Sunday Variety

Abertawe Implies AI Actually Ignored

Most sensible bus people are still reeling from the Absolute Insanity of First Bus' Appalling Investment of £4 million on "Artificial Intelligence" software to manage their timetables. The results were, as can be seen above, Astoundingly Incompetent an delivered Amazingly Impossible timetables.

A recent glance at First Cymru in Swansea (Abertawe In Welsh) found services running at sensible fixed intervals, but shown on weird PDF timetable pages.

So when fbb read that times were a-changing in May "to improve reliability", his heart sank! This was First's Apparent Impetus for Approving Investment in this crackpot and Anti-passenger Implementation.

When fbb looked at the Appropriate Issue of current timetable details he found the presentation Actually Irritating ...

... but at least buses were running at Acceptable Intervals, in this case hourly at 35 minutes past for all daytime journeys Monday to Saturday,

What might First have done to these Admirably Implimented schedules.

Thankfully NOTHING!

There is no evidence of the expensive softwares's Adverse Interference in a sensible timetable.

And the presentation of May's revised times is Attractively Impressive.

Thankfully the staff of First Cymru have successfully repulsed the English tribes of First Bus and sent them and their new technology packing even before they could cross the River Severn, sorry, Afon Hafren.

Rejoicing in this defeat of Administrative Insanity, fbb will look more closely at First in Swansea in tomorrow's blog.

Narrow Gauge Novelty

Whilst traditional model railways seem to be in decline, companies are still surprising the markets with new products. Hornby's TT120 is expanding with an HST set and a very nice tank engine ...

... whilst news from Bachmann is somewhat more weird.

The company is introducing a range of narrow gauge models but to 7mm scale, not the 4mm size of most narrow gauge models currently available. Bachmann are calling it N7. Some commentators have jumped to the conclusion that it is a "new scale"

It isn't.

But it is the first time that ready-to-run models have been available in this scale and gauge combination.

It used to be called On16.5 which admittedly is a bit of a mouthful. You can translate the jargon. What it actually means is that the trains, wagons and scenery are to O scale (7mm to the foot) but it runs on 16.5mm track which is the same as OO or HO.

Here is a montage with early 3D printed versions.

There are various varieties of a "Quarry Hunslet" loco and a small selection of wagons.

Here is a close-up of two of the loco versions ...

... an a real one for comparison.

There are to be appropriate building models as well.

Bachmann has said nothing about price and colours as yet but they will be expensive.

An interesting development.

There Was A Tavern In The Town

When fbb was "nobbut a lad" he remembers reading about an exciting development on the southern region of BR. 

Mr Oliver Bulleid (Chief Engineer of the Southern Railway) came up with an idea to boost sales on the company's refreshment cars. The result was controversial but intriguing. 

There appears to be no pictures in colour, so a model will have to suffice to bring joy, delight, horror or revulsion to those  who loved the SR (both uses if the letters).

Where would normally be a buffet/restaurant was decked externally in red brick and half timbering complete with a pub sign.

Inside the low roof beams and timber bar completed the illusion.

It sold draught beer!

Although the operator claimed great success and increased sales, this enthusiasm was short lived and the coaches soon reverted to normality.

Shame, it could set a trend. How about a KFC or Maccy D instead of a boring old buffet counter? Or a good old British chippy?

A popular song from the olden days seems appropriate.

All together now ...

There is a tavern in the train, on the train

And there beams can cause you pain, cause you pain

And drinks will make you merry as can be,

And you never, never think of me.

Fare thee well, for I must leave thee,

Do not let this parting grieve thee,

And remember that the best of friends

Must part, must part.

Adieu, adieu kind friend, yes, adieu

The Tavern Car just leaves me feeling blue,

You come back home on the five fifty three,

So sloshed that you won't eat your tea.

Fare thee well, for I must leave thee,

Do not let this parting grieve thee,

And remember that the best of friends

Must part, must part.

... maybe they were TOO successful.

Puzzle Picture

It is part of an ongoing model railway project - but what? Answer later if it works out. If it is a disaster fbb will probably keep very quiet!

 Next Sensible Swansea blog : Monday 22nd April 

Post-Festive Pot Pourri (3)

Antipodean Adventure Part 1

No 1 son plus wife have enjoyed a trip overseas earlier this month. It was partly work as son was giving a couple of keynote lectures; but the couple took advantage of the business trip expenses to buy a second fare and have a bit of an explore.

Sadly, No 1 son did not seem to be keen oh photographing publis transport, concentrating on the varied city and country scenery available! You can't get the staff, you know!!

But a few pictures formed a useful starter for an fbb blog exploration.

 One of those illustrations was this video.

It shows a freight train (at night, but you may have guessed that!) passing under a footbridge on which stood the brave Mr and Mrs.

This footbridge in fact!

The bridge was frail and ominous signs warned that five persons ONLY should be using it at one time. In addition, the clearance between train and bridge was very small. Also, the train was very noisy indeed. 

'Er indoors was frit!

Here is another picture of said bridge from a nearby "road" for want of a better word.

