First Impressions of a train journey

[Thomas J Stamp]

Mate of mine went up from Templemore on Saturday on the 11.50 to Dublin Mrk 4. Never been on a train before. Really liked it, found the seats very comfy and that. However he had a real problem walking to the jax as he kept falling over due to the movement of the carriage. He described it as like a boat in a storm. I decided to do a little personal test. I walked the entire length of the train. 18 times i had to grasp the handle on the seats as i walked. I never have to do it on a mrk3.

Also, mate said there was no way he was leaving our carriage. He was in a backwards seat and he looked sort of panicky when i sugegsted he walk the train with me. I looked behind me and understood. The amount of movement between the carriages was unreal, and if you weren't used to it, you'd swear the one behind was about to tear itself off.

Incidentally, most stable carriage was the catering car, we arrived 15 Min's early to Dublin and i had to explain why we were so slow through Portarlington and had to wait for 5 Min's at the core.

On the way back, he was more relaxed with the mrk 3 to Limerick as it didn't look like it was about to sink, and he thought it was a faster train altogether, not happy about a cameo by Dick Turpin behind the Snack Car Cash Register though.