Transport

 

Transport for more than three hundred people could be by coach or train.  The train had several attractive features.  No more anguish about who has the best seat; no more nervous tension from passengers with noses pressed to the window, anxiously looking for a ‘public convenience’ sign; no more hurried panic to move a yellow faced passenger to a seat beside the escort where he or she could get rid of a substantial breakfast into a bucket without upsetting anyone except the unhappy escort.  As well as all the advantages, train transport gave us a feeling of patriotism, helping to keep our public services alive and kicking.

 

There were limitations.  Railway lines are much less versatile than roads.  It is tedious to take three or four hundred people on a train and have to off load them to travel the last five miles by coach because the train does not go any further.  If the venue of the holiday is close to the railway and there is a prospect of being able to fill three compartments, the advantages are obvious.  There is no necessity to ‘tailor’ the size of the party to approximately so many coaches.  A little train will take something over four hundred passengers and to divide the cost between them is less than the cost for each than for a coach ride.  Furthermore, an extra few passengers can be accepted so long as the accommodation at the camp is available without bothering about their transport.  If a few cancel shortly before departure, it is of no consequence.

 

But there are unexpected difficulties.  The journey may entail more than one British Rail system and a southern railwayman cannot be allowed to undertake any duties within the territory of Western Region.  So a comparatively short journey may have to be agreed by two or more big companies, usually over a period of months.  Furthermore, drivers have to be changed at the border point of the two responsibilities.  The driver at the start of the journey had to relinquish his seat and become a passenger at a convenient station.

 

On our journey to the Isle of Wight, there was an –additional complication.  We did not discover this until on our first assignment.  Between Brockenhurst, and Lymington Pier where our passengers were to board the ferry, is a short stretch of railway line with only one set of rails.  Trains travelling between the two stations can only pass one at a time and exchange tokens, like relay racers, to the following train waiting to enter the stretch.  Thus the first time we travelled that way, the local scheduled train passed on while our special charter train waited patiently a few minutes for its return before our four hundred folk could pass.

 

When our train arrived at the station adjacent to Lymington pier, we were dismayed to see the majestic ferry churning its way towards the mouth of the river without us.  Waiting an hour for the next ferry was the most anxious period of the week.  The lavatories were all locked; the small station was unmanned so there was not even a cup of tea to relieve the tedium of the next fifty minutes.

 

The following year we began negotiations with British Rail.  Why, we asked, could not the twenty or so regular passengers travel the last mile or so on our special train?  There was ample room and the train could arrive in time to connect with the ferry.

 

British Rail was collectively shocked.  Our party could not be allowed to fraternise with regular ticket holders.  We were not told why.  Whether our riff raff might be expected to contaminate the elite of the Island visitors or vice versa, we were never told.

 

It was as well that our discussions started in plenty of time.  It was apparent that the problem was well nigh insurmountable.  The main problem seemed to be lack of communication between Southern and Western regions.  Eventually, we took the problem to a senior official of Southern Region at Waterloo station.  We were able to persuade this administrator that such strict segregation was not so necessary.  He agreed that ‘his’ passengers could travel the two or three miles on our train but they would travel in their special compartment.  This was attached to the engine in front of our carriages and was locked until it reached Brockenhurst when it would be unlocked for the access of the extra passengers.

 

Alas for the complicated plans to reserve these sacrosanct seats for the segregated passengers, when the train drew in at Brockenhurst, no one had the key so everyone occupied our chartered accommodation.

 

The special arrangements were not introduced afterwards.