A few more photos, the last one being the intermediate new station between the bay and Queen Street.

 
There's been considerable recent change at Cardiff Bay station.  The line itself is currently out of operation while the current set of works are underway which includes the electrification infrastructure.  Below are yesterday's photos Cardiff Bay station taken from various viewpoints and angles.  The old fencing has gone as has pretty much entirety the old platform. The catenary is clearly visible now.  Additionally, it can be better seen more how the third platform (serving the future tram direct to Cardiff Central) will fit into the scheme.
Photos below.

 
A redundant signal box in Ukfield might be turned into a micro pub/brewery.  I think that it's a brilliant way to put new life into a piece of disused railway architecture....and if the article below is anything to go by, many of the local community are "signalling" their approval too!   


https://www.theargus.co.uk/news/25158547.micro-pub-plans-uckfield-rail-signal-box-prove-popular/

 
There's surely be a bus connection from Unst to Lerwick, and the Crosscountry train's timed to take passengers from the 19:00 (ferry) from Lerwick, calling at Kirkwall around 23:00 and into Aberdeen the next morning a good hour before the train leaves. This will still benefit passengers heading as far as Plymouth (and, with a change of trains, Cornwall... overnight at Penzance and you can probably be on St Agnes by lunchtime)

Mark

 

I am interested in the reasons why trains are often delayed for, apparently, no obvious reason and in the explanations provided to passengers.

In this particular instance the journey check text should have read '17:50 Gloucester to Salisbury due 20:06 departed Gloucester 8 minutes having returned to Platform 1 from it's waiting point 10 minutes later than scheduled, because the platform was occupied by the late running 2T49 WOF>BRI service until 1748, and has been further delayed on the approach to Stonehouse.'

Too much information obviously but I think the majority of people understand what is meant by the term 'depot' and I doubt the Gloucester Loco Spur qualifies.

And I can't figure out why the service lost another c. 8 mins between Standish Junction and Stonehouse.

 
We arrived in Amsterdam yesterday - overnight on the boat from Newcastle to IJmuiden and then on a coach for boat passengers into the centre of Amsterdam.  27 hours from Melksham, 2 trains, 2 buses and 1 ship.  Extra costs for the crossing on top of the pass and by the time you pay for a cabin and meals, saving an overnight hotel, it made sense for us.  And it avoided the need to transit London as Eurostar, or Harwich, would have required.  Our passes are first class, and past experience of Cross Country trains to Newcastle suggests that it's a LONG journey in standard class. 

The transfer bus from Newcastle Central to Royal Quay was a standard bus designed for regular passengers, without extra allowance for all the stuff (cases, big backpacks, carpets!) people had with them and the travellers were excited to get on the bus, leaving little space for Lisa's mobility aid "Henry" and we struggled to get even seated - the last two seats grudignly given to us, with the comment from the woman opposite (we had back facing seats) that her pack was big - so didn't allow me to even get me feet in properly.

That bus aside, all AOK and we found our hotel in Amsterdam close to Central Station.  Like the UK, streets are numbered odd on one side and even on the other. Which is fine until you go down the wrong side and can't cross because it's a canal and not a road between the sides. 

I'm on a continuous pass ... Lisa on limited day ... and in the afternoon I took a trip out to Enkhuizen - about an hour by train.   The station there is waterside, the service to Amsterdam electric and every 30 minutes, and it was a pleasant town and quayside to walk around. The online promotion site for the town tells me ""Within the old ramparts you will find no fewer than 361 national monuments and the most unusual street names. Also discover the Zuiderzee Museum and Sprookjeswonderland, be surprised by the special stores and enjoy the cozy restaurants.""  I suspect I saw, but did not have time to comprehend, a handful of the monuments and have 350 more for next time.

This is a dual purpose trip - for us to relax and have a good trip now that I have retired from my local Town Council, and also to look and learn more about travel and transport and how they fit in with city planning; I have been working / campaigning / informing / partnering for 2 decades now for changes for the better in my home area and there's nothing like seeing other practise and its effects first hand elsewhere.  More about than elsewhere and in separate posts elsewhere; my trip out to Enkhuizen was educational to say the least. It helps inform my technical strength as I talk and persuade/inform/suggest transport professionals.


















