Recent Public Posts - [guest]
| Personal - Coffee Shop update and review / 2nd May 2026 In "News, Help and Assistance" [374694/31964/29] Posted by grahame at 17:22, 2nd May 2026 |      |
Written for a long standing friend with whom I was catching up the other day.
I never expected as a co-founder and technical lead of the "First Great Western Coffee Shop" forum in January 2007 - "by passengers - for passengers of First Great Western" that we would still be running in 2026 and looking forward to our 20th Birthday. But here we are, May 2026, still running. 150 active members have been logged in this year - half of them in the last 24 hours. Around 4,300 messages posted so far this year out of an absurdly high total of 371,604 as I write!
If you asked me when I set the forum up if it would still be around 20 months later, I would have given it a slim chance - but here we are now in our 20th year. The Coffee Shop HAS changed.
* We started off as something of a protest group; my local station had just been reduced to two trains each way per day "too early and too late" was the sick joke. In subsequent years, we moved very much to partnering rather than protesting, though always retaining our independence and being critical friends. Sadly, I'm finding the the pendulum has swung back a little in the last couple of years; long term colleagues and friends have retired, with a team of professional PR staff masking the newer industry experts on board who aren't always fully aware of the needs and desires of the communities they serve. Talking about an individual station last month (not Melksham) I was disappointed to learn that the professional expert making significant service decisions has never actually visited the station to see for herself. We have a fine line to balance here, especially as the First Group's tenure of the service operation will be outlasted by the Coffee Shop, and positions and careers in a "re-integrated" railway must be of personal concern to those in roles that have the potential of being duplicated.
* We started off in the days of hideous unreliability and protest groups like "more trains less strain" and blogs like "Worst Great Western". Most of them are no more with us as we have seen so many improvements over the years - though there is so much more that could be done and we have seen steps backwards as well as forward. Our county town of Trowbridge no longer has a through train from London, for example, though it does now have up to 3 trains per hour to Bristol and they are popular. Online information and ticket booking is so much better, and social media such as Facebook and Twitter/X provide a further enquiry window into the train operators, which very much replaces and so it should - our own question enquiry functions. JourneyCheck and a multitude of other web sources eliminate the need on many occasions for knowledgeable passengers to have to even enquire of a human, and the majority of ticket booking is now done without human interaction.
* Internet and personal information security has hugely changed. The Coffee Shop has never collected personal information nor taken payments, nor have we every carried material which is knowingly illegal in any way - abusive, against copyright, etc. We have always had a strong team of moderators who pick up the rare issues we have very fast indeed, and that team has developed as things like GDBR and Online Safety laws have changes - in most cases only reflecting what in any case has been our good practise; we have adjusted how me monitor / log our watching over such things, so that we can provide proof if ever asked for it.
* Part of the changes in the "security" field has been the move from the http to the https protocol - Hypertext Transfer Protocol and the "S" means secure. As we only really carry public board traffic, the need for "S" was more to re-assure people (sure, personal messages could have been intercepted if anyone was interested at our WSP!). Technical issues on the move were significant, with our original software being so out of date that it won't upgrade easily - a problem shared with other forums, we note. They have gone so far as to restart with fresh databases and a clear history; we have wrapped our "worker" server in a "receptionist shell which handles the secure layer, provides a lot of cached responses, and filters out the vast noise of unwelcome automata that crawl sites while letting through the welcome ones. Our "Receptionist / worker" model is working well - looking at yesterday, our receptions got 440,000 requests of which 217,000 were passed on to our worker system.
* We have moved from minicomputers to tablets and phones, and from browsers that display data to much more intelligent apps, but on much smaller screens. A problem for our old worker software, but we have added a reader's layer on the receptionist; far from ideal at present but something we that could be developed into the future.
* These days, we have a long-established regular membership and we're much more a club of people we know well, meet online and share interests. We digress into wider areas - travel and transport outside the (F)GW(R) area, and away from trains into buses, cycling and ferries and we have a "heritage" inters too. In very early days, we had an exuberant membership of younger railway enthusiasts who, however, moved on to other more specialist fora which had their train enthusiasm, rather than the general traveller's interests, in their hearts. Some of them found our level of questions and knowledge frustrating low, and at times that level, and our team's insistence that discussions and members at any level were welcome, and they moved on - in a couple of cases being obliged to do so when they let their frustration get the better of them. Also looking back 20 years, all of the members who joined in the first years are now nearly 20 years older. Life changes, and many of them are no longer regular train users. Sadly, some have passed away and it's the nature of a forum such as this that we tend not to hear when a member is no longer around. On the other hand, no fewer than 58 members who joined us over 15 years ago are among the 150 who have been logged in this year.
