I had been on one of the humor information sites... cant remember which now and that does not much matter... What I ran into was a funny guy doing video blogs of the London underground. he would scamper here and there racing to get from place to place while pointing out things everyday tube riders would never look up and see. This led him to more expansive things and more access when the companies noted his antics and started allowing him more access as this was great advertising for them as well. This led to many many many videos on anything from visiting EVERY rail station in England and Scotland to the least used stations to the shortest runs and all sorts of strange things.
He would go on to assess every stations access ramps and amenities from if they had trash receptacles to dot matrix screens to assist/help calling boxes. It was novel for me as I knew of the Tube and had been on it numerous times to see his take of it all.
It has changed a lot since I was last on it or even on any train there. So much very has changed.
Noted changes... Not everything is under British Rail. Many small companies run all sorts of different versions of Underground, Overground, Shuttles in and around London. They are still trying to sort out the best way to inform you of what train you need and its still a total mess. They are trying to get the locations where there are tons of commuters spread out or changed... and those stations that have no one of few adjusted. Its pretty crazy.
The maps they have and those available on line are in constant flux as well as private people are creating their own and there is even one chap.. A professor who creates some impressive maps of underground networks everywhere... His are the best but even he says that it is becoming impossible to keep it informative without being completely confusing.
Really its all confusing... but I digress...
Geoff and his friend Vicki traverse and get silly and miss trains and get upset and get funny and tell you things you would never have known if you didn't live at some of these places... To me in the desert Southwest of the States its novel. They go small distances and in convoluted ways and we can just catch the I-40 for 200 miles and still not get to the border of the state. No tube stations here also..just silly tries at mass transit that are too ill thought through or not thought through at all.
This is their web site.. and you can access all their videos from there... Its well worth the time.
http://www.allthestations.co.uk/
So many great links from them.. here are some of the things I downloaded from their running about..
A bit of tile work in a closed off section just opened that I plan on recreating.. I really like it flow. I screen shotted it because its only on video.
Didnt know this and in the design of a tube map...
Also didn't know that a lot of tube trains and stations have no air conditioning... It gets hot underground.
The latest very congested map.
Some of the strange ideas out there to show more info in less space... not real helpful.
So much more to go explore.... I have been binge watching and then slipped off the rails and fell in a canal...
Hense the canal boat as the blog banner.
One of the first videos of Geoff's I watched was him meandering about London and the canal system there... so I was bingeing the underground videos and hit one on canal life and then I found one with a single guy and his travels.. He was a newsperson and chucked it all in ..sold everything and bought a narrow boat and set out Vblogging his runs.
Like Geoff and Vicki he is very easy to listen to. Guys name is Dave.. here is the link to his site...
https://www.youtube.com/redirect?redir_token=aOt-CMc04RNzFVC7HvGQKij35qt8MTU0Njg4MDc2NkAxNTQ2Nzk0MzY2&event=video_description&v=rEvs65HiDQ0&q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.CruisingTheCut.co.uk
and you can find his videos on youtube following this....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEvs65HiDQ0
He runs commentary as he goes along the canals.
The canals ...
So what Ive learned from him so far..
Doing this by yourself is hard work as most locks are not manned and you have to pull up, tie off, walk to the lock, clear it, set it, walk back to your boat, run it in, tie off, climb up and close the gates, then fill or empty the lock then open the other gates then get on the boat again then pull it out and retie it to the bank and reset the lock... YEESH!!!
Unless a previous boat has set the lock in your favor or there is a volunteer gate person.. called "Lockys" you are working up a good sweat.
Taken easily it probably isn't too bad. Its a very slow life.
Other things I have learned.. There are narrow canals and wide canals and rivers and all of it links to each other. There are guides to let you know which is which and what is what.. there are even parts of the network that you can be no taller than 6 feet to pass very low slung tunnels!!! Crazy.
So narrow boats are usually around 6 foot10 inches wide and from any length to max of 72 feet. There are wide version that go out to 10 feet and some wider...but I believe they can only stay on the rivers or wide canals ( cant get ten foot wide boats into a 7 foot wide lock.. just aint happening ). Some of the videos... what they consider a canal wide enough for two narrow boats to pass is not really. Some of the maneuvers this guy has to do are very novel.
Watch and see.
There are many sites on the web for everything you might need for boating the canals.. from guides to map planners to where to hook up and get services.. I consider it RVing in the water. Though much much slower. Most speeds around about 4 to 5 mph.
Here is one...
https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/enjoy-the-waterways/canal-and-river-network
The link below this is one narrow boat I would not mind at all... though its sold..even the name is nice...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOgzBUXTaHQ
This was fun because it was a cross between a RV and house sale video...
Other items from the canals... Where to tie up for the night and where not to... how much is taken care of by the national trust and what other services are out there. Some canals are owned and some are open. How crowded it gets during holidays and the peek summer times.
Ending of all that...
I could see a canal boat being a nice base of operations for a couple of months a year and head from there on forays to shoot the areas stopping near after retiring... Cheaper than a hotel for two months and ability to move alternately than the roads.
Something to think about...
As England gets more packed with people the roads are going to get worse to try and get anywhere on. Hopefully the rail owners wont raise their prices anymore or they will have a revolt on their hands. London I believe is restricted who and when you can drive into it... where else will that happen as there are more people trying to get places they are not....
So now when Geoff and Vicki are too fast for me I watch Dave and then I go back and forth... When I get caught up ill probably watch their daily links to see what they are up to... If ... slash that.. when I get back over Ill see if I can look them up and chat about their plans for the future...
Is it time to video blog ballooning? Perhaps it is....
Gotta move this blog first though!!
So now lastly on this lengthy blog are some shots I took at the office and home after the last large snowfall we had. Still some snow here and there and far too cold to do much of anything outside.
Mind distracted.
Also.. I seem to have lost the keys to my balloon. I plan on going out next weekend to Unser and Westside to look for them...if its dry enough.
