Monday 3rd - Now We Have One!

 It seems all sections of C & W at Winchcombe have a "Richard" (or more). With our latest recruit we can join them! Very pleased to have him join us.

He also likes using the Ghostbuster so fortunately the second one will now be in regular use.

My day started by dropping Kath off at Toddington then going to Winchcombe to collect two new spray lances that colleagues had kindly organised for us. 

Then back to Toddington where I started in rake 2 with the other Ghostbuster. Kath was already in there doing windows and tables. Rakes had been swapped round for us so rake 2 was in platform 2, with coach A on the platform. Rake 1 was in p1 but with coach B at the head of the platform. It was 8 weeks since we washed rake 2 "A" Cotswold side and 3 weeks since we had this rake in the platform to clean the inside. How time flies!

When I arrived Tim and Phil were washing Malvern side rake 1 with Nigel, Greg and Richard inside. John of course was on toilet duties!

Later I left Richard on Ghostbuster duties and joined Phil, Mark and Tim washing rake 2. 

I was pleased with how coach "A" was after it's clean.

On my way back down the platform I found Nigel now over this side (and Greg) helping out on the inside.

A Day Out

My son treated me to a day out in London to see the Elizabeth Line. He works for Network Rail and in a recent previous posting he was involved with several projects at Euston, so I got a very interesting insiders view about some of the challenges encountered. Interestingly the law of unintended consequences strikes there as well!

The day started with Avanti West Coast from Stafford. Our train was cancelled! No train crew. Another, 20 minutes later, was making extra stops to compensate so this had two train loads of passengers on. Absolutely packed. But while we were waiting a charter for Statesman Rail pulled in. Two class 47s on the front. I do like them in two-tone green.......

Crossrail (Elizabeth Line) is on a different scale to a normal tube line.

Air conditioned platforms and trains. The trains were very busy but no sense of claustrophobia in the corridors. They filled when a train came in but emptied very quickly. Escalators are enormous!

Paddington Station

We took the Clipper catamaran back from Woolwich. The last time I went under Tower Bridge was 37 years ago, in my own boat.

Canary Wharf is a "venue" place with lots happening. But this was totally unexpected and we could not believe what we were seeing!

Your eyes do not deceive you - it is a Hot Tub Boat! The chimney is down to go under the bridge. They use the dock water alongside the Crossrail station.

Came the end of a great day out and we returned to the care of Avanti West Coast. Boarded our train to our reserved seats in plenty of time. Near departure time an announcement "we will be leaving in a few seconds." Nothing happened. Five minutes later "this train has been declared a failure. There is a replacement on platform 4". Mad scramble. Forget seat reservations. We made our way to First Class and found a seat. It had been declassified due to the emergency, although they didn't announce that. Next came an announcement "this train was due to go to the depot so all stocks have been removed from the buffet car." Immediately followed by another announcement "come to the buffet car for delicious snacks and drinks"! The original was an 11 coach train and again was full. This was a 9 coach train so, yes, more squash. And on the way back the news said the MD of Avanti will be standing down on September 15th after taking criticism from Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham about the ongoing poor service of Avanti. We had to agree!