A (personal) Christmas message, greeting and review

[whole diary]

[martyjon]

Way off topic but for my penny worth I use my credit card for almost all of my spending clearing the card each month so incurring no interest at all but if I didn't simple annual interest rate on this card (Capital One) is only 11.140%, one of the lowest on the market. I have had junk mail offering me guaranteed acceptance pre filled in application forms at rates of over 40% APR, Provident Bank and Vanquis CC are the main senders of the said junk mail.

With the recent announcement of the financial regulator intending to curb charges for unauthorised overdrafts which could spell an end to free banking because these unauthorised overdrafts are usually incurred by the less well off.

What the financial regulator needs to do is to curb the interest rates that these high rate credit card issuers apply to the holders of their cards as their rates tend to also not far short of what loan sharks impose.

[Dispatch Box]

Yeah! Good for the credit card companies, I never buy food using a credit card, They are for emergencies, say the fridge breaks or an unusually high gas bill arrives. The reason you,d be paying for food too long, plus interest. My food bill a week is about 45 pounds, and I stick to it now. I have done this for 5 years and have savings of about eight thousand pounds, I am now thinking of getting a new bike next year.

That's very sensible, and while I know a lot of people will say they can't afford not to borrow on credit cards, I do wonder how much of it is "nice to have" spending, rather than "need to have".

Of course, you can put all your day to day spending on a credit card and pay it off in full each month, rather than pay it directly from your bank account. My card gives me 1/2% off all my spend - I expect there are better offers available, but at least I feel I am getting some benefit from using the card.

As do I. One gives me 0.5% cashback, the other 1% in supermarkets and 3% on fuel and train tickets. I rack up a pretty tidy bill over the month, and pay it all off - haven't paid any interest in years. Credit cards are a wonderful servant, but a cruel master.

As I stated above I only had 200 pound one and 500. The capital one was never increased and it stayed the the same for at least 18 months, I got fed up with it and closed it.

[Dispatch Box]

Way off topic but for my penny worth I use my credit card for almost all of my spending clearing the card each month so incurring no interest at all but if I didn't simple annual interest rate on this card (Capital One) is only 11.140%, one of the lowest on the market. I have had junk mail offering me guaranteed acceptance pre filled in application forms at rates of over 40% APR, Provident Bank and Vanquis CC are the main senders of the said junk mail.

With the recent announcement of the financial regulator intending to curb charges for unauthorised overdrafts which could spell an end to free banking because these unauthorised overdrafts are usually incurred by the less well off.

What the financial regulator needs to do is to curb the interest rates that these high rate credit card issuers apply to the holders of their cards as their rates tend to also not far short of what loan sharks impose.

That's what I had with marbles, for some reason they wanted to charge more by putting up my rate, so I closed it.

[TonyK]

If you do not mind me asking? What limit have you got on yours, As I stated above I only had 200 pound one and 500. The capital one was never increased and it stayed the the same for at least 18 months, I got fed up with it and closed it.

A certain amount on one, a slightly different amount on another, and more than three times one of them on the third. Enough to buy a house in some places.

[Dispatch Box]

If you do not mind me asking? What limit have you got on yours, As I stated above I only had 200 pound one and 500. The capital one was never increased and it stayed the the same for at least 18 months, I got fed up with it and closed it.

A certain amount on one, a slightly different amount on another, and more than three times one of them on the third. Enough to buy a house in some places.

Yes, you can do what you say in the previous post if you got limits like that, I would do the same if I had been offered those, Mine were only silly petty amounts and were not worth it.

Maybe I suffered as I have to rent, And do not own a home anymore, as  I was renting once. With money in bank then the house prices just rocketed, then too much for me to be able to get a mortgage.

[Reginald25]

Interesting commentary on credit cards, perhaps slightly off the general mission of the Coffee shop, so I'll revert to follow the initial posting from Grahame and add my thanks to him and all the hard working volunteers who have achieved so much in the past few years. Looking forward to that hourly service on the TransWilts (with double tracking or passing loop).
Happy Christmas one and all.

[grahame]

Interesting commentary on credit cards, perhaps slightly off the general mission of the Coffee shop, so I'll revert to follow the initial posting from Grahame and add my thanks to him and all the hard working volunteers who have achieved so much in the past few years. Looking forward to that hourly service on the TransWilts (with double tracking or passing loop).
Happy Christmas one and all.

Thank you; I look forward towards the hourly service, with the infrastructure needed to support it too.  I will leave it to those more expert (including a certain member or two here) to tell and recommend the pros and cons.

With an HS2^▸ (The next High Speed line(s)) track construction facility at Westbury, and stone needed for the line, with earth and boulders from tunnelling headed to fill a quarry near Wilton, with hourly passenger trains, with a continued requirement to divert passengers trains that can't go through Newbury (I would be very interested in how many days this year, on top of the Newbury electrification work, that has happened to at least one train), this must be one of the next candidates to be stepped up.

