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Great Western Coffee Shop
Recent Public Posts - [guest]
Re: North Cotswold line delays and cancellations - 2025
In "London to the Cotswolds" [367085/29711/14]
Posted by Worcester_Passenger at 10:08, 19th October 2025
 
Sunday October 19

09:58 Great Malvern to London Paddington due 12:24 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.
Last Updated:19/10/2025 07:57
Stock running from Shrub Hill to Paddington ECS.

14:45 London Paddington to Great Malvern due 17:15 will be terminated at Worcester Shrub Hill.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.
Last Updated:19/10/2025 00:12
The 14:45 is an odd working - it doesn't turn round at Great Malvern. Instead, it runs ECS back to Stoke Gifford (17:30-19:54).

Re: The Cheddar Valley Lost Railway - the 'Strawberry Line' from Yatton
In "Railway History and related topics" [367084/444/55]
Posted by grahame at 10:01, 19th October 2025
Already liked by PrestburyRoad
 
A visit to the Strawberry Line yesterday - I walked from Congresbury to Yatton ... used the pub rather than the Cafe (to attend a Railfuture meeting being held there).  Probably worth taking the bike by train next time and exploring further.

Here to update this thread, pictures from the Congresbury to Yatton section
















Re: Anger as historic Clyde ship Falls of Clyde towed out to sea and sunk in Hawaii
In "The Wider Picture Overseas" [367083/30933/52]
Posted by Mark A at 09:42, 19th October 2025

Re: Anger as historic Clyde ship Falls of Clyde towed out to sea and sunk in Hawaii
In "The Wider Picture Overseas" [367082/30933/52]
Posted by Mark A at 09:37, 19th October 2025
 
Will that be a wrought iron hull, albeit now somewhat inaccessible?

Mark

Re: Railfuture, Severnside - 18th October 2025
In "Diary - what's happening when?" [367081/30845/34]
Posted by grahame at 09:37, 19th October 2025
 
Meeting report in our Transport Scholars section

Re: Insulated cups
In "Across the West" [367079/30926/26]
Posted by bobm at 08:26, 19th October 2025
Already liked by grahame, TaplowGreen, Mark A, johnneyw
 
I get enough funny looks while doing on board surveys and asking people where they are travelling to.  Asking for a funnel might just tip the balance.

Re: Limpley Stoke B3108 bridge damage repair - 21 July to 31 August 2025
In "Portsmouth to Cardiff" [367078/30451/20]
Posted by bobm at 08:24, 19th October 2025
 
I went under this bridge on the D1 bus the other day and I see the metal work on the Bath side has already been buckled, presumably by an over height vehicle.

Re: Portsmouth ? to Cardiff ?
In "Portsmouth to Cardiff" [367077/30862/20]
Posted by bobm at 08:21, 19th October 2025
 
Given that Southampton had drawn five of their first nine league games another draw was perhaps not a surprise...

Re: Railfuture, Severnside - 18th October 2025
In "Diary - what's happening when?" [367076/30845/34]
Posted by grahame at 06:14, 19th October 2025
Already liked by Mark A
 
An ... interesting ... day all around.  Turns out that the 10:00  U2 does not run on Saturday (my misread of the timetable) so I ended up on the X1 to Congresbury.   Red Squirrel and I were there from the Coffee Shop and a number of other old friends too. Walked on almost to Clevedon afterwards, picking up the X10 for the last mile then the X6 to Bristol.

The U series busses run between university locations and the U2 comes out to the vet school at Langford so I can understand why it does not run at weekends.

I had indeed wondered wy it was a "U"; it does run at weekends, but to a timetable so thin it needs to be planned for ahead of time and plans adjusted to suit.  I got to Bristol bus station at around 09:25, no U2 at 10:00 so the next one would have been 11:00 which would have left me late for the meeting after my walk.  Plan B was the 09:35 on X1.  That did a no show (simply disappeared off the departure board)nbut it didn't matter too much as I and loads of other just waited for the 09:55 - plan C - which did run

I have documented this because it's such a good illustration of the differences in attitude and approach one can take, and how one plans travel, around services that are frequent versus those that are infrequent.

I caught the 18:00 off Temple Meads at the end of the day - first Bath train when I got to BRI and then sat and worked out my way home.  Another little challenge and one I know we always have, with a need to plan based on six different services one of which runs frequently all day and every day - change at Trowbridge or Chippenham onto a a train (and take care they are not cancelled), or at Bath itself or Bradford-on-Avon, Chippenham or Trowbridge onto the bus.   Sadly, another glitch is planning as the 18:15 bus (a very tight connection anyway) from Bath does not run on a Saturday now - and I dipped back to a very busy double decker at 18:45.  Still better that only other route would have been.

