My Train Journey This Morning

[minestrone]

yeah, that's always a good tease, I didn't say they were perfect, I just disagree with the "they don't know how to have fun" comment

One side of the family is german, they even changed their name during the war.

I refer you to my sausage thread just below this one as proof that the apple never falls far from the tree.

[gricerboy]

One side of the family is german, they even changed their name during the war.

I refer you to my sausage thread just below this one as proof that the apple never falls far from the tree.

Both my uncles married German refugees. The men have both passed away now but I always look forwrd to Germany doing well in the World Cup as one of the aunties them lays on wicked sausage parties when they are playing

[shaunbhoy]

If you've ever visited Germany for any length of time you'd realise that any excuse possible and the bands/sausage stalls and beer tents are got out and a party begins..

Totally agree. Some of the best piss-ups I ever had were whilst I served in Germany. Good food, great beer, decent opening hours, and a lot safer in my opinion than Blighty.

[gricerboy]

I missed it today as a result of being a good Samaritan. Just after parking up, I was walking towards the entrance to the station when I was accosted by an individual who seemed a bit perplexed by the parking tariffs
"Why is it £8.90 to park on one side of the track when it's £6.90 on the other?" he asked. "Well", I said, "you're confusing the weekday prices for the weekend prices - the charges are in fact the same on both sides of the station". So he tells me he thinks it's a bit of a rip off & isn't prepared to pay that for a day's parking.
"Perhaps you should get a season ticket then" I suggusted thinking it would make it a bit cheaper. No, that's no good - he only wanted to park for one day. Anyhow, I thought, noting that he was on foot, where exactly is your car? Upon enquiring he tells me he doesn't actually have a car and has never driven in his entire life In fact, he doesn't even like cars - "the root of all evil", he says. At which point I notice that this man is wearing a dress and appears to have paint all over his face. "You're a damn mentalist Hari Rama" I said as I realised I was going to miss my train. Sure enough, seconds later I was running along the platform after the 6.42 like a scene from a second world war film. Figuring I had 30 minutes to kill, I went back looking for him to give him a good kick in the shins but he had astrally projected himself off somewhere else. I'll get him next time though.

[Sysman]

If you've ever visited Germany for any length of time you'd realise that any excuse possible and the bands/sausage stalls and beer tents are got out and a party begins..

And some of those grills - larger joints of meat than my mum used to put on for Sunday lunch. Yum. I recall one fair-cum-rock-concert where it was horribly muddy - there was even a shoe stall so gf got new shoes more abe to cope with the mire (as a present from a German couple we had just met, I kid you not).

There's also dancing on the tables.

And the Farmer's Omelet we found in one hostelry was a perfect hangover cure.

[gricerboy]

A fairly uneventful journey this morning and not much to report though I realise that I have omitted something of breathtaking interest to a gricer like me that I saw as we pulled into Swindon yesterday morning. There , on platform 3, was Western Fusilier, one of the last diesel hydraulic locos used on mainline services, in her original BR livery. I don't really spot anymore but when I got home, I pulled out my Ian Allen combined volume of diesel locomotives and diesel multiple units and looked up the number. Sure enough, there it was with a red line under it - i knew for sure that I had spotted her before but what was of interest was the letter c that was scrawled next to the number. This letter c denoted that said loco was cabbed by yours truly - i.e. I got in the cab when it was in a station somewhere sometime. My guess is that it was platform 11 at Bristol TM sometime during the 80s. Just above this was Western Onslaught and next to her number were the letters pb. This denotes that I was pulled by her at some time. Ah, the memories. Of course, as an interesting footnote it's worth pointing out that you wouldn't be allowed to cab a loco at a station these days becuase of all the ridiculous health and safety.

