Railways around Coventry

Hello, Brill. I've enjoyed watching these pics for years. The first one with the crowded No2 platform, is waiting for the train just visible in the distance, travelling to Nuneaton. Only the home signal is clear, the distant at danger which means that Three Spires Junc & Bedlam Lane gates are not clear. On arrival at Foleshill, the train would not normally set off unless the distant was clear, but hopefully, by the time it's ready to leave, the gates will be open, with motorists fuming at having to wait for so long.

Replacing track stones on the Birmingham to Coventry stretch at the back of my house on Sunday

So enjoyed that picture, Mick.

John Wells has done it again with another of his great VHS uploads on to YouTube. Great to see this one including the old crossing at Tile Hill.

Gosh, what memories, Neil, That was just after the reintroduction of the Coventry to Leamington line for passengers. No intermediate stops. That was the consequence of a Beeching cut, to save money, but the actual reverse was the case, it cost millions. Beeching ordered Birmingham Moor St & Snow Hill to be closed, so there was no way of getting Birmingham trains to Banbury & Oxford. They were very lucrative service's just as they are today. Try using one of them trains unless it's 1am. So, the Coventry to Leamington line, that was going to be closed & ripped up, had a stay of execution. No matter how intelligent or successful a businessman might be in his own expertise, Dr. Beeching, a chemist, was giving this task of saving the railway, using a ballpoint pen. The single biggest capital cost for our current Government, is HS2. Yet, the railway that did in fact do what HS2 is hoping to achieve, was cut up in 1966 - 71. Not the exactly the same route, but the Great Central railway was an express line built at the turn of the past century, to connect North & South of England, with a fast low population route. What's the difference? Beeching has cost the UK taxpayer, so much, no one can calculate. It was better than HS2, as it went right up to Sheffield. For a short period, the fastest passenger service in the UK was an express train called the "Master Cutler" Has anyone noticed but Moor St passenger numbers are through the roof. Did I mention Snow Hill. That's had to be reopened too at huge cost, because that had to be totally rebuilt. Ok, time for a lemon puff!

Hello, The loco working the Master Cutler in that picture is an A class Eastern region masterpiece, similar to Flying Scotsman. From time to time, most of us have considered that we can do a job better than someone doing it. I'm reminded to tell you, please don't ask me to paper your wall, or drill a hole. Your neighbour will be asking why she's got a sharp metal thing poking through her picture of the Queen. My subject is finance. I usually know when I'm dealing with a lemon. Talking of lemons, my puffs have nearly all gone. Have a good day all.

I had to be in London early yesterday for the NLIS at Old Billingsgate. I started at Kenilworth. Should have been on the 0644, but it was delayed. The normal thing: "Exp 0645". Then Exp 0646. Eventually, it was Exp 0648, which sure enough is when it departed. Now, 4 minutes doesn't sound a lot, but for the first time in my life, my connexion was not at COV but Nuneaton, and I only had a 6 minute window to change to the non-stop Avanti Pendolino. I was hoping the driver would put his or her foot down (ok, the Johnson bar or whatever gives a train more oomph), to make up lost time, as they sometimes do, but this little train plodded along the whole route. Maybe it was yellows or double yellows for much of the journey; I could not see the signals. The net result was that my 6 minute window at NUN, which was already tight, was now reduced to 2 minutes! I was not impressed with the station at NUN. Unlike evey other staion, where there are signs telling you departures, times, platforms etc., I could see nothing. I saw a Pendolino on another platform, so legged it up the stairs, and, as there were no signs indicating platform information, on my second attempt I found the Pendolino, doors still open. A very helpful employee affirmed that it was for EUS, and said "jump on here Sir and walk down to your carriage". I made it in the nick of time. For once, we arrived at EUS bang on time. In future, I must remember to take my Log Book of Unusual Incidents when travelling by train, so that I can record the rare incident where everything was on time, with no delays, cancellations, shortage of train crew etc. Cancellations are often, sadly, because of a suicide on the line. Two weeks ago, we got to London 3.5 hours late, because of an "incident" at Bushey, and they closed the line for investigations. My knowledge of physics is only very basic, but I still cannot understand how a human body weighing, say, 13 stone, can stop a 471 tonne train for several hours.

Hello Thank you for your Euston travel story. Railway suicides have been a sore subject for me from an incident going back to when Coventry had its own crew roster. A driver, Edgar, had worked & lived in Coventry all of his life. Heart & soul in the passion of his daily work. One day, he was in charge of his mount, (that's what he used to call it), when passing near to the Humber Rd junction, he hit a suicide victim. He at the age of 60, became a victim, he died a few months later, he never got over that event. I've a Coventry railway book of photos where he is included, his jovial picture amongst the Coventry motive power crew. Another staff victim was a former station manager, Roy, who witness a suicide with a difference. A man climbed up onto a tanker wagon. He didn't get near to touching the conductor wire before a spark & flash reduced his body to a blob of carbon. Roy was never the same after witnessing that. Unless done out at sea, suicide usually has the consequence of someone having to pick up the pieces. Why can't they volunteer to go into space!

It's really very sad, suicide. It happened to a close colleague at work some years ago, but not on the railway. He seemed his normal jovial elf in the morning, then went home and hanged himself at lunchtime. My sympathy has always gone out to the poor train driver. Imagine seeing someone on the line, blasting the horn slamming the brakes on... you're too late. A 500 tonne train travelling at 125mph has a lot of kinetic energy to get rid of, so stopping distance may be a mile or two. And as one driver said, you can't swerve out the way like in a car. I'm told that after 3 suicides, a train driver is pensioned off. Also, a train driver, if he/she sees anyone trespassing on the track, has to stop the train and report it to the authorities. My train from LMS was delayed one morning - we could all see the train down the dip, but a woman had been seen walking off the platform and down the track. Had to wait for the police to sort it.

Without sounding gruesome, that is literally what happens when a high speed train hits someone. The undertakers have to retrieve bits of body spread out over considerable distance, I was informed.

Hello, Crews on the last day of rostering from Coventry. The chap at the back centre is Edgar, just a couple of weeks after the dreadful event that I described. Possibly the last photo of him. The younger chap in front of him waiving his cap, was the sports & social club secretary. I used to pay my dues to him. Our band used to play for there doos, so that's how I got free parking. & The full picture. The atmosphere was similar to the warmth of our forum community. It was rich & secure. Worth passing a few pubs for.