Recent content by Skiddaw

Yes, I remember buying Railair tickets from T1 too.

Goodness, that takes me back. I remember those trains so well.

Thanks both. Just been looking at the FB pics. It really was a near miss wasn't it! Glad to see the on the ball signaller later had an engine named after him.

Goodness! I'd not realised the descent after Shap was as significant is it is. Fair play to the Signaller. Why didn't the driver notice he'd lost the rear part of his train?

You're not related to Mr S by any chance are you? :D (He's also obsessed with spreadsheets btw).

Well, there could be all manner of reasons why it would be impractical/impossible/inappropriate for the grandparents to drive to Bristol. But for me, that's irrelevant. Why should anyone have to make new arrangements/jump through hoops just to allow someone to do something as fundamentally basic...

I've never been offered a free sample of anything when travelling by train. Not even alcohol-free beer. I'm feeling a bit gutted now. :'(

That's class... give that man a medal!! :D

Glad I'm not the only one! ...Definitely not the only one! Yes, late 80's up to the early noughties for me (I'm 62 now). I still get that last train occasionally after a night out in London (when staying with best friend who still lives near Reading) but it's a soulless experience these days...

Back in the days when there was a proper buffet car on the last train it was great! There was always a big, good natured, crowd waiting for the shutters on the bar to go up. You could neck one down between Paddington and Reading and often there was a singalong (on one occasion someone even had a...

Must say I've never had a problem with some of the other stations that have been mentioned (including Waverley). It's just Birmingham I struggle with.

...Or chose one of the less obvious routes... :) Thing is, an OS map is (IMO) massively easier to read/follow than the signage at Birmingham.

Yes, you do need to watch out for that. It's often flagged on SF as first when it's actually SP. On the other hand, it's useful if you're after a guaranteed SP upgrade without having to take a chance on a seat being available.

Yes!!! That's exactly what I meant when I posted on the thread earlier! It's happened to me every time I've had to change trains at Birmingham. I can never get it right.

In all honesty, I couldn't say as it seems to be different every time. I don't use Birmingham often these days (when I do it's to transfer from XC to Avanti when heading home from trips to Reading though these days I usually go via Euston to avoid the cross country route) but when I have, I...