That man Portillo.

[billio]

Boxhill and Westhumble

A piece of useless information, but at one time in the late 70's this station has nameboards for "Boxhill and Westhumble" on one platform and "Boxhill and Westhamble" on the other. The sort of thing you notice when waiting for a train about 6am in the morning.

 

[MedwayValiant]

Mr Portillo and his blazer are in Ireland this week.

He boarded a train at Arklow. We saw the train approach us with white lights front, and we saw him board - but the train was running (for the UK, at any rate) wrong way. It's not a single track line because we saw the other platform.

Do trains in Ireland drive on the right in general? Or must this have been a non-standard working?

 

[physics34]

A piece of useless information, but at one time in the late 70's this station has nameboards for "Boxhill and Westhumble" on one platform and "Boxhill and Westhamble" on the other. The sort of thing you notice when waiting for a train about 6am in the morning.

ha ha... i remember a few years ago when i was working with connex and we were entering station names in the computer, there was confusion whether the station was called

Boxhill
Boxhill and Westhumble
Boxhill & Westhumble
Boxhill and West Humble
or
Boxhill & West Humble!

I think at one time there was a station running in sign on the platform which said Boxhill and West Humble.

 

[MidnightFlyer]

Mr Portillo and his blazer are in Ireland this week.

He boarded a train at Arklow. We saw the train approach us with white lights front, and we saw him board - but the train was running (for the UK, at any rate) wrong way. It's not a single track line because we saw the other platform.

Do trains in Ireland drive on the right in general? Or must this have been a non-standard working?

Ireland is left hand running generally, however right hand running at some passing loops in the UK is not unusual - Axminster formerly operated RHR and plenty of the loops on the West Highland are presently RHR (something to do with RETB?). Alas I don't have my Quail Map to hand for Ireland so cannot comment on Arklow specifically.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Ireland is left hand running generally, however right hand running at some passing loops in the UK is not unusual - Axminster formerly operated RHR and plenty of the loops on the West Highland are presently RHR (something to do with RETB?). Alas I don't have my Quail Map to hand for Ireland so cannot comment on Arklow specifically.

I've just remembered KentRail's 'X-Factor' lists every crossing loop in the UK and Ireland and their operation. As such, the following were all specifically right hand running as of 2012:

Scotland: Muir of Ord, Garelochhead, Ardlui, Bridge of Orchy, Rannoch, Spean Bridge, Taynailt.

Northern Ireland: Magheramorne.

Ireland: Arklow.

Of course, there are others which are either bi-di or main and loop, so occasional passing on the right may happen there too.

 

[DelW]

They should make him travel everywhere in a 1972 stock tube train. As he was so keen to keep them on the Northern Line back in the early 1990's.

But a series called Great Bakerloo Line Journeys might not have a wide enough appeal.

 

[Cambus731]

I'm afraid the man went down in my estimation big time when I saw him in The Metro coming with the usual nonsense about British Rail, and defending the disaster of Rail privatisation.

 

[D365]

But a series called Great Bakerloo Line Journeys might not have a wide enough appeal.

Does that mean to say that there might be a Great Northern Rail Journeys in him at some point?

 

[CaptainHaddock]

I'm afraid the man went down in my estimation big time when I saw him in The Metro coming with the usual nonsense about British Rail, and defending the disaster of Rail privatisation.

Er....you do know that Michael Portillo was a minister in the Conservative government at the time of privatisation prior to becoming a TV presenter, don't you?

 

[xc170]

Just brought Series 1-5 on DVD from Amazon for £28, looking forward to watching it from series 1.

 

[scott118]

...was it a coincidence that MP's attire was a direct reflection, to that nations national flag, when visiting Wexford?

 

[Cambus731]

I was aware of that, but I thought he was one of the more sensible ones. and may not have actually agreed with the diastrous form that rail privatisation took.
I reckon deep down, he knows damn well that British Rail in its last decade or so was actually very efficient
I remember seeing Kenneth Clarke justify the disaster of rail privatisation on some programme a few years ago and knowing he was supposed to be to the left of most people in the parlimentry Conservative Party, I did wonder if he actually believed the nonsense he was saying or if he was towing the party line.

 

[silverfoxcc]

...was it a coincidence that MP's attire was a direct reflection, to that nations national flag, when visiting Wexford?

He reminded me of the old Glasgow Corporation bus colours

 

[Phil.]

I'm afraid the man went down in my estimation big time when I saw him in The Metro coming with the usual nonsense about British Rail, and defending the disaster of Rail privatisation.

That'll be the Michael Portillo who saved the Settle and Carlise from closure.

 

[sprinterguy]

That'll be the Michael Portillo who saved the Settle and Carlise from closure.

This old trope again. Ron Cotton, despite being appointed by BR in 1983 to manage the closure of the route, actually did much more to save the Settle & Carlisle line through the introduction of promotional fares, reinstatement of through services, introduction of additional services and the official reopening of intermediate stations (though used by Dalesrail services since 1975) in order to significantly increase patronage and prove the case for retaining the route.

Michael Portillo was only appointed to the post of Transport Minister towards the very end of the campaign to save the S&C, and the same decision to retain the route (or otherwise, and if I recall correctly the wording of the official statement suggested that it was very much an eleventh hour decision to keep the line) would have been made through the Transport Minister of the time regardless of their identity.

