Great Western Coffee Shop

Mrs Kempis is wondering if any other Coffeeshop folk are on this tour. She is particularly looking forwards to the Westerleigh Oil Depot line as it is her pet project for delivering the Westerleigh Junction improvement (via Ram Hill for Coalpit Heath). Mr Kempis is feeling a deep sense of satisfaction that he had completed the St Philips Marsh Depot diversionary route two weeks previous for the princely sum of £18 for a regular day ticket, and this tour which Mrs Kempis is treating him to merely did the Bristol East Depot siding. Though they both agree that the latter would be more useful as a site for St Anne’s station.

Of course, the tour was right to exclude the Rhubarb loop as everyone knows that is old hat.

I saw the train entering Temple Meads at lunchtime, from a vantage point near the new eastern entrance - I was on a 'Doors Open Day' tour of the new University campus...

Oh bother - Mrs Kempis wanted to look at the eastern entrance but Mr Kempis opted for a coffee near Knights Templar. Would have been good to chat! But Mrs K is making good use of her time by catching up with the current general@fosbr.org.uk incumbent on the train.

Is there much to see there?  I returned to Bristol last night at Temple Meads but it was too dark to see anything.

To answer johnneyw and Kempis' questions as best I can:

I didn't get the opportunity to check the east end of the subway this time, but last time I looked there wasn't much to see. The work done during the blockade, as far as I can tell, essentially put in place the walls and roof of the extension so that they can dig through and complete it without disrupting the trains above. I think the best you'll see for now is hoardings.

Our tour was led by a very engaging and enthusiastic team with representatives from the structural engineers, architects, University and project managers for the University campus. Mostly we were looking at the Retort House and Coal Store (the old Vauxhall garage, on Avon St). They see many similarities between this project and King's Cross - Coal Drops yard; opening up an area previously cut off by a large railway station. All good stuff.

Building work on the old Post Office site will start towards the end of next year. The Eastern Entrance will happen ahead of this; they will put in a temporary access route from it to Cattle Market Road.

Thank you RS.  Interesting to hear that the new entrance will be built ahead of the campus buildings.  Refreshing to hear of public transport infrastructure being put in ahead of the redevelopment.

Agreed a very good tour. It was an interesting how difficult it is to run a train on todays fragmented railway. A whole list of different organisation had to be involved.

This compares with BR one of my jobs at Waterloo in the sixties was helping proof read Special Notices for Engineering work and special trains etc. Our bit were teh signalling instructions if it was special. eg I used to know the numbers of teh points to be clipped to get a special into Eastleigh works. The locol Inspector was task with job og getting teh points clipped, just as motive power was charged with providing power andtraffic with finding coaches., but everyone was under the same umbrella.

Nowadays one organisation provides the power another the coaches, another staff to clip etc. So it was triumph of organisation to get where we got to.

The catering staff were also excellent considering this was only their third trip and it takes some oragnistion  to feed a 100 plus people on a moving train. Despite tha the service and food were excellent.

Of course, the tour was right to exclude the Rhubarb loop as everyone knows that is old hat.

I haven't done it yet!

But doesn't that happen everywhere - and not just in Britain? Private companies, governments of all sizes, even charities voluntary organisations and political parties use outsiders - subcontractors, in a sense - for a lot of their activities. By now BR would have been just the same, with or without any privatisation.

Why? In some cases it makes industrial sense: for example a small local council can't afford the special machinery used for resurfacing roads because they can't use even one big machine full-time. Companies (including ones I worked for) said they outsourced IT or "facilities management" to save money, but did not appear to have costed the loss of service (flexibiliy etc.). In many cases I don't think it did save money in reality.

So I now think, in most cases, it's just a fashion - so it will go out of fashion again.

Years of being in and working with a wide variety of organisations has taught me a very important law of organisations - never assume that simply keeping a project within a single organisation will mean that all involved will communicate and organise themselves any better than if they are from different organisations.