Tag Archives: cattle truck

Tin pipe number 4

Friday 21st June 2024, 3.10pm (day 4,684)

LNER cattle truck, 21/6/24

I spent the whole day, from 1.30am in Toronto when we boarded the plane, until 6.45pm when arriving back in Hebden Bridge, on a series of rather overcrowded tin pipes. If we included Heathrow Airport itself as number 2, this train at King’s Cross was the fourth, and the most overcrowded pipe of all — the East Coast main line going into spasm once more thanks to some ‘operational incident’ or other. But at least I was in a seat. Home now, anyway, and no more flying aboard for a while. I need a rest.

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Full-on CTS (Cattle Truck Status)

Monday 20th November 2017, 7.20am (day 2,279)

Cattle truck, 20/11/17

Monday morning, and it’s raining, and you’ve just bought a weekly ticket for the first time in ages (meaning you’re going into Manchester every day this week) and the 06:59 turns up as a two-carriage piece of obsolete shit as it always does, only today the previous service through was cancelled so by Littleborough it’s already achieved full CTS (Cattle Truck Status) and we haven’t even had the Rochdale passengers on yet. Happy Mondays.

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On the 6:59

Tuesday 9th May 2017, 7.00am (day 2,084)

On the 6:59, 9/5/17

Ah, the joys of the 06:59 Hebden Bridge to Manchester Victoria service…. its cruddy carriages, standing room only by Todmorden, and then there’s that ‘6’ at the start of the time, which firmly puts it in the realm of ‘too early’. I dislike it, as you’ve probably gathered. Then again I doubt anyone has reached retirement age and fondly reminisced about the good old days on the 06:59.

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