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Does anyone have any recollections of peculiar or unique practices on UK buses within living memory? I'm prompted by reading a Facebook Group focusing on reminiscences about life 'on the buses' at the former Princess Road bus depot in Manchester. One of the yarns posted on there concerns the...

I'm hoping someone with access to an old BR (ER) timetable for 1981 or 1982 can help with a question . . . Did the March - Spalding line have a Sunday service in its final days? The backstory is that I made several weekend train trips from Cambridge to Lincoln Central & back to visit a friend...

A couple of recent threads on distant signals & banner repeaters reminded me of one of the great mysteries of the WCML from my youth (at least, mysterious in my mind) . . . Why was a green aspect not available on signal PN14 ? Here's the background: - The attachment shows historic signalling...

A quick question on the above . . . I've been asked by a family friend for advice about transferring from Heathrow T4 to a certain hotel in the City close to the Tower of London. My recommendation is Elizabeth Line to Liverpool St, then a black cab from there a short distance to the hotel.*...

I was musing over some of the "parliamentary" stations and how many stay open with absolute minimal passenger calls to avoid tricky closure proceedings. Not to mention routes like the Helsby - Ellesmere Port line which also limp along with few users & services - and which seem the first to be...

Has anyone travelled from Daisy Hill station in the past month - or more specifically been able to buy a ticket from there? Reason for asking is that both Northern and Network Rail websites have similar info regarding the installation of a lift at Daisy Hill. Apparently the new lift is being...

I'm planning a trip to the UK for a month during May. I'm looking to buy a SIM card for my smartphone for the duration to get a UK mobile number & avoid high roaming charges from my Aussie provider for use in the UK. A Google search throws up a plethora of options - some order on-line &...

I'm looking for some advice / reassurance from anyone familiar with ticket splits using PTE products and railcard time restrictions. Here's the story:- I'll be making a return journey with the missus via the Tyne Valley line, continuing to East Boldon on the T&W Metro. We'll both have Carlisle...

We've had a couple of interesting threads recently on freight workings on the northern WCML towards the end of steam. These made me realise I have a gap in my knowledge of that era - which I couldn't easily answer from my book collection or on-line searching. It's regarding provision of...

Not sure whether this question should go into the Buses & Coaches or Trip Planning forum, but here goes . . . I was recently looking to plan a bus journey in Ireland, involving a route operated by Dublin Bus. Specifically, I want to travel between the centre of Dublin and Chapelizod, just to...

Following on from recent thread on 2-character headcodes on first generation BR DMUs, I wondered if anyone knows anything about the four light headcodes used by the LNER on the various EMUs it built or designed during the interwar years? Specifically, any explanation (from Working Timetables or...

A query about using e-tickets bought for more than one passenger . . . Later this year, I'll be visiting the UK with the missus. I'm contemplating ditching trusty old orange credit-card size tickets (CCST) and dabbling for the first time in the brave new world of e-tickets - mainly on the...

Prompted by the recent thread on Hidden gems in the South?, and the excellent replies received - which I'll bookmark for my own future use - I have a similar request located a bit further north. Here's the story:- - Later this year in early September, Mrs S.B. and I will be spending a week or...

Are the original Euro banknotes issued in 2002 still readily accepted by shops and traders on the Continent? According to the European Central Bank's website, the older versions have remained legal tender after the newer Europa designs were introduced from 2013 onwards. Which is all good in...

I came across this document on the public part of the Network Rail website which gives opening and closing times of signal boxes around the system. www.networkrail.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Compendium-of-Signal-Box-Opening-Times.pdf Looking at my own area of interest - North West &...

Years ago, like any right-thinking, middle-class ratepayer of a certain age, I would settle down in my armchair on a Thursday evening in my slippers & St. Michael cardigan to watch QI on the telly. At the time it was hosted by that clever 'national treasure' Mr. Fry, lots of jolly chaps on the...

Does anyone remember staying at any of the British Transport Hotels in their later days? What were they like? Browsing through old BR timetables, you inevitably come across a page up the front listing British Transport Hotels. Up until sell-off to private operators around 1984 (a decade ahead...

I was reading recently about the operation of slip coaches. One thing mentioned was that on the approach to the station where a slip coach would be detached, there was a Slipping Distant semaphore signal. The purpose of the Slipping Distant was to inform the driver (and presumably the slip...

Forecasts of ongoing hot weather reminded me that some lengths of running rail are now painted white to reduce the temperature by a few degrees to help avoid buckling etc. In similar vein, I read some years ago (possibly in Modern Railways) that the points at certain junctions had been painted...

With some spare time recently, I've been reading a bit of "alternative history" fiction - e.g. Len Deighton's book SS-GB, set in a Britain after the Nazis had invaded and successfully taken control in the 1940s. This prompted thoughts about possible alternative railway histories. For example...