Recent content by Esmenfif

I thought this might brighten some people's day, and I don't think anyone else around here has noticed it. There is a small electric private commuter railway in Chiba Prefecture, Japan, called the Choshi Electric Railway. It basically is permanently in the red, and has been struggling to find...

The Fife Coast Railway is perhaps the railway that I miss most, despite never having known it personally. As I expect people here might appreciate it, I thought I'd post a link to a lovely film from the last days of said railway. I never cease to be shocked the by the former St Andrews station...

There is nothing 'typical' about Greenwich, Connecticut...it is one of the wealthiest towns in the whole country, and its 'main street' is representative of that fact. I'm not saying it is a bad place to visit if one wants to get out of the city, but don't think of it as 'typical' of America in...

Correct. They've made the election the equivalent of a referendum on tram extension.

That's an archaic distinction, and one which has no place on the modern railway. The goal is to move people, to do so with efficiency, and this requires maximum throughput. It's a shame they didn't toss first class.

Our eating habits, as a society, have changed. It isn't surprising the railway catering has declined. There isn't any need for catering anymore. If anything, I think that vending machines for coffee/tea/fizzy drink, etc., would suffice. Or, perhaps something like the old automats. In any case, I...

In reference to the government's plans for Network Rail, I read an article on the BBC website that said a new franchise would be created to run an Oxford-Cambridge service. Does anyone know what is being referenced here, because, as far as I know, there is no possibility of such a thing...

Interested parties may be sad to know that it seems that JR Hokkaido is eliminating service on nearly half of its route miles. http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/11/19/business/jr-hokkaido-says-cant-maintain-half-railways/#.WD4wRWX8GLG

The combination of slam doors and the guard's whistle is my favourite. It can't be beat.

I've always preferred compartments, but it is quite clear that they are not coming back.

Euphemisms do not solve such problems, they merely cloak them. The change from second class to 'standard' was bad enough.

Can someone please quash the 'administration' and give us a proper government?

Seems I was thinking of the long-deceased Montrealer, then. My apologies. Such services have run, is along the lines of the point I was attempting to make.

There is one Americo-Canadian sleeper, the Maple Leaf service from New York to Toronto.

It's quite clear to me that all politicians are likely to be 'well and truly dismissed by his or her electorate' at the next general election, courtesy of the present mess, so I don't expect that will be a concern.