My intention of this trip was mainly to revisit a couple of routes that I've not traversed for a good number of years, and also to complete the Cheshire Lines Committee network by way of traversing the Chester Manchester route via Altrincham, and finally getting round to completing every inch of metal on the Grand Junction Railway from Warrington Bank Quay to Newton junction/Earlestown. Also, I would throw in some cranking for good measure too. I would also like to note that for the main part of the bash, it did not go according to plan, mainly due to me taking a gamble on a tight connection that backfired. Furthermore, owing to a misjudgement on my part combined with being held at red signals in a couple of places, the middle section of the bash was one hour behind, meaning that I decided to abandon a run to and from Runcorn from Crewe to help me get back on track (unsure if pun is intentional or not!) for the final part before heading back home. Later on in the day, me abandoning Runcorn did not make any difference whatsoever, due to the massive disruption I believe happened in the Stafford area, affecting most of the Intercity services and Birmingham Liverpool services too.
Anyway, it was an early rise for me at 03:00, with me getting the provisions ready I prepared earlier. The only thing I had to do after having a couple cups of tea (Assam tea, as that is very strong, and which I don't drink too much of in one go as I normally end up well and truly wired to the moon) to give me a kick start was for me to prepare both my flasks of tea (one normal and one Earl Grey my blue Thermos flask was a present from my mum for my birthday in 1989, which has been with me to various festivals, Japan, Paris, Cologne, on various vacations, and most importantly, was first christened on Platforms 6 & 7 at Birmingham New Street for one of my trainspotting sessions). It was out the door at 03:45 for the predominantly downhill walk to Glasgow Central, listening to the various birdsongs in the trees.
The 04:28 London Euston via Trent Valley Railway was sitting in the platform when I arrived. This was formed by 390112 Virgin Star, which I would take as far as Preston. After departure, the train diverged from its normal route at Uddingston to join the Midcalder Railway, passing through Bellshill and Holytown, then the Wishaw Deviation route, rejoining the Caledonian Main Line at Law Junction, Carluke. It is noted that on Saturdays, this departure is routed via the Cathcart District Railway and Newton East Junction, then as above. On passing through Carstairs, the 350 that was working the 04:22 GLC Manchester Airport service was overtook. On passing Kingmoor, 66106 and 37605 were spotted, also, a car transporter was heading northbound. Arrival at Carlisle Citadel (standard southbound Platform 4 for Lancaster & Carlisle Railway services) was a few minutes ahead of schedule, and after departure, 66303 was spotted running light engine southbound through Platform 3, possibly heading on to the Maryport & Carlisle Railway as it appeared to peel away to my right when passing the loco.
At Oxenholme: The Lake District, 185140 was spotted working the shuttle to Windermere, while on the approach to Lancaster, Colas Rail 73904 was sitting in the siding at the north end of the station. Arrival at Preston was a couple of minutes ahead of schedule, and as I had a near 25 minute wait for my next service, I went to the lavatory and did some trainspotting. For information, 185134 and 185145 were working the 06:58 MIA Edinburgh Waverley, 142011 the 07:00 from Blackpool South to Colne, 185128 the 07:08 southbound to MIA, 150224 and 150215 the 07:15 southbound service to Hazel Grove. After the above, it was time for me to board the 07:17 London Euston via Birmingham service, which I was going as far as Warrington Bank Quay. This was formed by 390148 Virgin Harrier. On arrival at Wigan NW, 150133 and 150275 were spotted in the opposite platform heading north in the direction of Preston, and most likely from my reckoning, Blackpool North/Talbot Road.
After alighting at Warrington BQ, I glanced at the screen so as to have an idea of how things were running, and had noticed that the 07:39 Manchester Piccadilly was running 10 minutes late. As my intention was to have a gentle saunter outside the station and get the 08:09 MAN service (the 07:39 would have departed WBQ at exactly the same time I arrived), I decided to make my way to the northbound island platforms and crank out an additional unit, while thinking to myself there would be a greater risk of me landing that very same unit on the way back. Anyway, I spotted a pair of locos in the London bay platform, which were 90024 in First Group livery (used for the sleeper services) at the rear, with 90036 Driver Jack Mills in DBS livery facing London. 390135 "City of Lancaster was working the 07:49 northbound service to Glasgow Central. At 07:50, the delayed Manchester service finally arrived, which was formed by a very crowded 158835 (which as it would later become apparent, would appear to stalk me for the rest of the day) for the short hop to Earlestown/Newton Junction.
