(31 May 2014, 10:38 pm)aureolin wrote May Spring meeting at York racecourse.

I was there. As a late present for my grandparents' Golden Wedding, we took them to the posh end of the races, making a whole weekend of it.

Went down on Friday on the 14:06 TransPennine Express service. Returned yesterday on the 12:03 TransPennine service. Must say, I am impressed with those trains. Seats are comfortable and they are rather quiet.

Stayed in the Premier Inn on Blossom Street South. Was very impressed with that. Cleanliness was fantastic, beds were comfortable and the restaurant was alright. WiFi worked tremendously well.

At the races, I had two winners. In total, I only managed to lose £4.50 so it wasn't that bad.

(02 Jun 2014, 8:59 pm)Adam wrote I was there. As a late present for my grandparents' Golden Wedding, we took them to the posh end of the races, making a whole weekend of it.

Went down on Friday on the 14:06 TransPennine Express service. Returned yesterday on the 12:03 TransPennine service. Must say, I am impressed with those trains. Seats are comfortable and they are rather quiet.

Stayed in the Premier Inn on Blossom Street South. Was very impressed with that. Cleanliness was fantastic, beds were comfortable and the restaurant was alright. WiFi worked tremendously well.

At the races, I had two winners. In total, I only managed to lose £4.50 so it wasn't that bad.

Totally irrelevant, but just up from the Premier Inn, in the direction of the racecourse is a lovely Italian Restaurant called Spuntino's.
Highly recommended, despite mixed online reviews.

(02 Jun 2014, 9:18 pm)Andreos Constantopolous wrote Totally irrelevant, but just up from the Premier Inn, in the direction of the racecourse is a lovely Italian Restaurant called Spuntino's.
Highly recommended, despite mixed online reviews.

ah yes I remember passing it. It seems an alright place.

Has anyone seen the incident at Strood station today?
The onboard train camera caught a guy rescuing a woman from the track as the train was pulling in.

No idea if it is on youtube, but is on the 5live fb page.

(03 Jun 2014, 8:33 pm)Adam wrote ah yes I remember passing it. It seems an alright place.

Small and compact.
Full of Italians - which is always a good sign...

(04 Jun 2014, 11:13 am)Scott wrote Double deck trains in Italy. The best way to get the nice views! Been on bendybuses there as well.

They have them in Holland too.
Not much to see, apart from Windmills, fields, canals and Tulips

Plans for double-decker trains for Britain were on the cards as early as the late 1930s. Stock was trialled in the late 40s/early 50s but the trains never made it to British lines - largely because tunnels and bridges constructed in the Victorian-era did not have the necessary height clearance. As both the BTC and Railway Executive were essentially running the railways on a shoe-string budget, the money was simply not there to make wide-scale improvements to accommodate this new type of train. When, in 1955, the railways finally received money from the government to invest in new infrastructure and new trains, it was largely squandered on building new steam-locomotives and large marshalling yards which saw little use.

Anyway...I'm drifting off the point now.

Here's a link to a short Pathe News Reel showing double-decker trains in Britain.

http://www.britishpathe.com/video/double-decker-train

http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-2792984...ow_twitter

A unique way to travel across Mexico.

http://metro.co.uk/2014/07/11/pensioner-...n-4794464/

Very sad.

(11 Jul 2014, 12:19 pm)Andreos Constantopolous wrote http://metro.co.uk/2014/07/11/pensioner-...n-4794464/

Very sad.

Indeed, and for the train driver too. Often forgotten about as a victim of these tragedies.

(11 Jul 2014, 12:19 pm)Andreos Constantopolous wrote http://metro.co.uk/2014/07/11/pensioner-...n-4794464/

Very sad.

That's terrible ......

Haven't checked out the reasons why, but the High Level seems busy with trains this morning.

The last 45 mins has seen:
CrossCountry, East Coast, Northern and DRS/Network Rail (pulled by what sounded like Deltics) sets heading north and south.

http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edin...e-28524876

Progress on Haymarket tunnels.

Was pretty impressed to see this beast come through York station yesterday.

Class 47 - 47580 - "County of Essex" by aureolindn, on Flickr

Anyone know the crack of why it's not being ran by steam though?

