9:10 We would like to apologise for this train being five minutes late. This was due to a delay at Hereford while someone enjoyed slamming the doors. (Evidence provided at 6:02). Don't like the music in this one Geoff - I LOVE IT !!! (¿¿¿ʇuǝɯɯoɔ ,,ǝuo sᴉɥʇ uᴉ ʇuǝɹǝɟɟᴉp sʞool ᴉʞɔᴉΛ,, ǝɥʇ s,ǝɹǝɥM)
Wow...this was a really great video Geoff and Vicky...!!! I didn't realise we still have trains like this, which offer fantastic customer service, amazing locally sourced food and top staff like Gary! We have a lot to learn from the Welsh...!!! 😁🔝👍
Sadly I think the buy out by the nationalised TfW has killed it. Though I will enjoy the new teens price or free railcard, like my Welsh 16-23 bus card.
It's great to see some light shined on the North Wales Coast, TFW have redone this line by this point and I'm always seeing the train go through Bangor, not only is it lovely to ride on but it's lovely to look at too
I travelled on this service last week from Newport to Shrewsbury, and have to say it was really good value for money (£15 upgrade from Newport to Shrewsbury normally - £9.90 with my railcard) - especially with the included 3 course meal. Food was really good and the service was very quick also as stated in the video. I’d recommend it to anyone who happens to travel on that route.
Did you get a chance to use the Wrexham and Shropshire before, in the opinion of many, the big boys saw it off, that was quality that was just too good!!!!
Hey, I love your “The Londonist” videos but I was very pleasantly surprised when I found that, in this video, you have travelled on one of the trains that I travel on everyday and have gotten off at my local station, Hereford!
Very nice touch to call it the "Gerald". The manager was right- the original Gerald (a genuine Cymro) went on a tour around Wales raising money for a Crusade (maybe the 3rd) and his account tells us so much about the characters and topography of a country which he truly loved.
Simply the BEST! Absolutely fabulous train, staff, and FOOD! The service is the best in Britain and long may it continue. We travel from Cwmbran to Chester or Llandudno - JUST for the dinner! Thank you ARRIVA and Welcome to TFW!
Wish more people knew about this service. Taken it twice now over the last two summers. As a trainspotter it's one of the few things you know that the general public don't, but would presumably appreciate.
As Im A "Nerd" in many things, I also am so, when it comes to staff/schedule planning. Must be quite challenging making this work on say, trains. Thanks for including this in the video! (And plz do more of this in the future :)
All the videos on this channel make me smile broadly while watching them but for some reason this one included warm fuzzy feelings too...what a wonderful journey and something i will definitely try one day if i can make it out of Essex ;) ....oh and Gary likes that shift the best because he gets a nice take home when he finishes :D
In a world of multiple units this is a real gem, the class 67 is a great loco, pulling spacious carriages and room for bikes and prams in the DVT. I wish all cross county services were like this. Living in Shropshire I love seeing it. I hope our new opperator, Transport for Wales builds on this.
You two light up my life. I loved all the stations, then the documentary followed by your mini adventures; such as this one. Simply fantastic! I look forward to your next adventure. If you ever make it to Palm Springs, California, you two will have a place to stay. ( no, I'm not an internet nutter) xoxo
Just discovered this one looks fabulous and there is nothing better than being on a train and having restaurant quality meals. Have done it twice here in Australia The Ghan and The Indian-Pacific
I travelled with my mother on the exact Cardiff to Llandudno years ago and we both thought the food and the journey were great.If you have not tried this it is well worth doing. Ashame other train operators do not offer something similar.
Good evening is Noswaith Dda Vicky. Lovely video and makes me want to do the trip. I have only been from Newport to Shrewsbury when I was still greeted by steam locomotives at Shrewsbury.
Nice that there are still dining trains on the network! As an ECML fan, I'd contend that the LNER Gresley Dining articulated stock was the apogee of UK train dining stock , but, for opulence, the pre-WWI years saw the height of such services.
@@agent_605 Virgin cut the price of the services either side of Wrexham and Shropshire's. So low in fact that it was clearly designed to kill it off. DB washed their hands of it in an obscenely short time afterwards; but if open access train companies are to be allowed then revenue abstraction protection should work both ways. The Open Access not allowed to cherry pick times and routes; but the franchise operator not allowed to run loss making trains in competition.
@@agent_605 - no they did not duplicate the route but I do recall that Wrexham and Shropshire trains on route to London were held in sidings while the Virgin went past, saw that out of the W&S window, also W&S were banned from picking up and setting down at stations after Wales, even when they were stopped at the platform. Not really a level playing field.
Great video, I have rode from what some call it The WAG (Welsh Assembly Government) from South Wales, did one trip to Hereford and the other at Shrewsbury, never done the full journey, but them MK3 coaches with the slam door will be replace because they will have 12 MK4 coaches (3 sets of 4) from LNER so it be a DVT, few MK4 Coaches and a locomotive. There is also a service which is standard only that starts a Crewe and goes to Chester i think, then to Manchester, after that travels to Holyhead and then back to Manchester, then does a Manchester to Llandudno and then I think it does a Llandudno to Crewe. Sadly that have no dining experience. I also like trains with Buffet cars, always like to walk up to the buffet car or the shop and not fond of the trolley service it just blocks the aisle, even know some like it because it at seat service.
