HS2

[boxbrownie]

2 hours ago, melmerby said:

Bet they don't have thick padded squabs and high backs though.....

 

I can remember the tip over seats which used to be the standard for trams.

A lot of the trains in Japan have either swivelling seats or the reversible backrest type so you can always face forwards.

[class26]

5 hours ago, GoingUnderground said:

Oh, I fully support HS2 and wish it every success. But I really do think that electric self-driving vehicles are a threat to HS2 and its longer term financial viability. I hope I'm wrong. 

But if people do abandon the railways for electric cars the roads will be totally congested, journey times  huge as I don`t see any government building many more roads. There`s only so much space on them

[melmerby]

1 hour ago, boxbrownie said:

He hasn’t driven on the lanes here in Cornwall, I’d love to see how it deals with a single track road confronted with a builders transit coming the other way 

 

The whirling blades on the wheels are extended.

[cctransuk]

1 hour ago, boxbrownie said:

He hasn’t driven on the lanes here in Cornwall, I’d love to see how it deals with a single track road confronted with a builders transit coming the other way 

 

...... or encountered a 'Chelsea Tractor' whose driver is convinced that Cornish lanes MUST be one-way, and that that THEY are going the correct way.

 

John Isherwood.

[Ron Ron Ron]

2 hours ago, GoingUnderground said:

.......I find it odd that you don't like sitting opposite someone, but you're quite prepared to sit physically much closer next to them, or do you rely on being slow in moving your bag or coat from the seat next to you to discourage folks from sitting there?

It's a bit antisocial, but I will admit I do it myself and have done for years so that I've got more space. .....

 

I move over to the aisle seat and get out an airline sick bag that I carry for such eventualities, holding it close to my face pretending to be close to being sick and making strange noises.

On other occasions I take along a life sized dummy who I sit next to the window with its cap pulled down over its face, to look like someone having a kip.

I'm a bit too old now for standing on the seat and doing ape impressions. Mind you it did work and I often got the whole carriage to myself. Luxury !

 

 

 

.

[martin_wynne]

19 minutes ago, Ron Ron Ron said:

I move over to the aisle seat and get out an airline sick bag that I carry for such eventualities, holding it close to my face pretending to be close to being sick and making strange noises.

On other occasions I take along a life sized dummy who I sit next to the window with its cap pulled down over its face, to look like someone having a kip.

I'm a bit too old now for standing on the seat and doing ape impressions. Mind you it did work and I often got the whole carriage to myself. Luxury !

 

Have you tried sitting a teddy bear in the adjacent seat?

 

[Zomboid]

The best way to keep the seat next to you free is to make eye contact with anyone who looks like they might want to sit there, and grin at them whilst patting the seat.

 

Never fails.

[pete_mcfarlane]

37 minutes ago, martin_wynne said:

 

Have you tried sitting a teddy bear in the adjacent seat?

 

Didn't the late John Betjeman do this with his teddy Archibald? 

[Ron Ron Ron]

2 minutes ago, Zomboid said:

The best way to keep the seat next to you free is to make eye contact with anyone who looks like they might want to sit there, and grin at them whilst patting the seat.

 

Never fails.

 

You might get a shock one day, when an enthusiastic person responds to your encouraging advances.      

[corneliuslundie]

I can see certain people being banned from trains if this goes public. Just as well you are using pseudonyms!

J

[jamie92208]

I was once on a train about to leave Oakland for a 30 hour trip to Seattle one evening. I had sussed that the best way to sleep comfortably in coach class was to sprawl out over 2 seats. I had done that, when a voice said, "Is this seat occupied" I looked up to see a rather good looking young blonde, "It is now" I replied.  Heidi from Wisconsin was a northern girl and the Beach Boys got it right.

 

Jamie

Edited May 16, 2021 by jamie92208

[Zomboid]

5 minutes ago, Ron Ron Ron said:

 

You might get a shock one day, when an enthusiastic person responds to your encouraging advances.      

It's a risk, but the success rate makes it a worthwhile one.

[Ron Ron Ron]

5 minutes ago, Zomboid said:

It's a risk, but the success rate makes it a worthwhile one.

 

Which result do you consider to be a success? 

 

 

 

 

 

.

Edited May 16, 2021 by Ron Ron Ron

[Trog]

4 hours ago, DK123GWR said:

Living about half way between London and Wales, I always find it odd that if two strangers pass each other in a field or on a country lane they always greet each other, but the same two people passing on the high street (or anywhere else in a town) will do anything in their power not to acknowledge each other's existence. I've never been able to fathom why.

 

People always tend not to value things they think that there are too many of. In the middle of a field in Wales someone to talk to is a rare treat so you say "Hello Baaaabara" when you meet. In a big town where the fact that there are so many people that you can not walk in a straight line is annoying, you say nothing as shouting "Get out of my f***ing way." can sometimes offend.

