Whilst those GWR units are tolerable. The Chiltern ones are crying out for a refurbishment. They look neglected and very worn out. Not the worst trains I have been on. That would be the Class 142/143 Pacer units that would bounce and screech all over the place. Just ride one if you get the chance a preserved railway and see what I mean. Oh and using the toilet on a Pacer is an adventure in itself.
I never even knew this line existed! I live in Richmond which is near Brentford and once we needed to get to Norwich and what we did was get 110 bus (which is my local bus) to Hammersmith, then the H&C to Liverpool Street then Greateranglia but if I knew this existed it would’ve been so much more useful😊
Having been on 465s, I don't see any truth in the points you made. The broken seats don't bother anyone unless you deliberately yank them upwards. I do think the BREL units are kinda mid but the Metro Cammell units motor sound makes it so much better
Aventras are by far the most disappointing new trains in the country. Their motors are almost silent and even when you can hear them, they don't sound even remotely interesting. At least the 455s have character and padded seats and are a 10/10 if you ask me.
I'm sure there used to be similar Olympic ring benches up on the Southeastern side of St Pancras station but they were got rid of a few years ago perhaps they are the ones now in the park near St Pancras
I think that is the case because while researching this I did find photos of these benches behind the Southeastern plats at St Pancras although I don't know whether they went to Stratford or the Park outside~ Hugh
Amazing story - I never heard about this service before and you tracked it nicely. BUT Please stop touching your hair every 20 seconds or so... It's SOOO distracting. Maybe worth getting some sort of headband? You may not even notice it but it keeps happening... Otherwise your style and material are great, just need a bit of presentation discipline :)
This brought back so many memories. Between 1978 and 1991 I lived in Chiswick Village, the complex of flats that's bounded on two sides by the District Line and Hounslow loop and was a regular traveller at both Gunnersbury and Kew Bridge. Fast forward to early 2002 and we were living in Dorset and my eldest daughter had a Uni interview in Chelmsford so we used this route to avoid Central London, probably the first time I'd been on a 170 (use them all the time now living in Nottingham). It would make so much sense to put the third rail in between South Acton and the two sides of the Kew Bridge triangle the possibilities would be endless, but DfT don't want anymore third rail - witness Headbolt Lane on Merseyside.
I used this service a few times because I could get from Potters Bar to Honiton with only two changes, at Highbury & Islington and at either Woking or Basingstoke. However it was slower than using the Underground from Finsbury Park to Waterloo. The Anglia trains ran around the North London Line stopping at only a few of the stations but they could not overtake the North London trains that were stopping at all stations. This meant that Anglia's 100mph trains ran for 15 miles at about 10mph. The buffets on the Anglia trains sold confectionery at the same price that the same items would have cost in a shop, whereas South West Trains charged about three times as much.
Yes ... But the fastest way by TRAIN to Plumstead is Thameslink because Elizabeth Line doesn't go there. And you'll rightly get strange looks if people ask you "What's the best way to get to Plumstead?" and you reply "Get the Lizzie to Woolwich, then get out and walk!"
In a similar vein - what happened to the amazing Brighton to Bristol service. And then again there was the Brighton to Edinburgh via Birmingham. Both extremely useful😢
Perhaps it's the effect of Facebook on people of your age that makes you want to take a point of view and be so critical of things. The 165's took over from Derby-built DMUs in the late 90's and have given good service for many years. They're a British Rail design and were built in the UK and that's a rarity, these days!
Really enjoyed this film, very informative to provincial guys like me! I guess there will now be a spike in tickets issued Feltham to ingatestone now that you've publicised it as an adventure holiday. Personally I'd walk between the two stations where you caught the bus (can't remember their names). By the way, look at the LENS when you are talking to us!!
Forgotten? I remember it very well! It was about the same time that South West Trains started running through services (via Salisbury) from London Waterloo to Bristol Temple meads and New Southern Railway started running through services from Brighton to Rugby via Kensington Olympia using dual-voltage Class 319 EMU's!
This is a great video tour of the Thameslink Core. I was hoping for more videos like this giving a detailed tour around the former Holborn Viaduct terminus. It's interesting to see what is now all office blocks and pedestrianised was once where the former viaduct and platforms once stood. Is that building where the terminus once stood still the same building and been striped down completely to make it how it looks today, or was the terminus completely demolished and that one built in it's place. I think also a NEW section of tunnel was built moving the snow hill lines over to the right, where before when there was a junction, the Now Thameslink lines dipped down more over to the left compared to today's track alignment. I still think they could put a big CITY Thameslink sign on the frontt of that building rather then just the one tucked away between the buildings architecture.
2:56 Pardon me, please permit the pushy pronunciation pedant in me to politely point out that more often than not, place names are not said as their pattern of letters at first glance suggests. Just as it's Bucker still, so too is it far closer to sthg approaching In guh stun than a slaveish sticking to the sequence of syllables some have fallen foul of. Faydun Boys n so on geeze.
I once travelled all the way from Basingstoke to Colchester on this service, purely for the fun of it. The train was completely packed for the first part of journey, however it seemed that everyone got off at Woking except for me. I think I had the coach to myself the rest of the way, and the North London Line was very slow
The slowness of the North London line neatly explaining why this innovative direct train service from Norwich to Basingstoke (which never reached its intended destination in the bay platform at Bournemouth!) only ran for two years!
Just had an idea for a video for you guys. Everyone's mate, Nick Badley, recently made a video where he visited Northern Rail's most Northerly and Southerly stations . . . How about one where you all visit London's most North, South, East and Westerly Stations? If you split into two groups, one could do North-South, and the other East-West, maybe arranging to meet somewhere in the middle at the halfway point? Just an idea :)
Surely, the time taken should be from the time the first train taken starts to move until passing through the ticket barrier at the destination station, not simply the first to arrive.After all, its the journey time whichmatters!
The 170's that Greater Anglia had used, were sent to Transport For Wales's Cardiff Canton and used on The Ebbw Vale Line between Cardiff Central, Maesteg or Bridgend and Ebbw Vale Town, they were also used between Gloucester and Cardiff, they were sent away to East Midlands Railway because the Department of Transport had the final say weather TFW kept them or not
The famous, locomotive-hauled "Sussex Scot" Cross-Country service which I once used to travel direct all the way from Glasgow to Guildford, with a change from electric to diesel traction at Birmingham?
I remember that too, went via Kensington olympia and Clapham Junction. Waited a long time in platform 17 at Clapham Junction while the Southern Region worked out how to handle a "real" inter-city train!!
I used to use this service to get home from Camden to Colchester when I was a commuter, it was nice and quiet! However I had numerous disputes with ticket inspectors about the validity of my ticket, eventually getting a written confirmation from management at Anglia Railways that my ticket WAS perfectly OK....I probably still have the letter somewhere.. I gave up with the hassle eventually and returned to the Camden Town-Moorgate-Liverpool St mayhem.....but it was good for a while.
@@KempSimon Well, I almost certainly still have it somewhere, but finding it could be an issue after all this time! I have just retired and one of my "to-do" jobs is clear stuff out, if I find it I will comment here but it could be a year away!
