Islamd Break : Gateline Dateline

Dateline : Monday 12th October

For those unfamiliar with the geography, Seaton is far left, Salisbury top right. The fbbs drove their elderly motor car to Axminster for their train to Salisbury. 

Surely they should use Axe Valley Travel ...

... with an excellent bus service connecting with every train? Well it doesn't at the moment!

The train service between Exeter and Yeovil has been reduced from hourly to one every two hours. Here is the timetable.

Not only has the frequency been reduced but the times have changed; actually approx 20 mins have been added to the running time between Exeter and Yeovil.

Why, you may ask?

Here is Notwork Rail.

Why, you may ask?

Apparently the very dry weather means that the clay subsoil is losing its integrity ("drying out", for the technically minded) and the track is "at risk" of sinking.

But hold on there! When was the above report posted.

So the above item was for last year - "remedial work" was completed and the service was back to normal by the first week of November.

Amazingly, exactly one year later, this notice appeared.

So whatever went wrong in 2025 has gone wrong again in 2026 on exactly the same date. What a coincidence! The very helpful ticket clerk at Axminster station told a waiting passenger that no date for a return to normality had been formally announced, BUT ...

... unofficially she had been told that it would be the first week in November.

Sounds VERY familiar!

Does fbb smell one of these?

It seems odd that track was repaired in 2025 only to go bad between the exact same dates in 2026.

The aged pair were on the 1044 from Axminster. 

They arrived in good time, in order to do battle with the car park ticket machine. Just pulling into the station was the 1014 to Exeter, running about 10 minutes late.

Due to the failure of new technology to allow trains to leapfrog over one another, the trains were not right time at a passing loop on what is a single track railway.

Thus the 1044 train to Salisbury left Axminster nearly 10 min late!

There is an 8 minute connection time at Salisbury!

Arrival at Salisbury was 6 minutes late thanks to a few minutes "recovery time".

The old crocks were on their way to Portsmouth Harbour ...

... arriving 1352 (the train was was 8 mins late) with plenty of time to catch the 1415 ferry ...

... to Ryde Pier Head.

Gateline Gorgeous?

But there have been changes at the Pier Ferry Terminal at Portsmouth Harbour. From platform level (it is all built on stilts built out over the sea) ...

... a ramp descends to the ferry terminal.

At the foot on the ramp these have appeared, shown below before they were fully operational

There are better pictures of this novelty at Ryde Pier Head.

Below is a better view looking towards what was once a caff and us now just a waiting room.

Again, looking back the other way towards the trains and car park,

The wooden bit is a new ticket office.

Now, when fbb travelled via Portsmouth Harbour, two Wightlink staff were stationed at the fully working barriers. This is exactly the same number if staff who used to stand and collect/check tickets in a barrier-bereft world!

Gateline Hate-Line?

Don't you mean Great-Line, fbb?

Until very recently, you entered Portsmouth Harbour station ...

... turned right past the caff ...

... and took a long walk towards the wet stuff. Below we look back towards the caff and entrance.

But look what has arrived!

A set of self-service barriers for those holding train tickets.

So where do ferry customers go? They cannot buy a ticket in the station booking office because South Western Railway does not sell Wightlink tickets. 

It was fine when trains and ferries were both run by the Southern Railway ...

... and even fine when British Rail introduced Sealink branding ...

... but things became complicated and dis-integrated with privatisation. Sealink ...

... then became Wightlink. 

So what do you do at the barriers if you DON'T want a train but DO want a Wightlink ferry. And the ferry ticket office is way beyond the new barriers? 

Seemples!

You say to the man at the barriers that you want a Wightlink ticket and he will let you through.

So what do you do at the barriers if you DON'T want a train ticket  because you DO want to cheat the railways and travel free and illegally.

Seemples!

You say to the man at the barriers that you want a Wightlink ticket and he will let you through.

So what is the point of having barriers?

Answers in a postcard, please, to the usual address.

A respected web site confirms this stupidity.

The new ticket gateline at Portsmouth Harbour station is even more contentious, with Wightlink (operator of the FastCat foot ferry to the Isle of Wight) crying foul. There has always been free passage for pedestrians through the station building between the City and ferry, a right of way now blocked off by SWR’s new ticket gateline. 

Wightlink has been advising its passengers that they don’t need to show a ticket at SWR’s ticket gates … but imagine if you’re new to the area and trying to find your way to the ferry! 

Of course, ticketless rail travellers will simply blag their way through the gates on the pretext of being on their way to or from the ferry, which rather defeats the object. 

 Next Island Break blog : Thurs 15 Oct 

Big Bus : Snall Bus (2)

 How It Is Now!

With model buses now retailing, pre discount, at over £70, building up a collection is becoming the prerogative of wealthy old men. The men may not be older than fbb, but they will need to have much more disposable income. 

fbb would spend £75 on a model of the Fearnley commemorative decker ...

... because of his 60 year friendship with young Giles - but not for a transient route 20. Nevertheless, Rails expects that the 500 models commissioned will sell out quickly.

Back in the day, the iconic model bus was this ...

... manufactured by Hornby, at Binns Road Liverpool, from 1938 to 1966! The version illustrated above may have been repainted and given a new box. Most of them will look like this.

Modern models do not aspire to such longevity, AND, they are made to look at, not be bashed in the garden or dropped in to a concrete floor!

There are worse bus models, as here with "pull back" power train and an awful attempt at a London Routemaster.

No London bus has ever shown the destination "London"! And no London bus has ever looked like this!

So it happens that the display at Rails is by a company that fbb had never heard of ...

... which gives itself an address in Bolton. 

So fbb decided to go to that address c/o Streetview and suss out their factory.

