Snow/Wintry conditions

[whole diary]

[Ollie]

Trolley thrown at train as it came out of a tunnel.

[Tim]

Trolley thrown at train as it came out of a tunnel.

Shame the cold weather doesn't deter the morons.  Glad to hear that the trolley didn't hit the front window.  Hope the driver isn;t too shaken up by his/her experience. 

[Gordon the Blue Engine]

Original line problem between Oxford and Worcester fixed, trains now running normally, now emergency engineering works between Worcester and Hereford, delays of 60min may occur. Not been a good day!

I was on 1022 Padd - Hereford yesterday. Touch and go whether we'd set off west from Oxford, but our Train Manager kept us informed that he'd just spoken to Control at Swindon, and it had been decided that despite heavy snow and frozen points etc we would attempt to go all the way to Hereford! We got regular updates, and were confident of getting through to Hereford until we ran into Worcester SH to hear the platform announcement that "the train on Platform 1 was not for public use." Apparently there was a broken rail at Ledbury.

Swindon hadn't told our Train Manager, who I think was quite upset that he had to abandon us all.  He continued to give us information, and apparently tried to persuade Control to agree onward road transport to Hereford.  This was declined.  He was an excellent Train Manager and I hope someone can give him a pat on the back.

I was heading for Ludlow via Hereford, so got a LM^▸ (London Midland - recent franchise) train to Kidderminster and the 292 bus to Ludlow. It's always a good idea to have a Plan B, and don't forget the bus especially if you've got a bus pass.

 

[Lee]

You know what - the movie rights to that story could add up to a successful "triumph over adversity" blockbuster...

Our hero (Gordon) really wants to get to Ludlow for Christmas, but it looks like his hopes will be dashed. However, his determination/frustration makes an impact on the grizzled, world-weary railway employee (our TM^‡(resolve)). Infused and emboldened with the spirit of the season, he pleads with his sceptical/cautious boss (Swindon control) to "Just give me one chance to take my people home!!" The boss eventually agrees but "If just one thing goes wrong on the way, I'm pulling you out."

Cue Gordon/TM triumphant shouts of "Hold on people, we're going to Hereford!!" Much cheering celebration etc..

All smiles as the train arrives at Worcester, only for our principals to be told "The darn track has gone up ahead - not even you could get that train through on no rails"

Swindon Control duly pulls the plug, despite much pleading by TM. This ends with "Just one bus, I can still pull this off if you give me just one bus", to which Control replies, "You gotta accept its over, son, just let it go."

TM says his heartfelt goodbyes to his new best friend - "I'm sorry I've gotta leave you here Gordon, but it was a hell of a ride, wasnt it?!!"

Gordon is about to give in, but he spots a bus parked up and a thought enters his head.

Next scene we see him pull up in the bus, and shout to his fellow passengers, "It aint over yet, we'll drive this thing home ourselves!!"

Swindon's local deputy shouts at the TM - "Stop them!!" but the TM replies "Do I look like a damn Bus Manager?? Look at my badge!!"

Gordon shouts back "It's always a good idea to have a Plan B!!"

As we know, our hero eventually makes it back to Ludlow to a heros welcome. Merry Christmas everyone 

Someone get me my agent, and a decent scriptwriter...

[JayMac]

Some themes in your potential movie have already been done by Hollywood in the film, "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" with Steve Martin.

I was tempted to post a youtube link to a clip of a classic scene in that movie, but it is extremely sweary! Those who have seen the film will know which scene I'm on about!

[Gordon the Blue Engine]

Lee, but that's exactly how it was, no kidding.  .....  AND the 292 was a First Bus!!!! (perhaps in that case I should have had a Plan C!).

[JayMac]

The FGW^▸ (First Great Western) website home page this morning carries the message "We expect to operate the full planned service on Friday 24th December."

And yet, there are already 13 train cancellations, nearly all due to "a member of train crew being unavailable."

 

[SDS]

Perhaps they had a full compliment of staff until they started phoning in sick on xmas eve!

[TheLastMinute]

Last month it was snow, now it's rain:

Thursday 13 January 2010 10:00

Train services are currently suspended between Bristol Temple Meads and Weston Super Mare due to flooding in the Flax Bourton area. Replacement road transport is in operation. Journey times may be extended by up to 60 minutes.

Due to flooding in the Chipping Sodbury area train services are being disrupted between London Paddington and Cardiff  / Swansea. Services will be diverted with extended journey times of up to 45 minutes.

The XX:45 services from London Paddington to Swansea  and the XX:28 Swansea to Paddington  will not call at Bristol Parkway but will call additionally at Filton Abbey Wood. Customers travelling to and from Bristol Parkway should change at Filton Abbey Wood for alternative services. Supplementary road transport will also operate.

The XX:15 services from London Paddington to Cardiff Central and the XX:55 Cardiff Central to London Paddington services are cancelled.(09:55 and 10:55 departures from Cardiff Central will terminate at Bristol Temple Meads)

Cheers,
TLM

PS I did think about starting a new thread, but heavy rain is a type of weather during winter. Actually, spring, summer and autumn as well come to think of it.

[JayMac]

It was quite damp here in Bristol overnight. My jacket still hasn't dried out! 

[anthony215]

The weather was very bad yesterday when i was on the 22:45 London - Swansea service which was diverted via Bath .

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

Rail chiefs tell MPs^▸ (Member of Parliament) of 'mistakes' in the heavy snow

Railway bosses have admitted that they made mistakes in their response to the severe weather at the end of last year.

Thousands of services were cancelled, and passengers were sometimes stranded on trains for hours.

Robin Gisby from Network Rail told MPs on the Transport Committee that basic operating mistakes had been made, but that they had been "little things".

Firms said they were improving their ability to cope with bad weather.

Mr Gisby said "We made a number of mistakes in the first week (of the bad weather). We learnt from this quite rapidly." He said that Network Rail "got into a pickle" on one day by trying to run a full timetable rather than a temporary one.

The rail bosses denied that trains had been cancelled in order to avoid paying compensation for the services being late. They insisted that decisions were taken to give the best, most robust service to passengers - rather than to avoid fines.

The man leading the government review of how the bad weather affected the transport network in December, Chairman of the RAC Foundation David Quarmby, also gave evidence to the Committee.

He agreed that Network Rail had been "caught short" by the weather. But he said the performance of the rail network had been better in the second cold snap, just before Christmas.

Mr Quarmby said he refuted the suggestion that the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) was worse than other countries in dealing with snow. "As a nation we tend to deprecate ourselves", he said, "and the media play into that."

Last year, Prime Minister David Cameron said the weather disruption was understandable but he was "frustrated" at how long it took to improve the situation.