Weren't We Just Here? - Episode 22, Day 38 - Euston to Birmingham
Vložit
- čas přidán 16. 06. 2017
- It's Tuesday 13th June, and before we head out onto the trains at Euston, we talk to the Chairman of Network Rail - Sir Peter Hendy!
Then it's just Watford, Bletchley, Bedford, St Albans, Northampton and Birmingham to fit in - easy, along the way we find the voice of the new Class 700 Thameslink trains, and the lovely people from the Marston Vale Community Rail Partnership, who have a very special surprise for us!
Download the All The Stations theme tune from iTunes here: itunes.apple.com/gb/album/all... (other stores are available....)
View the progress map and loads more information about the project on the website at: www.allthestations.co.uk/
Have a read more about the Marston Vale Community Line here: www.marstonvalecommunityrail.o...
ROUTE: Euston, Watford Junction, St Albans Abbey, St Albans City, St Pancras, Luton, Bedford, Bletchley, Watford Junction, Tring, Milton Keynes, Birmingham New Street
Hearing Geoff say "I don't like tea" is like Jeremy Clarkson saying "I am an environmentalist" during his Wired interview.
I have no time for Clarksom
Richard Williams
No one cares what that tw*t thinks or says.
To be clear, I’m referring to Clarkson, not Geoff.
Euston, We have a problem
(I know its Houston)
Eduardo Miranda btw it is Houston not Euston
Stu Wilkes please tell me you're not seriois
Oscar Atkinson I'm not serious XD
Stu Wilkes thank god XD
My 7yr old autistic boy loves watching your videos, he loves trains. Got to say, I'm not one for trains but I do love, the facts and history of places you visit. You put these films together with proper professional feel, like I'm watching a network tv production. Well don x
Seriously impressed - as soon as Vicky said the Chairman of Network rail I thought... oh no its a mouth in a suit - instead we got a practical man more than clued in on the challanges of the job and prepared to take them on and who I could have just as easily imagined myself stopping to have a chat with to pass the time of day - nice fella and even better he's a backer.
Great video as always - thanks to all involved.
Nigel Oulton indeed, what a relief. Railways seem to be in good hands.
Yeah, it's great that he is in charge of a company that's proposing to slash employees terms and conditions...
Nigel Oulton yeah
@@tengsted I think you should blame gr*yling for that...
This was done in the last months of London Midland having the franchise. I would normally have thought of the tea tray as being a stunt, but no I don't. On the last day of their franchise they had staff handing out branded cakes at Birmingham New Street. This impressed me because commercially they had no incentive to do it. It felt like it was a genuine thank you.
Now in cinemas! Vicki Pipe is... The Girl on All the Trains
Thumbs up to Thameslink for the best wishes messsage. That is really good.
It was a great pleasure to meet the All the stations team, and I showed Vicki where the church was in Bedford, enjoy the rest of you journeys ........James.
Tea and Victoria sponge (with real china, flowers and doilies) on a 150. Classy!
But did they drink with their pinkies out? pip pip
Bletchley Park is really worth a visit, and also houses the National Museum of Computing (TNMoC) and the National Radio Centre.
There is enough to see to fill more than one day!
I'm just catching up on these excellent videos, thanks so much for undertaking this adventure. It's a pity you didn't get a chance to get off at Wolverton. The station doesn't look much now, but when it was opened in 1838, it was one of the first stations on the London to Birmingham line and boasted grand refreshment rooms, located at the point where the engines needed to be changed/refuelled, approximately half way between the two cities. When the station was built it was literally in the middle of nowhere. The London & Birmingham decided to build a works there and the UK's first Railway town grew up around the workshops, original known as Wolverton Station. Wolverton Works still remains and operates as a maintenance and repair depot. As well as building normal rolling stock, Ambulance trains were made their during WW1, they built Royal Mail's Travelling Post Offices, porter's barrows and trolleys and a large amount of the LNWR/LMS and BR road vehicles and it's the home of the Royal Train. The site is now about to be redeveloped. The rail workshops will be rebuilt, but this does mean that some magnificent Victorian era railway architecture will be lost, including some very substantial traversers. But you'll need to be quick to see 180 years of rail history before it's all flattened! The Milton Keynes Museum is within a short walk of the station and contains tons of railway content. There is an excellent site with lots of history about Wolverton which you might find interesting www.wolvertonpast.co.uk
Have a soft spot for Wolverton
The current LM timetable on the South WCML is a result of various tweeks since the introduction the VT Pendolinos, and then further improvements by LM - under the Project 110 in order, via phases, to introduce 110mph on LM Crewe services.
