Rotten One At Otterton
Aeons ago, fbb was verbally chastised by an adoring relative, of the posh female variety, for misuse of the word 'rotten'. "Only fruit is 'rotten'" she boomed threateningly!
Bill The Bard wasn't talking about fruit.
"Something is rotten in the state of Denmark" is from 'Hamlet''. It is spoken by the guard Marcellus in Act 1, Scene 4, after a ghost appears at the castle.
And, talking of the Spectral World ...
Ghostly Ghastly Guesthouse
As fbb's Stagecoach 9A sped between Colyford and Sidford, the old man amused himself by checking how accurate the "next stop" display (with verbal) announcements were.
They were hard to hear in a bus packed full of excited passengers, many of whom would alight to experience the delights of Sidmouth's folk event.
The best the system could manage was a strident "The Next Stop Is" followed by the stop name un a much quieter voice.
But the screens were OK except when neither matched reality in their timing, on three occasions.
Then there was this:-
"The Next Stop Is" followed by Three Horseshoes Inn. There were no passengers on or off, but fbb was able to snap The Inn That Wasn't There'.
It was there, once ...
... but was closed when the fbbs arrived in East Devon in 2013. It slowly decayed ...
... the rumour being that its owners could not get planning permission to demolish it. So they left nature to do the job for them ...
It was replaced with a house a couple of years ago,
... very successfully.
The "official" stop name is really "inappropriate". But it does appear to be a development with no name. It seems likely that Three Horseshoes Farm (upper left on map view below) took its name from the pub!
Sidmouth Stop Shambles
The 157 is hourly, the 382 and 899 both run very approximately every TWO hours. The 9/9A is every 30 minutes. The 387A has one departure in the morning and one arrival in the afternoon on Thursdays only.
But when it is busy it can be chaos. When a broken down bus blocks one stand ...
... and when half hourly Folk Festival shuttles come and go.
Each shelter has a bus stop sign ...
... and there is just one electronic display screen affixed high on a pole. Depending where the sun is, the tiny screen can be illegible. At busy times it is often surrounded by a scrum of anxious locals and visitors trying to read it. Or, as fbb overheard from an overheated potential passenger:-
"It says the 9A to Seaton is 'due' but it hasn't changed for 10 minutes!"
And can you read the information on the bus stop flags?
So when the fbbs passed through twice, there was chaos as folk folk and non folk passengers tried to find their bus. And was the 9A going to Seaton or Exeter? And had anyone seen a 157 to Exmouth?
The lady who posed the latter question had already mussed one 157 which arrived at the outer end of the row of stands, then left, ignoring passengers waiting at the correct shelter. She was thrilled!
In peak summer, and certainly during the Folk Festival, there should be a man in a peaked cap and a high-ves vist helping the passengers find their correct bus.
It is called good customer service.
For the record, Sidmouth used to have three high quality timber shelters as befits a demure seaside resort with no slot machine arcades. 
One was burnt down by the idle youff and replaced by a smaller timber hut, still extant ... 
... the other two, presumably to save maintenance costs, are more draughty less comfortable standard characterless products and far less "green".
Well done, Devon county!
More on customer service tomorrow as this blog became more complex as it was compiled. The owner of the 81 plus year old brain (it was formed in mother's womb) needed a bit more time to sort out a weird Stagecoach timetable and a weird Stagecoach route.
But, in the meantime ...
Blast The Ballasting continued ...
It is certainly looking better ...
... but way way short of the work of skilled modellers. They use a proper ballast spreader!
fbb needs to rediscover his sleepers by removing the grey poster paint! Others have had similar problems ...
To be fair, above is part of a narrow gauge layout. In reality narrow gauge track is often laid to a lower standard that a British railway main line. But below is part of Simon George's "Heaton Lodge Junction" in 'O' gauge.
It's enough to make a grown man cry.
Note the variety in ballast texture but also admire the 'main line' perfection.
Next Otterton conclusion blog : Wed 12 Aug
