Recent Public Posts - [guest]
| Re: 2025 - Service update and amendment log, Swindon <-> Westbury In "TransWilts line" [365378/29726/18] Posted by grahame at 14:11, 9th September 2025 |      |
13:14 Swindon to Westbury due 13:57
13:14 Swindon to Westbury due 13:57 is being delayed between Melksham and Trowbridge and is now expected to be 8 minutes late.
This is due to a broken down train earlier today.
13:14 Swindon to Westbury due 13:57 is being delayed between Melksham and Trowbridge and is now expected to be 8 minutes late.
This is due to a broken down train earlier today.
| Re: Reversals mid-line. Watch Battersby for Combe and Bere Alston? In "Shorter journeys in Plymouth and Cornwall" [365377/30706/25] Posted by Trowres at 12:47, 9th September 2025 | |
This article: https://www.thisisthecoast.co.uk/news/local-news/signalling-innovations-could-improve-esk-valley-railway-service/
suggests that various options for resignalling are being considered as a replacement for No-signalman-key-token.
Whitby is an attractive destination, but it is seriously harmed by summer traffic and parking issues. At the moment the railway is unable to offer much in the way of mitigation.
| Re: A fear of driving / on the rise In "Media about railways, and other means of transport" [365376/30694/49] Posted by Trowres at 12:34, 9th September 2025 | |
The number of drivers who seem to think they have right of way joining motorways/dual carriageways is quite scary.
Nightmare! Or those already on the motorway who don't move over a lane when approaching an on-slip so that traffic can join....nor those joining who think they can join at 30mph & pick up speed after joining.....
The Highway Code's advice on joining the motorway:
- give priority to traffic already on the motorway
- check the traffic on the motorway and match your speed to fit safely into the traffic flow in the left-hand lane
- not cross solid white lines that separate lanes or use the hard shoulder
If the traffic in the left-hand lane of the motorway is travelling at the minimum safe separation (a somewhat optimistic assumption on a busy motorway) then any joining traffic will be creating two separations of less than half the minimum safe distance. Doesn't that mean it's impossible to "fit safely into the traffic flow" ? (unless traffic on the motorway can change lane to accommodate joiners - not always possible at busy times.
Asking drivers to do the impossible? - rather different safety culture from rail?
| Re: Yet another Rail Minister - Had a YP Railcard last year! In "Who's who on Western railways" [365375/30705/2] Posted by TaplowGreen at 12:00, 9th September 2025 | |
Refreshingly free of fraud convictions and called Keir.....a shoe-in!
| Re: Weston-super-Mare - Birnbeck Pier plan 'in jeopardy' as RNLI pulls out - June 2025 In "The West - but NOT trains in the West" [365374/30411/31] Posted by broadgage at 10:28, 9th September 2025 | |
I know this may cause offence to some, but when I look at the picture above, I think the best thing that can be done to Birnbeck pier is to dismantle it. Of course that won’t happen because it’s listed so it will remain continuing to decay.
Regretfully, I agree. Restoration is certain to take a lot longer and cost a lot more than originally forecast. And unless a complete re-build is contemplated, then the underlying structure will remain vulnerable to rot, rust, and extreme weather.
| Reversals mid-line. Watch Battersby for Combe and Bere Alston? In "Shorter journeys in Plymouth and Cornwall" [365373/30706/25] Posted by grahame at 10:16, 9th September 2025 | |
From This is the Coast
Work will start in the first part of next year on the 7 million pounds worth of improvements on the line to enable extra train services to be put on between Whitby and Middlesbrough.
[snip]
There's going to be work at Battersby where as there's a sort of turnaround at the moment, and there's plans to improve that situation there. So it's straight through.
[snip]
There's going to be work at Battersby where as there's a sort of turnaround at the moment, and there's plans to improve that situation there. So it's straight through.
