And yes, I meant the driver came on the intercom to make the announcement. Of course, he was already on the train when it left...

BTilke - On the other hand I have known FGW hold connections right along the line when the London-Penzance services are running late, so no-one misses their onward journey, and they also lift restrictions on cheap pre-booked tickets in the event of cancellations and delays so you can grab any passing train.

Reminds me of a train i was waiting for on Southwestern trains and it went thru the station without stopping but did skid to a stop about 100 yds down the line

announcement: regret to say that due to regulations train cannot back up and driver forgot he was supposed to stop at the station, etc.

customers who wanted to go to xxxx should take the next train to xxxx and backtrack to xxxx to get the train to xxxx

I thought if i were a foreigner without a good grasp of English i would not know what was up.

Ah here at Bishop's Stortford they finally tell me a train will soon be approaching platform 20 going to London. Hope springs eternal.

PalQ: I'm totally confused!

So am i - that 20:10 train they promised me would stop here blew thru without stopping

then the announcement GNE express their regret that the driver did not stop here as scheduled

your tickets will be honoured on the next train - tomorrow at 8:15am

GNE regret any inconvenience this may have caused

and we wish you a pleasant journey

oh well back to that pub with the funny guys

peginroad: If this is Hell because of my sins then i repent everything i've said about religion

and come to think even if it will just seem like an eternity it will be awful.

Heading to the nearest church or mosque! I did see a Salvation Army trooper not long ago i could maybe track down.

PalQ:

Something you said made me wonder if you were kidding, but it appears that you really aren't--that you are stuck there in Bishop's Stortford. I hope you get out tomorrow.

Too bad you don't have some counted cross stitch to do--that's what I'd be doing if I were stranded in the toolies. Maybe you have a good book to pass some time; however, the pub is probably the best choice.

He's off dancing to Erasure with that nice fellow he met.

You should have hit the sales yesterday - most of them started then. I'm sure Bishop's Stortford must have *some* shops...?

BTW do trains run in the US on Christmas Day ?

yeh i did - great buys on leathers

good question - we have three trains a day come thru and i believe they run on Christmas

you'd really have to ask someone from the East Coast, the only area with a proper rail system but i'm willing to bet they do.

actually in my town everything is shut on Christmas Day and no buses run though there is a dial a ride - subsidized shared taxi service

only things open are video rental stores, Chinese restaurants and a few topend restaurants and the odd pizza take out as well as gas station convenience stores

can't buy booze on Christmas at all so other non-gas station party stores are not open - a handful of pharmacies may be open

So on Christmas Day it's pretty much like the U.K. - shut down except here the pubs are not open for one thing because of the booze ban though restaurants i believe can serve with meals but not sure

each state of course has different blue laws regards booze - which we cannot buy before noon on Sunday for some weird reason

wish i could experience Hogamany some day.

Cheeers for an Edinburgh Happy New Year and happy travels in 2008

Cheers PalenQ - the same to you !

Not sure you'd say I'll be "experiencing" Hogmanay - hanging about outdoors in terrible weather with huge crowds, then walking home, isn't my scene :-)

We didn't leave the house on Christmas Day but went for a pint last night - a couple of pubs were shut but the rest were open (we have 7 on our street...:-) )

GNE (if it even exists!) doesn't use Bishops Stortford. It's 'ONE' round here. Bob, if you're going to do a convincing spoof, try doing a bit of research first......although it's getting a bit tired now to say the least. It really isn't that shocking or hilarious that we let railway staff have one day off a year, when pretty much no-one wants to use public transport anyway...

well, PQ, GWR was running today, unless the train I put my mum on this morning was as imaginery as you Bidhop Stortford train shed.

come to think of it, she hasn't phoned yet to sayshe got home OK - shades of the ghost train - they were en route to Cornwall...

BTilke - your commuters were luckier than i was once - I got on a train that went the wrong way. it was supposed to go from Victoria [at 9pm] to East Croydon [where I and many others intended to change lines] but got sent via Mitcham instead. once we got to Horsham, it reversed back up the line.

by this time it was near midnight and the driver got pelted with empty beercans as he walked up the platform at Horsham to get to the cab at the other end of the train. the guard was nowhere to be seen, sensible chap. I got off at Gatwick and caught a cab home, courtesey of [then] British Rail.

happy days.

regards, ann

Ironically i've fallen in love with Bishops' Stortford and have decided to move here

heck with the trains - i'm set for life

End of saga - a happy gay ending

Come visit me and i'll show you around

It isn't 2008 yet ;-)
Have you ever seen an elephant trying to dance a polka?
Leave the funnies to Cholmondley_Warner and others.

BTW this is a good story.
A Septic Tank gets stuck in a septic tank
http://tinyurl.com/26h3zf

C W is IMO a serial troll

I can understand the driver daydreaming and missing his stop, but misplacing an entire train shed begins to look like carelessness.

I applaud taking one day/year to slow the heck down; it would be fine with me to return to the prohibition on Sunday traveling (or any other day of the week, to keep things ecumenical).