[Pandora]

13 hours ago, corneliuslundie said:

I assume that all those writing about seat preferences must be Londoners.

In mid Wales the chances are you will get chatting to the person next to or opposite you - just as you say hullo to almost anyone you pass in the street and chat to the people next to you in a queue. I have a feeling that if I had behaved like that in Harpenden I would have been reported to the police.

Jonathan

I notice this too, I live in London,  40+ years, and  cannot wait for the day I leave,  the asocial behaviour ( note asocial  - antisocial is a different idea )  where people blank out others is a symptom of population  overcrowding, ( just ask a Rat man psychologist), I also notice pet dogs are people-aggressive in London as opposed to people-friendly in the country.  Autism and Asperger syndrome, I see often signs of autism in Londoners, just observe a conversation between Londoners, the conversation does not flow to and from the two parties in a meaningful process , it breaks down due to over-talking,   the essential and very  basic social rule of a  conversation is each participant will take regulated turns to speak or listen is not present

Edited May 17, 2021 by Pandora

[adb968008]

10 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

I was once on a train about to leave Oakland for a 30 hour trip to Seattle one evening. I had sussed that the best way to sleep comfortably in coach class was to sprawl out over 2 seats. I had done that, when a voice said, "Is this seat occupied" I looked up to see a rather good looking young blonde, "It is now" I replied.  Heidi from Wisconsin was a northern girl and the Beach Boys got it right.

 

Jamie

I met a girl once on a train going the other way, in a similar circumstance, going from Chicago to Seattle in 1997, she changed the entire course of my life. (We broke up a year later, but my future path was set), and it was much better than the one I was on.

 

Edited May 17, 2021 by adb968008

[boxbrownie]

13 hours ago, class26 said:

But if people do abandon the railways for electric cars the roads will be totally congested, journey times  huge as I don`t see any government building many more roads. There`s only so much space on them

And that’s assuming everyone travelling on rail now can afford a brand new vehicle which has full autonomy because every vehicle on the road now doesn’t have it.

[boxbrownie]

12 hours ago, cctransuk said:

 

...... or encountered a 'Chelsea Tractor' whose driver is convinced that Cornish lanes MUST be one-way, and that that THEY are going the correct way.

 

John Isherwood.

Oh yes, and it’s starting to happen again now.......Covid going, emmets coming 

[boxbrownie]

11 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

I was once on a train about to leave Oakland for a 30 hour trip to Seattle one evening. I had sussed that the best way to sleep comfortably in coach class was to sprawl out over 2 seats. I had done that, when a voice said, "Is this seat occupied" I looked up to see a rather good looking young blonde, "It is now" I replied.  Heidi from Wisconsin was a northern girl and the Beach Boys got it right.

 

Jamie

C’mon......you can’t leave it there....

[jamie92208]

34 minutes ago, boxbrownie said:

C’mon......you can’t leave it there....

There will be a picture of Heidi on the Random American Railway Photos that I've just started, in due course.

 

Jamie

[Gordon Connell]

2 hours ago, boxbrownie said:

And that’s assuming everyone travelling on rail now can afford a brand new vehicle which has full autonomy because every vehicle on the road now doesn’t have it.

 

Isn't one of the ideas behind such cars that you won't own them in future, but simply book one for any journey you need?

 

Why you have (probably) already bought your last car - BBC News

Edited May 17, 2021 by Gordon Connell

[caradoc]

13 hours ago, Zomboid said:

The best way to keep the seat next to you free is to make eye contact with anyone who looks like they might want to sit there, and grin at them whilst patting the seat.

 

Never fails.

 

I find copious drooling (whether intentionally or, as more often these days, involuntarily while dozing) works too. (I am another who much prefers airline seats). 

 

[Edwin_m]

I think it was "Three Men in a Boat" that proposed the Victorian alternative of carrying a particularly pungent cheese in your luggage.  Anyone else occupying the compartment tended to move out after 10 minutes or so . 

[martin_wynne]

5 minutes ago, caradoc said:

I find copious drooling (whether intentionally or, as more often these days, involuntarily while dozing) works too

 

Just make polite conversation with your teddy bear.

[Zomboid]

1 hour ago, Gordon Connell said:

 

Isn't one of the ideas behind such cars that you won't own them in future, but simply book one for any journey you need?

 

Why you have (probably) already bought your last car - BBC News

That'll be a big attitude change, and won't suit everyone. For example we have a bulky child seat which stays in the car, and won't be transferring between transport pods - though having a toddler and all the paraphernalia to cart about means that the only public transport we'd use as a family are park and ride buses.