Picture 3 - Oxford Platform 1 North end on a 180
Is 3 a Class 180 and Oxford?
Bingo!
Today I finally filled in a gap in my rail atlas and bashed a part of the Cotswold Line I've not bashed before. That's the entire
FGW▸ network completed, excepting the Summer Only services to Pembroke Dock and Okehampton. Gonna have to be next year for those.
I've previously travelled on the Cotswold Line from Oxford to Charlbury and Worcester to Evesham, but that gap between Charlbury and Evesham has been un-highlighted in my rail atlas for too long and has been like an itch that needs scratching. But, no more.
Bonus challenge today was to ride a Class 180 having not done so for many years. The last occasion was on Hull Trains in 2008. Nice to see all the FGW 180s out to play today, but by cripes those brakes are noisy. Sounds like someone strangling a pig. Refreshed interiors look good and I'm sure some on this forum would appreciate the surfeit of tables and luggage space. Not forgetting the seat alignment with the windows. Still noticed a few issues with the one I travelled on though. Very noisy A/C in the carriage I was sat in, Norman Collier on the
PA▸ and one of the doors was locked
OOU▸ . Incidentally, I wasn't travelling 1st Class, I took that picture as I was leaving the train.
I went as far as Pershore from Oxford. Nice little country town but a bleddy long walk from the station! On getting to the main drag I quickly located a decent looking hostelry for liquid sustenance. That was the Angel Hotel where my pint of Peroni set me back ^4.40. Yes.... ^4.40. I only had the one.
Decided on a bus back to the station, rather than another mile and half walk.
On the return I stopped off at Evesham and was delighted to discover they had, just a few hundred yards from the station, an ever dependable, and much easier on the wallet, Wetherspoons - The Old Swanne Inn. Too many 'n's and a superfluous 'e' in that name though.
