Over the last few months I've had a couple of non-stop CDF-SWA journeys....

One of them worked well. Other departures held back at CDF. Something looped along the way. Significant time recovered.

The other time there was this stopper in front. I wondered if it would be looped at Tremains, when it was still not causing any hold-up. It wasn't. By Pyle the signal checks were starting. I thought it would be reasonable to loop it at Stormy; it's not unusual, even when the IET isn't skip-stopping. It didn't happen. The last opportunity was to overtake at Port Talbot. It didn't happen. The non-stop run became a multi-stop run. I did wonder if the ARS routed things before the signaller could prevent it, but I have no idea which locations on that route are covered by ARS, and I would have thought in that case a signaller would have intervened before the third opportunity was lost!

Then there's the communication issue. Skip-stopping can be a good idea, although passengers aren't too keen on seeing the big picture. But if it has to be done, it needs to be communicated clearly. All it takes is dodgy PA here, or a passenger hard of hearing there, and someone isn't in the picture.

A poor example of skip-stopping was on the Valley Lines. Between the stop at Cardiff Central and departing Queen Street, three different patterns had been announced. It was a 150, and the PA wasn't great. Passengers were a bit confused. It really could have done with the guard walking through to check people had understood, or even the guard taking the rear car and platform staff taking the front car (which stopped right by their office) at CDQ.

Then, on a different but related tack, there's the PAD-CMN journey that terminated short at SWA during a very disrupted day not long ago. The first IET I joined at CDF wasn't going anywhere because it was awaiting (presumably displaced) crew. (There may be a lesson on lack of resources for proper resilience somewhere here.) So anyone who didn't want to wait was advised to join another one which came into Platform 1 or 2. From what I overheard a lot of passengers on there had already had a similar swap of trains at Didcot or Swindon, along with a wait and a diversion. So people felt somewhat messed around and weren't in the best mood! It seemed fairly likely to me, based on experience, that it would terminate at SWA. I imagine it had crossed the mind of crew and control as well, to the point that perhaps expectations could have been set (pros and cons there). But nothing was announced; indeed, it was announced that it was the Carmarthen train more than once.

At some point I checked Journeycheck and saw that it was to terminate short. But no change of plan was announced. Finally, on the approach to SWA, when it seemed like things were running more smoothly and there was no further disruption to the journey, the bombshell was dropped. The reaction of nearby passengers, some of whom had children with them who needed to be fed, was somewhat explosive (which I'm sure helped with keeping things calm for said children!). Oh, and a possible connection wasn't held, with the next one not due for some time. As I was leaving I think gateline staff were picking up on the mood.

 
I have lived in Nailsea for many years, and I recently had the opportunity to live in Melksham for three weeks.  That gave me the opportunity to make this comparison.

The railway stations serving each town are far from central, but not beyond a good walking distance. There is no taxi rank at either, but cabs can be booked by phone. At Nailsea, there is a connecting bus service at the station, in both directions, with a reasonable service.

Both towns are historic: Nailsea has a claim to fame for coal mining, glass blowing and farming, and Melksham has a claim to fame for Regency spa facilities and a (disused) canal through it - as well as a host of other attractions.

The population of both towns is about 20,000.

(By the way: both towns have a Wetherspoons, and my preference is The Bear in Melksham over The Glassmaker in Nailsea.)

Chris from Nailsea. 

 
I appreciate that this topic relates to visiting locomotives on heritage lines, but it is very disappointing to see mainline steam railtours using locomotives from other BR Regions. I know it is down to ownership and where the locos are based, but why use ex-LMS or ex-SR locos on the likes of the Royal Duchy or Torbay Express when there are ex-GWR locomotives available?

A couple of years ago, an 'Atlantic Coast Express' commemoration railtour from London Waterloo to Exeter St David's via Salisbury and Yeovil Junction was hauled by a Black 5, whilst a Merchant Navy was being used on a Settle and Carlisle railtour!

 
Watched this last night, most interesting. I’d heard about it but didn’t pay much attention to planes being replaced by buses.

It was mentioned during the video that doing short flights with buses instead of planes is going to increase with other airlines starting down this route as well as AA.

 

So did I, although I stopped after only a short time.

 
This bit made me chuckle:


Hopefully, not to be taken literally! Much prefer rail.

As with Red Squirrel, I hope tram-train is not ruled out. They're commonplace in a bit of Yorkshire, and will be in south Wales ere long. Once the wires are up along Filton Bank and to Thingley, they could work wonders for mass transit around Bristol. It needs a bit more imagination than has been obvious in past times, but now is the time to Do Something, lest the Chancellor changes her mind because of dithering. The problem is that Bristol will gain most whatever happens, or so it will seem, so the positives and potential for the other areas need to be detailed.

 
In 1974 we had a Vauxhall Viva as an office car: smelly plastic upholstery, three gears with the lever on the steering column.  It once had a punctured tyre when I was on my way to a meeting in a suit.  I managed to change the wheel and arrive in time, with only slightly grubby hands.

When my Ford Fiesta hit a huge pothole a few weeks ago and the tyre blew out, I didn't hesitate to call the AA. I couldn't face working out how the curious jack worked and where to place it under the low-slung chassis. Despite my being out in the sticks, the AA was with me within an hour and my spacesaver fitted within another ten minutes.

 
It's good for the railways to be able to have a fresh face in their line-up, and a visiting loco gets to be a star during an event or for a season. Smaller and fledgling railways who don't have a regular ex-big railway loco can finance a visitor to raise their profile, too.


