Great Western Coffee Shop

I've updated the images on the top right of each page on this website - posting in "Looking forward" because there are some picture there that I hope to be able to take again, some pictures of what might appear in GW land, and some pictures of things we should hope will be purely historic.  I'm sure you'll be able to work out which is which  ;)

If you click on a picture, it will be displayed larger.  Please use the URL you get when doing that to post comment on them!

http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/pickle/ref_00.jpg

Good Photo.

Hopefully this will be come a more familiar sight in the  next few years i.e. a more regular daytime service and a lot more passengers  waiting to board the train on the platform.

Something else could we possible the same shot but with a class 165 instead of a class 150? especially when some are freed up from the Thames Valley area after electrification and providing the units can be cleared to work services around the area.

Thanks - hope we will see more.  It's my "home station" so I've got quite a few pictures, including some showing the effect making round trips possible and promoting the service as we did last summer on Sundays and for Santa in December.  Most of the other pictures that were taken on 150 / 153 / 158 units are on the line too, during these trials.

http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/pickle/ref_65.jpg

http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/pickle/ref_06.jpg

http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/pickle/ref_50.jpg

http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/pickle/ref_68.jpg

For 165 / 166s to come our way, I understand that the platforms at Trowbridge need to be eased back.  The unit(s) trapped out at Newbury when the Upton Nervet (sp?) 'accident' happened went back up via Trowbridge, I understand, but had to pass through Trowbridge at snail's pace.

Anybody spotted the two non-UK pictures yet?

Well considering FGW want to use some of the displaced class 165's around the Bristol area I wouldnt be to surprised  to see them sort out the guage problems around Trowbridge.

Then again perhaps the units which work Cheltenham - Swindon shuttles could be deployed to work between Swindon - Salisbury once there is an hourly London - Cheltenham service.

By have the class 165/166's ever  run beyond Bedwyn to Westbury on a regular basis? as I was arguing with someone on facebook tonight over it saying the only time a 165 has gone via Westbury was on a railtour from Worcester to Weymouth.

http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/pickle/ref_26.jpg

That's Bristol Temple Meads, fairly obviously - but what's the apparent attempt to raise one of the paving slabs all about??  :o

I selected each of the pictures to represent something ... I can remember most of them.

These are all things which the next franchise bidder needs to consider at least to some extent!

85 Diversions during engineering and emergency working, and effect on regular services
58 Ensuring occasional travellers get on the right train
83 Outdoor dining at stations
04 The future of the Sprinters
92 "The Dance" - the connection leaves just as the train with the passengers for it pulls in!
03 The future of the HST
62 Evening out - looking after the customers
46 Keeping people waiting on the platform when the trains already in the station
69 A ststion with no trains due is a wasted resource if people want to travel
60 How to service Bedwyn if electrification ends at Newbury
52 How many staff do we need on a train
20 Maintaining and upgrading while keeping trains running
48 Filling all the trains, all the time
81 Helping unsighted passengers. Operating services along the sea wall.
73 Looking after historic buildings and making modern use of them
33 Weekend overcrowding
00 Short routes, individual services - or joined into longer ones?
16 Use of old trackbeds - bring some back to rail life?
99 Health and safety
31 Electrification
01 Visibility and sighting of signals
64 Provide frequent enough trains to meet the passenger flows available
02 Express all the way, or making regional stops?
49 Enough capacity, please
29 Feeding and watering the customers
34 Platform edges - keeping them safe
19 Running trains through the snow
67 Passengers, the community and the local authorities all want to work to help you
56 The time taken at station stops to unload large crowds
37 Substituting new urban apropriate stock
35 Transferring passengers with international connections
26 Providing surfaces that people can pick up things they drop from
43 Sharing tracks with heritage and special train operators
32 Rebuilding while still running trains
70 Holidaymakers
90 Connections and connection information as soon as you get off the arriving train
14 Sharing stations with your neighbours
74 Providing enough luggage space on trains
42 Run a sensibly timed service and people WILL use it
89 The train as a part of the countryside
75 Occupying the customers while travelling, and providing enough space at their seats too
45 Connecting with busses within towns and cities all around
22 Passenger's onward journeys in London
71 Many trains across the network are due to retire in less than 10 years
54 Don't run trains like buses - two at a time, then a long gap
96 Giving information, but avoiding excessive signage
12 Painting trains so that people know which is theres
94 Vandalism, Fare dodging and other illegal and antisocial matters
66 Community - good publicity with Santa, and capturing the rail customers young
06 Better station facilities
98 Keeping an eye on the hidden spots on the network
40 Payment methods and car parking payment
11 Wide enough and long enough platforms
76 Closing the slam doors at smaller stations
97 Avoiding smooth icy surfaces in winter
47 Providing public toilets which are open when people want to pee or poo
88 Unprotected footpath crossings
51 Looking after the long distance commuter, especially at places near to but not on lines to be electrified
82 Considering the various things people take with them
93 Staff levels - single man operation at unstaffed stations?
77 Providing enough space in station carparks
17 The Sleeper
55 Dealing with crush hour out of London
21 Providing pleasant atmosphere at major stations
10 Wheelchair provision on trains
23 Lighting Stations
27 Providing useful information on information systems
41 The 24 hour railway. People want trains at all hours
59 Helping people find their platform
63 People will move their journey an hour or so - but not much more
05 Overcrowding of existing trains when you improve connections
87 Looking after the boundary fence
30 Providing internet access at stations and on the move
25 Bustitution (and easy transfer bus <-> train in such circumstances)
65 You need nough space on the platform at intermdiate stations for all of the passengers
84 Recycling and other environmental issues
28 Connecting widely around the UK rail network
61 Provide a service for Ramblers, or just run through their walking areas?
08 Market intelligence to predict when trains will be busy
15 Carrying cycles and those with walking sticks
39 Railway PR for the public - what is "a train" to the public?
44 Onward transfers - 80% or people use powered transport at one end of their journey
80 Connections with boats
95 Ensuring the safety of listed structures at an affordable price
78 Running on the same tracks as other passenger train operators
18 Ticket checking - platform one at Paddington
91 Sharing with freight operators
79 Level Crossings
24 Engineering works
86 Redundant facilities - can they be used / what to do with the site
36 Providing nice places to queue

