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  1. S

    People's strange misconceptions (transport, and otherwise)

    I was sitting at the back on the lower deck of a Routemaster bus that was bowling along Kensington Gore about 25 years ago when of a group of American lady tourists asked the conductor: "Excuse me, are you actually driving the bus right now?"
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    Why did the class 91s need a flat cab for freight operations?

    It possibly didn't happen for freight but I do remember arriving from Hull at Kings Cross in the late 1980s or 1990s to find a class 91 attached to our train 'flat side first'. So the flat cabs were used to some extent.
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    Steam trains Russia-North Korea

    You beat me to it - just started a thread with the same quote and asking the same question about diesel clag! 1730629372 He was in China though, only viewing North Korea from a distance. Mind you, the Chinese are probably just as adept at messing with visiting journos heads...
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    Favourite Town or City not served by rail

    Pretty much any place on Thameslink, for long periods on most days? In the 'never had a railway' category, Clun. There's also Bishop's Castle, terminus of the famous and infamous Bishop's Castle Light Railway, which succumbed in 1936.
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    Tamworth Station

    A few years ago I very nearly missed a late night connection onto the last London train of the day because of the abysmal signage - I got a wigging from the train manager for holding the doors of the Pendolino open so a young woman who had been similarly bamboozled by the signs could get the...
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    Lewes station not served during bonfire night

    People who really want to go will go by car instead of by train because it's easier, even if it does mean driving home after consuming a few (or several pints). I always cycle from Balcombe or whichever stations are available but a 10-mile ride in the dark isn't everyone's cup of tea, of course...
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    Lewes station not served during bonfire night

    This is a similar point to the one I made in a previous appearance of this thread - car drivers can still access Lewes reasonably easily on the 5th; train passengers can't. Why the discrimination?
  8. S

    Trivia: Unusual / Interesting Calling Patterns?

    I was going to mention the 19.07 Euston to Liverpool Lime Street which was first stop Runcorn. But I've checked the timetable and they've inserted a Crewe stop. Bah!
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    Station pubs (part two?)

    Not quite a station pub, but right opposite the station is the Real Ale Way in Hayes (Kent). Not sure if the name is meant to be a wordplay on 'railway'. Good selection of well-kept Kentish and other local ales, plus real ciders at prices starting from £4.20 a pint. A Real Ale Way has also...
  10. S

    Longest scheduled stop?

    Going back nearly 50 years, I remember a trip on the Cambrian Coast line I took with my parents in about 1973-5. Our return train from Machynlleth only went as far as Barmouth; the timetable then showed a separate train departing about an hour later for Pwllheli. During our one-hour layover in...
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    Things in living memory which seem very anachronistic now

    Letters of credit are still widely used in international commercial trade. There are moves to create an electronic version but meanwhile the paper version is still very much alive and kicking. They're seen as very secure, if somewhat expensive.
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    Trivia/Nonsense - what 'inside knowledge' do you use to 'beat the crowds?'

    A couple of ones for Victoria. If arriving at the station on foot or bicycle, use the Buckingham Palace Road entrance, especially if your train departs from platforms 15-19. Much quicker than the main entrance to the front. Another one for Victoria: if you need a toilet before your train leaves...
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    Trivia/Nonsense - what 'inside knowledge' do you use to 'beat the crowds?'

    I used to have a handy little booklet that told you which tube train car to board so as to be right opposite the relevant exit at your destination. It must have saved me hours of time over the years. I've probably still got it somewhere but it will be hugely out of date now.
  14. S

    The Railway Magazine, November 1899

    The Holyhead & Anglesey Mail was like that into the 1970s...
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    Problems on NS/Eurostar tonight

    From what I was told, there were only one or two Eurostar members of staff on duty at Rotterdam who said that they didn't have authority to arrange hotels, alternative travel etc. It could be lack of training - are they even full time Eurostar staff, or just seconded from NS?
  16. S

    Problems on NS/Eurostar tonight

    It all got very confused. It transpired that Eurostar had refunded some further money to my wife's bank account, which I wasn't aware of at the time, so I think she got most, but not all, of her out-of-pocket expenses back. I decided it wasn't worth pursuing them for a few tens of pounds...
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    Trivia: Closest distance between two bus stops

    In south London, Google Maps shows the 312 route westbound as serving Purley High Street/Purley Station (Stop P) and then Purley Tesco (Stop T). It's about 100m as the crow flies, or from the side of Tesco to the front of Tesco.
  18. S

    Megabus US owner files for bankruptcy protection

    There's a story on the Daily Mail website about the US firm going into administration but mostly illustrated with pictures of the UK operation...
  19. S

    Things in living memory which seem very anachronistic now

    I did my first international train journey at 14. I went to Shrewsbury.
  20. S

    Things in living memory which seem very anachronistic now

    Fifteen and sixteen year olds being allowed to travel on the rail network without creating a media storm. (Viz. Kirsty Allsopp's decision to let her 15-year-old son go Interrailing, leading to someone reporting her to social services.)

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