Commuting between Reading and Bath on the train 3 days a week I quite often hear people coughing, spluttering and sniffing at various volumes. As I don't sit in one of the quiet coaches I accept it like everyone else.
Well, not quite everyone. When I first got on at Reading this morning I did hear a young chap near me sniff quite loudly a couple of times - not particularly pleasant to listen to but par for the course. Then I thought he went quiet. But somewhere between Swindon and Chippenham the lady in the seat in front of the gentleman turned round and said to him in a loud voice 'Is that you sniffing? Blow your nose because it's disgusting to listen to'. He didn't say anything.
I didn't know where to look. Up to that point I wouldn't have said I was the man's greatest fan, but after the lady's outburst I felt quite sorry for him. And I thought I was quite intolerant...
Last edited by: Focus on Mon 7 Feb 11 at 12:57
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Nobody under about 55 has even heard of handkerchiefs, let alone uses them.
I think they went out when men started carrying money in purses instead of in their pockets, so didn't need a bit of rag to keep it in place and stop it jingling about.
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>> Nobody under about 55 has even heard of handkerchiefs, let alone uses them.
I'm sure you're correct, but what's wrong with tissues? I keep one of those little travel packs in one of my rucksack pockets so I can blow my nose after running/cycling to the station, otherwise I'd be snorting all the way. And if I forget my own tissues, I use some loo roll from the station toilets.
It's just more evidence of the end of civilisation :(
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well done the lady
hopefully she also stops scum putting theit feet on seats
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50+ years ago the Government told us that "Coughs and Sneezes spread diseases". Still true so cover your mouth when coughing, blow your nose and don't travel in the company of forthright old ladies!
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>> and don't travel in the company of forthright old ladies!
That's partly what surprised me - I would have put her at no more than 30.
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I suffer from allergic rhinitis. Don't know what triggers it but onset is signalled by sneezong and blocked nasal passages. Immediate symptomatic releif is obtained by a spray/sniff of Otrivine.
Never told off to my face but endured 20mins of some woman chuntering to her mate about sniffing genrally. She was at the other end of the carriage!!
This one was youngish as well. In fact I'd see her quite often. Quite obviuous where she worked; she donned a Santander staff pass as she left the train at Milton Keynes.
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I wonder if they will re-introduce the notion that spitting (or 'gobbing' as the children so elegantly put it) is anti-social, especially with the rapidly rising TB cases in the UK now. The pathway between a local youth centre and the car park is covered with lumps of goo on a Friday night - yeuch.
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>> 50+ years ago the Government told us that "Coughs and Sneezes spread diseases". Still true
>> so cover your mouth when coughing, blow your nose and don't travel in the company
>> of forthright old ladies!
>>
I think the campaign first started during WWII .............. tinyurl.com/6zgfajk and was resurrected in 2007 ................ tinyurl.com/65ey6fp
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>> hopefully she also stops scum putting theit feet on seats>>
BT Police on the Merseytravel network regularly patrol trains and hand out on the spot fines to those who ignore the regulation.
Certainly works...:-)
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I just wish they did the same on the Metrolink and on buses. It just seems to be a rule of being a chav, you have to flout every rule :(.
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>> I just wish they did the same on the Metrolink
I wish some folk using the Metrolimk had more brains. Made two trips today and at each stop where I got off, People stood on the platform blocking the doors and trying to muscle their way on. Can't they see that people are waiting to get off and the tram isn't going to go without them ?
Ted
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>> well done the lady
>> hopefully she also stops scum putting theit feet on seats
>>
+1 from me. I detest persistent snifflers. Disgusting habit.
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>> well done the lady
>> >> hopefully she also stops scum putting theit feet on seats
>> >>
>>
>> +1 from me. I detest persistent snifflers. Disgusting habit.
I think she could have handled it better eg. offered him a tissue to blow his nose on?
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>> hopefully she also stops scum putting theit feet on seats
Whenever I've caught a train, there are never any seats left to sit on, let alone put your feet on. It's always been a case of standing room only - reminds me of a French cattle truck. Meanwhile down in 1st class there are always loads of empty seats.