Claims that Michael Portillo "saved the S&C" fail to recognise the years of concerted effort by a group of dedicated individuals (Ron Cotton, Graham Nuttall, James Towler and many others) long before he came on the railway scene.

 

[Western Lord]

This old trope again. Ron Cotton, despite being appointed by BR in 1983 to manage the closure of the route, actually did much more to save the Settle & Carlisle line through the introduction of promotional fares, reinstatement of through services, introduction of additional services and the official reopening of intermediate stations (though used by Dalesrail services since 1975) in order to significantly increase patronage and prove the case for retaining the route.

Michael Portillo was only appointed to the post of Transport Minister towards the very end of the campaign to save the S&C, and the same decision to retain the route (or otherwise, and if I recall correctly the wording of the official statement suggested that it was very much an eleventh hour decision to keep the line) would have been made through the Transport Minister of the time regardless of their identity.

Claims that Michael Portillo "saved the S&C" fail to recognise the years of concerted effort by a group of dedicated individuals (Ron Cotton, Graham Nuttall, James Towler and many others) long before he came on the railway scene.

I don't believe that Portillo has ever claimed to have saved the S & C, only that he was the minister who signed off its retention.

 

[Phil.]

I don't believe that Portillo has ever claimed to have saved the S & C, only that he was the minister who signed off its retention.

"..the Minister who signed off it's retention".

You can have a big as crowd of placard bearing enthusiasts as you like but if the minister concerned says "no" it's doomed. Portillo was the minister who said "yes".

 

[sprinterguy]

I don't believe that Portillo has ever claimed to have saved the S & C, only that he was the minister who signed off its retention.

EDIT: See post below by scott118, apparently he has. A quick search online suggests that was not the only time.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

"..the Minister who signed off it's retention".

You can have a big as crowd of placard bearing enthusiasts as you like but if the minister concerned says "no" it's doomed. Portillo was the minister who said "yes".

Yes, but without the massive public pressure and encouraging growth in passenger numbers there's a far greater chance that the Government would have chosen to close the route. Without the campaigns and TUCC hearings there is every chance they could have done so much faster, too.

Saving the S&C was the work of a number of people, not one man (though as noted, the efforts of Ron Cotton, a BR manager not a "placard bearing enthusiast", must surely be considered critical to the ultimate success of the campaign), and Portillo's contribution was comparatively small but, yes, ultimately crucial.

 

[scott118]

March 2014

“Saving it,” he says, “was the greatest achievement of my political career.”

Read more at: http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/analysis/how-i-saved-settle-carlisle-line-1-6525871

 

[Butts]

I see Portillo has been in America this week.

The Appletons Guide he is using covers the USA and Canada - wonder if Canada will be his next destination ?

 

[Statto]

Being shown on Yesterday, channel 19 on freeview all day today, from series 1.

 

[theironroad]

EDIT: See post below by scott118, apparently he has. A quick search online suggests that was not the only time.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Yes, but without the massive public pressure and encouraging growth in passenger numbers there's a far greater chance that the Government would have chosen to close the route. Without the campaigns and TUCC hearings there is every chance they could have done so much faster, too.

Saving the S&C was the work of a number of people, not one man (though as noted, the efforts of Ron Cotton, a BR manager not a "placard bearing enthusiast", must surely be considered critical to the ultimate success of the campaign), and Portillo's contribution was comparatively small but, yes, ultimately crucial.

.......

 

[theironroad]

Being shown on Yesterday, channel 19 on freeview all day today, from series 1.

I saw some of this these episodes today including the s&c one. Portfolio talked to a couple of the original people from the friends of the s&c and he tried to essentially butter up Thatcher to try and save it.

He only said that he was proud to have been a part of the decision making process and that he hoped the friends of s&c would work as hard as they promised during the closure discussions. The two (I presume volunteers) asked if they had worked hard and portillo said they had and all seemed pleased with its current popularity (guess it was filmed before the landslip closure).. portillo then spoke to a br engineer from the time about how he was able to carry out repairs to Ribblehead viaduct well under the original cost proposed.

 

[Juniper Driver]

ha ha... i remember a few years ago when i was working with connex and we were entering station names in the computer, there was confusion whether the station was called

Boxhill
Boxhill and Westhumble
Boxhill & Westhumble
Boxhill and West Humble
or
Boxhill & West Humble!

I think at one time there was a station running in sign on the platform which said Boxhill and West Humble.

It's also a tricky station for us SWT drivers...Sometimes we are booked to stop there.Most times we are not.

 

[tsr]

ha ha... i remember a few years ago when i was working with connex and we were entering station names in the computer, there was confusion whether the station was called

Boxhill
Boxhill and Westhumble
Boxhill & Westhumble
Boxhill and West Humble
or
Boxhill & West Humble!

I think at one time there was a station running in sign on the platform which said Boxhill and West Humble.

Obviously none of these are actually correct - the name "Box Hill" is comprised of two separate words. The National Trust manage much of the historic landscape of the site and just so happen to agree with me on this one... (https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/box-hill)

 

[mirodo]

The two (I presume volunteers) asked if they had worked hard and portillo said they had and all seemed pleased with its current popularity (guess it was filmed before the landslip closure)..

That particular episode from the first series was originally broadcast in January 2010, so yes... some time before the landslip.