I am - for once - not joining in on credit cards, credit limits, etc ... this is a public thread and member who have posted may care to reflect on that and amend their posts.  If you have been quoted and want your quote changed, please ask an admin or moderator.   Perhaps a topic - next time stray - for the "and also" board.

[martyjon]

Thank you; I look forward towards the hourly service, with the infrastructure needed to support it too.  I will leave it to those more expert (including a certain member or two here) to tell and recommend the pros and cons.

With an HS2^▸ (The next High Speed line(s)) track construction facility at Westbury, and stone needed for the line, with earth and boulders from tunnelling headed to fill a quarry near Wilton, with hourly passenger trains, with a continued requirement to divert passengers trains that can't go through Newbury ....

pros and cons : Well it will have to be double track throughout then cos we dont want the Trans Wilts line regularly closed  by them pesky broken down freight trains cos with a double track NR^» (Network Rail - home page) will still be able to instigate SLW over the 'clear line' until the errant freight working is rescued.

Do I see a 'like' coming from Grahame.

[grahame]

pros and cons : Well it will have to be double track throughout then cos we dont want the Trans Wilts line regularly closed  by them pesky broken down freight trains cos with a double track NR^» (Network Rail - home page) will still be able to instigate SLW over the 'clear line' until the errant freight working is rescued.

Do I see a 'like' coming from Grahame.

Almost ... you see not quite a total vote for that, but rather a confirmation that there are serious consideration along that line (or rather, now, along those lines) which I would wish to see explored further.

[martyjon]

Thank you; I look forward towards the hourly service, with the infrastructure needed to support it too.  I will leave it to those more expert (including a certain member or two here) to tell and recommend the pros and cons.

With an HS2^▸ (The next High Speed line(s)) track construction facility at Westbury, and stone needed for the line, with earth and boulders from tunnelling headed to fill a quarry near Wilton, with hourly passenger trains, with a continued requirement to divert passengers trains that can't go through Newbury ....

pros and cons : Well it will have to be double track throughout then cos we dont want the Trans Wilts line regularly closed  by them pesky broken down freight trains cos with a double track NR^» (Network Rail - home page) will still be able to instigate SLW over the 'clear line' until the errant freight working is rescued.

Do I see a 'like' coming from Grahame.

Another : Doubled throughout would enable a stronger case to be made for a single line reinstatement of Bradford North curve and thus still provide mainline services through Chippenham when Box Tunnel is undergoing surgery. Who knows this might even provoke a demand for services from Melksham to Paddington itself say every two hours or better still a two way loop service Paddington, Reading, Newbury, Bedwyn, Pewsey, Trowbridge, Melksham, Chippenham, Swindon, Didcot, Reading, Paddington and vice versa.

Have I earnt my 'like' now ?

[Western Pathfinder]

Just popping in on Christmas eve eve evening!
And whilst I'm here would like to wish you all A Very Merry Christmas and a happy new year.

[TaplowGreen]

Thank you; I look forward towards the hourly service, with the infrastructure needed to support it too.  I will leave it to those more expert (including a certain member or two here) to tell and recommend the pros and cons.

With an HS2^▸ (The next High Speed line(s)) track construction facility at Westbury, and stone needed for the line, with earth and boulders from tunnelling headed to fill a quarry near Wilton, with hourly passenger trains, with a continued requirement to divert passengers trains that can't go through Newbury ....

pros and cons : Well it will have to be double track throughout then cos we dont want the Trans Wilts line regularly closed  by them pesky broken down freight trains cos with a double track NR^» (Network Rail - home page) will still be able to instigate SLW over the 'clear line' until the errant freight working is rescued.

Do I see a 'like' coming from Grahame.

Another : Doubled throughout would enable a stronger case to be made for a single line reinstatement of Bradford North curve and thus still provide mainline services through Chippenham when Box Tunnel is undergoing surgery. Who knows this might even provoke a demand for services from Melksham to Paddington itself say every two hours or better still a two way loop service Paddington, Reading, Newbury, Bedwyn, Pewsey, Trowbridge, Melksham, Chippenham, Swindon, Didcot, Reading, Paddington and vice versa.

Have I earnt my 'like' now ?

Hark, the Herald Chris B sings.........."Oooooooooos gunna pay for it?" 🙂

[TonyK]

Thank you; I look forward towards the hourly service, with the infrastructure needed to support it too.  I will leave it to those more expert (including a certain member or two here) to tell and recommend the pros and cons.

Don't worry, it wasn't sensitive, and I only intended it to be temporary. Christmas cards and credit cards are such similar concepts in some ways these days!

The wish for the New Year is a tougher cookie. One could be forgiven for thinking that Government has been focused on one topic only these past two years, and it isn't railways. Transport Secretary Grayling finds himself in the crosshairs yet again, this time because of shelving legislation to control drones around airports, despite having had the potential dangers explained to him in words of two or fewer syllables. Not that legislation controls drones particularly well. His mind is unlikely to be on railway matters in the early part of the New Year, if it ever was.

