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  1. tbwbear

    GBR Business Units - Thameslink and WMR

    TSGNL and Sussex Route makes sense, but I wonder what will become of Sevenoaks to Blackfriars TL services - almost all of that route is within South Eastern IBU
  2. tbwbear

    Tazara - recent updates

    I had a similar experience between Kapiri and Nakonde in early March. Here is my blog on the subject.... (Previous posts deal with the Zambezi - Livingstone to Ndola train) https://trainstobeyond.com/2025/04/02/2025-zambia-mukuba-express/ I am writing the Tanzania post about my bus...
  3. tbwbear

    Day in Tokyo. Advice for an out and back Shinkansen please?

    Yes, Nozomi. Shizuoka is a good choice - although none of the Nozomi trains stop there, but some of the Hikari trains do. The Hikari (which leaves Shinagawa generally every 30 minutes throughout the day) is a good compromise. It stops less than the Kodama but it is easier to get a seat...
  4. tbwbear

    Day in Tokyo. Advice for an out and back Shinkansen please?

    You don't say how long your stay in Tokyo is, but the most straightforward trip is to go from Haneda to Shinagawa station on the Keikyu line. That takes about 30 minutes or less. Then change at Shinagawa.... Shinagawa is the first stop out of Tokyo on the Tokaido Shinkansen - the original...
  5. tbwbear

    "All Creatures Great and Small" series 5

    Grassington is interesting. As mentioned above, that is where the "2020" series of All Creatures is actually being filmed. In that sense it is spot on.
  6. tbwbear

    "All Creatures Great and Small" series 5

    Correct. Towards the end of the BBC series, they ran out of stories from the books and Alf Wight (and now his family) gave permission for new stories to be created. Call the Midwife followed a similar pattern, starting off being based on memoirs and then total fiction.
  7. tbwbear

    "All Creatures Great and Small" series 5

    That simply raised the historical question for me which I was hoping someone could answer here. As the real story takes place in and around Thirsk (ie North Yorkshire), wouldn't that in fact have been "LNER" territory at the time of World War II? Yes - correct, it would have been Thirsk and...
  8. tbwbear

    "All Creatures Great and Small" series 5

    If the OP is mentioning that the story is a few years into the war - that must be Series 5 in the "2020 series". Series 5 of the "1978 Series" is already late 1940s - as has already been pointed out.
  9. tbwbear

    BBC News: Rail nationalisation not a silver bullet, says Labour

    You are correct in pointing out the importance of increased ridership. The comparison should certainly be between total Rail Passenger Miles and Subsidy. But I don't think John Major's origninal plan was to increase subsidy, much of that happened after the failure of Railtrack under Blair...
  10. tbwbear

    Euston Station in 1969

    That clip is actually part of the excellent BBC documentary "Engines must not enter the potato siding" - there is a little bit more about Euston and the newly electrified line at 31.31. Set to the "good morning starshine" tune - the whole thing exudes a kind of magical optimism......
  11. tbwbear

    Europe by train, 1972-1997: British Interrailers

    Thank you - I have corrected that. Although I think our scarce resources might have been a little "scary". Your recollections of Scandinavia are interesting. I still remember the expense of Norway and then the relief at finding goulash and bread in Budapest for the equivalent of 40p.
  12. tbwbear

    Europe by train, 1972-1997: British Interrailers

    Interesting lecture. This might not be the best place to post this - but this my blog on an Inter-rail trip I did in 1984. Looking back now, I think we were a bit mad ! https://trainstobeyond.com/2017/08/02/1984-3-netherlands-ns/ https://trainstobeyond.com/inter-rail-log/
  13. tbwbear

    "The Bullet at 60" - New blog posts on the Tokaido Shinkansen

    October 1st 2024 marks the 60th anniversary of the opening of the Tokaido Shinkansen, the world’s first high speed line. To celebrate, I have created a few new posts for my blog – https://trainstobeyond.com/ The main one is about a trip I made along the line recently, getting off at all the...
  14. tbwbear

    British Railways Overseas Offices

    There were certainly "British Railways" travel agents / offices in Paris and New York in the 1930s - the Big 4 companies created them as a joint venture IIRC and they were actually labelled "British Railways" - Not sure if these locations morphed into BR offices after 1948.
  15. tbwbear

    Network Railcard - pre-10am journey

    Do you mean you will buy a Hampton Court to Brighton return with Network Card Discount, and use contactless to pay the Hampton Court to Clapham Junction part ? If so, isnt that effectively the same as trying to use a Hampton Court to Brighton return, starting at Clapham Junction, going to...
  16. tbwbear

    Shinkansen, technical specs, timetabling and margins

    What is happening at 5.25 is very unusual. In normal operation the Kodama train would stay in the loop until the Nozomi train has passed and it would then be released after it. What is happening here of course is the Kodama is being released onto the main line and the Nozomi made to wait on the...
  17. tbwbear

    Shinkansen, technical specs, timetabling and margins

    This might not answer your questions but it is a lot of fun to watch - It is taken at Kakegawa after a period of extreme disruption (3 hour delays) with the trains passing each other and stopping all out of pattern. Lots of shots of trains entering the loop and being passed before they have...
  18. tbwbear

    Project Oval: TfL win DfT contract to expand contactless system to 233 rail stations by May 2024, Railcards coming to contactless payment cards

    The equipment (the readers etc.) has been installed for several months. It has been covered up by blue covers for most of that time. We have seen (as reported above) some of the machines uncovered (also at nearby Bat and Ball) but they have often been covered up again.
  19. tbwbear

    Project Oval: TfL win DfT contract to expand contactless system to 233 rail stations by May 2024, Railcards coming to contactless payment cards

    Just spoke to the Cubic personnel (supplier of the equipment) who just happened to be at Otford (my local station) this evening. They were looking for something - unwrapped one of the blue covers on the up side, and then put the covers back quickly. I asked but they had no idea when the...
  20. tbwbear

    Article on WCML electrification

    Yes, and in 1971 when all but the 1605 ex Euston were timed for diversion via Dumfries, the Carlisle-Glasgow times only increased by about 10 mins. In 1971 the 1605 is the only one of the 10 up/down trains to call at Motherwell or any station on the Beattock route. The pair that stopped at...

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