While waiting for my intended service (the 08:19), 175008 was working the 08:13 MAN Holyhead service. The 08:19 was a pleasant surprise for me, as it was DVT 82306 and loco 67001 that took me round the corner to Newton-le-Willows. As i had a break of 40 minutes here, I done some more trainspotting for a short while. 185143 whizzed through with a Liverpool Newcastle Central service, while 156429 was on the 08:37 to MIA. I had a very quick walk up the hill and noticed the shops were not open yet, so returned back to the station and spotted 156483 working the 09:00 to Liverpool.
It was then on the 09:10 service that should have been a 4 car service to Llandudno and Holyhead (according to the PIS screen). This was formed by 185835 (now a dud) and after getting on board, it was announced that the train would be terminating at Chester (which was my intended alighting point). It was back round the corner to Earlestown, then being held after departure at the signal before where the Golborne cut-off converges on the Grand Junction Railway southbound. We were now a couple of minutes behind schedule throughout, however, it must be mentioned that this service is the PSUL that upon departing Warrington BQ, it takes the Walton Old Junction - Acton Grange Junction route passing through (or close to) the goods yard. Furthermore, I've got one arm of the Newton Junction/Earlestown from the GJR to the Liverpool & Manchester Railway done (I did the top side back in February on the second part of the Lancashire Day Ranger bash), and will be back to do the Liverpool direction later on.
Arrival in to Chester was 4 minutes behind schedule, with passengers being advised that there was a train for either Holyhead or Llandudno (I cannot remember which) further along the platform. This was the moment for me to see if i could pull off getting from Platform 3 to Platform 6 in less than 2 minutes through a huge crowd of people for the 09:59 Manchester via Altrincham service. Sadly, as I was coming down the stairs I saw it pulling away. This meant that I would have to forego alighting at Navigation Road, walking to Altrincham, going west to Hale, then eastbound to Stockport, therefore missing out on some cranking on this route. Instead, I decided to attempt to crank some Merseyrail units after gathering my thoughts together, so boarded the 10:15 Liverpool Central and decided to alight at Capenhurst and come back south. However, I made an error here, as the trains pass each other south of Capenhurst, also with Capenhurst being unusual that it has a train every 30 minutes instead of 15 minutes at all the other stations. I decided to stay on 508128 to Hooton, alighted and saw the southbound Chester service pulling away. It was back to Chester on the 10:42 formed of 508110, being held at a red signal for a couple of minutes by the depot, and you guessed it, the 10:59 Manchester via Altrincham service pulled away from Platform 6. Expletives were quietly going on in my mind at this moment in time.
After gathering my thoughts together once more, I had a quick eyeball around and saw 175003 in the track north of Platform 7, with 221143 forming the 11:34 London (221107 was for the 10:34 that was spotted earlier). I then boarded the 11:15 Liverpool Central service, formed by 508120 for the short run to Bache, before returning to Chester on the 11:22 which was formed by 507009. On passing the depot, 175105 and 175004 were spotted. Out of curiosity when I got back home later, I checked to see if I managed to eliminate any more Merseyrail units. Rather disappointingly, all four Merseyrail units I travelled on today turned out to be duds. Furthermore, as I was determined not to miss the 11:59 Manchester via Altrincham service, I hung around Platform 6, and spotted 156491 that was the spare unit sitting there before being called into action later on for something, 175115 was on the 11:50 to Manchester via Warrington BQ, while a glance across to Platform 1 or 2 (it was the London via LNWR bay platform) I spotted 158835 (I did mention earlier that this would stalk me today).