And, great that you enjoyed the Ridgemont Tea Special that good friend of mine Richard arranged with the CRP
The conductor at 12:00 😂
That face was priceless Vicki "I feel like...we've been here before..."
Vicky’s presenting style is just brilliant, isn’t it? She deserves to be an anchor on a show on the BBC.
WoW (!!) Talk about Heavy Hitters 'da main Man on the Show. Giant Score (!!) You are putting a Grand Face on the folks that work on the System an accomplishment to be proud of ++ Keep up the Good Work ++
'When I started 40 years ago, it was in decline. Now we're in an upswing. That's a much better problem to have'
Very salient point there.
Amazing interview at the beginning with the chairman of network rail. Well done Vicki 😊
That was a nice surprise. For a moment, I expected all 87 enthusiastic members of the Ridgmont Nudist Society to join you on the train.
Should totally commission a designer to make dresses for Vicky made from all the different moquette covers!
Don’t mind me, just doing my yearly rewatch.
Viki,
I took my family to Potter's World last year. Amazing! Get Geoff to take you!!
Vicki
I think it might just be the same Great Ouse through Bedford and Kings Lynn.
All The [navigable] Rivers?
it is indeed. Whilst there are several rivers called Ouse, the one that flows out at King's Lynn is the same Great Ouse that flows through Bedford- it has a wikipedia page of course: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_Great_Ouse
Sorry, think I just split an infinitive, I apologise to you all..
Ah ha! Cool - thanks all for letting me know. 👍
Your next challenge is "All The Locks" by narrow boat, canoe, RIB, you decide.
Another excellent video guys, loads of interesting bits and people, a proper packed day!
Very cool video loved the interview.
It is one of best episodes! LOVE IT SO MUCH!!!
As I live in Bedford, hearing Vicki talk about Bedford and pronouncing the Harpur Centre is hilarious 😂❤️
Richard Williams
You two look like you are having so much fun! Enjoy.
By far the best episode!!!
LOVE YOUR SHOW!!!
Cardington is immensely famous as the largest hangars in Britain and the home of the R100 and R101 airships in the '20s and '30s.
Chris Bell they're still on use for airships.
Indeed, the one that crashed last year is housed in one of the hangars.
Chris Bell and son to fly again, now the repairs and modifications have been completed.
Chris Bell I kno, I work across the road from there and saw it flying on the day of the crash. It's due to fly again soon.
just the 101.... the 100 was based at howden...... currently the home of the airlander..... was flying last week...... an immense beast would be an understatement.....
One thing the Class 700's don't have is phone-charging/laptop plug-in sockets. The batch of 387 Electrostars which were running on the Brighton-Bedford route as a temporary stopgap (now moved to the King's Cross - Cambridge - Kings Lynn and Peterborough lines) have them, and the Thameslink passengers enjoyed having the use of them for a while, now they've lost the facility!! The remaining Electrostars on Thameslink, and the 319's don't have them either.
There's a nice old ruined mott & bailey castle at Berkhamsted. Great little two minute walk from the station, and you can see it from the tracks -- hope you got a look!
15:00, 'Bletchley plark' from Vicki, Gotta love Bletchley
I used to travel regularly on trains in the early 1980s, they were utter shite back then. These all look pretty good and the staff seem quite approachable. Unlike back in the early 1980s, when they were utter shite!
Another great video. I know this area very well.
One of the many crazy things about trains: you can catch a late train to get there early, but still end up missing a connection somewhere.
Great video, cannot wait for the next video since it hopefully should my local of Rugeley in it (hopefully) :)
I know this post is many weeks late but wanted to say thank you for stopping at my old home town of Berkhamsted. Hope you managed to get a peek at the castle from the station.
Emily Blunt kept staring me in the face on the thumbnail and I caved in
Great Video!
Congratulations on this being a news story on the NR Intranet!
Hello! Quite a quaint series I have to say. 4 years late but still, this series is slowly transforming me into a train enthusiast. I have no a goal to ride a train in the UK just so I can one day say "Rugby. Tick!". Cheerio!
Been on this Thameslink line so many times but amazing to finally learn how the train loading indicator works, I thought it was sensors in the chairs or something 😄 also, nice voice Vicky!
Is there Kickstarter stretch goal for taking Vicky to Harry Potter Studios yet?
Maybe this one should be re-titled "weren't we just here?"
Good call, done!
Wow... changing the course of history...
I am overwhelmed.
What was it before?
adotswan yep
I'd be curious - how has the pandemic affected all the stations? Have some closed permanently? (I hope not). I imagine a lot of services were cut or cutback. Here in the USA, my commuter rail had its service slashed, what used to be a 75 minute journey into New York City now takes me over 95 minutes each way, and the gap between trains basically doubled. Express train services are slowly being reinstated as of July 2021.
