From Our Man On The Spot

PLASE NOTE

This weekend brings our monthly Fellowship meetings on Sunday and Monday. Either there are a lot more months in the year due to the ravages of inflation OR months are a lot shorter, mirroring the reduction in sizr of  chocolate bars! Either way, months appear with alarming rapidity.

To add to the fun (?), after disposing of the Scottish mega cold, just over a week ago the East Devon germs stepped in to fill the gap. The snoitery snuffles, dry cough and general lethyrgy are back in place but slightly less debilitating than the Caledonian version!

But we  soldier on, dutifully!

The consequence is that Monday's and Tuesday's blogs may be significantly curtailed if the energy needle drops rapidly into the sector painted red.

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Daventry Changes - First Working Day

It is worth remembering that, way back in 1989, the United Counties direct route between Northampton and Daventry offered an hourly service. Two hourly route 41 (the rough equivalent to todays' hourly D2) was augmented by the two hourly limited stop route X64 to Birmingham.

The route map on the leaflet was, erm, basic! Until last weekend, and since the Daventry Dart brand and timetable, there have been two buses an hour fast (ish?) between the two towns. 

So things weren't always better in the good old days!

Alan write s:-

First journey   0958, Service D4, Long Buckby railway station to Daventry Bus Station.

This is the infrequent service further reduced as part of the "improved" timetable.

The stop for buses towards Daventry still has the now out of date timetable. 

The one across the road for buses into the village has none.  

On the journey to Daventry the five passengers already on the bus were joined by three of us at the station and one more at Buckby Wharf.

Like the new "improved" hourly frequency between Northampton and Daventry,, the kindest word for Daventry’s bus station is basic. However nearby there are toilets, and town centre shops, including providers of coffee and cakes. 

Timetable information has been updated, except for the 200 ...

... to Banbury which now departs at 32 minutes past the instead of the previous 15. That’s Stagecoach Oxford so “nuffin to do with us, guv”.

At least the web site is correct so "IT IS ALL ON LINE"

The only persons available to help passengers at the bus station were the bus drivers.

The D1 to and from Rugby went straight back there ... 

... no longer running to Northampton!

And a past example of Stagecoach's strict adherence to the correct brand!

Route 4 is a Rugby town service.

Northampton buses were operating in a complex quadrille of interworking.

xx05 depart Northampton as a D3

xx11 arrive Daventry (past the next hour.)

xx15 depart Daventry as a D5 (town service)

xx38 arrive Daventry

xx42 depart Daventry as a D6 (town service)

xx17 arrive Daventry (past the next hour)

xx22 depart Daventry as a D2

xx01 arrive Northampton (past the next hour)

xx07 depart Northampton as a D2

xx47 arrive Daventry

xx52 depart Daventry as a D3

xx59 arrive Northampton (past the next hour)

And the fun and folic continues!

I calculate that five buses are needed for a five-hour circuit. No route branded identical vehicles are used this time. 

fbb must congratulate Alan on working this out!"

He continues:-

Vehicle allocation is the “it has a wheel at each corner, send it out" system so we have two Enviro 300 single decks, two gold branded double decks and an 04 registered Trident double deck 18408.

While Gold liveried bus 15845 (originally branded for Gloucester route 10) ...

... has leaflets about the shiny new buses on Northampton services 1 and 2 on board; apart from the posters stuck on the bus shelters and the council press release reprinted by the “Daventry Express” there is nothing else printed to be seen. 

While younger folks are permanently attached to their smart phones, none are to be seen among the more mature clientele at the bus station on Monday morning. 

This is causing a certain amount of, - no quite a large amount of, - confusion.  This is not helped by the driver of a bus being rather tardy in changing the destination to service D5, resulting in several passengers being left behind, to wait another hour for the next.

Not very shiny or new Trident 18408 ...

... or its drivers had problems with its dot matrix destination screen and could only manage to show “Stagecoach” as its destination.

Bus preservation groups can arrange printed destination labels or even correct roller blind displays for one day events Stagecoach could not even produce handwritten signs on bits of cardboard for this bus. 

Later in the day it did finally mange to show D3 Northampton on the screens.

West Northants council also reports. Bus punctuality continues to be one of the top priorities for bus passengers.

Observations at Daventry confirm that they might have something to complain about. Any delay on that complicated five-hour circuit is going to delay every other journey.

Alan's conclusions are probably to be expected and are similar to fbb's. The difference is that Alan is there shivering on Daventry bus station seeing it all for real. fbb is sat a his desk/dining table/modellers bench/model paint shop in considerablr comfort looking from afar.

Overall verdict for Stagecoach and West Northants Council - on how the change to service patterns was managed on Monday - 6 out of 10, must do much better. 

As a model of indifference to passengers, preventing passenger numbers returning to pre-covid levels and discouraging people from using the bus it was perfect.

fbb reckons 6 out of 10 is overly generous!

