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I'm surprised nobody has yet suggested either an 800 clone running on DC and diesel or some Stadler bi-mode clones (DC again)!!

In the USA train "consists" were often fixed the whole train had to be turned around. Literally. The train would arrive at the terminus station and then back out around a "wye". Imagine you back out until you come to some points where the back end of the train diverges from the main line...

How old are you? If you're under 26 and you travel "off peak" look into this www.16-25railcard.co.uk/. Be VERY careful you understand the rules. The card isn't valid at all times and those times don't directly relate to when certain fares may, or may not, be valid. If you use...

And it duly departed tonight (Tuesday) behind 70809 heading very slowly (2 hours scheduled) to Westbury where I gather it will be put on a low loader and taken away.

I wondered that but that path goes down to Fairwater then back up through Castle Cary and the power car is in a siding by the up line so why take it a little way up, then switch to the down and finally come back up. I also suspect it's too fast for a skate. The final nail in the coffin is...

Still there at 1545 Saturday.

I'm told it's been placed on a skate and will be moved "this weekend" to Westbury where it will be put on a low loader.

The power car was still there this (Monday) morning. I'll be interested to see how they move it. Although the siding it's in is adjacent to the car park and you could theoretically lift it onto a low loader you'd have to close and clear the car park to do so. I therefore guess a skate?

Back in the late 1960s my first job was as a travel agent. We sold everything and anything including rail tickets. Rail was then priced according to distance. There were some books containing precalculated fares but otherwise you looked at the mileage table by the timetable and worked out...

Down here in South Somerset Berrys operate three routes from Taunton to Hammersmith in West London - two hours from Wincanton to Hammersmith Bus Station. Comfortable double deck (usually) coaches. Castle Cary to Paddington is anything between 1hr 30 and 2hrs and usually much more expensive...

At Castle Cary up trains from Taunton and beyond to London can only use P1. In the opposite direction those trains can only use P2. However, the Weymouth branch trains can (and do) use either P2 or 3 in either direction.

There's a definite dip on the up line at Castle Cary. Watch an HST pass through at speed from the car park and you'll see it. Apparently it's been there for "years" according to one long-term staff member. Every so often a tamper does its' "thing" but it's never a permanent fix. I...

Back in the early 1970s I was a member of several clubs. With them I officially visited Waterloo signal box, one of the Kent coalfield pits and the Air Traffic Centre at West Drayton among other places. In some cases it was simply a case of asking the right people although one visit was...

Electrification from Basingstoke to Exeter and reinstatement of more passing loops/double track west of Salisbury to provide a robust, all day, half hourly service. Logically that also means electrification of Salisbury/Westbury/Castle Cary/Yeovil (both)/Weymouth and Westbury/Bath so that the...

When I first went to work in the late 1960s I lived in Chiswick and worked near Harrods - 55 bus to the High Road, Disctrict to Hammersmith, Piccadilly to South Ken. Over the years I had jobs in Notting Hill, St Mary Axe and Holborn all using public transport. Then I took a job in Cranford...

I live 2 miles from Castle Cary station and about 8 miles from Templecombe. I often find the SWT service more convenient given the hourly frequency they offer. It also depends where I'm going - Olympia and Earls Court via Clapham Junction is simple, Excel is a short jump from Waterloo...

Why was there overcrowding? Yes, I know there was a tube strike and Southern have their problems but surely the strike took out (or severely restricted) the District service to Richmond and Wimbledon and the Northern to Morden. Are there really that many people on those routes so that...

Wasn't there a BBC program many years ago that looked for long distance commuters; one of the early evening "newsy" programs. I seem to remember they found someone who lived at the far end of one of the South Wales Valley and commuted daily to Londo via Cardiff. They also found a weekly...

2015 was one of the years when there was no Glastonbury hence the loss of 4k passengers. When I moved to Castle Cary about 10 years I expected the railway to be a bit boring. Just a parade of FGW trains on two routes and that was it. In many ways my expectations were met. However, as time...

There was a time when it was Reading-Tonbridge.