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A few Saturdays ago someone who'd been a lorry driver in the 1990s expressed his thanks on a radio programme to an unknown tram driver in Minsk at that time. The driver had dropped his trailer somewhere and had to pick up another in Minsk, a city with which he was unfamiliar. It being...

Just for interest, what was your first word?

Has this happened to anyone else on here? If so, I'd like to know if you attempted to do anything about it. Last week, having bought a loaf in my baker's I noticed the £5 I proffered in payment was my only cash, and as I passed a Lloyds Bank on the short way home I decided to draw some more...

Not including getting chucked out or competing to see how many pubs you can visit in an evening, etc. In other words, how long after you realised your presence could be a problem did you make an exit? In my own case, it was mid 1970s, working for Camden Council in North London, and I had to...

That time of year again. I'm just going to make one;- that Donald J. Trump will no longer be President of the U.S.A. by this time next year. That's more than just a (fervent) hope, I think that all things considered there's a good 50% chance his presence will not be staining the office in...

Advice please for my wife who wishes to travel from Penzance to Paddington on Monday 14th May on the 16.00 train, returning Thursday 17th May on either the 16.03 or 18.03 (but not the 17.03, unless the fare on that one was spectacularly low), second class. We do not have a working printer, so...

The death has been announced of Ronald Chesney, co-writer with Ronald Wolfe of the 'On the Buses' tv series in the 1970s, with its film spin-offs. I think Anna Karen, who played Olive, is the only surviving main cast member. Apparently the two Ronnies (as they were known until two other Ronnies...

I'm unsure whether Rye is part of Ms Rudd's constituency, but the latest Guardian revelations mean she must be Toast.

Yesterday would have been my father's 100th birthday. I don't normally buy a full National Lottery ticket these days, resenting the increase in price coupled with the addition of an extra ten numbers to conjure with, but I do on close family birthdays. Anyway, having agreed with my sister that I...

Ladbrokes have announced their odds on the next Tory leader who could, of course, become de facto Prime Minister, with or without the encumbrance of a General Election ('ANOTHER ONE??'). I won't quote their odds, as (a) I've not got them to hand and (b) why should I encourage gambling?, but I...

The latest named storm is about to strike, and I've just heard hurricane force 12 winds predicted for one shipping area. Well, 'Hurricane' is but one of Bob Dylan's best-loved songs.:smile:

I think the 50th anniversary of this dreadful accident should be mentioned. 49 people lost their lives that misty night, and many more suffered injuries. A packed Hastings to Charing Cross train of 12 carriages was derailed (apart from the first carriage) with four landing on their sides...

A brief paragraph in the current issue of 'Tramways & Urban Transit' magazine states that route 26 went over to chip and pin machines on its trams from July, and from 1st January these would replace contactless payment on all Amsterdam tram routes. No explanation was given as to the reason...

We are all unique, so the word has been somewhat devalued, but I thought it would be a better title than 'am I alone in...?' The idea behind the thread grew out of my going to university as a mature student all those years ago and, along with virtually everyone else on my course, knowing...

I think it's only right on a forum dedicated primarily to railway matters that the passing of Paddington Bear's creator, Michael Bond, at the age of 91 be recorded. I never really knew the stories myself, but my late mother-in-law was a great fan and was always pleased to receive a...

This programme goes out tomorrow at 9 p.m. It caught my eye because they were filming at St Mary's, Paddington in March on the day of the Westminster Bridge van attack and, as the nearest Major Trauma Unit to that location, the hospital received a number of casualties, the first of whom was...

Just been announced that Stagecoach is to lose operation of routes 5,15 and 115 from August: Go-Ahead's Blue Triangle operation is the winner. These three routes utilise 71 buses, so that is a lot to lose in one go. As the 15 is operated by NBfLs these will presumably be shifted from one company...

Was there a sleeping car fire that caused any deaths in December 1986? I only ask because I've been reading an obituary for Piers Dixon, who was Conservative MP for Truro from 1970 to 1974 and then was deposed by David Penhaligon of the Liberal Party. Penhaligon then held the seat until his...

As today marks the 50th anniversary of my starting full-time work after leaving school the previous week, and I'm still working, though part-time, I just wondered what other people's experience of work has been. In those fifty years I've been employed and self-employed (predominantly the latter...

Steve Hewlett, the presenter of BBC Radio Four's 'The Media Show' died this morning aged 58. He had been suffering from cancer for a few months, and he had been told recently that it was terminal. He had been conversing on the subject with Eddie Mair of Radio 4's P.M. programme most weeks since...