As promised, my musings on the day:
First off, irrelevant to the day out, but whilst waiting at Bristol
TM‡ for my 0948 to Reading, I had the pleasure of seeing
71000 Duke of Gloucester roll into the station at the head of that day's 'Torbay Express'. Looking well polished and resplendent as she arrived onto Platform 6. After pulling up to the signal I heard loud banging emanating from the cab of said loco. On closer inspection the fireman was busy banging the roof of the cab, above the regulator, with a lump hammer. For what reason I know not. Being a nosy beggar I enquired of one of the loco crew as to why the fireman was attacking the roof of the cab with a gurt hammer. I got the reply, "We have to do that to make her go!" The 'Torbay Express' was due off Temple Meads at 0915:00 and it was pleasing to see the wheels roll exactly on time,
to the second. The
XC▸ Voyager on Platform 3 left 4 late for no apparent reason.....
Onward to Swindon and I stuck my grey flat-capped head (the cap being grey, not my head) out of the droplight on the approach to the Wiltshire's finest town (
) so that
bobm could identify me. Hooked up with
bobm for the run to Reading. A (little early) snifter was had from the buffet - Whisky and Dry for
bobm, G&T for me. 18 minutes to kill at Reading so time enough for me to pop outside and satisfy my nicotine craving. I was stood right next to a massive sign pointing peeps in the direction for the Rail Replacement buses to Wokingham - that didn't stop a random bloke asking me where he could find the buses to Wokingham!
1118 off Reading heading for Maidenhead and things started to go wrong. Dunno quite what happened but we were 4 mins down by Twyford and it appeared very likely that we would miss the connection at Maidenhead onto the 1135 to Bourne End. And lo, it came to pass. Arrived into Maidenhead at 1136 and The Donkey was long gone.
A shufty around Maidenhead station to see whether there was the option of a bus to Bourne End, but it would appear that the good folk of Berks don't really feel the need for buses across the border to Bucks on a Sunday. Enquiring at the ticket office drew a blank ("sorry mate, I don't live round here. I've no idea about buses") but the clerk suggested I go speak to the Duty Station Manager.
Now, here was the highlight of the day. I spoke with the DSM, explaining that myself and a friend had just missed the train to Bourne End because of our late arrival into Maidenhead. I know full well that, by the rules, we weren't entitled to free onward transport as there would be another train to Bourne End within the hour. That said, the DSM made a call to
FGW▸ Control to seek authorisation for a taxi for us, but he couldn't get through. He then made an executive decision and walked with me and
bobm to the taxi rank and procured us a free taxi to Bourne End! Customer Service above and beyond from Pete*. Top work fella!
At Bourne End, myself and
bobm hooked up with
Electric train and after discovering that
James Vertigan was already cosily ensconced at The Marlow Donkey pub, the three of us set off for our walk along The Thames to Marlow. Spitting with rain initially but the sun was trying its hardest to break through the cloud. A nice walk (a little muddy in places) that did a good job in building up a thirst and hunger. The three of us got slightly geographically challenged when we reached the outskirts of Marlow, but we eventually found our way to The Marlow Donkey Pub.
James was easy to spot as he was a walking billboard for 'First - Transforming Travel' (
BTW▸ James - where can I get one of those t-shirts?)
Beer, chat, lunch (I had a very nice Ploughmans - but by cripes the piccalilli was tart), beer, chat, beer, Vodka & Tonic, chat. Then the long walk (150yds) to Marlow station for the train home. I'd failed to empty my bladder whilst I had the chance in the pub and was unable to avail myself of the facilities onboard the Class 165 as, not untypically, the onboard toilet was locked out of use. Was able (just) to hold it in until Maidenhead.
Most interesting chat throughout the afternoon with
Electric train about, unsurprisingly, electrification. Being from deep in Diesel land I maintain that that sparky stuff is the Devil's work!
Also very nice to put faces to the names of
bobm and
James Vertigan. A special thanks to
bobm for donating the apple from his Ploughmans and for shouting me an M&S sandwich at Reading on the way home. Oh, and a couple more postprandial snifters were had on the train back to Swindon.
Finally, the return from Reading saw me travelling via Bristol Parkway ('cos of a Didcot split) but that worked out fine. Late running XC at
BPW» saw me get back to Temple Meads in time for the last service down the SVB line. That cost me one whole Pound though, as I'd gone for the PlusBus option rather than a ticket from/to Shirehampton. Still, the walk home from Shire saw me stumble upon a
BBC» Natural History Unit film crew......
*Not his real name. I've toyed with the idea of writing to FGW CS in praise of this guy, but identifying him may get him into trouble for doing something 'outside the rules'. That said, he made the decision, and myself and bobm are eternally grateful.
