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 10/05/25 - BRTA Westbury
10/05/25 - Model Railsay Show, Calne
13/05/25 - Melksham TUG / AGM
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On this day
18th Apr (1966)
Melksham Station closed (link)

Train RunningCancelled
11:01 Severn Beach to Bristol Temple Meads
12:01 Severn Beach to Bristol Temple Meads
21:32 Swindon to Cheltenham Spa
22:36 Reading to Shalford
19/04/25 03:34 London Paddington to Reading
19/04/25 05:43 Reading to London Paddington
Short Run
10:10 Weston-Super-Mare to Severn Beach
18:40 Bristol Temple Meads to Great Malvern
20:28 London Paddington to Weston-Super-Mare
21:00 Bristol Temple Meads to Worcester Shrub Hill
21:00 Penzance to Exeter St Davids
21:15 Great Malvern to Bristol Temple Meads
22:38 Worcester Shrub Hill to Bristol Temple Meads
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09:23 Portsmouth Harbour to Cardiff Central
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1  All across the Great Western territory / Across the West / Re: voyagers on: October 04, 2008, 20:56:54
The voyagers do have one plus over the HSTS, if one engine is playing up/not working on a voyager, the train can still be used, but if a power car on an HST (High Speed Train (Inter City class 43 125 units)) isn't working, the train can't go anywhere as far as i know

Also, the voyagers have the slidey blind thingys (yes thingy is a technical term thank you!) so you dont get blinded by the sun late afternoon (which i know from experience)...ok, so my train knowledge is only limited to anything between Bath Spa and Cheltenham Spa, but are there any other trains that have blinds (due to a tempory mind blank, i can't remember if the FGW (First Great Western) hst's have any type of blind)

and the overall size of the toilets on a voyager are much better than on an HST.

2  Journey by Journey / Bristol (WECA) Commuters / Re: Bath Spa Station Weekend Closures on: September 13, 2008, 11:21:40
Bath is a popular city for tourists at weekends so we get coaches in every weekend, but we don't get swamped with loads of coaches until the bath Christmas market, and that doesn't start till the end of November. I suppose we'll just have to wait and see..
3  Journey by Journey / Bristol (WECA) Commuters / Re: Bath Spa Station Weekend Closures on: September 13, 2008, 02:17:32
I'd say it's first great western achully using a bit of sense for once,
Currently the centre of bath is not a good place to be, as we've got a major redevelopment of the main shopping area in the city, so they've changed the road layout along the main road the runs outside the train station, and if FGW (First Great Western) stopped coaches there, the whole city would most likely seize up due to the very stupid traffic lights outside the station...

but that's only me guessing
4  Journey by Journey / Cross Country services / Re: travelling on cross country on: June 13, 2008, 19:34:20
I've travelled on the Voyagers a lot, and i must confess, i've never ever had any problems with them.
I dont even mind where they are crowded, I'll just find a comfy corner in the vestible areas.
Ok, when they are really busy, the air con has trouble coping.

Plus, in all the time i travelled on both FGW (First Great Western) and Virgin/XC (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) daily, overall i think i had a better service record with Virgin/XC than FGW. There was definatly more delays and cancelations that effected me personally on FGW than XC.
5  All across the Great Western territory / Across the West / Re: How many carriages can your nearest station(s) take? on: June 07, 2008, 14:32:29
if your talking things like HST (High Speed Train (Inter City class 43 125 units))'s and stuff, Bath Spa can fit a full HST on, Oldfield Park can fit about five on i think, and just because it's where I'm at uni, Cheltenham spa can fit a full HST on as well
6  Journey by Journey / Cross Country services / Re: XC HSTs on: June 07, 2008, 14:30:36
I still prefer the voyager's, but if the XC (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) HST (High Speed Train (Inter City class 43 125 units))'s had the buffet cars in, it would make them nicer
7  Journey by Journey / Cross Country services / Re: XC HSTs on: June 06, 2008, 22:33:17
I spoke to a friend of mine, who is a RSM on the XC (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) trains. She was on one of the first RSM's to do from plymouth. She doesn't like the trolleys!

