Recent content by Oxfordblues

I spoke to a police officer about non-enforcement of the 20-mph speed limit on a local road that goes past a primary school. Most motorists there can be seen doing around 30-mph. The officer patiently explained that if everyone exceeding 20-mph in one day were taken to court it would clog-up the...

Chiltern are doing their bit this morning, running Oxford-Birmingham services in the XC paths: https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:09539/2026-08-23/detailed

In my time at Railtrack Swindon I had to deal with the person at EWS Doncaster in charge of South Wales coal traffic who had been recruited "off the street". He had never been to South Wales, had never been down a pit and couldn't even pronounce Cwmgwrach!

I started as a railman* at Preston station on 22 July 1974 and dealt with the first summer of electric trains which were quite a novelty. There was a lot of engine-changing and portion-working: Euston-Blackpool, Liverpool/Manchester-Glasgow/Edinburgh, etc. * There were no "railwomen"!

I would nominate West Coast Motors' 423 from Ardrishaig to Oban via Kilmartin. We used it as a paddlesteamer replacement service back in May when the Waverley trip from Glasgow to Oban was cancelled. A spectacular route.

If railfreight operations are "heavily subsidised" then so is road freight: a haulier can take a container all the way from Southampton to Scotland without once encountering a toll-booth.

One of the great benefits of privatisation for rail-freight was the introduction of real rail-on-rail competition. I remember BR freight sales managers visiting customers and giving them a take-it-or-leave-it offer with the annual increases in rates. With eager road hauliers waiting outside the...

Yes indeed. Boomtown finished last night so it's going-home day for the survivors (I speak as a veteran!)

I was a TOPS clerk at Warrington Arpley 50 years ago and the system was based on punched-cards. A train would arrive in the yard with each wagon represented by a card which would be placed in racks in the same way as the wagons were shunted. When it came to dispatching a train the cards would be...

So Class-99 electric-haulage of biomass trains between Olive Mount Jn and Miles Platting seems unlikely now.

There has been much controversy recently about the early release of violent, dangerous criminals from our overcrowded prison system. Many offenders have only served a tiny fraction of their already-lenient sentences, but will soon be out on the streets unsupervised. Meanwhile BBC Licensing is...

"VICE" was in common usage even in advice to passengers as in "The 08:21 to Waterloo is 4 VICE 8" (meaning you'll probably have to stand!)

Imagine trying to eat all that while standing-up in the vestibule!

When I worked at the Central Wagon Authority at BRBHQ our remit was to minimise the "fresh air traffic" by optimising the utilisation of common-user wagons through a system of movement instructions and control orders which were intended to eliminate the wasteful cross-haulage of empties. I...

When I drive I scrupulous obey all speed limits, exactly as train drivers routinely do. This means occasionally creating a long tailback of frustrated drivers who think the limits are "advisory" or that they are somehow above the law. That is their problem! Four young men drowned recently at...