Caught a Train! GWR Hitachi
 

As the car is in the garage having an oil leak fixed I took a new Hitachi train to the west country this weekend from Paddington.

Anyone else been on one? They are dreadful.

The ride is shockingly firm, so harsh.
You just sit there and jig about. It made me feel quite seasick!
Any hope I had of working for the 2.5 hour journey was lost, by the time I got to Swindon I was taking short breaths and looking out of the window to try and keep my lunch down. The journey back was just the same, perhaps even worse as I knew what to expect.

On top of that the Wifi failed and there was no hot water for drinks, so somethings haven't changed.

Anyway it did little to get me out of my car in the future.
Although it was £80 return in First Class, so cheaper than the fuel I would have spent LOL.

I haven't been on a (mainline) train in probably 30+ years. Sound like I'm not missing much!

(I say "mainline" because there's a steam railway in our town, so I do take a ride on that occasionally, especially when they have 'guest' trains, such as the Flying Scotsman).

For longer journeys, I have occasionally looked at train prices and timetables, largely for amusement. It usually works out to be at least as expensive as travelling in the S8, and slower too. With all the added inconveniences and unpleasantries of getting to/from stations, changing trains, travelling with strangers and not having my car when I get to the other end, train travel is just a non-starter for me. Maybe if they were (much) cheaper, faster and more reliable -- like they seem to be in most of continental Europe -- I'd probably be tempted to use them more.

I did come very close to taking a train in October this year, when I drove up to Glasgow for the annual gearbox service at Mackie Transmissions. After the service we toured Scotland a little and stayed for a couple of nights in a place called Musselburgh. We decided to visit the Royal Mile in Edinburgh on one of the days, so I figured we'd give the train a try and leave the car at the apartment we'd rented. I bought the tickets and was actually quite looking forward to it. After a 1-2 mile walk to the station however, we arrived to find that the line was closed for maintenance and that no trains were running so we had to jump on the replacement bus service :rolleyes:

Edinburgh was rather eventful that day though. About an hour or so after we arrived, we began seeing a people carrying banners and Scottish flags. Just a few at first, then couple of hours later we heard approaching bagpipes and beating drums as tens of thousands of people began marching down the Royal Mile towards us. Turns out we had chosen to visit the Royal Mile on the very day that thousands of Scottish independence supports had chosen to make their protest:

https://www.theguardian.com/politics...ond-referendum

It was a very high-spirited and friendly protest, and such an incredible sight to see. It was like a Tsunami of thousands of blue flags, pouring down the Royal Mile. We decided to follow and walk down with them to the Scottish Parliament buildings, trying our best not to look too English :)

I have three principal forms of fast transport: my S8, the train, and my Tesla - which is kind of halfway between my S8 and the train, really.....

You can't work on a train, but you can't have (much...) fun on it either. However, it is by far the best option for a straightforward A to B journey between major cities, given the state of the UK's motorway roadworks, and I use the West Coast mainly practically every week: it's also a lot cheaper than the S8, and (a bit) greener too.

I heard about the independence march in Edinburgh Mark, but I couldn't be there for it, sadly, though I'm sure you would have been welcomed with open arms had they known you were English - friendly bunch, the Scots ;)

I hope that you covered Herman's "ears" when you made that statement!! :eek:

Not at all like McGlashan in Absolutely then? :ROFL:

I used to love watching that show. Every time I cross the border and see the Scotland/England signs I hear McGlashan's (Jack Docherty's) voice in my head shouting "Aaanglish B##tards".

I'm on one of those new Hitachi trains every day going into Bristol. The seats are one of the main problems, they're too upright and too firm for a long journey. Also, who put the legs for the seat right where you need to put your feet?! :Confused:

The main problem we have is that as they're currently made up of two sets of five carriages, the rear half is locked off between Taunton and Bristol as the platforms are too short, so we now have fewer seats available than before!

I also find the trains much more noisy than the old ones, not just the engines but sounds and vibrations going up through the sides.

I've barely driven my S8 since getting this absolutely horrendous mom-mobile of a company car - a Toyota CHR. Sometimes, I think I'd rather take the damned train.

I miss driving my S8. :(