10:00.

Another week begins, but this one sees me out and about more. Right now I’m on a Northern service from Halifax to Manchester in order to head over to Southport where the RAIL 200 ‘inspiration train’ is stabled until Tuesday. I’ve not had chance to visit this exhibition until now but seeing it in my old home town is rather appropriate. The train will continue its tour of the network through the next few months and tickets (which are free) are still available.

The weather’s decidedly mixed so it’s not the best day to be out with the camera. Even so, I’m hopeful of getting a few useful pictures. At least it’s mild (a balmy 7 degrees here in the Pennines) so I won’t be in danger of frostbite in the way I was on my last outing to Ribblehead!

My Manchester service consists of a 3-car Class 195 which is fairly empty due to the time of day, allowing to purloin a table bay and set up the mobile office in peace. I’ll be blogging throughout the day, so feel free to pop pack anythime to see what I get up to…

10:15.

We’ve now traversed the Pennines to an equally grey and gloomy Greater Manchester to call at Rochdale, which is the quietest I’ve seen it for some time. Only a handful of passengers were waiting to join us for the trip into the city.

11:30.

My time in Manchester was short, just long enough to get a few pictures around a very quiet station. You can tell it’s January as so few people are about. Everybody’s too skint to go out after spending loads over Christmas and New Year! It’s not a new phenomenon, but it is noticeable. Plus, the weather’s hardly conducive, but then I normally flee the UK in January, so I don’t normally have to experience all this.

Right now I’m on another Northern service. This time as far as Wigan Wallgate via the old Lancashire and Yorkshire main line that avoids Bolton to go through the wonderfully named ‘Hag Fold’. The line’s a shadow of it’s former self, but there’s been an improvement in frequency since late BR days. I’m sat on a 2-car 158 which is virtually empty. Many passengers seem to join for short hops between stations.

11:40.

Bugger. Everthing was going so well until we reached Daisy Hill, one of those places where the lovely-sounding name bears absolutely no relationship to the surroundings.

My suspicions were aroused when we were still at the platform for minutes rather than the usual 90 seconds. The Conductor’s just walked through the train to inform us all we’ll be stuck here for a while due to a ‘problem’ on the line ahead. God knows what it is as we’ve been passed by a train in the opposite direction. Well, bang goes my connection in Wigan…

11:55.

We’re still enjoying the vistas of Daisy Hill. I’ve had a chat with crew who tell me the problem is due to the driver of a previous train having reported that they hit a swan…

12:35.

Hooray! We’re finally on the move, a mere 65 minutes late…

13:00.

Finally, I’m on my way to Southport. Rail services on the line through Wigan Wallgate are in disarray in all directions with many trains cancelled. Fortunately, a Southport train was running right behind mine so I had only minutes to wait in the rain befire boarding a busy 2-car Class 150 for the last leg. Sadly, the weather has dereriorated. The skies have closed in to bring heavy, peristant rain, so even if I hadn’t been delayed I wouldn’t have been able to do what I’d hoped. Maybe things will be better on the coast, but I’m not holding my breath…

I’ve a small favour to ask…
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Cheers!

Paul