Trainspotting TV Show

[brianusa]

This is straying far from the original topic which means everything is normal!  Ever since the separate carriage concept was overtaken by fixed rakes, there has been controversy and the main argument seems to be cost, as usual. Once it was too many carriages doing nothing while now its too few doing too much.  Obviously the money men won't let any changes be made as they fret about the bottom line and so it will continue.

 

Brian.

[Coryton]

Hello all,

 

The Pendolinos stay in fixed rakes because the motor bogies are distributed evenly along the train (every other car is a motor car IIRC) and so the idea of "power cars" with coaches between them does not apply. The motor cars can identified by the trio of square cooling groups on the roof at one end.

 

Right. But in principle if there was a fault on a trailer car that couldn't quickly be rectified, it could be removed from the set leaving it short-formed, just as seems to happen with the nominally fixed coaching rakes used in HSTs.

 

But so far as I know this doesn't happen in Pendolinos and I'm sure there's a good reason for it. 

[Coryton]

We're possibly straying slightly off topic here, but I wonder if it did much if any damage to Cardiff Bus. Cheeky as it was, the NAT orange bus wasn't around for long and I suspect that most bus passengers without a free bus pass pay attention to operators only because it affects which tickets they use; those with free passes even less so.

 

The Cardiff Bus one is still around I think and looks rather good.

 

And to follow up my own post, yesterday a bus did a very impressive job of incinerating itself in the centre of Cardiff.

 

None of the news stories I saw bothered to identify the bus company.

 

It appears to have been a NAT bus.

 

Since it seems that nobody was hurt perhaps it would be fair game for Cardiff Bus to take a leaf out of NAT's book and put some relevant advertising on their buses:

 

"Come home on a real fire - catch a NAT bus"?

"If you can't stand the heat, go by Cardiff Bus"?

 

Though I think the usual dignified silence would be better.

 

Of course the news stories didn't identify the type of bus, whereas if a car is even peripherally mentioned in a news story it's described as e.g. a blue Toyota Aygo. 

['CHARD]

Right. But in principle if there was a fault on a trailer car that couldn't quickly be rectified, it could be removed from the set leaving it short-formed, just as seems to happen with the nominally fixed coaching rakes used in HSTs.

 

But so far as I know this doesn't happen in Pendolinos and I'm sure there's a good reason for it. 

 

In reality, there's only one trailer in a 9-car unit, and two in an 11-car.  And there's less to go wrong on these by definition.

 

However, splitting and reforming the 390s isn't a five minute job, and moreover their software is configured specifically as a 9- or 11-car entity.

[Coryton]

In reality, there's only one trailer in a 9-car unit, and two in an 11-car.  And there's less to go wrong on these by definition.

 

True. But things do go wrong with coaches or we wouldn't get short-formed loco hauled/HST rakes.

If most cars are motor cars, you could presumably take one out without much loss of performance.

 

However, splitting and reforming the 390s isn't a five minute job, and moreover their software is configured specifically as a 9- or 11-car entity.

 

Quite. And I had a suspicion that the computers wouldn't like the set being re-formed.

 

I think the computers were never very keen on having a Thunderbird loco attached.

In reality, there's only one trailer in a 9-car unit, and two in an 11-car.  And there's less to go wrong on these by definition.

 

However, splitting and reforming the 390s isn't a five minute job, and moreover their software is configured specifically as a 9- or 11-car entity.

 

[Hroth]

Of course the news stories didn't identify the type of bus, whereas if a car is even peripherally mentioned in a news story it's described as e.g. a blue Toyota Aygo. 

More likely to be a grey Vauxhall Zaphira B.

 

Meanwhile, having absorbed all the comments (good and bad), I hope the production company and the BBC do another series of Trainspotting Live!

[Pacific231G]

Could there be a more sinister reason for the BBC to commission the series at this particular time.

 

When Ian Allan effectively invented a peculiarly British hobby that grew to enormous proportions after the war, it was a time of austerity and trainspotting ( it was really loco-spotting but trainspotting was the term that stuck) was a very cheap and accessible hobby that schoolboys with no money- except perhaps two old pence for a platform ticket- could take part in. Railway modelling, railway photography and line bashing were more expensive (and so, for example,  were stamp collecting and flying model planes)  but anyone could afford to be a trainspotter.

Is it now being presented as the ideal hobby for a poorer country (and I wonder what the relative numbers are of trainspotters, plane spotters and twitchers?)*

 

 

*(Bird watchers claim a serious interest in wildlife conservation but, while for many that's undoubtedly true and certainly gives their hobby a certain repectability, having seen them in action en mass I'm not so sure that twitchers are very different from trainspotters)

[Phil Parker]

I suspect it's more to do with the licence fee negotiations. At the meeting they can say, "We do programmes about train spotters. No-one else will do programmes about train spotters. Who said we always chase popularity and rating?".

 

This will force Rupert Murdoch to launch "Sky Gricer" for all the latest exciting Class 66 news. Sadly, his server will collapse under the weight of all the gricers moaning how expensive it is...

