Photo-a-Day  (Friday, 4th December, 2020)

I can just about see the stations award winning gardens.

I think I shall go on the train this morning to Wigan. It's been over a month since I've been. I'll see what's going on in Debenham's and if there's anything left!

Lovely train station been taken care of nice and clean.

This was Hindley North, a 4 track 4 platform station - totally unrecognizable from 1950s/60s.
Looks as clean as a whistle now.

I love railway stations and Hindley's is well-looked-after. Lovely photo. xx

Veronica, I was waiting for my car to be serviced yesterday, so I walk into Wigan and had a walk around and it was proper miserable, it was so miserable that I made a video to record it so future generations can view Wigan in the miserable winter of 2020

https://youtu.be/i67NKlq35Qc

It was quite busy today Mick, but that's just the run up to Christmas I suppose. It will be worse after Christmas, I am so sad that Debenham's is closing.

I can almost see Owfen in the distance.

Great shot of the winding rail line Dennis! Travelled it many times.

Mick, impressive work. You should post this on the message boards.

Lovely gardens on this station, and well looked after.Good photo Dennis..I'm sad as well Veronica about Debs,were will we go now??

God knows Edna... we'll have to do a reconnoiter. The coffee shop was deserted today. No wonder.

Mick, how do I see that please? I can't click on the link. Do I go on youtube and type those letters and numbers in? I'm not very good with this sort of thing.

Irene,just go to YouTube and type in..miserable day in Wigan,and it should come up come.x

Just copy and paste it Irene
Or go on YouTube singaporemick https://www.youtube.com/user/singaporemick/videos?sort=dd&view=0&shelf_id=1

I just watched your video Mick...now I’m miserable too. It was like watching a Box Set of Eastenders.
Loved the music though.

I've just watched the video as well. It's a very good compilation Mick, you certainly know all the Grot Spots of our poor Wigan. Good subjects for the 'then' and 'now' it was never so bad in our days of the past. Wherever has it all gone so wrong. My heart weeps!

The music,like the film was dire.

Thanks, Edna and Mick. I'll have a look.

The film was awful, it made me more miserable than I already was,after the terrible day I had.

At a time when the UK needs to support its own workforce even more than ever (Brexit and Covid19) many trains that serve that line are imported from Italy.
Some people did complain to the Mayor of Manchester but although he sympathised, he said it was too late to do anything about it. Not very good for someone who is suppose to represent the people of Greater Manchester...

Ronny, compared with the British-made crap we have had to put up with for the last thirty-odd years the new trains are a revelation no matter where they come from. Yes, it would be better if they could be built here but, when you consider that we couldn't even introduce a new timetable without bringing half the country to a grinding halt, perhaps it was a wise decision to get them from elsewhere.

DTease. The Sprinters aren't crap and even the Pacers became very reliable considering they were only meant to be short term units. Do some research and compare the price of a Pacer and you'll see that they turned out to be excellent value for money. Did you know? The new imported units have broken down regularly and even the poor old Pacers had to be recalled for duty to rescue them!

I am sorry to see the back of the Pacers. They lasted for 35 years when they were built as a 10 year stopgap to urgently replace worn out and asbestos contaminated rolling stock. Even at the end they were more reliable than newer units.
(see 2nd paragraph here: http://preserved.railcar.co.uk/Class142.html)

We will now be stuck with Class 150s which are just as old, noisy and claustrophobic greenhouses in summer, I have avoided Class 150s like the plague in the last 30+ years.

The Pacers got new engines in the mid 1990s that are more modern and quieter than the Class 15x engines, which are basically marine engines designed in the late 1960s and are far too noisy.

Another problem with the replacement Class 150 and 156 fleet is the dangerous large gap between train and platforms at certain stations, which the Pacers did not have. For example, the west facing platform at Salford Central and the east facing platform at Todmorden. When experiencing back problems, I find them very difficult to board. Also the 156s have very narrow doors that make it difficult for wheelchair users.

However, the engine noise and claustrophobic nature of the Class 150 causes me too much stress and anxiety and will likely mean that I will largely stop travelling by train.

Let's hope that Brexit puts a stop to the importation of inferior rolling stock.
Many in control in British government seem to be anti-British. The same occurred with car manufacturing, aircraft and shipping.
https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/transport/northern-admit-teething-problems-have-left-their-new-trains-needing-repairs-already-1744157