Just picking up on this story - unclear to me from what has made the press
My understanding is that trains *can* pass each other at Battersby ... (though looking at today's timetable, they are not doing so on a daily basis). If the proposal is to complete the triangle, ... a passing loop on it, or simply an ability to run services quicker? Resiting of the station?
Posting in our Cornwall board - possible lessons for the lines to Gunnislake and Looe?
| Re: No trains will call Gloucester 27 September- 5th October 2025 In "Cross Country services" [365372/30703/43] Posted by grahame at 10:03, 9th September 2025 | |
When do the crew get a PNB?
When do they anyway? Services are in the sidings at Cheltenham Spa for less than the time needed for a personal needs break, even before you count the time taken to walk through the train. As I would see it, the bigger problem is reversal at Cheltenham Spa with passengers still on board; i.e. without going into the siding. There are cases where trains reverse with passengers still on board (Combe Junction Ground Frame) but I suspect that someone would take exception to the practise at Alstone Sidings.
| Re: No trains will call Gloucester 27 September- 5th October 2025 In "Cross Country services" [365371/30703/43] Posted by ChrisB at 09:38, 9th September 2025 | |
When do the crew get a PNB?
| Re: No trains will call Gloucester 27 September- 5th October 2025 In "Cross Country services" [365370/30703/43] Posted by grahame at 09:37, 9th September 2025 | |
As a bit of a side issue ... I note that the London to Cheltenham Spa services will run direct from Stonehouse to Cheltenham Spa on some dates. In the past, I have wondered whether London - Gloucester - Cheltenham Spa - Gloucester - London diagrams would be more effective alternating London - Cheltenham Spa - Gloucester - London and London - Gloucester - Cheltenham Spa - London providing faster trains every 2 hours to / from Cheltenham Spa at the expense of slowing alternate London to Gloucester services. "Armchair" question - just a wonder and it may be a silly one.
Do I recall thoughts of a second Swindon - Gloucester/Cheltenham train in the hour?
| Re: North Cotswold line delays and cancellations - 2025 In "London to the Cotswolds" [365369/29711/14] Posted by Worcester_Passenger at 09:30, 9th September 2025 | |
Tuesday September 9
Due to a broken down train between Moreton-In-Marsh and Worcester Shrub Hill the line towards Worcester Shrub Hill is blocked.
Train services running through these stations may be cancelled or delayed. Disruption is expected until 11:00 09/09.
Customer Advice
Due to a broken down Train on the Down Cotswold's at Evesham station Trains are unable to run from Moreton in Marsh towards Worcester Shrub Hill.
Last Updated:09/09/2025 09:03
Train services running through these stations may be cancelled or delayed. Disruption is expected until 11:00 09/09.
Customer Advice
Due to a broken down Train on the Down Cotswold's at Evesham station Trains are unable to run from Moreton in Marsh towards Worcester Shrub Hill.
Last Updated:09/09/2025 09:03
2E77 0510 Oxford to Shrub Hill : arrived Evesham +65 and cancelled thereafter.
1W11 0553 London Paddington to Great Malvern : cancelled after arriving Moreton-in-Marsh (07:27)
2E80 0700 Worcester Shrub Hill to Didcot Parkway : started from Moreton (07:40) using the stock from 1W11.
08:56 Great Malvern to London Paddington due 11:27 will be started from Oxford.
This is due to a broken down train.
Last Updated:09/09/2025 07:49
09:56 Great Malvern to London Paddington due 12:23 will be started from Oxford.
This is due to a broken down train.
Last Updated:09/09/2025 07:37
10:59 Great Malvern to London Paddington due 13:25 will be started from Oxford.
This is due to a broken down train.
Last Updated:09/09/2025 09:57
06:52 London Paddington to Great Malvern due 09:29 will be terminated at Oxford.
This is due to a broken down train.
Last Updated:09/09/2025 07:35
07:50 London Paddington to Great Malvern due 10:14 will be terminated at Moreton-In-Marsh.
