Weekend World of Fantasy 2

Travelling On Foot By Tube

A recent blog on the Bude Tunnel also led fbb to reminisce about the plastic tunnels that led to the Weston Favell District centre at Northampton, but a short distance from the family home in Little Billing.

One tube (very fuzzy on this picture - looks like a sewer pipe!) led across the old A45 from estates to the south (and the old man's childhood pad) ...

... whist the other pipe took you from Westone Estate (north of the old A45) across a collection of roads, mega and service, also to the main block.

These elevated walkways can be picked out on this Streetmap extract.

Correspondent Alan sent a recent picture of the refurbished bridge from Westone Estate (accessed via a creepy bit of path) ...

... pointing out that the shopping centre is some distance away; distance enough to enjoy the traffic fumes from below!

In 2005 Atkins ...

... produced a masterplan (don't you just dread that word?) for improving access to this massive shopping "mall". It included a scheme to reroute the main road through the centre, providing ...

... a bus turning area (2) and ...

... a public transport hub (3) a k a a clutch of laybys and shelters. It also suggested that the councils could install information screens and explained in some detail what they would do.

There was to be a posh new entrance to the stores (2) in the diagram below) and those "high quality" lavish bus stops (1).

Fifteen years later the bus turning area is still a car park ...

... and the lavish bus stops today ...

... look much the same as in 2005!

But 15 years of progress has brought folk ....

... departure screens.

The bus turning area didn't matter a jot as no buses now use it. When the centre first opened Northampton Corportation's long standing route 1 (serving fbb's grannie's and aunt's residences) was extended from "The Trumpet" to the new shopping experience and it turned in a specially built "loop" ...

... still in situ, but largely unused.

Sadly, however, the big development remains something of a fantasy.

Fantasy in Wellingborough.
Northampton's Alan has oft written about the difficulty of obtaining public transport information in his (and, in the past) fbb's home county. This was his take on roadside displays a while ago ...

... useful departure lists (or maybe not?) but obliterated by filthy glass.

But things are now better.

Or are they? Now we have no departure lists, just a map.

But only Stagecoach services are shown. To be fair (?) extra information is available at each stand at Church Street "interchange" ...

... but to claim that the single poster display (seen here behind the shelters) ...

... is useful "public transport information" is propelling truth way out of the understanding of most bus users. It is simply an advert for Stagecoach.

But at the railway "interchange" the situation is worse.

Note the station, centre right. Once upon a time there was a service W4 which called right outside the booking office, whence, according to Northamptonshire Council, you could catch a Virgin Pendolino.

Now nothing omnibological goes there. But hold fast Mr Mate, the W4 has been re-introduced. Hooray?

Not quite.

Finedon Road Bridge is being rebuilt as part of the railway's electrification from Bedford to Corby.

Route X1, 44 & 45 Wellingborough Diversion - From 22nd March for up to 8 months    Due to Network Rail bridge works in Wellingborough, routes X1, 44 and 45 will be on diversion during the times and dates above: For passengers using Finedon Road, Eastfield Road and Midland Road, new route W4 circular will be running during this time via the following route  Town Centre, Cannon Street, Finedon Road, Eastfield Road (for Wellingborough Rail Station), Midland Road and Town Centre.

Does the replacement W4 go to the station? Of course not! The 44 and 45 which it replaces didn't and we wouldn't want people to start catching the bus to catch the train or vice versa, would we? That would never do.

First problem. The stop is in ELSDEN Road NOT Eastfield Road ...

... and, second problem, it is about a quarter of  mile from the Station; and not signposted.

Meanwhile the lovely little bus bay and shelter AT the station ...

... is occupied by taxis.

And a question. Which company runs the trains at Wellingborough station?

The colours of the logo might be a clue.

And who runs the buses (44. 45. W4??) that STILL don't serve Wellingborough station?

There are a couple of clues in the picture above.

Let The Train Create The Strain!
Yesterday, the fbb's were expecting a coach ride from Axminster to Crewkerne ...

... and were surprised to greet a Damory vehicle going to Exeter at about 0645.

The driver explained that he had picked up nobody at Yeovil, nobody at Crewkerne and there were no customers at Axminster. That's because Mr Damory was not advertised on the web site, posters or destination screens. He did not exist.

He DID exist the previous Saturday as a "strike-buster" coach when no trins were running west of Yeovil. Ooops? The scheduled Exeter Coach arrived in Axminster at 0701 a few minutes after the fbbs left. Eastbound and westbound vehicles passed at Millwey Rise.

The fbb's coach arrived spot on time (0655) with two on board and five joining at Axminster.

There was no SWT representative. POOR

The coach did not carry a destinations board. VERY POOR

But as the sun rose, arrival at Crewkerne was early and the driver dropped his customers right outside the gate to the platform. And there WAS an SWT mam.

One of the two class 159 units was decked out in another version of SWT livery, ditching the dull grey and dull blue grey diagonal stripes in favour of all-over white(ish) with dull dull doorways.

The inside had been "done up" with duller blue-grey seat moquette with very dull dark grey head rests and a new dull dark blue and dull dark grey carpet.

But there was one bit of brightness on the train ...

... the Stagecoach notice on the sliding doors. How we will miss the bright and cheery Stagecoach moquette.

LOVE the planters (new) with Southern Railway name plaques (old) attached.

Not dark blue, not dull grey but malachite green.

The journey was trouble free with a three minute early arrival at Waterloo.

The 1130 departure from Euston to Glasgow was spot on time and the usual five minutes late at its first stop at Warrington. But then came a worrying announcement.

This train WILL now continue to Glasgow but make an additional stop at Penrith.

Had anyone said that it wouldn't?

There then followed, before and after Preston, announcements about coping with:-

Many cancelled trains north of Preston

Why? Nobody said.

Thanks to a mobile phone fbb was able to read this on Virgin's web site.

If there was no power in the electric string, how would fbb's train get to Glasgow?

The National rail site seemed not to worry ...

... only four minutes late at Glasgow - no probs!

Several hundred people joined at Carlisle, most of whom were trying to get to Edinburgh (ex East Coast) and points north. They had been advised to cross Glasgow to Queen Street thence to Waverley.

The National Rail site was more gloomy. East Coast trains ...

... which were due to be diverted via Carlisle and Carstairs because of engineering work, had stopped completely. Trans Pennine looked bad.

And fbb's Virgn Trains?

Speeding north of Carlsile, fbb's train lost its predicted four minute delay for arrival i  Glasgow in favour of an ominous ...

... "delayed". 

Our replacement train manager (guard in old money) was a little more forthcoming in his announcements, possibly because the pre-Preston person had not been properly informed.

The overhead string at Carstairs junction had been damaged (possibly vandalised) requiring a six hour repair followed by two hours of testing; completely blocking the northbound lines. 

Single line working was arranged round the problem but queues of trains and the consequent delays were inevitable.

Thus is was that the fbb train cam to a shuddering halt south of Abington, waiting in a queue, and eventually arrived in Glasgow NOT four minutes late but 75 minutes late.

After a sumptuous evening meal in the (absent) company of the Colonel ...

... the fbb's treated themselves to a taxi to their lavish and luxurious hotel.

Later today (Sunday) they meet up with their Rail Discoveries holiday gang.

But what will they do to entertain themselves until 1800?

 Coplaw, Kelvin and Clyde blog : Monday 24th September