At my third attempt, I managed to get on board the 11:59 (which drew up behind 156491), formed by 150146 for the run to Stockport. After departure from Chester, I did examine my plans and worked out that as I would be 1 hour behind my intended plans on arrival at Stockport, I decided to forego the run from Crewe to Runcorn so as not to miss the second last departure from Warrington BQ to St Helens Junction. Unknown to me at the time, this decision would have already been made for me due to the later disruption at Crewe. Back to the Mid-Cheshire route, at Ashley, I passed 156488 that was heading westbound to Chester. After departure from Navigation Road, it was a gentle crawl to Skelton Junction before picking up speed to continue to Stockport.
On arrival at Stockport, it was to Platform 2 for the 13:23 London Euston via Stoke-on-Trent service, formed by 390008 Virgin King (dud). I alighted at SOT, and spotted 220022 on the 13:55 northbound to Manchester, before continuing to Platform 3 for the 13:59 local all stations to Manchester, formed by 323234. I first went on a 323 in 1993 when they were introduced in the West Midlands, painted in the WMPTE (Centro) livery. Just before departure, 350155 pulled in Platform 2 for the northbound service to Crewe. After departure, I spotted a stoneblower north of the station, and was a genteel saunter northbound to Stockport.
I exited the station westbound (Edgeley) and walked around to the car park side, spotting a 319 in the depot. After re-entering the station via the car park side, it was to Platform 2 for the 15:04 London Euston via Crewe service, which I would take just the one stop to Wilmslow. This was formed by 390039 Virgin Quest (dud), where this is one of the first 9 car sets where Golf has vanished and morphed into Foxtrot. At Wilmslow, it was then over to the Styal platforms for the 15:20 local southbound service to Crewe, formed by 323232 which I would take as far as Sandbach. On passing through Alderley Edge, 323223 was spotted sitting in the siding. At Sandbach, it was over to the northbound side for the 15:41 to Holmes Chapel, formed by 323230. After alighting, and if I had thought about it at the time, I could have dashed to the southbound platform and got 323238 to Sandbach, but was not quick enough by the time I thought about it, and bearing in mind I was caught up in the middle of the school run at this time of day.
Anyway, I remained on the northbound platform and spotted 175113 passing though with a Manchester service (possibly from Cardiff or points west), before boarding the 16:02 to Alderley Edge that was formed by now dud 323232. At Goostrey, a GBRf loco was hauling containers southbound, however, I did not get the number. At Alderley Edge, it was across to the southbound platform for the 16:23 to Crewe, which was formed by 323231 and would take all the way to Crewe.
After alighting at Crewe, I was greeted with lots of disruption, but through having a glance at the screen, the disruption was mainly affecting the Intercity services both north and south. On the other hand, the local Crewe Manchester, Cardiff services, and Crewe Derby services seemed to be not affected at all. It is noted that my intended 15:57 Liverpool LS service from Birmingham was showing an expected departure of 16:50 and terminating at Runcorn, I was thinking to myself it may be worth a punt to do the run to Runcorn and back. Making my way over to Platform 11 through the huge crowd that was queueing up for the London Liverpool LS service on Platform 6 (severely delayed), the 350 that would have been the 15:57 was now obviously cancelled with all the doors locked and out of service, which meant that idea had now been well and truly scuppered. The London LIV service arrived and it seemed like passengers were being assisted into the train Japan style.
Another glance at the screen had the 16:49 London Chester service as a 10 minute delay, so I decided to take a gamble with this which paid off and made my way to Platform 12 (a last minute platform alteration). 221114 was the Super Voyager which I boarded and departing Crewe at 16:58 for the one stop to Chester, with me being relieved to have escaped from the melee at Crewe and arriving at Chester an hour earlier than originally intended. The arrival at Chester was only a few minutes behind schedule. After alighting, I made my way to the travel centre to pick up a timetable of the North Wales services, spotting 158835 in the adjacent platform. After consulting the timetable, I decided to do a run to Fflint and pick up the train there that would be the same service as the 18:16 Chester Manchester via Warrington BQ.
