spiralling conspiracy theories already being spun by some of the usual suspects. Also because I'm still rather angry about how things happened, I felt I'd probably end up sounding like a petulant little chap who'd had his Saturday ruined. In essence, there are several hundreds of us who all feel the same and one more bleat will be insignificant. For the record though, here is how the day developed from my perspective...
Woke early, still feeling crappy and wondered about the wisdom of doing this trip with a nasty dose of some virus which has been doing the rounds. The thought of a few hours in Glasgow soon got me moving and down to Redditch station for the 06:27 to New Street. Arrived in good time to get coffee, suppress a violent coughing attack and locate the platform with the help of customer services, since once again the charter had not made the screens here. After finishing my coffee, noted that platform 7 was looking rather empty so wandered back up to the concourse to find much confusion and many groups of gibbering enthusiasts providing entertainment for the locals. Noted the tour now on the screen and 'delayed'. Ominous, but not disastrous by any means, and a driver working to a tight schedule means a spirited run! Since talking hurt, listened in to some of the circulating gen - the stock remained at Oxley due to faults, but it was unclear whether the loco was a failure. Suddenly the cry went up "To Wolverhampton!". After checking that my medications hadn't plunged me into some delirious black country version of Braveheart, got myself together. Tried for the 07:57 to Shrewsbury which appeared to be full of frothing bashers, but my tired legs didn't make it - and since Virgin had announced that the 08:03 would connect I wasn't too concerned. So, unexpectedly continued my journey on 390024 and soon found myself on the chilly platforms at Wolverhampton only really a few minutes after the train's booked time here, which was 08:12. All seemed optimistic again. I didn't bother to get a drink - since I'd soon be on the train.
Two hours later, platform one was a sea of discontented folk milling about. The tour was on the screen, still delayed, and bits of gen were circulating - the main one being that the train was not yet cancelled. There was some problem with the stock, which was being sorted. I was convinced people would work on getting this train out - being a finale and all - and whilst the wait was inconvenient and rather painful, it would all be worth it eventually. Found myself near a group of people I took to be Spitfire employees, who remained buoyant - so why shouldn't I? Soon after, a little more positive news via one of the few announcements made regarding the train - 87022 would lead the stock south from Oxley on a test run, looping back around to Birmingham. We watched the rake pass - the loco gleaming, radiating quiet power as it purred by. The DRS stock equally resplendent behind, before giving way to some rancid purple stuff on the back. Not long now, we all thought - much encouraged to have seen the train move. Only at this point did I remember not seeing any labels on the carriages, which I took to be odd. This haunted me a bit, as we settled in to wait for the train to return, but perhaps that would be put right on the test run?
At almost departure +3 hours, people began to get restless again. The gen was that the tour was around the corner at Crane Street, that it would run, and that all being well we'd still head for Glasgow despite a much reduced stopover. It meant my symbolic wander to the Molendinar Burn would have to wait - but I wasn't really in any condition for it. By now I was aching and cold, and my nagging cough assured me of plenty of space on the otherwise packed platforms. We were going to see the 87s off in style, that's what counted. The Spitfire people seemed almost jolly, and we were all rewarded with the sound of a horn and the sight of 87022 creeping forwards into the platform. At last.
The events of the next sixty seconds remain less than clear to me now, so I apologise if I overdo the journalistic tone here. With the stock heading towards me in reverse formation, I started walking back to where First Class would end up. There were still no labels, and I didn't want a scrap for a seat or a struggle through a seething rake of Standard Class coaches doing the same. As I walked, the Customer Information System comfortingly showed the tour, it's original departure time and proudly announced the 'Farewell Electric Scot'. Relieved it was all going to happen, even if it was a little later than expected. Now out from under the canopy I saw a DRS steward in impeccable uniform leaning from the droplight of a beautifully turned out dining coach. He was shaking his head in disbelief, and waving his hands at a small group of punters. "I'm sorry" he was saying "we've been on this train getting ready since 05:30. I just don't understand". Much confusion - word was people were getting on at the front but being asked to leave. The announcer stated that the fault hadn't been rectified and that the train was not ready for boarding yet. The steward, clearly devastated insisted it was all over and how disappointed he was. Suddenly, the Spitfire people were gone - likely swamped by enquirers.