The sign on the red shed is Moana.

Moana Waialiki is, as we all know, a cartoon character from the Disney stable.

But the footbridge Moana is a community on South Island, New Zealand and a station on the "Midland Line"  (ORANGE).

The line runs from Greymouth to Christchurch and is one of only two routes still open to passengers on the south Island. On the map below only the BLUE lines have a passenger service; GREEN is for freight only.

Anything else is closed or proposed.

Moana lies between Greymouth and Arthurs Pass ...

... the station building is seen above, viewed from the Station House Cafe ...

 

... which looks a good place for grub!

The line is predominantly for freight as in the nighttime train above ...

... but there is one tourist passenger service each way called the TranzAlpine.

In the summer, the consist includes two unglazed standing room only ...

...  observation "wagons".

One of the many highlights of the line is the tunnel through the mountains at Arthurs Pass, also a station en route.

Called the Otira Tunnel ...

... it celebrated its 100th birthday this year.

Wikipedia explains the information given in the video more fully.

A contract to build the tunnel in five years was let to the engineering firm of John McLean and Sons who started at the Otira end in 1908, using the "drill and blast" method. With progress difficult and slow McLeans asked to be relieved from the contract in 1912, and were financially ruined. The government could find no other tenderers, so the work was taken over by the Public Works Department. The breakthrough was on 20 July 1918, but concrete lining took a further three years, and then two more years before the tunnel opened in 1923.

And all the antipodean adventuring twosome could do was stand on a rickety footbridge in the dark!

They were driving in a small camper van and their route took them parallel to the railway tracks over the Arthurs Road Pass.

In case you are wondering about the size of the trains ...

... maybe thinking that New Zealanders must be giant men and women, please note that the tracks are all narrow gauge, more than a foot narrower than standard at 3 feet 6 inches.

Cute?

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

Y for "Yellow" Quiz Answers

Rochdale coach company 

Yelloway

Flying Banana at Great

Yarmouth

Yellow buses at

Alexander Northern

Railway signals are NOT amber but

Yellow

Yellow Buses once owned by

R A T P (Paris)

Old Yellow Bee Brand resurrected in

Manchester

Steve Rotherham's Liverpool brand

Metro

Yellow front Blue Line started by

Southern Vectis

Isle of Wight Company    

Westbrook Travel

Yellow coach branded

Western Falcon 

Brighton fruit

Big Lemon

Edie McCredie drove her bus in

Balamory (Tobermory)

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

 Next Antipodean blog : Saturday 30th December 

Sophistication in Sweden's Stockholm

But Maybe Not For SL?

When fbb was a childhood and ignorant collector of postage stamps. he remembers that those fot Sweden were printed on very cheap paper and not a patch on those of Queen Elizabeth II.

They look a bit brighter now but still a bit flimsy. But there is no monetary value on them.

There is a King ...

... who has been on the throne for 50 years. He is King Carl Gustaf and his queen is Silvia.

She has a 30 Krone commemorative with price printed thereupon - but this year's Christmas stamp (just one not about 100 as in the UK) is unpriced. (OK Maybe 100 is a bit if an exaggeration but ...)

They have quite a neat system for postal rates. Currently they go up in steps of 15 Kr and a single stamp pays 15 Kr of postage - so for a 45 Kr mailing you stick on THREE identical unpriced  stamps.

Jul (Yule in English) is "Christmas" and Brev means "mail". Seemples!

fbb struggled to remember what he had forgotten about Sweden and, with a bit of a prod from Wikipedia, came up with Saab and Volvo cars ...

... Bjorn Borg ...

... Auguste Strindberg ...

... and a popular music group whose name currently escapes him?

Were they in any way successful?

Stockholm ...

... has a city population roughly equivalent to Birmingham but is built on a multiplicity of islands.

This makes things exciting for public transport.

It has red buses ...

... and blue buses.

It has blue trams ...

... and suburban trains (also mainly blue) designated "Metro" ...

... and airport express trains in cream and yellow.

It also has a small, narrow gauge suburban network ...

... which is now being equipped with shiny new trains.

Everything (except the Airport Express) is run by "SL" the city's transport authority; but everything is "contracted out" to a variety of operators.

But the web site ...

... maybe fbb is thick; he doesn't know any Swedish and the English translation version of the web site seems hopelessly inadequate!

Your elderly blogger has found a rail network map ...

... ferries ditto ...

... and diagrams of many, many unpronounceable interchanges.

He tried to "sok" ...

... (with "umlaut") but to no avail.

No map of the bus network is on offer and no obvious timetables of anything!

While you are reading this, fbb will be trying harder. But tomorrow's blog will look more closely at the well-mapped rail services.

Timetables

Use the online planning tools or pick up a timetable. Timetable booklets are free of charge and you can pick them up at the SL Centers.

SL Center are our travel information and customer service centers that are located around town.

You can download a timetable at the Swedish section, but that service is not available in English.

The timetables are in Swedish, but should be fairly easy to understand if you have a slight command of Swedish.

Haven't found them yet!

 Next Stockholm blog : Wednesday 29th November