First World Problem Rant (you have been warned)

[Kosmo]

So as the good lady wife is sunning herself in the Caribbean I thought I
would go off for a trip on some trains. To do this one needs to buy
appropriate tickets (after all the Treasury needs the money given
current interest rates).

So having investigated it seemed I need two tickets and for the season
ticket apparently these days you need a photocard which means you have
to go to a station and last week for other reasons I was adjacent to a
staffed station (I say staffed - actually about 4 hours each weekday
morning) so I asked for and was given the photocard and told I could
complete it myself.

At that point being unsure of the weather I felt it was too soon to
invest vast sums of money but yesterday the forecast seemed pretty
positive so today I thought I would support my local ticket office and
present myself in person and indeed the non-Season ticket ticket cannot
be bought over that there interwebby netty thing so I would take a
diversion and buy it over the counter.

Ticket man pleased to see me as I am sure he sits there and does not do
a lot of business. After fiddling with his computer he finds the retail
only ticket, adds the relevant railcard and we agree the price. Then I
ask for the season ticket and proudly present the self-completed
photocard - all in order apparently - but we are then subject to some
more computer wizardry and he announces that whilst the price is as
expected his magic machine has some restriction which prevents him
selling it to me, despite me being a legitimate customer with a card.
So we compromise - I buy the first ticket and accept I will have to buy
the second one online.

Which I duly did a couple of hours later and when asked to do so I
nominate the nearest station with a ticket machine (NOTE not my nearest
station as that is so basic it does not have a ticket machine after the
local yobbos tore it out of its mountings and then did the same to the
replacement at which point the rail company decided we did not deserve a
ticket machine - who can blame them - like the Wild West round here).

So having visited one station twice I then visit another station to
collect the ticket - which I still feel I should have bought over the
counter. When I get to machine nearest the car park I find the machine
is proudly displaying "Out of Service". Oh well I will cross the line
to the other one. No the foot crossing is closed so you walk up the
steps and down the other side and guess what is displayed on the machine
on that side of the line - yes that's right "Out of Service"!

So back up the steps and down again (and I am not getting any younger)
and I realise I am now completely stuffed. They have had (for the
second ticket) £130 of my earthly pounds and I cannot get it out of
their stupid machines.

On consulting the Customer "Service" department there is little they can
do apparently - although it seems that I can pick the ticket up from any
machine (so why does the f****** software insist I choose a station from
a hugely long list (probably 2000 stations) when I bought it? Why not
just say I could collect it anywhere.

I need the ticket for the first part of my journey tomorrow and somehow
I do not see the guard accepting / believing my story that I am going to
collect my ticket when the train arrives in Reading.

So I now have to drive to the station where I have already been twice
(but is now unstaffed because it is mid-afternoon) and get the ticket
from the machine and of course it counts as online sale rather than a
ticket office sale.

Does anyone ever actually travel by train anywhere these days? If it is
this difficult to be in possession of a valid ticket prior to travel I
despair of actually getting anywhere.

More to the point who is going to pay for the petrol?

[Chris]

Post by Kosmo
So as the good lady wife is sunning herself in the Caribbean I thought I
would go off for a trip on some trains. To do this one needs to buy
appropriate tickets (after all the Treasury needs the money given
current interest rates).
So having investigated it seemed I need two tickets and for the season
ticket apparently these days you need a photocard which means you have
to go to a station and last week for other reasons I was adjacent to a
staffed station (I say staffed - actually about 4 hours each weekday
morning) so I asked for and was given the photocard and told I could
complete it myself.
At that point being unsure of the weather I felt it was too soon to
invest vast sums of money but yesterday the forecast seemed pretty
positive so today I thought I would support my local ticket office and
present myself in person and indeed the non-Season ticket ticket cannot
be bought over that there interwebby netty thing so I would take a
diversion and buy it over the counter.
Ticket man pleased to see me as I am sure he sits there and does not do
a lot of business. After fiddling with his computer he finds the retail
only ticket, adds the relevant railcard and we agree the price. Then I
ask for the season ticket and proudly present the self-completed
photocard - all in order apparently - but we are then subject to some
more computer wizardry and he announces that whilst the price is as
expected his magic machine has some restriction which prevents him
selling it to me, despite me being a legitimate customer with a card.
So we compromise - I buy the first ticket and accept I will have to buy
the second one online.
Which I duly did a couple of hours later and when asked to do so I
nominate the nearest station with a ticket machine (NOTE not my nearest
station as that is so basic it does not have a ticket machine after the
local yobbos tore it out of its mountings and then did the same to the
replacement at which point the rail company decided we did not deserve a
ticket machine - who can blame them - like the Wild West round here).
So having visited one station twice I then visit another station to
collect the ticket - which I still feel I should have bought over the
counter. When I get to machine nearest the car park I find the machine
is proudly displaying "Out of Service". Oh well I will cross the line
to the other one. No the foot crossing is closed so you walk up the
steps and down the other side and guess what is displayed on the machine
on that side of the line - yes that's right "Out of Service"!
So back up the steps and down again (and I am not getting any younger)
and I realise I am now completely stuffed. They have had (for the
second ticket) £130 of my earthly pounds and I cannot get it out of
their stupid machines.
On consulting the Customer "Service" department there is little they can
do apparently - although it seems that I can pick the ticket up from any
machine (so why does the f****** software insist I choose a station from
a hugely long list (probably 2000 stations) when I bought it? Why not
just say I could collect it anywhere.
I need the ticket for the first part of my journey tomorrow and somehow
I do not see the guard accepting / believing my story that I am going to
collect my ticket when the train arrives in Reading.
So I now have to drive to the station where I have already been twice
(but is now unstaffed because it is mid-afternoon) and get the ticket
from the machine and of course it counts as online sale rather than a
ticket office sale.
Does anyone ever actually travel by train anywhere these days? If it is
this difficult to be in possession of a valid ticket prior to travel I
despair of actually getting anywhere.
More to the point who is going to pay for the petrol?

