Great Western Coffee Shop

The CLPG is organising an excursion to the West Country from the main stations on the line on Saturday, May 9, using an FGW HST, which will run non-stop from Oxford to Taunton, via Melksham. Stops to set down at Taunton, Exeter, Dawlish, Newton Abbot, Torquay and Paignton. Return journey runs via Westbury, Trowbridge, Bristol and Cheltenham.

For more info, see http://www.clpg.co.uk/spectrns.htm (http://www.clpg.co.uk/spectrns.htm)

What a delightful destination ;)

Adding insult to injury, though, taking an HST through Melksham - without stopping?   :o ::) ;D

It should not be allowed!!! :P ;) :o

It requires at more than four month's notice to the timetabling people to add in an extra stop at Melksham into the schedule, even just for one day (we asked about a stop in May in another service... on 13th January ... and that was too late).   As a guess, this train was probably arranged at shorter notice.

All the first class tickets for the train have been snapped up already, according to the CLPG website - might that have something to do with the ability to sit together in groups in these coaches?

Yep, and have a table and be alinged with the windows.

If you want a day out in a tootpaste tube you might as well fly in a 737.

I will be interesting to see what happens when charter trains cease to be Mark 1s, The club has got 32 seats 8 tables in second next week to Minehead.

Many charters already use Mk2 stock, even a/c.  Still have tables for 4 lining up with windows.

If anyone is thinking of booking on this train, they'd better be quick. Only 191 standard seats remain unsold as of tonight and the spring CLPG newsletter is due out this week, with members getting priority booking until April 11.

Last chance if you want to go on this train... just 18 seats in standard left unsold tonight, with tomorrow the closing date for bookings.

Interesting little postscript to the operation of this train, contained in the new Cotswold & Malvern Line News - of those on board, 81 boarded at Hanborough.

It contains an interesting account of the journeys to and from Paignton written by Patrick Lawless of Network Rail, who is the man responsible for writing the Cotswold Line timetable, who took the opportunity to look at point-to-point timings and station dwell times for HSTs using the route - with a reverse rake to add to the fun on the outward leg. He notes the difficulties of pathing special trains almost anywhere on the network these days.