I think one of the services is 10:25 up from plymouth on a monday
8  All across the Great Western territory / Across the West / Re: Poll: What do you hate about the HSTs?! on: May 15, 2008, 12:29:45
I can't really pick at any parts of the HST (High Speed Train (Inter City class 43 125 units))'s i guess...they are an ok all round train.
Only think i could think of is that their vestrible floor is less comfy that on a voyager class
Amount of time i spent sitting on the floor in a voyager vestrible, definatly more comfy.
but that could just be me  Cheesy
9  Journey by Journey / London to Swindon and Bristol / Re: can someone shead any light on this for me? on: May 10, 2008, 00:40:32
Recently Chip and I travelled from Newport- Bath Spa. The direct route via Patchway advance single worked out as over ^10 a ticket, but I put in via Bristol Parkway and got the tickets for ^2 apiece! It's not as if changing at Bristol Parkway was particularly out the way, either!

Dont forget the bath - swindon and swindon - cheltenham graz!
cheaper doing swindon - chelt! *thinks* was it an advance though??? I can't remember!!!!
10  Journey by Journey / London to Swindon and Bristol / Re: can someone shead any light on this for me? on: May 03, 2008, 01:15:14
so, if anyone can master the pricing of train tickets, they could rule the world!
Train fares = strange
11  Journey by Journey / London to Swindon and Bristol / can someone shead any light on this for me? on: May 03, 2008, 00:35:09
here's a challange for you
What do you think costs less?

a one hour (give or take some time) direct bath spa to reading adult single with no railcard
a two hour (give or take some time) reading to shepperton, changing twice (so 4 stations in total)
At 6am in the morning




hoping most people here are smart enough to guess the reading to shepperton one...cos you'd be right.
How the heck is it that FGW (First Great Western) can charge ^30 for a one hour direct train from bath to reading, while i could do a two hour journey, changing twice for under half! And the ^30 ticket is an advance!
12  Journey by Journey / Cross Country services / Re: Voyager journeys on: March 26, 2008, 13:19:51
The XC (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) services have got worse - I've changed my morning train as a result, got fed up with the over crowded 4 coach trains (when they used to be 5).  The FGW (First Great Western) trains are much much better.

Virgin trains took about half of the total super voyager fleet i think (give or take about 5 or so)
Really with the XC services around bristol, it depends what time of day you travel espically if your traveling north from bristol.
13  All across the Great Western territory / Introductions and chat / Re: Another newbie, in more ways than one! on: March 22, 2008, 11:03:29
Welcome to the forums!
Good luck with the job as well!
14  All across the Great Western territory / Across the West / Re: Station and on board train announcements - merged topic, ongoing discussion on: March 22, 2008, 10:42:36
Thanks for that, Lee!

Having listened to the voice samples on that website, it is now absolutely clear to me that the voice of the 'live announcements' at Bristol Temple Meads is not Phil Sayer.

The question remains: what name can we now give to the excellent, clear and precise 'a male voice' at BTM (Bristol Temple Meads (strictly, it should be BRI) but BTM is a commonly used alternative))?  I'm rather tempted to go up to that door on platform 5 at BTM, hammer on it loudly, and shout "You in there: what's your name?"

 Wink Cheesy Grin

Charlie?
I like the name Charlie
I give it a day before someone with a strange sense of humour makes a poll on here to choose his name...wouldn't surprise me, stranger things have happened on the net
15  All across the Great Western territory / Across the West / Re: Station and on board train announcements - merged topic, ongoing discussion on: March 21, 2008, 20:48:58
Phil's announcements for Bristol Temple Meads itself are not pre-recorded: they're clearly done live - they are even amended in mid-announcement, if the information he has is updated!

I can't comment on the announcements at other stations, though: I've not heard them.



I wonder whether we are talking at cross purposes. As Chris says, the one we're talking about is definitely not prerecorded. And he's excellent. 

He is most definatly not recorded!
I heard a phone in the background once!
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