rapidotrains Posted January 5, 2017 Author Share Posted January 5, 2017 A lot of driving capability depends on the car you drive as well - Fairbourne to the South Coast non-stop in my Saab 9-5 is the equivalent of Rugeley to Cannock in my old Mk1 Vauxhall Corsa despite me being nearly 20 years older and more prone to fatigue! Indeed. I've been driving a 10-ton, 40-foot-long bus that maxes out at 92 km/h. It certainly gives you new perspective on what sort of distances are achievable in a day. -Jason Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold TheSignalEngineer Posted January 5, 2017 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 5, 2017 Oh dear... and I do remember how difficult that was! I also remember that same night we got lost in Sparkbrook, Birmingham, and I was trying to do a 17-point turn in a manual car while balancing a map on my knee and interrupting a drug deal being concluded in the lorry directly in front of us. Now THAT was an experience to remember. Some things don't make it into the official Rapido newsletters...... -Jason I remember driving down there one afternoon when we lived in Hall Green and having to take rapid evasive action due to a fork lift truck reversing out into the A34 with a pallet load of exotic vegetables. Another day I stopped at a Pelican Crossing in Sparkhill and as I sat there a car drove off the pavement on one side and up the other side. Interesting place even 25 years ago. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold TheSignalEngineer Posted January 5, 2017 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 5, 2017 Indeed. I've been driving a 10-ton, 40-foot-long bus that maxes out at 92 km/h. It certainly gives you new perspective on what sort of distances are achievable in a day. -Jason I used to have in a collection of travel stuff a booklet from a Midland Red coach tour to the Scottish Highlands and Islands c1960. It started from Birmingham and the first day included Morning Coffee at Stafford, lunch near Warrington, afternoon tea somewhere before Dinner, Bed and Breakfast in the Lake District, such was the pace of travel on our old roads in coaches. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wombatofludham Posted January 5, 2017 Share Posted January 5, 2017 I used to have in a collection of travel stuff a booklet from a Midland Red coach tour to the Scottish Highlands and Islands c1960. It started from Birmingham and the first day included Morning Coffee at Stafford, lunch near Warrington, afternoon tea somewhere before Dinner, Bed and Breakfast in the Lake District, such was the pace of travel on our old roads in coaches. Midland Red used to send out some of their 1970s touring coaches (short length Leopards with either 36 or 40 armchairs) on our school bus and to be honest they were so comfortable I wouldn't mind a leisurely perambulation via various hostelries on one even today. The contrast with some of their last National era coaches which crammed 53 seats into an 11 metre body was noticeable, pity anyone on one of those crates doing a Highlands tour. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stewartingram Posted January 5, 2017 Share Posted January 5, 2017 I remember driving down there one afternoon when we lived in Hall Green and having to take rapid evasive action due to a fork lift truck reversing out into the A34 with a pallet load of exotic vegetables. Another day I stopped at a Pelican Crossing in Sparkhill and as I sat there a car drove off the pavement on one side and up the other side. Interesting place even 25 years ago. I can remember -about 10 years ago - towing the caravan up to Blackpool via the M6. Somewhere in the Manchester (sort of) area, we were in the middle lane, with all 3 lanes at a standstill, stop/start driving for a little while until magically it all cleared. In the meantime, we were undertaken....by a yellow speedboat....! The next day, walking along the Golden Mile in Blackpool, the same speedboat drove past us! It was one of those funny conversions into a motorised road vehicle. About 5 years ago, in Great Yarmouth, we spied a motorised skip. Now that would be a useful vehicle for London - no parking restrictions, dump it anywhere, drop a traffic cone at each corner of it..... Stewart Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rapidotrains Posted January 9, 2017 Author Share Posted January 9, 2017 On the plane to London. Already getting comments from the crew about my shirt. Next stop... Blighty! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dibber25 Posted January 9, 2017 Share Posted January 9, 2017 On the plane to London. Already getting comments from the crew about my shirt. Next stop... Blighty! IMG_3271.JPG I assume you don't have one that says, "I'd rather be on British Airways". (CJL) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rapidotrains Posted January 9, 2017 Author Share Posted January 9, 2017 I assume you don't have one that says, "I'd rather be on British Airways". (CJL) That would get me a kick in the teeth. As it is, the steward looked at me and deadpanned: "VIA goes to the Other London." Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold TheSignalEngineer Posted January 9, 2017 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 9, 2017 That would get me a kick in the teeth. As it is, the steward looked at me and deadpanned: "VIA goes to the Other London." Thats like saying Northern Rail goes to the other Halifax. Halifax, Nova Scotia, May 2006 after a week on the rails. