Gwiwer

Most that were built were TSOs not SOs. This was an old LNER designation (previously TTO of course - Tourist Third open) when more seats were put into "tourist" stock than crack express rakes. 2+2 seating has perpetuated this designation with TTO / TSO being found among Bulleid and other earlier designs before the BR Mk1 appeared. 2+1 SO seating was at one stage reserved for boat trains at least on the SR, and for some other workings where a bit more space was felt to be desirable. I found an SO on the West Highland Line once along with a BSOT - Brake Second (at the time) Open Trolley - with the tea-trolley parked in a bay from which the seats had been removed for that purpose. Unless you are accurately representing a specific train then you can always get away with TSOs in model form even if you renumber them into the SO series. No-one can see inside to count the seats at an exhibition after all.

I am watching the progress of 1C92 tonight. Normally it would be 1C90 an hour earlier but Dr. SWMBO was obliged to travel later tonight. The progress is depressingly familiar. Steadily losing time. This is a 9-car set which I am told is moderately loaded. Dr. SWMBO would have no idea whether any engines were out.

I won't say it's filthy outside but we have a yellow warning for heavy rain. There is no chance of anyone seeing the rain for the fog though e can hear it falling. Yuk. I'm hoping some of it lifts by half past 22 tonight when I have to collect Dr. SWMBO off the train. If the fog's down in town it is always twice as thick over the moors.

Hitachi seems to have found a way to address capacity issues. Tonight’s 17.03 Paddington - Penzance is booked for 802102+802013. 14 carriages 😮 Clearly that won’t happen but the thought occurred to me that someone somewhere has been following this topic.

GWR is the carrier responsible for how many passengers are aboard their trains whether correctly formed or not and for preventing a dangerous overload by limiting that access. If they in turn were to take action against Hitachi for failure to provide the trains per contract and either of those then sued the DaFT on what ever grounds they could find those would be, to my mind, different matters.

The contract created when a ticket is held (whether purchased by the user, by a third party, issued free of charge or by other means) requires the operator to convey the passenger between the stated points by the most expedient means. No guarantee is offered that a seat will be available (even if reserved / allocated) nor that the journey will even be made by train. The reservation system always blocks out a small number of seats for use by Duty Pass holders. These cannot be reserved. If the train is full and standing pass-holders should allow fare-paying customers to be seated. Standing has long been the unenviable lot of the commuter as demand exceeds capacity. Usually at peak times and closer to major cities. It remains the target that no person shall be obliged to stand fir more than 20 minutes; when this target is breached the train is carrying “passengers in excess of capacity”, PIXC in jargon and sometimes alliterated to “pixies”. As train speeds increased and journey times shortened - notably when the HST sets arrived - so long-distance commuting became an option. The early morning trains from Leeds to Kings Cross were full and standing all the way. Often with construction workers. Just prior to Covid the railways were carrying the largest number of passengers ever recorded in peace-time. That was unsustainable. Too many trains were too crowded for too long. The bubble was leaking before Covid burst it overnight - passenger numbers into London Waterloo had already peaked around 2018. It is uncomfortable to have to stand. It can mean everyone on the train is uncomfortable. Intrusion by others into what space you have is unavoidable. Access to the toilets can be difficult. Dr SWMBO (who must be seated for medical reasons) once found herself unable to reach the cubicle in good time and when she did she found it was occupied by four passengers with nowhere else to stand. I managed to photograph the overcrowded conditions (which persisted from London to Exeter) and sent the images to GWR. Their response was that so long as one could board the train it was “not overcrowded”. I estimated that in our coach alone there were at least 70 people standing, crouched under or on tables or otherwise unable to take a seat. That is almost double the seated capacity of the carriage. At what point does it become dangerous?

