Recent content by Midlandman

Have been on a fair number of 195 units this month with the Northern 10p promotion. First one was Manchester - Lancaster and back and I thought the ride was pretty average (with a fair amount of vibration). The next trip, to Liverpool was on a 323 and over Chat Moss the ride was far better...

For the information of the OP, if you call at Navigation Road, there is a box next to the shelter on the Network Rail platform that is full of printed Mid-Cheshire line timetables (or at least it was on Tuesday when I picked mine up).

Only just found this, but here goes: Those horribly cheap looking paper stickers on windows that gave you the destination, instead of the wooden boards above the windows (last train I saw with these was The Poole to York/Leeds in the 70s, the front 8 coaches going south had "Poole Bournemouth...

North Western Road Car used to have a notice in BIG lettering above the windscreen (on double deckers) warning the driver that "this vehicle will not pass under Wilmslow station bridge". (Long time, I think, since ANY buses were scheduled down that road).

Southbound from Rugby going up to Kilsby Tunnel

Just had time to walk into town and grab a bite to eat, since if I'd missed the train at about 1400, I'd have been stuck in Scotland for the night. The service is challengingly sparse. Oh and as we passed the signal box at Glenwhilly, the late turn signaller was just reporting for duty. I...

Unfortunately, the station 'serving' Swadlincote would have to be a re-opened Gresley, which is still 2 miles from the town centre. (The old station at Swadlincote was on a loop line which was very much built for freight, the sparse passenger service being very much an afterthought. The station...

The population of Swadlincote increased greatly after the M42 opened when people from the West Midlands discovered that they were virtually giving houses away there. You only have to walk down the High Street now for the accents to tell you where the influx came from. Incidentally, I am a native...

Point of order for the original post - as a native of the place, with family still in the area, I don't believe I've EVER addressed one of the countless letters, greetings cards etc that I've sent there as Burton-UPON-Trent. We were all taught, as kids, that our addresses ended 'Burton-on-Trent...

Not on trains, but several years ago when we lived in Chorlton, Manchester, I was walking past a bus stop when a man asked if I could 'lend' him 50p for the bus fare to Stockport. No sooner had he spoken than a number 22 came round the corner going to Stockport. 'No need' I said, 'here, you get...

Trip last week on the 1833 Kings Cross - Leeds, chicken in sherry and orange sauce, broccoli and potatoes, very nicely presented, chocolate and cardomom (I think) tart to follow, accompanied by plenty of red wine (because the stewardess said that this made everyone 'chillaxed' and therefore...

No you don't. Last year we did it just for the experience as part of our trip, just rode the maglev from the city end to the airport and back. We didn't even get off at the airport. Incidentally, what had been the rear vehicle then became the front on our return journey. The driver/operator was...

The maglev line is a pretty impressive ride, especially when the two trains pass. (They slow to "only" 350kph or so to lessen the shock wave. Be advised, though, that the 'downtown' terminus is not very conveniently situated. As for heavy rail trains, Shanghai Central now has only slow and...

When the footpath was built to the seaward of the railway, the then owners of one of the houses objected to the fact that walkers would be able to see in through their windows. (Although given the penchant for net curtains in those days, one is forced to wonder WHAT they'd actually be able to...

Sale & Altrincham Messenger reported yesterday that tram-train proposals for Altrincham to Hale (with possible extension to Knutsford), Altrincham to Stockport and ending the dual single-tracks at Navigation Road have been 'shelved' as uneconomic by TfGM, The Stockport line may still be revived...