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rapidotrains Posted January 9, 2017 Author Share Posted January 9, 2017 Well... First impression of the UK. 57 minutes - and counting - in the passport control line at Heathrow. Luuuuvly, Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Y Posted January 9, 2017 Share Posted January 9, 2017 Well... First impression of the UK. 57 minutes - and counting - in the passport control line at Heathrow. Luuuuvly, At least you'll have more lines to choose from in a couple of years when the solely EU passport channels are superfluous. Or we'll just halve the number of channels because we don't need the other ones. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rapidotrains Posted January 9, 2017 Author Share Posted January 9, 2017 I have successfully made it to Paddington Station. No more of that nasty airport rubbish. Judging by my fellow passengers on the platform, this promises to be an interesting trip... -Jason Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSpencer Posted January 9, 2017 Share Posted January 9, 2017 Well... First impression of the UK. 57 minutes - and counting - in the passport control line at Heathrow. Luuuuvly, Canada took just as long with my UK passport when I visited so consider it revenge! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSpencer Posted January 9, 2017 Share Posted January 9, 2017 I have successfully made it to Paddington Station. No more of that nasty airport rubbish. Judging by my fellow passengers on the platform, this promises to be an interesting trip... -Jason Paddington.jpg They are in fact the new ticket control machines intended to reduce fraud. Said to be very effective. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaym481 Posted January 10, 2017 Share Posted January 10, 2017 Well... First impression of the UK. 57 minutes - and counting - in the passport control line at Heathrow. Luuuuvly, I'd have been happy with that on Boxing Day. As it was I spent from 11pm to 4:30am queued up at Pearson trying to get my connections to BC re-booked. Then I spent 2 days in Vancouver airport waiting for a flight to the Interior that would actually land rather than circle and return to Van. I used to live a 10 minute walk from Paddington. The UK end of my travel always seemed to be easier. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSpencer Posted January 10, 2017 Share Posted January 10, 2017 Well... First impression of the UK. 57 minutes - and counting - in the passport control line at Heathrow. Luuuuvly, First you wait 57 minutes, then you see a class 57 at Paddington... is it a sign? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Enterprisingwestern Posted January 10, 2017 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 10, 2017 eating delicious vegetarian food I didn't realise you Americans did oxymorons. Mike. Hat, coat etc. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stewartingram Posted January 10, 2017 Share Posted January 10, 2017 First you wait 57 minutes, then you see a class 57 at Paddington... is it a sign? Baked beans for breakfast (Heinz)? Stewart Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
daltonparva Posted January 10, 2017 Share Posted January 10, 2017 Shron-Bus.jpg[/url] Vegetarian isn't food, it's what food eats. (Also works for salad) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rapidotrains Posted January 10, 2017 Author Share Posted January 10, 2017 Day two of my Mystery Tour of the UK began extremely early in Reading. Why Reading, you ask? Well - I don't do Air BnB. I like to stay at a hotel. I also like to take real taxis, rather than Uber in some guy's uninsured car. So for £150 I can get a decent room in London. Or for £60 I can stay at the Hilton in Reading. Reading wins. If I have one weakness, it's that I have become used to nice hotels. I spent too many years as a student staying at rubbish no-star hotels with no AC and the windows painted shut. As I get on I have no patience for them any more. And as I can't afford to stay at a posh hotel in London, it means I usually stay in Reading my first night in the UK. The taxi driver from the station to the hotel was driving a TX5. The Chrysler engine is rubbish, apparently. Did I mention I'm a member of the London Vintage Taxi Association? I want a taxi too. I'm also a member of the Wythall Transport Museum, the Routemaster Association, and the Trolley Bus Museum at Sandtoft. Yes, I'm that guy. The Hilton was as you would expect from the brand - clean, well-appointed, Paris Hilton hanging from the chandelier. The breakfast was very tasty with warm, fresh bread and a wide variety of fruit. Here's a photo of the hotel, that I didn't take: To get to Peterborough, my options were to go to London and lug my stuff on the Tube, or to go to Birmingham. I will never pass up a chance to go to Birmingham. It was my home for three years. Wasn't there a song in the 60s called "I Left My Heart In Selly Oak"? But my penchant for all things Brummy does mean that when I am in the UK I ride rather a lot of Voyagers. When you have a first class rail pass (eight days in a month for just over £400 provided you DON'T have a UK passport!), Voyagers are lovely. There is no toilet smell, and every five minutes a friendly but clearly bored out of her tree attendant comes by and offers you more tea. Arriving early, I took some time to soak in New Street. Shortly after I took this photo some people offered me their loose change. I think I'm going to be spending more time sitting on the platform at New Street. It's certainly more profitable than producing N gauge models. Birmingham City Centre has changed - a bit - over the last few years. Gone are the days when I could wander into Ian Allen on Stephenson Street before catching the 63 bus back home. Now there are these rather attractive