Thanks for sharing! I will hopefully one day have the privilege to encounter you on a train somewhere, even if it's a Thameslink, LOL. Bon voyage, toujours!
In terms of traction, it is also one of the few services outside of London mainline trains that uses a Driving Van Trailer or DVT to enable it to reverse at Chester. Prior to the 67+DVT being introduced with the mk3 carriages, the service was mk2s topped by a 57 and ran via Crewe between Salop and Chester, meaning Wrexham was missed out on the route.
I never knew this existed! I would frequently travel from Bristol to Chester via Newport in the evening and this would have been a lovely way to get home :(
My first on-train meal was on a steam hauled all-Pullman Bournemouth Belle back to London in the 1950s. We went up to 70 mph at times which was very exciting!
I remember when ONE ran restaurant services on there loco hauled services between Liverpool Street and Norwich, I can clearly remember having bbq ribs on trip which were absolutely delicious. Plus I used to love the travelling chef on first great Western High speed services, I always had a full English breakfast on ex London Paddington to Penzance via Bristol Temple Meads, which I would usually get on at Bristol Temple Meads going down to Totnes, I remember walking through the train and seeing everyone looking at me and thinking how lovely the smell was.
Love the class 67s! With the mark 3 stock being replaced on the Norwich to Liverpool Street Line I hope those trains find use around the country so we can have more trains like this!
Geoff, thanks for the advice on the Gold Card the other day. Have you done a vid on the Marches line yet? Pontypool & New Inn (previously Pontypool Roads) used to be one of the UK's major stations - now just a humble island platform, with a service every two hours.
You are right Geoff and Vicki. There is something magical about dining on a train. I don't mean a sandwich and a latte but real quality food and real quality service. I used to love the proper restaurant cars on GNER where it was all silver service and meals prepared freshly from the extensive menu. The breakfasts were fantastic and the evening meals were what you would expect to find in a high class restaurant. Standard class passengers could dine in there as well (if there was seating available - often it was full) at no extra cost. Breakfast was about £15 and a three course evening meal with half a bottle of something nice was about £40 but you did get to sit in first class.... GNER treated food provision very seriously. They employed the best chefs who competed with each other to be the best. Things started to deteriorate under National Express East Coast's franchise and got a bit worse with East Coast. Then, under VTEC, first class ticket holders got a "complementary" offering. At breakfast, it was usually a small fry-up but with scrambled egg, not fried and in the evening, you could choose between a couple of small main courses. Not a patch on the old days..... I have not yet tried the LNER offering but, as the restaurant cars have been "modified" to exclude fresh food preparation of the kind needed, I do not expect any improvement. We should remember here Paul Taylor, the GNER chef who sadly lost his life in the tragic incident at Great Heck on 28th February 2001. Paul had won the GNER Chef of the Year competition for 2000 just six months before his death.
I tried to have a ride in the 1st and have a meal back in December. Unfortunately the dining car and first class seating was out of the formation for maintenance. I've been told this isn't the norm, and I hope to try again at some point in the future.
Great to see my old Director, Tom Joyner, coincidently on board that service in his final days of been MD at the now-defunct ATW. And catch the MK3s whilst you can as they'll become MK4s in a year of so
Great show on Arriva Trains Wales for 1. keeping proper loco-hauled trains alive, even if only on limited services, and 2. keeping proper on-train dining alive. I really do thank and praise ATW for operating a service like this. I hope it continues to be a success and perhaps that they consider more limited services like this; perhaps a Holyhead-London return service, revive the long dead Irish Mail, maybe even as a sleeper? It seems to have worked nicely for GWR with the Night Riviera and First Scotrail with the Caledonian Sleeper. I know, silly dreaming, but all the same it does my heart good to see proper fresh-cooked meals being served on a proper loco-hauled train. The DMU's may dominate, but the older, better ways of running passenger trains aren't dead yet. Now, if they could only bring back proper luggage vans... Edit: Sorry, didn't notice until the end that there was also a Mk.3 DVT on the end. Now that's what I'm talking about! The benefits of DMU stock, being able to reverse direction without fuss, and still allow a place for long distance passengers to stow their stuff. More of this, please, Britain's railways!
01:20 Here's another fun fact: The red/white logo on the loco is that of the "Deutsche Bahn" (Arriva belongs to the German National Railway Company, of course.) In Germany, the logo is fondly called the "DB-cookie", for it resembles the shape of a very famous German biscuit. But who'd think to find it on a Welsh train?!
Brings back happy memories. The first time I ate on a train was on the Cornish Riviera Express behind a Western diesel and tuther time was the Flying Scotsman behind a Deltic. I soooo miss real trains!
GWR still have Pullman dining cars (proper cooked meals) on the London/Wales and London/West Country routes. Huge fan. And if there is space, standard class ticket holders are allowed to dine (but you do have to pay for the meal!).
