Taunton 5and13 Cheddon Fitzpaine ?...

 

Yes. Finn wasn't far from his new home in Taunton.

Now. Where is the crossing at what is it called?

 
The invisible river is the Tone.
So Somerset in or about the Taunton area.

 

Not a River Avon.

It's a river with a different style or timbre.

 
I have inside information, so I can't comment - other than to say that none of them are Taunton.

 
Let's see now.  Is it one of those rivers that goes by the name of Avon?

 
From National Rail, apparently the problem is at Southall.

Route(s) affected
between London Paddington and Heathrow Terminals / Reading

Description
Lines have now reopened following a safety inspection of the track between London Paddington and Heathrow Terminals / Reading. As normal service resumes, trains may still be cancelled, delayed by up to 10 minutes or revised.

Disruption is expected until 21:15.

 
Train failed in platform preventing other services from leaving the depot until the failure was moved.

 
1. Harlingen

 
The A return working has now turned up, though I imagine there's been some juggling of pieces of work:


18:45 : Reading - Paddington leg added (I hadn't noticed this before).
05:15 : spelling

 

Without checking I don't know for sure, but it's quite possible the TM assists on the way back, or that a Worcester based TM booking on standby could work it back.

 
2 is, unavoidably, Amsterdam Centraal. Seen across a rather damp bus station.

 
Number 4 looks like the Isle Of Wight, so I'll have a guess at Cowes. 

 
Okay, I guess it's a tough one.

Clue: There's a river behind the IET.

 
Enjoying the simple architecture, the quiet places and the magnificent mountains as I took the train to the end of the line.  Wait - that is not Lymington! Anyone able to place any of those pictures?

1.


2.


3.


4.

 
As you say, a journey of that length with three pieces of work is best described as "vulnerable".  But I would have expected the software to flag it as a potential issue. Alas, I'd fear that the report of the scheduling efficiency statistics wouldn't notice the shortness of the pieces - they'd be lost in any overall average.

It's odd that it's only a one-way cancellation - does this duty not go back to Reading at some stage?

 

Can't argue with that! 

 

Sadly that's what the computer churns out these days.  Works on paper, but not in practice as soon as anything goes wrong.  The powers that be, don't seem to get it unfortunately.

 
Saturday May 17

And after a good few days:


Which implies that the shortage is of train managers, with the stock working empty from Reading to Shrub Hill.  Though why any scheduling system would have three separate TMs (Paddington - Reading - Shrub Hill - Great Malvern) for a journey that is 2:22 long is beyond me.

 
Several branch cancellations this morning (shown as  train failure).
St Ives, Falmouth and Par all lost their first runs.
5C52 0354 Penzance T.& R.S.M.D. to Penzance (which then forms three branch services) was 16 minutes late into Penzance.
Thereafter, a few departures from Pnz were late leaving (delayed by broken down train earlier).

 
BBC story of a journalist given the wrong boarding pass, not picked up by gate passes, and the kerfuffle that ensues. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cp3q5kqj80vo . Can't help contrasting it to the mode I'm in today - "I think I'll get on that train", find its time and put in in my planner.   Took the 10:00 out of Amsterdam which has a Berlin destination.  As Lisa is still in the Amsterdam relaxing for the day, I got off at Amersfoort and am now on a local train - oh, never mind to where, the point is the contrast in security.   Their has been a brief ticket check, but being asked for ID on these trips does happen but is rare as hen's teeth!

 

Can't get the train out of platform 2??

Greetings from the Dutch traveller where I have proof that connections don't always work here.  I have just HAD TO DROP BACK to a train 7 minutes later that I planned.  It's a DIS-GRACE 

 

 
A few more photos, the last one being the intermediate new station between the bay and Queen Street.

 
There's been considerable recent change at Cardiff Bay station.  The line itself is currently out of operation while the current set of works are underway which includes the electrification infrastructure.  Below are yesterday's photos Cardiff Bay station taken from various viewpoints and angles.  The old fencing has gone as has pretty much entirety the old platform. The catenary is clearly visible now.  Additionally, it can be better seen more how the third platform (serving the future tram direct to Cardiff Central) will fit into the scheme.
Photos below.

