The first Monday of a new timetable is always a precarious time. Never more so that with First Great Western in charge. Their bizarre pact with the Department for Transport seems to involve maintaining and developing a service while the very rolling stock this relies on disappears to other operators around the country. In return for this, an ever increasing payment is made for the privilege of being in charge of what, until recently, was the worst performing rail franchise in the country. Today should have seen the first tangible effects of the latest kink in the strange chain of cascaded rolling stock. Exeter Depot's 142s return to Northern Rail, Arriva's borrowed 150s back to Cardiff and the splitting of the only recently formed 3 car 158s have all been subject of speculation, rumour or premonition in recent weeks. Some of this has indeed come to pass, and the weekend saw some unusual workings returning the 142s northwards, along with 143617 which having completed it's stint in Eastleigh headed for Exeter in fully refurbished form. However, from my point of view as a railway enthusiast the commencement of the first regularly timetabled locomotive hauled service in these parts for many years was perhaps one of the most significant events in a long time.
I turned up for my usual commute into work a few minutes early to account for the very slight retiming. The usual crowd of commuters shared the platform, their ranks swelled a little as the early London train had yet to turn up. I speculated on the likely arrangements for cycle stowage with a colleague who also knew what to expect today. Almost exactly on time a high intensity headlamp appeared in the mist and slowly, 67017 hummed into view hauling a rake of three blue and grey Mk 2 carriages along with a maroon BSO (a late substitute so it seems). The mist and gloom of the morning scuppered any hope of a picture of this inaugural arrival, but at least spared me 'coming out' as a crank to the assembled platform of co-commuters! Hopped aboard and watched the events as the locals milled about and the EWS guard tried his best to convince them that this really was going to Bristol, and that the 'Inter-City' branding was nothing to do with the London train! We left a few minutes down due to the confusion, but were back on time by arrival at Weston. We watched the train depart amid similar scenes of bewilderment and uncertainty, a former colleague later sending me a message to say she had "travelled on the oldest train ever today" today!
Whether this is the right diagram for this set aside and quite apart from any preference I harbour as an enthusiast, this is perhaps the sign that the relationship between FGW and DfT is changing, and that our needs as customers are being recognised. There is talk of further sets of LHCS appearing, including a 'go anywhere' set to be shared between First operated franchises to cover problems and special events. In any event, I look forward to my regular journey in a little more style than I'm accustomed to - for a while at least.
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!
It's not been a good week around here for rail users. Since the new timetable began on Monday, First Great Western have either suffered some rotten luck, or have fallen prey to an entirely predictable series of problems depending on your viewpoint. According to a letter published following a truly disastrous morning peak by Glenda Lamont, Director of Customer Services much of the difficulty was caused by maintenance contracts ending on the evening prior to the timetable change. As a result of this a number of defective units were returned to FGW, and despite heroic efforts staff were unable to prepare them for service. The resulting short formations and cancellations made local and national news as passengers were turned away from wedged trains.
The facts of the case are perhaps stranger. Indeed the contracts with Arriva Trains Wales at Canton and with EWS at St. Blazey did end on Sunday evening. However, FGW's new £8 million DMU maintenance facility at St. Phillips Marsh was not ready for use. Even more confusing given Ms Lamont's flak-dodging semi-apology was the decision to store a total of eight units of stock - four single-car Class 153s at the defunct Eastleigh works, and four two-car Class 158s at Reading. Despite these events being widely reported - at least in Railway circles, by midweek pictures of units lying dormant in Canton were shown on local news with varying reports of the fleet's availability claiming in some cases that as many as 132 of 138 units as available. Patently untrue at the time.
My own experiences varied. I arrived at Highbridge in driving rain on Monday to find the new 0740 1A09 Highbridge-Paddington waiting at the platform, buffet car invitingly open and only a scattered few locals on board the generous seven-car service. By the evening however, confusion and delay from the mornings cancellations was still causing problems, with Station Manager Melanie Harvey doing the rounds of Weston station, politely and calmly explaining that they really didn't have any idea what was happening, but everything was stopped at Yatton. A similarly confusing sequence later in the week where the 17:58, originally delayed for only a couple of minutes arrived and waited for a passing Cheltenham service. Nothing untoward there. However, fifteen minutes later we were still waiting at Weston with doors open and signal wedged at on. Rumour has it that the box had us as a Weston terminator, and only numerous 'phonecalls to control convinced them otherwise. If they were reading from FGWs error-peppered series of pocket timetables, this would of course be entirely understandable.
Regular readers will remember my high hopes for First back when the franchise began in April. Others will know that I hoped very much to promote and use local rail services more in my professional activities. I can't in all honesty do so after this week. It will take a lot to get the passengers who have abandoned the rails in droves back into trains. As a season ticket holder without a car, I'm a captive audience - condemned to see out the year. An uncomfortable thought at the back of my mind nags - perhaps First felt much more comfortable operating a bus service these past few weeks?
Desperately hoping that last couple of gift items arrive in time. We had an early Christmas dinner to account for seasonal absences. All went well, and even I managed to be a little festive! Got some incredibly nice Bristol Blue Glass items as an unexpected gift. Can't help but think that they're far too good for my humble abode. Later, some pretty intensive planning for the next couple of weeks keeps me awake far too late.
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.