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>> Whenever I've caught a train, there are never any seats left to sit on, let
>> alone put your feet on.
Loads of room on my train as I'm going 'against the flow' ie. away from London. But the 125 coaches are mostly 'airline' style seats so you can't put your feat up, although there's plenty of opportunity to kick the seat in front. Another pleasant experience if you're on the receiving end.
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My missus used the Reading-Paddington service on Friday. She go on her return train at the last minute, and found her reserved seat. The Hyacinth Buckett in the neighbouring seat thought it was her responsibility to check with my wife if, in fact, that was her reserved seat before she sat down.
The nosey old battleaxe then proceeded to complain to another passenger across the aisle that their normal-pitch conversation was too loud for the Quiet Carriage, and that quiet means silent if you don't mind.
Old people. No manners these days.
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I remember many years ago on an National Express coach to London (the west coast was closed for upgrades, Megabus did not exist at the time) and it stops at different places before leaving Manchester. We got on the Coach at Manchester Chorlton St. Two woman in the front seats were chatting away and it was annoying me a bit.
By the time it got to Sale (4 miles away) some both bucket woman got on. By the time the Coach had got further than down the A56 to Altrincham (probably 3 miles) she suddenly shouted "well you two shut up, we don't want to listen to your conversation for the next 6 hours". The entire coach applauded and the two woman didn't make a sound for the next 200 miles.
Never again will I travel on National Express, I much prefer the train or Megabus where you get lots of foriegn lone travelers and students - usualy the entire 4.30 hours is done in silence.
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Great-grandfather of a cousin of mine was reputed to have reacted as follows when someone got into the same first-class compartment and took his boots off: picked the boots up and threw them out of the window with the comment, 'Filthy swine!'.
A military man of course, and perhaps not in the best of moods that day.
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Beware the geriatric armed with a stick ! :-)
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>> Beware the geriatric armed with a stick ! :-)
Perfect for poking through the spokes of the bike ridden down the pavement, or paint it white and run it down the side of any car parked illegally on the pavement - don't forget to put on your shades. ;>)
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It won't be long till your getting flea bites on your legs as the carriges are flea ridden and no amount of cleaning or repelant kills them.
Folks bring on there stinking dogs and some owners could do with a right good wash.
The seats are flea ridden too so next time you get home from being on the train more in the summer months now you know where you got them from. :-)
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What a load of rubbish, BT...
If that was the case then I'd have had them for the last 10 years I've been working on them... Yet another urban myth given more airtime by internet forums...
BTW back to the OP, and good for the woman I'd say, wish there were more like her and less like Mr Sniffles!
Last edited by: hobby on Mon 7 Feb 11 at 15:59
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The lady, and I use the term loosely, obviously has never had Hay fever badly or a streaming cold.
She is totally intolerant and extremely rude.
Pat
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...She is totally intolerant and extremely rude...
Yes, I'd be tempted to call her a snotty-nosed cow, but she probably wouldn't get the joke.
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>>She is totally intolerant and extremely rude
She almost certainly realised she was having a go at someone who was not going to answer back.
Sniff...
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A couple of summers ago we took a boat trip on Windermere. It was me, my two boys and a coach load of Americans on a Trafalgar Tour - no other brits.
My youngest, who was about 7 at the time sneezed violently, and unfortunately the lady in front caught the full force on her neck. I was mortified, but she simply turned round, said something like 'You poor lamb' and gave him a tissue for the next one.
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What a load of rubbish, BT...
hobby.
Your Voyagers and pendolino's carpets are not over 20 years old and i fair bet get the heavy clean.
The 158 carpet is old thing and so is the 155 and we as staff are getting bitten as we have to put flea spray down on nights when there cleaned/serviced.
The easy way is no carpet but floor vinyl and mop it.
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The Voyagers are no longer owned by VT but by Crosscountry. I hate the damn voyagers though they are noisy and cramped. Give me a twenty year old 323 anyday.
I also like traveling on class 43s but have to east or south west to do that :(
The Pendolinos are ok but by far the best thing about them is the thrill when they tilt and the shear speed of them but as a passanger the windows are too small and when you get cheap tickets you're usualy seated next to no window.
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>> Give me a twenty year old 323 anyday
bit.ly/i3zifA
Sorry, couldn't resist ;)
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>>bit.ly/i3zifA
I think the engine out of that would bolt directly into my KIA.
Too far to try it.
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>> The Voyagers are no longer owned by VT but by Crosscountry. I hate the damn
>> voyagers though they are noisy and cramped.
Virgin still have a fleet of the former super voyagers with tilt enabled. These are used between Euston & Chester/Holyhead, Birmingham to Scotland and occasional other routes. Still cramped and noisy though.
Give me an IC125 or a 350/1 anyday.
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I'm not sure that any TOC actually owns their own stock, certainly all the Voyagers and Pendos are leased, as is most stock these days...
BT, re 158s and 155(6?)s I see your point, but it was just as much an overstatement of the position as mine... You have your experience and I have mine... they obviously don't match!
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I forgot about the Virgin fleet of tilting Voyagers. And yes none of them are owned by any of the companies they are all leased. It is a scandal really as in many cases of trains like the class 142 the TOCs have paid far more than their value each year.
The leasing companies (i.e banks) make a fortune on leasing out vehicles which are worth little more than scrap.
Would it not be better to allow TOCs to purchase their own trains but give them 50 year leases but massive fines if they mess up?
I remember my trip down south West when I caught so many trains (must have been 30 during the week) it was purely a train spotters dream. I smiled when every type of train arrived but when it was a Voyager my stomatch filled with dread. Thankfully I think I only had to catch them from Manchester to Bristol vice versa.
The class 170 (I think) on the Transpennine routes are not much better though.
Last edited by: RattleandSmoke on Mon 7 Feb 11 at 21:10
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It is a scandal really as in many cases of trains like the class 142 the TOCs have paid far more than their value each year.
These 142's a few years ago were parked up over your way Rattle in a sidings and were to be left untill our company came up with a cracking deal and hired them for peanuts now there painted up and running again every day since.
There not a bad unit old but still chug along with no real problems.
Our lot want brand new trains, But us in Maintennace don't as new trains come with servicing contracts & can mean staff out of work!!
Old 158's plenty of these about we'll have loads more & the 156 another great unit, Give me a old unit over a new one were a lap top is needed & the old ones you have to use your skill.
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Pretty sure there are plenty of 142 still running up here. Actually damn it I need to get down to some train stations tomorrow and do some spotting it has been far too long.
I imagine the 142s you have got are the ex Oldham and Rochdale line ones, which closed last year as it is due to be converted into Metrolink.
Quite a bit more modern than the 142s but the main difference is they will be a lot more frequent.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flexity_Swift
I rarely used those lines away as it is not my part of the city but I found 142s to be noisy and uncomfortable as passanger.
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I imagine the 142s you have got are the ex Oldham and Rochdale line ones, which closed last year as it is due to be converted into Metrolink.
Many of them are ex Mersey rail they was painted in Yellow Livery & Ex First great western i think they call it (far too many companies).
144x we have 23 of these with about half of the 3x car units.
Loads of 158's
And loads of ex west coast 150's
Favorite is the 156 it's a relaiable lump.
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>>you're usualy seated next to no window.
>>
?
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Some seats on the Voyagers have no windows next to them. If you look at the doors there is a big gap between the next window. I believe this is due to safety but it is a damn annoyance as a passanger.
Thankfully I only travel on one about every 18 months. When I used to have to go to Stoke On Trent each day for a course I tried to time it so I got the Pendolinos or back then Class 57s with I am not joking BR MK2s on them!. This was 2005.
Now the MK2 is the most unconfortable carraige I have ever traveled in due to the effects of its breaking system.
Last edited by: RattleandSmoke on Mon 7 Feb 11 at 21:22
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It was usually the aircon or carriage lighting breaking on Mk2s. If however you mean stopping performance the Mk 2 was the last generation with tread brakes so you could hear them and they lacked progression so stops were jerky. But all the trains before were like that so it was the discs on the Mk3s that attracted comment.
