220th anniversary of passenger trains

[ChrisGreaves]

... if I've done my sums right.
"History was made in 1804 when Cornish inventing pioneer Richard Trevithick's engine moved on tracks under its own steam."
Where is Merthyr Tydfil?

I had not realized that there were 220 years of this business.
Cheers, Chris

[glencairn]

..
Where is Merthyr Tydfil?

Cheers, Chris

Merthyr is about 23/24 miles north of Cardiff.

Glencairn

[Bigmet]

Cynically, the anniversary of the first steam hauled passenger train, which only did the outward journey: followed by a wait until 1841 for service to resume, for those that hadn't resorted to walkstitution; a true portent of things to come. (Perhaps I am grouchy because we had to walk some of the way Amsterdam-St Pancras 30/11/23 Eurostar service, and have still to see the promised compensation. But at least we were only a day late getting home.)

[Bigmet]

And whaddaya know? The Eurostar 'costs incurred' refund came through today.

Now we go back to work on the other aspect, compensation for 'failure to deliver the purchased service' which Eurostar really want to ignore; yet they claim to be selling the convenience of board here, disembark there, service at seat while you are swiftly moved with no need to change trains. Instead of which we had three trains, with awkward transfers, only one with service at seat and a journey over four times longer. The problem from my position is that after some previous poor rail travel experiences on the near continent it took me an age to persuade my wife to give it a go for Amsterdam, so that's killed that off! I shall have to write to the CEO with my demand, though I shan't mention no prospect of future custom...

The Eurostar staff on the ground coping with the chaos were uniformly excellent; praise where due.

[ChrisGreaves]

And whaddaya know? The Eurostar 'costs incurred' refund came through today.

Bigmet, never underestimate the power of my posts!
Cheers, Chris

[Phred]

Bigmet wrote:
The Eurostar staff on the ground coping with the chaos were uniformly excellent; praise where due.

I wish the Queensland Rail call centre staff were like that. We have been trying to organise a trip to Townsville on the 'Spirit of Queensland' train.
Caboolture is a town close to us and the first stop northbound for the Spirit of Queensland, so we want to board the train there.

The booking centre says that we cannot get on at Caboolture. We must board the train at Roma Street in the Brisbane CBD. So we must schlep our luggage all the way into the centre of the city and then travel back past our house and up to Caboolture where we know the train stops.

Despite numerous YouTube videos of people boarding the Spirit at Caboolture station and Qld Rail's own website which details arrival/departure times at Caboolture, luggage check in facilities, disabled access information, etc., computer says no.

[Bigmet]

Inconvenient. Having a nasty suspicious mind, that suggests to me that the operater wants to obtain data that the Caboolture boarding point is so little used that it can be deleted from the schedule. Hope I am wrong...

[Bufferstop]

An old tactic goes along with, not issuing any tickets to show the line is uneconomic. We have a shuttle that runs to Leamington to meet up with Chiltern's services to London. When it was approaching time for the franchises to be re awarded the guards either hid in the rear cab or made excuses like "the battery's flat can't issue any tickets. Surprise surprise, the service was transferred to Chiltern who also got ticket machines installed at the unmanned stations.

[Bigmet]

Bigmet, never underestimate the power of my posts! Cheers, Chris.

I'll send a message when the going gets vertical for a booster charge then

[ChrisGreaves]

The booking centre says that we cannot get on at Caboolture. We must board the train at Roma Street in the Brisbane CBD. So we must schlep our luggage all the way into the centre of the city and then travel back past our house and up to Caboolture where we know the train stops.

Oh Phred! Stop whingeing
Just give thanks that you didn't move from Toronto to Bonavista to reduce your flight times to Paris.

Including the 3.5 hour drive from Bonavista to St John's, I have to
(1) Fly Air Canada back to Toronto then
(2) Fifteen hours later fly back right over the roof of my home in Bonavista on a YYZ-CDG leg.

My travel time has jumped from 7.5 hours to 23.5 hours.

I can't complain; coming back (CDG-YYZ-YYT) I miss the taxi, and have to stay overnight in St John's and get home at 6pm the next day. My copy of Excel2003 doesn't count that far.

If I flew WestJet they would carry me back to Calgary before letting me go to Paris.
Cheers, Chris

[Phred]

Man, you must be keen on Paris!

[ChrisGreaves]

Man, you must be keen on Paris!

Yep!
In 1978 I worked in the Île-de-France, lived in Paris and commuted to the suburbs. I fell in love with the Carte d'Orange and the RER and suburban trains. Also the logically-numbered bus routes in Paris itself. I was frightened and didn't explore. Even though I had a monthly five-zone ticket for work, not once in 2.5 years did I head out "to the end of the line" on a Saturday or Sunday.
I went back in 2014 and again in 2016 and fell in love with Poissy and its citizens.
I'd be back there like a shot every 2 years were it not for the 23 hours trip there and the 48 hours trip back, now that I am two hours closer.
Cheers, Chris