Pictures of trains - but can you place where they were photographed?

One each, please, for the first 24 hours

1. Yeovil Pen Mill - Bignosemac


2. Trowbridge - Sprinterguard


3. Taunton - Brooklea


4. Westbury - Timmer


5. Warminster - bobm

Difficult one.  The 15's an estimate - could be 2 or 3 out either way.   I don't really know what I would suggest you record, or indeed whether we simply record actual numbers on the basis "these things happen", leave off the recording, or whether we should even be counting the HST^▸ (High Speed Train) / seeing if we can tell who used it for just that stretch.  Your call, John, as the enumeration expert.


Correct  ... an intermediate signal could significantly increase capacity but could be a timetabling nightmare to make best use of with few lay-bys close by.   For local-after-freight, local-after-HST, freight-after-local, though ...

Sunday, 8th June
08:50 at Melksham.  11 passengers on train when it arrived, 1 joined, 0 left - 12/1
09:52 at Melksham.  31 passengers on train when it arrived, 7 joined, 0 left - 38/7

13:32 ex Westbury.  12 passengers ex Trowbridge, -4 + 6 at Melksham - 18/10
Note that the 13:05 Westbury to Paddington (ex Penzance HST^▸ (High Speed Train)) left Westbury at 13:31 (just a minute ahead of the TransWilts train) and the Train Manager on the 13:32 had shouted for anyone for Swindon to transfer to that as it was leaving ahead of us.   Correct call on his part, but it cost us around 15 passengers.

Interesting day on Heart of Wessex with buses from Yeovil Pen Mill to Weymouth ... but that's a story for another place.

And latest now


What an utter screw-up!

Which browser are you using?   The server responds to the "like" with a 204 status code (no content) so it should not happen.

We (me, 2 dogs, and Dad) made it as far as Yeovil ... turned back there with 100+ people trying to get onto a 50 seat bus, then another 50 seat bus was due ... we weren't the only ones with at least one first-time family saying that it was their "first and only" train trip and promising the kids they would take them by car to the seaside next weekend.

The 11:54 coming back up left Yeovil spot on time ... so any coach / bus passengers from further south would have missed it.  And there's a l-o-n-g gap after that train on a Sunday.    It was partly realising that was happening, partly that Dad's over 90 and I have the dogs with us, and partly that the re-opening time was being guessed at that cause us to abort.

They're still unsure of the delay length ...

Thus far, 28 of our members have used the "like" button on a total of 71 posts. 

The "like" button - familiar to those of us who are regular Facebook users - is a great way to acknowledge and agree with a post, or show your appreciation, without having to write a somewhat banal positive yet null message. 

The way we've implemented the button on our very mature software is to simply turn the work "like" into "yum" when someone presses the button ... and at all future views of the page the name of the liker is shown up.   And if you've liked a post and change your mind, you can "unlike" once you've refreshed and your like is gone without trace (unless I were to trawl back through backups of the database!).

User names showing up on the 'like' are current ones - if you should change your visible user name (something we strongly discourage for the most part) then it will change on posts that you have liked to reflect your new persona.

At the present time there are no facilities to compress liker lists ("and 6 others") and no facilities for our members to do anything like sent personal messages or alerts to everyone who's liked a post, or who has liked any post within a thread, and there are no plans for such facilities.

I am aware that on the end of notifications sent by email, you may be getting an extra [like] word in the text.  Sorry about that - as the software wasn't written with the thought of having the like button, the fix doesn't look trivial and I'm concentrating more on getting passengers on the TransWilts line, a good input to the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) consultation so that we can continue to get these good passenger numbers ( cos we still have an appropriate service - see http://www.railcustomer.info ), and on earning money to do the above and to feed ourselves, family and team.

Taking a steam train to get to work?  Surely not?

But the answer is "yes" - and narrow gauge, and in the British Isles too ...


http://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/isle-of-man-news/steam-up-for-tt-commuter-trains-1-6657594

We've had various kites flown about commuter services on heritage lines in the South West over the years (Kingswear, Minehead and Bodmin come to my mind), and a suggestion that a line with commuter trains early and late every day be supplemented by regular steam trains during the day (Portishead; NOT part of the main business case!).  Yet - thus far - it's not (quite ?) worked out.

Train drivers and conductors ...

http://www.eveningexpress.co.uk/news/local/want-to-drive-the-north-east-s-newest-visitor-train-1.410115?

The first passenger train has used the Todmorden curve, but it was a special and I understand that regular services aren't staring for a while.

http://www.hebdenbridgetimes.co.uk/news/local/a-journey-into-history-as-train-traverses-todmorden-curve-1-6657817

I thinks it's possible that Facebook have passed on an incorrect reason ...


... and so I would guess it's not so much about what's there, but who pays for the upkeep / wear and tear / vandalism / insurance / CCTV^▸ (Closed Circuit Tele Vision) surveylance ...

I don't know the Exmouth line ... would there be seriously useful numbers of non-military users?

I have to agree there, Phil ... their advise would have sent me on a 90 minute journey when a 30 minute journey was possible, and it would have been worse to have said "Change at Didcot" or something like that. 

It's been quite a long day, and I'm trying to recall if I asked "how do I get to Melksham" or "do I change at Chippenham or Trowbridge to get to Melksham at this time of day?" ... if I asked the latter (which is likely as I'm a helpful sort unless really p**sed off) then I'm sticking by my original hypothesis that they couldn't really have been more wrong.

But I'm lucky ... I have the ability to read a timetable, and copies of Central 1 and Central 3 with me at all times when travelling by train so it was easy possible for me to check as I wasn't sure of what they had said.

Today, 7th June.   Windy, wet Saturday morning with grey skies. Weather forecast has suggested it would be even worse.
09:48 from Melksham +3 -0 -> 19  19/3
11:48 from Melksham -6 +9 -> 17 23/15

By the way - I had a 10:45 appointment in Bath.   Took 09:48 train and a good connection (about 15 seconds!) at Chippenham into a late-running HST^▸ (High Speed Train). Into Bath at 10:14.  Left again at 11:07 as appointment turned out to be very quick and hear the station, back to Melksham by 11:48.

Only "issue" ... on getting to Bath Spa at 11:00 for my return journey, checked A to Z and found plenty of white space but no section for Melksham  ... asked staff who advise 11:13 and change at Chippenham - had I not checked my timetable when I got on the platform, I would have taken an hour longer than needed.   
* Best answer would be ... no need to ask staff in the first place
* Second best would be staff giving the right answer
* Third best is staff admitting they don't know
* Least best (i.e. worst) is staff giving the wrong answer

Commentary thread at http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=14096.0

(Established Members who are not in the TransWilts supporter's area are welcome to p.m. me to request membership - just bear in mind you might see an awful lot of Wiltshire materials there  )

James Llewellyn, Atkins Global

James has been contracted to gather TWSW^» (TravelWatch SouthWest - website) inputs and write them up with a recommendation to the TWSW directors / board.   Here are some of the slides he used;   followed by quite a long discussion.