HMS Ark Royal
Established Member
Or: How I stopped Worrying and learned to love the Replacement Taxi
I am a fan of local non-league side Hull United and, not being able to legally drive, although I do so on private land, it means that away matches involve travelling by public transport. I am, therefore, known as the most dedicated fan following the entire club... Seeing that we were away to Shirebrook, I decided to go to it and so set about planning the trip there and back and, after a few hours of jiggling times and connections, I managed to work out a plan of action.
It didn't go to plan...
Arriving at Hull Paragon, I obtained a single to Shirebrook after a few moments of confusing the young lady who had never heard of the place, and went to Platform 2 to board 1A95 15:12 Hull to London Kings Cross with 180113 in charge. This was of special note because it was my first journey using Hull Trains for six years - my last journey being Selby - Hull on 222103 shortly before its accident. I must admit to there being a smooth pull away as we started the run westwards and the engine noise was very quiet even though I was sitting next to a compartment door. Feeling somewhat peckish, I passed through the door to the Retreat Bar (which was immediately behind me on the other side of the door/bulkhead) and got a large paper cup of tea and a crusty bacon roll for a fiver - result. Whilst waiting for the roll to heat up, I remarked about the last time I was on a HT service which took the young lady, whose name was Becky, off guard and spent a few minutes talking to her about what was being planned - surprising her again with my railway knowledge of what they planned to upgrade with.
After saying goodbye to Becky, I got off at Retford and, not being familiar with that station layout and getting confused by the platform signs, I went into the booking office where I was bumped into by Paul Chuckle of the Chuckle Brothers! After obtaining directions, I went to Retford Low Level to await the arrival of the one way only 2C76 1625 Lincoln Central to Hull which, through the help of the nice Northern twitter people, 142053 was in charge of. Whilst waiting, I watched the main line trains going by and noticed that southbound electric trains had a bit of a sparking issue leaving Retford but northbound trains didn't. Come 17:01, and 142053 pulled in and I boarded it as far as Worksop. I have to say that the journey was okay but the unit badly needs a bit of fettling as it was somewhat dirty on the floor and paint was chipped on the doors and hand rails. After getting off at Worksop, I decided to visit the Mallard which appeared to serve as the station buffet and had half a pint of the local brew at £2.10.
Soon enough, I returned to the platform and boarded 2D22 1746 Worksop to Nottingham with 156415 in charge. Arrival at Shirebrook was on time and, after getting my bearings, I headed off to the football match for a kick off at 19:45 - I got there an hour and three quarters early because of the tight timings. When I got to Shirebrook's ground, I sat on the low wall and waited for the gates to open and then ended up talking to one of the Hull United players who said the game might be called off because of an incident on the M62 - a crash which I believe might have been fatal - and that the team was caught up in heavy traffic. Close to kick off time, it got to the point that the team that did make it asked how I was at football! Luckily, the ref agreed to put it back 15 mins to an 8pm kick off. We also had to use Shirebrook's away strip as ours was over a hundred miles away!
Because of the delay to kick off, I had to miss part of the second half and made my way back to Shirebrook station where 156413 was sat in the platform in the Nottingham direction. I was just about to board it when the guard said the train was cancelled and that it had been held here for two hours. I asked what I could do about getting to Nottingham and he said replacement taxis were being sent. Sure enough, two large minibus taxis turned up and I got in a very smart D&G taxi but in the front - middle seats in the front of minibuses not being designed for those with a 6ft 2'' frame!
Arrival at Nottingham was only 10 minutes down on what was my scheduled arrival time if the line was running normally, so no worries about missing a train. After obtaining a ticket to East Midlands Parkway, I went to Platform 3 to speak to Customer Services about paying them the fare between Shirebrook and Nottingham - the guard on the cancelled and held train not selling me a ticket there for some reason or another.
Me: Excuse me, but I owe you a fare which I have not paid
Customer Service Man: Oh yes?
Me: I tried to get a train from Shirebrook to here but the line was closed due to a gas bottle plant going up in flames and the bottles cooking off. I tried to get a ticket from the guard of the held train, but he wouldn't do it and said I had to pay you when the replacement taxi got to here - so here I am
Customer Service Man: No problem - enjoy your trip home
Me: ... Okaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay... (My mind stopped working for several seconds) Do I pay the money to you then?
Customer Service Man: Nope... Its your lucky day, just forget about it and have a nice trip home
Leaving in a state of utter confusion, I went to platform 8 for 2L88 2310 Nottingham to Leicester which then decided it would much rather go from Platform 4A! A quick jump over the bridge and I got onboard 156498 which sped me all the way to East Midlands Parkway. I then had the odd pleasure of having the station to myself for an hour and watched some freight and ECS passing through. I then saw the Megabus driver come out of the station's staff door and asked why he hadn't turned up prior to 23:59 which was the coaches booked departure time - turns out that services were diverted which meant an extra hour so the coaches were being held back so there was the connection. Setting off on Megabus Plus coach 53604, we had just got on the M1 heading north when we hit thick fog which lasted all the way until Bradford. Once dropping off at Wakefield and Bradford, the driver put his foot down and managed to get us back to Hull at 04:04 whereupon a taxi was obtained to take me home and, after making a cup of tea and watching the newest episode of Star Wars Rebels from a live US feed - I'm not missing that even if I am worn out - I crawled to bed and a blissful sleep.
