Kidderminster Redux

The last post on here was almost 4 years ago and related to a trip to the Severn Valley Railway headquarters for the 5.5MM Association AGM.

While I haven’t been to every one since 2021 (it has clashed with other exhibitions in some years), I did make it this year, and have come away with a renewed sense of purpose to create and document more of my work in this scale.

Unlike in previous years, I chose to drive to Kidderminster this year. Since the West Coast route franchise moved from Virgin Trains to Avanti West Coast, the service has deteriorated to the point where it can no longer be relied upon, not to mention it is now almost impossible to book advanced tickets until about a week before your intended travel date. And in addition it is actually cheaper in terms of fuel used to drive than to travel by train, much though I would prefer to do so.

Unless government gets a proper grip on the privatised train operating companies (unlikely under the present government), I’m afraid it looks like most of my long distance travel will be by car in future.

Avanti West Coast is now known as Avanti Worst Case Scenario in this house at least.