Another in the occasional series of photographs of unusual or notable workings on my doorstep. It's true there isn't much variety in terms of locations here, but I do enjoy the wanders down to the platform end when there is something interesting happening. This time it was Advenza Freight's 57005 which was swapping First Great Western power cars between Laira and St. Phillips Marsh.

It's unusual for me to be able to capture weekday workings, and I hope there are others while I'm on leave.

It's unusual for me to take annual leave during the summer, and even more so at what's been a fairly fraught time. Despite needing to be in the office on Monday, there was an 'end of term' feeling about today. With too much to finish and too little time, I felt stressed and rushed in the build up to today's trip. Had a strange ride up to Wolverhampton yesterday, dogged by stupid authorisation problems with my bank card and the need to trudge across a menacingly chav-infested town centre after hours to stock up on provisions for the trip. So, it felt pretty good to be on the platform this morning despite all the distractions and problems, waiting for the stock to appear. Just a little later than planned, the thunderous sound of 37059 rounding the curve into the station heralded the start of the day's entertainment. Such a contrast to last December when the 'Electric Scot Farewell' tour failed to turn up - and good to see things working out for Spitfire today.

We were soon off, passing Oxley and picking up at Telford and Shrewsbury, where we unusually used platform 3. The pair of 37s weren't playing well together at this point, and we appeared to be running on one loco for much of this leg. Despite this we made good progress along the crucially timed single line section to Chester and then via Helsby and Warrington to Manchester Victoria. Here, someone sensibly slipped into the cab of 47712 which was providing the train supply, to give us a bit of a shove up Miles Platting bank. Suddenly, a little before we entered Standedge Tunnel, the 37s started to work in multiple and the change in performance was evident! Enjoyed a very quick run via Healey Mills and Castleford before turning south to join the ECML via Gascoigne Wood, Hambleton and Temple Hirst Junctions. Must say a word about the excellent rolling stock too - Spitfire were using the all First Class former Stobart Pullman rake, which belongs to DRS. Most of the branding had disappeared (except oddly, that in the toilets) but what remained was a clean, comfortable and very well appointed rake of Mk 3 stock. Following a very slackly timed run via Grimbsy and a wait at Barnetby, arrived at a rather gloomy Cleethorpes pretty much on time.

I hadn't given much thought to what to do in Cleethorpes for four hours. Some folks planned a walk or bus down the coast for the Light Railway, others had scoped out various pubs. Decided to wander and find old haunts from my last visit here on an All Line Rover in 2005. Did a circuit of the town centre, finding the Comat Hotel up for sale and the surly-staffed Agrah Indian restaurant still apparently operating. Resisted the temptation to head for the Fisherman's Arms where I'd listened to a local telling stories of shipwrecks, and headed instead for the Good Beer Guide listed No.1 and No.2 Refreshment Rooms at the station, sampling the beer at both and watching the Olympic 100 metres final with the locals and sharing their disbelief at Usain Bolt's turn of speed! Joined in the seaside spirit with some pretty mediocre fish and chips before heading back to watch the stock arrive back at the station with 47712 leading.

Another impressive start, and a slight diversion from our outward route travelling via Hebden Bridge and Rochdale to reach a damp Manchester in the dark. Retraced our steps again, but held outside Chester for a right time arrival after an announcement that a lineside fire was causing heavy delays at Wolverhampton. This didn't seem to put the driver off however, and the start from Chester was possibly one of the loudest and most impressive performances I've ever witnessed from a pair of locomotives. Made steady progress back to our drop-off points, despite the heavy rain. No obvious sign of any problems as we cruised into Wolverhampton a few minutes before time. Soon discovered what was up as we stumbled out of the train into a smoke-filled station. Not immediately clear what was on fire. Braved the rain and made the dash under the subway and along the colonnade back to my hotel at the former low level station sight. Looking back, noted the derelict Miller's building next to the station burning. Slunk through a hotel reception full of angry rail passengers. A storming trip in comfortable surroundings, and a great start to a few weeks of interesting trips. Also good to be on a Spitfire tour at last!

In the absence of any plan today I decided to take advantage of First Great Western's 'Take A Mate' offer for season ticket holders. This meant I could get anywhere I wanted on the FGW network (and back) for £20 travelling first class. A second passenger could get the same offer too, but having no mates to take today, I settled for a return to London Paddington with a loose plan to explore the Croydon Tramlink network and to see where I ended up afterwards. There are a few tell-tale white spaces in my Baker atlas around south east London, and if time was available I should be able to fill some of this in. So, feeling much better than this time last week I left on the early train in a surprisingly bright sunrise, changing onto the London bound HST at Weston and settling in for a quiet and smooth journey to the capital.