[Troll]

A fairly uneventful journey this morning and not much to report though I realise that I have omitted something of breathtaking interest to a gricer like me that I saw as we pulled into Swindon yesterday morning. There , on platform 3, was Western Fusilier, one of the last diesel hydraulic locos used on mainline services, in her original BR livery. I don't really spot anymore but when I got home, I pulled out my Ian Allen combined volume of diesel locomotives and diesel multiple units and looked up the number. Sure enough, there it was with a red line under it - i knew for sure that I had spotted her before but what was of interest was the letter c that was scrawled next to the number. This letter c denoted that said loco was cabbed by yours truly - i.e. I got in the cab when it was in a station somewhere sometime. My guess is that it was platform 11 at Bristol TM sometime during the 80s. Just above this was Western Onslaught and next to her number were the letters pb. This denotes that I was pulled by her at some time. Ah, the memories. Of course, as an interesting footnote it's worth pointing out that you wouldn't be allowed to cab a loco at a station these days becuase of all the ridiculous health and safety.

[SofaKingdom]

A fairly uneventful journey this morning and not much to report though I realise that I have omitted something of breathtaking interest to a gricer like me that I saw as we pulled into Swindon yesterday morning. There , on platform 3, was Western Fusilier, one of the last diesel hydraulic locos used on mainline services, in her original BR livery. I don't really spot anymore but when I got home, I pulled out my Ian Allen combined volume of diesel locomotives and diesel multiple units and looked up the number. Sure enough, there it was with a red line under it - i knew for sure that I had spotted her before but what was of interest was the letter c that was scrawled next to the number. This letter c denoted that said loco was cabbed by yours truly - i.e. I got in the cab when it was in a station somewhere sometime. My guess is that it was platform 11 at Bristol TM sometime during the 80s. Just above this was Western Onslaught and next to her number were the letters pb. This denotes that I was pulled by her at some time. Ah, the memories. Of course, as an interesting footnote it's worth pointing out that you wouldn't be allowed to cab a loco at a station these days becuase of all the ridiculous health and safety.

An excellent pro-euthanasia argument, well done!

[shaunbhoy]

A fairly uneventful journey this morning and not much to report though I realise that I have omitted something of breathtaking interest to a gricer like me that I saw as we pulled into Swindon yesterday morning. There , on platform 3, was Western Fusilier, one of the last diesel hydraulic locos used on mainline services, in her original BR livery. I don't really spot anymore but when I got home, I pulled out my Ian Allen combined volume of diesel locomotives and diesel multiple units and looked up the number. Sure enough, there it was with a red line under it - i knew for sure that I had spotted her before but what was of interest was the letter c that was scrawled next to the number. This letter c denoted that said loco was cabbed by yours truly - i.e. I got in the cab when it was in a station somewhere sometime. My guess is that it was platform 11 at Bristol TM sometime during the 80s. Just above this was Western Onslaught and next to her number were the letters pb. This denotes that I was pulled by her at some time. Ah, the memories. Of course, as an interesting footnote it's worth pointing out that you wouldn't be allowed to cab a loco at a station these days becuase of all the ridiculous health and safety.

The long winter nights must just fly by!!!

[Paddy]

A fairly uneventful journey this morning and not much to report though I realise that I have omitted something of breathtaking interest to a gricer like me that I saw as we pulled into Swindon yesterday morning. There , on platform 3, was Western Fusilier, one of the last diesel hydraulic locos used on mainline services, in her original BR livery. I don't really spot anymore but when I got home, I pulled out my Ian Allen combined volume of diesel locomotives and diesel multiple units and looked up the number. Sure enough, there it was with a red line under it - i knew for sure that I had spotted her before but what was of interest was the letter c that was scrawled next to the number. This letter c denoted that said loco was cabbed by yours truly - i.e. I got in the cab when it was in a station somewhere sometime. My guess is that it was platform 11 at Bristol TM sometime during the 80s. Just above this was Western Onslaught and next to her number were the letters pb. This denotes that I was pulled by her at some time. Ah, the memories. Of course, as an interesting footnote it's worth pointing out that you wouldn't be allowed to cab a loco at a station these days becuase of all the ridiculous health and safety.

Ah, that's the one that had bogie design fault that appeared and it was found that soft suspension between the bogies and the body frame on D1000 created excessive movement of the cardan shafts that transmit the drive from the engine to the transmission. This movement weakened the cardan shaft joints and also set up stresses within the transmission.

Oops, left my trainspotters guide at Swindon.