Recent content by John Brannelly

A statement: “It was felt that private owners only cared about their shareholders and would do anything to increase shareholder dividend”. Many of us might think that the same applies now, but this statement was made by a Labour government minister after the 1945 election. The appearance at...

I think “Neilmc” has it right. If there is such a thing as “tap in” and “tap out” then there will be times noted. If there is only a minute or two between those, then no journey can have been made, so no reason for a charge. Are Network Rail or the TOCs so hard up that they charge for walking...

Ooh yes. I’d forgotten about that possibility. Thank you.

We are now into the third week of Freightliner light engine moves between Crewe and Craven Arms (both directions). They occur three or four times each weekday, on up to four days a week. I have seen them four times, and it seems to be a different loco each time. I wonder if anyone can shed any...

In this thread, I have read many reasons and explanations for trains leaving before their scheduled times. My question was more or less rhetorical. I have never been a railwayman in any capacity. I was a commuter until I retired, and am now merely an (untrained) observer. I see trains departing...

If a train is going to leave early, why bother with a timetable?

Mod Note: Posts #58 - #60 originally in their own thread. The Premium Services are the loco-hauled trains operated between Holyhead and Cardiff. There are two trains each day in each direction, comprising a class 67 loco, a DVT and four mk 4 carriages. However, the majority of services in 2022...

I liked Furnessvale’s reference to the days of JIT being “numbered”. Opposite to our house is a small industrial estate, with perhaps a dozen hgvs visiting every weekday. A few of these seem to be there for about fifteen minutes, suggesting to me that they aren’t delivering much. Is that down to...

I still find it difficult to think of the main station in St Helens as “Central”. I was brought up with it as “Shaw Street”, and instinctively think of it as such. The new name doesn’t annoy me at all, but it may never seem correct. The suffixes seemed to add a local feel to stations - Barr’s...

There was a section of “roaring rail” on the approach to St Helens Shaw Streer station from the Liverpool direction, about a quarter of a mile. Perhaps in the opposite direction too, but I can’t remember.

I saw this as it passed through Shrewsbury, about 15 minutes late. Most pleasing was the class 88 loco. An electric loco at Shrewsbury is a rarity.

I was about to mention Wigan North Western, and then read Bevan Price’s entry: my experience exactly in the mid-1950s. We were also shooed away from Thatto Heath station sometimes, especially when there were up to seven of us on the steps down to the platform. My spotting visits nowadays, to...

Birkenhead Woodside closed in 1967. Manchester Victoria was rebuilt in time for the Commonwealth Games in 2002 ( there is a Velodrome on top, I think). A lot of overall roofs were removed in the 1950s and 1960s (e.g. Shrewsbury, Leeds City and Chester General).

Marylebone station. 28th April, 1956. We (my dad, mother and brother and me) were in London for the Rugby League Challenge Cup Final, between St Helens and Halifax. St Helens won by 13 points to 2: their first win of the trophy. After the match we took a train into London. I had a bad migraine...

I would say it was the steam trains on the Isle of Man. In 1949, we had our first family holiday there. We took the train from Eccleston Park to Lime Street, and my brother pointed out named locos as we passed Edge Hill and ran down through the cuttings and tunnels into the terminus. We used...