Another very busy 158 brought us from York then we took up our positions to
await the 17:19 to Holyhead, seen approaching Piccadilly from the Longsight
depot.
The platform looks quiet but behind me a large crowd of homeward bound commuters
was waiting to board - I dread to think what conditions were like when this
was a two-car unit. There were no coach labels or seat reservations and a
large lumpy angry woman gave the conductor some serious grief over this. I
felt sorry for the poor bloke though his explanation that the train goes to
the depot rather than waiting in the station made no sense at all. I waited
until she'd stormed off before politely asking if we could use the first class
as the train was so busy. No problem - First North Western don't seem to bother
with the supplement but I always check first as I don't want to be stung.
The lavatory was more third world than first class so I
tried the pair in the next coach. Again, both were blocked and no water was
forthcoming, the only improvement being that there was nothing brown in the
pan. First North Western really should be ashamed of the disgusting state
they've allowed these coaches to get into.
Finally, an evening curiosity at Bangor with the monitor showing almost all
trains going west.