It all began yesterday morning, when I was waiting on the platform in Coleraine to get the 1015BST train from Londonderry/Derry to Great Victoria Street. It seemed that everyone had heeded Translink’s call to leave the car behind and use public transport to get to Belfast. The 1015 departure time came and went – people were still piling on to the train. Eventually someone decided that they were going to sacrifice the other 3000 Class DMU that was due to operate the Portrush Branch Line service, so we were all ordered off the train to allow them to couple the two together. Then the platform staff decided they weren’t going to do that so we were all ordered back onto the train, which lead to frustration as some were physically unable to board as it was already crush laden.

1030 came and eventually after much shouting and running up and down the platform by the Conductor we were on our way, having found a space in the vestibule area, along with about 13 other people who couldn’t get a space in the aisles –it was the same in the other carriages. Severely annoyed I decided to phone NI Railways Customer Services and gave them stink; about half an hour later they phoned back to say that “all available trains were in service” (which, when in Belfast transpired to be a bit of a lie, as two class 3000 DMUs were sitting at their Fortwilliam Servicing Depot and at least another one or two were at Yorkgate Yard). At the subsequent stops of Ballymoney, Cullybackey, Ballymena, Antrim, and Mossley West there were crowds waiting. They were all told to wait for the bus substitution which would be with them sometime.

Eventually we arrived at Central, and I got off, and went through Central and made my way along Oxford Street and over the Lagan Weir to Queen’s Quay. An hour and a half, some photos and a whole lot of walking, I decided to return to Central, where I waited for the 1425 train back to Coleraine. Honestly, I was glad to sit down! The train home was much a much more pleasant experience.

Lessons to be learnt:
1. After years of Planning, there should have been a 2nd train coupled on the Londonderry-Gt Victoria Street 1015 Service – what did they expect?! The usual half-full Belfast bound train? I do acknowledge, however, that rolling stock is limited in number, but surely it would have been better to get every train on the lines, rather than having them sitting at Fortwilliam, Yorkgate and probably Adelaide?
2. There should have been a greater appearance of a co-ordinated approach by all Translink (NI Railways) staff as this lead in part to customer frustration – I heard 3 different stories being circulated by 3 different Translink employees in Coleraine.
3. The people left stranded, while veritably annoyed, should have been more understanding and less hostile to the Conductor – policies for crush laden trains are there for everyone’s safety.

You can view my photos of the day here.

I'm sure some of you saw a story on Lidmag about some interesting new inventions to be conceived in Northern Ireland. For those of you that haven't:

Unconfirmed reports have reached the LidMag Newsdesk of an undisclosed number of new inventions, conceived in Northern Ireland, which, if true, could revolutionise Amateur Radio.

Northern Ireland is no stranger to inventors or producing new fangled gadgets – the first pneumatic tyre, developed by John Boyd Dunlop arrived onto the streets of Belfast in the late 19th Century. Perhaps you may be familiar with the portable defibrillators carried in Ambulances – yet another Northern Irish invention, by the late Professor Frank Partridge [...] .

Few details are known at this time, though, our source did let it slip of a product referred to as ‘SWR Grease’, claiming this product could revolutionise antenna installations in so much that it could effectively permit any random piece of wire to be 100% efficient as a radiator of RF energy. It remains to be seen how such a product will work in theory, and in practice is another matter entirely.

Either way [...]. Such a product could save valuable time in emergency communications or simply field day contests. It appears, in this early stage, that ‘SWR Grease’ [...]. Early indications also show that it should be available for sale by the beginning of January 2009, once the Health & Safety Executive has conducted tests to ensure it is safe for consumer usage.

Well, a little later than expected, I received word from HSENI, after asking if there were any developements, that they have given the go-ahead for this revolutionary product to be mass produced. They said that a number of tests were used to determine the structure and subsequent risk of the product. Thus, as it contains a large amount of Calcium hypoclorite - Ca.2Cl-H-O - they have designated it with the Hazardous Substances Databank Number: 914. Extreme caution should be used and protective clothing is required.

Let's see how well it performs...