That said, seeing a GWR loco in a GWR setting or a diesel hydraulic on its home turf is special...

 
Sadly, Frederick Forsyth has died, aged 86.

From the BBC:

 

That's the current (or recently closed) one. There was another Vauxhall plant, that was Vauxhall's main plant for many years that closed in 2002. It produced all those Vauxhall Victors, Crestas and their related models that older members may remember, and later some of the Cavaliers and Vectras, which were Opel designs, that were classic sales reps and popular family cars in the 1980s and 1990s. Luton was a real motor manufacturing centre, sadly no more. 

 

Report in a local news paper https://www.sloughexpress.co.uk/news/traffic-and-travel/201654/major-disruption-on-london-paddington-to-reading-train-line-after-casualty-on-tracks.html?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwY2xjawKz5whleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETBYRnJvRkR2RzlQTXE5SURwAR7k8vmJj-al5-L4zohMl9WOPau7kOswUS93SrOABFN-7PQzBg3_My5mDdXnDw_aem_J2_-9E6iEUR1Ri7n9xWwOw#Echobox=1749471219

Casualty on the tracks at Hanwell station

 

The bridge at Foxhangers was conventional - see here and open the "history" tab. The Fish Bridge on Caen Hill was the uncommon design - always known as that even after it was replaced in 1901. See here on Facebook.  None of these photos have original poster credits which I would happily add if I knew them.


This one was actually near Bradford-on-Avon; on the walk in with visiting cousins we missed the Bathampton to Bath section around the river valley and went Dundas - Midford - Tucking Mill - Combe Down - Devonshire - Bear Flat

 

You're right.  My memory isn't what it was.  Thank you

 
Regarding the 9th photo, the herons along the Bath section of the Kennet and Avon canal are extraordinarily accepting of humans walking close by them. I assume this is one of them, probably the one that hangs around midway between Bathampton and Sydney Gardens.

 

Research suggests that the Minehead engine was No. 78 (Knowle) rather than No. 55 (Stepney)

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_LB%26SCR_A1_class_locomotives

 

Rapidly pushed out to 1400 & now 1500
 
National Rail reporting no Elizabeth Line services between Paddington-Heathrow/Reading......Advice seems to be to go via Waterloo.

 

?  - I thought that Stepney was another Bluebell engine right from the start, and Wikipedia seems to confirm that.

But ... I might see the earlier trip as another guest engine appearance and not anything like an "in regular traffic" type use.  It leads towards the question "at what point does a guest cease to be a guest and become a regular part of he family" ... which we could also ask about the S&D 2-8-0s to Minehead.

 
Alterations to services between London Paddington and Reading

Due to the emergency services dealing with an incident between London Paddington and Reading some lines are closed.

Train services running to and from these stations may be delayed or revised. Disruption is expected until 12:45 09/06

 
Monday June 9

And after a few good days:


RTT has the 11:52 as starting from Shrub Hill.

Later (17:00) : The 11:52 was indeed started from Reading (+27).  It was held at Wolvercote (+37) and Evesham (+59). It arrived Shrub Hill +59 and was cancelled therafter.

 

The ladder would indicate lighting use


Typical UK railway siding / walkway light would have been enamelled metal lampshade.

I am so happy I no longer have to repair / maintain such lighting any longer 

 

Back in the early 1970s, Butlins at Minehead were having a clear out, and "Duchess of Hamilton" was donated to the NRM (and, in November 1975, became the final BR train movement on the branch, as she was towed away to Swindon by a Class 25) and the diminutive Stroudley "Terrier" "Stepney" was donated to the WSR.  There was a fanciful idea to return the loco to service, but that didn't happen.  She was used, in 1979, as a smoking prop for a BBC2 telly drama though, thanks to a smoke bomb from BBC special effects department, and a shove from another loco

So there is a precedent for a Terrier on the Minehead Branch

 
Not good

 
A plus point has to be that people get to see an engine that they wouldn't normally see

 
Poles for floodlighting usually had only two wires, possibly more in very extensive installations. If arc lamps were used there was usually a winch to lower the whole lighting unit to near ground level for attention, as this was needed frequently. For filament lamps, or later mercury lamps, a ladder was often provided for lamp replacement.

A few installations used series lighting, whereby special lamps of low voltage were used in series on a high voltage supply. Never popular in the UK, more of a USA thing.

 
I see pictures of "Fenchurch" - a locomotive I associate with the Bluebell - hauling trains on the West Somerset Railway at present and she looks so out of place (and small).  And I see Romney Hythe and Dymchurch locos on the Bure Valley and on the Ravenglass and Eskdale.

Guest locomotives help, I suppose, bring back for another ride (and another wallet extraction) people who have become too familiar with the day to day options but ... are they right?   Am I too much of a purist to be put off by Fenchurch's escapades (to me, would be OK on Isle of Wight ) or is in fine and dandy?

 

Exploiting the zoom effect in that photo, I can see more than by eye. For a start, the nearer pole is actually reinforced concrete, so might have won a game of scissors-paper-stone with a chainsaw. The two behind it do look round and wooden, though hard to see in detail. And why one has a ladder fixed to it, apparently wrapped in vegetation, who knows?

And while there's only the two running lines here (between the skew bridge in the picture and the footbridge the picture was taken from) in any of the old maps I've looked at, some time between the 1930s and 1960s the entry line for the goods yard at the station was extended into this section. There had always been an unused space for it under the footbridge, oddly.