Because at the time Ongar was the farthest point on the network from the centre. That section of line closed leaving Epping as the terminus but Chesham as the most distant. To have remeasured the entire London Underground network and re-post every plate (LU distance plates are fixed at 200m intervals) would have been wasteful so the zero-point at Ongar was retained. The railway to Ongar is now in the hands of a private heritage operator who has been required to retain the zero post. It is still there at Ongar station but not at the end of the line. It was installed some 10m from the stop-block and there it remains meaning in theory all LU distances are “out” by around 10m. Another curiosity of this arises where lines meet. Not necessarily at physical junctions; distances are also “transferred” at interchange stations. The Central and District Lines stop either side of an island platform at Mile End for example. Distance from Ongar increases westbound and that is “transferred” to the westbound District Line where they meet. Distance therefore continues to increase on both lines as they take their differing routes through town. They meet again at Ealing Broadway where there is a “change of distance” (the District being a little longer than the Central” just as occurs on the “big railway”. What of the eastbound District Line? As posted distance increases west from Mile End so it decreases eastbound. Until the end of that line near Cranham in the vast Upminster depot sidings. But it doesn’t reach zero. So the “origin” of the District Line is at something like 10kms not 0kms. The distance has “reduced towards Ongar” The same is true for all other LU lines.

You do know that if you go to bed earlier you have to wake later to make up for it.

Radio Luxembourg was famed for its fade-out. Caused by atmospheric conditions which interrupted the Medium-Wave band and particularly the lower end of it as evening passed into night. Luxembourg broadcast on 208mMW. Caroline also faded and often wasn't available at all but that was as much to do with the sea conditions and the lower power of their transmitters. After pirate radio became unlawful the power was turned down a bit more to evade detection. Caroline used several different wavelengths over the years but iirc it was 219mMW for much of its time. I did my best to listen to both on the tiny and equally low-powered battery transistor radio which I could hide under the pillow and play quietly whilst crawled down under the blankets. The frustrating thing was that if only you could hear it the music got better as the signal got worse. Emperor Rosco (Mike Pasternak) and David "Kid" Jensen were on the late night shifts until closedown of the UK service at 3am but you seldom heard anything worthwhile after around 1am because of the fade. There was also a certain Jimmy Savile on Luxembourg who knew his audience and named his show the "Under the Bedclothes Club". History has determined that there could have been a most unfortunate double meaning to that.

I agree. South from Edinburgh (and indeed for the sole trips they make to Stirling and Glasgow) this is an all-electric railway. These trains are designed to be straight electrics. They work well and run well under such circumstances. The small number of trips to Aberdeen and the sole Inverness duty, all of which were under threat at one time because no change of power was envisaged meaning the electric "Azumas" would not have been able to offer through services, cope with conditions although I am told that the Inverness run can find it more of a challenge than the HST did. Direct Aberdeen / Inverness - London trains were effectively bailed out by the Holyrood Parliament who pressed for direct services and were rightly advised that "some" of the new trains would have "last mile" diesel power packs to enable off-juice operation. The "last-mile" concept was for self-rescue and slow-speed diversions when required but they have been uprated, as I understand it, to "full spec" bi-modes. The open-access operations, free to specify their own fit-out, have more comfortable and arguably more popular trains within the same style of body shell. I wonder why.

Not at all! I remain very firmly in my sixties and shall be fomr some years to come. And yes I started "spotting" in the 1960s; noting names and numbers of those lovely diesel-hydraulics arriving at Penzance. Which somehow reminds me ..... when do we get another class 42, Mr. Bachmann? The 43s a few years back were lovely but the last 42 was when, exactly?

The topic began with the mass grounding arising from fractures being found in critical parts of the suspension and elsewhere. In the natural course of events we have moved on and so has the IET fleet. Eastleigh (I believe) and others are churning out "rectified" sets as fast as they can and it has become apparent that the violent lurching and bumping once common when these things were new has almost vanished. Some of those lurches were quite alarming; a loud thud as you were thrown sideways at around 123mph* caused more than one passenger to activate the alarm bringing the train to an abrupt halt. And of course causing delays to all others behind it. The majority of IET cars are 26 metres long; some of the most recent are / will be shorter. That excess length, greater than anything we have had before, causes issues on curves and at platforms as the kinematic window (envelope in some literature) has had to be adjusted to accept such long vehicles. Another "thing" is that despite a general post-Covid recovery it has become apparent that the WoE trains (at least) and (I believe) the Bristol service is haemmoraging passengers. Trains which were once always filled and with standees now offer empty seats. Dr. SWMBO is a regular user of the 17.03 Paddington - Penzance which at one time could have been relied upon to be full at least to Exeter and well-loaded to Plymouth. She tells me that she is now often one of just a few in her carriage all the way down. Long-term industrial action has had its impact on loadings as has repeated service interruptions due to bad weather. Covid affected the railways as we all know but in some areas recovery - especially for leisure travel - has bounced back to 100% of previous patronage and is widely at 80%. Seating quality, service reliability (persistent lateness and, especially on Up runs, terminating short of destination at Reading) and to an extent the absence of meaningful catering will all also have made dents in customer confidence. Even I now drive in preference to taking the train when the need arises to be at the other end of the line. Because I cannot sit comfortably on one of those things for 5 - 6 hours and I cannot rely on them getting me where I need to be "on time" (not even "within ten minutes of advertised time" which somehow counts as "on time") and because in the car I can stop at any suitable point for rest and refreshment rather than hoping a trolley comes through at some point offering the barest minimum of cold drinks and crisps / chocolates. There is seldom anything more even when the advertised trolley does appear. Which has been on fewer than half of all trains used across the past year. * Not 125mph because the cruise control on these sets seems to be set slightly below the maximum permitted speed. Another reason why they lose a time. None ever seems to cruise at 125mph as the HSTs usually did.