 
A redundant signal box in Ukfield might be turned into a micro pub/brewery.  I think that it's a brilliant way to put new life into a piece of disused railway architecture....and if the article below is anything to go by, many of the local community are "signalling" their approval too!   


https://www.theargus.co.uk/news/25158547.micro-pub-plans-uckfield-rail-signal-box-prove-popular/

 
There's surely be a bus connection from Unst to Lerwick, and the Crosscountry train's timed to take passengers from the 19:00 (ferry) from Lerwick, calling at Kirkwall around 23:00 and into Aberdeen the next morning a good hour before the train leaves. This will still benefit passengers heading as far as Plymouth (and, with a change of trains, Cornwall... overnight at Penzance and you can probably be on St Agnes by lunchtime)

Mark

 

I am interested in the reasons why trains are often delayed for, apparently, no obvious reason and in the explanations provided to passengers.

In this particular instance the journey check text should have read '17:50 Gloucester to Salisbury due 20:06 departed Gloucester 8 minutes having returned to Platform 1 from it's waiting point 10 minutes later than scheduled, because the platform was occupied by the late running 2T49 WOF>BRI service until 1748, and has been further delayed on the approach to Stonehouse.'

Too much information obviously but I think the majority of people understand what is meant by the term 'depot' and I doubt the Gloucester Loco Spur qualifies.

And I can't figure out why the service lost another c. 8 mins between Standish Junction and Stonehouse.

 
We arrived in Amsterdam yesterday - overnight on the boat from Newcastle to IJmuiden and then on a coach for boat passengers into the centre of Amsterdam.  27 hours from Melksham, 2 trains, 2 buses and 1 ship.  Extra costs for the crossing on top of the pass and by the time you pay for a cabin and meals, saving an overnight hotel, it made sense for us.  And it avoided the need to transit London as Eurostar, or Harwich, would have required.  Our passes are first class, and past experience of Cross Country trains to Newcastle suggests that it's a LONG journey in standard class. 

The transfer bus from Newcastle Central to Royal Quay was a standard bus designed for regular passengers, without extra allowance for all the stuff (cases, big backpacks, carpets!) people had with them and the travellers were excited to get on the bus, leaving little space for Lisa's mobility aid "Henry" and we struggled to get even seated - the last two seats grudignly given to us, with the comment from the woman opposite (we had back facing seats) that her pack was big - so didn't allow me to even get me feet in properly.

That bus aside, all AOK and we found our hotel in Amsterdam close to Central Station.  Like the UK, streets are numbered odd on one side and even on the other. Which is fine until you go down the wrong side and can't cross because it's a canal and not a road between the sides. 

I'm on a continuous pass ... Lisa on limited day ... and in the afternoon I took a trip out to Enkhuizen - about an hour by train.   The station there is waterside, the service to Amsterdam electric and every 30 minutes, and it was a pleasant town and quayside to walk around. The online promotion site for the town tells me ""Within the old ramparts you will find no fewer than 361 national monuments and the most unusual street names. Also discover the Zuiderzee Museum and Sprookjeswonderland, be surprised by the special stores and enjoy the cozy restaurants.""  I suspect I saw, but did not have time to comprehend, a handful of the monuments and have 350 more for next time.

This is a dual purpose trip - for us to relax and have a good trip now that I have retired from my local Town Council, and also to look and learn more about travel and transport and how they fit in with city planning; I have been working / campaigning / informing / partnering for 2 decades now for changes for the better in my home area and there's nothing like seeing other practise and its effects first hand elsewhere.  More about than elsewhere and in separate posts elsewhere; my trip out to Enkhuizen was educational to say the least. It helps inform my technical strength as I talk and persuade/inform/suggest transport professionals.


















Edit - adding pictures

 

Well, it was at Plymouth - what more should you expect