Visiting all 2,573 stations was an epic journey through almost all parts of Britain, very enjoyable to watch. It's made for some wonderful lunch time viewing as I work from home! For a CZcams channel, this adventure was expertly done. Geoff and Vicki are truly fantastic hosts, a great blend of nerdy, funny, engaging and informative, and they complement each other perfectly, not just on video but apparently in real life. Nothing but respect from my comfy chair across the pond!
The pandemic resulted in a drastic fall in passenger numbers and heavy cutbacks in services but they are in the process of bouncing back. I'm not aware of any stations having closed permanently during this time. As you may know from other videos, rail operators here sometimes cut services to a station back to the absolute bare minimum to avoid the bureaucracy and controversy involved in fully closing them. But the overall trend on the railways has been rising passenger numbers for many years now, so the pressure has been to expand services and open new stations, although progress often feels glacial there.
Glad you enjoyed the series. I'm hooked so far! Geoff and Vicki are indeed the perfect hosts for an epic adventure like this.
Very nice surprise.
Great video, very busy, one of the best so far. Unusual portrait of Dorian Grey's neck moment at 14:00 though.
Deluxe railway tea... You are living the dream now...
You have my sympathies with this one. I travelled from Coventry to Aylesbury and had to change 3 times, Banbury, Biecester North, Princes Risborough. Watford Junction was awkward too I had to go into Euston and back out. This was all in the same railway trip. I think.
YAYYYY!!! You did my home line :) the Watford DC line Overground. Users of this line should look out for service frequency improvements in the near future. Dec '17 will see the LO service staying at every 20 minutes until end of service, instead of dropping to half hourly. In Dec '18 (as long as new trains delivered on time) the LO service will increase to 4tph.
My home lines on here too - Marston Vale. Looking forward to being able to get the train all the way to Oxford in a few years time! (All The Stations 2: Winslow's Revenge!)
I've noticed in a few videos, Geoff is an impatient door-button-pusher, never waiting for the light to change.
I live in CT. In NEW ENGLAND I WISH THEY WOULD BRING BACK FULL PASSENGER SERVICE TO PUTNAM,CT. WE NEED THIS!!!!
11:50 What a lovely surprise for you guys at Ridgemont. Really nice.
Noooooo!!! Milk in last... LOL :-D
I know - horrifying! It'll be fish knives and napkin rings next, you mark my words.
Except the tea was brewed in a pot, so milk first is the correct way to make it.
5:56 the guy talking to the driver is my mate Adam hahahaha!! Disappointed at how abbreviated this area was as it's where I live, but I understand that you can't give every station a lot of attention. Love you guys x
Agreed had thought there would be a shot of Wembley and the famous Milton Keynes cows! 😊
Nice views of my home town Bedford and its lovely river. The town is known for its schools and that historic Harpur Center building is all that remains of my school, Bedford Modern. In the 80s it moved to a site out of town and the old location became a shopping mall behind the preserved façade.
great episode. Not that any of them aren't but this was especially great.
This is my "manor" and also we had the pleasure of using tje Thameslink to get to and from Gatwick recently. Brilliant system - never drive to Gatwick from North or Northwest London - if you do, it's schlapwick.
Another familiar bit of line from my days living in that area. And my brother is a driver on the line from Bedford to Brighton.
I think the most impressive part of your day was getting on a train at St Pancras terminating in Luton... and whilst interviewing the bloke about the PIS he points out Cardington Airship hangers... 20 miles further along the line!
There is some BIG love going down for these videos! Not one dislike!!!! :D Yipppeeeee!!!
the Harrington hump on platforms is a bit like what we have on our commuter trains for poel in wheelchairs and scooters, etc to board the trains There is a raised section of the platform where one of the doors of the fifth car of the train stops. The train ambassador (conductor) who opens the doors and makes the stop announcements also puts out a small ramp to bridge the gap between the train and the platform there The reason why it's the fifth car is because trains used to be either 6 or 10 cars long and now they are up to 12 cars long..
Cardington was the location for the rebel base in Rogue One. Also where Nolan shot the rotating corridor and hotel room sequence in Inception. If fact loads of stuff for years.
I love how Britain isn’t littered in billboards and advertising everywhere you look, like it is here in The States. (From Florida here). Love the channel! Almost halfway through the series! Cheers!
The harpor centre is a shopping center with a car park that can hold 7 cars
That thumbnail had me laugh out loud.
The hangers are at Cardington where they made airships including the new ones recently. There's also a film studio where a lot of the last Star Wars film was filmed
Milk in first- nnnnnnnnooooo!! Tea in first!! 😊
not with loose leaf in a china cup, that is the only exception.
No milk for me, thanks.
