Great Western Coffee Shop

"What a difference a train made" ...

Just a single carriage, but that's enough to make a BIG difference.   I caught the 16:44 from Melksham this evening, destination Salford where I'll be working this week.   It's one of our new train services and it means I can now practically travel from Melksham to Manchester on a Sunday evening, without fear of missing the last tram on my onward journey to Exchange Quay.

My first half-week is working in Salford, and my second half in Elstree.  Come Friday evening, I'll catch the 18:47 from Paddington and be back in Melksham on the train at 20:38.

A typical business trip of the sort that so many make. Melksham's now one station of around 2000 that's a practical start and end point for such trips and it's lovely.   It saves me begging for lifts.   It stops me driving long distances.  And it means that I, and many like me, can live in Melksham and / or have our business here and supporting the prosperity of the town.

If you want to learn more about this new train service, come along to the Chamber of Commerce meeting at Well House Manor, 48 Spa Road, at 18:30 next Tuesday. It's free and open to all, you'll meet a professional travel planner and Melksham expert too (not just me!) ... and you'll see how you can travel in comfort and productively.  I'm writing this on the train between Stoke-on-Trent and Stockport.   I wouldn't DARE write it if I was driving my car at this point!

What are YOU singing?

Hmm. ::)  I don't sing: those who have heard me try, promptly tell me not to try.  :-[ ;D

Nevertheless, I offer my congratulations to grahame for his very practical use of the new train services on the TransWilts line.   :D

"The air that I breath" - A precious commodity on a lot of our overcrowded trains in the Thames Valley  :o

"Trans-Wilts a - Choo Choo,
Won't you Choo Choo me home!"

or a perennial favourite from my youth "The Loco-Motion"

or on a non-railway, personal note "D.I.V.O.R.C.E."!

On reflection, I will have to change the wording of that last one; I seem to remember it being a bit sad?  I don't do sad!

How about 'Morningtown ride' with Judith bound for Durham ?

or even 'Casey Jones' if going through the floods, or 'The Runaway train' if travelling from Exeter Central to St Davids ? Don't think you'd even get through the first verse by the time you'd arrived !

Not to mention the substantial Air Tax we have to pay to breath it... ::) ;D

Indeed. And it's not like we can manage without it  ::)

I think that the theme tune from "The Old Pull 'n' Push" children's series in the 1960s is ideal! (Please do not take offence West Wilts people, but this is written from safely inside East Somerset just in case) I believe it was Terry Lightfoot and his jazz band.

grahame, I wasn't sure which Tuesday you meant for the Chamber of Commerce meeting.  If it was this Tuesday, I've missed it.  If it's next Tuesday I'm afraid I'm still going to miss it, as I will be in Norfolk next week.  Shame, I would have liked to have come.

More songs?  We could all cosy-up for the O'Jays "Love Train" :-*

I'm sticking with "The Birdie Song", by the Tweets. Took me ages to learn all the words.

Two of my favourites. Both 'Last Trains...':

One '...to London' (ELO), and one '...to Clarksville' (The Monkees).

Dave Edmunds (remember him, Pop Pickers?) references the railway in "Queen of Hearts". He remains one of my favourite guitarists for other reasons.

Or maybe Eric Idle singing "Always look on the lighter side of life" (see what I did there, BNM?)

As much as I am loathed to suggest this one (Link should be move than obvious why...!) there is this song I listened to heavily as a teenager: Last Train Home (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_Train_Home_(Lostprophets_song))

Also found a 2009 Chinese Film called Last Train Home (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_Train_Home_(film))

Next Tuesday ... 21st.   Ah - but we can get your questions answered with the same authority here.  You'll miss the overview  / general feeling and feedback of where people's journeys are and what the general questions are, which is going to help tune our onward marketing.

Next Tuesday ... 21st.   Ah - but we can get your questions answered with the same authority here.  You'll miss the overview  / general feeling and feedback of where people's journeys are and what the general questions are, which is going to help tune our onward marketing.
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Hope the meeting goes well, anyway, grahame.  I have to confess I'm still firmly attached to my car seat.  I haven't found many destinations yet where I can take Echo with me.  I badly need to go to Trowbridge for various calls, and wanted to use the train to do this, but the calls are so far apart, I couldn't face walking to them all from the station in my current state of health.  Once the weather (and my mobility) improves I will make more of an effort to do the tourism bit by train.

Why didn't I think of the ELO number???  ::) Magic!  (Oh, that's another of theirs!) One of my favourite bands!  My daughter bought me their 'Best of' CD for Christmas as the original double cassette set I had got chewed up ages ago.

I rewrote the lyrics from 'Count your Blessings' the other day, to reflect the railway theme, but if I reproduce it here I'll have to admit I got the tune from an Aled Jones album....... :D

Another, albeit cheesy, offering: :D

The Melksham train came down the track & she blew (hoo hoooo!)
(Repeat)
The train will take you anywhere so climb aboard & pay your fare,
Whoopy doo hoo hoo hoo hooooo!

Quiz time:  I had thought the original singer of that song was the late Michael Holliday, but can't find it mentioned during a quick web search.  Anyone any ideas?  (PLEASE don't all tell me you're too young to remember Michael Holliday!)

Sounds like Billie Holliday with all the wooh hoohs ! ::)

Not so much a 'torch' song, more like a 'tender' song !
Collective groans all round !