***It seems appropriate that this nonsense (shurely witty idea. Ed) comes from Virgin***
Hulleys’ Closure - My Thoughts
5 months ago
Monday, 16 February 2009
Bet on railwayana, not banks
In a week when Lloyds Bank shares went through the floor, punters were backing railwayana futures at Virgin Trains nameplate auction at Waterloo station on Saturday.
Voyager and other modern traction plates auctioned in aid of the Railway Benevolent Fund fetched what the organisers reckon were "astonishing" prices.
Class 86 'Charles Rennie Mackintosh went for £4,700.
Even the most modest Voyager names went for £500-plus, with Super Voyager "Doctor Who" exceeding £2,000, as £106,000 was raised by Virgin for the charity.
"Amazing prices," said one insider connected with the auction. "Many of these nameplates hadn't been on the trains for more than five minutes."
Well done, Virgin PR boss Steve Knight, whose idea it was.
Maybe he should be advising the Treasury?
Sunday, 15 February 2009
End Gobshiitery
The Fact Compiler stands corrected!
Alec Trick has written to point out that:
Nigel Harris didn't sound the first trumpet against on train gobshiitery.
I did, in Todays Railways UK, July 2008!
As you will see from the below:
Are there others out there who are prepared to nail their colours to the mast?
UPDATE: This from Al...
Thanks to getting stuck in traffic I had a prolonged wait at Finsbury Park for a train out to civilisation this afternoon.
Whilst waiting, I was being driven slowly (more) insane by the announcements from the Underground (which are clearly audible even on the platforms on the surface), mainly regarding the weekend engineering works.
They seemed to feel that thirty seconds was too long to have gone without an announcement about them, with a mix of recorded and live.
Bonkers
Civils on Speed Shocker!
This from Bushey....
Interesting bit of film this.
Makes you wonder why the WCML upgrade took so long !
Saturday, 14 February 2009
Silence is Golden
Nigel Harris has sounded the first trumpet blast against the over zealous use of on-train PA systems.
Read Nigel's rant against this ubiquitous gobshiitery here.
Douglas Adams' character Ford Prefect had it on the nail: "If they don't keep on exercising their lips their brains start working."
Train crew: Less really is more!
12,500
***This from Lobbydog on the 12,500 UK jobs that will allegedly be created by exporting the IEP build to Japan***
Friday, 13 February 2009
Inspire the least
Telegrammed by Ithuriel
The credit crunch may soon squeeze the rejoicing Samurai Warriors.
The IEP delivery dates quoted yesterday by Hoon are markedly different to the three phases and an option approach to procurement and funding being touted round the city by DfT.
The credit crunch may soon squeeze the rejoicing Samurai Warriors.
The IEP delivery dates quoted yesterday by Hoon are markedly different to the three phases and an option approach to procurement and funding being touted round the city by DfT.
Phase 1 could be for as little as an affordable 350 vehicles for the ECML !
Not a lot of work for a new IKEA-style assembly plant - sorry major manufacturing complex.
All aboard Hitachi's gravy train
Telegrammed by our Independent Expert
Either the media have succumbed entirely to the Hitachi PR machine or British journalists are even dumber than we think.
Yesterday, most BBC daytime news reports gave the impression that 12,000 jobs were being created in British factories to build the new "Super Express" trains, instead of what the unions reckon is a couple of thousand to build them in parts from kits.
Today Radio 4's You and Yours gave a big chunk of airtime to Times's correspondent Leo Lewis, who sang Hitachi's praises saying the new vehicles will run as fast and as comfortably as Japanese Shinkansen trains (Shome Shinkansen mishtake, shurely! Ed).
What's the betting Fleet Street's finest will soon be smacking their lips over all those geisha-filled freebies to Tokyo.
Mind you, it beats a fish and chip supper in Derby everytime.
UPDATE: A source close to the BBC advises...
You and Yours were not planning such a big chunk on IEP but had to extend when Anthony Worrall Thompson failed to show for his slot on bankrupt restaurants!
How the credit crunches, unless you're Japanese of course!
Wednesday, 11 February 2009
Breaking wind
Congratulation to M&C Saatchi for hoovering large sums of cash out of EMT for this:
Any readers able to make similar under-arm farting noises are also invited to pitch for the account.
Definitely a Marmite moment...
Hooray Henry mugs Souter
Shocking news from Waterloo.
Pictured below is the moment when a Brompton riding Rupert attempted to pick the pocket of multi-millionaire SWT boss Brian Souter!
Fortunately, the SWT PR team had issued Brian with a brand new, dayglo, carrier-bag just moments before!
Ford declares war!
Not seen today...
Branson, Bowker, Coucher, Lockhead, Ludeman, Shooter, Souter, et al; fancy putting a couple of quid in the pot to make this real?
Death by suit
Exciting news from men in suits!
Today the new, improved, Tory party unveiled its future plans for the railways.
Zzzzzzzz... Snore...
Ahem, sorry, Tory big ideas, yawn...
- A high speed line linking London, Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds.
- Creating a passenger champion.
- A reformed Network Rail.
- Better cooperation between track and train.
- Longer better franchises.
- Innovation in Rail Improvements.
- Ending Whitehall meddling.
- A moratorium on building on disused rail paths.
Ah, forget the details, view pretty pictures here.
Bring back Chris Grayling.
Brian Perren RIP
Telegrammed by Captain Deltic
It is with great sadness that we report the death of writer and author Brian Perren at the age of 80, following a short period in hospital.
Known fondly as the 'Gourmet Gricer' to his many friends Brian was a long term contributor to Modern Railways and his books included the invaluable TGV Handbook.
Brian had an infectious enthusiasm for life and the railways, and his presence enlivened many a worthy press trip.
Yet his irrepressible sense of fun concealed a professionalism in his research and a respect within the industry that was reflected in his writing.
In the issue of Modern Railways published before his death two articles by Brian typify his work - what is now, sadly, the last 'Service Aboard' column on the changing face of train catering and a definitive feature on TGV Duplex.
Brian's first published article appeared in the July 1954 issue of Trains Illustrated, the fore runner of Modern Railways.
Brian was in the process of completing a major article on Eurostar at the time he entered hospital.
Requiescat in pace et in amore
Tuesday, 10 February 2009
IEP in perspective
40 years ago this month...
Chief Engineer Terry Miller made the formal submission to the British Railways Board to develop the new 125 mile/h InterCity diesel train - offering a prototype with six coaches and two power cars ready to run 22 months after the funding was authorised.
And not a consultant in sight...
Department of the bleedin' obvious
No comment.
Just click, read and weep.
Next week: BOTTOMS! How to wipe safely.
Tory Rail Review
***Look out for the publication of the Tories' Rail Review tomorrow. Anticipate 'Motherhood and Apple Pie' for radical it's not!***
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