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!
This morning, as the new railway timetable wreaked havoc on my working day, the mournful sounds of the cattle market drifted across Highbridge for the last time. From next week, the farmer's carts will no longer clog the roads on their way to the market near the Highbridge Hotel. Instead, they'll trek down to the new facility at Huntworth, provided by our local regeneration specialist, Mead Realisations. The Rural Business Centre is a bold and exciting move which will provide state-of-the art facilities - but the loss of the markets in Taunton and Highbridge will be grievous - particularly for our little town.
When locals talk about the corner of land between Clyce Road and the hotel, stretching back as far as the former wharf, they mutter about 'more flats' and shuffle off in dismay. It's probably exactly what will happen - the one positive being an undertaking to restore and improve the Grade 2 listed hotel to it's former glory. Once again, the character and balance of the town has changed - not necessarily for the better. It's been a little harder to get here since the bridge was narrowed, but the lack of farm traffic slowly heading into town each Monday will be yet another blow to local businesses. If the promises are kept, and regeneration turns from an admirable paper scheme into a reality, then maybe all this won't be for nothing?
As another huge truck rattled by a few moments back, I instinctively turned to the window and found myself gazing directly into the face of a cow likely facing it's final journey. Strange to think these will be some of the final journeys in another sense.
As I write, the annual Guy Fawkes Carnvial in Burnham (which of course pays lip service to Highbridge but never comes here) has just finished, and the giant unwieldy floats are snaking their way back to points south and west of here, shaking my house and filling the room with flashing warning lights as they pass. There have been lots of issues around access for the procession this year, from overhanging scaffolding on the procession route to the challenge of navigating the new ASDA roundabout. But the people want the carnival, and somehow it's been achieved again, despite all the handwringing and buck passing.
We've had our new supermarket for a week now, and despite the strange bout of anti-ASDA feeling in relation to the carnival, it seems that the locals have embraced their new neighbour. New pathways have opened - a strange alley which leads from the once quiet cul-de-sac of Grange Avenue into the wide and windswept carpark of the store, and a curious and almost unofficial exit into a back lane serving the rear of Church Street. The great hangar full of goodies seems bigger inside than out - more choice and cheaper stuff than we've had for years in Highbridge. The staff are all familiar local faces. It's hard not to enjoy the novelty of unmoderated consumption in a town where shops close more often than open.
On the first evening I visited to find some local types practically brawling - they were unhappy that 'Burnham people' were coming to look around but not buying. One older Highbridge resident standing in the doorway like an unofficial Town Crier berating the visitors from the north. Another resident complained that the store was not organised the same way as our other rival supermarket. But the layout is strangely familiar to anyone who has ever visited an ASDA or a Walmart store. The same items in the same order. Oddly comforting and surprisingly not dull.
And so Highbridge changes - more planning permission for more apartments will follow to complete the site. But sometimes despite the modern warehouse style supermarkets and monotonous three-storey flat blocks, new views open across the Somerset Levels - and raising my eyes above the line of the trolley park this evening I caught a glimpse of Brent Knoll, ancient and timeless in a crack of golden light between the clouds.
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.
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.