* As well as members, we guests visit us and are welcome. I estimate that over 90% of our posts are public, and whilst it's difficult to separate out the human guest browsers from the automata traffic at times, our Google Analytics suggests around 600 visits in the last week from different real guests in the UK. That number makes sense - we have such a database of information these days that when I search the world wide web for a "rail in the south west" type topic, I often find myself recommenced to (or quoted from) an old Coffee Shop thread.
* As I write, our servers are running sweetly (famous last words!), with the worker running 40 days without a pause, and the receptionist for 161 days. I do keep an eye on disc storage and take frequent backups local to the servers, and download copies from time to time. That's not a 100% guarantee against failures; a configuration change at our WSP put us offline for 4 hours in March, and looking back to March last year a server crashed (a power failure at our WSP while I was away) enforced a rebuild that took 36 hours to fully restore. By nature, things like this, more clever denial of service attacks, and other things changes to data feeds that we use to provide dynamic reports will come out of the blue, and by Murphy's law at the worst possible time too. We also had one of our WSPs sell off their hosting business and while we were able to transfer, I'm nervous at some elements of the technical support that the new team provides.
* The Coffee Shop is a members forum. It's here for the members and guests and would not be here without you. All members are friends too - and amongst those friends are the moderator and admins team A big ongoing "thank you" to all. Without you, the Coffee shop would indeed have been that 20 week project in 2007.
And so - what for coming years? Well - I look forward to the next decade here. By the end of that time, I'll be in my 80s, with a project that I started at age 52 - and the rest of the team has similarly matured too. We do have some newer members and moderators but the software is way up the garden path (it was never intended to last this long!) and would be difficult for others to pick up. I have lived with it (and similar software) for so long that my years of intimate knowledge means I can nip an issue in 5 minutes that other would need a length study into - and we do not have a funded / paid admin team who can be re-reimbursed to study and retain the knowledge ahead of time. Mentally, I remain AOK; medically some issues have surfaced over the last five weeks, but nothing that's, as yet, a terminal diagnosis and I DO look forward to all those years ahead. Much else has been given up as I wind down but the Coffee Shop remains - well - I am reminded of the words or W H Auden - "... my North, my South, my East and West, my working week and my Sunday rest, my noon, my midnight, my talk, my song".
This time next week, I will be in Belgium. In two weeks, I will be in Denmark. I will have my new "baby" Duckworth with me - minimalist Mac Neo that'll help ensure that I'm online anywhere from Aalborg to Zwolle and places between as usual. "Steady as she goes" with the Coffee Shop. Further forward - a flurry of projects once my travels are over (and there's more after Denmark).
Thank you for reading (if you have, rather than just skipping to the conclusion). Writing has helped me set a "checkpoint" - noting where we are, why we are here and thinking forward though not putting fully into words where we may be in the future.
| Re: Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) - merged posts In "The West - but NOT trains in the West" [374693/9998/31] Posted by Chris from Nailsea at 17:09, 2nd May 2026 | |
From the BBC:
Eight-year-old child among four paddleboarders rescued at Llandanwg Beach, south of Harlech, Gwynedd
An eight-year-old child was among four people blown offshore on Thursday - Image © RNLI
Four paddleboarders, including an eight-year-old child, have been rescued at sea after being blown offshore by the wind.
Two teenagers, one adult and the child were using two paddleboards when they were blown offshore at Llandanwg Beach, south of Harlech, Gwynedd, on Thursday.
RNLI said volunteers were called to the "rapidly evolving situation" at 16:15 BST, after a family member on the shore became concerned.
One paddleboarder was found in the water "suffering severely from the effects of the cold", while the others were holding onto one of the paddleboards some distance offshore. All four paddleboarders were rescued, as well as a member of the public who entered the sea to try and help.
Criccieth RNLI launched its Atlantic 85 lifeboat, The Frank Townley, in order to reach the distressed paddleboarders. A Coastguard rescue helicopter from Caernarfon was also scrambled.
Owing to the tide, the lifeboat landed on a sandbank on its return, and the casualties were walked ashore - with one of the five carried on a paddleboard owing to their "weakened condition".
Holyhead Coastguards and the RNLI said it highlighted how quickly conditions can change at sea, particularly with offshore winds. It comes as the lifeboat charity issued a general warning about cold water and tidal dangers ahead of the bank holiday weekend.
