Today’s been a curate’s egg sort of day. This morning I strolled into Halifax in bright sunshine in order to visit a well known chain of opticians in order to have my two-yearly eye test and choose some new glasses. My old ones are past their sell-by date due to the photochromic darkening breaking down, leaving them rather blotchy. My eye test went well in that it revealed only a minor change in my prescription. But it also revealed that I have the very early stages of cataracts in both eyes. I’m not too surprised – or worried. After all, it’s an age-related problem that 30-50% of people will suffer from in their lives due to their age – and it can be cured with surgery (if it ever gets that bad). I’d never have known I had it if the optician hadn’t picked it up as It’s not affecting my eyesight. On the bright side, I’ll have new glasses and a new look in a fortnight’s time. Dawn came with me to approve my choice of frames. She’s happy with my pick which is good as she’ll spend more time looking at them than I will!

Appointment done and dusted and with the weather staying dry I decided to nip out for a few hours to reconnoiter photographic opportunities on the new railway electrification scheme between Bolton and Wigan. The quickest way to Wigan was via the old Lancashire and Yorkshire railway main line via Walkden. This route’s changed out of all recognition. It was once a four-track main line through a landscape dotted with collieries and cotton mills. All that’s gone. Now the route serves areas that are little more than dormitory towns for Manchester. That said, at least the stations have seen money spent on them and have a half-hourly train service. It’s a far cry from when I used to travel on it as a teenager in the 1970s.

My pair of Class 158s deposited me at Wigan Wallgate where I had 25 mins to wait for a return service, this time via Westhoughton on the section soon to be electrified. My return transport was rebuilt hybrid Class 769 which was rather nice as I was ensconced in the former first class saloon. Apart from vegetation clearance and some serious bridge reconstruction at Hindley where the station remains closed until 24th July whilst platforms are lengthened and resurfaced there’s little sign that electrification’s coming as installation of electrification masts and associated equipment has yet to start.

Back I Manchester I swapped my 769 for a busy CAF built Class 195/0 for the trip back across the Pennines, changing once more at Todmorden in order to arrive at Sowerby Bridge. Now I’m having a quiet night in with Dawn as the pair of us have another busy day tomorrow. I’ll leave you with a picture from the day for now.

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