Normal Service has been Resumed

After our trip to the Warley Model Railway Exhibition we went to Birmingham New Street and caught a Cross Country Service to York. I always enjoy travelling on Cross Country services despite their inability to make a drinkable cup of tea, but when we joined the train I was shocked by the state of the first class coach. I have never seen such mess, there were dirty cups, food wrappings and crumpled newspaper everywhere. The were not many people in first class, but it was impossible for us to find a seat with a clean table. Robbie put down his bags and rucksack and morphed into a tornado as he whisked through the carriage cleaning each table, and carrying all the rubbish to the bin in the vestibule. Before long first class was restored to order and Robbie took his seat. The lady in the seat behind was most impressed and asked why he did it. He told her that he was proud of working for Cross Country and he hoped that any member of staff would pitch in to help if they saw a mess. He didn't tell her that the train manager had watched him open mouthed as he cleaned the carriage, he didn't even say thank you.


I enjoyed the journey, but I struggled to stay awake the early start and the busy morning at Warley were catching up on me. I tried to read my new book about the railways around Newquay but my eyes kept closing and I couldn't concentrate. I decided to look out of the window instead, even a brief stop at Sheffield station brings back many happy memories of my time there. It was a very long time ago but I loved living there. 


As we moved on towards Doncaster the 'trolley dolly' put in an appearance. The first people that she came to asked her for a tea and a coffee and she rudely told them that she was not doing complementary drinks she was only doing the retail trolley. She spoke to them as if they were naughty children. When she got to the couple sitting behind us they asked for a tea and a coffee, again she said that she wasn't doing complementary drinks. The man said that they were so desperate for a drink that they didn't mind paying, but she pushed the trolley away without further comment. In due course she came back and provided complementary drinks for those that wanted them, but at best her attitude was graceless and she made the people who wanted a drink so badly wait until last. Maybe she'd had a bad day, but it left me feeling disappointed because most Cross Country staff are not like that, they are very good and she had let them down. 

Photo by David McCormick

I enjoyed spending time at York station, we went to have a coffee and watch the world go by at the old signal box. Or to be more exact we watched the trains go by, Robbie was so busy jotting down information that he almost forgot to drink his coffee! Our journey back couldn't have been more different, the train manager was very good at his job and the Retail Service Manager was exceptional.
By the time we got back to Northampton I just wanted to curl up and go to sleep, but we'd had a lovely day.

An Early Start.

The insistent bleeping of the alarm clock roused me from sleep, but 'Sleeping Beauty' slumbered on oblivious of the cacophony of sound that filled the room as all three alarm clocks demanded attention. I shook him and yelled at him to turn it off, he said "yes dear" and carried on snoring! Clearly it was going to be one of those days. Trying to get Robbie out of bed is like trying to raise the dead - even when (as today) it is something he wants to do.


It took a minor miracle but at 7.55am we pulled out of Northampton on the London Midland service to Birmingham. It was a double set 'blue' train so Robbie had nothing to moan about (for a while at least!). As soon as we arrived at Northampton it was clear that this was no ordinary Saturday morning. The 'socks and sandals brigade' had donned their winter uniform and turned out en masse for the annual gathering of the weird, the worrying and the downright certifiable - otherwise known as the Warley Model Railway Exhibition. 


We left the train at Birmingham International and when we entered the National Exhibition Centre we were herded towards the exhibition hall. We waited for the exhibition to open in a tightly packed and ever growing crowd. I felt very small and outnumbered lost in the crush of men with backpacks who all had the same thing on their minds - trains! The crowd surged forward and I was carried along with it, down the stairs round the corner and in to the exhibition. Robbie was like a kid in a toy shop, he didn't know what to do first, but in true Robbie style he insisted that we had to stick to the same route that we take every year! 

There was lots to look at and Robbie's wish list grew by the minute. I wanted to look at things too but there were some very rude and hostile men around. Several times I was deliberately shoved out of the way and on many occasions men pushed in front of me as I was looking at stalls. Even Robbie noticed the hostile looks I got, as if they thought I had no right to be there. I got sick of dodging rucksacks. Being short is always a bit of a hazard in a crowded situation, but today was worse than usual. They are not going to get rid of that easily, my money is just as good as theirs and when necessary I have sharp elbows (at just the right height) so watch out!


