Name and shame?
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A few years ago I used to regularly travel by train between Neath and Bridgend. First Great Western 125 and Arriva sprinter trains were generally very clean but Virgin 125 were very rarely clean. I would often have to look for a clean seat prior to sitting down. Don't know what they are like nowadays as I have not been on a main line train for a while.
Diane if you go to Cardiff by car, on leaving M4 at junction 32 drive to Radyr station and have the valleys train in to either Queen Street or Central Stations - run every 10 minutes on Saturdays. Last time I did it, it was
Diane if you go to Cardiff by car, on leaving M4 at junction 32 drive to Radyr station and have the valleys train in to either Queen Street or Central Stations - run every 10 minutes on Saturdays. Last time I did it, it was
Icemaker I could talk all day about trains - especially if it was GWR steam (God's Wonderful Railway).Hello again Diane, if you read my post at 7-17 you will see that i have allready stated that we will still need lorries and i have never said small white vans will replace them, i simply said the lorries will in the future just be doing short haul rather than long haul.
If you look again at the picture of the stobart / tesco train you will notice that the containers are designed to be lifted off the train and on to a articulated lorry which is exactely the same size as the ones that deliver to you today so you will still get your delivery as one load but possibly quite a bit sooner as the train is almost twice as fast as the lorry.
"As i said trains are badley maintained and very unreliable and out dated."
When did you last go on a train ? this country now has the most modern fleet of trains in europe, most are less than 5 years old, the class 66 freight locomotive is one of the most reliable locomotives in the world and this is the most heavily used locomotive in the country, (stobarts is just one)most if not all of the old br speed restrictions have now been removed due to new tracks being laid and stations have been upgraded at the rate of 5 a month.
My company (northern rail) probably has the oldest fleet of trains in the country we are still running class 142 and 15x most of which are approaching 20 years old and all have gone well over the 1 million mile mark but we still have a mile per casualty figure of over 10 thousand, you try running a 20 year old lorry for 10 thousand miles without a breakdown bearing in mind that trains run 24 hours a day at much higher speeds.
I would take a look and make my own mind up rather than relying on the outdated views of few bigoted members of the press who seem incapable of modernisation, you may just be surprised.
Any way this is a caravan forum i will talk trains all day if people are genuinely interested but i think this one has now run its course, only time will tell.
Just had a thought rather than put the freight back on the railways why not put the car and caravan on the railways and then only have a short drive the other end. This would also mean arriving at your destination refreshed and not frustrated by HGV and other road users. Sorry Navman only joking as your dear wife would accost me in Tesco and to date I am a live coward.
I thought arrive had stopped using the fraggonset train now the summer time table had ended, maybee they have kept it on as it quite a reliable train. we used to have the same one running for us when first group had the franchise it was two class 31 locomotives and 4 mark 2 coaches, the old scot rail stock is made up of class 150/2's that became redundant when scot rail replaced them with brand new trains 3 years ago, we at northern allso had some of the ex scot rail stock as it has about 5 to 10 years life lkeft in it.
I don't know where you are travelling to cardiff from diane but from your cost comparison i would think you are about 10 miles from cardiff, on the train off peak a 10 mile trip should be no more than about
I don't know where you are travelling to cardiff from diane but from your cost comparison i would think you are about 10 miles from cardiff, on the train off peak a 10 mile trip should be no more than about
they do on eurostar colin its great drive on to the train park up and relax, an hour later your in france.
My brother in law is a mechanic with Arriva trains in Canton engine sheds at Cardiff. the first thing they have to do when a set is brought into the shed is inspect the inside for damage. It is surprising what is left on the train. The worst part is a suicide - the train is hauled into the shed, not allowed to run under its own engine. British Transport Police and a mechanic then have to clean the engine of all body parts into a blue body bag. Often times there are intestines in the vent shafts under the sets which then have to be stripped. They normally have a suicide one a month - most popular being January and February. The driver has compassionate leave whilst the mechanic picking up the pieces has no compassionate leave what so ever.
we don't have many ex gwr steam loco's in preservation round here colin unfortunately. We are having an open day at my depot (newton heath) this weekend and expect about 5 steam loco's and 5 different class of freight loco's plus at least 1 off every class of passenger train in our company, there will allso be engineering demonstrations and stalls for railway nostalgia.
If your ever up this way and if you are a member of the caravan club then go to the burrs country park site at bury, the east lancashire railway runs right through the park and runs all year. this weekend they had 4 steam engines running a regular timetable.