Storm Ciaran Seaton Consequences 

Wednesday Night - VERY wndy! - heavy rain lashing against the front of fbb mansions.

Thursday Morning - the road outside fbb mansions is only just above high tide level, hence three steps up to the front door! So at 0820 yesterday winds and the tide overtopped the sea wall just up the road from the fbb residence.

The lake in front of the wall is the Esplanade. Normally the sea is nowhere near the Spot On caff.  It is not open at this time of year. Can't think why.

The surplus then ran down the slightly sloping Trevelyan Road and began to threaten properties including fbb mansions. Once high tide had passed however, the encouraging fluid ceased to encroach and by 0930, the road was clear of  H2O. It never got higher than kerb and pavement level.

Phew!

 Next Variety blog : Saturday 4th November 

Daventry Due for Dynamic Development

But we don't want to rush into anything!

But the town council has a vision ...

... albeit an unhurried one. 

Actually the council hasn't had a vision; it has paid someone else to have a vision. That someone is ...

The company is a relative newcomer (2013) to the game, but must be important and good because its on-line CV is in very big print.

With offices in London, Utrecht, Portland (Oregan) and even Hampshire, they've got to be ideally placed to advise on Daventry. Their web site is somewhat lacking in examples of their global reach, however.

Hmmmm?

Anyway, the report is choc-a-bloc with proposals to make the town look pretty, to improve the environment for walkers, cyclists, elephant trainers and, of course, to save the planet.

Now Daventry has growed a bit big! Here is the town in the 1930s ...

... and here is the town today.

Note the huge Royal Oak industrial estate ...

... and, not far away to the north, the even hugerer DIRFT.

Daventry has a bus station. Well, sort of ...

... just behind a hedge on New Street.

It is next to Tesco and shares an entrance with the store's car park - well, every little helps.

The retailer of repute is the rectangular slab in the above Google view, top right. Note, in passing, the juxtaposition of the bus station and the car park opposite.

There are four very tatty shelters serving six head-in reverse out stands.

And that's it.

No toilers, no waiting room, no enquiry office; absolutely NOTHING to aid the passenger.

So what is Troy proposing to enhance the environment, accessibility and user-friendliness of this very basic interchange facility?

Answer - get rid of it all together!

Here is what the consultants say, in a paeon of praise for the environmental benefits of bus versus car.

AIM

To change the character and hierarchy of New Street from a car dominant space, to a pedestrian and cycle friendly environment.

PROPOSALS / INTERVENTIONS

1. Make New Street one-way to reduce road widths and provide space for a new cycle route and wider footpaths.

2. Make drivers more aware of people movement through improved traffic slowing measures. Implement colour and texture change along the length of New Street carriage way.

3. Explore the potential to develop the former Magistrates Car Park with a development that creates a positive / active frontage and helps positively addresses the road junction.

4. Explore options for redeveloping the Police and Magistrates court buildings for a mixed use development with commercial uses at ground floor (with possibly a hotel above). Any such scheme would seek to retain the court element of the Magistrates building. This would be the subject of a detailed development brief.

And the bus station?

The underused bus station is prominent and unattractive in the street scene as it is heavily surfaced and could therefore be reinvented to have a more attractive alternative use.

Almost hidden is the plan to relocate the stops to on-street locations in New Street. Quite how Troy defines "underused" is unclear as almost anyone who takes a bus to or from the town centre will use the bus station.

And what might that alternative us be, pray.

There's Tesco with its car park and by the big green number 6 is something that looks very much like a car park.

A different map, outlining a different part of the project, spills the beans.

And there it is, clearly at Number 10.

Troy wants too turn Daventry's inadequate bus station into a car park.

Thanks a bunch Troy. Thanks a bunch Daventry town council.

So glad to see that your environmental aims work out in favour of the motor car and against the bus.

Here is a better idea:-

Close New Street completely except for buses. Dramatically improve the ambiance and facilities of the new high quality bus station and enhance ALL the services.

And maybe stop telling lies, Stagecoach.

More about these "improvements" in tomorrow's blog using information from Northampton Alan who took a trip to Daventry earlier in the week.

P.S. Troy does have one bus pictured in its extensive report.

Recognise it? It is an induction charged midibus operated briefly by Arriva on route 7 in Milton Keynes. 

The project was a technical failure - so ideal to improve the environment in Daventry.

  Daventry "On The Spot" blog : Friday 3rd Nov 

Is It A Bus : Is Ir A Car? Is It A Train (3)

In Case You Haven't Heard

Both the withdrawal of the one-day travelcard-plus-rail ...

... and total ticket office closures ...

... have been rescinded.

Sense at last!

If You Want Rail Buses Or Railcars ...

... then the County Donegal Railway Joint Committee system would have been the place for you.