This is due to a broken down train.
Last Updated:09/09/2025 09:29
08:52 London Paddington to Great Malvern due 11:14 will be diverted between Didcot Parkway and Worcester Shrub Hill.
It will be delayed due to the diversion and is expected to be 25 minutes late.
This is due to a broken down train.
Last Updated:09/09/2025 08:28
09:52 London Paddington to Hereford due 12:46 will be diverted between Didcot Parkway and Worcester Shrub Hill.
It will be delayed due to the diversion and is expected to be 23 minutes late.
This is due to a broken down train.
Last Updated:09/09/2025 09:26
09:52 now reinstated.This is due to a broken down train.
Last Updated:09/09/2025 07:49
09:56 Great Malvern to London Paddington due 12:23 will be started from Oxford.
This is due to a broken down train.
Last Updated:09/09/2025 07:37
10:59 Great Malvern to London Paddington due 13:25 will be started from Oxford.
This is due to a broken down train.
Last Updated:09/09/2025 09:57
06:52 London Paddington to Great Malvern due 09:29 will be terminated at Oxford.
This is due to a broken down train.
Last Updated:09/09/2025 07:35
07:50 London Paddington to Great Malvern due 10:14 will be terminated at Moreton-In-Marsh.
This is due to a broken down train.
Last Updated:09/09/2025 09:29
08:52 London Paddington to Great Malvern due 11:14 will be diverted between Didcot Parkway and Worcester Shrub Hill.
It will be delayed due to the diversion and is expected to be 25 minutes late.
This is due to a broken down train.
Last Updated:09/09/2025 08:28
09:52 London Paddington to Hereford due 12:46 will be diverted between Didcot Parkway and Worcester Shrub Hill.
It will be delayed due to the diversion and is expected to be 23 minutes late.
This is due to a broken down train.
Last Updated:09/09/2025 09:26
At Evesham, nothing eastbound from 08:38 to 12:36, nothing westbound from start of service until
09:33 : 09:52 to Hereford added.
10:22 : 10:59 from Great Malvern added.
11:06 : Broken-down train seems to have been moved back to Oxford. 09:52 to Hereford is now operating via Evesham, though there's no 'reinstated' note on JourneyCheck.
| Yet another Rail Minister - Had a YP Railcard last year! In "Who's who on Western railways" [365368/30705/2] Posted by ChrisB at 09:24, 9th September 2025 | |
He's 27 - born in 1998 - has only had one external job at the CBI doing PPE for just 18 months!
Introducing Keir Mather - MP for Selby since just the last election. Just out of nappies.
| High rail fares - limited to the UK? In "Fare's Fair" [365367/30704/4] Posted by grahame at 09:19, 9th September 2025 | |
From a longstanding Facebook friend's feed
If you want to die in horror see Amtrak fares for the Sunday after Thanksgiving. The cheapest train from PHL to BOS (fares from here to PHL are fixed and I'd book that segment separately, because it won't show all the trains otherwise since Acela has no coach class) is $377 and not even workable because it gets in at 1:16am. That's one way, not roundtrip.
(There are no flights unless someone wants to do pickup at BWI or PHL)
(There are no flights unless someone wants to do pickup at BWI or PHL)
300 miles Philadelphia to Boston ... £278 pound single at today's exchange rate
300 miles Paddington to Penzance ...
| Re: Server slow ... In "News, Help and Assistance" [365366/30293/29] Posted by grahame at 09:10, 9th September 2025 | |
I got a non-responsive return when requesting this page just now.... 
