Recent content by Willr2094

When I was at primary school in the mid to late 90s/early 2000s, I don't have that many memories of being ill there l though I do have memories of other kids in my classes being ill. From what I can remember I generally managed to hang on in there through to the end of the school day. There...

Exactly - the East Coast express franchise is probably one of the hardest to operate - since 2006 all the franchisees have failed to operate the service without having financial problems. They also have competition from two other franchised operators in the North East and North and West...

Regarding capacity, the Voyagers in particular are prone to terrible overcrowding at busy periods because they are so small for long distance units. The Standard Class interior on the Voyagers is desperate for a refurbishment. Apart from the loss of the shop and the installation of Wi-Fi on...

The 144s when they had their original interior had the bus seats covered in a two-tone brown/orange version of the stripe moquette that 142s had. They lost this during refurbishment between 2002 and 2004, which saw the current high-back seating installed with red/grey upholstery.

It is a shame the 125 Group has had the lease agreement terminated. They did a fantastic job getting the prototype running again after so long out of operation and hopefully the lessons they learned from operating it will be very beneficial when the time comes for them to acquire (at least) one...

Flying Scotsman only carried its name in normal service for 39 years, as no name was allocated during its build in 1922/23 and it ran for its first year in service simply as 1472 - it only received the Flying Scotsman name when it was selected for display at the British Empire Exhibition at...

Unlike The Silver Jubilee, the Coronation also made a stop at York before continuing on to Newcastle and Edinburgh. Additionally, the reason why the Coronation did not convey an Observation Car in the spring and winter months was because of the fact that it ran late afternoon/early evening...

It wasn't too bad a programme about the history of the HST. There were a few inaccuracies though: It claimed the HST prototype set the 143mph speed record on a test track, when it set it on the East Coast Main Line between York and Thirsk It erroneously claimed that the High Speed Train...

I have always found the Standard Class "Mallard" style seats perfectly comfortable. They were certainly a huge improvement over the rather firm and upright BR ones that MK4 standard class coaches had until GNER refurbished the sets between 2003 and 2005 - which I always found rather tiring to...

A particular downside of the fixed armrests is they make accessing/exiting the window seats difficult, especially the ones round a table.

Another downside from the seat leaning back too much is that (in some seating positions) if you want to look out of the window you have to physically lean forward - as often you are sat so far back you are away from the window - note image above. Also rather cramped on the face to back seats.

I would say they have the following advantages and disadvantages. Pros: Good angle with the window - almost unimpeded visibility out. Cons: Very minimal padding, backrest reclines too far back and is too low, making it impossible not to slouch and appalling leg room, especially if the passenger...

I would say the "Mallard" style of seating does have the following pros and cons:- Pros: Very deep cushioning, good angle with the window, decent amount of legroom. Cons: Not an awful lot of elbow room on window seats, cushioning eventually wears down after a few years use.

My secondary school did establish a school shop during my time there. It sold (amongst other things) replacement ties and blazer badges. It was a good idea because it meant that you could stock up on any supplies when required during the day.

At my primary schools the only bit of uniform you had was the branded sweatshirt (and branded polo shirt for my junior school), which you bought through the school. The uniform in my junior school was this: Royal blue poloshirt embroidered with the school's crest (basically the family crest of...