Erk's Northern Hemiwanderer, June 2014

[erkpod]

We enjoyed a lovely meal in front of the fire at the Black Lion one lunchtime, but it is very close to Brondesbury station. Had a Sunday evening roast at the cough and it was fine.

When did you eat at The cough?

I dropped in this afternoon & the lady behind the bar said they don't do food. Maybe I was premature in wanting to dine at the C.

 

[erkpod]

Day 10
Thursday 12 June
London, England

I wanted to reduce my walking today so I caught the 206 bus to Kilburn High Road & then the Overground to Willesden Junction then towards Stratford.





That selfie at Kilburn High Road was taken as the train was coming in.





This lady was doing some funky dancing as the train arrived. I think this dance is called "This is a Bakerloo line train stopping at all stations."



While I was changing platforms, I thought I'd do something funky myself.

 

[erkpod]

My original plan was to go to Clapham Junction but the Stratford train arrived first.









I changed trains at Homerton (Hom-er-ton, not Homer-ton as I thought). There's a lot of construction going on around there & one place opposite the station looks like it was inspired by London Overground orange.

 

[erkpod]

It was the trip to Homerton where I learned that the Overground trains can get their power from the 3rd rail & from the overhead depending on location.



Changing trains at Canonbury for Clapham Junction, this photo earned me some horn (sounded like good horn) from the driver. Sounded like duck/yard horn at the very least - I don't think it was loud enough to be town horn.



If you see station signs like this in Sydney, remember where you read it first.



Some of the multi operator stations are not signed in Overground orange. Little did I realise that Denmark Hill would feature later.



Yet another operator!

 

[erkpod]

I arrive at what calls itself the busiest station in London or England (can't remember which), Clapham Junction.









From the overhead bridge, I see lots of stabled trains & room for lots more. I also bump into some local train spotters but I get that they don't want to talk to people.

 

[erkpod]

There's a massive poster at Clapham Junction showing destinations but there's not enough room to show them all.





Lots of places to go!





Photos like this attracted the attention of one staff member. The conversation went something like:

CSA: You al'right?

Me: Yes.

CSA: You've been taking photos of trains. (I can't remember if this was a statement or a question).

Me: Yes.

CSA: Would you like to come with me?

Me: Not really, no.

CSA walks away. I don't follow.

I hang around, expecting him to return with a supervisor or the Old Bill. He doesn't.

During this time, there were delayed & cancelled trains due to signalling issues at Wimbledon that he could have been helping customers with rather than have a subtle sookylala at me.

 

[erkpod]

I've decided that I'm off to London Victoria as I've already been to Kings Cross/St Pancras, Euston, Paddington & Waterloo.

I think to jump on a Southern train considering I'm in the paid area & I don't see/hear any restrictions on me doing so.











I make it to Victoria without incident a few minutes later & my Oyster card lets me out of the station.

 

[erkpod]

I feel a little like this guy at Victoria







During my time at Victoria, I hear of a police operation at Denmark Hill.

I have lunch & then return to Clapham
Junction. My original plan was to stay on the train until the end at London Bridge but I think that the train enters zone 3 - I have only zones 1/2 on my Oyster.





When I get back to Clapham Junction, I find that the police operation is now a fatality at Denmark Hill so there's no trains via Surrey Quays & Canadia Waters.

My plan was to head back to Kilburn High Road via Willesden Junction anyway. The fatality cemented that.

 

[erkpod]

I see these signs on the Southern train to Clapham Junction & think that my colleagues & I would do way more than this in a day. I would love to see Underground/Overground versions of these which would be a fairer comparsion.



Twitter is being used more by various operators (mine included!) for real time service updates (and more in some cases).

 

[erkpod]

I saw these funky signs on a train earlier today which has a train related script.









They remind me a little of the Queensland Rail safety ads.

 

[erkpod]

I got the Overground back to Kilburn High Road via Willesden Junction. The fatality related delays were summarised simply at Kilburn High Road - only that the service is part suspended.







During people watching at Kilburn High Road, I noticed an unusual coloured bus for London - a green one! It appears to be a local borough community bus.



This red/green bus is one of several painted like this to highlight that they are hybrid buses.



I briefly went to The cough. The lady behind the bar said they don't do food (I may have been too early for dinner) so I left. She appeared to have no sense of humour so I didn't ask further or ask about the name of the pub.

 

[erkpod]

The World Cup is on in the combination bar/dining area. I have nowhere to sit to eat. Until I leave, I probably should have dinner somewhere else or bring something here & eat in my room.

Since I've been here, I've met 2 cute ladies (one from Austria & one from
Russia) & I saw them both tonight. The Russian goes home Saturday while the Austrian (who is now working here) is going home for the weekend. Hope to see her before I move on elsewhere on Wednesday.

 

[erkpod]

The World Cup has been decided. You can all go home now. I won.



But before this photo, a guy was taking a photo of the 3 Brazilian ladies. I suggested to them that they pose with the World Cup. They liked that idea.




So I took a photo of them on my phone & one of their cameras. If you take a photo of it & tag the lodge on either Twitter or Instagram, they will give you a discount on one beer. I don't drink beer...

 

[whatmeworry]

Photos like this attracted the attention of one staff member. The conversation went something like:

CSA: You al'right?

Me: Yes.

CSA: You've been taking photos of trains. (I can't remember if this was a statement or a question).

Me: Yes.

CSA: Would you like to come with me?

Me: Not really, no.

CSA walks away. I don't follow.

I hang around, expecting him to return with a supervisor or the Old Bill. He doesn't.

During this time, there were delayed & cancelled trains due to signalling issues at Wimbledon that he could have been helping customers with rather than have a subtle sookylala at me.

Maybe time to shave off the beard?

 

[erkpod]

Maybe time to shave off the beard?

Then my work ID (that I have with me on this trip for reasons like this) won't look like me.

Beard stays.

 

[Mal]

Then my work ID (that I have with me on this trip for reasons like this) won't look like me.

Beard stays.

Maybe they identified you as a train spotter and wanted to invite you to the staff tea room for a chat, or to show off the train tracking computers (they are cool btw).

But who knows...

 

[erkpod]

Maybe they identified you as a train spotter and wanted to invite you to the staff tea room for a chat, or to show off the train tracking computers (they are cool btw).

But who knows...

Nah, that never happens! LOL

If they are anything like the ones back home (and they probably are), they are cool.

 

[kevrosmith]

View attachment 29755

Euan at Southern Railway looks a little bit like the fella doing the Vodafone ads in Australia at the moment... his doppelganger perhaps...?



(Hmm... how do I get the original picture to show in-line?)

 

[whatmeworry]

Then my work ID (that I have with me on this trip for reasons like this) won't look like me.

Beard stays.

Makes me wonder if egates will properly detect your face if you grow a beard?

 

[OATEK]

Day 10
Thursday 12 June
London, England

I wanted to reduce my walking today so I caught the 206 bus to Kilburn High Road & then the Overground to Willesden Junction then towards Stratford.

View attachment 29718

Ha, Erkpod, I can see the flat I stayed in. The round section at the top left of the red brick building behind the station was the dining area!