A search for the women of Canadian Pacific

Throughout the Second World War, while men were deployed, many women stepped into vital roles across the UK.

Initially, only single women aged 20 to 30 were called up but by mid-1943, nearly 90% of single women and 80% of married women were working in places such as factories, on farms or in the Armed Forces.

Women at Eastleigh Works were employed in various departments, such as machine shops, forges and sawmills.

They played a crucial role in supporting the war effort by building Merchant Navy Class locomotives, including the Canadian Pacific.

In the early stages of researching the history surrounding the iconic locomotive, project leader Dr Becky Peacock collected various stories and memories about Canadian Pacific, including those of Mr Asprey whose father was the foreman of the machine shop at the time that Canadian Pacific was built.

By 1940, he was the only man working in the machine shop.

On 8 September 1962 it hauled the last Pines Express on the Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway

And still mentioned (as a TBC admittedly) on the TWSW '.org' website!

Very poorly handled 

I'm sorry, but cancellations need to happen at least a week out, preferably two,

So, I have to come for  a jolly, as I booked during the GWR sale & have 1st class seats booked for a total of £74.20. I also have to get out of bed at 0530 on a Saturday - something I don't mind doing if its going to be rewarding enough....BUT.

Damned if I'm going to waste these!!

Now to find somewhere else to go between 1015 & 1700 from TAU.

The "disruption is expected until..." time has been gradually extended throughout the day - currently expected until 16:00 at present.

Train services running to and from these stations may be delayed or revised. Disruption is expected until 12:00 19/03.

Train services running to and from these stations may be delayed or revised. Disruption is expected at least until 12:00 19/03.

Nothing about cancellation on TWSW website. Will they email ticket holders? Many of whom may already have booked and paid for travel.

EventBrite still offering tickets.

Nothing about cancellation on TWSW website. Will they email ticket holders? Many of whom may already have booked and paid for travel.

EventBrite still offering tickets.

Alterations to services between London Paddington and Reading

Due to urgent repairs to the track between London Paddington and Reading fewer trains are able to run on the line towards Reading bound high speed.

Train services running to and from these stations may be delayed or revised. Disruption is expected until 12:00 19/03.

Customer Advice

Owing to urgent repair work required on a small section of track in the Ealing Broadway area fewer train services are able to operate between London Paddington and Reading in both directions

The easterly wind was very strong in the Exeter area yesterday so the sea would have been surging directly towards the railway line. As a result of this I suspect NR would have implemented Single Line Working (SLW) between DWW and TGM (West) and would have cancelled these station calls to avoid making the resulting capacity issue even worse.

05:23 Hereford to London Paddington due 08:23
Facilities on the 05:23 Hereford to London Paddington due 08:23.
Will be formed of 5 coaches instead of 9. Service full and standing from Charlbury.

18:37 Westbury to Swindon due 19:21

18:37 Westbury to Swindon due 19:21 will be starting late from Westbury and is expected to be 5 minutes late.
This is due to train crew being delayed by service disruption.

Graham has addressed this elsewhere/earlier in this thread - there has been an upgrade and a few bits were broken in the process, including this. It will get fixed, but Graham has prioritised the broken bits by their importance to the way the website is working, and the 'Like' is a way down that list.