Fun fact: in the past when the engine and coaches have been "unavailable" for whatever reason, it has been substituted by almost everything from a 175 to a 150. In fact Gerald 2, the other subsidised semi-fast HHD-CDF service, used to be a 175 with a trolley which had a built in microwave on board. Nowadays it's just an ordinary trolley, although it still runs semi-fast and is one of the few trains to be scheduled to leave Newport Platform 4 in the Cardiff-bound direction; although this does mess up the GPS-triggered auto announcer which announces the next station is Newport when the train is running over Gaer Junction.
@@Robbins996 Needs must in times of crisis!! As a trolley dolly I once worked a 150 from Newport to HHD on the 0921 morning service. It kept its timings mostly although on the route back we got given a 175 at Chester to complete the journey (it was rush hour). As it had no disabled toilet facilities we had to schedule loo breaks at Shrewsbury and Chester for a passenger in a wheelchair. It was also problematic for me to do my job as some of the seats; namely the ones by the doors with the extra legroom, don't have tables (either actual tables or foldy-downy seatbacks) in front of them so people who asked for tea/coffee had to sit it either on their laps, the seat next to them, or the floor. Talking of being physically and legally unable to do my job, once a Pacer turned up on the Fishguard Flyer (ex 11am CDF-Fishguard nonstop to Llanelli, Whitland and Fishguard). Bear in mind the booked stock was a 150 anyway.... They have no tables at all so they are officially trolley exempt. I went home after doing 3 hours of an 8 hour shift.
I've seen 150s working Manchester, Birmingham and Cardiff trains instead of the usual 175 or 158 many times. Just feel sorry for those who are travelling most of the way!
Meengineer100 agreed. Thankfully when I lived that way I only had 150s once or twice. Though I did have to do oxford to Hereford on GWR once. That was pretty miserable
@@Robbins996 I've done a couple of journeys on 150s where they shouldn't really be. Thankfully only had about an hour on them which is like on the Conwy Valley Line. Sometimes on the NWCL, if they're on services timed for higher speeds they just lose time, but I think most of the service are timed within their range.
I have to agree with you Geoff, a proper train indeed - loco at the end, just coaches in between. Shall miss them once they have all been replaced with multiple units that house the engines and motors underneath the coach itself - the old 'proper' type of coach were always a much quieter ride well away from the loco. Great to see an episode of All The Stations covering this great train.
Another great train dining experience , although more expensive is GWR Pullman dining, done over 20 times, a great way to spend couple of hours on a train,
Business class tickets, but "First Class" written on the side of the train. Consistency eh? ;) Long wanted to do the Pullman dining train to Cornwall myself, although now I'm wondering if I could combine the two for a longer trip!
the EUS to FTW Caledonian Sleeper felt like 2 hours to be honest. Mainly because tired me went to sleep about half hour after departure and woke up an hour before arrival.
We need to bring back restaurant cars across the intercity network. I remember the GNER ones used to be excellent on a return from Newcastle to King's Cross and back in the early-mid 2000s, and Deutsche Bahn in Germany still operate them on most of their ICE trains and they're rammed most of the time from my experience.
I'd love to travel on this train at some point in the future :) From next year, I believe their upgrading the coaches from the current Mk3's to Mk4's as well. I believe TfW have ordered 12 but I'm unsure if that means there are going to be 3 WAG services a day between Holyhead and Cardiff in both directions, or if they're going to add more coaches to the service. I believe they are coming in January 2019 as well so not too long before we find out hopefully :)
One full set plus spares. They usually use the "spare" sets as queuebusters in and out of Manchester Piccadilly and on occasion have used them for extra services on Cardiff rugby and football matchdays.
@@RWL2012 I know that the Mk4's are arriving in 2019 at some point, not 100% sure when but the earliest time I would assume would be January although they may very well not come until later. It does say in the plans "by the end of 2019" so it'll be sometime during the year at least. The 170s and 230s will be coming around the same time as well. The 230s I'm looking forward to see as they'll be running in Wrexham which is near to me so I'm definitely looking forward to seeing them (and will hopefully film it and get a chance to ride on one when they get here :) )
before any of the "official" converted/cascaded stock (5 230s, 5/9 769s, 5 ex-GWR 153s, 12 ex-AGA 170s, 12 ex-LNER Mark 4s) is introduced from around May to December 2019 (let alone the brand new 148-strong CAF and Stadler stock order that will be introduced from 2022), there will unofficially be 10 144s handed down from Northern on a temporary basis in early 2019, to cover for the remaining 19 non-PRM 158s (of the 24, 5 have been done as of writing this) and all 36 150s (none done yet as of writing this) being PRM-2020 modified. obviously TfW will be low key about it on Twitter, responding to peoples' tweets about short forming with "we'll be getting more carriages", not "more Pacers".
Yes it is a proper civilised train with a loco and good food. We managed to do the Gerald on the way back from S Wales, having done the Heart of Wales line incl. Sugar Loaf (inspired by All The Stations). You really did seem to enjoy it! As someone else commented, it is subsidised and used by members of the Welsh parliament - did you see any? (There's a N-S Wales plane too, but not half as civilised.) What surprises me is that there are so few loco-hauled/sleeper trains left in the UK. All to do with cost I suppose.