And then the announcer gave the news the train was cancelled and would return to Oxley. As the stock passed slowly out of the platform, I realised I'd not even got a picture of 87022. In one of the First Class coaches, someone sat with his head in his hands, being comforted by a colleague. As the taillight passed me, I thought I better try to find out what was happening. Platform 1 was in chaos - no tour staff, few Virgin staff and a lot of confusion about what to do or where to go. I asked a Virgin staff member about getting back to Birmingham, and he stated that unless I had a valid National Rail ticket I should now leave the station. I showed my tour ticket and he said "No good, sorry". I decided to get the tram back to Birmingham Snow Hill because arguing didn't seem like a good idea just now. I've heard that others had much more sympathetic responses from Virgin though, so perhaps I was just unlucky - or my gravelly voice and unkempt appearance worked against me!
So today, a whole host of non-OTMR fitted locomotives become stored. Some, like the 87s will go on to have useful lives elsewhere, others will of course be scrapped or move into preservation. A great deal has been written about this tour since Saturday - some of it useful insights into the stock faults which appear to have been the main reason for the failure, some of it less helpful frothing about 'the old days'. Overall though, there are a lot of unhappy people out there who feel cheated of a chance to say goodbye to a bit of railway history. We railtour passengers take the reschedulings, re-routings and changes of motive power in our stride, sometimes voting with our feet - but mostly just complaining a bit and getting on with it. I'm sure if this hadn't been such a final opportunity it would have been the same for this tour - but it can't happen again. Spitfire's conduct after the event has been exemplary. Lots of info, promised refunds, much concern and understanding - and people appear to have genuinely accepted that they hate how this has ended more than anyone. It's a shame that on the day they weren't a little more communicative, but that's not entirely down to them - and getting station staff to give explanations is never easy of course.
So that was how things were for me. Bitterly disappointing, and a rather sad end to a sparse year of travels. I won't have nearly the opportunities to get out I have in the past this coming year - and I just hope that I do get the opportunity to travel with Spitfire again sometime.
My penultimate trip of the year, and a rather bittersweet one as I realised today that these excursions may be a much more rare prospect in the future. The proposition was simple - not a lot of new track but plenty of locos and an interesting destination. The good old fashioned 'spin and win' has become a feature of the festive season, and this one promised to be as interesting as ever. After finding my way to Barnt Green in freezing temperatures, I was relieved to see some familiar faces gathering. A cryptic indication on the screens that the service to WMBDEP was on time was also welcome! A little after the due time in fact we saw a headlamp appear over the brow of the incline as 66170 crept from the gloom, leading a dead 66703. Pleased to find the heating on full, and soon settled in for the day with a good supply of paper towels to mop the condensation from the windows. Noted a rather unusually normal looking couple who boarded and sat adjacent to me. He was clearly not happy, and soon got to the stage that every slide of the carriage end door moved him to incandescent anger. She appeared to tolerate his displeasure, but said she now understood why someone's wife 'never came on these trips'. He didn't like the people, the coaching stock, the duration of the tour, the view from the window...anything at all really. By the time we made our scheduled stop at Birmingham International, despite having eating their sandwiches from real china plates which they'd brought along, the couple were no happier and after lots of hushed but angry debate, bailed moments before departure. By my calculations, the best part of £200 wasted! And enthusiasts are supposed to be strange...
More interestingly, International saw our first change of traction - with 66170 coming off the train and giving way to 66703 which was to take us forward. A very swift loco swap and a prompt departure ensued - not at all like the usual pace of events on these tours.
Dozed a bit as we headed out via Kenilworth, with a booked pathing stop at Banbury on the Up Goods. Had a look out of the window and noted some hurried and rather destructive looking maintenance going on a few coaches ahead as Riviera staff pulled great lengths of wiring from the underside of a coach. Prepared for the worst, but was pleasantly surprised by a timely departure, apparently with no bits left behind!
Snaked into London via a convoluted route through Greenford where we took in the rare West to South curve, then Acton Wells and so on to access Wembley EUFOC where 92029 was waiting. This loco took us via an equally torturous route onto the Southern at Factory Junction. Having done this bit fairly regularly over the last couple of months, enjoyed the view and the pleasant atmosphere on board rather than obsessively noting which line we were on. Also noted this was my first 92 haulage to stray into third-rail territory too. Some surprise among passengers too, as we passed 66009 Union of South Africa steaming around the capital on a VSOE luncheon trip. Through Denmark Hill and Nunhead and on towards deepest Kent once again, the third time in as many months in fact - despite my statements that it's not a place I often choose to travel to.