I recognise Wokingham as one and your own for another. Yobs is yobs
wherever they were schooled. I refuse to try a ticket machine a 2nd time.
Wunderkind helped us once when they were new. I am not gifted with
computer skills even if some totally blind people are. Sounds way too
complicated to this bear.

Mrs McT

[Kosmo]

Post by Chris

Post by Kosmo
So as the good lady wife is sunning herself in the Caribbean I thought I
would go off for a trip on some trains. To do this one needs to buy
appropriate tickets (after all the Treasury needs the money given
current interest rates).
So having investigated it seemed I need two tickets and for the season
ticket apparently these days you need a photocard which means you have
to go to a station and last week for other reasons I was adjacent to a
staffed station (I say staffed - actually about 4 hours each weekday
morning) so I asked for and was given the photocard and told I could
complete it myself.
At that point being unsure of the weather I felt it was too soon to
invest vast sums of money but yesterday the forecast seemed pretty
positive so today I thought I would support my local ticket office and
present myself in person and indeed the non-Season ticket ticket cannot
be bought over that there interwebby netty thing so I would take a
diversion and buy it over the counter.
Ticket man pleased to see me as I am sure he sits there and does not do
a lot of business. After fiddling with his computer he finds the retail
only ticket, adds the relevant railcard and we agree the price. Then I
ask for the season ticket and proudly present the self-completed
photocard - all in order apparently - but we are then subject to some
more computer wizardry and he announces that whilst the price is as
expected his magic machine has some restriction which prevents him
selling it to me, despite me being a legitimate customer with a card.
So we compromise - I buy the first ticket and accept I will have to buy
the second one online.
Which I duly did a couple of hours later and when asked to do so I
nominate the nearest station with a ticket machine (NOTE not my nearest
station as that is so basic it does not have a ticket machine after the
local yobbos tore it out of its mountings and then did the same to the
replacement at which point the rail company decided we did not deserve a
ticket machine - who can blame them - like the Wild West round here).
So having visited one station twice I then visit another station to
collect the ticket - which I still feel I should have bought over the
counter. When I get to machine nearest the car park I find the machine
is proudly displaying "Out of Service". Oh well I will cross the line
to the other one. No the foot crossing is closed so you walk up the
steps and down the other side and guess what is displayed on the machine
on that side of the line - yes that's right "Out of Service"!
So back up the steps and down again (and I am not getting any younger)
and I realise I am now completely stuffed. They have had (for the
second ticket) £130 of my earthly pounds and I cannot get it out of
their stupid machines.
On consulting the Customer "Service" department there is little they can
do apparently - although it seems that I can pick the ticket up from any
machine (so why does the f****** software insist I choose a station from
a hugely long list (probably 2000 stations) when I bought it? Why not
just say I could collect it anywhere.
I need the ticket for the first part of my journey tomorrow and somehow
I do not see the guard accepting / believing my story that I am going to
collect my ticket when the train arrives in Reading.
So I now have to drive to the station where I have already been twice
(but is now unstaffed because it is mid-afternoon) and get the ticket
from the machine and of course it counts as online sale rather than a
ticket office sale.
Does anyone ever actually travel by train anywhere these days? If it is
this difficult to be in possession of a valid ticket prior to travel I
despair of actually getting anywhere.
More to the point who is going to pay for the petrol?