The problem with sleeper trains is you need a good long stretch to allow people to sleep six to eight hours... Most train journeys in the UK are shorter...
always wanted to ride an overnight train serving dinner, just like James Bond and Tatiana Romanova in "From Russia with Love" - and so this is where Hereford is! I only know Hereford from the movie "My Fair Lady", when Dr. Higgins teaches Eliza how to speak proper English "In Hartford, Hereford and Hampshire hurricanes hardly ever happen"
You two seemed to enjoy the food, and you both dressed up for dinner clean shirt and Jeans Geoff, while for Vicki denim jacket, print top, black trousers and converse trainers very elegant
I live 5 minutes from Wrexham General and had no idea that this train existed, let alone that it goes past my house. Now that ATW is no more has Transport for Wales continued the service?
An absolutely top video, I could almost taste the food watching. It reminded me of a cruise on a train. How did Vicki cope without a castle or a pacer, is she OK, any lasting harm?.
If you like this, try the GWR Pullman services! You'll want to make sure that you do it now, because after March the HSTs will not be bookwd for the run
its a fantastic real train ..i loved doing it and i went both journeys! ..also funnily enough fro the Junction....will this train remain loco hauled in the future with new trains coming in?
A proper train, slam doors, yes, love the double clunk as they close, just like the clunk on the doors of a Morris Minor, a similar lock bolt and double catch, catch plate arrangement. Oh how I wish that modern trains had similar dining cars rather than just a buffet car ( if lucky, it's manned ) or that bloody trolley. I would much rather eat during the journey than try and find a place at destination and lose an hour or so dining, unless that was the reason the journey was made to visit a dining establishment.
For future use, Llandudno is pronounced Clan-did-no.......not dud-no....... And the town itself (rather than the junction) has some great real ale pubs!
_"And because it's Friday and we've all finished work, they sell alcohol aswell."_ Surprisingly funny, for an Arriva service staff member. 5:07 Thinking about how to get their staff home, and be nice to them. Again, surprising, for Arriva.
The real star of the video here is Gary, who was an absolute mega-star and brilliantly helpful and fun guard, thank you!
Most Gary's are nice and helpful people
And really cute
I noticed he got off with a polystyrene container. It'd be great if the on-board chefs prepare staff a meal to take home with them - that's lovely!
I have met Gary a few time he is a fantastic train gaurd also Geoff the Arriva 158s was refurbish a few years ago
All The Stations you need to the heart of wales line to Shrewsbury
9:10 We would like to apologise for this train being five minutes late. This was due to a delay at Hereford while someone enjoyed slamming the doors. (Evidence provided at 6:02).
Don't like the music in this one Geoff - I LOVE IT !!!
(¿¿¿ʇuǝɯɯoɔ ,,ǝuo sᴉɥʇ uᴉ ʇuǝɹǝɟɟᴉp sʞool ᴉʞɔᴉΛ,, ǝɥʇ s,ǝɹǝɥM)
Yes, even the remaining HST's are being fitted with automatic doors now.
A) there should be a "love" button, instead of "like" for this video, and B) I just had lunch, and now I'm hungry again!
Wow...this was a really great video Geoff and Vicky...!!!
I didn't realise we still have trains like this, which offer fantastic customer service, amazing locally sourced food and top staff like Gary!
We have a lot to learn from the Welsh...!!! 😁🔝👍
what did i say about emojis anton
@@MikeHunt420 enlighten me...! 🤔
Oh Mr Anton :D u watch this channel too? NIIICE :), I'm watching with a nice fruit cake and hot coffee, it's great and relaxing :D
Sadly I think the buy out by the nationalised TfW has killed it. Though I will enjoy the new teens price or free railcard, like my Welsh 16-23 bus card.
@@emjenkins464 in what way has it been killed...? Also, TfW contract out to a private company (KeolisAmey)
It's great to see some light shined on the North Wales Coast, TFW have redone this line by this point and I'm always seeing the train go through Bangor, not only is it lovely to ride on but it's lovely to look at too
I travelled on this service last week from Newport to Shrewsbury, and have to say it was really good value for money (£15 upgrade from Newport to Shrewsbury normally - £9.90 with my railcard) - especially with the included 3 course meal. Food was really good and the service was very quick also as stated in the video. I’d recommend it to anyone who happens to travel on that route.
Did you get a chance to use the Wrexham and Shropshire before, in the opinion of many, the big boys saw it off, that was quality that was just too good!!!!
I did not sadly
@@folksinger2100 - I did! I use a photograph of my good self enjoying lunch on the train from Telford to London for my Facebook page!
Hey, I love your “The Londonist” videos but I was very pleasantly surprised when I found that, in this video, you have travelled on one of the trains that I travel on everyday and have gotten off at my local station, Hereford!
Wow, you actually went on the train. Looks like a great experience! There should be more dining trains in Britain.
Especially the long distance services
Hello again Avery Lopez-Baines xD
You can find dining trains on amtraks overnight routes.
