Great Western Coffee Shop

Packed with interesting articles, RailWatch July 2020 arrived in the post this morning and is online at https://www.railwatch.org.uk/backtrack.php?issue=164 .

A national publication from RailFuture (https://www.railfuture.org.uk/Welcome+to+Railfuture), there are updates from
* the Severnside branch on page 10 relating to the GWR area
* also on Page 10 from the Wessex branch relating to the Salisbury - Exeter line
* on page 14 (under "Thames Valley") relating to East-West Rail
* and on page 16 relating to Wales.

The JULY edition? Yes I know magazines are published well in advance, can not understood why? Perhaps due to slow distrubution on the pack horse system, before the canals arrived over 200 years ago now.

I used to take a couple of monthly magazines which arrived late in the month prior to that on the cover.  When I asked, I was told that the magazine takes adverts for products and at prices available for that month on the cover. Reason is that  so you can write in with your order and cheque, or go visit to attend exhibitions and rallies during the cover period.

"RailFuture" dates from 1991, when it was renamed from the "Railway Development Society", in turn formed from The Railway Invigoration Society,  The Railway Development Association (London Area) and The Railway Development Association (Midland Area) in 1978 - see  https://www.railwatch.org.uk/backtrack.php?issue=001.

Systems, rules and philosophies that were put in place in those days in the last millennium were right for their time, but may not be apt now. You could include the RailWatch publication date in relation to its cover label as a minor example, but there are some really significant other ones. I stood and was elected to the RailFuture board. I accepted their longwinded procedures (starting late summer 2018 and being elected spring 2019) with a significant period of purdah and a requirement that electioneering was to be limited to the written statement posted out to members.  Sadly, under a system that requires modernisation, I was only just elected to a "fill in" place replacing a director who had resigned so only had a year rather that the three I sought to help make a positive difference. With the need to stand again in a cycle starting last autumn, with learning just how much of my support from the other directors during election was to keep another candidate they disliked out, and with finding that the words were "please help us move forward" but the actions were anything but, I concluded that I have better things to do with my active retirement years (at national and local level).

RailFuture has excellent skills in its volunteers - right up to board level, and those skills are being well used. And RailFuture's campaigning for a better railway for the future, filtering out the Utopian dreams that won't work and  promoting plausible improvements is good in positioning. And on that basis, I remain a supportive member.

Magazines are published with a month on or a month off date telling the retailers when to stock it on the shelves.  Most are 'month off' so the July edition goes on the shelves on receipt and is removed from the shelves in July.  I agree it is a crazy system.

If I remember correctly a few years back the Railway Magazine bucked the trend and starting putting the month of publication on the front cover.  It meant there were 13 issues that year with a December magazine and then a Christmas Special issue.

Even here out in deepest Somersetshire, the mail coach brings papers from the Metropolis in but a few days, under normal conditions. There have been a few delays of late, due to an outbreak of the pox.
Pack horses are now little used, being confined to byways and bridle paths that serve hamlets away from the post coach route.

Bulky and heavy loads may be conveyed at low rates via the canal system, and passengers are sometimes carried, this mode of transport is very slow and competes on price, not speed.
The canal boats use but a single horse, plodding slowly. The same horse is used throughout the journey, with many overnight stops whilst the animal is rested and fed.
The mail coaches are pulled by four or more fine horses, these animals trot briskly, or are even urged to a gallop. The rapid tiring of these horses being of no consequence as they are frequently changed for fresh animals.

Experiments are underway with steam power, unlikely to succeed due to the risk of explosion or other accident.

But is it?  "Best Before End July 2020" - as so much of our food products are routinely marked these days  ;D

Chatting with Lisa (who is also awake this early) ... she points out that "Summer" editions are published in the spring and "Christmas" editions of publications that are looking to persuade you to buy product for the festive season are typically out in November.

Yes, it had got to the stage where the next month’s magazine was coming out at the beginning of the previous month. So July edition would be sent out in early June. This was realigned by issuing the additional magazine, free to subscribers, so that it now comes out on the first Wednesday of the month.

And don't even mention clothes retailing ...