The RNLI cautioned that while it may feel warm outside, the sea temperature remains cold enough to cause cold water shock. "Anything below 15C is defined as cold water and can seriously affect breathing and movement," said Ross Macleod, RNLI water safety manager.
There was also a warning about spring tides - which are currently occurring across the UK. A spring tide means at high tide, the water comes in further and can move faster than on smaller tides, increasing the risk of becoming stranded.
Macleod urged those visiting the coast to check tide times with a trusted source such as the Met Office, before they travel, "and to be aware that the high and low water may change quickly and very differently to what may be expected".
An eight-year-old child was among four people blown offshore on Thursday - Image © RNLI
Four paddleboarders, including an eight-year-old child, have been rescued at sea after being blown offshore by the wind.
Two teenagers, one adult and the child were using two paddleboards when they were blown offshore at Llandanwg Beach, south of Harlech, Gwynedd, on Thursday.
RNLI said volunteers were called to the "rapidly evolving situation" at 16:15 BST, after a family member on the shore became concerned.
One paddleboarder was found in the water "suffering severely from the effects of the cold", while the others were holding onto one of the paddleboards some distance offshore. All four paddleboarders were rescued, as well as a member of the public who entered the sea to try and help.
Criccieth RNLI launched its Atlantic 85 lifeboat, The Frank Townley, in order to reach the distressed paddleboarders. A Coastguard rescue helicopter from Caernarfon was also scrambled.
Owing to the tide, the lifeboat landed on a sandbank on its return, and the casualties were walked ashore - with one of the five carried on a paddleboard owing to their "weakened condition".
Holyhead Coastguards and the RNLI said it highlighted how quickly conditions can change at sea, particularly with offshore winds. It comes as the lifeboat charity issued a general warning about cold water and tidal dangers ahead of the bank holiday weekend.
The RNLI cautioned that while it may feel warm outside, the sea temperature remains cold enough to cause cold water shock. "Anything below 15C is defined as cold water and can seriously affect breathing and movement," said Ross Macleod, RNLI water safety manager.
There was also a warning about spring tides - which are currently occurring across the UK. A spring tide means at high tide, the water comes in further and can move faster than on smaller tides, increasing the risk of becoming stranded.
Macleod urged those visiting the coast to check tide times with a trusted source such as the Met Office, before they travel, "and to be aware that the high and low water may change quickly and very differently to what may be expected".
| Re: Squirrels - red, grey or albino, on the railways or otherwise - ongoing discussion In "The Lighter Side" [374692/5560/30] Posted by Chris from Nailsea at 16:50, 2nd May 2026 | |
From the BBC:
Red squirrels 'close to extinction' in England
A petition calling for urgent action has attracted more than 75,000 signatures - Image © Save Our Reds
England's red squirrels are close to extinction and the government needs to do more to protect them, an animal welfare group said.
A petition set up by Save Our Reds, has attracted more than 75,000 signatures, urging more action. Founder of the campaign Marie Carter-Robb, said: "We have a series of urgent actions that need to be brought together into one joined-up national plan."
A spokesperson for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), said the government was protecting endangered red squirrels by tackling the threat of non-native grey squirrels.
Combining data from a number of wildlife organisations, the group said the endangered species, which "still clings on" across Cumbria, Northumberland and the North Pennines, could disappear within 25 years. It also said only 120,000 to 160,000 remained, with as few as 15,000 in England.
According to Natural England causes for the decline include the introduction of grey squirrels from the USA and Canada from 1876 spreading the squirrelpox virus, which is fatal to the red squirrels only.
The group said habitat loss and weak enforcement of existing protections were adding to the problem.
Carter-Robb, said: "The map is shocking. It makes the reality impossible to ignore. This is not theoretical, without action we will lose our red squirrels." She said the "urgent actions that need to be brought together" were "fragmented" and "we are simply managing decline".
The campaign called for a national plan to humanely manage grey squirrel populations and urgent investment in squirrelpox vaccine development. It also wants support for fertility control research and deployment, and protection and enforcement of red squirrel habitat.
"We need government, conservation bodies, landowners, scientists and campaigners around the same table. The tools exist or are being developed. What is missing is coordination, funding and urgency," Carter-Robb added.
The organisation suggested that while it was illegal to kill red squirrels, their habitats were being destroyed.
Grey squirrels, native to North America, carry a virus which is deadly to red squirrels - Image © PA Media
A Defra spokesperson said: "Working alongside landowners and conservation partners, we are supporting promising research into fertility control so that we can manage grey squirrel populations and help our iconic red squirrels and native wildlife flourish.