Very nice touch to call it the "Gerald". The manager was right- the original Gerald (a genuine Cymro) went on a tour around Wales raising money for a Crusade (maybe the 3rd) and his account tells us so much about the characters and topography of a country which he truly loved.
The music, the trains, the stations. All the stations yay!!
They need to do all the premiere inns.
Simply the BEST! Absolutely fabulous train, staff, and FOOD! The service is the best in Britain and long may it continue. We travel from Cwmbran to Chester or Llandudno - JUST for the dinner! Thank you ARRIVA and Welcome to TFW!
Fascinating video. Glad to hear the new franchisee is keeping "Gerald" going. I can see this going on a lot of bucket lists.
The phrase "How was your sausage" makes me snigger more than it should"
Wish more people knew about this service. Taken it twice now over the last two summers. As a trainspotter it's one of the few things you know that the general public don't, but would presumably appreciate.
As Im A "Nerd" in many things, I also am so, when it comes to staff/schedule planning. Must be quite challenging making this work on say, trains. Thanks for including this in the video! (And plz do more of this in the future :)
All the videos on this channel make me smile broadly while watching them but for some reason this one included warm fuzzy feelings too...what a wonderful journey and something i will definitely try one day if i can make it out of Essex ;) ....oh and Gary likes that shift the best because he gets a nice take home when he finishes :D
In a world of multiple units this is a real gem, the class 67 is a great loco, pulling spacious carriages and room for bikes and prams in the DVT. I wish all cross county services were like this. Living in Shropshire I love seeing it. I hope our new opperator, Transport for Wales builds on this.
you must be happy now with the rollout of more regularmark 4's. soon to be 5 carriages too
You two light up my life. I loved all the stations, then the documentary followed by your mini adventures; such as this one. Simply fantastic! I look forward to your next adventure. If you ever make it to Palm Springs, California, you two will have a place to stay. ( no, I'm not an internet nutter) xoxo
Just discovered this one looks fabulous and there is nothing better than being on a train and having restaurant quality meals. Have done it twice here in Australia The Ghan and The Indian-Pacific
I recognize that book. A copy arrived for me in an Amazon box this week. Now I need time to read it.
I travelled with my mother on the exact Cardiff to Llandudno years ago and we both thought the food and the journey were great.If you have not tried this it is well worth doing. Ashame other train operators do not offer something similar.
Little plug for a new book I see. “The Railway adventures”. I will have to add this to my collection 😺
www.septemberpublishing.org/product/the-railway-adventures/
All The Stations OMG OMG OMGI HO
Cannot get enough of watching these videos
Good evening is Noswaith Dda Vicky. Lovely video and makes me want to do the trip. I have only been from Newport to Shrewsbury when I was still greeted by steam locomotives at Shrewsbury.
Great video! And I’m glad I got the Iceland palm oil advert before it
Why didn’t have this train going from Cardiff to North Wales 17 years ago when I needed it? Still it’s a great reason to go back home ❤️😀
Loved this train when I travelled from Shrewsbury to Holyhead, an route to Ireland. Glad to see it's still going strong!
I now have the All the Stations Book! Found it at my local Waterstones- a happy surprise :)
Hello There, I love this video, it looks like a very luxurious service :) Cheer Peter
Mouth watering food and the staff trimmings comes at an absolutely eye watering subsidy for this train from the Welsh Assembly 😏
BusAndTrainUser do we know how much? FOI request?
@@tonyjones9442 £1.7 Million per year
Nice that there are still dining trains on the network! As an ECML fan, I'd contend that the LNER Gresley Dining articulated stock was the apogee of UK train dining stock , but, for opulence, the pre-WWI years saw the height of such services.
I wasn't expecting Deutsche Bahn train to roll up.
SMIFFY Arriva are owned by DB
In my opinion I think DB was one of the companies that knifed Wrexham and Shropshire.
John John More likely to be Virgin offering a faster and more competitive service
@@agent_605 Virgin cut the price of the services either side of Wrexham and Shropshire's. So low in fact that it was clearly designed to kill it off. DB washed their hands of it in an obscenely short time afterwards; but if open access train companies are to be allowed then revenue abstraction protection should work both ways. The Open Access not allowed to cherry pick times and routes; but the franchise operator not allowed to run loss making trains in competition.
@@agent_605 - no they did not duplicate the route but I do recall that Wrexham and Shropshire trains on route to London were held in sidings while the Virgin went past, saw that out of the W&S window, also W&S were banned from picking up and setting down at stations after Wales, even when they were stopped at the platform. Not really a level playing field.
Great video, I have rode from what some call it The WAG (Welsh Assembly Government) from South Wales, did one trip to Hereford and the other at Shrewsbury, never done the full journey, but them MK3 coaches with the slam door will be replace because they will have 12 MK4 coaches (3 sets of 4) from LNER so it be a DVT, few MK4 Coaches and a locomotive.
There is also a service which is standard only that starts a Crewe and goes to Chester i think, then to Manchester, after that travels to Holyhead and then back to Manchester, then does a Manchester to Llandudno and then I think it does a Llandudno to Crewe. Sadly that have no dining experience.
I also like trains with Buffet cars, always like to walk up to the buffet car or the shop and not fond of the trolley service it just blocks the aisle, even know some like it because it at seat service.