Negotiated the busy concourse at Paddington and wandered down to the the District Line platforms, flagging a couple of trains before a direct service to Wimbledon arrived. Again a nice easy journey in warm, bright sun once we were out of the tunnels and heading south over the Thames. At Wimbledon, attempted to negotiate the transfer between Underground and Tramlink using an Oyster Card. I consider myself to be a seasoned user of public transport and have been fairly successful in negotiating my way around cities around the world - but the mess of different readers to touch in or out at made things totally unclear. Made my best effort including an attempt to get the reader on the platform to notice my card, and boarded the waiting tram for New Addington in my quest to cover the whole of the system.

The line from Wimbledon follows the alignment of former British Rail metals to Mitcham Junction where it leapfrogs the heavy rail line and heads into Croydon town centre where the line swings northwards to come alongside the railway again at West Croydon where interchange is possible. Here a revenue inspector came on board and told me in no uncertain terms that my attempts to validate my Oyster Card had failed and that I was technically due to pay a penalty fair. Haven't felt quite so foolish since a similar incident in St Louis in 1994 - but at least this time the RPI wasn't carrying a firearm. Pleaded utter confusion and ignorance and kindly, he relented, stepped out and validated the card at West Croydon and told me always to touch in - even when I changed tram. Good advice - as I planned a fair few changes. Proceeded through the centre, past the busy frontage of East Croydon station and eventually out into the suburbs and the seemingly pleasant village centre at New Addington. After agonising about whether I should touch out - and correctly figuring out I shouldn't despite no clear advice on the signage, found a much needed drink and waited for the next tram back to Wandle Park which covered the other side of the circuit around the town centre and deposited me in a sudden rainstorm.

Switched platforms here and made the short leap back to Reeves Corner, then walked to the nearby Church Street stop. This allowed me to change lines and get a tram back around the town centre loop covering the third side of the triangle here, and out to Beckenham Junction passing the former alignment of the Addiscombe branch on the way. So another Tramlink terminus and a chance to change for the Crystal Palace train. This bit of track remains unmarked in my Baker, but stayed with the plan and doubled back on the tram to Arena with a minute to spare before the short hop to Elmers End, the final Tramlink branch to cover. Deposited in a bay on the National Rail station, found myself in an excellent position to cover the 12:07 to Hayes on this equally untravelled branch line. Rebooked, and caught the almost empty eight-car train to Hayes, amazed at how well the times were working out.

Back to London Bridge, covering the rest of this quiet (at least on a Saturday morning) backwater using the Ladywell Loop and the New Cross Spur which is carried on its own viaduct as the lines approach London Bridge. Here there was a choice - I hoped to cover the Caterham and Tattenham Corner branches, and now had the added possibility of the Beckenham Junction service. Instead, and despite the now fairly heavy rain, set off for Tattenham Corner on a trip I'd thought of doing a number of times. The premise was simple - train from London Bridge to Tattenham Corner, a brisk walk to Epsom Downs and a train back to Victoria. Unpacked my coat as the rain was now steady and unrelenting and set off via East Croydon, peeling off the mainline south of Purley and curving west and north to the station on the edge of the downs and close to the impressively large and surprisingly uneven Epsom Racecourse. Here, with only a vague idea of the route I became almost instantly confused. There were roads, but few paths aside from those worn into the grass of the downs. All seemed quiet, rural and desolate. Struck out in what I hoped was the right direction, wishing my GPS would find a signal!

I was getting increasingly wet as I trudged along the deep ruts. I realised this wasn't working well - my stride was wider than the ruts and I resorted to walking through the long grass. Despite being wet, cold and very confused I was actually enjoying this. I haven't been lost for a long time, and the feeling of being out of my depth in countryside in the midst of a massive city was appealing. Crossed a road which led back to the racecourse grandstand and struck out on a rough path beside a golf course. My GPS kicked in just in time to tell me I was near the turning into what seemed to be a fairly innocuous housing development. Clambered back onto the road and plunged into a jungle of a different kind - one of outwardly pleasant but horribly silent, large houses. Two or three cars outside each and not a soul in site. I trudged, soaked and covered in grass, through the tiny cul-de-sac serving all these houses and at the end of the road, found my goal - Epsom Downs station with a train in the platform. Made a dash and got on with seconds to spare before the 14:35 departure. A good thing as the service appeared to be only hourly on weekends. Dried out as I passed on a fairly indirect route via West Croydon, Selhurst and Clapham Junction.

Via a packed Circle Line back from Victoria to Paddington and time for coffee before a relaxing run on the 17:00 to Bristol with a few odd glances at my grass stains and damp ankles in first class! A fine old day of travelling new lines, with a few left for a future trip. The fact that £20 and a travelcard covered the lot is even better.