"We support red squirrel populations in Cumbria and Northumberland by monitoring them and controlling the grey squirrel population. We also manage forest and woodland habitats to enable red squirrels to thrive. We work with and support partner organisations and volunteer red squirrel groups as part of our conservation activity."
They also said Forestry England managed the nation's forests, following "world-class, independently certified, sustainable forest and land management standards" to ensure they thrive and provide vital sustainably produced timber.
The group's map shows the collapse of the native red squirrel population over the past 150 years - Image © Save Our Reds
A petition calling for urgent action has attracted more than 75,000 signatures - Image © Save Our Reds
England's red squirrels are close to extinction and the government needs to do more to protect them, an animal welfare group said.
A petition set up by Save Our Reds, has attracted more than 75,000 signatures, urging more action. Founder of the campaign Marie Carter-Robb, said: "We have a series of urgent actions that need to be brought together into one joined-up national plan."
A spokesperson for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), said the government was protecting endangered red squirrels by tackling the threat of non-native grey squirrels.
Combining data from a number of wildlife organisations, the group said the endangered species, which "still clings on" across Cumbria, Northumberland and the North Pennines, could disappear within 25 years. It also said only 120,000 to 160,000 remained, with as few as 15,000 in England.
According to Natural England causes for the decline include the introduction of grey squirrels from the USA and Canada from 1876 spreading the squirrelpox virus, which is fatal to the red squirrels only.
The group said habitat loss and weak enforcement of existing protections were adding to the problem.
Carter-Robb, said: "The map is shocking. It makes the reality impossible to ignore. This is not theoretical, without action we will lose our red squirrels." She said the "urgent actions that need to be brought together" were "fragmented" and "we are simply managing decline".
The campaign called for a national plan to humanely manage grey squirrel populations and urgent investment in squirrelpox vaccine development. It also wants support for fertility control research and deployment, and protection and enforcement of red squirrel habitat.
"We need government, conservation bodies, landowners, scientists and campaigners around the same table. The tools exist or are being developed. What is missing is coordination, funding and urgency," Carter-Robb added.
The organisation suggested that while it was illegal to kill red squirrels, their habitats were being destroyed.
Grey squirrels, native to North America, carry a virus which is deadly to red squirrels - Image © PA Media
A Defra spokesperson said: "Working alongside landowners and conservation partners, we are supporting promising research into fertility control so that we can manage grey squirrel populations and help our iconic red squirrels and native wildlife flourish.
"We support red squirrel populations in Cumbria and Northumberland by monitoring them and controlling the grey squirrel population. We also manage forest and woodland habitats to enable red squirrels to thrive. We work with and support partner organisations and volunteer red squirrel groups as part of our conservation activity."
They also said Forestry England managed the nation's forests, following "world-class, independently certified, sustainable forest and land management standards" to ensure they thrive and provide vital sustainably produced timber.
The group's map shows the collapse of the native red squirrel population over the past 150 years - Image © Save Our Reds
| Re: Project Churchward - future regional fleet for the West, new rolling stock to replace DMUs In "Looking forward - the next 2, 5, 10 and 20 years" [374691/27482/40] Posted by IndustryInsider at 16:47, 2nd May 2026 | |
Is it just me, or does it seem to anyone else also think, that any new trains will not be in 2020s, and could be (at least) half a decade away
Yes, I would expect the early 2030s. Which to be fair does tie in nicely with the expected life cycle of many of the trains which will be replaced, like the 150s/158s/165s and 166s GWR operate.
| Re: Portishead Line reopening for passengers - ongoing discussion In "Campaigns for new and improved services" [374690/231/28] Posted by Mark A at 15:54, 2nd May 2026 | |
"Locomotive Services Limited’s preserved Class 142 No 142003" (from Modern Railway magazine.)
Mark
| Re: Portishead Line reopening for passengers - ongoing discussion In "Campaigns for new and improved services" [374689/231/28] Posted by ChrisB at 15:34, 2nd May 2026 | |
Inside an [img tag
[Right click on photo original, copy the photo url link, paste inside the [img brackets]
| Re: Portishead Line reopening for passengers - ongoing discussion In "Campaigns for new and improved services" [374688/231/28] Posted by WSW Frome at 15:27, 2nd May 2026 | |
Where did they find the orange Class 14x, presumably mainline certified? Why did GWR not (attempt) to provide the rolling stock, especially since Mark Hopwood was present?
| Re: Thames Valley infrastructure problems causing disruption elsewhere - 2026 In "Across the West" [374687/31163/26] Posted by TaplowGreen at 11:43, 2nd May 2026 | |
Cancellations to services between London and Reading
Due to a broken down train between London Paddington and Reading some lines are blocked.