Afternoon all. Busy busy today therefore the weekly MRC visit was, to use railway parlance, caped. I have been attempting to extract superannuation funds from Aussie sources who are most reluctant to deal in anything other than Aussie Dollars and who stubbornly refuse to pay into anything other than a "fair dinkum" Aussie bank account. Surely they must have other members who retire "overseas" and no longer have any financial connection with the Land Downunder? I am also now engaged in learning the ropes - somewhat literally - for the NCI Coastwatch role having been accepted as a Trainee Watchkeeper. It has not gone unnoticed that "Cornish spelling" has crept into the website area detailing Cape Cornwall's kit and kaboodle. Yup. Maybe not easy words for everyone to spell but there are ways to check if you really wanted to. In truth spelling is not the prime function of watch-keepers; get the basics right and we'll come to the other stuff dreckly! One week out from the proof-reading deadline on the book too so I have a lot to do in a fairly short space of time. Did anyone say retirement was going to be a quiet life with my feet up? Hey - I might even get to the pub sometime soon!!!

A closure by stealth then. No formal proposal has ever been published for several miles of track which has had an advertised passenger service over it. Anyone out there want to take a "no win no fee" case?

Only a year later than originally planned then. By industry standards that's not so bad however frustrating it is at this end. I wonder why, though, they have gone for multiple previously unannounced liveries first rather than those their retailers have got orders for? Keeping the customer waiting is never good business practice. Other commercial consideration aside I might have run the announced ones first and come back later with the rest.

It might be a factor of travelling on Brunel's Billiard Table which is a long, fairly flat and straight section of line. I don't find the same to be true in the Thames Valley, on the Berks & Hants nor on the Taunton - Exeter section where higher speeds are permitted. I make far fewer journeys via Swindon than via Savernake so any casual comparisons are at best unscientific. It is however very obvious that the 8xx sets are gutless on diesel. There is no power in them to regain time. It is typical to leave Paddington more or less "right time", lose 5 - 8 minutes down to Reading largely due to line congestion and then, with the required switch to diesel at Newbury, be unable to regain any of that. Quite often a few more minutes are dropped. It is also very apparent that time is dropped climbing the Devon (including Whiteball) banks and not regained. I remain of the opinion that these units, specified as electric trains and which perform well under the wires, remain unfit for the purposes of long-distance travel on diesel power and equipped only with ironing-boards where there should be seats adequately comfortable for journeys of up to and above five hours duration. And please can we have fixed buffet counters on GWR; LNER customers have such a facility and also get at-seat service ordered by app if there is a crew member to provide it.

No. the connection at Old Oak Common was severed to construct HS2. It is alleged that it will be restored when the works are complete but with no booked trains at all and only used for occasional turns and emergency diversions its usefulness was being questioned a long time ago. Chiltern's "Parliamentary" Paddington - Ruislip train now runs from West Ealing instead. While this is technically a diversion whether it ever returns to Paddington remains to be seen if the link is restored. They have always been keen to maintain driver route knowledge into Paddington in case Marylebone were to become unavailable. However the advent of Heathrow Express and now the Elizabeth Line means track configuration and access may no longer permit such a thing. In which case a formal closure notice should be served for Old Oak - Northolt.