Edit - adding pictures

 

Well, it was at Plymouth - what more should you expect 

 

A single grey squirrel that gained access via the railway bridge or some other route would not be a problem. A breeding pair would be more serious. The greys do not AFAIK, attack the smaller reds, but out-compete them for food.
Are there many pet cats on Anglesey ? perhaps surprisingly, cats are said to be helpful to red squirrels, by killing the greys.  Cats also chase the reds, but very seldom catch them.

When I lived in London, my cats often caught and killed grey squirrels, they chased the reds as well but only ever caught one.  Grey squirrels if chased by a cat, often climbed a tree to escape, and then jumped to another tree in order to descend in safety. The brighter cats waited near the base of the second tree and killed the descending grey. The reds if chased up a tree, waited for ages until the cat lost interest.
Squirrels, like birds, cant see or understand the danger of a static cat, A moving cat is recognised as a danger and fled from, but a non moving cat is ignored until too late.

 

I must admit that I never knew trainspotting involved quite so much violence - are there "firms" in the same way that football clubs have hooligan gangs?

(West Ham's was the Inter City Firm after all!!!)

 

 
BBC report at https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c753zzvd6gno - not sure if that link will work in UK.


The BBC is more accurate than other reports, not suggesting it runs from end to end of the country.  We on the Coffee Shop all know that Penzance is some mile short of Land's End, and I understand that Aberdeen is not quite Cape Wrath or Duncansby Head.

Yesterday excepted, the number of passengers making distances between the extreme points of the service must have  been very limited.  According to data we have at https://www.firstgreatwestern.info/ABD.html?limit=1550&sortby=0 there were just 180 tickets sold (90 journeys each way) between Aberdeen and Penzance in the year round April 2024.  Not  a total story, or course - there will be rovers and interrail and splits and onward journeys beyond Aberdeen to consider.

 

Can't complain too much as it was only 8 minutes late arriving at London Paddington!

 

Not quite - unless it had a Wick to Aberdeen portion   

 
Not a good week for the Up sleeper.

21:45 Penzance to London Paddington due 05:08

21:45 Penzance to London Paddington due 05:08 has been delayed at Penzance and is now 61 minutes late.

This is due to a fault on this train.

 
Cornish News (FB) reports that final run

 

 
You're making my mouth water.

 
Further delays and costs..................

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/newsbirmingham/fears-birmingham-hs2-station-could-be-delayed-amid-new-2039-finish-date/ar-AA1ERgS1?ocid=socialshare

 
Are there any real improvements? Anything positive?

 
Melksham to Cheltenham Spa  (GWR) ... no catering

Cheltenham Spa to Newcastle Central (XC)  ...







Newcastle Central to Royal Quay (Go-ahead North East) ... no catering

Royal Quay to Amsetdam (DFDS) ...

 

 
Today's Railways UK has a good summary. The "highlight" in the South West seems to be no through London Newquay weekday trains. Lack of Penzance-Cardiff trains and dodgy connections throughout.

 
The summer weekday extension of a London-Plymouth to Newquay and return isn’t running this year.

 

Too far west...

 
Crosscountry may have made changes to their timetable but there are no double sets booked before 12.27 from Plymouth. I suspect with passengers being put onto XC services at Plymouth that these trains, particularly in the Summer will be full and standing at varying points between Plymouth and Bristol. I do believe that the GWR changes are a backwards step therefore

 
Typical! , This one doesn't appear to be in my copy of "I-Spy Railway Foot Crossings".

 
For myself, I haven’t got a Scooby. But my son Robin thinks it’s in Cornwall…

 
Mighty Cholsey station with its five platforms! As many as Didcot Parkway - and more than either Swindon or Oxford 

And with six tracks, it pips Twyford, Maidenhead, West Drayton and West Ealing. 

 

Saw its older sister 150201 earlier today.   Dressed differently, but looked like 2+3 as well.