Arrived at Dollands Moor to find it strangely quiet and deserted. There are few freights through the tunnel at present, and it's evident as the yard was empty but for a few locos, some of which had tripped down from Willesden as we'd been winding our way around London. 73209 and 205 soon appeared seemingly from nowhere, and a further change of traction saw them join the rear of the train for a reversal via Ashford then to Tonbridge. Some very spirited running on the 'race track' section of flat straight track saw us making excellent time via Godstone to Redhill. Things slowed to a crawl here, as a fatality at East Croydon was sending everything via Stoats Nest Junction, leaving us queuing for a path through the area. After some worryingly slow running, we continued at a quicker pace via Crystal Palace and Clapham Junction, gaining back most of the ten minutes delay we'd notched up. Once again negotiated the curves at Old Kew and Kew East Junctions to find our way onto the WCML at Willesden for a timely arrival at a very chilly Euston.
A quick trip onto the concourse to buy food, then aboard again with Freightliners' 90016 at the head of the train. Photography near impossible in the dark evening. Soon away with some nifty work from the 90 achieving a largely on time run up the WCML despite a slightly delayed departure. Then a slight detour via Hanslope Junction to Northampton - again a regular visit of late. After a few sections of slow running, gathered pace again after Rugby and found our way into Birmingham New Street a minute early! I had a choice here, wait onboard and hope for a quick loco change, or bail and get the next Redditch train. The plan was to stay on the tour, get the last loco for the run to Barnt Green via Camp Hill and to meet the very same Redditch service at Barnt Green a few minutes after we arrived. Decided to stick with it, and despite there being no sign of it when we arrived, 66158 soon appeared and was attached in time for a one-minute early departure. Made Barnt Green with minutes to spare, with the headlights of my homeward train in the distance as I watched the tour disappear over the bank and head homeward to Gloucester.
This was a nice, easy tour - not complicated and run within seconds of the right time - a rarity these days. As I said, it's a rather glum time for me and I wonder if I'll see many of these tours for a while. This reminded me what I'll miss - decent people, interesting places and unusual traction. It's a fine way to spend a Saturday, whatever the couple who bailed at International think!
The curse of First Great Western strikes me again. After the touch and go game of roulette with cancellations of Taunton-Great Malvern services on Friday, today it's the mainline which is causing grief. There seem to have been numerous times now that I've booked to return from a weekend trip and been scuppered by a cancellation at Paddington. Whether it's lineside fires, breakdowns - or as in this case oversleeping on-train staff, it's provided a slightly bitter ending to some excellent weekends. Today, it's really not a major issue, however, the poor Sunday service to Highbridge presents some challenges. The staff at Paddington were also clearly unhappy and genuinely concerned that they had to apologise for yet another problem entirely within the company's control. The ongoing resourcing and rolling stock issues present a fairly poor public face, and its going to be hard to convince customers that things are changing behind the scenes whiles this kind of situation continues to occur regularly. Naturally, the performance figures which the industry now holds so dear will also suffer.
On a more positive note the refurb on the HSTs is great, and I'm sitting in a comfortable, light and airy Mk III FO carriage writing this. The company seems to want to provide quality, but whether its the infrastructure, the Department for Transport or some other external problem, there appear to be constant barriers to progress. Having managed the odd project, I know how frustrating these bits outside your control can be, and I feel some empathy with the incoming MD, Andrew Haines.
On a beautiful Sunday morning heading westwards in the comfort of a newly refreshed carriage, it's easy to be positive about things despite the delays.
It seemed strange to be getting up so late for a tour, and I almost panicked on a couple of occasions looking at the clock as I pottered around my hotel room getting ready to leave. A leisurely walk to Euston which really only just seemed to be waking up. I'd arrived early in the hope of breakfast and a good look around, but found queues at almost all of the few outlets trading at this early hour. Settled for a big cup of Starbucks coffee to wake me up, and a look around the station noting 90019 on the front of the Lowland Sleeper. No information on our train, but the general tide of enthusiasts toward the Silverlink platforms directed me to 11, where familiar pair 37410 and 37417 were rumbling away in preparation for the trip. Boarded and settled in, with only a minor panic about having no change for coffee - which didn't matter as First Plus seemed to include free refreshments - albeit at a rather erratic frequency.
After a noisy start from Euston, we progressed as far as Willesden TMD where we sat for operational reasons for quite a while. Onto the DC lines now, and soon enough new territory for me once we had passed Willesden Junction Low Level. This is absurdly rare track for locomotive hauled trains, and we made steady progress via the Watford High Street deviation, taking the equally rare link back onto the mainline just short of Watford Junction. With everyone now on board, we made a dash up the line to Tring in order to reverse.