Before long Robbie was walking around with a 'Roy Cropper' shopping bag as well as his rucksack. We bought some lovely books, one for me and four for him, as well as a stash of magazines a couple of little shunt engines and two very nice Hornby circus trucks. As I looked around I noticed that most of the other men were now armed with shopping bags as well as their rucksacks. It was rather like a Roy Cropper convention, or perhaps Where's Wally in reverse - If you looked hard enough you might be able to spot someone 'normal'. People watching is always fun, but at Warley it takes on a whole new dimension!


I am not sure how long we stayed at the exhibition, probably not much more than an hour but we managed to see everything and by the time we left we were absolutely exhausted. I enjoyed it, but I don't think it was as big or quite as good as last year. My favourites were the book stalls and the Stall selling Ivor the Engine books and mugs - I love Ivor the Engine! There was one other highlight, the ladies toilets, they were clean, practical and there were no queues, in fact they were almost deserted. If only it was always like this! 


Robbie and I left the exhibition exhausted but content and keen to take a closer look at our purchases. It was still early so we caught a train to Birmingham with the intention of having a day on the railways - but that is a story for tomorrow, I'm tired now. 

There's weird and then there's Warley!

A few months ago Robbie asked me if I would like to go to a model railway exhibition with him in November. He must have caught me at a weak moment because I agreed without hesitation. I am quite interested in Robbie's model railway collection - I don't have much choice really because they are taking over the bedroom! In previous years the thought of the crowds has put me off (I really struggle with crowds) but this year I braved it.

I thought Robbie's back pain would stop us going, but he was determined not to miss it because he had been looking forward to it for months. We got up stupidly early on Saturday morning and headed towards the station, before long we were sitting comfortably on a train enjoying a bacon roll and a cup of tea (coffee in Robbie's case). We spotted a number of other passengers who seemed to be heading for the same destination - how did we know, well they had train spotter written all over them! It was a bit too chilly for even the hardiest among them to contemplate socks and sandals, but there were plenty of beards and bellies in evidence!

When we got to the NEC we were herded into a rather disorderly crowd by one frantic man with a walkie talkie, and just before 9.30am the crowd moved forward and down the stairs and a few minutes later we were in the hall and wondering what to look at first. Robbie was like a kid in a sweetshop, he wanted to dash off in all directions at once. At one of the first stands we looked at he saw a Heljan Class 17 Clayton that proved too hard to resist, he looked at a few more stands before dashing back to blow his whole budget on the Clayton.

I managed to hang on to my money for a little longer. I was so tempted by the Ivor the Engine products, I love Ivor the Engine and I did go back and buy a couple of Ivor books later on. I could have spent a fortune, but since I didn't have a fortune to spend I manages to keep more or less within my budget. I saw loads of things that I really liked especially a Virgin Voyager set (so if Santa is reading this please take note). I spent most of my budget on books, I just couldn't resist them, there was one about Victorian and Edwardian carriage design, one about the history of the circus train, another about the railways during the war and Robbie's favourite 'Rails around Walsall'. In a weak moment I agreed to let Robbie buy loads of back copies of magazines. Before long I was weighed down with bags and I felt as if my arms would be stretched right down to my knees!

I was surprised how easy it was to lose Robbie in the crowd - but he kept finding me again! I found it very exhausting and by about 11.30am Robbie was struggling to cope with leg and back pain and I was tired, so we decided to go to York on the train. We could eat our packed lunch in comfort and enjoy looking through our new books. It was a really nice day. When we finally caught the train back to Northampton we were in for a nice surprise at Rugby, Tornado (60163) was sitting in platform 5 on it's return journey from working a rail tour. Our train was full with many people standing, lots of people were coming back from Warley and it was fascination to see all the different types of people who become obsessed with all things railway. Robbie told me off for staring, but I couldn't help it I had never seen anything like it in my life - so many variations on a theme. Robbie's quote of the day - 'there's weird and then there's Warley!'