An epic train journey
Oct. 16th, 2013 10:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sawylAfter my nephew came home from school after being sick, I decided to leave this afternoon instead of waiting until tomorrow morning; partly to avoid getting ill, partly to avoid the additional stress, and partly so that I wouldn't have to rush to meet R or risk a cancellation due to train problems.
But, knowing what I know now, I think I may have made the wrong decision.
The journey started normally enough: I hurried down to the station with minutes to spare, only to discover that my train to Birmingham was running ten minutes late. But no sooner had the train left Coventry station than it lost power going under the Earlsdon Avenue North bridge because a tree branch had fallen onto the overhead lines. We then had to wait 45 minutes for Network Rail to come assess the situation, longer for the overhead lines specialists to arrive, and even longer for them to struggle to fix the damage. Just when they'd decided that they weren't going to be able to fix the problem and that the only solution was to bring another train up alongside and move us all across using a gangplank — the London-bound track hadn't been as badly affected and they'd been able to restore power almost immediately — than the power came back up and we were on our way, two and a half hours behind schedule.
Kudos to the poor train manager — in his third day on the job! — who kept on having to make announcements saying that he didn't have any more information or that we were going to be delay and to the train crew who dished out bottles of water and take-a-breaks to keep us all pacified. Then, when we finally arrived in New Street, Virgin were organised enough to have people on hand on the platform with reams of complain forms, removing the need to go and track one down from someone on the station.
I thought by this point that I'd used up all my bad luck, but apparently not. I hopped on a train to Temple Meads, which also happened to be late leaving, only to learn that because of track faults along the usual route through Bromsgrove, we were going to have to divert through Kidderminster and Worcester Shrub Hill before rejoining the line before Cheltenham — something that would add a good hour to the journey. Although, as a minor plus, our diversion took us through some very pretty parts of Worcestershire
Arriving in Bristol hours later than planned, I then had to hang around for 45 minutes for a train to Exeter. As the time drew nearer and nearer and the train blocking the approach further down the platform showed no signs of moving, it became clear that something had to give. Then, with a minute to go, a platform chance was announced — from 3 to 10 — and everyone dashed through the subway to make it in time, only for the train to arrive late and leave another ten minutes late.
Eventually, after close to eight hours of travel, I arrived back in Exeter, frazzled by the journey, in time to cram down a bit of supper and to go straight to bed. Not fun. Although I did manage to read a huge chunk of The Cambridge Companion to Fantasy Literature...
But, knowing what I know now, I think I may have made the wrong decision.
The journey started normally enough: I hurried down to the station with minutes to spare, only to discover that my train to Birmingham was running ten minutes late. But no sooner had the train left Coventry station than it lost power going under the Earlsdon Avenue North bridge because a tree branch had fallen onto the overhead lines. We then had to wait 45 minutes for Network Rail to come assess the situation, longer for the overhead lines specialists to arrive, and even longer for them to struggle to fix the damage. Just when they'd decided that they weren't going to be able to fix the problem and that the only solution was to bring another train up alongside and move us all across using a gangplank — the London-bound track hadn't been as badly affected and they'd been able to restore power almost immediately — than the power came back up and we were on our way, two and a half hours behind schedule.
Kudos to the poor train manager — in his third day on the job! — who kept on having to make announcements saying that he didn't have any more information or that we were going to be delay and to the train crew who dished out bottles of water and take-a-breaks to keep us all pacified. Then, when we finally arrived in New Street, Virgin were organised enough to have people on hand on the platform with reams of complain forms, removing the need to go and track one down from someone on the station.
I thought by this point that I'd used up all my bad luck, but apparently not. I hopped on a train to Temple Meads, which also happened to be late leaving, only to learn that because of track faults along the usual route through Bromsgrove, we were going to have to divert through Kidderminster and Worcester Shrub Hill before rejoining the line before Cheltenham — something that would add a good hour to the journey. Although, as a minor plus, our diversion took us through some very pretty parts of Worcestershire
Arriving in Bristol hours later than planned, I then had to hang around for 45 minutes for a train to Exeter. As the time drew nearer and nearer and the train blocking the approach further down the platform showed no signs of moving, it became clear that something had to give. Then, with a minute to go, a platform chance was announced — from 3 to 10 — and everyone dashed through the subway to make it in time, only for the train to arrive late and leave another ten minutes late.
Eventually, after close to eight hours of travel, I arrived back in Exeter, frazzled by the journey, in time to cram down a bit of supper and to go straight to bed. Not fun. Although I did manage to read a huge chunk of The Cambridge Companion to Fantasy Literature...