If your ever up this way and if you are a member of the caravan club then go to the burrs country park site at bury, the east lancashire railway runs right through the park and runs all year. this weekend they had 4 steam engines running a regular timetable.
Here is your chance to score Brownie points Icemaker - suggest it for long haul trips in the UK to commence next Spring for the main holiday season.they do on eurostar colin its great drive on to the train park up and relax, an hour later your in france.
tell me about it colin i had my first suicide within six months of passing out as a driver. fortunately not had another since then and its been 8 years. we have had 2 this week in my area its not pleasant at all. jan / feb is allways the worst time we know it as suicide season, we assume it is becouse of debt and family fall outs after christmas.
Diane's comment did make me laugh about "smelly dirty rains". I'm wondering what they put in the fuel of vehicles in South Wales these days to make the fumes smell like roses. It must be something new because in the past, whilst driving the M4, A48 or A40, the pungent, sulphorous, carbon monoxide smell of traffic fumes were the same as any other polluted highway or town in Britain.
its been suggested colin, they have even built the eurostar depot at longsite in manchester but would you believe the power company could not guarantee the level of power needed for two eurostar trains to start together on the west coast line so the proposal was dropped.they do on eurostar colin its great drive on to the train park up and relax, an hour later your in france.
We now use this huge shed for putting new advertising on trains. such a shame.
You are smelling the fumes from the steel works of my home town as you travel the M4 - PORT TALBOT. Believe it or not but Port Talbot was declared a smokeless zone area in the late 1960s. On one occassion the local council tried to implement it on British Steel. Their reply was that fair enough we will close Port Talbot and keep Ravenscraig open in Scotland. The council soon backed down. Port Talbot had one of the largest marshelling yards in Europe and it was designed with a "hump" in it so trucks could free wheel whilst being marshelled without a great need of a loco. It's all gone now and there is also talk of the EWS depot in Margam shutting.
Another coincidence regarding polution in the air - not long after the district was declaed a smokeless zone area the council built a crematorium not far from the works and it has now been uprated with more ovens to cope with demand.
LB. Stop stirring! And stop twisting my words. I am talking about the interior of the train being smelly and dirty.
And Ice maker i live a good 40min away from cardiff. From here to London is
And Ice maker i live a good 40min away from cardiff. From here to London is
Hi colin, just spoken to a friend and apparently we do have an ex GWR steam loco at bury, its the city of truro, take a look.
http://east-lancs-rly.co.uk/?p=gallery_ste&m=78&i=DSCN2853.jpg
http://east-lancs-rly.co.uk/?p=gallery_ste&m=78&i=DSCN2853.jpg
Hello Diane
How far is that train journey?
If I tracel from Wigan to Manchester on icemakers train it only costs
How far is that train journey?
If I tracel from Wigan to Manchester on icemakers train it only costs
I never worked on the *City* class, they had all gone in my time although City of Truro was brought out to work on specials in the late 50s.
I worked on 16xx, 57xx, 14xx, 28xx, 72xx, Halls, Granges, Manors & Castles. Never did fire a King.
We also got Jacko engines at Hereford and the classes I worked were Black 5, 8F, Crab, Jubilee.
Also fired the Standards, 78xxx, 73xxx, 75xxx, W.D. & 9Fs. I fired 92220 Evening Star quite a few times when it was shedded at Ebbw Junction M.P.D. It was the last steam loco built in the country for B.R.
From Hereford we worked to Bristol, Crewe, Birmingham, & Margam yard on mainline work. We also worked branch line traffic to Merthyr (Dowlais), Gloucester & Kington.
I married into a railway family, wifes father, grandfather both drivers. Her fathers uncle and cousin were both drivers and she had two cousins who were firemen. All footplatemen.
Going back to the end of the 1800s an ancestor of hers was a guard at Hereford and he collapsed and died at Dudley while shunting his train. My son found that out whilst doing family history.
I worked on 16xx, 57xx, 14xx, 28xx, 72xx, Halls, Granges, Manors & Castles. Never did fire a King.
We also got Jacko engines at Hereford and the classes I worked were Black 5, 8F, Crab, Jubilee.
Also fired the Standards, 78xxx, 73xxx, 75xxx, W.D. & 9Fs. I fired 92220 Evening Star quite a few times when it was shedded at Ebbw Junction M.P.D. It was the last steam loco built in the country for B.R.