Re: Swindon <-> Westbury service updates and amendments, ongoing discussion - 2025
In "TransWilts line" [367075/29726/18]
Posted by TaplowGreen at 05:34, 19th October 2025
 
20:38 Westbury to Swindon due 21:23
20:38 Westbury to Swindon due 21:23 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

21:34 Swindon to Westbury due 22:16
21:34 Swindon to Westbury due 22:16 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

Re: Railfuture, Severnside - 18th October 2025
In "Diary - what's happening when?" [367074/30845/34]
Posted by eXPassenger at 21:33, 18th October 2025
 
An ... interesting ... day all around.  Turns out that the 10:00  U2 does not run on Saturday (my misread of the timetable) so I ended up on the X1 to Congresbury.   Red Squirrel and I were there from the Coffee Shop and a number of other old friends too. Walked on almost to Clevedon afterwards, picking up the X10 for the last mile then the X6 to Bristol.

The U series busses run between university locations and the U2 comes out to the vet school at Langford so I can understand why it does not run at weekends.

Re: Railfuture, Severnside - 18th October 2025
In "Diary - what's happening when?" [367073/30845/34]
Posted by grahame at 21:04, 18th October 2025
 
An ... interesting ... day all around.  Turns out that the 10:00  U2 does not run on Saturday (my misread of the timetable) so I ended up on the X1 to Congresbury.   Red Squirrel and I were there from the Coffee Shop and a number of other old friends too. Walked on almost to Clevedon afterwards, picking up the X10 for the last mile then the X6 to Bristol.

Re: Portsmouth ? to Cardiff ?
In "Portsmouth to Cardiff" [367072/30862/20]
Posted by Chris from Nailsea at 21:04, 18th October 2025
 
Fair enough: it was nil, nil, either way. 

Re: Insulated cups
In "Across the West" [367071/30926/26]
Posted by grahame at 20:48, 18th October 2025
 
Erm ... I don't happen to carry a small chemistry set around with me, when I'm out on the railways. 

I don't either ... but there's nothing to stop you walking down the carriage asking if anyone has a funnel.

Re: Portsmouth ? to Cardiff ?
In "Portsmouth to Cardiff" [367070/30862/20]
Posted by ray951 at 19:59, 18th October 2025
 
Southampton FC are playing at Swansea at 12:30 today, so thought I would check allocations on real time trains of Portsmouth-Cardiff

1F06 06:08 4car 158
1F08 07:23 3car 166  (latest train for the match)
1F10 08:23 6car 166  (rare 166 in multiple)
1F12 09:23 4car 158
1F14 10:23 2car 158 (that will be cozy)
1F16 11:23 4car 158
1F18 12:23 4car 158
1F20 13:23 3car 166

I wonder what logic was used to run a 6car when only 2cars were available for a train 2 hours later (and yes I know they can't couple), but surely 2 3car 166s (holding one set back for 2 hours and substituting the single 158) is better than a 6car and a 2car train
Can I just point out that Swansea were playing at Southampton at 12:30 not the other way around.

Re: Insulated cups
In "Across the West" [367068/30926/26]
Posted by johnneyw at 18:24, 18th October 2025
 
Erm ... I don't happen to carry a small chemistry set around with me, when I'm out on the railways. 

I gather that some people don't.   

Re: Railfuture, Severnside - 18th October 2025
In "Diary - what's happening when?" [367067/30845/34]
Posted by Chris from Nailsea at 18:02, 18th October 2025
 
Hmm. 

The best laid plans can still go awry.

After a busy morning at home, I was trudging down to my local station - only to be passed by a coach, advertised as 'Rail Replacement Service', at a time completely irrelevant to what I would have expected from the notionally normal train times. Thinking there could be the next replacement bus, in up to an hour, I decided to cut my losses and walk back home.

My apologies to any of my readers who were disappointed at my failure to appear at Yatton. 

Re: Insulated cups
In "Across the West" [367066/30926/26]
Posted by Chris from Nailsea at 17:40, 18th October 2025
 
Erm ... I don't happen to carry a small chemistry set around with me, when I'm out on the railways. 

Anger as historic Clyde ship Falls of Clyde towed out to sea and sunk in Hawaii
In "The Wider Picture Overseas" [367065/30933/52]
Posted by Chris from Nailsea at 16:36, 18th October 2025
 
From the BBC:


The Honolulu Harbour Board wanted the ship removed so it could redevelop the harbour

A historic Clydebuilt sailing ship has been towed out to sea off the coast of Hawaii and deliberately sunk, prompting outrage from maritime conservation groups.

