Great Western Coffee Shop

I've been wondering for a while who was responsible for the shoddy painting job at Nailsea. Half finished, for weeks much of the station has been left in a matt green undercoat. There appears to be more green paint on the platform and stairs than where it should have been, and yellow lines are only painted half way across the step edges.

But today the answer has appeared on a poster put up on the platform. "I'm Neil, and I'm responsible for all the painting done at FGW stations recently" (Or words to similar effect).

Well if FGW are proud enough of their Nailsea job to advertise their achievement then maybe they had better stick to running trains (where they are, it has to be said, making a reasonable fist of it these days)and not branch out into home improvements.     

Well, John, in the past, I've defended the people who've done painting at Nailsea & Backwell: see http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=1732 for example.

However, in this latest 'refresh', I have to say that I agree with you.  Alright, the weather may not have helped - but that doesn't excuse painting over, rather than around, the various signs fixed to the railings.  Fair enough, there's not much point in even having 'no smoking' signs at Nailsea, because nobody enforces them - but some of the safety announcement signs have similarly been obscured by green paint.

I'm sending an e-mail to the FGW manager responsible for the station at Nailsea & Backwell, inviting her to visit and see for herself this shoddy workmanship.

 ::) ???

Pewsey station and the steps leading up to the footbridge were re=painted at least a year ago. But the middle section over the tracks still remains to be done a year later when there has been an all-day Sunday possession of the line throughout the summer months when the work could have been finished. Meanwhile the paint has started to peel off the re-painted areas as it looks like the painters shortcut the sanding down process.

I've had a look at that poster at Nailsea & Backwell: a cheerfully grinning 'Neil' tells us, "We go through thousands of litres of paint every year."

Hmmm.  Putting a bit more of it where it should be put, rather than just splashing it about, would be a better use for it.  ::)

Neil is just one of the people doing painting, he is not necessarily the same person doing it at Nailsea.

We have the same ads at Paddington and at Reading, which show staff from various roles.

Will upload pics shortly.

Edit at 01:49:

http://www.iworkforfgw.com/railblog/index.php?month=sept08#1209080144

Thanks, Ollie  ;) !

Yes, the full size posters that have appeared at Nailsea & Backwell, and Bristol Temple Meads (and no doubt elsewhere!) do make it clear that 'Neil' is 'Station Painting Supervisor' for FGW.  However, they also claim that 'Thousands of people admire his handiwork every day at FGW stations ...'   ::)

I'd like to extend a cordial invitation to 'Neil', and the FGW manager responsible for Nailsea & Backwell station, to visit our station and perhaps justify such 'admiration' for the standard of painting.

More on the posters from the I Work For FGW blog (link below.)
http://www.iworkforfgw.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=130&start=0&st=0&sk=t&sd=a

Another poster has now appeared on the platform at Nailsea & Backwell - this time on our new 'Community Noticeboard', and from the Severnside Community Rail Partnership.

It announces several improvements that are being / will be made at the station - including the repainting.  After explaining that the painting has been delayed by the weather (which is fair enough!) it goes on to say that, "where necessary, paint spills will be cleaned up and signs replaced."

Hmmm.  My point remains that, if the paint had been applied a bit more carefully in the first place, it wouldn't be necessary for someone else to tidy up after 'Neil' by trying to remove numerous splashes of green paint from all over the platforms - nor to replace perfectly good signs, which should have been protected by a bit of masking tape while he was apparently waving his paint brush about so energetically!

 ::)

However, using contractors, rather than in-house staff, would probably be no better: see http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/lancashire/7621769.stm

 ::) ::) ::)

Yes, a very welcome notice, both it's existence, and some of the news within it. Though it confirmed my suspicion that the painting had been done by community service workers rather than trained painters. Hmm, well if you try and do the job on the cheap you get what you pay for.

But the good news is that the car park is to be relined to provide more spaces, and that our new man will be trained to sell tickets. Hooray! Someone is listening.

What with all that and our very own nostalia trip every morning on the 0846, things are looking up for N&B.

There is a Double Standard at FGW when it comes to Painting, Neil is one of the FGW IN-HOUSE painters, they have painted Exeter St David's to a very fine standard.
So good that a tatty battered old door looks brand new, a bit of filler, a good undercoat and two top coats and that old door is going to look good for years.

Then there are Contract painters, according to the "EXPERTS" who put together the mess of a Railway we now have, Contractors are better and cheaper.

St Erth has been painted by contractors, who got in, slapped paint over all the place and said "FINISHED"
FGW took one look, ordered the work to be done again so ANOTHER contractor has repainted St Erth again, however like the paint job at Nailsea work has stopped, rumour has it because of D & A offences.

It was planned to repaint St Erth in Great Western Chocolate & Cream, but St Erth is a Listed building and such Colours are only premitted IF IT CAN BE SHOWN that Chocolate & Cream is a Historically Correct colour.

