Dreaming of Severn Beach

[whole diary]

[grahame]

I fell asleep ... and dreamed I was in Severn Beach.  But where was I really about an hour ago?

[Red Squirrel]

Bahnhof Pilnung?

[Kempis]

Graal-Müritz, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern?

[Phil]

No idea, but I love that the writing on the front of the train is written mirror-style, presumably in order that should it get too close to the train in front, the driver could see which engine it is in her rear view mirror...

[grahame]

Graal-Müritz, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern?

correct ... and

No idea, but I love that the writing on the front of the train is written mirror-style, presumably in order that should it get too close to the train in front, the driver could see which engine it is in her rear view mirror...

In my dream scene, the platform was on the other side, hence the reflection.

Graal-Müritz is at the tail end of a line from a major city (in this case Rostock rather than Bristol) and is located in a smallish community a short distance from the beach (in this case of the Baltic Sea).  The train turns around there in a very few minutes (like it used to at Severn Beach) and there is evidence there that the line used to carry on beyond.  The train is 2 carriages in length and starts quiet from the terminus but picking up along the way has become quite busy when it reached the city.  And it's a diesel.

[stuving]

Graal-Müritz is at the tail end of a line from a major city (in this case Rostock rather than Bristol) and is located in a smallish community a short distance from the beach (in this case of the Baltic Sea).  The train turns around there in a very few minutes (like it used to at Severn Beach) and there is evidence there that the line used to carry on beyond.  The train is 2 carriages in length and starts quiet from the terminus but picking up along the way has become quite busy when it reached the city.  And it's a diesel.

The line has been shortened, but only by less than 500m, abandoning the old station to other uses (a restaurant and a health spa). Confirmed by Wikipedia - which also informs me that "After the timetable change on 10 December 2006, the new halt of Graal-Müritz Koppelweg opened. This has a special feature: the 100-metre-long platform is made entirely of glass fibre composite."

So not so much like Severn Beach - which never had a station to abandon (nor even a village, come to that). Portishead springs to mind, though there must be better examples. 

[bobm]

Well that shattered the dream!

[grahame]

I had a bratwurst and a half bottle of red wine in the buffet car today and fell asleep again.  Some time later in the afternoon, I dreamed I was at Newquay 10 years in the future. 

An clock face hourly service (and it was electric and four carriages was arriving, disgorging passengers, taking more on and heading back either to the main line junction, or in some cases one of the next couple of cities.   And a long distance express pulled in, disgorged a reasoable number of passengers with heavy luggage who were clearly arriving for holidays, and then moved out to the sidings.  A check on the timetable at the station suggested that a whole raft of long distance services left every morning to - oh, wait, I was not dreaming but this was not Newquay but Binz - to places all over Germany.

An interesing model - I suspect that the German fare model which is far more encouraging of long distance rail travel has something to do with how busy the long distance trains are, and the hourly frequency on the local train helps keep that busy.

[Kempis]

So not so much like Severn Beach - which never had a station to abandon (nor even a village, come to that).

As to the resort itself, Wikipedia says: 'Graal-Müritz is among the most popular German destinations for tourism and health cures alike. . . . The town offers many hotels, restaurants, a 5-kilometre (3.1 mi) beach, a public Rhododendron Park and a well-being and fitness centre.' Again, not quite like Severn Beach (except, perhaps, in one's dreams . . .).

[grahame]

This gets more like home every day

[ChrisB]

14 car train? I wish......

[grahame]

14 car train? I wish......

Carriage number do not necessarily start at 1 ...

[ChrisB]

Which sort of defeats the purpose of the logo top-right in your photo?

[grahame]

Which sort of defeats the purpose of the logo top-right in your photo?

Not really - it's the sequential name of the carriage.   There is no indication that I could see on the platform when I joined the train of what carriage would be where, even though the train is "reservation required". So people scramble on and then go along the corridor looking for their carriage.  To note, in bet doublespeak "reservation required" and "reserved seat required" are different things.  When seat reservations sell out, they continue to sell reservations - I ended up with one of those and it makes life interesting. almost 4 hours into a 5 hour journey, perhaps 20 intermediate calls with people getting off and on all along the way, and I'm now in my fourth seat - or third if you note that I'm back in the seat I started with.   Fingers crossed for the final hour and a bit - but at least I have not had the horror of standing for 250 miles

[grahame]

14 car train? I wish......

Carriage number do not necessarily start at 1 ...

I counted when I got out ... 5 carriages.   Shhh - don't tell broadgage - with a locomotive on the front