With those deep picture windows and the wing armchair seats in all but the last build (Mk2g?) they were a fantastic way to the west country in the early eighties. And with a mighty 'Hoover' for haulage as well; sometimes a second added at Exeter to keep time over the Devon banks.
Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Mon 7 Feb 11 at 21:31
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I am sure it was, Manchester to Stoke on one though with a line shared by 125mph Pendolinos felt a bit scary. I always love trains but felt a bit nervious in the MK2s. I believe they ran them because of some of the Pendilinos were out of service because of sticky door issues.
Virgin had some old MK2 and MK3 stock left so they attached them to a spot hired class 57.
Sadly there are no locomotives at all now at Manchester Picciddily, it is all EMU and DMUs.
Mind you UK wide I think the class 43 HST is probably the only mainstream locomotive in existance apart from the class 57s used on goods transport.
Actually I seem to remember traveling on a class 91? with MK4 carraiges some where, possibly on the ECML on the way to Peterborough. They were extremely nice to travel on.
Last edited by: RattleandSmoke on Mon 7 Feb 11 at 21:36
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The ECML is a mix of class91/Mk4 and HST's. Your b*m must be a different shape to mine; I've never in 32 years of regular rail travel been on anything so unyielding as a Mk4 seat. No better in first either!!
Quite odd that the HST is now regarded as a loco. When they first came in they were classified as diesel/electric DMU's. Those on the Paddington lines were Class 253 and the ECML sets Class 254.
The sleepers between Euston and Scotland are hauled by Class 90's allocated to EWS but liveried for Scotrail. And Virgin have the 'Pretendolino' rake of updated Mk3's in Pendo livery, also class 90 hauled. These mostly operate as cover on the Brum route but also get as far as Preston on a Friday only relief service.
But enough gricing; lets get back to in carriage manners!!
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Though the class 43 was a locomotive purely because it has seperate engine carraiges? Would it be possible for a class 43 to carry different coach stock or does something in its design mean it can only operate as a complete unit with mk3s?
I have only been a train spotter for five years and it is only in the last year I had to admit I am actually a train spotter. I don't collect numbers but I can regconise just about any class of locomotion post TOPs.
Last edited by: RattleandSmoke on Mon 7 Feb 11 at 22:00
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They originally operated in (semi) permanent formations and were listed as such in Ian Allan etc publications. If you look at the pictures from 1979 on in the BR 'flying banana' livery you'll see a unit number eg 254 036 on the coupler cover at the front and rear of the units.
Cannot say when they stopped but sometime in the mid eighties at a guess.
I've never bothered with engine numbers but (and I think most of us who commute longer distance admit to this) I've a keen interest in railway operation. Can certainly identify UK rolling stock at a glance!!
My number collecting period was with planes in the days of the Vickers Viscount and Fokker Friendship.
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That is how I got interested. Before 2005 I had been on the odd train and been on a few European trains like the TUV but I wasn't that much of a railway fan.
In 2005 I had to got o a course in Stoke for a month so that was 5 days a week for an entire month, I soon started to become interested in where the trains I was on were built and their history. It went from there really.
I have a keen interest in early diesel and electric stock too, I do like steam trains but I was born nearly 15 years after most of them have been phased out so I have no memories of train trains.
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>> >>you're usualy seated next to no window.
>> >>
>> ?
The standard class seats on Virgin's Pendolino trains don't always line up with a window so from some you've no view outside. OK on my 40 minute commute but would spoil a longer journey where watching the scenery is part of the magic of train travel.
Whether Rattle's right about those seats being flogged with lowest priced tickets I don't know.
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Well I paid less than £11 each for the tickets when I last went to London. On both journeys I got those seats on the Pendolino so had no view. Not a major problem but it is quite boring sat on a train for two hours with no view. When it got past Stoke I had to walk up and down the train to kill 15 minutes.
I do love the Pendolino though simply because they have made London a city just down the road from me, and a city which is very cheap to get to.
In train times London is only 30 minutes further from Manchester than Birmingham is but when you consider Birmingham just 80 miles away and London is 180 that is another 100 miles in just 30 minutes. It is just a damn shame they are limited to 125mph on the West Coast though, although they seem to do 125mph round corners too!