trammy thingies in the road. Watching the trams doodle past and reverse/cross over was a treat. Watching the ning-nongs run in front of a moving tram was also a treat. Passengers may hate the new New Street because you have to go through 47 barriers to get to your next train. But as a public space, it is just wonderful. The old New Street was a steaming dungeon topped by a series of putrid, excremental corridors known as the Pallisades. What an awful place. But just look at that space! Natural light, plenty of room, a great selection of shops. This is what a city centre station should look like. This welcomes visitors to Birmingham with open arms. I think it's fantastic. Oh look! Buses! Oh look! Buses! A Cross Country Class 170 took me to Peterborough, and I was the only first class passenger until some minor aristocrat joined me. I think one of her rings could have outfitted Cross Country with a new fleet. I'm guessing her private jet was at the garage. I came to Peterborough to meet with my chums at Model Rail magazine: Richard Foster and Chris Leigh. We're discussed our forthcoming OO gauge J70 model, along with ways that Model Rail and Rapido can work together more closely in the future. I'm not allowed to call the J70 "Toby" but of course that is what everyone else calls it. We had a bite by the cathedral, and I was struck once again by the diversity, history and beauty of British architecture. We don't have buildings like this in Canada. Everything in Canada that was old and beautiful was torn down in the 1960s to become a Beaver gas station, then torn down in the 1980s to become a parking lot, and then ripped up in the 2000s to become a condominium. If Peterborough Cathedral was in Canada it would be called "Cathedral Towers" and have a gym and party room. I love old leaded glass windows. We're replacing a window in our dining room, and I wanted one of the ones off the cathedral. I started climbing the wall of the cathedral to remove a window (just one - they have lots, you know) and I was chased off by two burly men with a mastiff. I was actually saved by my bellbottom trousers. The mastiff took a jump at me but hit my massive trouser leg instead and missed me altogether. I gave a donation to the church restoration fund (five Scottish £1 notes that Arran gave Bill and that no shop will accept) so they let me off. I still have five more £1 notes. Anyone want them? Chris and Richard took me to Dave Lowery's house. Have you been there? It's heaven. I may have a train in my basement, but Dave has the East Coast Main Line in his garden. For some reason, Richard and Chris do not seem so shocked by the fact that Dave has the ECML in his garden, nor do they seem as ecstatic at the passing HSTs. Or maybe they are exhibiting that well known British gift for understatement. DAVE HAS THE MAIN LINE IN HIS GARDEN! DAVE HAS THE MAIN LINE IN HIS GARDEN! Why is nobody else shouting? Here Dave and I are posing by the "walkunder." Faced with the challenge of getting to the centre of his extensive O gauge layout, Dave actually planned and built a couple of steps down into the ground and up again, so that he will be able to enjoy his layout for years to come and not have to worry about crawling under a layout in his 80s. This guy is awesome. Dave is well known to the railway modelling community here in the UK. He was one of the original voices in Model Rail magazine; he manufactures O gauge wagons; he builds custom models; he watches trains go by. He is pretty much leading the life I want to live when I retire. And he has a cracking sense of humour. Here's a great shot of one of the kit-built 87s on his layout: And here are my fellow travellers. Is the halo around Chris's head a portent, I wonder? I'm now en route to Darlington on a Virgin HST. No complaints about the comfort or the service. Travelling Virgin East Coast is such a pleasure. And unlike VIA Rail Canada, there are more than three trains a week. I'm staying at the Houndgate Townhouse, which doesn't have a gate and isn't a house. More to come... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
eastwestdivide Posted January 11, 2017 Share Posted January 11, 2017 ...I'm staying at the Houndgate Townhouse, which doesn't have a gate and isn't a house... but what about the hound? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rapidotrains Posted January 11, 2017 Author Share Posted January 11, 2017 but what about the hound? Not that I can see. I've spoken with the management and they are renaming the place to "Building with Rooms." -Jason Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold TheSignalEngineer Posted January 11, 2017 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 11, 2017 ............................ And unlike VIA Rail Canada, there are more than three trains a week. Taken in 2006. The times have changed since then I think but still the same number of trains in the summer timetable. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
eastwestdivide Posted January 11, 2017 Share Posted January 11, 2017 Not so much a timetable as a daytable. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wombatofludham Posted January 11, 2017 Share Posted January 11, 2017 Now you've seen the trams in Birmingham how about one as a model? You've done trains, you've now done your first bus, think of a tram as half a bus, half a train.The good thing is the Midland Metro runs alongside the Stourbridge-Solihull "Jewellery Line" so shares part of the route with normal trains albeit on it's own tracks alongside, so gives plenty of scope for modellers. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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