Train services running to and from these stations may be cancelled, delayed by up to 15 minutes or revised. Disruption is expected until 14:00 02/05.
| Re: Manvers Street, Bath, disrupted for reconstruction works for 6 months from May. In "Buses and other ways to travel" [374686/31887/5] Posted by Mark A at 11:39, 2nd May 2026 | |
May 2nd. Checking the bus company web sites, Faresaver, yes. Other bus company sites, with regards to this major work, still tumbleweed.
On the plus side, though I've not checked if they've been installed: there was a delivery of new seating to the bus station, hopefully to replace the seating that was removed/broke. Most of the missing seating is at the end served by buses to the hospital, which turned it into a bit of a tough environment for people unable to stand for long, not ideal.
Mark
| Re: East - West Rail update (Oxford to Bedford) - ongoing discussion In "Campaigns for new and improved services" [374685/1219/28] Posted by Mark A at 11:20, 2nd May 2026 | |
Article in the Guardian on the indefinite pause to the start of passenger services.
Mark
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/may/02/east-west-rail-oxford-milton-keynes-chiltern-railways-delays
| Re: Delay due to congestion In "North Downs Line" [374684/31963/16] Posted by Fourbee at 11:08, 2nd May 2026 | |
From what I can work out from RealTimeTrains, a Didcot - Paddington train was terminated in Platform 15. IIRC that train to Gatwick usually comes off the depot into Platform 15, so had to navigate other trains when it was altered into Platform 14 (at Reading).
| Re: Swindon <-> Westbury service updates and amendments, ongoing discussion - 2026 In "TransWilts line" [374683/31359/18] Posted by grahame at 10:44, 2nd May 2026 | |
07:45 Westbury to Swindon due 08:28
07:45 Westbury to Swindon due 08:28 is being delayed at Chippenham.
This is due to congestion.
07:45 Westbury to Swindon due 08:28 is being delayed at Chippenham.
This is due to congestion.
The main line from Bristol to London via Bath is closed this weekend between Bath and Chippenham, and a London express that was due to start from Chippenham was delayed there and started 22 minutes late (no reason given that I could see), holding up the train from Westbury.
08:44 Swindon to Westbury due 09:25
08:44 Swindon to Westbury due 09:25 will be starting late from Swindon.
This is due to congestion.
08:44 Swindon to Westbury due 09:25 will be starting late from Swindon.
This is due to congestion.
Most of the time made up - that ran within 5 minutes of plan
| Re: Photographers asked to tell story of rail travel In "Media about railways, and other means of transport" [374682/30829/49] Posted by grahame at 10:32, 2nd May 2026 | |
I have just heard (1st May) that my entry is not amongst the winners ... sure, it was a long shot. I look forward to seeing the winning entries at the stations.
Easter's late again this year, I see
Indeed ... life would be so much easier if "we" could set realistic rather than optimistic dates for things! This competition is not (IMHO) a biggie - it's not part of a bigger scheme that I'm aware of which will fall like a pack of cards because of the delay - in fact I had almost-forgotten my submission which I felt was a lovely picture but perhaps too wide of the message target that the competition setters had in mind.
Sorry Phil - I am having a negative day. Quite separate from this competition, I have been submitting requests for help / match funding for "Information at the Station" which is a passionate project that will meet so many objectives it has to be believed. No individual funding source is vital / a show stopper; we have a published list of a dozen prospects, and to some extent the hassle of applying and self-analysis is really good in testing our resolve. But - really - dates and deadlines!
One organisation we have applied to for help had a mid-April deadline. Fair enough. They then pulled back the deadline to 16th March with a decision date of 23rd March. Yike, panic, but 8 pages of questions and six supporting documents supplied. Then on 19th March they wrote "We regret to inform you that the planned grants meeting on Monday 23rd March 2026 has been cancelled. The meeting has been rescheduled for Monday 22nd June 2026." Well - that weakened our case for other match funders - we could only say "applied" and not "agreed" and since then, the organisation we were matching has said "no". Far from a show stopper; I do know it was close, and have to wonder if the match would have tipped the balance.
Guess what - received on Friday - "The meeting to discuss the grants will take place on Monday 8th June 2026 from 6pm to 7pm ... It is strongly recommended a representative from your organisation attends the meeting to discuss your application". An email from me has clarified that this replaces the 22nd June meeting. Personally, I'll be away in the middle of a trip that's been planned for a while; almost inevitably someone can stand in ... I'm sure we're not the only community members inconvenienced by this to and fro, and I wonder at what organisational and time costs too.
