After the game, the bus was on time back to Crewe. We stayed on to the bus station - on time but the pub we went for was not open until 1900 (GBG said 1800) & our train's due off 1920 so Robinson's & flies (they'd evolved so as to not be attracted by the UV thing) at The Crown. At least there was mild.
Walk to station, train 15 min late, so down to platform 5 (for London) – buffet closed. Back upstairs, along, down to P6, buffet open, stocked up. Up, along, down to P5, train 23 – no, now 29 – mins late. Another London train was also late & just coming in but I suggested it would be packed as it was late so we'd better stick to our reservations. It came & went. Then – change of platform to P12. Back up, right along, down to P12; Clive – "they're having a laugh". Train crawls in. Into car B to find our reservations – but it was dark, humid, & no ressie tickets on the seats. Guard tells us to go to 1st class as the car will be closed. Walk through the train – only 2-3 separate seats in 1st class so we stand in the vestibule & amuse ourselves by tapping the carpet, activating the frame underneath for the automatic door. Rich adopts a lotus position in a corner on floor & very sensibly stays in a zen zone for the rest of the trip. Engine replaced, finally off 2020. Stopped half-way to Stafford – problem up ahead, but it cleared.
At Stafford, a man asks from the platform if he can get a connection from there to Southampton. Clive wondered why - who'd want to? Jon commented drily, "There's always someone worse off than you"…
An extra, unscheduled, stop at Tamworth for those there for which it would be the last train to London. One person gets off! Arr. Euston 2325, all ready to file compensation claims on Monday.
The game itself – as the song goes: Back to life, Back to reality.
Pete Wicks, Uxbridge