Plenty of Nothing

John Betjeman at St Pancras Station

Source.

Corners of France: Hendaye

See here for images of Hendaye's urban tramway.

Roundhouses of Nova Scotia

Fairview. Source.

Truro. Source.

Kentville. Source.

Bridgewater. Source.

Glace Bay. Source.

Freight Handler

A statue of a Transportarbeiter in the Moabit neighbourhood of Berlin, made by Felix Kupsch in 1935. DRG stands for Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft. Source.

Italianate Greenock

The Princes Pier railway terminal was constructed in the Italianate style. Source.

All football is postponed, except in Belarus.

Inverness CT do not visit Cappielow.

Developments. The point of interest now is to see which leagues void all of 2019-20, and which just cancel the remainder of it.

On Tuesday, Scottish Rugby voided its 2019-20 season. The Isle of Man FA has voided its season.

On Thursday the Belgian Jupiler League cancelled the rest of its 2019-20 season, so that the partially completed table stands, and declared the top team Club Brugge league champion.

The SPFL as usual is waiting to see what the English Premier League decides, so they can copy and paste it.

Friday. When the SPFL approached UEFA for guidance as to how to end the season, UEFA said it was the SPFL's own decision to make. But after Belgium cancelled its season UEFA pronounced that any leagues that did not complete their schedules would be ineligible for the 2020-21 Champions League and Europa League. Panic.

Besides all this there's the real danger of clubs going under. Rumour has it that the usual 15-point deduction for going into administration will be waived for 2020-21 because so many clubs are expected to qualify for it.

If Morton were to go out of business as a result of all this, how long would it take Greenock Juniors to replace them in the Championship?

2020-21    Greenock must win the new West of Scotland League and any pyramid playoffs.

2021-22    They must win the Lowland League and the pyramid playoffs.

2022-23    They must earn promotion from League Two.

2023-24    They must earn promotion from League One.

2024-25    Championship

The other Championship matches: (all postponed)

Dundee United vs QoS (last night)

Alloa vs Dundee

Ayr United vs Dunfermline

Partick vs Arbroath

This match is the final of the 2019-20 Championship League Cup.

The 2019-20 Championship League Cup in review:

R1    2019/8/30      Arbroath 1 - 0 Dunfermline

R1    2019/8/30      Queen of the South 0 - 1 Alloa

R2    2019/10/29    Morton 2 - 3 Ayr United

R2    2019/12/7      Arbroath 1 - 1 Dundee*

R2    2019/12/7      Dundee United 2 - 1 Alloa

R2    2019/12/14    Partick Thistle 3 - 1 Inverness CT

R3    2020/1/31      Partick Thistle 1 - 1 Ayr United**

R3    2020/2/1        Dundee United 0 - 1 Arbroath

F      2020/4/4        Partick Thistle vs Arbroath (postponed)

*Arbroath advanced by having fewer yellow cards.

**Partick Thistle advanced by having more corner kicks.

League One: (all postponed)

Clyde vs Forfar

Dumbarton vs Peterhead

Falkirk vs Airdrieonians

Montrose vs Raith Rovers

Stranraer vs East Fife

2019-20 has been a very good year for Livingston FC. If they make the split* this would be their second-best season ever. They finished 2001-02 in third place and went to Europe.

*Assuming there are any more games in 2019-20.

1907-08. Morton visited Celtic and lost 2 - 0.

1963-64. Morton visited Albion Rovers at Cliftonhill and played to a scoreless draw.

SWF Championship South: Falkirk vs Morton (April 1) (postponed)

Morton Women vs Falkirk, the record:

2018/6/24      Morton 5 - 3 Falkirk        SWFL1 South

2018/10/21    Falkirk 1 - 2 Morton        SWFL1 South

South Region Challenge Cup, semi-finals:

No.

Swiss Challenge League: Lausanne-Ouchy vs Winterthur (postponed)

Morton scoring records:

Most goals in tier II since 1994:

  73        2012-13

  57        1995-96

  47        2017-18

  45        2019-20 (28 games)

  45        1998-99

  45        1999-00

Most goals in any division since 1994:

  76        2006-07

  73        2012-13

  67        2002-03

  66        2003-04

  65        2014-15

Most goals ever:

135        1963-64

117        1935-36

113        1966-67

110        1936-37

100        1962-63

JFL: Iwaki FC vs Suzuka Point Getters (postponed)

Bolivian league: The Strongest vs Blooming (tomorrow) (postponed)

Club The Strongest in the Copa Merconorte:

1998/9/16      GS    The Strongest 0 - 2 Atlético Nacional

1998/9/22      GS    Barcelona 1 - 1 The Strongest

1998/10/1      GS    The Strongest 0 - 0 Alianza Lima

1998/10/14    GS    Atlético Nacional 2 - 3 The Strongest

1998/10/20    GS    The Strongest 1 - 0 Barcelona

1998/11/12    GS    Alianza Lima 4 - 0 The Strongest

1999/8/4        GS    The Strongest 0 - 2 Millonarios

1999/8/26      GS    Barcelona 4 - 0 The Strongest

1999/9/16      GS    The Strongest 3 - 2 Alianza Lima

1999/10/7      GS    Millonarios 3 - 2 The Strongest

1999/10/27    GS    The Strongest 2 - 2 Barcelona

1999/11/18    GS    Alianza Lima 2 - 0 The Strongest

Club The Strongest in the Copa Sudamericana:

2003/8/7        PR    The Strongest 2 - 2 Bolívar

2003/8/19      PR    Bolívar 1 - 1 The Strongest (The Strongest won on PK.)

2003/9/16      R2    The Strongest 2 - 0 San Lorenzo

2003/10/7      R2    San Lorenzo 2 - 1 The Strongest

2003/10/29    QF    The Strongest 1 - 4 São Paulo

2003/11/12    QF    São Paulo 3 - 1 The Strongest

2005/8/11      PR    The Strongest 2 - 1 Bolívar

2005/8/25      PR    Bolívar 1 - 2 The Strongest

2005/8/30      R1    The Strongest 2 - 1 Liga de Quito

2005/9/8        R1    Liga de Quito 0 - 3 The Strongest

2005/9/20      16    UNAM 3 - 1 The Strongest

2005/10/5      16    The Strongest 2 - 1 UNAM

2011/8/3        R1    Olimpia 2 - 0 The Strongest

2011/8/11      R1    The Strongest 2 - 1 Olimpia

2013/7/30      R1    Nacional 0 - 0 The Strongest

2013/8/7        R1    The Strongest 1 - 1 Nacional (Nacional advance on the away goal rule.)

Fairy Cottage

Fairy Cottage is a stop on the Manx Electric Railway and dates back to the time when the fairies were building with corrogated iron. Source.

Purcell's Cove Quarry

Source.

Greenock Central Station (1841)

So clean and new! Painting by Thomas Carsell (1810-1860). Source.

Alloa Athletic visit Cappielow.

This is Alloa's fifth Championship campaign this decade, which puts them one ahead of Ayr United.

Morton's record against Alloa this decade has been 5 wins, 1 draw, and 8 losses.

Morton's first game against Alloa was a 1 - 0 victory at Cappielow on December 30th, 1922, in Division One. Morton were Scottish Cup holders at the time.

The Wasps did all right against lower division clubs in the preseason, beating Albion Rovers 2 - 1 and Clyde 3 - 2. In the League Cup group stage they played Elgin City to a 3 - 3 draw but then lost the shootout, lost to Hibs, and then beat Stirling Albion and Arbroath. Their 7 points were not enough to get them into Round Two. Last weekend they played to a 1 - 1 draw against Partick Thistle.

Alloa midfielder Alan Trouten played for Morton in 2003-04.

The oldest player on the Alloa roster is captain Andy Graham, age 35. The oldest member of the Morton squad is Chris Millar, 36.

The situation: It's the snakes and ladders part of the season when a single result can transport a team to the top or bottom of the standings. Morton enter today's game in ninth place, which would put them in the relegation playoffs if they are still there in May 2020. If Morton lose today and ICT win or draw, it's the odium of tenth for the Ton.

When else have Morton played their league home opener against Alloa, and how did it go?

1977/8/20      Morton 4 - 2 Alloa

1958/9/3        Morton 4 - 1 Alloa

When was the last time Morton started the league season with a 4 - 2 loss?

A: It never happened before last weekend.

How many times last season did Morton score twice and still lose the game?

A: Zero.

Is scoring up?

Scoring is way up. In the eighteen games Morton played from January to May 2019, there were 34 goals scored for an average of 1.88 per game (counting both teams' goals). In Morton's first five games of 2019-20 there have been 28 goals scored, or 5.6 per game.

Morton are feuding with the Greenock Telegraph, which is too bad for both as they are basically in a symbiotic relationship.

Meanwhile, Buchanan's Toffees are big in Iraq.

Sort the Championship teams by points earned in the League Cup group stage:

10    Dundee

10    Partick

  9    Dunfermline

  8    Morton

  7    Ayr United

  7    Inverness CT

  7    Dundee United

  7    Alloa

  6    Arbroath

  6    Queen of the South

(Teams in bold progressed to Round Two.)

If group stage points counted in the league standings, would they have made any difference to the 2018-19 Championship table?

