Saturday Variety

"Tricky Dicky" Train Decision

Having been poked in the eye over his proposals to run trains on the West Coast main line, Sir Richard is developing plans to run via the Channel Tunnel. He is about to submit (or maybe he has already submitted) his proposals to the various authorities (and there are lots of them!), presumably awaiting approval. Be patient Mr B, it take ages.

So he has indicated his intention to buy some trains and will, doubtless, be taking his collecting box round to the many financial institutions who may wish to lend him the money. Even Sir Richard's millions or billions will not be enough to pop into Astom and write a cheque.

It is a bit more complicated than that!

Botcheston Bus Bother : An Update

The Leicester Mercury is on the case!

As confidently predicted by the Mother Shipton of bus prophecy (fbb, and equally unreliable!), a replacement service has been announced.  At least the press has got hold of something.

Now that Alice has "hit out" something clearly needs to happen.

Alice is right to be unsure.  After failing with route 26, and failing with route 28, does anyone really think Arriva is going to commit two vehicles to this very non-commercial link? 

As a frustrating aside, fbb did follow "the link below" to the County's web site and, surprise surprise, here was nothing about any Botcheston replacement.

It is a challenge to understand what Arriva and the Council has planned; fbb will have a go at sorting it out, what might be called an uneducated guess.

It looks like there will be a real scheduled bus on schooldays only for the school kiddies going to  Groby or Glenfield and some sort of Demand Responsive Transport "service" outwith these times. It may be that the DRT journeys run into Leicester but that is not clear either.

So thanks a bunch Leicester Mercury.

Also "on the case" is the County Councillor from Groby ...

... with a name that sounds like a "geet-ar pickin' country and western singer. In the excellent village news and adverts magazine, he writes ...

Ozzy probably isn't interested in Botcheston but he is clear on the forthcoming changes.

Isn't he?

Arriva thinks the service will still be  numbered 28 not 27A ...

... although, knowing Arriva's high incompetence rating, combining this with the Councillor ignorance quotient, it is hard to guess the right answer.

Time will tell on both matters.

Pedantically Correct ... BUT

It s not really a new station as such; it is a new station building.

Or it would be if there were only one platform and only one track.  Clearly the artist creating the impression has never been there. It must be that doyen of illustrations, Albert Inchcape.

And there doesn't seem to be much overhead electric string in evidence; but it is coming "soon"! 

This is the view from the roadside ...

This below ISN'T East Kilbride ...

... although it does illustrate at least one on-line piece about the new East Kilbride station. It is actually Hairmires, the next stop towards Glasgow where a footbridge is necessary as it has two tracks.

Below is the previous "new" station at EK ...

... and before that, it looked like this.

Way, way back, before they new-fangled diesel things materialised it was a "real" station.

The branch is one of the few Glasgow local lines that fbb has not enjoyed. He has had a bit of a chunter round on the town's buses, but the railway station is not best placed for snappy bus/rail interchange unless you are desperate for the walk. fbb wasn't.

fbb will aim to go when the string is electrified and when Mrs fbb needs more Scotland therapy!

Esplanade's Exciting Cafe Culture

After two years of waiting, the new cafe at Ryde Esplanade station (sorry, Interchange) has opened.

It is not the most architecturally stimulating building, having had its floor space cobbled together under various bits of old station roof, notably part of the Ryde tram platforms. It is currently a bit "bland" ...

... but offers a view across the Solent towards Southampton Water. There is an entrance from the street ...

... and a second set of doors from inside the building, a corridor closed off at certain times - probably when the caff is also closed.

On the opposite side of the corridor you will find the toilets!

It has been a long, long time a-coming, but is certainly more pleasing than anything that has existed before. Obviously it also serves the bus station!

Do they do a good well-filled bacon butty and a mugga?

fbb awaits a full quality assessment from his Senior Isle of Wight correspondent who supplied most of the pictures. Thanks Alan.

Model Railways; Why So Expensive?

And  no wonder!

Recently, Sam Turner (of Sam's Trains fame) has reviewed the Accurascale Class 60, a model of one of the key freight locos operating on Britain's railways. They have appeared in many, many liveries but Accurascale have managed to find a picture of the one that begat Sam's model.

The model is expensive, VERY expensive, at full retail, and you do wonder why.

Sam's review gives a clue. Apart from wheels, a motor and a very detailed body, you get lots of extras.

The front lights work as do those at the back which show red (not obviously red on a video screen shot).

They swap over when the loco changes direction.

