Am I On A Ferry?
I took this picture of myself by holding the camera, as far away as I could.
Am I On a Ferry?
But where am I? Judging by the water and the state of the sea, it could be on a cross channel ferry or perhaps one going to the Isle of Wight.
But remember, I’m visiting all 92 football grounds and teams are all on the mainland. I think the only football club that isn’t is Canvey Island, but they play in the Isthmian League.
So the picture was taken at Dawlish between Exeter and Newton Abbot from a High Speed Diesel Train. Trains are regularly sprayed with sea-water and being diesel powered it usually isn’t a problem. But if the line was electrified, who’s to say what will happen. After all, they’ve got forty years of running these trains in this sort of weather.
They couldn’t close the line, as what would they do when they needed iconic photographs of trains for publicity purposes!
Who’d have thought that the High Speed Diesel Train would live on because of the British weather?
92 Clubs – Day 40 – Swindon, Torquay, Tottenham
Swindon was surprisingly easy, as it was only about twenty minutes walk from the main railway station.
Swindon's County Ground
Or it will be when they finish the roadworks and sort out the pedestrian access around the station. There are a few maps and signs, but due to the location of the ground, the road signs are a great help once you get started in the right direction. They also have helpful distances on a lot of them.
I’d arrived on the 08:15 from London at 09:13 and had plenty of time to catch the 10:55 direct train to Torquay. I was surprised it was a direct train, but even more surprised that it was a High Speed Diesel Train on its way from Paddington to Paignton, via Swindon, Bath, Bristol, Weston-super-Mare, Exeter and Torquay. I hope that after electrification of the main line to Bristol and Cardiff, that they use these trains to run lots of holiday trains to the West Country.
I was meeting an old friend in Torquay, so I took a taxi to Torquay‘s football ground. I didn’t see one signpost.
Outside Plainmoor
I certainly needed the coat, as it wasn’t weather typical of the English Riviera. Afterwards it was back to the station to catch a train to London.
A Pacer at Torquay
Unfortunately, it was a Pacer to Newton Abbot for the High Speed Diesel Train to London, where I arrived soon after 18:00.
I still had time to visit Tottenham in the dark, by taking the train to White Hart Lane.
The Entrance to White Hart Lane
Afterwards, I was able to get a bus back from the ground to close to my house. Except for Arsenal, where I just walk, it is the easiest ground to get to from my home.
In some ways it was a day of three lessons.
- The High Speed Diesel Trains used on West Country services are a superb asset to the railways. Passengers like them and in some ways they are irreplaceable in serving the far-flung parts of the west and the Scottish Highlands. They may be forty years old, but engineers know how to keep them going for a few more years yet. Many of them will outlive me! I suspect too, that there is a strong cost benefit in keeping them running, rather than electrifying all the lines, where they run.
- The Pacers still used in various parts of the country are a disgrace. To make matters worse, they were a disgrace when they were built. They should be replaced with a modern train as soon as possible. The train used on the Overground from Gospel Oak to Barking would probably be an ideal replacement. And they would be built in Derby!
- The train from Liverpool Street to White Hart Lane station may have been thirty years old, but it had been well-refurbished. On that line it is the stations that are a disgrace which deny access to no-one but the fit to the railway. I wouldn’t like to try to tranport a baby in a buggy either on many of the stations. So perhaps, one of the priorities after the Tpttenham riots, should be to fix those stations.
The Anonymous Widower 