A Trip Around Wiltshire
I went from Waterloo to Salisbury and then onto the to the TransWilts to Swindon before coming home on a High Speed Diesel Train.
The train rides were enjoyable, through the countryside bathed in sun.
They did show some of the best and worst that trains in the UK have to offer.
The trip down to Salisbury was in a spotless Class 159, which probably because of the late morning time was rather empty. It was a diesel train, as no-one ever got round to extending the electrification on from Basingstoke.
I found Salisbury difficult, as the maps and signage were terrible. I couldn’t even find anyone, who knew where the street I needed was located.
Salisbury station was rather nice, even if the Pumpkin buffet was its usual self, with no bottles with proper caps and no change. There used to be jokes about British Rail catering and Pumpkin don’t seem to have improved over the years.
I found Salisbury difficult, as the maps and signage were terrible. I couldn’t even find anyone, who knew where the zstreet I needed was located.
On from Salisbury to Westbury it was in a very crowded Class 150. This seemed to be mainly due to Glastonbury travellers many of whom were carrying lots of luggage.
Westbury station was busy with lots of freight trains passing through and full trains taking travellers to Castle Cary for Glastonbury.
The station also had a non-Pumpkin buffet, where I bought a nice coffee and a banana with a curve as delicious as the fruit. We need more independent rail caterers like this. It is mentioned in this list from the Gusrdian.
On fom Westbury to Swindon it was a single coach Class 153, which was again spotless, but it had a hideous mainly green interior.
But after a couple of stops, it brought me to Swindon for a very crowded High Speed Train to London.
It had been a mixed day, with the undoubted low point of Salisbury, the station’s buffet and the train I took from there to Westbury.
It could have been a lot worse, as the driver at Westbury had trouble releasing the brake on the Class 153. I didn’t hear any signs of a large wrench being used as a hammer, so he must have persuaded the train to release her brake by kindness or some other acceptable method. Or it could be that the cheery conductor, used her undoubted good humour.
At least the day was sandwiched by two rides in diesel trains at high speed.
The Transwilts Community Rail Partnership, appear to be making a good fist of creating a frequent rail link across Wiltshire. I’ll go again in a couple of years, to see if they have found a cure for their nauseas train. But I won’t go anywhere near the area at the time of Glastonbury.
The High Speed Train Got Through
I’ve just found this clip of video on the BBC’s web site.
It just shows the sort of conditions that these trains of the 1970s can withstand. It also shows why they will never electrify this line between Exeter and Plymouth.
This other video shows the work going on to repair the line. Note the wall of shipping containers filled with ballast to give protection to the workings and properties by the railway line. But even these have been breached, as is reported here on ITV.
It’s all extreme engineering at its most way out. Hopefully the engineers will win, but it should lead to better techniques for the next set of problems.
To Peterborough In An Inter City 125
My paternal grandmother was born in Peterborough and as it was a wet day, I thought that it might be a good place to go to the city for lunch and to take a look at the rebuilt station.
So I boarded one of East Coast’s Inter City 125s at Kings Cross.
The train certainly doesn’t betray its age, even if it’s probably been refurbished a few times since it was built in the late 1970s.
But then after travelling by train in many of the countries of Europe recently, I would rate it, one of the most comfortable Second Class rides in Europe. If not the most comfortable!
When they write the definitive history of the first three hundred years of trains in the United Kingdom, these trains will be the only class running today, that will get their own chapter. But then the author of the book, will be able to sample a ride in one of these trains, as they will defy the odds and outlive everything else.
Developments At Cheltenham
Cheltenham is a town, I’ve been to several times. Usually, it has been to go to the races, although I did go there on my 92 Club trip. I went by train to Cheltenham Spa station.
This month’s Modern Railways describes a substantial proposed development at the station, which adds extra platforms and capacity. Given that there is a large development being started at Cheltenham Racecourse and getting to the racecourse by road is a nightmare, I think it would be a good idea to expand the station, so that racegoers could at least get to Cheltenham by train. Provision is made in the station scheme for perhaps a light rail system to link to the racecourse station.
But obviously, a heavy rail scheme would be better, so that luxury special trains could run from Paddington direct to the racecourse. First Great Western are now running Pullman Dining services on InterCity 125 trains to Plymouth, so perhaps the soon-to-be redundant trains could be refurbished as luxury go-virtually-anywhere trains to take visitors to special events in style.
There’s a lot to think about!
But the proposed reworking of Cheltenham Spa station, does show how if you think properly, you can improve a mundane station for the benefit of the rail companies and passengers alike.
Here’s a personal example.
With the simplification of movements at Ipswich, due to the new Bacon Factory Curve, will this make possible, some small improvements? It would be much easier for a train from say Cambridge to come in to Ipswich station and then reverse out to either Lowestoft or Felixstowe, as there won’t be freight trains reversing in the yard outside the station.
I hope Network Rail has got their thinking cap on!
They certainly seem to have got it right with new stations at Cambridge Science Park and Lea Bridge, but they seem to have been unlucky with building a Coventry Arena station, and then have Coventry City move away.