The couplings are mostly clear plastic which makes them far less obtrusive.

There are lights in the cab ...

... and lights behind the various dials that the driver must observe at all times.

Yes, really!

There are even lights in the engine compartment visible via see-through etched metal grilles.

You also have also switches to control all this if you cannot afford to rebuild your layout to DCC standards. They are hidden in a lid on the roof ...

... held in place by little magnets. The switches ...

... are too small for fbb's stubbly fingers and the labels are too small for fbb's slightly dodgy eyes.

Also in the body shell, you will find the "stay alive" technology. For the technically minded this is a rack of condensers ...

... which hold on to a bit of the electric from the track and keep the loco going if the rails are mucky or the track is a bit dodgy. fbb is something of an expert at creating dirty and intrinsically dodgy track.

The big question. How much?

£170 discount price. By today's' horrific standards, that is good value. DCC sound fitted versions are £100 more.

fbb's last loco bought was a vintage second-hand Triang "Nellie" ...

...  at £28 and he found that painful. It does have wheels and a motor!

 Next Variety blog : Sunday 24 Aug 

Is It Or Isn't It - Part 3

What Has Happened To Fleming Way?

The above locally-published picture purports to show the original Fleming Way set against the new look Fleming Way(in Swindon) due to open for business in a few days.  But with the predilection of on-line editors to resort to so-called AI (which isn't!), who knows?
 
One of the features of the set-up before the upcoming fettling was access by steps down to a low level footway ...

... gloomy passageways ...

... tunnels under the carriageway and steps up to the bus stops.

Much of this has changed with the new order, although detail of access from nearby property does not yet feature on publicity photos.

But where is Fleming Way, anyway, hey?

Some readers will be familiar with Swindon's "Magic Roundabout" ...

... technically known as a "ring junction".

A left hander (see map extract below) will take you towards the defunct bus station and the not defunct railway station.

This would bring you to the eastern end of the new bus boulevard seen below bolted and barred with much work in progress.

From here to its omnibological cul de sac western end Fleming way IS the ersatz bus station! Google Streetview shows a curious mixture of the old bus station (straight line of stops) and the new bus stop proliferation on Fleming Way.

Through traffic can cross the stretched out new bus station from Tricentre One to Holbrook Way. 

The little cluster of four stops at the end of John Street (bottom centre in the above plan) seems to smack of desperation because of lack of room for everything out on the main drag!

Although the public cannot yet use the new terminal (to allow time for "training"), there has been a formal opening.

This has included pictures of the new "accessible" bus shelters ...

... with electronic displays.

The Council is well pleased with the extensive arboriculture (trees!) along the central reservation of the bus station ...

... presumably designed o discourage eager passengers seeking to nip across the road to make their connection.

Now a really good bus station will have "inspectors" to monitor and regulate the service, plenty of seating for meeting and greeting, some large departure boards guiding folk to their required departure stands; and, obviously, an enquiry office staffed with helpful knowledgeable people and stocked with a full set of leaflets with a giant wall display of timetables and maps to give comfort to those uneasy with the normal routine.

There would be a cafe and FREE toilets.

So what can Swindon's £33 million transport hub offer?

Spoiler alert: not a lot!

Fortunately GoAhead's Swindon buses, successor to the Corporation's transport department, provides an excellent PDF plan of the new lavish (?) "facilities".

There we see the western end with two "N" bays with a shelter each ...

... but one long shelter for L and M and, bottom centre, the mini bus station with four J  bays (no pictures yet available).

No "facilities" so far!

Below is the continuation westwards.

... and there, lo and behold, are the only "facilities"! At least they are essential "facilities"!

For the record; the whole bus station is nearly one quarter of a mile in length, so you will need your running shoes if you have a tight connection between ...

... your bus from Orbital Park (Stand B) and your onwards National Express coach on Stand N1/2. Only athletes should attempt any such tight connection!

So over the last sixty years approx, interchange at Swindon has gone from Fleming Way plus adjacent bus station, via Fleming Way to bigger but less adjacent bus station to a very long bus station for everything, but with no facilities.

Or, to put it another way; from, in 1965, a line of bus shelters on Fleming Way ...

... to, in 2025, ...

... a line of bus shelters on Fleming Way.

A Bus Station - Is It Or Isn't It?

60 years of customer service progress - and good value for £33 million???

At least the local rag seems very excited!

Ahem; you are a bit previous! It doesn't open till 31st August!

 Next Variety blog : Sat 23 Aug