Great Western Coffee Shop

Sideshoots - associated subjects => The Lighter Side => Topic started by: Rob on the hill on December 23, 2015, 21:14:20



Title: Santa Special 24th December
Post by: Rob on the hill on December 23, 2015, 21:14:20
http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/S73184/2015/12/24/advanced   ;D


Title: Re: Santa Special 24th December
Post by: grahame on December 23, 2015, 22:28:06
http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/S73184/2015/12/24/advanced   ;D

Being a through service, there are some really interesting permitted routes there ...
Nailsea to Bath Spa via Manchester Victoria ...
Avonmouth to Chetonole via Aslockton (yes, I had to look that one up!)


Title: Re: Santa Special 24th December
Post by: ellendune on December 23, 2015, 23:51:14
Being a through service, there are some really interesting permitted routes there ...
Nailsea to Bath Spa via Manchester Victoria ...
Avonmouth to Chetonole via Aslockton (yes, I had to look that one up!)

The header is quite clear
Quote
Christmas Parcels & Gifts (Intercity Express Parcels)
.
I didn't think parcels required tickets so permitted routes are irrelevant!


Title: Re: Santa Special 24th December
Post by: LiskeardRich on December 24, 2015, 00:03:06
Being a through service, there are some really interesting permitted routes there ...
Nailsea to Bath Spa via Manchester Victoria ...
Avonmouth to Chetonole via Aslockton (yes, I had to look that one up!)

The header is quite clear
Quote
Christmas Parcels & Gifts (Intercity Express Parcels)
.
I didn't think parcels required tickets so permitted routes are irrelevant!

He may run into a problem as according to national rail
Quote
Customers may take up to three items of personal luggage free of charge, this includes two large items (such as suitcases or rucksacks) and one item of smaller hand luggage (such as a briefcase). Full details of the free allowances are available at stations.
Excess luggage and certain more bulky items (such as skis) may be carried, subject to available space, at an extra charge.




Taking rudolf and co might prove problematic as well

Quote
Transporting animals by train
Passengers may take with them, free of charge and subject to conditions below, dogs, cats and other small animals (maximum two per passenger) provided they do not endanger or inconvenience passengers or staff.

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/stations_destinations/luggage_animals.aspx


Title: Re: Santa Special 24th December
Post by: ellendune on December 24, 2015, 00:14:33
All these rules you quote only apply to passenger trains.

Let me repeat again, this is NOT a passenger train, it is a parcels train. Read the header!


Title: Re: Santa Special 24th December
Post by: Adelante_CCT on December 24, 2015, 06:28:23
Anyone sad enough (have enough time on their hands) to work out how long the route would actually take, either in reality or at 768mph?


Title: Re: Santa Special 24th December
Post by: grahame on December 24, 2015, 08:07:04
Anyone sad enough (have enough time on their hands) to work out how long the route would actually take, either in reality or at 768mph?

A lot can be estimated with automation:

Quote
2431 legs measured, 153 legs skipped, milage is 464452.142804452
takes 25.1981414281929 days

That's as the crow flies between each point, instant rise to top speed from each stop, stop time not included, and I'm short on latitude / longitude data for around 75 locations which means some legs not measured.   The full performance metrics of the stock are not clear to me, and I would add a 60% optimism factor to the above figure before quoting it - so I would estimate 40 days and 40 nights if putting a serious proposal to a minister.

Too right I don't have the time  ;D - but a chance to write some Perl which I ain't done in a while

Code:
open FH,"1x01.html";
read FH,$content,-s "1x01.html";
@places = $content =~ /\[([A-Z]{3})\]/g;
print @places;

open FH,"rstats2015.txt";
while ($xs = <FH>) {
($tlc, $lat, $long) = (split "\t",$xs)[1,4,5];
if ($lat ne "NULL" and $long ne "NULL") {
$sinfo{$tlc} = [$lat,$long] ;
}
print ("$tlc $lat $long\n");
}

foreach $goto (@places) {
print ($sinfo{$goto});
if ($sinfo{$comefrom} and $sinfo{$goto}) {
$x1 = $sinfo{$comefrom}[0];
$y1 = $sinfo{$comefrom}[1];
$x2 = $sinfo{$goto}[0];
$y2 = $sinfo{$goto}[1];
$dleg = sqrt((abs($x1-$x2)*50)**2 + (abs($y1-$y2)*75)**2);
print ("Have $comefrom $goto $dleg\n");
$acf += $dleg;
$good++;
} else {
print ("Ooops $comefrom $goto\n");
$bad++;
}
$comefrom = $goto;
}

print ("$good legs measured, $bad legs skipped, milage is $acf\n");
$takes = $acf / 768 / 24;
print ("takes $takes days\n")

File rstats2015.txt can be downloaded from http://www.wellho.net/data/rstats2015.xyz ; file 1x01.html is a "save as HTML" of the real time trains web page.


Title: Re: Santa Special 24th December
Post by: JayMac on December 24, 2015, 12:17:40
Has Santa contracted out this parcels service to Red Star of Bethlehem?


Title: Re: Santa Special 24th December
Post by: Adelante_CCT on December 24, 2015, 16:56:07
Strange how hes not stopping at Bermuda Park and Coventry Arena (both open early next year) but is stopping at Reading Green Park (open 2018 if we're lucky)


Title: Re: Santa Special 24th December
Post by: Chris from Nailsea on December 24, 2015, 21:44:29
The full performance metrics of the stock are not clear to me, and I would add a 60% optimism factor to the above figure before quoting it - so I would estimate 40 days and 40 nights if putting a serious proposal to a minister.

Good luck in your meeting with Claire Perry on that one, then.  ;) :D ;D


Title: Re: Santa Special 24th December
Post by: Rob on the hill on December 25, 2015, 13:15:52
http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/S73184/2015/12/24/advanced

Well he made it! And some stops were early too!

Ho ho ho! Merry Christmas  :)


Title: Re: Santa Special 24th December
Post by: rower40 on January 04, 2016, 12:57:49
There's no way this train operator would have been granted a safety case.  Specifically, group standards require that red noses are on the BACK of the formation, not on the front.  Rudolf will have to be marshalled at the rear of the sleigh.



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