Since 03:30 this morning on our worker server:
on our worker server 56123 requests of which
38313 good requests
17708 planned diversions
102 erroneous requests
0 server failures
on our receptionist server 126024 requests of which
106093 good requests
18940 planned diversions
777 erroneous requests
214 server failures including (ChrisB) your "server gone away" response
214 in over 100,000 is more than I like - but it is only about 1 in 500 requests. I will echo - good idea to copy / paste locally long posts before you submit and that's general internet advice.
| Re: Server slow ... In "News, Help and Assistance" [365365/30293/29] Posted by ChrisB at 08:48, 9th September 2025 | |
I got a non-responsive return when requesting this page just now....
| Re: A fear of driving / on the rise In "Media about railways, and other means of transport" [365364/30694/49] Posted by ChrisB at 08:33, 9th September 2025 | |
The number of drivers who seem to think they have right of way joining motorways/dual carriageways is quite scary.
Nightmare! Or those already on the motorway who don't move over a lane when approaching an on-slip so that traffic can join....nor those joining who think they can join at 30mph & pick up speed after joining.....
| Re: Server slow ... In "News, Help and Assistance" [365363/30293/29] Posted by grahame at 08:27, 9th September 2025 | |
Information post - purely out of interest for members
The subject is "server slow" and not "server broken" - and it has been slow overnight ... such a classic case of an overenthusiastic automated crawler, from not one but a whole suite of hosts.
So that's up to 6 pages per second. Where do they come from? Let's look an example:
8.160.129.10 IP info & Whois online
Host Name: Undefined. Country: China. City: Beijing. Coordinates: lat: 39.911; lon: 116.395. Network: 8.160.128.0/22. Type: Hosting Spam rate: 28.00%
Host Name: Undefined. Country: China. City: Beijing. Coordinates: lat: 39.911; lon: 116.395. Network: 8.160.128.0/22. Type: Hosting Spam rate: 28.00%
We have a wonderful resource at the Coffee Shop ... which means a wonderful range of pages published - and the word "public" is there in the very word "published". I have tools which help me notice - often without but sometimes with manual intervention - these heavy automated uses, even if (as in this case) the requests pretend to be human / don't admit to being crawlers. They may not be noticeable looking at each individual hit ... but I can see patterns
Note - the first report is BST and the second GMT - so they are at different times; the second report is after I referred 8.160 requests back to the receptionist to reduce automata load on our worker server. The changes last December which added the receptionist have given me this capability
EDIT to add - about an hour later - here is a "classic" denial of service 'attack' just flagged up
| Re: Weston-super-Mare - Birnbeck Pier plan 'in jeopardy' as RNLI pulls out - June 2025 In "The West - but NOT trains in the West" [365362/30411/31] Posted by Timmer at 06:36, 9th September 2025 Already liked by broadgage | |
I know this may cause offence to some, but when I look at the picture above, I think the best thing that can be done to Birnbeck pier is to dismantle it. Of course that won’t happen because it’s listed so it will remain continuing to decay.
| No trains will call Gloucester 27 September- 5th October 2025 In "Cross Country services" [365360/30703/43] Posted by infoman at 06:10, 9th September 2025 Already liked by Mark A | |
Due to an upgrade of the Gloucester signal box.
https://www.gwr.com/travel-information/travel-updates/planned-engineering
How times have changed,I recall many years ago that a similar engineering work
was taking place, and a temporary train station was constructed near Over?
Can't recall the exact location or which year it was.
| Re: Camping coaches In "Heritage railways, Railtours, buses, canals, steamships and other public transport based attractions" [365359/22085/47] Posted by broadgage at 04:47, 9th September 2025 | |
Have now obtained more detail re the above.
A common arrangement was to park perhaps 10 or 12 living coaches in an otherwise unused railway siding. Alternate vehicles would have the large canvas awning on different sides, thereby allowing a very considerable living area under cover in addition the space within the vehicle. Mains drainage and water supply was provided.
Older coaches were originally heated by a stove burning wood or coal, and this was retained when used for living. An extended chimney was fitted to prevent smoke nuisance. A restricted electricity supply was included in the rent.
The track was maintained in working order, with a connection to the main line to permit removing a condemned coach and adding a newer one. A horse or a Land Rover was used for this if the track was judged unsuitable for a locomotive.