But as I indicated in this post, are Network Rail expanding the railway, by doing lots of small high return projects.
Grand Central Up And East Coast Down
I went up to York on Grand Central in First and came back down in Second on East Coast.
As you can see, both trains were forty-year-old InterCity 125s.
First Class on Grand Central might have been affordable at £49.50 and it was a convenient train in that it got there just before the museum opened, but it was a very poor offering. I got an uncomfortable seat with a narrow table in a group of four and the only refreshment I had was two cups of tea.
Coming back I’d booked an open Off Peak ticket at £32.00, so I could come back at a convenient time.
I managed to get a more comfortable window seat in a group of four, with a bigger table than I had on the way up. The train seemed to be fairly newly refurbished and was probably in better condition, than it had been in all of its long life. The trolley came through twice and I bought just a bottle of water.
Both trains were on time.
It is interesting to compare these two journeys with the Copenhagen to Hamburg trip I did recently in a diesel German ICE TD.
I was in First on the German train and the seat was marginally more comfortable, than that of the seat in Second on my journey home yesterday. I also had a bigger table. But the ride was no better on the newer German train, which incidentally tilts, and there was nothing to choose between the views through the wide windows on both trains.
But the real problem on the German train, was the total lack of a decent drinks service. The trolley on East Coast was much better. But I have feeling that the layout of German ICE trains effectively rules out a trolley. food on all three journeys didn’t include anything that was gluten-free, but that is coming if my taste of Virgin is anything to go by.
I doubt I’ll be travelling on Grand Central again, and certainly never in First. Unless I have no choice!
Do We Sometimes Push Technology Too Far?
I like proven technology, as often some of the things done fifty years or so ago, may not have been very good at the time, but somehow over time they have proved themselves to be reliable and economic.
The classioc is the Inter City 125 train, introduced as a stop-gap in 1976. But it is only one of a number of classic designs, that just never get replaced.
A personal old idea that affects me is Warfarin, which I take every day to thin my blood and stop myself having another stroke. There are more modern drugs, but I’ve heard cardilogists say that now is not the time to change, as we don’t know enough about the side effects of new drugs yet.
And that is the crux of the matter! When anything has been used for years, we have a vast knowledge base to make sure, that it doesn’t bite us or even worse.
So I was rather pleased to see this report that says the new Airbus A350 will use more traditional batteries than the Boeing 787. Before you use new technology in something as critical as an airliner, you must prove it as thoroughly as possible.
The problem with proving aircraft parts as compared to that of says cars, buses or trains, is that the aircraft leaves the ground and does other things land-based machines don’t.
I remember, my next door neighbour in London, when I was a child, a Mr. Gibbon, saying that if Ford wanted to test a new truck axle, they’d fit a few in trucks and give them to a contractor, who was known to break anything. If he couldn’t break any,then it was probably a better axle. But you can’t give aircraft to bad airlines and let them do the testing!
What worries me about these plane batteries, is how many other new ideas are incorporated, that haven’t been completely tested? Aviation is littered with mistakes, where new designs have failed.
On the other hand, look at this wing of the baby Airbus 319/320/321, on which I flew to Stockholm.
Airbus A320 Wing
Go back twenty years or so and the design of a wing would be similar, but you can see developments like the wing-tips, that make the wings more efficient, have now become commonplace.
Merrily We Roll Along
I came back from Walthamstow on Friday on one of Greater Anglia‘s ubiquitous Class 317 trains.
A Greater Anglia Class 317 Train
They may look to be scrapheap-ready trains from the 1980s, ripe for replacement with shiny new expensive trains. Incidentally, the train in the picture is one of the last ones built in 1987, so it’s a comparative youngster compared to some.
But underneath the tired paintwork and uncomfortable seating, there is a legendary Mark 3 coach struggling to get out. These coaches used in the InterCity 125 and in many other trains, were made as early as the 1970s and most are still running in 2013.
The Class 317 is closely related to the Class 455, some of which have been refurbished by South West Trains to a very high standard. I talked about them here.
It looks like these 317s are going to get their own version of the Class 455 refurbishment. it is reported here in Wikipedia. Work is ongoing to create a prototype with new and more efficient traction equipment and a new interior to test passenger reaction.
So yet again, it looks like more Mark 3 coaches will be emerging from their chrysalis. The Wikipedia article talks of increasing the life of the trains by twenty years. Not bad considering that many of them are over thirty years old now!
The InterCity 125 is well-known as a design classic of Kenneth Grange. But who’d have thought that the humble coaches in the middle, would still be having a laugh at everybody’s expense nearly fifty years after they were designed.
Going To Hillsborough
The trip to Sheffield Wednesday didn’t start too well, as I got almost to the Angel on the bus to Kings Cross station, when I realised I’d forgot my pills. It wouldn’t have been too important, if I’d not gone back, as I planned to be back in my house about nine in the evening with some food to cook for supper and I could take the drugs then.
But I decided to go back and get them and in the end I just made the 11:03 train to Leeds. I would change for Sheffield at Doncaster and take a train to Meadowhall, where after lunch, I’d take a tram to the ground.
