Took advantage of todays later start to be rather lazy this morning, and finally caught the 0934 south from Weston, heading for Exeter to see the convoy to Meldon Quarry. Having heard about this one prior to the holiday season, I was expecting to see a few of the usual suspects along the way. An extended wait for a Voyager at Taunton which was announced as 22 late and 'receiving attention at Crewe'! A flurry activity around some rather colourful combinations of livery on Arriva Trains Wales services, and some unexpected visitors!

On arriving at Exeter, noted an unusually high proportion of cranks around already. Quick trip up the bank to Exeter Central, then back to St Davids and settled in to wait for 5V84. During the wait, news drifted over of a rare visitor at the other end of the station - one of the cascaded ScotRail units now with Arriva. Wandered over for a look and a picture. Noted that I'd seen this one last between Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Back to the end of platform 5 with a now very large group of enthusiasts. I suppose that on a Bank Holiday when people have spent the last couple of weeks indoors, this relatively unusual working was always going to be well attended. Just a few minutes behind schedule, the convoy descended the curve from Central with 66708 and 73204 leading 205028 and 205032.


The train cruised slowly non-stop through Exeter St Davids, and headed north to Cowley Bridge Jcn and thence to Meldon. Noted how good the blue and yellow GBRf livery looked on both locomotives, almost reminiscent of BR blue in some ways! Stayed for a little longer to chat and watch what passes for an evening rush hour on a Bank Holiday monday here.

Friends and regular readers will know my views on how charity organisations work here, but I feel I must post a link to the Disaster Emergency Committee which is accepting online donations in connection with recent events in South East Asia. Several organisations including British Telecom have donated their services freely to provide this service, and donating this way avoids frustratingly busy phone lines and maximises the amount of your donation which reaches the areas in need.

This got me thinking about the role of the internet in such tragic circumstances. Certainly, I've found myself turning to the net for news over the past five years when world events occur - naturally September 11th 2001 springs to mind. This however is a global tragedy of an unprecedented scale - the vast area affected by the tsunami, and the many thousands of tourists from all parts of the world visiting the area guarantees that no nation will be unaffected by the events.

I urge everyone who is part of the uniquely global internet community to participate in the relief effort for this global disaster.

After blowing away Christmas cobwebs last year with a day freezing at Westbury, decided to continue the tradition with a trip to Newport today. News of a visiting steam train, diverted services and a reasonably normal day of freight despite the holidays provoked a flurry of text messages. A respectable crowd assembled in the usual spot on what started as a crisp clear morning.

Quite a bit going on at Godfrey Road throughout the day, and plenty of Class 60 workings provided much work for Mr Spinks new tripod! Two out of three of Wessex new three car units made an appearance, and an ex-First North Western Class 175 made a visit, followed by a quick pass through in both directions apparently for driver training purposes.

Unusually frequent quiet spells, perhaps due to the reduced holiday service - but plenty of freight still running including coal empties and trains related to the engineering works between Bristol Parkway and Gloucester, including one top-and-tailed by 60's.



Much confusion about the steam charter, and quite a few people waiting for it despite the day turning colder and damper. Finally heard it was cancelled around lunchtime. The Freightliner ran as expected, with every wagon loaded.


Things seemed to get very quiet later in the afternoon, which along with damp and dark conditions persuaded us to pack up for the day a little earlier than planned. Not before a couple of visits from back-to-back Class 43 power cars. On both occasions it was 43127, with a different partner - presumably running Landore to St. Phillips Marsh and back.


Headed back on a late running and heavily packed diverted Voyager to Bristol. Made plans to reconvene at Exeter St. Davids on Monday for visiting DEMUs. Successful, if chilly last outing of the year!

Back from a few days at my parent's home, generally just relaxing and watching cricket!

I always end up spending quite a time procrastinating about what to do at Christmas. The last couple of years have seen me dashing around - trying to be in several places at once, so it was nice to arrive on Christmas Eve and settle in for a few days. The highlight of course was getting to spend most of Christmas Day with my nephew. He seemed a bit bewildered about everything happening around him, but he just took it in his stride and happily continued practising his new-found raspberry-blowing skills. His mum and dad had serious problems getting all his presents into the car when it was time to leave, such was the volume of gifts.

So, this time around I got a little more involved in things and tried to help out, being aware that everyone in the family has had a rough year, and I surprised myself by enjoying things. I'm by no means a convert to Christmas, but I've realised how important my family is to me.

Its actually quite strange to be back here with no-one around - in fact, I'm actually a bit lonely, which is not like me at all!