(15 Aug 2014, 1:30 pm)aureolin wrote Was pretty impressed to see this beast come through York station yesterday.

Class 47 - 47580 - "County of Essex" by aureolindn, on Flickr

Anyone know the crack of why it's not being ran by steam though?

Presuming it is the Scarborough Spa Express, it is supposed to be steam according to this link: http://railwayherald.com/railtours#

(15 Aug 2014, 2:19 pm)Andreos Constantopolous wrote Presuming it is the Scarborough Spa Express, it is supposed to be steam according to this link: http://railwayherald.com/railtours#

Yeah that's the one. I had noticed it in the sidings at York on Tuesday morning when I passed through, so had a feeling it would run back on Thursday. It's always a nice sight seeing a proper train!

http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/nort...th-7637492

Another above inflation fare rise for rail users.

Me and my friends have just had a race from Gateshead down to Scarborough. They were happy enough on the bus whereas I've already vowed to never get back on the X93 again,so I took the train. It went as follows:

11:08 Metro Gateshead - Central Station (forgot to ID it)
11:35 CrossCountry Newcastle - York (220004)
13:40 First TPE York - Scarborough (185136)

and I've won... by miles. Pulled into Scarborough about 30 mins ago. Rang my friends and they were only at Whitby.

Government U turn on pledge to scrap hated cattle truck Pacer trains.

http://m.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/1143...er_trains/

(25 Aug 2014, 2:11 pm)Jimmi wrote Government U turn on pledge to scrap hated cattle truck Pacer trains.

http://m.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/1143...er_trains/

I absolutely despise Pacers. To be honest, I'm more of a steam person myself. The only diesels that I feel are worthy, are Deltics! And they left the mainline in 1981! I think six have made it into preservation. Going back even further, if you swapped Pacers for A4 Pacific's, the world would be much better!

(25 Aug 2014, 2:13 pm)Marcus wrote I absolutely despise Pacers. To be honest, I'm more of a steam person myself. The only diesels that I feel are worthy, are Deltics! And they left the mainline in 1981! I think six have made it into preservation. Going back even further, if you swapped Pacers for A4 Pacific's, the world would be much better!

They are flaming awful, they always smell like pee, I don't use the train because it only runs every 2 hours for most of the day and because the Pacers are awful and the last few times I used we'd end up stuck in Thornaby because of either signal failure or it broke down and sitting on a Pacer not moving for 45 minutes plus the journey time is not a fun way to spend your birthday.

(25 Aug 2014, 2:13 pm)Marcus wrote I absolutely despise Pacers. To be honest, I'm more of a steam person myself. The only diesels that I feel are worthy, are Deltics! And they left the mainline in 1981! I think six have made it into preservation. Going back even further, if you swapped Pacers for A4 Pacific's, the world would be much better!

Still love the Class 43 HSTs to be honest. Really smooth ride on them, and quite often book my return on the 1600 from London, knowing it'd be a HST heading to Aberdeen!

(25 Aug 2014, 4:05 pm)aureolin wrote Still love the Class 43 HSTs to be honest. Really smooth ride on them, and quite often book my return on the 1600 from London, knowing it'd be a HST heading to Aberdeen!

Yeah, I'm just a much a railway enthusiast as I am a bus enthusiast, although I don't use forums and stuff for trains like I do with buses. It would be best to ask a die hard train guy on this one, but I was standing train-spotting at Chester one Saturday afternoon and two old guys with cameras when an East Coast Class 43 came into view and raced past, the two men didn't get their cameras out and stood back. Once they could hear each other again, they said they hated Class 43s because of Jimmy Savile and the 'this is the age of the train' ads back in the late 20th century. That put a smile on my face.

(25 Aug 2014, 2:13 pm)Marcus wrote I absolutely despise Pacers. To be honest, I'm more of a steam person myself. The only diesels that I feel are worthy, are Deltics! And they left the mainline in 1981! I think six have made it into preservation. Going back even further, if you swapped Pacers for A4 Pacific's, the world would be much better!

I love Pacers. They are the train equivalent of Mercedes 0709 midibuses. We, on the Tees Valley, are blessed to have the best ride this side of Alton Towers!

