memyself@not-this.com wrote:

While I can't confirm it (as I've never tried) I'd have thought that the
Heathrow Express ticket offices in the Terminal 123 HEX station,
Terminal 4 station and on the Terminal 5 Arrivals concourse would sell them.

Reports in tonights local paper suggest that there is a desperate need for
more direct services from Harrogate to London.

NXEC are apparently wanting to run a service via Pannal, Horsforth, Leeds
and Garforth every two hours during the day, whilst Hull Trains are wanting
to run four return journeys a day between the spa town and the capital.

NXEC claim that their service will take 3 hours, with Hull Trains claiming a
little over two and a half hours, so possibly they intend going via York?

Needless to say, NXEC are objecting to the Hull Trains plans.
Will the platforms at Pannal, Horsforth and Garforth be suitable to
accomodate a HST (presumably that is what will form the NXEC service)?

Sadly the paper doesn't list the story in the online version, so I can't
post a link.

Virgin Trains' decision to cut its off-peak services from Nuneaton
into London could be taken to a judicial review.

In a timetable due to start in December all fast trains from the
Warwickshire town to London will stop after 0900.

Nuneaton currently has at least one fast train per hour to London
during the day. Passengers needing to reach London will have to go via
Northampton.

Nuneaton and Bedworth Council meets later to decide whether to take
action over the cuts.

More at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/coventry_warwickshire/7521045.stm

what sort of railcard?

Peter

The 'winning' entry for last weeks caption competition is now on my
fotopic site at
http://mikehughes627.fotopic.net/p51819376.html

Many thanks for all those who entered. Cliff and I had a good laugh at
them all, even though we couldn't print then all.

Runner up entries were
"If I stand here and smile, maybe nobody will notice my hand's stuck."
and
"I use brillcream to make the lichen stick"

This weeks competition is for the Cliff, Richard photo at
http://mikehughes627.fotopic.net/p52139171.html

I've put my caption there but I'm sure you can do better.
You have one week.

Eddie Bellass wrote:

Looks like we got off lightly on Monday. We caught the busy 09:04 off Bangor, changing
at Chester onto the 10:30 Merseyrail for Liverpool, a six-car unit which only filled up
for the latter half of the journey. We alighted at Lime Street to see the Western arrive
with its Tall Ships charter then crossed the road for the excellent "Art in the age of
steam" exhibition at the Walker.

Next we walked to the Pier Head and along to Albert Dock, arriving around 13:15 to watch
ships move up river for the formation and seeing the air display. The parade was a
disappointment, I'd expected all the sails to be up but the wind direction was wrong.
People in front got bored after a short while so we had an uninterrupted view before
we'd had enough and walked back to Lime Street. Compared with classic loco-hauled
trains, ships are quite boring :)

The 16:13 to Chester was full and standing from Hamilton Square but no-one was left behind.

Alan

<http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7520598.stm>

"A police officer has been transferred from duties at a Channel
crossing after a disabled child and his parents were detained under
the Terrorism Act.

"Julie Maynard, of Ware, Hertfordshire, was taking a day trip to
Calais through the Channel Tunnel in Folkestone, Kent."

By the look of it, another jobsworth throwing their "weight" around
because their victim was not supplicant enough.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2004/jul/21/top10s.railway
quote
The Guardian
Ian Marchant's top 10 railway books
Ian Marchant is a comedian, bookseller and novelist and the author of
Parallel Lines Or Journeys on the Railway of Dreams in which he
examines the history of the British railway and meets those who still
hold it close to their hearts.
"Sadly, given the importance of the railway to the history of Britain,
lots of books about trains are frankly dull. They have titles like
Branch Lines To East Grinstead, which, with the best will in the
world, do not make riveting reading on the beach. Here are 10 which
do."
1. Broken Rails by Christian Wolmar
Everyone knows that rail privatisation was a botched-up nonsense, but
no one explains why better than Wolmar. This will scare you.
2. The Necropolis Railway by Andrew Martin
Martin's dark and funny novel brilliantly encapsulates the atmosphere
of the Edwardian railway, and the pride and skill of the men who
worked it, all wrapped up in a compelling plot. ...

Photos start at http://mikehughes627.fotopic.net/p52139171.html
There are 11 new ones for you to look at, all taken at our club meeting
on 16 July 2008

Enjoy :-))

Is there any way to coax the trainsfares.co.uk system to sell me the
ticket I want?

I have a multi-train journey with poor connections. trainsfares insists
that the passenger leave as late as possible; I want to book to leave as
early as possible and have the slack time at the last change-point. I
can't find out how to achieve this. Any ideas?

The need is to get my son back from Portsmouth Harbour (PMH) to Matlock
on Sat 16 August. He will get to PMH at about 0950, and wants to get
home as early as possible.

There is an ideal PMH - Southampton - Derby option leaving 1022 arriving
1439. If all goes to time, he would have 9 minutes at Derby before the
1448 to Matlock. If not, he would have to wait until the 1622 to Matlock.

The trainsfares.co.uk site (as used by East Midlands Trains) refuses to
offer the 1022 via Southampton if it knows I want to buy a ticket to
Matlock. Ask it for the first departure after 10.00 via Southampton and
it will offer 1122, connecting into the 1622 to Matlock. But no sign of
the 1022. If I forget about Matlock, and specify Derby, there is the
1022, with advance-purchase availability.