It's the bit of the island of Ireland, top left in the north, that isn't part  Northern Ireland.

The County Donegal Railways Joint Committee operated an extensive 3 ft (914 mm) narrow gauge railway system serving County Donegal, Ireland, from 1906 until 1960. The committee was incorporated by an Act of Parliament in 1906, which authorised the joint purchase of the then Donegal Railway Company by the Great Northern Railway of Ireland and the Midland Railway Northern Counties Committee.

On 1 May 1906, the Joint Committee was set up. The lines inherited by the Joint Committee totalled 106 miles and were:

Finn Valley Railway (FVR) from Strabane to Stranorlar

West Donegal Railway line from Stranorlar to Donegal

The Donegal Railway Company lines between Stranorlar and Glenties, Donegal Town to Killybegs, Strabane to Derry, and Donegal Town to Ballyshannon

The Joint Committee opened the Strabane and Letterkenny Railway on 1 January 1909, bringing the total mileage to 121 miles (195 km). By 1912 the company owned the following assets:

Locomotives and rolling stock: 21 locomotives; 56 passenger vehicles; 304 goods vehicles

Head offices and locomotive works at Stranorlar

The Strabane to Derry line was completely owned by the Midland Railway Northern Counties Committee, although it was operated by the CDRJC.

It was the conversion from steam ...

... to diesel that brought the main era of rail buses and/or railcars to the characterful narrow gauge line. Sadly this quaint system closed in 1960 well before fbb was alert enough to even know of irs existence!

But if you want rail buses, small (above) a bit less small (below) ...

... and large (enough) ...

... you would have found them there.

Fortunately, a small stretch of the line has now reopened as a heritage railway where you can still experience something of the delights of this much loved railway.

There are several videos on YouTube of which one is available below. As a bit of a challenge to our  readers (and a BIG challenge to fbb!!) the commentary is, quite rightly, in Irish Gaelic.

Never mind, we can enjoy the views.

You might even he able to find Fintown on the map of the railway.

There it is, upper centre, on a stretch of line marked "closed". Its passenger service expired in 1946.

Surely it would be a joyous experience if you could visit!

Park Royal Rail Bus Part 2

If fbb really coveted a model of this beautiful BR vehicle, he could buy one manufactured by Danish company, Heljan.

On-line prices seem to run from about £90 (used) up to £200 (brand new OUCH). The model is long out of production hence "rarity" prices.

Such an outlay would not sit well with the Domestic Authorities, especially as we are entering the high winter fuel price season!

The second-hand ex Airfix kit model offered by Hattons had been cleverly motorised by plonking the body on a Hornby Pacer chassis - not actually correct but passable to the average viewer.

What attracted fbb was the price. ONY nine quid! Frankly, by today's horrendous price standards, even on second hand stuff, this was farcically cheap. 

You can find tank engines with missing funnels, missing couplings and erratic running for over £40! Indeed Hattons were offering a similar motorised rail bus for £44, but it looked like it retained the correct chassis.

So fbb sent off his £9 plus £4 postage and awaited arrival.

If it was that awful, fbb could throw it in the bin without crying for too long.

Upon unpacking, it looked a bit tatty; some of the windows were stained by glue ...

... mirroring a modelling ability well represented in fbb's skill set. Three of the four "nominal" buffers were missing ...

... and the roof was dark green - it should be dark grey.

So fbb put it on the track and, boy, it was erratic. The Hornby Pacer chassis is renowned for poor running as it only has electrical pick-ups on one of the two axles - not good enough. This one needed "the hand of god" to get it going as it repeatedly gave up the ghost for no obvious reason.

fbb's repair tools are (a) hammer and (b) WD40. A liberal squirt of the latter, then back on the track where it now ran as sweetly as any of fbb's stock. It did sound like an electric motor fixed to an empty plastic box, largely because it IS an electric motor fixed to an empty plastic box.

But what a beauty - a tatty beauty - but a beauty none the less. And for nine quid.

fbb fitted a rough copy of the buffers ...

... and painted them black so you wouldn't know they were wrong. You probably wouldn't know they were there!

And the roof is now dark grey (yes, it should be matt and not shiny) ...

... and there is now a hint of the yellow roller bearing axle boxes as fitted to the real thing, but not to the Pacer.

Now, will the body come off so fbb can fit lighting and extra plastic people? It may be possible to muffle the "hollow plastic box" sound.

For the time being fbb will leave well alone and rejoice in his really cheap acquisition.

It has only taken 50 years since he first bought his long-lost and never-built Airfix kit!

Donegal - A P.S

Here is a video (4 min) of a model recreation of Donegal station. And it all works perfectly - an experience unlikely at Peterville Quarry Railway c/o 2nd floor, fbb mansions..

But the chubby one can dream!

 Daventry P.S. blog : Thursday 2nd November