Lazy sods! 😜 I walked it from St Albans Abbey to St Albans! 😆
Rugby was indeed invented at Rugby, the story goes that William Webb Ellis was playing a game of Football when he got fed up and decided to pick up the ball and run with it! A group led by Ellis went on to write their own code of football which they named after the school.
did sir Peter colour match his shirt and tie to the platform number signs?
the great ouse in Bedford is the same great ouse in Kings Lynn :)
Andrew, I need to contact you but can't see how to send you a private message, any ideas?
Nick Johnson - I'm intrigued. are you on twitter? @don_dapper
I'm on linkedin, Nick Johnson, Fujitsu
I think it's the same Great River Ouse in Bedford and King's Lynn. Vicki showing promise as a Singer too!
16:52 is my favourite part - never knew!!
Bushey used to be well-known among rail enthusiasts for a large set of troughs for replenishing loco tenders.
Bushey and Watford Junction. So many memories. I had a girlfriend who lived in Bushey. I know this lines very well.
It's so weird seeing Bedford and the Marston Vale Line (I live in that area).
I wish Tring is located closer to the actual Tring City itself
I'd hardly call Tring a city.
The Harper centre in Bedford is now the shopping centre
As a lover of railways and the paranormal it would be great if you could mention some of the local ghost stories connected to the various stations and lines you visit.
the abbey shuttle bus is a 1 year trial that came into service at the start of this year to provide better connections between st albans abbey and st albans city station
London Midlands have a very nice moquette
ikr
I like your vidz!
I went past park Street to Watford passing Watford High Street station
Cardington is where the ill-fated R101 airship started from (or from where it started)!
Seaton Carew also has a Harrington hump. You should look out for it when you go there.
Rhys' Trains also the one at Harrington wasn't the first, Marks Tey in Essex had four of these on platform 3 (one for each door) for the Sudbury line for a while from 2001 onwards, they were installed to help with the stepping distance when the Class 150s units were used on the line, later removed when the track was relaid which helped reduce the amount the train leaned over on the sharp curve.
Darren Johnson for a small creation they have alot of history.
You should do a Vicki Explores St Albans Cathedral
i agree definitely, or the park
Bedford, my hometown :)
The Marquette (great spelling me!? idk) looks like curtains. but nice curtains.
Nice Thames-link train. ooh, pretty PIS. ours just have a dot-matrix esque display with 'The next station is (Footsgray)'.
tea and cake? wow!
cool stuff otherwise.
There's a Harrington Hump at Lapworth and it's a brilliant example of red tape. Lapworth serves a small village and is the first rural station outside of the metropolitan West Midlands, about 20 minutes from Birmingham city centre. When London Midland got a new fleet of class 172 trains for the route about five years ago it was found that the gap between the door of the train and the platform on the Birmingham bound side of the station was too big to meet the DDA regulations so a Harrington Hump was installed. Thing is, the Birmingham bound side of the station isn't accessible from street level and can only be accessed via a very steep rickety old staircase...
Kind of old now but the Harpur Centre was a school (part of the Harpur Trust) until the building was sold off. The facade was kept and the shopping centre was then built behind it. Harpur Square which is in front of it is now all pedestrianised but there used to be a Road than ran from the current road at St Loyes Street/Harpur Street through to St Paul’s Square (where the church is. The church isn’t a cathedral though).
If you find yourself in Bedford again, get in touch and I’ll show you some other sights 😊😊
Also, there’s also the new electrified stretches of rail through Bedford and the raising of the bridge at Old Ford End Road/Bromham Road.
the voice on many of the trains is Julie Berry , who is also often the voice of BT and some lifts!
And the Piccadilly line on the tube.
Oh no! All the bus stops coming soon! 😂
The most interesting bit was about the PIS...
There was a direct railway line between Oxford and Cambridge, passing through Bletchley until 1967.
The Varsity line as some call it. I've cycled/walked the section from Bedford to Cambridge and it's mostly in place but not in the key areas so will never re-open as was. I was inspired by the marooned Potton Station, at the time perfectly intact with canopy, patforms with track, just completely surrounded by houses and businesses on all sides. Shame it was scrapped, as the route to Cambridge is such a busy one, and it would have linked up east to west cutting through the north-south mainlines perfectly.
hey I live in st albans, shame i missed you
All the london bus stops next..............maybe
A group of people actually did that, they made a blog about it online. They went the full length of every bus route run by TfL.
EpicSmatty yes but mabye geoff and vicky could do it in a video
All the Irish Stations?
Hurt that they didn’t stop off st Long Buckby 😪 especially within an episode where they talk about the gap from train to platform, you’ve got to be an Olympic long jumper to bridge that gap!