Hey, ho ... it appears that the switch form 22nd to 8th June is for their convenience ... and I suspect that the switch from March to June might have something to do with shifting it into the next financial year. The whole story is such a reminder to treat everything as provisional until it actually happens!
| Re: Swindon <-> Westbury service updates and amendments, ongoing discussion - 2026 In "TransWilts line" [374681/31359/18] Posted by TaplowGreen at 08:34, 2nd May 2026 | |
07:45 Westbury to Swindon due 08:28
07:45 Westbury to Swindon due 08:28 is being delayed at Chippenham.
This is due to congestion.
08:44 Swindon to Westbury due 09:25
08:44 Swindon to Westbury due 09:25 will be starting late from Swindon.
This is due to congestion.
| Re: Photographers asked to tell story of rail travel In "Media about railways, and other means of transport" [374680/30829/49] Posted by Phil at 08:25, 2nd May 2026 | |
I have just heard (1st May) that my entry is not amongst the winners ... sure, it was a long shot. I look forward to seeing the winning entries at the stations.
Easter's late again this year, I see
| Delay due to congestion In "North Downs Line" [374679/31963/16] Posted by CyclingSid at 08:15, 2nd May 2026 | |
06:54 Reading to Gatwick Airport due 08:25 is being delayed at Reading.
This is due to congestion.
This is due to congestion.
Not seen this reason before. Where is the congestion; Reading, Guilford, Redhill or Gatwick?
| Re: Portishead Line reopening for passengers - ongoing discussion In "Campaigns for new and improved services" [374678/231/28] Posted by infoman at 03:03, 2nd May 2026 | |
ITV west covered as their lead story at 6pm and BBC covered it as well on their 6.30pm local news.
You have 24 hours only to catch up on the local news on the i-player thingy
| Re: Project Churchward - future regional fleet for the West, new rolling stock to replace DMUs In "Looking forward - the next 2, 5, 10 and 20 years" [374677/27482/40] Posted by John D at 17:41, 1st May 2026 | |
This thread will be 3 years old this month.
Some talk and rumours .... yes
Order placed and trains in build .... nope
Current status after 3 years : not even an invitation to tender
Is it just me, or does it seem to anyone else also think, that any new trains will not be in 2020s, and could be (at least) half a decade away
| Re: Dockyard - by request only? In "Shorter journeys in Plymouth and Cornwall" [374676/31962/25] Posted by TaplowGreen at 17:22, 1st May 2026 | |
I wonder if it'll make much difference to its (very low) usage?
https://www.railwaydata.co.uk/stations/overview/?NLC=3588#google_vignette
| Re: GWR web app update: be aware In "Across the West" [374675/31648/26] Posted by Mark A at 16:53, 1st May 2026 | |
Attempting to pay for a ticket today (Frome - Bath Spa single) and having gone though all the stages as far as 'Pay' - with a card saved on the app and which had seen a previous successful transaction - it implacably refused to activate the 'Pay now' button. I've been back through things and can't spot why that is. It's still refusing to purchase the ticket. (I'm at home now, mind...)
Mark
| Re: Portishead Line reopening for passengers - ongoing discussion In "Campaigns for new and improved services" [374674/231/28] Posted by Mark A at 16:47, 1st May 2026 | |
Thanks. Oops, I'd absent-mindedly slung it in an image tag.
Simon's photo brought to mind the one below. It's a mobile phone scan of a smallish image in a book of photos, in the museum at Coleford in the Forest of Dean. collection and I should have noted the author at the time. The photo's a treasure, for the manicured lineside, the ballast shoulders on gravel, the model-railway-like track.
That small museum's a very worthwhile visit. Its opening hours are restricted so it's good to check those before travelling. It's very reachable via a bus from Gloucester among other ways. (I'm tempted to ask if any reader has visited Coleford by rail.)
Mark
| Re: Portishead Line reopening for passengers - ongoing discussion In "Campaigns for new and improved services" [374673/231/28] Posted by chuffed at 16:37, 1st May 2026 Already liked by grahame, Mark A | |
Help! Mayday! Mayday! Posset needs a proper train..not a British Leyland cast off from 50 years ago!
| Re: Portishead Line reopening for passengers - ongoing discussion In "Campaigns for new and improved services" [374672/231/28] Posted by JohnM at 16:18, 1st May 2026 | |
Photo here, courtesy of Simon Hickman.