A few duplicated and overlapping thoughts in there, and handful of pictures not described, and no doubt many things I have missed out through lack of an illustration to remind me!

To see an individual image, look at a URL like this one and replace the "08" with the 2 digit code of your choice:

http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/pickle/ref_08.jpg

http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/pickle/ref_11.jpg

That's one very busy platform, did they really all fit on the train?

Yes - 5 car train (about 370 seats) with about 500 passengers.  That's 135% loading, just within what I understand the DfT guidelines of 140% are.  In practise it worked well as there were lots of children sharing seats, and babes left in pushchairs in the doorways.   It's the 08:20 (High summer 2011) Swindon to Weymouth service last year.

Referring to a certain other thread, did the photographer ask everyones permission to be photographed I wonder?

 ;)

I know that was written with a "smiley".  Look at the other thread and you may be surprised at the answer  :D

http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/pickle/ref_45.jpg

Let me guess taken in Weymouth.

Speaking of Weymouth the VR which was transfered to south wales to work the open top service in Swansea is to be used again this summer before another vehicles is brought into to replace it.

http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/pickle/ref_19.jpg

I say that is Highbridge & Burnham at night with some snow

Looks like Chippenham to me, Burnham doesn't have a huge gap between train and platform

Ok maybe chippenham then.

I must admit I havent been through Chippenham for a while so I forgot what the station looked like.

Yes, Weymouth and Chippenham.  But that train at Chippenham does call at Burnham later - it's the nasty O'Clock from Paddington that terminates at Exeter at Silly O'Clock in the morning  :D

http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/pickle/ref_89.jpg

HST hide and seek?  ;D

http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/pickle/ref_98.jpg

Pangbourne?

Yes, Pangbourne.   And the "hide and seek" is between Thingley Junction and Beanacre.  I put that in to represent "trains in the environment" - I suspect we may have some issues with electrification equipment changing the look of some historic sites such as the entrance to Box tunnel for even.

Yes I must admit I am not looking forward to seeing the wires going through such places as Box Tunnel or over Maidenhead Bridge - but that is the price of progress.  As for Beanacre and Melksham there are already quite a few overhead wires - just that the voltage is a bit high to run trains!  ;D

Oh - you mean this  ;D :

(http://www.wellho.net/pix/pylonesque.jpg)

That's the ones - and if you take a train from Reading to Basingstoke you can see the other end of some of the cable runs at Bramley!

While OHLE can be an eyesore, I've also seen OHLE that doesn't really damage the view very much. I hope they are very careful with the design of the GWML OHLE so it isn't an eyesore.

The very high voltage power lines, and their associated pylons more so, as posted by bobm, however are always horrid.

But they bring the juice to you to enable you to run a device to post on this forum. And no doubt do lots of other things. I'm assuming you're not powering your home fully from renewables or a diesel generator.

It's a trade off. We could have high voltage power lines buried in the ground but the costs of doing that are prohibitive. Both the initial capital costs and the maintenance. Cost which will be borne by the end consumer.

Sometimes we are, depends how sunny/windy it is ;)

There aren't any pylons around here though, electricity is carried on those things which are like slightly-taller telegraph poles with a horizontal bar on top. While they are a little unsightly sometimes, they are much better than pylons. Where a row of pylons is necessary, they could at least design them better (http://syniadau--buildinganindependentwales.blogspot.co.uk/search?q=dancing+with+nature). Where there are so many cables that you have a double-row of pylons, might there be a case for burrying?

Durham Viaduct looks ok with juice.

That'd be local distribution. You wouldn't want 400kV or 275kV on a wooden pole!

I thought that was the purpose of the recent competition run by National Grid.