Railways around Coventry

Hi Dutchman & Baz, I did not know anything about that, Baz, although I had heard gossip that a horse & a wagon were trapped after a mine roof collapsed, at the Alex, Dutchman The tunnel was abandoned and a new tunnel was dug so as to avoid it. That was only gossip that I heard, yonks ago. What you have said is fascinating. Thank you. The Alex colliery was supposed to have ghosts too. Flooding often isolate tunnel sections, a bit like Wookey hole in Somerset, and differential air pressure at points in the mine would cause currents of air, that would produce eerie sounds, moving through the tunnels, which defied explanation.

Not very inspiring, is it? The 12.15 service from Nuneaton to Coventry passes Black Pad today (that's Lockhurst Lane bridge in the background)

Hi Midland Red Even less inspiring when the early morning services yesterday, were cancelled on this route because of crew shortage. That is after all of the assurances from London Midland to the rail regulator, that the proplems that blighted this & many of their services last year were a thing of the past. If our Whitehall transport secretary could get this sorted, we might all have a bit more confidence in HS2. The fact is that he has failed our need for transport. Nice picture though, having just passed the site of the old station.

Hi all This Sunday sees the opening of a new, park & ride railway station in Stratford. Sad to say that the new promised station at the Ricoh still awaits the go-ahead (probably because the council have spent the money elsewhere!!!) (calm down Philip). Anyway, as soon as possible, your forum team will bring you a report back. It is also sad that such a historically significant close town has no direct rail link with us here in Coventry. A journey by train means a change either at B'ham or Leamington, both of which involve platform changes. The Stratford station was built because the council there acted promptly in order to secure capital funding, whilst Coventry didn't. What is also sad is that there is no freedom travel ticket for Warwickshire county as there is for the West Midlands. Even without an OAP bus pass, anyone can buy an off-peak West Midland go anywhere ticket for £6 which includes the train & trams. To get to Stratford from Coventry, Stagecoach have all-day tickets on their frequent services that depart from outside Sainsbury's in Trinity St.

Hi all I visited the new railway station at Stratford Parkway. Plenty of connecting buses & trains to the already existing park & ride car-park service. Only time will tell if the new station will take off commercially. Those of you wishing to visit Stratford from Coventry, the bus from outside Sainsbury's is still the quickest method of getting there, as a rail journey will always involve a change of train. My day out yesterday was marred by a suicide, that disrupted train services between Warwick & Leamington, but I did meet a couple of lovely train-spotters at Leamington. When a train-spotter is accompanied by his wife, who is on a free spend in Banbury & Leamington, then we all have to pull together. They were all the way from Derby too. . Any of you who fancy visiting the SVR (Severn Valley Railway), there is now an excellent service from B'ham Moor St, mostly of at least two trains an hour. Those with Centro bus passes will need to buy a ticket for travelling the short distance after Stourbridge Junc to Kidderminster. Alternatively, an all-day ranger ticket if you have a Warwickshire bus pass which does not give you rail access. I used the day-ranger ticket yesterday as I travelled outside of the West Midland boundary several times. With my Senior railcard discount, the ticket cost £14.85. You cannot buy much petrol or diesel for that & friends of mine (who almost needed a bank loan) had paid a fortune to visit Alton Towers, could not believe how far I had travelled all day yesterday.

Hi all On the subject of new railway stations, I am surprised that a 'Park & Ride' scheme has not been developed years ago in the vicinity of the old Brandon & Wolston station. A huge residential & business catchment area is forced to snake its way into Coventry or Rugby in order to get anywhere.

It looks as though Kenilworth station has now got the go-ahead:- LINK

Hi all, Three stalwarts from Coventry railway station. The lady in the centre is more likely to be heard than seen, as she is one of our station announcers. I introduced myself to them. The announcer lady, I thanked her for the most clear diction information anywhere, stations, airports, no matter where. She has been announcing at Coventry station for many years with her skilled pitch changing voice. Most of us think that we can do anyone's job, but this lady really has a skill which she dedicates for our help in Coventry.

Hi all I have often asked myself why have I such an interest in railways, or transport in general. I just don't know. No one in our immediate family has had any direct railway involvement, but my mum was related to Mr Fearnley, our former Coventry bus manager. I do remember the Harrow train disaster, I was five at the time & when I was seven, I can remember reading "Henry the Green Engine" book one afternoon when I was in Mrs Gates' transition class at KHVIII. I was reading a story where Henry was involved in a accident in snow, which caused the guard to spill his cocoa. Like most people, I have never liked disasters & railway operation, having a sense of order about, disasters should not happen. They do though, like the pictures most of us have of tragedies in our minds, like the one where several lost their lives & many were injured aboard an overnight sleeper that came to grief in Nuneaton a few decades ago. At about this same age period, 5-7, I enjoyed a family holiday in Towyn, Wales where the then newly preserved narrow gauge railway was in action. My dad once told me that I was more interested in the main-line railway, which was located adjacent to the Talyllyn. One thing is for sure that I became hooked on trainspotting almost to the exclusion of everything else. At about age eleven I had a fortnight's family holiday in Bournemouth. I cannot tell you much about the place, the shore line or anything else, other than the three railway stations that I nearly lived on. The same when we had a holiday in Ilfracombe, where I spent most of the time at the entrance to Mortehoe tunnel. So now, well into my retirement age, I think nothing of spending a couple of hours on any day at any of our local stations. Last week I spent time sat in Sheldon Country Park, watching the trains pass over a three arch viaduct, that until last week I did not know was even there. Marston Green Viaduct.

Hi all Often when I am on Sunday organ duty (only a reserve nowadays), I visit my sanctuary in between services. Very tranquil scenes, in between very busy Sunday train services. Minutes before, all platforms were occupied. My trusted companion, known as my attache. He's a case!!! (pun) Best wishes to you all.

Hi all, My reward for venturing out was to see this class 66 trundling through Coventry. As well as Manchester, there were disruptions at B'ham New St. because of lightning. For anyone interested, a special to York leaves Coventry around 8am tomorrow, hauled by two class 37 locos. I am trying to get the exact timings. I might try & picture it passing the Ricoh. The special is timed as 8.14am out of Coventry.

Hi all Our earlier than normal trip to Tesco at the Ricoh was rewarded with this pair of 37 class locos, hauling a train from Milton Keynes to York. My son & grandson were aboard this tour. My Pam is on the left of the picture, standing at the top of the stadium underpass steps.

Hi all Many trainspotters called them growlers. Our holidays in Scotland in the eighties were a delight, where this class of locos dominated passenger train services on all of the secondary lines, having taken over from the class 24s. They were sometimes used as top & tail on Aberdeen to Glasgow services, deputizing for class 47s. Almost an innovation in Scotland, as it was in the mid nineties that top & tailing was introduced here.

For you Philip Waiting on the high level of Tamworth Station for the 9.09 to Derby for our last day on our Rover tickets what should come in on the lower level!!

Hi & thank you Annewiggy One word. Brill!!! At 10.50pm, I drove to pick Michael & Sean up from Coventry station. The train was spot on time. I only had my mobile phone to record these final pictures, but to have heard the sound of these brutes, as they pulled their fourteen coach load south out of Coventry, I will never forget. Best wishes to you all