The trip up was excellent in First Class on East Coast. It was also notable in that the service was excellent with copious amounts of tea in proper English china cups from Stoke-on-Trent.
Tea In A China Cup On East Coast
We arrived on time at Doncaster and then it was one of the dreaded Pacers to Meadowhall.
If George Osborne wanted to buy votes, a large order for something like London Overground’s Class 172 to replace the Pacers would be an easy way to do it.
I did see the New Measurement Train or Flying Banana at Doncaster, which I’d seen a couple of years ago at Basingstoke.
The Flying Banana At Doncaster
There is an interesting difference in British and Japanese attitudes to names illustrated by the Flying Banana. The Japanese call their equivalent trains, Doctor Yellow.
I do wonder how many of the redundant Inter City 125’s will live on in this role. I wouldn’t be surprised if a couple even get exported to countries with long railway lines that need to be checked. After all to put the equipment in a brand-new train will be expensive, but to use a redundant and reliable diesel train, would be a lot cheaper. When checking overhead wires, I suspect that a diesel train may even have an advantage, as it doesn’t interact with the wires! And there aren’t many diesel trains that can do the testing at 200 kph!
Terry Miller’s iconic creation, never ceases to make fools of us all! But good engineering does that!
I had intended to go to Carluccio’s at Meadowhall for lunch, but after locating the restaurant after slaloming through, the hoards of obese people, who always seem haunt shopping centres, I was too short on time. Often these people make matters worse by pushing equally obese children in enormous buggies.
So I resorted to Plan B and bought some gluten-free sandwiches and a still lemonade in Marks and Spencer. This store incidentally, is by the bridge from the station, so is quick and easy to get to. One thing I noticed at Meadowhall is that they actually have proper Left Luggage lockers and lots of them.
Left Luggage Lockers At Meadowhall Station
So if you are going to an event like the football, Meadowhall is the place to unwanted bags (or babies), whilst you visit the city.
I did have one problem, as there was nowhere convenient to sit and eat my sandwiches.
The Tram Arrives At Meadowhall
This picture was taken as the tram arrived. Note the lack of seats. One of the London shopping centres has a garden, where you can sit in the sun. Eastfield certainly will have, as it is just a short walk to the Olympic Park. Meadowhall should provide something!
On my trip to Hillsborough, I didn’t see any seats at stops at all. Here’s the stop at Fitzalan Square.
Fitzalan Square Tram Stop
Note the improvisation on the left. At least most stops seem to have proper information with a map. One unique thing I saw as I walked down from the tram to Hillsborough was this sign.
A Unique Sign
So often, you approach a strange ground and there are no obvious instructions as to which end of the ground you go. That excellent sign at Hillsborough must have cost an absolute fortune, otherwise why don’t other grounds have them?
Is It Architecture,Engineering Or Art?
I heard good reports on the television of the rebuilt Reading station, so today, as I hadn’t anything specific to do, I decided to go to the town and have a look at the work that has been done.
I think Isambard would have been proud of what has been done, as he rarely did boring! And the new Reading station is certainly not that!
The concept of the station is very simple. The thirty metre wide overbridge is connected to all the platforms by escalators and lifts. Then at one end there is another set of four escalators and lifts to take people to the main south entrance.
But in all my life, I’ve never seen so many people walking wide-eyed in awe around a new building or even an art gallery. One guy told me he’d come into the station specifically to photograph the building and had taken fifty pictures. Even railwaymen who’d probably seen it all, were walking around giving the new station a critical look.
There was also the teacher, who’d travelled with me from London. She was amazed at it all, especially as she had left on Thursday from the old Reading station.
Very little has been reported on the media about the design and quality of this new station. The only news seems to be stories pointing out the fact that the handover is a few days late and there’s a bit of chaos. None of the stories mention, that the project will be completed a year ahead of the original plan.
I do wonder if Reading is the shape of stations to come.
The wide overbridge concept is used in a similar, but smaller and less dramatic form at Leeds and Derby, but how many other stations could benefit from this type of design?
In the pictures, you’ll see some of Inter City 125 trains, that are used on all services from London to the West and Wales. They are genuine high speed trains capable of 200 kph, ride as smooth as silk and they are now forty years old. I doubt they’ll all ever be retired, as for running through the Highlands of Scotland and from Bristol to Cornwall, where electrification is virtually impossible, there is no other fast train, that can handle the route.
So at last, these trains have got a modern station, to complement their design.
Don’t Get Your Facts Wrong
In August 2011, Richard Ford, published a table in Modern Railways showing track access charges for the new IEP against the IC125 and IC225.
Unfortunately, he made a mistake in the figures.
Then a Government Minister then used the figures to answer a question in Parliament many months later, giving an answer that was plainly wrong.
Probably, this shows the reasons why you shouldn’t use that thinking technique beloved of idiots everywhere; cut and paste.
The real problem here, is that the Department of Transport civil servant, who made the mistake, is probably too precious to be disciplined.
But Roger gave him or her, a good kicking in the article and has passed the real information to the National Audit Office.
The Anonymous Widower 