One of the attractions of today was the rather rare visits to deopt lines. I'm informed the planning and safety case for this tour was torturous in the extreme, and that it only happened due to the sterling efforts of Silverlink and Pathfinder staff. With dire warnings not to flush the lavatories on depot property we made our first visit of the day to Wembley. Firstly though we were informed that the Carriage Line was occupied and we'd be offered an alternative. Some grumbling from the back about missing rare track was silenced by the announcement of the alternative - a trip through the shed. We crept into the site, bemused depot staff looking up at us as we passed. A real treat, and some almost unique track into the bargain!
Back to the Willesden area again, and onto the City Lines to climb to meet the line from the High Level station at Kensal Green. A sedate but pleasant trip around the North London Line next, which is still one of the finest ways to see the city, and remains a favourite bit of track for me. Much discussion of the various curves which fall away from the line to allow freight access to other routes - and I confess I couldn't quite figure out which I'd done and which I hadn't without referring back to older records. In any case, finally reached Barking via the Channelsea Curve and Forest Gate Junction, thundering into platform 7 much to the surprise of the locals waiting here.
The next run took us along the line to Gospel Oak affectionately known as 'the Goblin'. This line is an excellent example of how community involvement in a local railway can produce results, and despite it's reputation for overcrowding, poor rolling stock and crime at stations, Silverlink seem to have made a real success of it - with further improvements to come from the Overground project. Another fine run along the rooftops of London, as far as Kensal Green where we took the line through the High Level station at Willesden Junction and headed south over the Thames to Barnes and Clapham Junction before turning northwards once again onto the West London Line which deposited us almost back where we started for a fast run up the WCML to Bletchley.
We paused briefly at Bletchley before creeping slowly into the depot, again some curious staff were ready for our arrival, and we noted depot shunter 'Catherine' outside the shed, ready to assist our train. After a brief stop for staff pictures, 08874 was attached to the front of our train, and we returned to Bletchley station for a photo stop with the real Catherine (after whom the shunter is named) posing beside her namesake. When the complexities of splitting Silverlink into it's constituent Overground and London Midland components is done, Bletchley TMD will almost certainly close which will see the end of a tradition of railway employment in the area. Despite the positive changes in the industry at present, there are some sad times ahead for some.
Soon ready to depart once again for a spin along the Marston Vale line to Bedford. It soon became apparent that we'd been allowed far more time than necessary for this part of the itinerary, and we sat outside Bedford station near the River Great Ouse for twenty or so minutes before heading in, making a swift reversal and retracing our steps. However, before reaching Bletchley we climbed away from the line to the station and onto the flyover. At this point, the collective assembly of track bashers fell silent as for many of us this was the highlight of the day. We climbed sedately onto the impressive concrete structure, built to secure the future of the East-West line which was done away with by cuts a few short years afterwards. A gentle curve over the WCML then a much longer run along the former Oxford route than expected to Swanbourne Siding - now a reversing point for stone trains, but formerly an important cross-country route. Realised that I'd now covered both ends of this bit of track, to Claydon in the west and now to Swanbourne in the east. It must surely be time to consider this line's utility again? Despite the darkness and the cool November night, lots of people were hanging out of windows as we crept along the branch - the first passengers here for many many years, treated to an impromptu firework display by the locals! After reversal, back across the flyover and a curve to the left to descend to Denbigh Hall South Junction and regain the mainline. Another quick run now to Northampton, passing through the station and heading into the ultra modern new Siemens depot at Kings Heath - built specifically to maintain the fleet of Class 350 'Desiro' units which provide local services between Birmingham and Euston. Amazed at how clean and orderly the place seemed in comparison to more 'traditional' depots we'd visited today. The rows of quiet units were almost eerie in the quiet dark sidings. Another reversal, secure in the knowledge we'd been where no other passenger train had!
Our final leg was a dash back to Euston. Our locomotives performed superbly, but a possession on the slow lines meant we didn't get to cover Kilburn Up and Down Goods loop. However, this meant a high speed run along the fasts, with a spirited arrival at Euston as the driver let off several blasts on the horn and treated the station to a noisy taste of thrash. A cracking day out thanks to Silverlink and Pathfinder, where so much could have gone wrong but didn't. Much will change on the railway map in the coming months, but with dedicated people who can organise this kind of trip in the industry the future looks optimistic.
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.
