Great Western Coffee Shop

Sorry if I'm repeating stuff in the "COTSWOLD LINE REDOUBLING" thread, but I haven't got time to read all 88 pages of it!

Q1: What are the plans for new timetables in September and then December? I've heard something about hourly to Moreton. Will all Worcester trains be HST, or is there still a shortage? What about 180s?

Q2: What on earth is that bridge at Charlbury? Poor old wheelchair users will need to travel about 3 miles to get from Platfrom 1 to 2. I thought NR had a lift/bridge design that it used, or was this too expensive?

1. See http://www.clpg.co.uk/Sept2011%20Timetable%20Plans.htm
The only likely addition in December will be an HST extended back from Oxford to start from Charlbury at 7.15am. No there aren't any more HSTs - where would they get them from?

2. Had Network Rail used its brdige with lifts - see Axminster - the howls of protest would have been heard all the way to Worcester, too big/tall/ugly.

3. Can people not add to this thread and stick to posting in the main one?

1. Thanks - is this what is planned from December as well?

2. Don't understand. The one they've put up is hardly not ugly. It's certainly wider than the lifts model, and surely can't be much shorter. Anyway - it won't be me looking at it every day so I don't care.

3. If people think the old one is bloated, we could shut it down and continue on here. Newbies are going to be put off an 88 page thread.

They (& you) could post their Q's into the original thread regardless, if you can't be bothered to read the latest 10 pages (which likely has all your answers). Makes no difference if on the end of that one or this one?

* removes moderator hat

I have to say, I totally agree with this.

/ replaces hat

I disagree with 'Btline' and 'Phil' on this one - partly because I am looking forward to the original thread going past 100000 page views and then 100 actual pages!  Being so long it makes interesting reading from the birth of the scheme, through to speculation about the design/scope, through the rumours of it being cancelled/delayed and then onto the actual work in progress.

For that reason, I think the original thread should continue as one and this one merged into it.  What do others think?

I'm with IndustryInsider on this one.....otherwise you might as well strip into threads of no more than 20 pages, marking them thread #1, #2, #3....but ugh!

Erm....there is such a thing as a search facility on this site you know.......... ;)

The other reason is that the Cotwsold line redoubling has many different aspects to it.
Having every thread merged into a super thread means that topics get lost.
However I do appreciate the way it is a record of the whole project.

Really don't mind - tbh I'm just amazed it's finally finishing! Not that many years ago it was just an "aspiration". (i.e. never going to happen)

Hmm.  ::)

To be fair, Btline, I have looked at the question of whether that particularly large topic could be broken down into more sizeable chunks, each covering a different aspect of the project.  However, it's just not that easy: many posts refer to several aspects of the project, and taking any of them out of context would just lead to confusion.

There has never been any merging of threads there, so far as I'm aware: the whole history of that topic has simply been the adding of replies to previous posts on that same thread.

I have, however, several times taken the opportunity (often with very helpful input from willc) to split off into new topics some posts which were clearly unrelated to the main theme there, and which could stand on their own.

That's probably as much as we can do, in practical terms - and, as has been pointed out, there is a search facility, if you wish to track any particular aspect of the overall redoubling project.

I hope this helps.

Chris.  ;)

Could all references to the locations of photos be remived (apart from say, the first & last)? That would trim some posts?

Hmm. Would ChrisB's suggestion be alright with you, willc?

Here's a totally different idea.  I think it would be good if, rather than removing the links, they were made more specific to point the batch of photos that Will was referring to at the time by e.g. replacing
http://www.flickr.com/photos/willc2009/ (http://www.flickr.com/photos/willc2009/)
with
http://www.flickr.com/photos/willc2009/archives/date-posted/2011/05/29/ (http://www.flickr.com/photos/willc2009/archives/date-posted/2011/05/29/)
That way, the link is relevant to that point in the discussion which adds something for people reading through the thread.

I'm not sure that removing the links helps make the thread more readable and, perhaps, removes something useful.  (What if somebody arrives half-way along the thread via a search engine?)

Point well made, Sir!

I am not a user of the Cotswold Line but would still hate to see the original thread messed about with; it is a great "history" of observation and comments on the progress and what the potential is of the redoubling which has been amplified by the dedicated photography by Willc.

The only think I would like is for Willc to add a hyper link in his signature to his flichr album of the redoubling

a. How on earth would removing single link links to flickr have reduced the length of this thread?

b. My life (and that of the moderators too, I suspect) is too short to go trawling back over two years of posts, especially when the said posts almost invariably mention where the pictures referred to were taken, so all you have to do in flickr is put a location in the search box and work it out from there.

c. I think people are on the whole most interested in the latest stage of work, and that's what they will find at the top of the photostream, or if they click on the link to the redoubling pictures set for the pages of thumbnails. And from the rate at which picture views tick up, it's fairly obvious that is the case, with an initial rush, then a slow build-up beyond that, mostly, I would suggest, from people browsing within flickr or viewing the slideshow once they are there, rather than to-ing and fro-ing from the redoubling thread.

May I perhaps suggest a link to the photos in your forum signature, willc? That way it's always there and folks new to the 'Redoubling' thread won't be confused by 'pictures in the usual place' and won't have to ask in the thread for the location of these photos.

People have coped with my slapdash way of doing things for two years (Tuesday will be exactly two years since I posted the first pictures) so I'm sure they can manage for five more weeks, because that's all the time there is left for the project to run but I will make sure to include a link every time I put pictures online until the big day on August 22.

And if anyone can't find a link to my pictures here, there is one on the homepage at clpg.co.uk - the Cotswold Line Promotion Group site.

Fair call. Two years eh? Hasn't time flown?  ;)

Now, what about a book about the Cotswold Line Redoubling project? With the wealth of knowledge you've gathered over the past two years I'm sure there would be market for just such a publication. I'd buy a copy!

And excellent photographic record it is, as important are the comments you have added to each photo.

I for one have enjoyed and continue to enjoy the journey of the redoubling through the photos over the 2 years a great historic record.