I will see the New Year in at my son's home in Bristol, before driving back to my new base in Devon the following day. Transport in mid-Devon isn't likely to change much in the coming year, but I hope that Bristol gets more of the ruub of the green than it has over the past 40 years.

That said, I doubt it will. As the sadly late Greg Lake put it,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPm6CheT6rs&list=RDJPm6CheT6rs&start_radio=1&t=25 the Christmas we get we deserve.


Cheers guys, have a good one!. And especially  to Graham, without whose unstinting effort and dedication none of this would even be here.

[grahame]

Thank you; I look forward towards the hourly service, with the infrastructure needed to support it too.  I will leave it to those more expert (including a certain member or two here) to tell and recommend the pros and cons.

With an HS2^▸ (The next High Speed line(s)) track construction facility at Westbury, and stone needed for the line, with earth and boulders from tunnelling headed to fill a quarry near Wilton, with hourly passenger trains, with a continued requirement to divert passengers trains that can't go through Newbury ....

pros and cons : Well it will have to be double track throughout then cos we dont want the Trans Wilts line regularly closed  by them pesky broken down freight trains cos with a double track NR^» (Network Rail - home page) will still be able to instigate SLW over the 'clear line' until the errant freight working is rescued.

Do I see a 'like' coming from Grahame.

Another : Doubled throughout would enable a stronger case to be made for a single line reinstatement of Bradford North curve and thus still provide mainline services through Chippenham when Box Tunnel is undergoing surgery. Who knows this might even provoke a demand for services from Melksham to Paddington itself say every two hours or better still a two way loop service Paddington, Reading, Newbury, Bedwyn, Pewsey, Trowbridge, Melksham, Chippenham, Swindon, Didcot, Reading, Paddington and vice versa.

Have I earnt my 'like' now ?

The discussion is far more valuable than just a like.  And in terms of joined up and service frequency, looking forward medium rather than shorter term, I'm happy to speculate with ideas but reluctant to throw any significant weight (not that I have any) behind specifics yet as they need analysis and they and the outcomes may change because of both social change, economic change and operational change across the wider region.

Your "London loop" idea has been mentioned before, and it would give Trowbridge - our county town - as well as Melksham a good service to the capital.   I would add the case for a Westbury call for connectional purposes and to help ensure that first class - if there were any - remained consistently at the same end of the sets.  I would add the cases for Devizes Parkway and Royal Wootton Bassett, and for Hungerford and Kintbury.   But I remain unconvinced that we yet know enough about this option and the future to suggest that it's the best.   Perhaps I should start a "beyond the visible horizons" thread to look at some of the other possibilities, and that will include comment on Bradford North Curve ...

[martyjon]

Thank you; I look forward towards the hourly service, with the infrastructure needed to support it too.  I will leave it to those more expert (including a certain member or two here) to tell and recommend the pros and cons.

With an HS2^▸ (The next High Speed line(s)) track construction facility at Westbury, and stone needed for the line, with earth and boulders from tunnelling headed to fill a quarry near Wilton, with hourly passenger trains, with a continued requirement to divert passengers trains that can't go through Newbury ....

pros and cons : Well it will have to be double track throughout then cos we dont want the Trans Wilts line regularly closed  by them pesky broken down freight trains cos with a double track NR^» (Network Rail - home page) will still be able to instigate SLW over the 'clear line' until the errant freight working is rescued.

Do I see a 'like' coming from Grahame.

Another : Doubled throughout would enable a stronger case to be made for a single line reinstatement of Bradford North curve and thus still provide mainline services through Chippenham when Box Tunnel is undergoing surgery. Who knows this might even provoke a demand for services from Melksham to Paddington itself say every two hours or better still a two way loop service Paddington, Reading, Newbury, Bedwyn, Pewsey, Trowbridge, Melksham, Chippenham, Swindon, Didcot, Reading, Paddington and vice versa.

Have I earnt my 'like' now ?

The discussion is far more valuable than just a like.  And in terms of joined up and service frequency, looking forward medium rather than shorter term, I'm happy to speculate with ideas but reluctant to throw any significant weight (not that I have any) behind specifics yet as they need analysis and they and the outcomes may change because of both social change, economic change and operational change across the wider region.

Your "London loop" idea has been mentioned before, and it would give Trowbridge - our county town - as well as Melksham a good service to the capital.   I would add the case for a Westbury call for connectional purposes and to help ensure that first class - if there were any - remained consistently at the same end of the sets.  I would add the cases for Devizes Parkway and Royal Wootton Bassett, and for Hungerford and Kintbury.   But I remain unconvinced that we yet know enough about this option and the future to suggest that it's the best.   Perhaps I should start a "beyond the visible horizons" thread to look at some of the other possibilities, and that will include comment on Bradford North Curve ...

.... and don't forget the clamour for Wantage Grove (Wantage Parkway ?), I omitted Devizes Parkway and Royal Wootton Bassett as I intended to raise the issue of the three locations in a third post that would claim that these three proposed stations would have said loop service in place to justify comment in the business cases for the three suggested stations.

Like now ?