Falls of Clyde, built in 1878, had been moored as a museum ship in Honolulu since the 1960s but had fallen into a poor state of repair.

The Honolulu Harbour Board confirmed it had the ship towed into deep water about 25 miles offshore on Wednesday and then scuttled.

The news has been met with anger and dismay by campaigners who have spent more than a decade trying to bring the ship back to its birthplace to rebuild it.

Falls of Clyde was the first in a series of eight iron-hulled ships built in the late 19th Century by the Port Glasgow shipbuilder Russell & Co.

The ship spent many years carrying various cargoes to and from the Far East and Australasia before moving to Hawaii.


Falls of Clyde was towed out of Honolulu Harbour at dawn and scuttled in deep water

In the early 20th Century it had steel tanks fitted and was converted into a tanker to carry paraffin to the islands, where it later became a floating fuel depot before being acquired by a museum in Honolulu. But the ship was badly damaged by a hurricane in the 1980s, the maritime section of the museum closed down and for years it has been left slowly decaying.

Enthusiasts in Scotland have spent a decade trying to bring the ship home for restoration, but were unable to reach an agreement with the harbour board which wants to redevelop the quay where it was moored.

The Hawaii Department of Transportation said the operation to remove the ship began at dawn on Wednesday and it was sunk about 25 miles south of the harbour. It said the vessel's name, wheel and bell were retained along with other artifacts which will be put on display.

The destruction of the historic ship has been widely criticised by maritime conservation groups both in the UK and the USA.

Friends of Falls of Clyde, a group of supporters in Hawaii, described it as "a day that will go down in infamy".  "It is almost inconceivable that this situation has been allowed to happen," the group posted on social media. The group organised a farewell ceremony with bagpipers on Tuesday after learning that the ship was to be sunk the following morning.

The Tall Ship Glenlee, the charity that looks after another Clydebuilt sailing vessel moored beside Glasgow's Riverside Museum, said it was "deeply saddened".

David O'Neill, from the Scotland based Save Falls of Clyde campaign said he was "horrified" at the behaviour of the authorities in Hawaii but had become resigned to the ship meeting such a fate after years of fruitless negotiation.


A 19th Century oil painting of Falls of Clyde when it sailed in the Far East

He first became involved in efforts to rescue the ship in 2015 when someone in Hawaii alerted him to its condition, prompting him to post an appeal on social media saying: "Old Scottish lady needs a lift home."

A Norwegian firm which operates heavy lift ships offered to transport Falls of Clyde back to Scotland for free, but the campaign was soon embroiled in a wrangle with the harbour board over insurance costs and other conditions.

Earlier this year Mr O'Neill said an American firm won a contract to remove the ship from the harbour and it also offered to transport it to Scotland for free. "They didn't want to sink the ship - they had a conscience and a respect for maritime heritage," he said. But the deal between the firm and the harbour board fell through, and the contract went instead to another company which then carried out the scuttling.

The Hawaii Department of Transportation has been contacted for comment.


Falls of Clyde was part of a maritime museum for decades before it fell into decay

Mr O'Neill said he had seen a video showing the final moments of Falls of Clyde. "She was towed out of harbour looking really elegant and stunning for a 147-year-old ship, unaided, not needing any pumps," he said. "She was still afloat and for us that's representative that she was truly Clydebuilt." He said he found watching the ship go down "quite disturbing".

"She goes down by the stern and most of the ship lifts out of the water, like in the Titanic movie."

The businessman is now concentrating his efforts on trying to bring home a Clydebuilt ship from a different era - the Type 21 frigate HMS Ambuscade. The warship was built for the Royal Navy at the Yarrow shipyard in Glasgow in the 1970s, and saw action in the Falklands War. It later sold to the Pakistan Navy where it served until it was decommissioned two years ago.

Mr O'Neill said he secured the frigate for free after making a "cheeky request" to the Pakistani government, and he is working on plans to return it to the Clyde to become a museum ship.


Re: Swindon <-> Westbury service updates and amendments, ongoing discussion - 2025
In "TransWilts line" [367064/29726/18]
Posted by bobm at 14:46, 18th October 2025
 
14:19 Westbury to Swindon due 15:01

14:19 Westbury to Swindon due 15:01 is being delayed at Westbury.
This is due to this train being late from the depot.

Left six minutes late in the end but kept its path through to the main line.

