London Trip 9 - Getting Back Is More Than Half The Fun

So we left Duxford, got on the train to Cambridge, switched trains onto the Great Northern Rail Service there and started heading south.

All was going well.  Too well.

The train made it to a couple stations and then stopped at a station. It did not start moving again.

The conductor stated that a power line was down farther south on the line and we were stuck until it was fixed.

Moments later he said the train now also showed a fault and we all had to get off.  He then indicated buses would be coming and he then took the train south off into the distance leaving all passengers behind.

So about 70 passengers stood around the Baldock station.

What's in Baldock by the train station you may be asking?  Not much.  

I'm sure Baldock is a nice place and all that, but it was rather far from London, about an hour by car, or a 14 hour walk which would have been a tad much.

No buses or anything else came, and some passengers connected to the information line first said it would be fixed momentarily and a train would be along.

During this time we had some good chats with other passengers and Mr. B. kindly let one use his power pack to charge their phone which was getting low on battery power.  Nice bunch of people.

An hour later, passengers again connected to the information line and were told all the north lines were out and they'd send someone for us eventually.

Eventually was hardly comforting.

So, instead of waiting,  with two other passengers, Mr. B. and I called up an Uber which had one heckuva surge price uptick.  We all piled in and split the cost at 25 quid each, and took it down to King's Cross Station for the tube, as all the Great Northern Rail lines were down. Uber was doing great business that day.

At King's Cross we said goodbye to our fellow stranded passengers, and then took the tube back to a station nearest our hotel at Trafalgar Square. Then we went out and grabbed a very late dinner, and that ended the day.

Still one helluva great birthday, even with the disruption.  The power to the northern lines was still unrestored the next day. It was a darn good thing we didn't stay there waiting for another train to come along.