From Hereford we worked to Bristol, Crewe, Birmingham, & Margam yard on mainline work. We also worked branch line traffic to Merthyr (Dowlais), Gloucester & Kington.
I married into a railway family, wifes father, grandfather both drivers. Her fathers uncle and cousin were both drivers and she had two cousins who were firemen. All footplatemen.
Going back to the end of the 1800s an ancestor of hers was a guard at Hereford and he collapsed and died at Dudley while shunting his train. My son found that out whilst doing family history.
LB. Stop stirring! And stop twisting my words. I am talking about the interior of the train being smelly and dirty.
And Ice maker i live a good 40min away from cardiff. From here to London is
Hello Diane
How far is that train journey?
If I tracel from Wigan to Manchester on icemakers train it only costs
I forgot, I did fire one Britannia Pacific, it's name was Dornoch Firth and it was on a Christmas parcels special to Bristol and back. I've got some great memories of those times and nobody can take them away. Neither can anyone else re-live them :O) Preserved railways to a great job but it can never be the real thing. For a start you would never be allowed on the footplate wearing glasses. If that time came you went into the shunting link and weren't allowed on the mainline.
Lord B. I appreciate that the work on the footplate was both hard and dirty but I am sure that you must have had a "buzz" out of it as the engine sped along the track. Only once did I have the chance to ride on the footplate and that was on a pannier tank loco hauling a passenger train on the last day of service from Treherbert to Swansea on the old Rhondda & Swansea Bay Line. Came down from Treherbert to Aberavon Town station on the footplate - I believe December either 1959 or 1961. I used to catch the old three coach deisel when I first started work in Neath and always tried to sit behind the driver to have a view down the track - nowadays it is just a blank wall with no front track views.
colin, believe me, it was a great job and there was a lot of cameraderie among footplate staff. There was also a lot of competition between the LDC reps at different depots when fighting for which depot should work certain trains.
Crewe men were known for trying to grab everything and go as far as possible. At the time of the unmanned moon landings I can always remember one of our LDC men, the late Phil Elliot, saying that on the pics sent back from the moon they had spotted Crewe men learning the road ... hehheh!
Crewe men were known for trying to grab everything and go as far as possible. At the time of the unmanned moon landings I can always remember one of our LDC men, the late Phil Elliot, saying that on the pics sent back from the moon they had spotted Crewe men learning the road ... hehheh!
I believe manchester victoria men where known as victoria vultures back in the 70's and 80's due to thiere very large route card, we still do to this day sign quite a lot of railway compared to most depots.
I have been told of one driver who is still driving today at the age of 69 for west coast railways who once took a class 40 loco to crewe only to find his relief had not turned up so he carried on to the trains destination in exeter with his second man reading the route out of the sectional appendix.
We would get sacked these days for that, they class it as a spad if you take the wrong route.
You should come down one day LB as bury allso have a crab and a black 5 both in main line order, im expecting to see at least one of them at newton heath on sunday as im on duty this weekend.
have a look at the elr web site it is quite a good site.
http://www.east-lancs-rly.co.uk/
Any way the boss will be home soon best go and put tea on or im in trouble.
I have been told of one driver who is still driving today at the age of 69 for west coast railways who once took a class 40 loco to crewe only to find his relief had not turned up so he carried on to the trains destination in exeter with his second man reading the route out of the sectional appendix.
We would get sacked these days for that, they class it as a spad if you take the wrong route.
You should come down one day LB as bury allso have a crab and a black 5 both in main line order, im expecting to see at least one of them at newton heath on sunday as im on duty this weekend.
have a look at the elr web site it is quite a good site.
http://www.east-lancs-rly.co.uk/
Any way the boss will be home soon best go and put tea on or im in trouble.
Icemaker you do not keep a dog and bark yourself - are you a man or a mouse?I believe manchester victoria men where known as victoria vultures back in the 70's and 80's due to thiere very large route card, we still do to this day sign quite a lot of railway compared to most depots.
I have been told of one driver who is still driving today at the age of 69 for west coast railways who once took a class 40 loco to crewe only to find his relief had not turned up so he carried on to the trains destination in exeter with his second man reading the route out of the sectional appendix.
We would get sacked these days for that, they class it as a spad if you take the wrong route.
You should come down one day LB as bury allso have a crab and a black 5 both in main line order, im expecting to see at least one of them at newton heath on sunday as im on duty this weekend.
have a look at the elr web site it is quite a good site.
http://www.east-lancs-rly.co.uk/
Any way the boss will be home soon best go and put tea on or im in trouble.
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