[Coryton]

*(Bird watchers claim a serious interest in wildlife conservation but, while for many that's undoubtedly true and certainly gives their hobby a certain repectability, having seen them in action en mass I'm not so sure that twitchers are very different from trainspotters)

 

I've never worked out where the numbers are though.

[Hroth]

I've never worked out where the numbers are though.

The numbers are on those tiny bracelets the birds wear around their ankles.

 

Its why twitchers don't go anywhere without those high-powered spotting scopes; "twitcher" itself is a reference to the eye infection passed on through indiscriminate sharing of equipment.  When in the company of enthusiastic bird-spotters, just point at random and exclaim loudly "There's a Lesser Spotted Mouse Thrush!" and the infected eyes will start throbbing wildly!

 

So sad......

[wombatofludham]

Just catching up on these programmes which were recorded last week.  Seriously people, is it any wonder rail enthusiasts get a bad press looking at some of the comments on here?  Yes, it had it's faults and was a bit clunky in places.  However, the BBC is a BROADcaster, so has to package even niche programmes in a way that they won't frighten off the normals.  I thought it showed enthusiasts/spotters in a positive way, not the cliched, sneery way the public would have expected.  Not perfect, but streets ahead of what it could have been.

 

Hopefully it'll get another run with perhaps some lessons learned.  As it was it was quite a jolly little series of programmes.

[Horsetan]

Meanwhile, in the latest Private Eye.....

[Hroth]

Well, the Eye certainly seems to have hit the zeitgeist!

 

Of course, we have to remember that Ian Hislop did that programme, oft repeated on BBC 4, about the effects of the Beeching cuts on British Railways.  I wonder if he at least sampled some of TSL?

[Dunsignalling]

I was away enjoying real trains on the SVR when the series was screened and so recorded it. This potentially meant missing he first in the new series of Only Connect which, fortunately, I was able to enjoy in the company of some fellow fans at The Old Castle in Bridgnorth after an excellent meal. 

 

As for Trainspotting Live, I watched the first one, discovered my hard drive had only recorded the sound of the second and sadly confess that I was insufficiently inspired to watch the final one and deleted it unwatched.

 

I agree that this series was (and had to be) substantially designed to preach to the unconverted. There were a few modest howlers which have been duly picked up by the more initiated but, to be honest, not so many as I expected. The idea has promise but was let down by the way much of it came over as being presented by individuals who had learned the script and read the background notes but lacked any real knowledge of or feel for the subject themselves. I was put off somewhat by the amount of exaggerated excitement; acting classes required before any further run, please. Better still, find a Trainspotting Live presenter to compare with Chris Packham on the nature shows. 

 

I don't think it represented a bad start but didn't really work for me. That said, I will definitely watch another series and expect the wrinkles to have been ironed out.

 

Just don't ask me to choose between it and the divine Ms Coren-Mitchell, please BBC.

 

 

John

[talisman56]

 

Just don't ask me to choose between it and the divine Ms Coren-Mitchell, please BBC.

 

 

John

 

That's what a PVR is for - record Only Connect and you can enjoy the many delights of VCM at your leisure - and as many times as you desire...

[Hroth]

As for Trainspotting Live, I watched the first one, discovered my hard drive had only recorded the sound of the second and sadly confess that I was insufficiently inspired to watch the final one and deleted it unwatched.

 

Sounds like you need a new PVR that records TWO channels at once.

 

Then you can record all instances of VCM and any other programme you desire!

[big jim]

That's what a PVR is for - record Only Connect and you can enjoy the many delights of VCM at your leisure - and as many times as you desire...

I 'don't get' just connect, I tried watching it when it started on the dave channel but found it the most boring gameshow I've ever seen, ended up turning it off in the end as I was almost comatose after 10 minutes

 

(Agreed VCM is rather nice though)

['CHARD]

Probably just me, but VCM - eugh.  NO!  Very high maintenance with acute Princess Syndrome to boot.  Her hubby is welcome and I raise a toast to the man (I confess I also find him more then a little self-satisfied and smug - and generally deeply unfunny).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

She speaks highly of me too, naturally 

[Horsetan]

.... VCM - eugh.  NO!  Very high maintenance with acute Princess Syndrome to boot.  Her hubby is welcome....

 

I was quite surprised to find that she was quite an advanced poker player who had won significant sums of money.

 

"That's truly unbelievable, and that's the unbelievable truth."

['CHARD]

I was quite surprised to find that she was quite an advanced poker player who had won significant sums of money.

 

"That's truly unbelievable, and that's the unbelievable truth."

 

Yes she is - a former 'professional' poker player, if there can be such a bizarre thing.

 

 

 

 

Q: What should you never do if you meet Lady Gaga, by the way?

 

A: Poker face. 

 

 

[jjb1970]

The Private Eye spoof of this show (see a few posts above) is brilliant, although in some ways the whole situation at Southern Trains is so farcical that the reality is almost beyond parody near.