Mark
No link displayed - is it because it's a non-picture link inside img tags?Mark
The link (which seems to work) is: https://bsky.app/profile/simonhickman.bsky.social/post/3mkrpgy2jgc2x
| Re: Dockyard - by request only? In "Shorter journeys in Plymouth and Cornwall" [374671/31962/25] Posted by IndustryInsider at 15:23, 1st May 2026 | |
Yep.
| Re: Thames Valley infrastructure problems causing disruption elsewhere - 2026 In "Across the West" [374670/31163/26] Posted by TaplowGreen at 14:30, 1st May 2026 | |
Cancellations to services between London Paddington and Reading
Due to a fault with the signalling system between London Paddington and Reading fewer trains are able to run on some lines.
Train services running to and from these stations will be cancelled or delayed. Disruption is expected until the end of the day.
Customer Advice
-
What has happened?
-
There is a fault with the signalling systems between London Paddington to Reading
| Re: Thames Valley infrastructure problems causing disruption elsewhere - 2026 In "Across the West" [374669/31163/26] Posted by TaplowGreen at 14:16, 1st May 2026 | |
From National Rail
Elizabeth line services between London Paddington and Slough
Description
A fault with the signalling system between Langley and Slough means that some lines towards Reading are blocked. As a result, Elizabeth line services running between London Paddington and Slough may be delayed by up to 20 minutes or revised.
Disruption is expected until 16:00.
| Re: East - West Rail update (Oxford to Bedford) - ongoing discussion In "Campaigns for new and improved services" [374668/1219/28] Posted by Chris from Nailsea at 12:35, 1st May 2026 | |
Depends on the day. Once MK-OXF EWR is open, then it'd simply be two changes, from May 18th.
You've rather confused me, ChrisB. You told us it would be "from May 18th."
| Re: Settle to Carlisle Railway: developments, events & incidents, ongoing discussion In "The Wider Picture in the United Kingdom" [374667/6223/51] Posted by Chris from Nailsea at 12:17, 1st May 2026 | |
From the BBC:
'I get to work on the most scenic railway line in the world'
The Settle-Carlisle line is celebrating 150 years having survived a threat of closure in the 1980s - Image © John Giles/PA
Have you heard the one about the railway line that was threatened with closure, so lots of people started using it and it was saved?
Welcome to the Settle to Carlisle line, the quirky steel road through some of Britain's most magnificent countryside.
The line starts in Leeds and passes through Shipley and Skipton, but it is the section between North Yorkshire and Cumbria that is world-famous for its views.
Heading north from Settle, the peak of Pen-y-Ghent soon looms large, with Whernside and Ingleborough following a few miles later.
The line was voted the second most famous in the world last year - Image © Nick Wooley/BBC
Karen Morley-Chesworth from the Settle-Carlisle Railway Development Company said the route was "the best of British countryside".
"You can come on the train at Leeds where you bump into people every second, and you get off the train here and there's nobody. There's just scenery."
In the 1980s, there was a proposal to close the line but thousands of people - and one dog - objected. There is now a statue of Ruswarp the border collie, who signed the petition with his paw, and was classed as a paying passenger.
Passenger services started 150 years ago today, and to mark the occasion, tickets are being made available on the Northern-operated route for 150p each.
Ruswarp's pawprint was counted as a signature towards saving the railway - Image © Nick Wooley/BBC
This is a line with added value - it is not uncommon for the train conductor to give a running commentary on the landscape passing by.
Conductor Aaron Hendry said: "It's the luckiest part of my job, getting to be on this line. Last year it was voted the second most scenic line in the world, and I get to work on it. It's brilliant."
It could be argued there's a certain romance about the line too, according to operations manager Susie Smith. "My dad was a driver on the line and we used to come on holiday to Dentdale and stand in a field waving our tea towels, giving him a wave and he'd toot his horn," she said. "I met my husband, who works on the line, so we have our very own love story."
The crown jewel of the route is the legendary Ribblehead Viaduct. Blood, sweat, tears and death built this line. So many men died, many of them "navvies" who moved between major construction projects, they had to make local graveyards bigger. The viaduct consists of 24 arches carrying the track at more than 100ft (30.5m) high. It is an engineering marvel and a Yorkshire landmark.
Pete Myers, chair of the Settle-Carlisle Railway Development Company, has spent his life working on the railways. He said: "Without the viaduct, the line just wouldn't be complete. If we are serious about carbon reduction and green travel, public transport is an instrumental part of that. It is a truly green way of looking at the Dales."