71    +    9    =    80    Ross County

65    +    5    =    70    Dundee United

56    +    9    =    65    Inverness CT

54    +   12   =    66    Ayr United

46    +    6    =    52    Morton

43    +    9    =    52    Partick

41    +   12   =    53    Dunfermline

39    +    8    =    47    Alloa

38    +    9    =    47    QoS

38    +    6    =    44    Falkirk

Yes they would. Ayr would have finished 3rd instead of 4th, Dunfermline 5th instead of 7th, and QoS would have finished 8th instead of 9th and avoided the playoffs, as they had a better GD than Alloa.

The other Championship matches:

Partick 1 - 2 Dundee United (last night)

With this win DUFC surpass Brechin's record low finish in '17-18.

Dundee [1 - 0] Ayr United

Inverness CT [2 - 1] Arbroath

Queen of the South [1 - 1] Dunfermline

[Morton win 4 - 1. Goals by McHugh (3) and Lyon. Morton jump from 9th place to 3rd.]

League One:

East Fife [1 - 1] Peterhead

Falkirk [6 - 0] Dumbarton

Former Morton managers McKinnon and Duffy go head to head.

Forfar [1 - 0] Stranraer

Montrose [0 - 1] Airdrieonians

Raith Rovers [5 - 2] Clyde

How have Morton fared in Match No. 2 this decade?

2018/8/11      Alloa 0 - 2 Morton

2017/8/12      Morton 4 - 1 St Mirren

2016/8/13      Morton 1 - 1 Falkirk

2015/8/15      Hibs 1 - 0 Morton

2014/8/16      Morton 4 - 0 Stranraer

2013/8/17      Falkirk 3 - 1 Morton

2012/8/18      Hamilton 1 - 1 Morton

2011/8/13      Morton 2 - 1 Livingston

2010/8/14      Dunfermline 2 - 0 Morton

4 wins, 2 draws, 3 losses.

1963-64: Morton began their season with a League Cup group stage match against Ayr United, winning 0 - 1 at Somerset Park.

Port Glasgow Athletic versus Hibs. Twenty league matches: Hibs won twelve, Port one, with seven draws. Hibs knocked Port Glasgoq out of the 1901-02 Scottish Cup.

A few months ago there was talk of expanding the Championship to 12 clubs with a 44-game schedule. Morton have only ever played five 44-game seasons. They were:

                  G     W     D     L      GD    Pts    Pos             Z

1986-87    44    24      9    11    +32    57    1st Div 1      47

1987-88    44      3    10    31    -73    16    12th Prem    47

1991-92    44    17    12    15     +7    46    7th Div1        51

1992-93    44    19    10    15     +9    48    6th Div 1       50

1993-94    44      6    17    21    -31    29    11th Div 1     50

Z = total games, league + cup

The League Cup group stage was not played during any of these years, but the Challenge Cup was introduced in 1990-91, which accounts for the uptick in Z.

How have East Stirlingshire fared since relegation?

                  G     W    D    L     F       A     GD     P     Pos

2016-17    30    21    5    4    107    43    +64    68    2nd

                    (SC: R2    LC: GS    ChC: R1    LLC: QF    SChC: SF)

2017-18    30    19    7    4      67    31    +36    64    4th

                    (SC: R2    LC: ----    ChC: R1    LLC: R1    SChC: R3)

2018-19    28    11    6    11    57    47    +10    39    6th

                    (SC: R2    LC: ----    ChC: R1    LLC: F      SChC: QF)

(SC = Scottish Cup, LC = League Cup, ChC = Challenge Cup, LLC = Lowland League Cup, SChC = South Challenge Cup.)

East Stirlingshire look very good this year, due in large part to the former Morton players on their roster: Bobby Barr, Willie Dyer and Peter MacDonald. Will they yoyo back into League Two? Today they play wunderkinds Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic. [Bonnyrigg Rose 3 - 1 East Stirlingshire.]

It's the Scottish Cup, first preliminary round. A bunch of East of Scotland League sides were granted SFA licenses this summer, bumping the size of this round up to thirteen matches. Let's follow the clubs (in italics) that are in the cup for the first time:

Hill of Beath Hawthorn [2 - 0] Blackburn United

Broxburn Athletic [2 - 0] Tynecastle

Dundonald Bluebell [2 - 2] Auchinleck Talbot

Easthouses Lily Miners Welfare [1 - 6] Penicuik Athletic

Coldstream [1 - 9] Jeanfield Swifts

Camelon Juniors [4 - 0] Newton Stewart

Canadian Premier League:

HFX Wanderers [0 - 0] Cavalry

York 9 [0 - 2] Valour

Edmonton [3 - 1] Pacific

Swiss Challenge League: Vaduz [0 - 1] Winterthur (tomorrow)

Leaving Westboro Station for Detroit

Source.

Cape Tormentine

Steve Boyko of the blog Confessions of a Train Geek visits the abandoned Cape Tormentine train station.