lately i have been making fairly frequent use of trains. well, if we are honest, it would be better to say that i have attempted to make fairly frequent use of trains. as is the case with quite a few things here in England, or the wider UK, they don't necessarily work as they should, look you see. but hey, more moans and groans on that as we go. at least from me, you don't have to read.
for some reason i have elected to take a fair few images of if not trains then the train platforms where i have made valiant and sometimes failed attempts to use what is ostensibly a form of public transport. as there would seem to be little else i could do with these images (and videos) except put then on here, well, here we very much are. most of them are in VHS mode, but not all. at least not the first one.
you know what, now that i think about it (and indeed look) i am not at all sure there's actually any pictures of trains here as such. they do feature in the videos, mind.
i would imagine the details of why, exactly, i have become a frequent train user are of little interest to anyone, maybe even inconsequential. on the off chance that such is not correct, it has become the easiest way to go and see my (known) sons on a weekly basis. well, theoretically the easiest, for one has to contend with the vagaries of them (the trains) actually running like they are supposed to. the instances in which they do are most merry, for by chance the "line" runs not far from my lodgings in my place of exile through to where they remain. mostly, at the least.
above is a video (yes, in VHS mode) of a train arriving. not too sure, as in i cannot recall, if this was one of the ones which actually left and arrived at the indicated destination. recently there's been a fair few instances of them saying "no the trains are running, honest", only for them to get abruptly cancelled. the reason given is frequently "overrunning maintenance works". not sure if that's bad planning or just quite useless, as in sh!t, staff, but the result is the same. with the result being me finding out exactly how expensive an uber is.
on the subject of the sheer incompetence of those what are responsible for our trains running all proper a good friend has a theory. he says it is the staff "securing next month's pay cheque". quite a reasonable conclusion - surely the only reason such poor work is done is the staff making sure they have a job next month, so as to "fix" what was likely never broken and most probably was fine before they messed about with it. as for why such gets tolerated, well, government hand outs foot the bill, so i suppose no one is asking.
should one be inclined to do so i suppose one could strike back. there's all sorts of these railway network vans all over. if we treated them like they treated us then i would imagine it would be agreeable to ram some nails or screws into the tyres on such vehicles, but would say stop well short of hurling a brick at the windows. if queried one could simply say "i apologise for the inconvenience caused by the unforeseen circumstances" and that would be an end of the matter. that is, after all, what they expect us to find as agreeable when they explain why they are not doing the job they are paid (exceptionally well) to do.
blimey, i have added quite a lot of images and videos for what little i have to say on the subject. oh well, i shall just wing it. here, below, is a video from inside the train, showing some sort of scrolling message explaining that there's a delay, and that soon we would be "on our way". which we kind of were; if i remember right it was all the way to the next station, where they made us wait, get onto another train and then get off of that train too, saying it was all cancelled.
no, seriously, even milking it for short paragraphs i don't have all that much to write here.
for clarification, no, i am not a "trainspotter", either in the heroin sense or the sense of writing down the engine numbers (or whatever) off of trains. the only reason i go to a train station is to get on a train, thanks. well, in rare instances to meet someone off of a train, but still. the point is i do not go for "fun" or to "spot" trains.
double decker trains would be most smart. alas, it is unlikely we shall get such wonders here in England as we lacked vision when building bridges over railway lines. pretty sure they do have double decker trains around the world, think Japan has them for a start.
let me a bit clearer on not being a trainspotter. whereas i do have a splendid notebook which my (known) sons got me for father's day, and indeed some pencils (my own), i do not use them in conjunction to write down engine numbers off of trains, or whatever they write down. also i do not own a cagoule. my Mum (alas) does not make me a packed lunch, and if she did it would not be soggy margarine sandwiches wrapped in clingfilm. further, i don't believe i am either socially awkward or inept, yet true some may argue that.
every now and then i remember to recall that some of the class (if not as good as the Commodore 64 one was) apps i have for images have features i seldom use. should i be right, it is in the above video that i remembered there was a "zoom" button on the VHS one.
legend has it that (the much missed) Thatcher once said that "any man in his 30s that doesn't have a car is a failure". quite likely that this was around the time she was getting lots of people to make cars here, and also busy dismantling any public service she could think of. it strikes me as coming from a time when the population was roughly half of what it is now, and before people were all that bothered about the environmental damage of cars. still, if i am viewed as a failure in her eyes i would feel reasonably safe in presuming i am neither alone nor particularly bothered.
righty-ho, that shall do. if i (for some reason) decide to do a post on trains again then i will probably not go and add so many videos and pictures.
be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment