Now I could have got the ferry direct from Liverpool to Douglas but I decided that it would be fun to travel by train to Heysham and get the boat from there. Firstly it's a proper ferry rather than a catamaran and secondly I could go via the Ormskirk line and get some new track. Lastly, reminiscent of the days of the Hook Continental and the Golden Arrow/Fleche D'or, I could travel on the Isle of Man boat train which is the one and only train each day to go down the line to Heysham Port.
However, in the period between planning and execution we have had "Meltdown Monday" The day over a month ago when Northern Rail woke up, shocked to find that Network Rail hadn't finished the electrification work in Bolton, they didn't have enough diesel trains to bridge the gap and none of that mattered anyway because they didn't have enough drivers to drive any type of train and the guards were going on strike.
So lets go to Heysham .......
Half the trains on the Ormskirk to Preston line are now bus replacements so I headed to Liverpool Lime Street to catch one of the shuttles to Wigan - the rest of the station is closed for rebuilding as can be seen from this pic.
The train that arrived was one of the NEW electric trains that the government have given the good people of the north. A Class 319 built by BREL.
Let me explain that BREL is not a new Chinese company building shinny new trains. This is an old Thameslink unit built by British Rail Engineering Limited - and believe it or not they are an vast improvement on what was here before!
On arrival at Lancaster the Isle of Man Boat Train was a rail replacement bus because they had no train, driver, guard or possibly all three.
And so it was that I travelled on the ferry to the Isle of Man
And arrived in a place where the good people of Northern England can look at the trains and sigh ..... "If only"
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