Off to Liverpool Today
I’m going to watch the Olympic Torch Relay in Liverpool today. It’s going straight through the University, where C and I met. I will just walk up the hill to the Victoria Building.
The weather looks to be reasonably good.
If you are watching the relay on the Internet, today promises to be one of the most architecturally spectacular days so far. The flame is going past the two cathedrals, through the City Centre, past St. George’s Hall, under and over the Mersey and then the evening celebration will be in front of The Three Graces at the Pier Head. Remember that a lot of the centre of Liverpool is a World Heritage Site called the Liverpool Maritime Mercantile City.
The Olympic Torch will feel at home as it passes St. George’s Hall, which has been described by Nicholas Pevsner as one of the finest neo-Grecian buildings in the world. In 1967 or 1968, during Panto Week, the students organised a hog roast in front of the hall. I doubt anybody would be allowed to do that now!
Flat Floors and Hybrid Buses
Over the last couple of days, I’ve clumsily tripped on the step that exists in the hybrid buses of the 73 and 76 routes. Unlike, their normal drive counterparts, there is an annoying step, as you proceed to the rear.
The New Bus for London, despite being built by the same manufacturer, has no such step.
All Beautiful Things Need Careful TLC to Grow
I took this picture of LT4 yesterday in the Essex Road.
All Beautiful Things Need Careful TLC to Grow
To be fair to Wright Bus, the bus had only been in operation since Monday and there have been no other reports of New Buses for London, breaking down, except for the incident, where it ran out of fuel.
At least if a 38 bus breaks down, there’s always another one a couple of minutes behind. I suspect that this is one of the reasons, the bus is being tried out on this route. It’s also a pretty typical Central London route and it is served by the garage at Hackney, where the buses turn round at Hackney Central.
This all shows me how professionally, the development phase is being handled, by both the manufacturer and Transport for London.
Is This Guy Mad?
I took this picture of a guy skate-boarding along the St. Paul’s Road in front of a 30 bus, from the top deck.
Is This Guy Mad?
You can’t see it in the picture, but he had what looked to be an expensive camera over one shoulder too!
A Design Crime – A Badly-Designed Handrail
I noticed this hand rail on a new Alexander Dennis Enviro 400 double-deck bus.
A Badly-Designed Handrail
The supports for the handrail mean that you can’t slide your hand up the rail, as you climb the stairs. The supports too are square, with unnecessary sharp corners.
When you have a hand with limits to what it can do, you want the rail to be as smooth as possible. This is only one example of several that I’ve encountered on London’s transport system. Some of the worst examples are on steps into the Underground.
The Escalators Are Going To the Waterloo Balcony
These pictures show the new escalators at Waterloo.
They take passengers up and down to the balcony and through to Waterloo East station.
Robert Comes Home
I like to see old engines and other pieces of industrial history displayed at places like stations.
Robert has now been put back at Stratford station and as you casn see from the picture, it has a proper information board.
Some might have commissioned an expensive sculpture, but surely old engines like this are cheaper and just as interesting.
A Pair of Wongas
Wonga is now targetting the business market.
A Pair of Wongas
Did they give the drivers a bonus to be in convoy?
An All-Over Train on the Overground
I took these pictures at Canonbury station on the North London line.
I’m not sure, whether I like the concept, but I suppose it brings in money.
Paying by Phone
They are discussing this on BBC Breakfast this morning.
It won’t work for me, as I use a 12 year old Nokia 6310i. In fact, I’m now going the other way, taking just one credit card, my camera and my Freedom Pass with me, when I go travelling or shopping in London. I sometimes leave the phone at home anyway, as when I’m in the Underground, there is no signal.
The Anonymous Widower 