Pendolino

[Flosshilde]

[jayne lee wilson]

Nothing to do with the topic, but both Bullock in D's posts above are his/her 43rd post.

Yes, got me going back in the day, but.... the figure records the number of posts SO FAR... aha!
.... (or or ...)

[Gordon]

RE #1 and Pendolinos/220s and 221s I agree about luggage space overcrowding and access in aisles etc but when my father was alive and traveled down from Oop North by X Country in HSTs they were just as bad and very overcrowded and that is well over 10 years ago. I notice that the 220/221s on X Country now are even shorter than the HST sets and down here I've never seen a multiple pair of sets although I have seen them doubled up elsewhere in the network.

Also because of the blocked corridors and the platform staff so keen to get the train moving that occasionally people would be left stranded on the train having failed to get off where they wanted to. As my Dad got older and less able to move quickly this risk got worse and so I gave up on the train and went to get him in the car instead.

[amateur51]

The much-vaunted leaning function of the Pendolino has been known (to me at the very least!) to catch out male users of the toilet. If one is standing in mid-relief when the train starts to lean, you end up with an involuntary case of what Barry McKenzie would call "soaking the strides" and you suffer some very odd looks on the trek back to your seat

[Serial_Apologist]

The much-vaunted leaning function of the Pendolino has been known (to me at the very least!) to catch out male users of the toilet. If one is standing in mid-relief when the train starts to lean, you end up with an involuntary case of what Barry McKenzie would call "soaking the strides" and you suffer some very odd looks on the trek back to your seat

For a useful cover-up, always carry a newspaper would be my advice...

(PS - From memory it can serve a double purpose on trains with, , inadequate loo facilities)

[DracoM]

Would be good to think that someone at Virgin Trains actually saw this thread.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

The much-vaunted leaning function of the Pendolino has been known (to me at the very least!) to catch out male users of the toilet. If one is standing in mid-relief when the train starts to lean, you end up with an involuntary case of what Barry McKenzie would call "soaking the strides" and you suffer some very odd looks on the trek back to your seat

Perhaps the solution is to follow the example of the female users and sit down.

[amateur51]

Perhaps the solution is to follow the example of the female users and sit down.

Oh yes, this outrage has never been repeated I assure you, but at the time ...

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Thank you for the warning, all the same...

[Mr Pee]

The much-vaunted leaning function of the Pendolino has been known (to me at the very least!) to catch out male users of the toilet. If one is standing in mid-relief when the train starts to lean, you end up with an involuntary case of what Barry McKenzie would call "soaking the strides" and you suffer some very odd looks on the trek back to your seat

Looking on the bright side of that unfortunate circumstance, it might be a way of ensuring that your next-door seat remains empty for the remainder of the journey.....

[MrGongGong]

Looking on the bright side of that unfortunate circumstance, it might be a way of ensuring that your next-door seat remains empty for the remainder of the journey.....

I find my Arnold Bax Society T-Shirt has the same effect

[Flosshilde]

Especially if you don't wash it between trips.

[Mr Pee]

I find my Arnold Bax Society T-Shirt has the same effect

You should try wearing my Wagner Society one. It'll empty the carriage!!!

[vinteuil]

... who was it who said "to be seen using public transport after the age of twenty is an admission of failure" ??

Probably Lady Docker...

http://theesotericcuriosa.blogspot.com/2009/11/irrepressible-lady-docker.html

[Alain Maréchal]

Two friends of mine have the answer to annoying portable telephone conversation and headphones: they position themselves as close as possible to the offender and commence a loud conversation on a pre-agreed subject (such as how annoying this person is). They tell me it usually works. One person alone could try readng aloud at a volume equal to the offender. It helps perhaps that Tom is 1.95m tall, weighs 100kg and wears an eyepatch, but I think a direct and firm request should do the trick anyway - the English are usually discomforted by being addressed in public by a complete stranger.

I haven't noticed the problem in France; conductors are ready to pounce, having by public address "invited" passengers to use the platform at the end of the carriage for making calls, and it's probably considered a grave social sin, in the way that taking somebody else's reserved seat on a train in Germany will bring a lecture on politeness and good manners from elderly ladies.