This is AMAZING! As a Foodie and Cardiffian now I HAVE TO DO IT !!!!
Brilliant video guys!
Thanks for sharing! I will hopefully one day have the privilege to encounter you on a train somewhere, even if it's a Thameslink, LOL. Bon voyage, toujours!
Loved the vlog , food sounded great , and Gary was a great quest guard , seconds please !
In terms of traction, it is also one of the few services outside of London mainline trains that uses a Driving Van Trailer or DVT to enable it to reverse at Chester. Prior to the 67+DVT being introduced with the mk3 carriages, the service was mk2s topped by a 57 and ran via Crewe between Salop and Chester, meaning Wrexham was missed out on the route.
Great video Glad you both enjoyed it
I never knew this existed! I would frequently travel from Bristol to Chester via Newport in the evening and this would have been a lovely way to get home :(
Great video and looks great and I would like to go on this one day.
omg if only you had stayed for a hot minute in Hereford as that's where I'm from! Would have brought you a cuppa to the train doors haha
My first on-train meal was on a steam hauled all-Pullman Bournemouth Belle back to London in the 1950s. We went up to 70 mph at times which was very exciting!
I remember when ONE ran restaurant services on there loco hauled services between Liverpool Street and Norwich, I can clearly remember having bbq ribs on trip which were absolutely delicious.
Plus I used to love the travelling chef on first great Western High speed services, I always had a full English breakfast on ex London Paddington to Penzance via Bristol Temple Meads, which I would usually get on at Bristol Temple Meads going down to Totnes, I remember walking through the train and seeing everyone looking at me and thinking how lovely the smell was.
Vikki is the star here. Happy, enthuthiastic, clever, articulate funny girl. You were ok as well Geoff. Love your work!
That was a great video as usual. Look so relaxing.
Love the class 67s! With the mark 3 stock being replaced on the Norwich to Liverpool Street Line I hope those trains find use around the country so we can have more trains like this!
I enjoyed watching your video I use the Premier Service both ways from Shrewsbury when I visit Cardiff
My favourite meal on a train was first class on Eurostar Waterloo to Paris. Great service and treated like royalty. All for valentines
Geoff, thanks for the advice on the Gold Card the other day.
Have you done a vid on the Marches line yet? Pontypool & New Inn (previously Pontypool Roads) used to be one of the UK's major stations - now just a humble island platform, with a service every two hours.
wow - slam door trains?! I remember them from when i was a kid!
You are right Geoff and Vicki. There is something magical about dining on a train. I don't mean a sandwich and a latte but real quality food and real quality service. I used to love the proper restaurant cars on GNER where it was all silver service and meals prepared freshly from the extensive menu. The breakfasts were fantastic and the evening meals were what you would expect to find in a high class restaurant. Standard class passengers could dine in there as well (if there was seating available - often it was full) at no extra cost. Breakfast was about £15 and a three course evening meal with half a bottle of something nice was about £40 but you did get to sit in first class....
GNER treated food provision very seriously. They employed the best chefs who competed with each other to be the best.
Things started to deteriorate under National Express East Coast's franchise and got a bit worse with East Coast. Then, under VTEC, first class ticket holders got a "complementary" offering. At breakfast, it was usually a small fry-up but with scrambled egg, not fried and in the evening, you could choose between a couple of small main courses. Not a patch on the old days.....
I have not yet tried the LNER offering but, as the restaurant cars have been "modified" to exclude fresh food preparation of the kind needed, I do not expect any improvement.
We should remember here Paul Taylor, the GNER chef who sadly lost his life in the tragic incident at Great Heck on 28th February 2001. Paul had won the GNER Chef of the Year competition for 2000 just six months before his death.
I tried to have a ride in the 1st and have a meal back in December. Unfortunately the dining car and first class seating was out of the formation for maintenance. I've been told this isn't the norm, and I hope to try again at some point in the future.
Looking forward to you doing a ‘special’ on the Ghan in Australia!
Great to see my old Director, Tom Joyner, coincidently on board that service in his final days of been MD at the now-defunct ATW. And catch the MK3s whilst you can as they'll become MK4s in a year of so
WUT
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Great show on Arriva Trains Wales for 1. keeping proper loco-hauled trains alive, even if only on limited services, and 2. keeping proper on-train dining alive. I really do thank and praise ATW for operating a service like this. I hope it continues to be a success and perhaps that they consider more limited services like this; perhaps a Holyhead-London return service, revive the long dead Irish Mail, maybe even as a sleeper? It seems to have worked nicely for GWR with the Night Riviera and First Scotrail with the Caledonian Sleeper. I know, silly dreaming, but all the same it does my heart good to see proper fresh-cooked meals being served on a proper loco-hauled train. The DMU's may dominate, but the older, better ways of running passenger trains aren't dead yet. Now, if they could only bring back proper luggage vans...
Edit: Sorry, didn't notice until the end that there was also a Mk.3 DVT on the end. Now that's what I'm talking about! The benefits of DMU stock, being able to reverse direction without fuss, and still allow a place for long distance passengers to stow their stuff. More of this, please, Britain's railways!