Used for housing railway staff, and for the poor, and in more scenic locations as holiday homes.
Had an acceptable safety record, the main risk being over turning of the coach in a high wind when the canvas awning formed wind sail. Ballast weights were sometimes added to minimise this risk.
Use under OHLE was a risk if anyone climbed onto the roof, or the hetal stove flue was too close.
| Re: Belmond Britannic Explorer In "Heritage railways, Railtours, buses, canals, steamships and other public transport based attractions" [365358/30661/47] Posted by broadgage at 04:13, 9th September 2025 Already liked by GBM | |
From Conde Nast Traveller
England finally has its own luxury sleeper train – and we were the first on board
The first ever luxury sleeper train in England and Wales is a fresh take on the golden age of rail travel, offering a slower, softer and more nourishing way to experience this green and pleasant land
Name of train? Britannic Explorer, A Belmond Train
Passenger occupancy? 18 cabins in total; three grand suites and 15 suites, all sleeping two people each
Itinerary? There are currently three itineraries, all departing from London: to the Lake District, Wales, or our chosen destination, Cornwall. A mystery fourth journey is currently in the works
Starting price: Suites start at £6,300 per person, and grand suites at £15,300 per person
The first ever luxury sleeper train in England and Wales is a fresh take on the golden age of rail travel, offering a slower, softer and more nourishing way to experience this green and pleasant land
Name of train? Britannic Explorer, A Belmond Train
Passenger occupancy? 18 cabins in total; three grand suites and 15 suites, all sleeping two people each
Itinerary? There are currently three itineraries, all departing from London: to the Lake District, Wales, or our chosen destination, Cornwall. A mystery fourth journey is currently in the works
Starting price: Suites start at £6,300 per person, and grand suites at £15,300 per person
Rich, stupid, or both?
Rich, certainly. But I see nothing stupid in enjoying luxury train travel. Comparable to staying at the Savoy, or to first class air travel, or even in ones own yacht.
The market for such luxury must be limited, but I suspect that they will find enough customers to make it worthwhile. Americans in particular would love it.
Perhaps the King could hire it occaisionaly if the Royal train is to be withdrawn ?
| Re: A fear of driving / on the rise In "Media about railways, and other means of transport" [365357/30694/49] Posted by Sixty3Closure at 22:27, 8th September 2025 | |
Having learnt to drive at a mature age and then almost immediately been ill for a long time I never quite got that period where you pass your test and then drive at every opportunity. Means I'm a very nervous and reluctant driver.
I also wonder that as someone who recently passed their test am I more aware of other people's bad driving? Amazing the number of people who don't indicate, block roads, box junctions and so on. I watched some of the driving/parking near our local supermarket and maybe my driving isn't so bad
I don't drive on motorways though but that's mainly because I've really not mastered slip roads but again I don't seem to be alone in that. The number of drivers who seem to think they have right of way joining motorways/dual carriageways is quite scary.
| Re: Weston-super-Mare - Birnbeck Pier plan 'in jeopardy' as RNLI pulls out - June 2025 In "The West - but NOT trains in the West" [365356/30411/31] Posted by Chris from Nailsea at 22:08, 8th September 2025 Already liked by JayMac, Timmer | |
And (rather in the spirit of Dragons' Den) for that reason I, too, am out.
| Re: Weston-super-Mare - Birnbeck Pier plan 'in jeopardy' as RNLI pulls out - June 2025 In "The West - but NOT trains in the West" [365354/30411/31] Posted by JayMac at 21:51, 8th September 2025 | |
£5million short? (from the RNLI before they pulled out)
Crowdfunders can raise that sort of funds - worth a try, council?
Crowdfunders can raise that sort of funds - worth a try, council?
After the RNLI's due diligence highlighted viability and ongoing maintenance costs concerns I certainly wouldn't be keen to invest.