I recognise Wokingham as one and your own for another. Yobs is yobs
wherever they were schooled. I refuse to try a ticket machine a 2nd time.
Wunderkind helped us once when they were new. I am not gifted with
computer skills even if some totally blind people are. Sounds way too
complicated to this bear.
Mrs McT

Sandhurst has no machine. Blackwater is the next nearest station but
the ticket machines were out of service, everything else happened at
Crowthorne.

However I managed to make it to Matlock and back today and virtually all
my trains ran to time or within a minute or two.

[Chris]

Post by Kosmo

Post by Chris

Post by Kosmo
So as the good lady wife is sunning herself in the Caribbean I thought I
would go off for a trip on some trains. To do this one needs to buy
appropriate tickets (after all the Treasury needs the money given
current interest rates).
So having investigated it seemed I need two tickets and for the season
ticket apparently these days you need a photocard which means you have
to go to a station and last week for other reasons I was adjacent to a
staffed station (I say staffed - actually about 4 hours each weekday
morning) so I asked for and was given the photocard and told I could
complete it myself.
At that point being unsure of the weather I felt it was too soon to
invest vast sums of money but yesterday the forecast seemed pretty
positive so today I thought I would support my local ticket office and
present myself in person and indeed the non-Season ticket ticket cannot
be bought over that there interwebby netty thing so I would take a
diversion and buy it over the counter.
Ticket man pleased to see me as I am sure he sits there and does not do
a lot of business. After fiddling with his computer he finds the retail
only ticket, adds the relevant railcard and we agree the price. Then I
ask for the season ticket and proudly present the self-completed
photocard - all in order apparently - but we are then subject to some
more computer wizardry and he announces that whilst the price is as
expected his magic machine has some restriction which prevents him
selling it to me, despite me being a legitimate customer with a card.
So we compromise - I buy the first ticket and accept I will have to buy
the second one online.
Which I duly did a couple of hours later and when asked to do so I
nominate the nearest station with a ticket machine (NOTE not my nearest
station as that is so basic it does not have a ticket machine after the
local yobbos tore it out of its mountings and then did the same to the
replacement at which point the rail company decided we did not deserve a
ticket machine - who can blame them - like the Wild West round here).
So having visited one station twice I then visit another station to
collect the ticket - which I still feel I should have bought over the
counter. When I get to machine nearest the car park I find the machine
is proudly displaying "Out of Service". Oh well I will cross the line
to the other one. No the foot crossing is closed so you walk up the
steps and down the other side and guess what is displayed on the machine
on that side of the line - yes that's right "Out of Service"!
So back up the steps and down again (and I am not getting any younger)
and I realise I am now completely stuffed. They have had (for the
second ticket) £130 of my earthly pounds and I cannot get it out of
their stupid machines.
On consulting the Customer "Service" department there is little they can
do apparently - although it seems that I can pick the ticket up from any
machine (so why does the f****** software insist I choose a station from
a hugely long list (probably 2000 stations) when I bought it? Why not
just say I could collect it anywhere.
I need the ticket for the first part of my journey tomorrow and somehow
I do not see the guard accepting / believing my story that I am going to
collect my ticket when the train arrives in Reading.
So I now have to drive to the station where I have already been twice
(but is now unstaffed because it is mid-afternoon) and get the ticket
from the machine and of course it counts as online sale rather than a
ticket office sale.
Does anyone ever actually travel by train anywhere these days? If it is
this difficult to be in possession of a valid ticket prior to travel I
despair of actually getting anywhere.
More to the point who is going to pay for the petrol?

I recognise Wokingham as one and your own for another. Yobs is yobs
wherever they were schooled. I refuse to try a ticket machine a 2nd time.
Wunderkind helped us once when they were new. I am not gifted with
computer skills even if some totally blind people are. Sounds way too
complicated to this bear.
Mrs McT

Sandhurst has no machine. Blackwater is the next nearest station but
the ticket machines were out of service, everything else happened at
Crowthorne.
However I managed to make it to Matlock and back today and virtually all
my trains ran to time or within a minute or two.

Wokingham is having oodles of work round the station area and the level
crossing is closed from time to time - I get all my news from the council
website. Wow! Matlock and back in a day! Well done.

Mrs McT

[Kosmo]

Post by Chris
Matlock and back in a day! Well done.

Yes, today was not so good. I managed a Stratford Parkway and
Wolverhampton but West Midland scuppered Lichfield TV by telling me
after the train had departed New Street that it would terminate at
Lichfield City and I would therefore be unable to make my connection to
get home again. So I found myself on the platform at Gravelly Hill
(which is not covered in spaghetti) waiting for a train back whence I
had come.

