Passengers asked to repair train

Hmm, it would seem that the train crew are fans of Thomas The Tank Engine- that idea was lifted from James and the Bootlace!

Not really.

It isn't rare - a myriad of small things can fix a big thing.

For instance if you hit something on the track in a HST, a cork can normally plug it until the final destination.

An assortment of small change is the traditional cure for air leaks!

Or duct tape if you're from Tyseley.

Sam ;D

Plus our very own Tomcakes stopped a window rattling on his schoolbus using nothing but a jelly-baby!

I reckon that the jelly-baby has superior damping qualities though! Plus it won't gradually get soggy like paper! ;D

I silenced rattling window type aircons with blu-tak ;D

There are a few brake faults on HSTs which can be arduous to fix, sounds like this was one of them. Thankfully rare.

However I question your criticism of the Train Manager for announcing this. Staff from FGW and other companies travel on each other's services and may have the relevant experience to assist. Given that you had to wait for fitters to come, if the Train Manager did have someone respond to his request and were able to fix the fault you may on the move quicker. Sounds like in this case no one was on board with sufficient skills however.

A case of don't ask, don't get!

Above with the pendolino wiper failure, what would you prefer? Rugby probably doesn't have fitters and trains don't carry the exact tools for every single situation possible, just the more common ones. This occurence is quite rare. Wiper failure renders the train a complete failure as the driver's vision could be obscured with no solution. So what would you prefer to hear?

"Your train is cancelled, everyone get off."

or what happened here, allowing the train to continue, even if a little late.

I don't understand the criticism or laughing point of it all. Speaking as a guard, if I could find a way to keep a train in service, even if it is utilising the passenger's skills (within boundaries of course) or other belonging they may have within the walls of safety, I would. Far better than cancelling a train. If Virgin did cancel the train it would make people far more annoyed but probably wouldn't make the press.

Ah yes, the jelly baby. It's now fallen out, apparently they *CLEANED* it! Anyway it was a yellow one, can't be racist that way!

The thing is, spd, its different for the tube where the next train will be in 5 minutes than on the mainline where trains are every hour or so.

Apologies Jono, but this is what I was told by a certain apprentice fitter at St Philips Marsh (the person in question should come straight into your mind)...

I think it was an oil leak.

Right, an oil leak perhaps but the main damage done to the front of an HST in impact are the air pipes. Depends how major the oil leak is and how long the train can go before getting attention. We do not carry corks for this instance however. You may get lucky finding one on the train off a passenger. It's probably not a condoned practice so is it worth mentioning?



My apologies if I have got the wrong end of the stick but your post explaining what the train manager said and saying how bad FGW is in your opinion sort of linked to the train manager making the announcement, as if he did the wrong thing. That's how it reads anyway.