Great Western Coffee Shop

I'm on my annual jolly around the UK rail network and I have just completed day 1 and 2 of my 7 day jaunt. I thought I'd post a few comments and observations of my travels.

Day 1:

Shirehampton (0807) to Bristol Temple Meads (0832). FGW Class 143. Not much to say on this, the first train of the week. Although I do like the new seats that have been fitted to the 143s during the 'Wessex' fleet refresh.
Bristol Temple Meads (0921) to Newport (0958). FGW Class 158. Where have the flip down tables gone from the seat backs in the airline seating? Prior to the refresh I'm fairly certain FGWs 158s all had flipdown tables. Experienced minor delays at Severn Tunnel Junction and the outskirts of Newport making my onward connection very tight......
Newport (1005) to Shrewsbury (1151). ATW Class 175. Interior beginning to look a bit tired. This journey was enlivened by one of the jolliest guards I've ever come across. On seeing my ticket, he sat down and asked me of my plans. He regaled me with stories of his time on the west coast mainline in BR days telling of drivers regularly speeding down Beattock and Shap in Class 86s and Mk3s.
Shrewsbury (1206) to London Marylebone (1523). W&S Class 67 (Pushing. DVT on front). I do love the signalling around Shrewsbury; watching my train arrive I could see a distant upper quadrant semaphore, in the foreground was a lower quadrant and on departure the 2nd signal was colour light! On this particular train there was only 1 standard class carriage and 1 first class/buffet. Consequently it was full and standing after Telford. The reason was electrical failure in the other Mk3 standard carriage which was left at its depot. The guard and other staff handled the overcrowding extremely well, giving free 1st class upgrades to some elderly travellers.
I've used this service once before and the food offering to first class customers is outstanding. My stuffed chicken breast and salad was delicious, and the Chocolate Tarte and fresh cream was devine! I also had a bottle of Chablis for the price of a half bottle as they had run out of half bottles. The guy opposite gladly helped me polish off the wine. This is one of the joys of train travel; being able to strike up conversations with complete strangers.
Short bus ride to St Pancras International.....
St Pancras (1637) to Ebbsfleet International(1654). SET Class 395. (High Speed preview service) I should really have waited an hour for the service to Ashford International for a couple of reasons. Firstly it was difficult to appreciate the speed as most of the high speed running to Ebbsfleet was in tunnel. Secondly, I decided not to return to St Pancras but walk to Northfleet to pick up a local train. On leaving the station I saw that walking to Northfleet would be a bit of a trial (lots of main roads and secure areas etc) so jumped in a cab instead. Cabbie seemed disappointed at the short fare....no tip for the miserable git.
Northfleet (1712) to London Bridge (1800). SET Class 465. Bog standard commuter train. Nuff said.
London Bridge (1812) to East Croydon (1824). SN Class 377. As above but with 1st class.
East Croydon (1837) to Haywards Heath (1905). SN Class 442. The 'Wessex Electric' 442 is arguably one of the best DC trains ever built. This one was unrefurbished and still in SWT 'express' livery, and was on a journey to Eastbourne! The best thing about this train however was the 1st class compartment. I thought my days travelling in compartments on the national network were over, so this was a pleasent surprise.
Haywards Heath (1858 - delayed 14mins) to Brighton (1922 - arrived 15 late). GX (SN) Class 442. Another 'Wessex Electric'. This time a fully refurbished example, so no compartment to myself again!
Overnight Stay.

Day 2.

Brighton (0949) to Clapham Junction (1033). SN Class 377. Surprised to discover that Southern offer complimentary refreshments to 1st class ticket holders. Just don't ask for a bottle of water and a coffee. A strict 1 item only policy seems to be in force!
Clapham Junction (1105) to Willesden Junction (1127). LO Class 313. Bit of ac/dc running.
Willesden Junction (1133) to Acton Central (1138). LO Class 313. As above.
Walk to Acton Main Line
Acton Main Line (1221) to Ealing Broadway (1224). FGW Class 165.
Ealing Broadway (1235) to Reading (1322). FGW Class 165.
Reading (1332) to Taunton (1451). FGW Class 43 HST. For a service that is advertised as pick up only at Reading there were an awful lot of people getting off! Was hoping to try the freshly prepared burger from the Travelling Chef but they'd already sold out by the time my order was taken. Plan B was the chicken and bacon club sandwich. Very nice. Despite coming to a stand west of Castle Cary and slow running through Cogload Junction the train made it into Taunton at 1452:12, Giving me 48 seconds to run from Platform 2 down through the subway and up to Platform 5 for my next train. Made it just as the whistle was blown. Praise be for slam-door stock.....
Taunton (1453) to Bristol Parkway (1538). XC Class 43 HST. My first trip in a XC refurbished HST. I think they've done a good job on the refresh. The first class seating is very similar to that on the East Coast fleet. I prefered this to the FGW leather seating, which is just to slippery. The seating in standard also looks good. One gripe is the lack of a proper buffet. On my short journey this was not an issue but for a train that runs from Plymouth to Edinburgh a trolley isn't really adequate. Oh, and my comp coffee was awful.
Bus home

Day 3 and 4 to follow. Up to Inverness, and back on the Sleeper to London. Any suggestions for an interesting journey home to Bristol on Saturday? (I really need to colour in TransWilts in my rail atlas!!!!)

Though compartments were long gone! Are there any photos/videos of this?

When I travelled on Eurostar to Paris a few weeks back, I too was disapointed with the amount of tunnels near London. (I understand why - but I was hoping to see the White Elephant Olympic stadium) You didn't miss much after however - much of the stretch to Ashford has sound proofing blocking the view. And the Kent countryside leaves a lot to be desired IMO. ("Garden of England", pah!)

No photos of the 442 1st class compartment unfortunately. Camera phone needed a recharge which is very difficult when you've left the charger at home!

Here's a link to some photos of said 1st class accomodation. They are exactly as I experienced.

http://rpm-railpics.fotopic.net/c961218.html

Scroll down to the '442' thumbnails. The 'snug' area was still there as well. No open accompanying buffet though.

Thanks, very interesting. :)

Shame they are removing these; I suppose they can ram in more seats...

I will be in that area later this Summer, so I hope to at least "see" an example.

I've modified the original post re: the first 442 I travelled in. My memory was hampered by the G&T and wine I'd drunk on the W&S train up to Marylebone! This unit (actually two 442s couple together) is diagrammed for services to/from Eastbourne and remains unrefurbished and hasn't been re-liveried to GatEx.

Thanks, bignose (if I may call you that!)

Looking forward to reading the rest of your journal.

hey InIn (can I call you that?!) I've been called far worse....... ;)

Just retruning to some old posts. I never did get to Scotland, woke up very poorly on Day 3 and I had succumbed to a heavy cold so was laid up going nowhere.

Tried for a partial refund on the Rover, but got no dice with FGW. Are there any official rules for part used Rovers? FGW told me that refunds on these types of tickets in those circumstances are a matter of goodwill only.

I'm very sorry to hear that.

You can understand why no refund is due though. Two days of peak return trips from Manchester to London pays for an all line rover, so there would be a lot of scope for abuse if part used rovers were returned for a refund. (And how do you prove it wasn't used?)

I rather suspected I'd get short-shrift, but my motto is 'if you don't ask, you don't get'. I think my 2 days of predominently 1st class travel just about covered my initial outlay of ^429 (railcard disc.) for the Rover. Starting to save my pennies for next years jolly.....