Now I realise I am putting myself in danger of the proverbial egg on face moment, but the April issue of Railway Magazine has a front page headline "Signalman locks himself in loo!"

However, despite my poor eyesight, I cannot find said article in the 115 pages which follow.  Perhaps it is RM's April Fool!   

Can we ask where this confirmation has come from?

Those were the days - bang on the window now and he'd probably call British Transport Police! 

Yes - it was spelt out in full on the relevant button on the old platform 8 at Reading in years gone by.

Picking up on Oxman's very informative post, I did ask about the procedure for holding Golden Valley line trains at Swindon last year.  Apparently they can hold for eight minutes without further reference to Control.  I have also noticed, in the mid to late evenings, if the train from London is late they will often try to route it into Platform 3 so that passengers making the connection can get on the Cheltenham train with the minimum of delay.

This point was brought up at the Travelwatch South meeting at the weekend.

In days gone by FGW^▸ (First Great Western) brought out timetable booklets which provided the full, revised, timetables when services were disrupted.  Now too much reliance is placed on Journey planners which show the times of trains but not always the type of train being used.

There are exceptions - the Easter blockade around Reading has prompted the issue of timetable booklets.

Mark Hopwood, FGW MD, did say they would look at the provision of information after it was suggested that printed booklets might not be possible but PDFs on the website would be an alternative.

This would then, I assume, show which trains were Turbos and which HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train).

Think of going "Up" to London or "Down" to the country.  That's how I remember it.

Jean Metcalfe?  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Metcalfe  (As an aside she was born into a railway family)

I am assuming the programme was a repeat of the one shown in January when it was ironically scheduled just as the snow hit this winter.  Such is my backlog of viewing that I only got round to seeing it a few days ago.  Some of the scenes were amazing.  Well worth a watch if you get the chance.

I barely remember the Big Freeze it but my father tells tales of how it stopped him reaching the local pub for over three weeks! 

From talking to a member of staff I saw today I was told it wasn't the actual generator which failed but rather the switchgear which tells the unit to fire up which did not operate as designed.

Trains on the move again - just seen one making its way out of Swindon towards Chippenham.  Another just arriving from the west.

They do - it failed to cut in.

Significant problems for FGW^▸ (First Great Western) this morning following a power failure at Swindon Panel.  No signalling between Didcot Parkway and Bristol Parkway/Bath Spa.  Also affecting the line to Gloucester from Swindon and the line through Melksham.

It all went dark at 07:20. 

Well spotted 

Must of been cloudy ... Full moon was three days ago.   

Only be able to reserve seats at Taunton if you go before 19:00.

http://www.atoc.org/clientfiles/File/SCHEDULE%2017%20-%20December%20%2712.pdf

It was also reported here on the Coffee Shop at the time it happened http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=168.msg105168#msg105168