Category Archives: Ferroequinology

Ah ! Paris !

Posted on February 16, 2008 by John

Well, actu­ally, “Brrr  Paris”,  in that there was an extraordin­ar­ily chilly little wind whist­ling up the Seine and round the Tuiler­ies and up and down the steps of the Metro (of which more anon). Eurostar did its bit very nicely and … Con­tinue read­ing →

Posted in books films arts etc, Ferroequinology, Foreign Parts, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

A Ferrovial Friend

Posted on February 1, 2008 by John

A friend in Nor­way recently asked me to explain what D.H. Lawrence  might have envis­aged when he men­tioned a tram con­ductor “swinging round the pole”.  No, it was not what all the jolly boys and girls did in “Sum­mer Hol­i­day”, … Con­tinue read­ing →

Posted in Ferroequinology | Leave a comment

Don’t Do It Deutsche Bahn part 2

Posted on January 13, 2008 by John

The per­ils of one’s fif­teeen seconds of fame ! You will see from the first post with this title that I was inter­viewed for a Ger­man TV sta­tion (based in Stut­tgart) for a news item they were doing about the … Con­tinue read­ing →

Posted in Ferroequinology, Foreign Parts | Leave a comment

Metro Concerto

Posted on April 17, 2007 by John

The Wash­ing­ton Metro (Under­ground to those not in the know) is begin­ning to show its age. It’s just a little faded, a little scuffed, a little down at heel. But still roomy, and clean, and not often uncom­fort­ably over­crowded. But … Con­tinue read­ing →

Posted in books films arts etc, Ferroequinology, Foreign Parts | Leave a comment

Don’t do it, Deutsche Bahn.

Posted on March 27, 2007 by John

Some­body reads this blog! I got e-mailed by a guy from a ger­man TV sta­tion who was look­ing for a train­spot­ter to give some views on the privat­isa­tion of Britain’s rail­ways, in the con­text of the pro­posed privat­isa­tion of Germany’s rail­ways. … Con­tinue read­ing →

Posted in Ferroequinology, Foreign Parts | Leave a comment

London, London

Posted on March 17, 2007 by John

To Lon­don — only 45 minutes late due to a) a late start from the car­riage sid­ings in Edin­burgh and b) a broken down freight train in the Northaller­ton area. (Paras. 14 and 26 in the GNER excuse-book). Slightly ameli­or­ated … Con­tinue read­ing →

Posted in books films arts etc, Ferroequinology, London | Leave a comment

Aren’t Airports fun.

Posted on March 10, 2007 by John

Manchester, Ter­minal 3, 05.50. Oodles of time for a 07.15 flight to Frank­furt. Checked in on line at home so straight through secur­ity and cus­toms — what a breeze! Where’s my gate ? Shit ! Flight can­celled ! Pilot sick … Con­tinue read­ing →

Posted in Ferroequinology, Foreign Parts, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

The Late Night Virgin Mystery

Posted on February 7, 2006 by John

A kind friend has solved the mys­tery of the Plymouth-York Vir­gin Cross Coun­try which is sched­uled to leave Leeds at 22.10 then takes 48 minutes to York, arriv­ing at 22.58, after a Trans Pen­nine which has left Leeds at 22.12. … Con­tinue read­ing →

Posted in Ferroequinology | Leave a comment

Clogging up the ECML

Posted on February 1, 2006 by John

I read a most inter­est­ing art­icle recently, by a timetable expert, on the pro­posal to add dir­ect ser­vices to/from Sun­der­land on the ECML to Kings Cross. Basic­ally, he was say­ing that the Office of the Rail Reg­u­lator (ORR) which was … Con­tinue read­ing →

Posted in Ferroequinology | Leave a comment

Minor Ferroequinological Interest

Posted on January 29, 2006 by John

Vir­gin Cross Coun­try is rarely a treat — just hang in and get off when you get there — don’t get obsessed with time-keeping — so it was with some delight that I found when the 17.51 to York pulled … Con­tinue read­ing →

Posted in Ferroequinology | Leave a comment