Sunday Variety (mini blog)

 Told You So!

Readers may well remember ffb's blogs on First's mangling of services to Otley and Ilkley via Headingley. The long-standing limited stop X84 became an all-stops 25 and 26. The locals were not happy.

They did not want the ten minute time penalty of the all-stops schedule, neither were they enamoured by the prospect of horrid local passengers clogging up their longer distance ride.

"It will work fine," said First Bus, "We have scheduled the 25 and 26 journeys to avoid the worst of the cloggage."

To the whingers of Weetwood this recent headline will therefore come as no surprise.

Those opposed to the changes are not at all surprised.

"Bunching" is exactly what First said would not happen!

Another solution would be to make the 25 and 26 limited stop along the Headingley Road and number them X84 and X85.

You might wonder why nobody thought of that in the first place.

Excitement In Northumberland

In a few days a brand new half hourly train service starts between Newcastle and Ashington as per the map above.

The line is already running a year late and most of the new stations will not open until next year.

Emma is not pleased!

The official take on the delay is that there "were challenging situations!" Too right Notwork Rail. With the whole project running months behind schedule the "challenge" looks very much like a euphemism for "incompetence".

With just over a week to go, the new line has not found its way on to Northern trains' network map ...

Neither do the journey planners know anything about it!

Their answer is unhelpful.

Disappointing all round.

Will This Be Disappointing?

It was back in 1996 that the first privatised train arrived at Waterloo Station, operated by Stagecoach as South West Trains. It is ironic that the same operation should be the first to be taken back into State ownership.

What actually will happen on May 2025.

Nothing.

All staff will transfer to be employed by the interim version of Great British Railways. Sometimes senior managers do decide to "pursue other interests" and seek fulfilment elsewhere but otherwise all will remain in work.

Timetables will not change and we now know that fares will have increased in January by more than the rate of inflation.

Rolling stock will still be leased from the existing leasing companies.

Livery will not change.

Currently First Rail are being paid a fee to run SWR, so, from May, First Rail will not get this payment and HMG will save this money. First's existing contract expires in May so the new HMG management will have no takeover compensation to pay.

This week's Transport Minister, Heidi Alexander, has already been telling us how wonderful nationalistion will be.

What will HMG spend it on? 

In fact, Heidi, £150 million is small change for the rail industry and will make almost no difference at all to the Railways' overall finances!

For those who don't keep a running tally of Transport Ministers, here is the official ministerial picture of Heidi, MP for Swindon South.

But, overall, fbb will not notice anything new at Axminster station from May next year. 

And fbb has also obtained, courtesy of Johanna Spyri, a portrait already commissioned of Heidi consulting a senior member of the DaFT (Department For Transport) staff.

He doesn't seem too pleased to have yet another boss!

And The Big Question ...

Is this a tank wagon? And should fbb add one to his collection. You see, it does not carry petroleum derived products.

It is a very large cylindrical cement wagon, code JPA.

Whilst fbb would not have one of these below in his collection ....

... because it is not tank wagon shaped, a model of the real version shown at the head of this snippet might qualify.

There is such a model ...

... but fbb would not pay £85, miserly modeller that he be.

Maybe search for a better deal?

More to follow.

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"NOT the Advent Calendar", but ...

     The      

  CHRIST -mas 

  Criss-muss  

   Confusion  

 Critique   8 

1000 Years' (very approx) Preparation
.

CHRISTmas (the "mas" or festival of Christ, "the Saviour") really only got going about 300AD, although the date was agreed about a century earlier.

But at year 0 hardly anybody noticed. The birth of Jesus was a non event. A few scruffy shepherds were involved. A group of Zoroastrian savants did their stuff and an aged dying king had a tantrum with tragic results.

But for 1000 years, influencers had been offering something very special.

It all kicked off with him - and, yes, we really don't know what he looked like.

In reality, he wold have been more swarthy as an outdoor type and much more Jewish in aspect. His predecessor was King Saul, who messed up badly; his successor son was his illegitimate child, Solomon, who started well and messed up big time. But he, David, was the first king of the whole nation that we now call Israel.

He was less than perfect with a sexual dalliance with a good-looker (hence his illegitimate son) with tragic consequences 

But over a dozen different influencers were convinced that something good would come from his dynasty.

Once in royal David’s city

stood a lowly cattle shed,

where a mother laid her baby

in a manger for His bed:

Mary was that mother mild,

Jesus Christ her little Child.

The link to CHRISTmas seems, at first, a bit tenuous. But more to follow!

In case you are wondering, "influencers" in the Bible are called "prophets".

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 Next TC4 Underground blog : Mon 9th December