I shall have another go at Lichfield TV early next week.

Tomorrow's targets are Stourbridge Town and Redditch if the plan works.

[Ben Blaney]

Post by Kosmo
Tomorrow's targets are Stourbridge Town and Redditch if the plan works.

Have fun. It might be a bit far from the station but there's a pub called The
Old Washford Mill, which has a waterwheel in the middle of it.

[Kosmo]

Post by Ben Blaney

Post by Kosmo
Tomorrow's targets are Stourbridge Town and Redditch if the plan works.

Have fun. It might be a bit far from the station but there's a pub called The
Old Washford Mill, which has a waterwheel in the middle of it.

Thank you and if I had time that might have been interesting - as it is
during the day I managed to be both early (due to catching a train
earlier than planned as it happened to be waiting) and late - the Cross
Country was late at commencement and did not recover much time - but was
inside the Delay Repay limit when I emerged I think - I should check
just in case.

Tomorrow was scuppered when I realised that football fans were likely to
be in large numbers on the services so I am doing Monday tomorrow but
with some simplification in case it runs late and I shall do Saturday on
Monday unless something else happens.

So far far more of my trains have been on time than late. (An early
train is actually more objectionable than a late one).

[Joe Kerr]

Post by Ben Blaney

Post by Kosmo
Tomorrow's targets are Stourbridge Town and Redditch if the plan works.

Have fun. It might be a bit far from the station but there's a pub called The
Old Washford Mill, which has a waterwheel in the middle of it.

Thanks, Ben. I've been trying to remember the name of that place for
years. I, along with friends and associates, used to occasionally
frequent (infrequent?) the place in the dim and distant past. I always
found the glass panel in the floor over the mill race rather
disconcerting. It seems to be in a different place from where I
remember. There can't be two pubs with water wheels in the bar in the
Redditch area, can there?

[Ben Blaney]

Post by Joe Kerr

Post by Ben Blaney

Post by Kosmo
Tomorrow's targets are Stourbridge Town and Redditch if the plan works.

Have fun. It might be a bit far from the station but there's a pub called The
Old Washford Mill, which has a waterwheel in the middle of it.

Thanks, Ben. I've been trying to remember the name of that place for
years. I, along with friends and associates, used to occasionally
frequent (infrequent?) the place in the dim and distant past. I always
found the glass panel in the floor over the mill race rather
disconcerting. It seems to be in a different place from where I
remember. There can't be two pubs with water wheels in the bar in the
Redditch area, can there?

Could there be two? Entirely possible, given the water network in that area.

I only know that one because the publican in the 90s was the father of a
schoolfriend, and so aged 17 or 18 I went to visit for a weekend with my
friend Neil. I found living in a pub extremely pleasurable!

[Chris]

Post by Kosmo

Post by Chris
Matlock and back in a day! Well done.

Yes, today was not so good. I managed a Stratford Parkway and
Wolverhampton but West Midland scuppered Lichfield TV by telling me
after the train had departed New Street that it would terminate at
Lichfield City and I would therefore be unable to make my connection to
get home again. So I found myself on the platform at Gravelly Hill
(which is not covered in spaghetti) waiting for a train back whence I
had come.
I shall have another go at Lichfield TV early next week.
Tomorrow's targets are Stourbridge Town and Redditch if the plan works.

Lichfield’s lovely as a place. Station’s not bad as they go. I had a
weekend there two years ago as one of my school friends grew up there.
Wasn’t my first visit, I can’t remember how I got about in 1975. Taxi I
suppose. Said friend who’d lived there invited me to her wedding (husbad
was her class mate), and I went on to Burton on Trent to stay with another
schoolfriend overnight.

Mrs McT

[Chris]

Post by Kosmo

Post by Chris
Matlock and back in a day! Well done.

Yes, today was not so good. I managed a Stratford Parkway and
Wolverhampton but West Midland scuppered Lichfield TV by telling me
after the train had departed New Street that it would terminate at
Lichfield City and I would therefore be unable to make my connection to
get home again. So I found myself on the platform at Gravelly Hill
(which is not covered in spaghetti) waiting for a train back whence I
had come.
I shall have another go at Lichfield TV early next week.
Tomorrow's targets are Stourbridge Town and Redditch if the plan works.

Been to Redditch, but by bus from Bromsgrove, a number of times before the
couple who’s wedding I was at in 1975, moved to Poole in 2015. Not been to
Stourbridge by train.

Mrs McT