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Severn Valley moment of humour

T

Taunton

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Passing the Severn Valley yesterday, so had negotiated a diversion with the family, always a challenge. Set off from Kidderminster.

"What's the next station we're coming into. Here's the timetable".

"Duh ....".

"OK, OK, look out of the window, you'll see the name. It begins with B".

"Um ... ah ... Bovril".

"What????"

"Yes, Bovril, the name is just outside".
 

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RailUK Forums

eastwestdivide

eastwestdivide

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A colleague told of an occasion on an overnight train in Italy where they woke up at an idyllic little village called Sottopassaggio and decided they'd have to come back and visit. Never could find it on the map afterwards.
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(To save you looking it up, subway/underpass)
 
D6130

D6130

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eastwestdivide said:
A colleague told of an occasion on an overnight train in Italy where they woke up at an idyllic little village called Sottopassaggio and decided they'd have to come back and visit. Never could find it on the map afterwards.
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.
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.
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(To save you looking it up, subway/underpass)
Click to expand...
Similarly with an idyllic-looking small town in Central France called 'Sortie'. ;)
 
S

SuspectUsual

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My ex-wife frequently commented about how popular the Hotel Gwesty chain was in Wales, but they didn't seem to have any branches elsewhere
 
G

Gloster

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Peter Ustinov (look him up if you don’t know) used to tell a story (often) about when his Russian speaking mother arrived in England in 1920 she thought that all the stations were called Bovril from the placards on them.
 
Peter Mugridge

Peter Mugridge

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This is exactly the sort of thing that myself and a couple of others have used every now and again to have a bit of fun in the International Guess the Station thread isn't it...? :lol:
 
EveningStar

EveningStar

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Gloster said:
Peter Ustinov (look him up if you don’t know) used to tell a story (often) about when his Russian speaking mother arrived in England in 1920 she thought that all the stations were called Bovril from the placards on them.
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Meanwhile, the Russian word for a railway station is вокзал/vauxhall, because apparently that was the station a Russian delegation were taken when railways were a new thing. Or rather, that was what I was told over one too many vodkas when на России (in Russia).
 
Mcr Warrior

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EveningStar said:
Meanwhile, the Russian word for a railway station is вокзал/vauxhall, because apparently that was the station a Russian delegation were taken when railways were a new thing. Or rather, that was what I was told over one too many vodkas when на России (in Russia).
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Drifting off-topic, but wasn't it something to do with 'Voksal' being the name given to the terminus of the late 1830s era railway line heading out from St. Petersburg in Russia to the already existing 'Voksal' pleasure park at Pavlovsk, named in turn after the much earlier 17th century pleasure park at Vauxhall in South London?
 
EveningStar

EveningStar

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Mcr Warrior said:
Drifting off-topic, but wasn't it something to do with 'Voksal' being the name given to the terminus of the late 1830s era railway line heading out from St. Petersburg in Russia to the already existing 'Voksal' pleasure park at Pavlovsk, named in turn after the much earlier 17th century pleasure park at Vauxhall in South London?
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Quite possibly. I plead the vodka and my bumbling command of the Russian language!
 
E

EbbwJunction1

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I've always wanted to go the the station called "Not in Service" and it's neighbouring one called "Sorry, Not in Service".

It shouldn't be too difficult, as they both have a really good service, both by train and by bus!

(Sorry, I'll get my coat ... !)
 
J

JohnofWessex

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Back in the 70's my parents took us to Italy by train.

We joked that all Italian stations were called 'Veatio Attraversi I Binari' or 'Uscita'

One of my brothers asked me what a station was called & I replied 'Uscita'

The Italian next to me nearly choked
 
43096

43096

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JohnofWessex said:
Back in the 70's my parents took us to Italy by train.

We joked that all Italian stations were called 'Veatio Attraversi I Binari' or 'Uscita'

One of my brothers asked me what a station was called & I replied 'Uscita'

The Italian next to me nearly choked
Click to expand...
Go to a certain lake in Hungary and all the stations (well nearly all!) are called Balaton...
 
F

Falcon1200

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JohnofWessex said:
One of my brothers asked me what a station was called & I replied 'Uscita'
Click to expand...

Many years ago, travelling north to south through Finland, we stopped at a station named Ravintola, but couldn't locate it on our map or timetable. Then, oddly, the next station was also Ravintola. The word is actually Finnish for Restaurant.....
 
J

JohnRegular

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I was travelling with my Grandfather on the Bakerloo line a couple of years ago. The 73 stock has 'No Smoking' roundels on many of the windows.

So of course he says to me "Every station... 'No Smoking'"
 
W

Wharfe

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Many years ago a group of pals went hunting German diesel-hydraulic locos, basing themselves for a week in a small guest house in Lübeck. One of the party could not understand why all the guest houses in the city were called Hotel Eingang...
 
TransportHub

TransportHub

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There are many road signs in Wales for Gorsaf Station, but I've never seen it on a route map. Must be a very important station for it to have road signs from all corners of the country!
 
F

Farang

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During a school trip I asked a teacher why there were so many signs to the place called Ausfahrt.
 
Mcr Warrior

Mcr Warrior

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Lots of footpaths all heading off to a little place called 'Llwybr Cyhoeddus' in North Wales. :s
 
C

CW2

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33056 said:
I really ought to visit "Bitte nicht einsteigen" in Germany; it appears to be the destination for plenty of trains ;)
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Yes, the Nicht Einsteigen branch was very popular in DDR days. Unfortunately the station staff would never let me onto the trains, so I never did manage to visit it.
 
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