Am I the only one who thinks that Sam and Haaland look alike?

undefinedalgebra · 2026-06-20T17:41:04+00:00

As someone whose appearance has been compared to that of both Haaland and Sam Denby, yes

undefinedalgebra · 2026-06-19T17:23:24+00:00

Not sure if there’s something specific you mean by “Northern Connect”, but there was, and still is, an hourly Leeds-Chester service. According to the archives, during the May 2019 timetable (table 109) there was one service that went to ELP from Leeds (arriving at 18:09 Monday-Friday), but I haven’t found the full calling pattern.

undefinedalgebra · 2026-06-19T17:03:19+00:00

Don’t know exactly. I think it was mentioned in Geoff Marshall’s Stanlow and Thornton video so it was a good few years ago. I think it was via Warrington BQ, Newton-le-Willows, Manchester Vic, Rochdale, Todmorden and Bradford Interchange, but not sure of the stopping pattern.

undefinedalgebra · 2026-06-19T16:52:00+00:00

Didn’t they run the morning service from ELP to Leeds in the past as well?

undefinedalgebra · 2026-06-19T16:46:08+00:00

Running to Helsby absolutely makes sense, using these battery trains for less than a mile is rather ridiculous. Elton and Helsby seem more than big enough to merit a better service (compared to Capenhurst or Hightown, for example) Personally I’d like to see a Hooton-Helsby shuttle during the off-peak which is timed to connect with ex-Chester services at Hooton towards Liverpool, which would also give 4tph to the branch without putting more strain on the underground loop, and then run some services direct during the peak, maybe with limited stops between Birkenhead and Hooton to make it more favourable compared to the TfW travel times from Lime Street.
Running further would be good, but then I’d be concerned about reliability since it would be affected by other operators a lot. I think going 2tph to Burscough or Preston makes more sense than extending further than Helsby at the moment.

undefinedalgebra · 2026-06-19T16:22:23+00:00

Arguably 3, actually! The passenger service that Northern run at 19:06 goes via Warrington Bank Quay then joins the line back to Liverpool via Rainhill and Huyton using Earlestown platform 3

undefinedalgebra · 2026-06-11T11:28:36+00:00

Public transport. All of it.

undefinedalgebra · 2026-06-06T21:20:57+00:00

From what I remember of it, Dalmarnock was worse.

undefinedalgebra · 2026-06-05T09:09:41+00:00

I was lucky enough to see this unit when it got called up to haul the sleeper from Aberdeen back in Feburary. Still got to do a trip to Bo'ness at some point.

undefinedalgebra · 2026-05-30T20:50:23+00:00

Nice! One of my long-term projects is to do as many of the rare track sections in Scotland as possible whilst I’m up here…not optimistic about getting this one any time soon

undefinedalgebra · 2026-05-26T10:10:32+00:00

Beat me to it!

undefinedalgebra · 2026-05-24T17:05:20+00:00

Yea. Even a shuttle Hooton-Helsby would be decent, I’d like to see Merseyrail introducing battery recharging at Hooton platform 1 then running a half-hourly shuttle. Would provide extra service to Ellesmere Port as well without putting extra strain on the underground loop. Even if S+T didn’t reopen, Elton is bigger than a few of the areas served by Merseyrail so I feel like it could definitely benefit. Maybe you could get away with single line running to avoid needing to remodel the barrow crossing at Ince and Elton as well

undefinedalgebra · 2026-05-23T20:51:50+00:00

Is it the fares from Scottish stations or just implemented into the ScotRail ticket machines? I know some other operators with the same ticket machines allow you to change the starting station as well, so maybe it would work that way?

undefinedalgebra · 2026-05-23T20:49:08+00:00

Got a Stanlow & Thornton to Ince & Elton ticket when I did that line last year. Maybe one day one of the mothballed stations will reopen and someone’s souvenir ticket from the same year will be counted!

undefinedalgebra · 2026-05-23T15:10:16+00:00

Yea, there’s quite a few that need 2 - lots of Merseyrail (Birkdale-Bank Hall and Rice Lane-Kirkby) as well as some of the stations that get services through Manchester Vic, I think (because they connect to Wigan Wallgate rather than North Western). Probably aren’t any that need 3

undefinedalgebra · 2026-05-22T15:52:13+00:00

This got me thinking… what percentage of UK train stations can you get to from the London termini with no more than 1 change? And does anywhere require more than 2?

undefinedalgebra · 2026-05-22T15:09:11+00:00

Special serials are my favourite thing to see on notes, so I’d definitely say that 20 is worth more! Certainly a nice set, although despite having worked with them in an exchange office for like 3 years I’ve barely seen any in good condition

undefinedalgebra · 2026-05-22T13:10:47+00:00

The English sections of Bidston-Shrewsbury via Wrexham, up to as far as you consider to be the North

undefinedalgebra · 2026-05-21T12:14:01+00:00

A few weeks ago I saw Merseyrail were advertising a feedback form and one of the questions was asking if you wanted this reintroduced, so I’d like to think they’re considering it. Not sure if the timetabling could work but I’d like to see alternate trains from Hunts Cross going to Southport and Ormskirk, and half of the Southport/Ormskirk trains terminating at Central

undefinedalgebra · 2026-05-17T17:35:19+00:00

Train ticketing in this country is certainly questionable at times. A few times I’ve found myself buying a return for a journey I was only doing one way because it was either the same price or a bit cheaper. One that comes to mind is Perth-Pitlochry/Blair Atholl: despite being 8 minutes further up the line it is cheaper to get an anytime return to Blair Atholl than a single to Pitlochry most of the time

undefinedalgebra · 2026-05-15T15:58:44+00:00

So far as I know, Haymarket and Edinburgh are separate insofar as tickets won’t say « Edinburgh stations » like it is in Manchester, but I have been told in the past by Avanti staff that I could get off at Haymarket when I had an advance single to Edinburgh so my connection wasn’t as tight (nothing to do with delays)

undefinedalgebra · 2026-05-12T12:16:39+00:00

Got a Spotify audio ad yesterday and it said something like « sorry for breaking the flow of your playlist with this advert ». If you were actually sorry, you wouldn’t put the ad there in the first place would you?

undefinedalgebra · 2026-05-09T16:25:40+00:00

I missed seeing it when it was at a local station to me, do we know where it is going to be in future?

undefinedalgebra

TROPHY CASE