Total Milage: 293.1 Miles
By the way, we lost the match 2-0
:-x
I am a fan of local non-league side Hull United and, not being able to legally drive, although I do so on private land, it means that away matches involve travelling by public transport. I am, therefore, known as the most dedicated fan following the entire club... Seeing that we were away to Shirebrook, I decided to go to it and so set about planning the trip there and back and, after a few hours of jiggling times and connections, I managed to work out a plan of action.
It didn't go to plan...
Arriving at Hull Paragon, I obtained a single to Shirebrook after a few moments of confusing the young lady who had never heard of the place, and went to Platform 2 to board 1A95 15:12 Hull to London Kings Cross with 180113 in charge. This was of special note because it was my first journey using Hull Trains for six years - my last journey being Selby - Hull on 222103 shortly before its accident. I must admit to there being a smooth pull away as we started the run westwards and the engine noise was very quiet even though I was sitting next to a compartment door. Feeling somewhat peckish, I passed through the door to the Retreat Bar (which was immediately behind me on the other side of the door/bulkhead) and got a large paper cup of tea and a crusty bacon roll for a fiver - result. Whilst waiting for the roll to heat up, I remarked about the last time I was on a HT service which took the young lady, whose name was Becky, off guard and spent a few minutes talking to her about what was being planned - surprising her again with my railway knowledge of what they planned to upgrade with.
After saying goodbye to Becky, I got off at Retford and, not being familiar with that station layout and getting confused by the platform signs, I went into the booking office where I was bumped into by Paul Chuckle of the Chuckle Brothers! After obtaining directions, I went to Retford Low Level to await the arrival of the one way only 2C76 1625 Lincoln Central to Hull which, through the help of the nice Northern twitter people, 142053 was in charge of. Whilst waiting, I watched the main line trains going by and noticed that southbound electric trains had a bit of a sparking issue leaving Retford but northbound trains didn't. Come 17:01, and 142053 pulled in and I boarded it as far as Worksop. I have to say that the journey was okay but the unit badly needs a bit of fettling as it was somewhat dirty on the floor and paint was chipped on the doors and hand rails. After getting off at Worksop, I decided to visit the Mallard which appeared to serve as the station buffet and had half a pint of the local brew at £2.10.
Soon enough, I returned to the platform and boarded 2D22 1746 Worksop to Nottingham with 156415 in charge. Arrival at Shirebrook was on time and, after getting my bearings, I headed off to the football match for a kick off at 19:45 - I got there an hour and three quarters early because of the tight timings. When I got to Shirebrook's ground, I sat on the low wall and waited for the gates to open and then ended up talking to one of the Hull United players who said the game might be called off because of an incident on the M62 - a crash which I believe might have been fatal - and that the team was caught up in heavy traffic. Close to kick off time, it got to the point that the team that did make it asked how I was at football! Luckily, the ref agreed to put it back 15 mins to an 8pm kick off. We also had to use Shirebrook's away strip as ours was over a hundred miles away!
Because of the delay to kick off, I had to miss part of the second half and made my way back to Shirebrook station where 156413 was sat in the platform in the Nottingham direction. I was just about to board it when the guard said the train was cancelled and that it had been held here for two hours. I asked what I could do about getting to Nottingham and he said replacement taxis were being sent. Sure enough, two large minibus taxis turned up and I got in a very smart D&G taxi but in the front - middle seats in the front of minibuses not being designed for those with a 6ft 2'' frame!
Arrival at Nottingham was only 10 minutes down on what was my scheduled arrival time if the line was running normally, so no worries about missing a train. After obtaining a ticket to East Midlands Parkway, I went to Platform 3 to speak to Customer Services about paying them the fare between Shirebrook and Nottingham - the guard on the cancelled and held train not selling me a ticket there for some reason or another.
Me: Excuse me, but I owe you a fare which I have not paid
Customer Service Man: Oh yes?
Me: I tried to get a train from Shirebrook to here but the line was closed due to a gas bottle plant going up in flames and the bottles cooking off. I tried to get a ticket from the guard of the held train, but he wouldn't do it and said I had to pay you when the replacement taxi got to here - so here I am
Customer Service Man: No problem - enjoy your trip home
Me: ... Okaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay... (My mind stopped working for several seconds) Do I pay the money to you then?
Customer Service Man: Nope... Its your lucky day, just forget about it and have a nice trip home
Leaving in a state of utter confusion, I went to platform 8 for 2L88 2310 Nottingham to Leicester which then decided it would much rather go from Platform 4A! A quick jump over the bridge and I got onboard 156498 which sped me all the way to East Midlands Parkway. I then had the odd pleasure of having the station to myself for an hour and watched some freight and ECS passing through. I then saw the Megabus driver come out of the station's staff door and asked why he hadn't turned up prior to 23:59 which was the coaches booked departure time - turns out that services were diverted which meant an extra hour so the coaches were being held back so there was the connection. Setting off on Megabus Plus coach 53604, we had just got on the M1 heading north when we hit thick fog which lasted all the way until Bradford. Once dropping off at Wakefield and Bradford, the driver put his foot down and managed to get us back to Hull at 04:04 whereupon a taxi was obtained to take me home and, after making a cup of tea and watching the newest episode of Star Wars Rebels from a live US feed - I'm not missing that even if I am worn out - I crawled to bed and a blissful sleep.
Total Milage: 293.1 Miles
By the way, we lost the match 2-0
:-x
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