(26 Aug 2014, 7:12 am)AXG675 wrote I love Pacers. They are the train equivalent of Mercedes 0709 midibuses. We, on the Tees Valley, are blessed to have the best ride this side of Alton Towers!

Peasant!

In all seriousness, what's there to like about that screech as you enter/depart Newcastle Central Station?!

I'd compare them to a Dart, in the bus world!

(26 Aug 2014, 7:21 am)Dan wrote Peasant!

In all seriousness, what's there to like about that screech as you enter/depart Newcastle Central Station?!

I'd compare them to a Dart, in the bus world!

I would compare them to a conked out Pronto B7 (preferably 6041) which had been covered with petrol, crashed into by a Versa, set on fire as a result, and left burning for 3 days!!!

I do love 142s. Just because of how sensitive they are on the track. Picking up every bump. So fun bouncing up and down. Nothing you could ever get on a 156 or any other train. Just exclusive to the whole pacer family (never actually rode on 143s/144s but im guessing they are the same )

(26 Aug 2014, 10:27 am)Robert wrote I do love 142s. Just because of how sensitive they are on the track. Picking up every bump. So fun bouncing up and down. Nothing you could ever get on a 156 or any other train. Just exclusive to the whole pacer family (never actually rode on 143s/144s but im guessing they are the same )

Personally, I have a favourite for steam and a favourite for diesels;

Steam:
Gresley A4 Pacific's (6 Preserved)
- Back when 60010 'Dominion of Canada' and 60008 'Dwight D Eisenhower' came back over in October 2012, in preparation for restoration and The Great Gathering, I had a brake van ride at Shildon behind 60009 'Union of South Africa'. I've also had a ride behind 60007 'Sir Nigel Gresley' on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway. Both were just amazing.

Diesel:
Class 55 'Deltics' (6 or 7 Preserved)
- Again, at Shildon when they had a Deltic Gala on about 2/3 years ago. Can't remember exactly which locomotive, could have been 55022 'Royal Scots Grey', but I definitely remember riding behind one on a brake van train. Also, the clagging they make, brilliant!!

I know nothing about trains! Could be worth looking into them though, see if I can get a better knowledge of them.

(26 Aug 2014, 3:34 pm)Tom wrote I know nothing about trains! Could be worth looking into them though, see if I can get a better knowledge of them.

I'll PM you - gimme an hour!

(26 Aug 2014, 10:27 am)Robert wrote I do love 142s. Just because of how sensitive they are on the track. Picking up every bump. So fun bouncing up and down. Nothing you could ever get on a 156 or any other train. Just exclusive to the whole pacer family (never actually rode on 143s/144s but im guessing they are the same )

Haven't done a 143 since they were based out of Heaton in the late 80's.
Never ridden a 144 at all.

There is something about the 142. No idea what it is - the soaking you get when it rains, the rough ride, the squeaks - I have no idea.
Prefer a 156 turning up, but never too disappointed to see a Pacer.

Used a 150 for the first time a few months back on the Reading - Basingstoke line.
Wasn't impressed at all, but felt it was wasted on such a short journey, where a 142 would be possibly better.
Compare a 142 doing the runs they do, compared to the 150's going back and forth all day on a half hour/5 station trip - restricted to 75mph due to the line speeds.

(28 Aug 2014, 7:29 pm)Andreos Constantopolous wrote Haven't done a 143 since they were based out of Heaton in the late 80's.
Never ridden a 144 at all.

There is something about the 142. No idea what it is - the soaking you get when it rains, the rough ride, the squeaks - I have no idea.
Prefer a 156 turning up, but never too disappointed to see a Pacer.

Used a 150 for the first time a few months back on the Reading - Basingstoke line.
Wasn't impressed at all, but felt it was wasted on such a short journey, where a 142 would be possibly better.
Compare a 142 doing the runs they do, compared to the 150's going back and forth all day on a half hour/5 station trip - restricted to 75mph due to the line speeds.

I've heard Northern Rail's primary source of criticism comes from the Pacers!

The seats are disgraceful, granted, but I've got to admit the 141s really do look like Nationals on Rails!