At Ribblehead, you will find a station and a pub; appropriately named the Station Inn. The hostelry has just been bought by Andrew Hields, who said the pub and viaduct were "iconic".
"It's a few thousand people a year who come in from the train for sure," he said. "This place wouldn't exist if it wasn't for the railway 150 years ago."
The railway has some stations so far from the towns and villages they purport to serve, you need to bring your walking boots - Dent is four and a half miles from the village itself, but geography dictated where the tracks went.
In 2026, the railway is used by regular passenger services, commuters, steam engines and even mainline trains travelling between London and Glasgow when a diversion is required. When a steam train passes by, you can easily imagine what it was like here a century and a half ago.
The Settle-Carlisle line is celebrating 150 years having survived a threat of closure in the 1980s - Image © John Giles/PA
Have you heard the one about the railway line that was threatened with closure, so lots of people started using it and it was saved?
Welcome to the Settle to Carlisle line, the quirky steel road through some of Britain's most magnificent countryside.
The line starts in Leeds and passes through Shipley and Skipton, but it is the section between North Yorkshire and Cumbria that is world-famous for its views.
Heading north from Settle, the peak of Pen-y-Ghent soon looms large, with Whernside and Ingleborough following a few miles later.
The line was voted the second most famous in the world last year - Image © Nick Wooley/BBC
Karen Morley-Chesworth from the Settle-Carlisle Railway Development Company said the route was "the best of British countryside".
"You can come on the train at Leeds where you bump into people every second, and you get off the train here and there's nobody. There's just scenery."
In the 1980s, there was a proposal to close the line but thousands of people - and one dog - objected. There is now a statue of Ruswarp the border collie, who signed the petition with his paw, and was classed as a paying passenger.
Passenger services started 150 years ago today, and to mark the occasion, tickets are being made available on the Northern-operated route for 150p each.
Ruswarp's pawprint was counted as a signature towards saving the railway - Image © Nick Wooley/BBC
This is a line with added value - it is not uncommon for the train conductor to give a running commentary on the landscape passing by.
Conductor Aaron Hendry said: "It's the luckiest part of my job, getting to be on this line. Last year it was voted the second most scenic line in the world, and I get to work on it. It's brilliant."
It could be argued there's a certain romance about the line too, according to operations manager Susie Smith. "My dad was a driver on the line and we used to come on holiday to Dentdale and stand in a field waving our tea towels, giving him a wave and he'd toot his horn," she said. "I met my husband, who works on the line, so we have our very own love story."
The crown jewel of the route is the legendary Ribblehead Viaduct. Blood, sweat, tears and death built this line. So many men died, many of them "navvies" who moved between major construction projects, they had to make local graveyards bigger. The viaduct consists of 24 arches carrying the track at more than 100ft (30.5m) high. It is an engineering marvel and a Yorkshire landmark.
Pete Myers, chair of the Settle-Carlisle Railway Development Company, has spent his life working on the railways. He said: "Without the viaduct, the line just wouldn't be complete. If we are serious about carbon reduction and green travel, public transport is an instrumental part of that. It is a truly green way of looking at the Dales."
At Ribblehead, you will find a station and a pub; appropriately named the Station Inn. The hostelry has just been bought by Andrew Hields, who said the pub and viaduct were "iconic".
"It's a few thousand people a year who come in from the train for sure," he said. "This place wouldn't exist if it wasn't for the railway 150 years ago."
The railway has some stations so far from the towns and villages they purport to serve, you need to bring your walking boots - Dent is four and a half miles from the village itself, but geography dictated where the tracks went.
In 2026, the railway is used by regular passenger services, commuters, steam engines and even mainline trains travelling between London and Glasgow when a diversion is required. When a steam train passes by, you can easily imagine what it was like here a century and a half ago.
| Dockyard - by request only? In "Shorter journeys in Plymouth and Cornwall" [374666/31962/25] Posted by grahame at 12:11, 1st May 2026 | |
Looking at the timetables from May, am I seeing that Dockyard is no longer a request stop?
| Re: Thomas the Tank Engine and Rev Wilbert Awdry - ongoing discussion In "The Lighter Side" [374665/16895/30] Posted by PhilWakely at 11:44, 1st May 2026 | |
Ad today as tickets to the Hammersmith Apollo on sale tomorrow.
Refers to Christopher as 'author'
Refers to Christopher as 'author'
Indeed, as well as continuing his father's Railway Series books, he has written several other books - not all railway related.
