Recent content by hermit

Palmers Green and Southgate was dual- named until the 1970s. Presumably someone eventually realised that as well as being a mile from the historic village of Southgate it was even further from the modern centre that had grown up around the Piccadilly Line station that had opened in 1933.

The charter boat stops when the crew’s working hours run out. As it did last night, meaning that I was faced with a 2-hr wait for the car ferry to Fishbourne (though since that was running late I luckily managed to catch an earlier one, so avoiding a 3-hr late arrival home). Unlike on previous...

It looks as though any hopes that we would now get the promised half-hourly service up the pier have now been finally dashed - the new timetable appears to be the same as the last pre-closure one, with basically a 40-minute service. This means that only half the trains have a decent (10-11...

True if you mean the Southern, but the L&B was not part of the LSWR.

A friend of mine has done this several times, wanting to travel between Portsmouth and St Pancras International (for the Eurostar) without using the Underground. She bought a ticket to London Terminals and a separate ticket from City Thameslink (the northernmost ‘London Terminal’ when coming...

The highest point on Island Line appears to be Shanklin station. At the other end of the line, a large part of the stretch from Ryde Esplanade to St John’s Road is below sea level.

Not always ‘right behind’. Returning from central London towards the end of service I remember a long wait at Oakwood while a succession of trains went into the depot. Frustrating, as I had left the car at Cockfosters and had a long drive ahead of me.

May 2nd now confirmed as reopening up the pier. 6-day closure of entire line beforehand in preparation.

Twice recently I’ve heard the ‘Oyster and contactless cards and Freedom Passes without a suitable extension are not valid on this service’ message on Island Line trains from Ryde. Glad that’s cleared up.

Essex Road

Dawlish

A stretch of the line from Brockenhurst to Ringwood (‘Castleman’s Corkscrew’) is now followed by the road from Brockenhurst to Burley. Not an A or B road but a useful cut through the New Forest from Lymington if heading west. The station at Holmsley survives and is now a tearoom.

At some point what is now Island Line was branded as Ryde Rail.

I’m aware of the sunk cost fallacy, but it would seem pretty perverse to abandon the pier given the millions that have recently been spent during two lengthy closures. As someone who uses the pier frequently, and expects to continue to do so during the remainder of the closure period, I have to...

Calstock