GWR delivers shellfish by train

[Ash Bridge]

Red Starfish
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Perhaps the switch for changing from electric to diesel is a bivalve?

Would the driver need big mussels, sorry muscles to operate it?

 

[DarloRich]

no but you need a big mussel to carry lots of ballast

 

[Clip]

wow some of you lots wit is razor(clam) sharp.

 

[SpacePhoenix]

If we cod get back on topic, that'd be great - thanks

They're just carping on

 

[edwin_m]

To see trains being used to carry parcels again, it warms the cockles of my heart. However the available space may limpet the amount that can be carried.

 

[EbbwJunction1]

Well, there's a plaice for everything!

 

[broadgage]

It sounds an excellent idea, to convey not just fresh fish but other light and perishable or urgent freight by passenger train.

Cant see how it will work when the new DMUs come into use though as these do not have power cars and luggage space therein, not of course any guards van or bulk luggage space.

Some have cast doubts about the sufficiency of space for passengers luggage and cycles, so I doubt that space would be available for a few boxes of fish.

 

[DarloRich]

It sounds an excellent idea, to convey not just fresh fish but other light and perishable or urgent freight by passenger train.

Cant see how it will work when the new DMUs come into use though as these do not have power cars and luggage space therein, not of course any guards van or bulk luggage space.

Some have cast doubts about the sufficiency of space for passengers luggage and cycles, so I doubt that space would be available for a few boxes of fish.

plenty of space if the boxes come up overnight via the sleeper

 

[RPM]

Delete

 

[broadgage]

The sleeper service is very slow and runs but once in 24 hours and is therefore not ideal.
At present the fresh fish from Penzance is conveyed on a later afternoon service and arrives in London late the same day, ready for early morning local delivery to restaurants.
Also the sleeper has a poor record of reliability.

 

[najaB]

The sleeper service is very slow and runs but once in 24 hours and is therefore not ideal.
At present the fresh fish from Penzance is conveyed on a later afternoon service and arrives in London late the same day, ready for early morning local delivery to restaurants.

It works quite well for Scottish langoustine - loaded at Inverness at 8pm, delivered to London restaurants by 8:30am, on the plate by lunchtime.

 

[cogload]

From memory one of the central wales trains carries fresh fish for restaurants in Llandod etc...

 

[Mikey C]

A good idea, it sounds like the sort of thing Michael Portillo would talk about as happening 100 years ago on his programmes...

I presume to be environmentally friendly, they lobsters would be transported onwards in London by Oyster card...

 

[DarloRich]

A good idea, it sounds like the sort of thing Michael Portillo would talk about as happening 100 years ago on his programmes...

I presume to be environmentally friendly, they lobsters would be transported onwards in London by Oyster card...

100 years ago there would have been a vast trains of vans moving fresh fish from one end of the country to the other. The Flying Kipper anyone?

 

[jimm]

It sounds an excellent idea, to convey not just fresh fish but other light and perishable or urgent freight by passenger train.

Cant see how it will work when the new DMUs come into use though as these do not have power cars and luggage space therein, not of course any guards van or bulk luggage space.

Some have cast doubts about the sufficiency of space for passengers luggage and cycles, so I doubt that space would be available for a few boxes of fish.

It's a trial for three months, so it remains to be seen whether or not the AT300s might be called on to convey such traffic in the first place.

If they are, there is nothing to say that on the AT300s, which will be specified by GWR and a leasing company, as opposed to DfT, that a suitable storage space could not be provided if the traffic becomes a long-term thing.

 

[Mikey C]

100 years ago there would have been a vast trains of vans moving fresh fish from one end of the country to the other. The Flying Kipper anyone?

The Padstow branch line was built to carry fish. Indeed I imagine that many of the lobsters to be transported to London will be caught in Padstow!

 

[Jona26]

Typical of gWr trying to mussel in on the news!

 

[edwin_m]

Typical of gWr trying to mussel in on the news!

Should they have clammed up instead?

 

[fergusjbend]

Perhaps a new Shellfish Terminal is a possibility....Kings Crustacean would be a good location!

 

[Requeststop]

The Padstow branch line was built to carry fish. Indeed I imagine that many of the lobsters to be transported to London will be caught in Padstow!

Lobsters roaming the streets of Padstow????? I think they were caught in the seas off of Padstow.

 

[Tio Terry]

Not quite the "Fast Fish" trains that ran Up the East Suffolk from Lowestoft to London!

 

[gazthomas]

This thread is far too fishy

 

[Mikey C]

Lobsters roaming the streets of Padstow????? I think they were caught in the seas off of Padstow.

You'd be surprised, they're always outside Rick Stein's sea food restaurant, trying to prevent diners getting in

 

[CockneySparrow]

Good, We've got the space on the trains, so we may as well use it

Why not they do on planes

 

[edwin_m]

Why not they do on planes

A plane needs separate cargo space for passenger baggage, and because the fuselage has to be an approximately circular tube there will always be spaces that aren't useable for passengers (although Ryanair may have other ideas...).

A train is a slightly different matter - even the space below the underframe is pretty full on a modern multiple unit. However there's an idea kicking around of demountable/foldable seats (also used on some planes) which might allow part of a passenger train to carry parcels at quieter times.

Have to do something about the smell of course...

 

[SpacePhoenix]

Didn't the 319s used to sometimes carry mail?

btw, who's got the bag of chips?

 

[The Ham]

If I had known that people would have been dredging up lots of fish jokes I may not have started this thread.

 

[Ash Bridge]

If I had known that people would have been dredging up lots of fish jokes I may not have started this thread.

Yes, it has certainly took a bit of a battering hasn't it.

 

[PHILIPE]

If I had known that people would have been dredging up lots of fish jokes I may not have started this thread.

Suggest you FINish it then.

 

[tsr]

Didn't the 319s used to sometimes carry mail?

There's still a mail compartment door to close off a standard class area by the cab on some of them. I think the history is available online somewhere. There's also actually still a sort of display plate on the bodysides which lets staff show the compartment is being used for mail - it's the little black rectangular thing by the doors.

377s also have loads of body end cupboards which can be used for various items, and it would be nice if these and other more modern stock could be used more frequently to transport internal mail, balance stocks for ticket machines (Avantix or successors) and so on. An informal internal mail service does already regularly operate on a couple of Southern branches (I won't say which ones) and I'm sure a bigger effort could be made eventually. Probably not with 700s and their ilk though - I'd be surprised if they have more than a couple of small cupboards throughout their entire length.