What's positive? The base price of a OO loco remains (just) under £200. There are some welcome repeats for those who have entered the hobby since the last tranche of Mk1 coaches were released in "standard" liveries. Development of the low-relief buildings to include stone cottages will surely please a few of us. The much-anticipated BD 4wDM shunters in OO9 are finally coming although apparently not the green one which I have on order; their operation through points and haulage capability will be interesting to see. Is it also a positive to say that there is not yet another batch of 37s? Neutrals: Mk1s with pre-fitted passengers will save a lot of fiddly de-construction and reassembly but comes at a price; assuming a normal level of retailer discount those will sell for a whisker under £60 apiece. Only time will tell how the marketplace will respond exactly was was the case with internally-lit coaching stock. The base price for a Mk1 is around £10 less so we are getting a dozen pre-fitted passengers - each of which as a single item could cost £2 or more plus the additional time and labour to fit them - for only a £10 premium. Negatives: A sense of continued consolidation and hedging against reliably performing and stronger-selling types although the LMS twins in N buck that. And of course the inevitability of having to delve deeper into the pockets to invest in the new items. Verdict : The curate's egg. Definitely good in parts.

They are called triangles. Sets can be turned before entering traffic at Laira, Bristol, Swansea and Reading at least. It takes time, resources and therefore money but getting the job right was always important during my railway career.

Where scheduled the seat reservation system takes account and should not reserve you in a carriage which is inaccessible because it is off the platform. Several operators run trains formed of teo units between which it is not possible to pass. That is also common across many other nations so is not a uniquely British problem. My own quote above illustrates the inconvenience this causes at stations having platforms shorter than the train. It is, of course, a possibility that one wishes to travel between two short-platform stations with a reversal between. For example Castle Cary to Camborne when trains are diverted via Yeovil and reverse at Exeter. A 10-car IET arrives (2x5-car) and, irrespective of any reserved seat held, you can only board the front 5. They become the back 5 after reversal and will not be in the platform at Camborne. You are trapped in the back unable to alight. Vigilant staff should assist in re-seating you but that relies upon (a) a ticket check or similar being conducted - with electronic gates at main stations these are now less common on board and (b) the staff member being both vigilant to you sitting in the “wrong half” and ensuring you move forward. Neither, I am afraid, is a given.

387s are the booked traction on some Cardiff turns so yes they are running but not “instead of” 8xx sets.

But there's room to put the shopping in it Yes. But not the ego

Which is about as long as it takes the current operator to get a train up to Waterloo, it seems.

IETs seem to be allocated at random to which ever duty next needs a set. Recent experience on the Cornish main line shows that 10-car or 5-car vice 9-car (as booked) is far too common. One is marginally wasteful, the other leads to overcrowding and both play havoc with seat reservations not matching the stock provided. 9-car vice 5-car also happens which is a bonus but again the reservations don't match the seating plan so the usual response from the on-board crew is to switch the system off and say "No reservations" Which is a PITA when one has booked a specific seat, either because it comes with the ticket as in Advance fares or because one has chosen to do so in order to get the preferred window / aisle / facing / backwards / quiet or normal. And then there are "reversed sets" as there was in HST days. Again it should not happen and is often avoidable but no effort is made to rectify the situation which also leads to everyone travelling the "wrong direction" to that which was booked. It also leads to reserved seating for Cornish stations being in that part of the train which does not fit in the platforms. The latter point is even more of a problem on a 10-car when one cannot walk through to alight from the "Front 5" and must travel on to the next long-platform station and return. Assuming that a return service is still available.

I remember Melbourne's 40-degree days. Always accompanied by a fierce north wind and very low humidity. It felt like a furnace outside and that wind ripped any moisture right out of you. As fast as you drank water it was sucked back out. I was in Brisbane once when it hit 41C - very uncommon that far north - but in 95% RH not the 10% we got down south. Tropical didn't describe it. But being a Melbourne resident at the time I was at least accustomed to the temperature if not the humidity with it. Breaka Beach (that curious inland beach the city provides, complete with lifeguards) was packed. Every shady spot was filled with sweaty humanity and Bin-Chickens. I wasn't too bothered by it - I'm very heat-tolerant - but the local Queenslanders were trying to be "sun-smart" (i.e. covered up) whilst wearing as little as they could. A day when sporting budgie-smugglers / micro-bikini and a wide-brim hat would have been considered over-dressed.