So as NO ONE in FGW had the Wisdom to prove this, St Erth has been repainted in the Historic Colours of "SOUTH WALES AND WEST TRAINS"

WONDERFUL  ???  ::)

Yes I must admit I had a little chuckle when  Arriva Trains Wales repainted Cardiff Central in the historically correct colours of green and ivory as senn in the original Greater Western franchise ! ;D

Don't get too used to it John - according to the FGW journey planner, that service isn't going to call at Nailsea nor Yatton in new timetable.  >:(

Well it's a history of being missed out from published timetables since it was introduced. So I live in hope. Though I've always understood that the HST was a short term measure whilst the Sheffield work is being carried out and they will go onto their planned services from December.

From Decemeber, the first HST north from Bristol will be 1528

Shame that, I was hoping to be able to take an HST up to York for the day from Bristol once the new XC timetable starts in December. Oh well just have to go via London and try Grand Central HSTs to avoid a four hour journey on a Voyager.

Take a day trip to Plymouth or something instead, depart Bristol 0944/1044/1244/1444, return 1221/1321/1521/1721

ATW havent repainted Cardiff central at all, in fact there idea of painting is a quick spash of ATW yuck green around the bottom bit of the pillars and they have only half done that at

To my surprise, it left 3 minutes early today (as evidenced currently by the report of the train on its journey north), and Yatton 2 early. Was a Voyager too, but I understand that's a 1 off.

 

Thats not on!
---------------------------scheduled-----actual---
Station ------------------arr-----dep---arr-----dep-
Yatton [YAT] ------------0839 - 0840 - 0837 - 0838    
Nailsea & Backwell [NLS] - 0845 - 0846 - 0843 - 0843

I'd complain at XC saying you missed it if I were you!

Just a brief update:

The re-painting job on the railings and footbridge at Nailsea & Backwell is still ongoing - not helped by the wet weather, to be fair.

However, in an interesting new development, we now have a selection of silhouette pictures of human heads, in various primary colours, which have appeared on the panels of the shelters.  As they are of a far superior quality to the occasional graffiti that we get at Nailsea, I can only assume they are the supervised work of children from one of our local schools.

If this is the case, it would be great to have some formal acknowledgement of the original artists - I've not seen any notice on our new 'community noticeboard' to explain the sudden appearance of these cheerful images!

'Well done' from me, anyway!   ;) :D ;D

Do they look similar to this, Chris? :

(http://www.raildocuments.org.uk/feb08photos/010208avonmouth2.jpg)

Yes - quite similar, but without any text or black outlines!   :)

I have no evidence to support this theory, but I have been watching the repainting of Redland station, (which has been going on for some weeks).  Every time I have duties on the SB line, there appears to  be a different and not wholly professional group of workers engaged on the task whilst under supervision.  Could they be offenders carrying out a Community Service Order?

They're probably painting over all the old grafitti with primer and undercoat, before returning in the dead of night with aerosol cans to apply the finishing 'overcoat'!  ::)

Mind you, other views of Avonmouth station have now been posted on the Railway Eye blog....
http://railwayeye.blogspot.com/2008/10/railway-garden-competition-14.html

Yes they are. The FGW employee (I'm not sure what his title is) told me their productivity is, er, low.

Hmmm.  Well, if they just have to serve a specified number of hours, with no particular quality control, that is only to be expected?

To whoever mentioned repainting at Redland station, this is being carried out by Community Service Offenders. Many other stations have also been "done up" (not just painted) with assistance from the Probation Service.

This is all however being arranged through Severnside Community Rail Partnership, as is local station artwork. The Partnership Officer, Sarah Collins won 3rd place at the Community Rail Awards in Plymouth last month for some of the schemes she has helped to deliver with the help of the Probation Service & community groups!

IMHO the multicoloured blobs just look rather naff at Nailsea. If they had been done well then maybe, but the paint has run, and they give the impression of having been painted by 4 year olds in a nursery.

Hmmm.  Yes, John, I accept your point - and that's why I wondered who actually painted them?  If it was indeed a class of primary school children, under supervision, I think they've made a much better job of it than the 'station painters'.  ::)

And there was I thinking that the clanking chain noises came from underneath my 143 ;D

Keith Walton (of the Severnside Community Rail Partnership, who are sponsoring this artwork) confirmed to me on the platform this morning that these silhouettes are being painted by year 7 pupils from Backwell School.  They have yet to be finished, and they will then be given a covering of anti-vandal varnish (the pictures, not the pupils).

I believe the idea is to involve students in their community facilities now, so as to try to instil them with some pride and hopefully reluctance to turn to vandalism or graffiti in their teenage years?

;D  ;D

Beat me to it, Chris. I was on a tour of the school yeserday morning and the Head proudly told me of the work. I didn't have the heart to mention the paint runs or the grafitti scratched into the paint already. They were silhouettes of reception children at an infants school, so in that sense were paintings of four year olds.

For full details, see http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/news/High-visibility-jackets-offenders-community-service/article-459440-detail/article.html