SE23.com - The Official Forum for Forest Hill & Honor Oak, London SE23
Online since 2002   11,000+ members   72,000+ posts

Home | SE23 Topics | Businesses & Services | Wider Topics | Offered/Wanted/Lost/Found | About SE23.com | Advertising | Contact | |
 Armstrong & Co Solicitors



Post Reply  Post Topic 
Ballad of the 20.22 London Victoria to Forest Hill train
Author Message
Cellar Door


Posts: 356
Joined: Oct 2007
Post: #1
21-12-2010 02:10 PM

Last night I treated myself to a train ride home. Not a great start to a ballad but then this is my first ballad.

OK, let’s start at the very beginning…I had cycled to work yesterday morning as is my norm. The snow was still substantial but the main roads were relatively clear.

I set off at 05:45 from Forest Hill and nicely arrived at work in Marylebone just before 07:00. Not much slipping and sliding on the bicycle, which was nice.

I put in a good 12 hours or so as bonus time is fast approaching.

Then, as I set off home, I thought I’d treat myself to a train ride home for my bicycle and me from London Victoria. The 20:22 to London Bridge via Forest Hill was 8 glorious carriages long with relatively few people. I put myself, my bicycle and a steaming cup of Nero’s hot chocolate onto coach 2 of 8 in the cycle/pram/disabled bit of the train.

We slid out of London Victoria right on time. A few people got on and off for the next stops and we happily glided into Crystal Palace just a few minutes late. Then we curved around Crystal Palace Park and approached Sydenham. And stopped about 500 yards from Sydenham station just before 9pm. We then moved closer and closer to Sydenham but slower and slower. We then stopped about 10 minutes later just a 100 yards or so from the north bound Sydenham platform. Then we didn’t move an inch until just before 23:00.

Things had gone very wrong due to two Overground trains not being able to move because they had traction issues. This we were regularly told by the diligent Southern driver who was being radioed by the “Fat Controller”. My words, not his.

I must congratulate most of my extraordinarily, patient fellow passengers for their extraordinary patience. Especially the lovely lady with her wonderful little dog who was so well behaved. (Madam, if you are reading this, then please give your little dog a rub from me.) But, of course, not all were as patient. There’s always one, isn’t there? I’m referring to the “idiot” (the driver’s words, not mine) who released the emergency doors and jumped down onto the trackside to reach the frustratingly close platform of Sydenham station. Wow Mate, you took a rather daft risk.

During my over 2 hours of quiet time I had the opportunity to reflect on how people who are stuck on trains for considerably longer handle it. Some recent examples in the last few weeks I think people had been stuck overnight. What about toilet facilities? Ours didn’t have any toilets but I do know other trains do but how often do they work? We all know the amount of times we’ve been on a late night train back to SE23 land after having a tipple and finding some or most of the toilets “Out of Order”.

The need for a toilet on our toilet-less train was becoming an issue for some of my fellow passengers towards the end. Their sense of relief was obvious as we made the final lurch towards Sydenham.

Oh, I used my Oyster Pay As You Go and got slugged £8.60 (instead of the typical £2.30) because I’d gone over some allocated time for travelling. This rather high charge is known as the Maximum Cash Fare. I squeaked at the employee-less barrier when I saw this. To quote Blackadder, it was “…about as funny as getting an arrow through the neck, and then discovering there's a gas bill tied to it.”

Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply

Friends of Blythe Hill Fields


Messages In This Topic
Ballad of the 20.22 London Victoria to Forest Hill train - Cellar Door - 21-12-2010 02:10 PM

Possibly Related Topics ...
Topic: Author Replies: Views: Last Post
  Forest Hill pub is 'the best in London' michael 0 3,070 21-01-2015 01:31 PM
Last Post: michael
  London 2012 Games - is this good for Forest Hill baggydave 19 17,737 25-03-2010 10:03 AM
Last Post: wayfarer
  Forest Hill and East London in the FT soulrider 1 5,208 05-02-2008 05:31 PM
Last Post: shzl400