Re: Berth Maps - more accurate train movement data with Exeter area demonstration
In "Shorter journeys in Devon - Central, North and South" [367063/30486/24]
Posted by IndustryInsider at 13:09, 18th October 2025
Already liked by Chris from Nailsea
 
This seems to have been taken down for access, can anyone confirm or provide the Exeter hyperlink, please?

Sorry, that's the only public access place I know of for it.  Hopefully it'll reappear.

Re: Swindon <-> Westbury service updates and amendments, ongoing discussion - 2025
In "TransWilts line" [367062/29726/18]
Posted by bobm at 12:28, 18th October 2025
 
12:17 Westbury to Swindon due 13:01

12:17 Westbury to Swindon due 13:01 will be cancelled.
This is due to a fault on this train.

13:13 Swindon to Westbury due 13:55

13:13 Swindon to Westbury due 13:55 will be cancelled.
This is due to a fault on this train.

Re: Portsmouth ? to Cardiff ?
In "Portsmouth to Cardiff" [367061/30862/20]
Posted by ChrisB at 11:47, 18th October 2025
 
Cross Country are diverted via Westbury all weekend too (although due to suspending today's strike on Thursday, seem to have given up and retained the strike timetable)

Can't simply re-enact usual timetable at a moments notice after registering a reduced timetable - I think staff and, separately, the journey planners etc need at least 48 hours notice of changes. It's a very old method of giving staff a paid day off - initiate a strike day & cancel it with less than 48 hours notice. the TOC has to run the amended service while the strikers would get a full day's pay sitting doing nothing

Re: Railfuture, Severnside - 18th October 2025
In "Diary - what's happening when?" [367060/30845/34]
Posted by eXPassenger at 11:46, 18th October 2025
 
I'll be there - planning an earlier start and headed for Winscombe (service bus from Bristol) to walk along the Strawberry Line to Yatton, lunch at the cafe and 2 p.m. meeting. 

Which service bus are you planning on?  The old 120 between Winscombe and Bristol was cancelled some years ago.  There is the Bristol / Plymouth Falcon service that stops for Winscombe but that is a coach service run by Megabus.  You could take the train to Weston and then the 126 from Weston to Winscombe.

It is a lovely walk to Yatton.

I was looking at something called the U2 to Sandford at 10:00 or 11:00 from Bristol

The trains is not running Bristol to Weston ...

The U2 goes to Sandforf, not Winscombe, and you will walk down past Thatchers to pick up the Strawberry Line to Yatton.

Re: Lawrence Hill rail station to become step free with new lift
In "Bristol (WECA) Commuters" [367059/30929/21]
Posted by johnneyw at 11:22, 18th October 2025
Already liked by Western Pathfinder
 
Survey done.  I also mentioned that the lighting between the platform and street access at Redland Station after dark is pretty grim.  I have no mobility issues but find that I have to take care of my footing.  It must seem somewhat more daunting to someone with mobility/sight issues.  Many people resort to turning on their phone torches to get to the street.  It was probably something of a missed opportunity when the station's lighting was recently upgraded.  The platform access is technically on private property but surely some strategically placed lighting by the platform entrance could have helped more.

Re: Bath Spa - Bristol Temple Meads Oct 27-30 replacement buses only
In "London to Swindon and Bristol" [367058/30643/10]
Posted by Sulis John at 11:00, 18th October 2025
 
One just has to hope that the M4 closure over the previous weekend doesn’t overrun.

Re: Portsmouth ? to Cardiff ?
In "Portsmouth to Cardiff" [367057/30862/20]
Posted by John D at 10:53, 18th October 2025
 
Out of interest - when it comes to traction knowledge, are there drivers who sign 158s but not turbos?

Seeing the mention of the Eastleigh diversions tomorrow, I overheard two drivers heading to Westbury yesterday bemoaning the lack of drivers who sign that route.  Let's see what happens tomorrow.


Yes in areas where 158s don't normally operate, eg route to Worcester etc.   But as turbos and 158s are used so randomly in Wessex it is very unlikely that any crew are restricted to one type.

Diversions via Eastleigh might be more of a problem, especially with Bristol-Taunton route closed, and some drivers on diversions. 

Cross Country are diverted via Westbury all weekend too (although due to suspending today's strike on Thursday, seem to have given up and retained the strike timetable)

Re: Portsmouth ? to Cardiff ?
In "Portsmouth to Cardiff" [367056/30862/20]
Posted by bobm at 09:12, 18th October 2025
 
Out of interest - when it comes to traction knowledge, are there drivers who sign 158s but not turbos?

Seeing the mention of the Eastleigh diversions tomorrow, I overheard two drivers heading to Westbury yesterday bemoaning the lack of drivers who sign that route.  Let's see what happens tomorrow.


 
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