If all goes to plan, August promises to be a busy old month. So, a fairly gentle plan for the first week - a jaunt around untravelled branch lines in South Wales. Woke feeling dreadful - a nasty case of the wrong beer, the wrong food and the wrong time of day to be getting up. Struggled down to the station and half-dozed my way as far as Bristol. Felt much brighter after the customary breakfast and settled in on the 06:58 to Swansea. This train has been intriguing me for weeks now - ever since the timetable change necessitated getting the 05:50 to Bristol in order to get anywhere useful I've watched this service arrive and depart near-empty. So, good to be settled into a nice first class seat, feeling much better and confirming Mr Spinks suspicion that the train would reverse at Bristol Parkway - it did, in platform 4 to be exact.

So, as the weather brightened up we sped westwards into South Wales. A fair bit of activity and a good few locos out and about, perhaps surprisingly for a Saturday. Noticed we'd lost a fair few minutes - seemingly due to the unloading of bikes from the rear power car which is proving a time-consuming exercise on all of the HST routes since the changes in operating practice associated with the fitting of Selective Door Opening on First Great Western. Concerned about what should have been a comfortable 12 minute connection into the 09:00 to Milford Haven. Need not have worried - 158840 which we'd noted lurking around at Cardiff Central rolled in a little after us, delayed by our train in fact. A swift step to the other side of the platform and we were soon aboard and climbing the bank to Cockett, with Landore depot beside the line.

I hadn't covered the first part of this route for some time as the locomotive-hauled Fishguard trips (and indeed the unit substitutes when the loco didn't show) used the Swansea District Line as far as Llanelli. Soon on familiar ground though, and reminded of the last trip to Carmarthen - a good few years back. Reversed here and covered the first bit of new track for me today - the western leg of the triangle which sets Carmarthen off the mainline, on the stub of the former route to Lampeter and Aberystwyth. At Clarbeston Road, we took the southern fork in the single line, through the busy town of Haverfordwest. Passing the junctions for the fairly extensive network of oil refineries and storage sites, we finally arrived in Milford Haven. The platform was busy with Swansea City fans (heading for a testimonial match against West Brom) and a hen party, decked out in fancy dress and awaiting the return working of our unit, bound eventually for Manchester Piccadilly via the Welsh Marches! Stopped here long enough to get a picture of the busy scene to contribute to my collection of 'units at terminal stations' before boarding again to the surprise of the guard who exclaimed "you didn't stay long!". He couldn't confirm if we'd missed much, as I don't think he'd ever set foot outside the platform either!

The unit filled up with football fans as we headed back to the mainline, and it was good to get a breath of air at Carmarthen. Wandered a little, getting some lunch and enjoying views of the Afon Towy and the former route of the railway, before heading back to the station and waiting in the sun for our next train - First Great Western's summer only HST to Pembroke Dock. Once the hordes had disembarked with their luggage, boarded the oddly quiet train for what turned out to be a very pleasant trip but incredibly slow trip along another new branch. Retraced our steps to Whitland before curving south once again and heading into Tenby where we waited for the local unit to cross. Continued our lazy process, having a chance for a brief chat with the guard and confirming our plans to upgrade to First Class on the return leg. He was happy for us to do so, but couldn't issue a ticket because he didn't carry a machine, so we'd have to wait for the next Train Manager to board at Swansea. Eventually, after numerous unbarriered crossings and a descent through a deep cutting and a tunnel, arrived at Pembroke Dock station. The place seemed abandoned, a fine old canopy over the decaying platform, the building now a pub. At the end of the disused second platform what appeared to be a ramp for loading Motorail wagons. There was a strange and quiet atmosphere in the baking midafternoon sunshine here...

We wandered into the town which seemed near abandoned. There was bunting flying in the street to greet us, but few people around. It was truly odd - the street had all the trappings of a High Street - Woolworths, Specsavers, Boots....but there was almost no-one around. A dangerous looking drunk staggered from a pub behind us for a few steps before disappearing up an alley, and a pretty dark-haired assistant hid in the doorway of a bakery, twisting a plastic bag around her wrist. We pressed on down the hill and found the continuation of the street was mainly hotels. Doubling back we walked through an almost silent shopping arcade which ended abruptly in a deleted car park - both it's entrances blocked with huge boulders. There was life at least in the local Asda, and we brought provisions for the trip home before scuttling back to the station - me utterly bewildered and oddly disturbed by Pembroke Dock, and Mr Spinks more concerned about my wibbling about psychogeography!

Back onto the return working of the HST to find the staff having lunch and lazing in the sun. Found a seat in first and did a crossword in a found newspaper while we waited to crawl back up the branch away from this strange town. This out and back circuit is a long trip by any standards, but was once again well used from Carmarthen eastwards. Following reversals at Swansea and Carmarthen and a chance to attempt to see what was stored at Margam and ADJ, we bailed at Newport to catch a local unit directly home. We didn't ever see a member of staff to pay for our upgrade. A fine day with miles of new track and some interesting sights despite it's strange start. I wonder if I'll ever go back to find out if we really had seen all there was to see at Pembroke Dock?