Arriva Trains Wales no longer exists
That's GOT to be a bucket-list job!
01:20 Here's another fun fact: The red/white logo on the loco is that of the "Deutsche Bahn" (Arriva belongs to the German National Railway Company, of course.) In Germany, the logo is fondly called the "DB-cookie", for it resembles the shape of a very famous German biscuit.
But who'd think to find it on a Welsh train?!
Normanusrex i think some of the Class 67s are in ATW livery
We see DB in a lot of places, mostly on shipping trains
the food on this service is really good also on the breakfast train. had my own trips on this service.
Brings back happy memories. The first time I ate on a train was on the Cornish Riviera Express behind a Western diesel and tuther time was the Flying Scotsman behind a Deltic. I soooo miss real trains!
I miss real trains too, i never saw one but i would like to!
I love Vicki's excitement shes fab
RIP Arriva Trains Wales. 🏴🚆
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Great video nice people on it 👍
GWR still have Pullman dining cars (proper cooked meals) on the London/Wales and London/West Country routes. Huge fan. And if there is space, standard class ticket holders are allowed to dine (but you do have to pay for the meal!).
I assume the MD of Arriva trains Wales got his P45 a few weeks later?
Stephen Dines A top gear joke?
Fun fact: in the past when the engine and coaches have been "unavailable" for whatever reason, it has been substituted by almost everything from a 175 to a 150. In fact Gerald 2, the other subsidised semi-fast HHD-CDF service, used to be a 175 with a trolley which had a built in microwave on board. Nowadays it's just an ordinary trolley, although it still runs semi-fast and is one of the few trains to be scheduled to leave Newport Platform 4 in the Cardiff-bound direction; although this does mess up the GPS-triggered auto announcer which announces the next station is Newport when the train is running over Gaer Junction.
MY83 sod paying all that money to barely be able to harm yourself think for however many hours on a 150
@@Robbins996 Needs must in times of crisis!! As a trolley dolly I once worked a 150 from Newport to HHD on the 0921 morning service. It kept its timings mostly although on the route back we got given a 175 at Chester to complete the journey (it was rush hour). As it had no disabled toilet facilities we had to schedule loo breaks at Shrewsbury and Chester for a passenger in a wheelchair. It was also problematic for me to do my job as some of the seats; namely the ones by the doors with the extra legroom, don't have tables (either actual tables or foldy-downy seatbacks) in front of them so people who asked for tea/coffee had to sit it either on their laps, the seat next to them, or the floor.
Talking of being physically and legally unable to do my job, once a Pacer turned up on the Fishguard Flyer (ex 11am CDF-Fishguard nonstop to Llanelli, Whitland and Fishguard). Bear in mind the booked stock was a 150 anyway.... They have no tables at all so they are officially trolley exempt. I went home after doing 3 hours of an 8 hour shift.
I've seen 150s working Manchester, Birmingham and Cardiff trains instead of the usual 175 or 158 many times. Just feel sorry for those who are travelling most of the way!
Meengineer100 agreed. Thankfully when I lived that way I only had 150s once or twice. Though I did have to do oxford to Hereford on GWR once. That was pretty miserable
@@Robbins996 I've done a couple of journeys on 150s where they shouldn't really be. Thankfully only had about an hour on them which is like on the Conwy Valley Line. Sometimes on the NWCL, if they're on services timed for higher speeds they just lose time, but I think most of the service are timed within their range.
I have to agree with you Geoff, a proper train indeed - loco at the end, just coaches in between. Shall miss them once they have all been replaced with multiple units that house the engines and motors underneath the coach itself - the old 'proper' type of coach were always a much quieter ride well away from the loco. Great to see an episode of All The Stations covering this great train.
1d
Another great train dining experience , although more expensive is GWR Pullman dining, done over 20 times, a great way to spend couple of hours on a train,
Why didn't you go all the way to Holyhead? Sorry if you've been asked this before!
Business class tickets, but "First Class" written on the side of the train. Consistency eh? ;)
Long wanted to do the Pullman dining train to Cornwall myself, although now I'm wondering if I could combine the two for a longer trip!
the EUS to FTW Caledonian Sleeper felt like 2 hours to be honest. Mainly because tired me went to sleep about half hour after departure and woke up an hour before arrival.
I was super surprised when I saw that Deutsche Bahn locomotive, then I noticed that it's an Arriva servicr And that really explained everything
If you loved this service, you should set up crowdfunding and get yourselves on to the Royal Scotsman. We had a cracking weekend on it :)
We need to bring back restaurant cars across the intercity network. I remember the GNER ones used to be excellent on a return from Newcastle to King's Cross and back in the early-mid 2000s, and Deutsche Bahn in Germany still operate them on most of their ICE trains and they're rammed most of the time from my experience.
I'd love to travel on this train at some point in the future :)
From next year, I believe their upgrading the coaches from the current Mk3's to Mk4's as well. I believe TfW have ordered 12 but I'm unsure if that means there are going to be 3 WAG services a day between Holyhead and Cardiff in both directions, or if they're going to add more coaches to the service. I believe they are coming in January 2019 as well so not too long before we find out hopefully :)
One full set plus spares. They usually use the "spare" sets as queuebusters in and out of Manchester Piccadilly and on occasion have used them for extra services on Cardiff rugby and football matchdays.