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>> Beware the geriatric armed with a stick ! :-)
>>
Yes yes and again yes. Caught a cracker across the outside of left leg whilst negotiating my pushbike across a 45 deg grass bank outside his house. Must have been about 12 yo. Swore I would do for him. Never did.
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>> Commuting between Reading and Bath on the train
Why not drive instead? :o)
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>> Why not drive instead? :o)
Bath is an awful place to drive into - limited and overpriced parking, crowded streets, traffic restrictions, very zealous parking attendants. Fortunately I don't have to visit Bath very often now but I usually try and use the train and make my visits as short as possible.
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>> >> Commuting between Reading and Bath on the train
>>
>> Why not drive instead? :o)
I'd miss the company of my fellow passengers :)
Seriously, with advance train tickets and driving a not particularly economical car, the tickets are about the same price as the petrol alone, never mind the 150 miles worth of wear and tear (on car and me) per day. Plus I work on the train, so it's not wasted time.
I did do some driving in last year - I was having to go in 5 days a week, but didn't know how long it was going on for, so decided to drive on the 'extra' 2 days rather than waste money on advance tickets I might not use. I was getting to Bath by about 7:30 so the M4 was fairly quiet, and even coming home at about 5pm it wasn't too bad. I parked in the Lansdown park and ride and cycled or ran to the office, which didn't cost anything. However if you know Bath you'll know it's a heck of a hill to climb on the way back though!
But it was the boredom that started to get to me after the initial novelty wore off. Working on the train the hour often flies by. In the car, it doesn't. The last straw was when I had a minor prang - my own fault, fortunately no damage or insurance involved, but it did make me think again. So I switched to taking a later non-peak train with on-the-day tickets about the same price as my usual peak advance ones.
Last edited by: Focus on Tue 8 Feb 11 at 07:04
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I had the impression you had moved nearer work.
It's not a commute I would take on by plane, train, or automobile.
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>> I had the impression you had moved nearer work.
Only moved about a mile, and north rather than west. We did consider moving nearer Bath when I started working there, but all things considered (SWMBO's job, son's school etc.) we decided to stay put.
>> It's not a commute I would take on by plane, train, or automobile.
I don't really consider the train 'commuting' - I'm working, with the bonus that there are fewer interruptions than in the office and the scenery is more varied :)
Added to that I get my dose of exercise between home and Reading station (~4 mile run/cycle, or I can wimp out and go ~1 mile to Earley station instead), with a nice scenic short walk/run between Bath station and the office.
Suits me fine.
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...I don't really consider the train 'commuting' - I'm working...
Despite having a laptop and dongle, I still find the concept of working on a train hard to grasp.
But it must be good for productivity, an extra two hours a day is significant.
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>> Despite having a laptop and dongle, I still find the concept of working on a
>> train hard to grasp.
It's usually just writing code - environment doesn't make that much difference, although with a 12" laptop (good for the train) it's useful to have a second display at home or the office.
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Heck of a lot of people do it, Iffy.... Yet more unpaid work being done by the slaves to the system! ;-)
Personally i read a book or look out of the window if I'm lucky enough to have one!
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>> Yet more unpaid work being done by the slaves to the system! ;-)
Part of my working hours - I hope I'm being paid!
Can always nod off - not advisable in the car...
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Can always nod off - You must be a railway man.!!
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I'm not a proper one, then... I've never been able to just drop off to sleep...
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I can never sleep on trains either but then I can never sleep in my own bed without a lot of pills.
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...hen I can never sleep in my own bed without a lot of pills...
Try sleeping with some lasses, you'll be able to get rid of all the pills then, apart from the little blue ones.
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Sleeping with them is no good. Far more fun staying awake.
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I'm not a proper one, then... I've never been able to just drop off to sleep...
Guards don't work the night shift you have easy hours.!! (or they do here.)
Us that do work it can get a kip.!!
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0400 is our earliest book on and 0145 latest book off... Though I believe Reading TMs had (or have) an overnighter! Got one of the 0400 ones on Friday off a 0600 spare!
Last edited by: hobby on Wed 9 Feb 11 at 10:26
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Train manners - Cliff Pope
