I've had 4 delays of 2 hours (suprisingly, all exactly 2 hours, give or take a few minutes). One was because someone threw themselves under 87019 as it went through Prestbury (between Macclefield and Stockport) at about 100mph, and it happened to be hauling the VWC train I was on at the time (annoyingly I wasn't supposed to be on it, I should have been on the previous VXC, but the Central train I'd caught to Stoke had been delayed and we were held at the junction whilst it went past, then outside the station whilst it left). Took about 1 1/2 hours to get the line open, then we had to wait for a relief driver to arrive on a southbound VXC before we could go, so arrived at Manchester near enough 2 hours late.
Another was a very embarassing trip to Skegness with a friend of my mum and her children who didn't normally take the train. We arrived at Nottingham to find a 156 on P1 showing Skegness, and shortly after another 156 coupled behind. It then got to a fair way past departure and the doors were still shut. Eventually, a 158 came in behind (coming from Crewe) and also coupled on and we were allowed to board, and left about 10mins down. Performance seemed decidedly sluggish though, and I was soon wondering how much more delayed we'd be on arrival if this kept up. We made our first stop at Netherfield, about a mile from Nottingham, which I was fairly sure wasn't booked, the fact that the 6 car train was longer than the platforms being a bit of a givaway. Almost straight away the driver got out of the cab and walked back along the train, and eventually there was an announcement that there was a technical fault. After some time I decided to have a walk and try and find out, and discovered that the brakes on the 158 had been dragging since Nottingham, apparently the second time this had happened to this driver. At least they had opened some doors further back so we could get out. They tried uncoupling and recoupling the 158 a few times with no success, and now about an hour down a fitter was called. They took nearly half an hour to arrive, and again tried uncoupling and coupling. After about 2 hours, the passengers from the 158 were moved into the 156s and we carried on. On route we passed a single 150, "could be worse" I though. On arrival back at Skegness for the return journey, the 150 pulled in, left packed solid, with quite a few unable to board and more put on buses for stations to Boston. Not suprisingly the family we took have not been by train since.
Next time was once again a Central 158, this time the engine on the back car pretty much blew up between Stamford and Oakham. Eventually we limped to Oakham arriving about half an hour down, with a trail of oil and diesel along the track, and various wires hanging from the underside. At least we could get off though, since the 158 already had no air conditioning, and it was a hot day in July. The driver proceeded to tie up all the loose wires and pipes and place a red flag on the rear (since the battery had been isolated) and explained that he would shunt to the loops just outside the station, and the following train would pick us up. Great plan, only it took control over an hour to authorise this, so when they finally left and the next train arrived to pick us up, it was itself running an hour late, and also quite busy, and full of disgruntled passengers who had had to wait for an hour outside the station (in some ways we were lucky). At least the crew were great though, taking all our details to deal with compensation claims, keeping us informed, moaning about control, and finally leaving with the words "right, as we've been planning for the last hour, we'll take this heap of junk into the sidings and the next train will pick you up. As you go flying past us you can either give us a wave, or two finger, which ever takes your fancy, and hopefully we'll be able to limp back to the depot eventually". Naturally, they got a big wave as we went past.
Most recent was again a Central 158, but this time not actually their fault, since there was a gas leak in New North Tunnel, so I ended up sitting for over an hour outside the station waiting for the line to re-open. Of cource, onward trains were also messed up, so the next Cardiff did not leave for some time, and by that time the next one (2 hours after the one I was due on) was about due, so I got that, which was nice since with the previous train only about 10mins infront, it was pretty quiet. As the previous delay, the guard came around as we waited to get into the station and took our details for compensation.
Only other significant delays I've had have both involved travelling from Ipswich to Yarmouth, firstly caused by a 86 failing and requiring Thunderbirding, and more recently by some idiots dropping something on top of a 90, damaging the pantograph and also the OHLE. Both ended up well over an hour, although the former would have been 2 hours had Anglia not held the Yarmouth train at Norwich. The second time I didn't get to Yarmouth since the train was supposed to be the direct loco hauled service (it's first day of operation) but it was terminated at Norwich due to the delay, and the 47 having been used to rescue the "failed" set, and I wasn't going to Yarmouth and back on a unit just for the sake of it (and I'd already had good use out of my Rover).
Luckely, I managed to get compensation for all but the first and the last, since the first was a fatality, which is never paid out on, although were it to happen now I'd go to Central and try and get something from them instead since was it not for their initial delay I'd have been on the train infront and well on my way to Manchester by the time it happened.
) So fair enough, that wouldn't have too much impact on our journey; find an alternate route, etc. After a considerable wait in Crewe, we finally heard the Beep, Beep-Beep of the Driver-Guard buzzer and after the right away, we were off. Then, at Goostrey there was a prompt brake application. There was a tree on the line. All we could do was wait until Network Rail cleared the line, checked the OLE etc...
