Cumbrian Coast Loco Hauled Stock

[sprinterguy]

Oh how we laugh at the 'longest cul-de-sac' jibe! It came from a comedian (Mike Harding). You understand how comedians make jokes? (Never been to Scarborough, Whitby, Devon & Cornwall, Hull, etc?)

I apologise if my light hearted jest has caused any manner of offence, it wasn't intended for anyone to get exercised about. I didn't realise that Barrow genuinely had any willing defenders, so kudos to you and thank you for introducing a sense of mild surprise to my afternoon.

I'm quite familiar with the work of Mike Harding and I certainly don't need the craft of comedy explained to me, but there's an element of truth to the majority of stereotypes.

I have been to all the places you have listed apart from Hull, and none of them have felt as far removed from everywhere else as Barrow. For sure it doesn't feel anywhere near as remote as some areas of the Scottish Highlands for example, but such areas give a very different sense of isolation rather than deprivation.

A couple of hours in Barrow? Unfortunately the National League form team have no game that day so you'll have to make do with admiring the Victorian architecture, visit the Dock Museum, walk around the wonderful public park, visit one of the four nature reserves, take a stroll on one of the beaches or, I suppose, even visit 'The Duke' outside the station or look at the pretty pictures of trains in the 'Furness Railway' a little further down Abbey Road. Helpfully, both serve not only good beers but hot drinks. You may need them after several hours in a carriage with the door windows open all the way from The Great Border City.

The Dock Museum is pretty good, but I think that also having to resort to listing the Wetherspoons as one of the attractions of a town is clutching at straws a bit.

Of course a train may not turn up for many reasons but delay attribution is irrelevant to the figures I referred to and you have ignored my original question. If you have waited for a train to work, school or college at, say, Seascale then over a four-month period you have been twice as likely to have had a LHCS train cancelled, part-cancelled or more than thirty minutes late at its final destination compared with all trains on the two routes.

I believe that I answered your original question adequately. The source of the data is important as the initial cause attributed to delays or cancellations uploaded to publically accessible feeds such as Realtime Trains doesn't necessarily provide an accurate portrayal of the true reason and hence the cause of disruption can potentially be incorrectly attributed to the locomotives when, following investigation, it was proven to be no such thing.

Given the large number of scheduled services run over a four-month period, can you suggest why that huge difference could be consistently attributable to any reason other than one type of train being inherently less reliable than the remainder?

I have made no allegations against the unreliability of the loco hauled stock. The evidence in the available data, the number of cancellations and anecdotal evidence is conclusive. 87015's query was regarding the quality of the data collated by FLAG, not the quality of the stock itself!

 

[mde]

I appreciate that it's where DRS' primary depot is, but I suspect that starting from comparatively remote Carlisle will further suppress demand, coupled with the threat of presumably having to spend a couple of hours in the afternoon sampling the 'delights' of Barrow-in-Furness.

The paths so no such 'luck' alas as the stop in BIF is very short.

2Z37 leaving Carlisle 09:52, arriving Carnforth 13:00 http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/S43922/2019/01/11/advanced
2Z38 leaving Carnforth 13:10, arriving Carlisle 16:15 http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/S43923/2019/01/11/advanced

The question is, what will the spare be if something breaks during the journey?

 

[sprinterguy]

The paths so no such 'luck' alas as the stop in BIF is very short.

2Z37 leaving Carlisle 09:52, arriving Carnforth 13:00 http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/S43922/2019/01/11/advanced
2Z38 leaving Carnforth 13:10, arriving Carlisle 16:15 http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/S43923/2019/01/11/advanced

Ah, I did wonder whether that was a possibility: I was unsure whether the 4:15pm time stated would be the return time from Barrow or the arrival back in Carlisle, and it appears to be the latter. Thanks for confirming.

 

[mde]

Ah, I did wonder whether that was a possibility: I was unsure whether the 4:15pm time stated would be the return time from Barrow or the arrival back in Carlisle, and it appears to be the latter. Thanks for confirming.

Admittedly, I had wondered the same - Northern's advert is perhaps a bit too vague on the subject.

 

[philthetube]

The Dock Museum is pretty good, but I think that also having to resort to listing the Wetherspoons as one of the attractions of a town is clutching at straws a bit.

Other Wetherspoons are worth a visit from a railway viewpoint, Watford comes to mind, go upstairs and there are information posters about the Metropolitan line.

The pub was built as the terminus for the met but Lord Cassiobury had other ideas.

 

[Harbornite]

What a difference a decade makes. They were reliable on the Cardiff to Rhymney line and they had to work hard to keep to the sprinter schedules.

They weren't working with DBSOs tho...

 

[Roose]

Or you could walk into town and admire the 1960's shopping precinct, then walk round the back and dance with the druggies and drunkards.

I bet your helpful advice goes down a bomb on Tripadvisor!

I didn't realise that Barrow genuinely had any willing defenders, so kudos to you and thank you for introducing a sense of mild surprise to my afternoon.

When you are in a hole...

The Dock Museum is pretty good

Glad you enjoyed it. Try some of the other things I suggested next time; might give you a more balanced view of the town and its setting.​

I think that also having to resort to listing the Wetherspoons as one of the attractions of a town is clutching at straws a bit.

My irony is clearly wasted in print (but the info in the Furness Railway is genuinely interesting for anyone unaware of the development of the town and area).​

87015's query was regarding the quality of the data collated by FLAG, not the quality of the stock itself!

And I think my earlier post confused his with yours. Sorry.​

 

[Bovverboy]

156s are superior to everything.

In most situations, I prefer a 150.

 

[fowler9]

In most situations, I prefer a 150.

Personal taste is amazing. I find the 150's rather bleak no matter the refurb.

 

[yorksrob]

In most situations, I prefer a 150.

Unfortunately the windows tend to be in all the wrong places.