Here is Institute Street Bolton ...

... full of no factory, but flats and offices, one of which might be in the newer block on the right. That is where this company lives.

So fbb reckons that the "Head Office" of Model Buses Collection Limited is a box file on a shelf in their accountants' offices! Such are the ways of modern business.

Thus the company is like most model railway "manufacturers". Iwan Jones and his chums do not "manufacture" any model buses - they pay someone else to make the buses for them.

Iwan gives the game away in the above video extract when he reports that MBC has "taken over the tooling (for a London bus) from Northcord".

The main thrust of the recent Rails YouTube video is that MBC has "commissioned" models to their own specification and more are on the way.

One is a London Buses single decker. 

Iwan claims that detail includes patterned moquette and, as you see, an engine under the hood. The model is delivered in a transparent. display case accompanied by a chunk of pavement, bus stop pole and 'flag'.

The timetable frame looks like a good representation ...

... likewise the 'flag'.

It is a real bus on a real bus route as confirmed by Ian Armstrong's London Bus Routes web site ...

... and a timetable c/o Robert Munster.

The other MBC "exclusive" is from the Bee Network in Manchester,

Again, it has its pavement chunk and stop pole.

Once again the 635 is very real.

Unlike in London, Bee Network does provide timetables ...

... c/w a service roite map.

Note that, in Manchester, you get a full timetable and a proper detailed route map. In London, you get neither from TfL!

But the models ain't cheap!

£65 for a diddy single decker; definitely OUCH!

Tomorrow's  blog will include a brief review of yesterday's journey from Axminster to Ryde PLUS, hopefully, the details of the Southern Vectis bus trips that are " en marche" today.

 Next Island Break blog : Weds 14th Oct 

Big Bus : Snall Bus (1)

======================

Today the fbbs left (or will be leaving) Axminster for Ryde Isle of Wight for a short break. There will be meetups with old friends, a bus trip, some good nosh and, hopefully, some very simple relaxation. The elderly gruesome twosome will be staying at Yelf's Hotel Ryde with neighbours plus ferocious dog ...

... standing guard at fbb mansions. Sadly fbb cannot photograph a threatening snarl.

=========================

The First Big Bus ...

... pictured outside Rails of Sheffield and again from a passing drone!

The bus emanates from Madeira, home, supposedly of cake ...

... fortified wine ...

... and an appropriate song from Flanders and Swann!

We are told, by the man from Rails, that the bus was one of two "driven all the way from Madeira to Derbyshire for preservation".

Not QUITE right, Rails.

There are a few bits of wet in the way!

Importing vintage Volvo B10M buses from Madeira to the UK

This isn’t the usual reason people visit Madeira; however 18 months ago I visited for the first time after a friend said “did you know they still run 40 year old Volvo B10Ms there??”

Little did I know 18 months later I’d be part of a group bringing 2 of these back to the UK.

On Tuesday they were shipped to Lisbon, then over the last two days we have shared driving them from Lisbon to Santander. Today we continue the journey via Ferry to Portsmouth and from there the buses will continue up to Derbyshire.

A piece of the islands less-known#about history, to be preserved in the UK.

These both operated with Rodoeste along with around 30 others. They were all withdrawn a few months ago to make way for brand new Ivecos!

It is the one on the left that rocked up at Rails.

And a key question flo our readers ...

... Did they use Setright ticket machines on Madeira?

In case you wondered ...

... the buses are front entrance ("ENTRADA") and rear exit.

By now it must be obvious why a preserved Spanish island's ...

... one man, left had drive single decker from Derbyshire was parked outside Rails shop on Chesterfield Road, Sheffield.

Of course it was part of the launch of a model bus which had, already - in a way - been launched.

The Internet has been full of this bus which passes Rails shop.

Here is a better shot taken at its Hemsworth terminus ...

... a healthy walk from Rails at Heeley! fbb is not sure how many were bedecked in this brand, but, soon after they took to the road, First waved goodbye to route branding in favour of boring corporate dark blue.

And Some Little Buses

This man ...

... Iwan Jones (wonder where he hails from?), was at Rails with just an advert card for the route 20 model ...

... but other samples of his company's products. We will look at these in Part 2, tomorrow.

Meanwhile, we will pay this event a visit.

Sadly this video had a brief introduction and a brief farewell but no commentary. Dyed-in-the-wool model bus enthusiasts will be well aware of what goes on at these shows; but, on behalf of his readers, fbb will wing it for a brief guide.

You see lots of model buses!

There are also other commercial vehicles as here in a sample diorama of several featuring heavy duty quarry work

There are trade stalls, selling ...

... model buses (there's a surprise) and those providing the wherewithal to make your very own model buses.

fbb did notice, however, that all the buses on display were in pristine polished pulchritude. The craze for "weathering" model railway rolling stock (or buying the wagons ready weathered!) ...

... has yet to overtake the bus tyros and experts alike.

Here's are some Manchester models ...

... and bang up to date in Bee Network garb.

How about PMT ...

... or Crosville?

But, for fbb, the best displays were of purely imaginary fleets with excellent imaginary liveries.

Of those seen in the video, the most extensive was a huge depot of these ...

... and even more in the yard alongside!

Ironically, whilst a busy uni student, fbb started his fake fleet, encourage by a chum. It was for Holdenborough Transport and its livery was yellow and green.

The one poor quality plastic bus that fbb repainted was never seen again, abandoned in an office drawer within the curtilage of Sheffield Uni Students' Union. Might it still be there?

Tomorrow, we return to Rails for some big buses now available at "ouch" prices as little buses ...

... like this one!

Next Big Bus Little Bus blog : Tues 13 Oct