@@michaelocyoung still using the 67's with Mk4. I think it's still going to be Gerald and the two sets up north, but Gerald will go to Swansea
i thought the Mk4s aren't due to TfW from LNER until late 2019, around the same time as the 170s to TfW from AGA
@@RWL2012 I know that the Mk4's are arriving in 2019 at some point, not 100% sure when but the earliest time I would assume would be January although they may very well not come until later. It does say in the plans "by the end of 2019" so it'll be sometime during the year at least.
The 170s and 230s will be coming around the same time as well. The 230s I'm looking forward to see as they'll be running in Wrexham which is near to me so I'm definitely looking forward to seeing them (and will hopefully film it and get a chance to ride on one when they get here :) )
before any of the "official" converted/cascaded stock (5 230s, 5/9 769s, 5 ex-GWR 153s, 12 ex-AGA 170s, 12 ex-LNER Mark 4s) is introduced from around May to December 2019 (let alone the brand new 148-strong CAF and Stadler stock order that will be introduced from 2022), there will unofficially be 10 144s handed down from Northern on a temporary basis in early 2019, to cover for the remaining 19 non-PRM 158s (of the 24, 5 have been done as of writing this) and all 36 150s (none done yet as of writing this) being PRM-2020 modified. obviously TfW will be low key about it on Twitter, responding to peoples' tweets about short forming with "we'll be getting more carriages", not "more Pacers".
You two make me want to take a train trip with you both!
Same here!
Love it when you're in Wales and ABLE to speak Welsh!
Yes it is a proper civilised train with a loco and good food. We managed to do the Gerald on the way back from S Wales, having done the Heart of Wales line incl. Sugar Loaf (inspired by All The Stations). You really did seem to enjoy it!
As someone else commented, it is subsidised and used by members of the Welsh parliament - did you see any? (There's a N-S Wales plane too, but not half as civilised.)
What surprises me is that there are so few loco-hauled/sleeper trains left in the UK. All to do with cost I suppose.
The problem with sleeper trains is you need a good long stretch to allow people to sleep six to eight hours... Most train journeys in the UK are shorter...
@@ronclark9724 True - but there were more once upon a time. Certainly after I got married!
2:11 the women next to Geoff: why are you filming yourself
always wanted to ride an overnight train serving dinner, just like James Bond and Tatiana Romanova in "From Russia with Love" - and so this is where Hereford is! I only know Hereford from the movie "My Fair Lady", when Dr. Higgins teaches Eliza how to speak proper English "In Hartford, Hereford and Hampshire hurricanes hardly ever happen"
You two seemed to enjoy the food, and you both dressed up for dinner clean shirt and Jeans Geoff, while for Vicki denim jacket, print top, black trousers and converse trainers very elegant
Pullman to Plymouth next?
I live 5 minutes from Wrexham General and had no idea that this train existed, let alone that it goes past my house. Now that ATW is no more has Transport for Wales continued the service?
Dave Griffiths Yes, and TFW are upgrading the Mk3s to Mk4s from next year
What a lovely couple you make and Vivki is a super, charming and naturally beautiful young lady.
i love ur channel
Yay new video
Great guys. Makes me want to go there too
You Should have visited Conwy Station. The Station is underneath Conwy Castle and i know Vicky likes castles.
An absolutely top video, I could almost taste the food watching. It reminded me of a cruise on a train. How did Vicki cope without a castle or a pacer, is she OK, any lasting harm?.
If you like this, try the GWR Pullman services! You'll want to make sure that you do it now, because after March the HSTs will not be bookwd for the run
its a fantastic real train ..i loved doing it and i went both journeys! ..also funnily enough fro the Junction....will this train remain loco hauled in the future with new trains coming in?
Has anyone else done the GWR Pullman from Paddington to Penzance - it's an awesome experience
Geoff is drunk! It's hilarious!
A proper train, slam doors, yes, love the double clunk as they close, just like the clunk on the doors of a Morris Minor, a similar lock bolt and double catch, catch plate arrangement. Oh how I wish that modern trains had similar dining cars rather than just a buffet car ( if lucky, it's manned ) or that bloody trolley. I would much rather eat during the journey than try and find a place at destination and lose an hour or so dining, unless that was the reason the journey was made to visit a dining establishment.
Fantastic. More dinning on trains
It's basically a Pullman-style service, but in standard coaches.
For future use, Llandudno is pronounced Clan-did-no.......not dud-no....... And the town itself (rather than the junction) has some great real ale pubs!
Where did you go after bailing out @ LJ at that ungodly hour...especially as its in the middle of nowhere(ish) ... ? :) Another great video!
_"And because it's Friday and we've all finished work, they sell alcohol aswell."_
Surprisingly funny, for an Arriva service staff member.
5:07 Thinking about how to get their staff home, and be nice to them. Again, surprising, for Arriva.
Wonderful this service exists. Must try it before the slam doors go.