I made my way towards Platform 3 to the Chester & Holyhead Railway end for the 17:25 Llandudno and Holyhead service, formed by 158825 and 158830. Departure was 4 minutes behind schedule after the units coupled up, and on arrival at Fflint, there were light showers now and crossed over to the eastbound platform for the slightly delayed 17:52 Manchester via Warrington BQ service. It was 150256 that provided the honours for me to Warrington BQ on the PSUL move via Acton Grange Junction and Walton Old Junction, having got back on time at Chester. After the departure from Chester, 221113 was spotted working the London Bangor (Gwynedd) in the westbound direction, with 66158 spotted in the goods yard at Warrington.
Upon arrival at Warrington BQ, it was over to Platform 1 on the London island for the 18:51 Liverpool LS service, formed by 150115. It seemed unusual for me to be departing WBQ northbound on the right-hand track, something I've never done at this location before. The train then crossed to the normal left-hand side at Winnick Junction before continuing to Newton Junction/Earlestown. I would remain on board as far as St Helens Junction before crossing over to return to WBQ on the 19:16, formed by 156421 (dud). After being held for a minute or two just before the crossover west of Earlestown, a 319 whizzed by heading towards Liverpool. After departure from Earlestown, 175106 was spotted heading towards Manchester.
Back at WBQ, it was the same island platform for the 19:41 London service, which I would take for the one stop to Crewe. 390011 City of Lichfield provided the honours of doing so, where after alighting at Crewe, it was over to Platform 11 for the 20:09 Glasgow Central service (this is the one I have booked an Advance single from WBQ to one of two of my local stations of Springburn). As this was delayed by approximately 12 minutes, I did some trainspotting while waiting. DRS loco 57311 Thunderbird was spotted in Platform 7/8 (bays facing Shrewsbury), 175110 working the 20:09 Manchester Cardiff Central service, 153319 for the 20:45 to Derby, 350244 on the 20:10 to Northampton, 350121 on the 20:18 Birmingham NS service, and finally, my stalker 158835 on the 20:34 Chester service from Platform 9 (of which I was finally glad to see the back of it today after heading homeward bound).
The 20:09 eventually arrived and then departed at 20:22, formed by 390125 Virgin Stagecoach. At WBQ, the 2 locos that were in the London bay platform were no longer there, at Wigan NW, 156472 was spotted sitting in the London bay platform while 150276 was working the 21:00 local all stations to Liverpool LS. At Lancaster, 185144 was spotted heading southbound to either Manchester P or MIA. After departure from Carlisle Citadel 9 minutes behind schedule, the driver must have gone like the clappers for the final stretch to Glasgow, as arrival was at 23:19, 2 minutes behind schedule and no longer busting my official connection with the 23:52 from Glasgow QS (last train to Springburn). If arrival was another 4 minutes late, I would have claimed Delay Repay as it would have been less than 30 minutes for the interchange between Central and Queen Street.
At Glasgow Queen Street, 156493 was in Platform 4, 170408 and 170455 in Platform 5 having arrived from Inverness, with me boarding the 23:52 What's it called? Cumbernauld, formed by 170410 (which turned out to be dud when checking my sheet back home of the 11 required 170s) for the short trek up the hill to Springburn. Despite my early setback at Chester and abandoning some cranking on the Mid-Cheshire Line and also the trek to Runcorn, I had achieved the main objective of the trip by traversing the Mid-Cheshire Line, the section from Warrington BQ to Chester including the PSUL move, and finally completing every inch of track of the Grand Junction Railway by traversing north of Warrington BQ to both Newton-le-Willows and St Helens Junction on the Liverpool & Manchester Railway. After all, the GJR was Birmingham's very first railway, and also provided the very first Intercity route from Liverpool and Manchester to London via Birmingham. Since I was first let out on the railway by myself in 1989, and having covered Birmingham Portobello Junction on a Birmingham Chester service, and Bushbury Junction to Warrington BQ, and Bushbury Junction to Portobello Junction on the overnight sleeper train, it has only took me 26 years to finally complete every inch of the Grand Junction Railway.
Hard to believe it was almost 11 years ago 
hock: Very good memories of the Pullman dining service on the way home to Taunton too, excuse me while I spend a while on Nostalgia Avenue!