Home CEWAP Mark Thomas 18:30 Club GM Food Car Cats Links		The 18:30 Club
		This section of the site is a (hopefully) light-hearted look at the commuting lives of those that travel in the rear Buffet of the 18:30 train from Waterloo to Weymouth every day (though no-one I know goes *all* the way). Don't confuse the rear buffet with the front buffet (the rear buffet is nearest the barrier at Waterloo, third car along), I'll be polite and not say anything about the regulars in the front buffet...

A community on the move

The people that make this journey every day are probably the most friendly and garrulous bunch I have ever come across.  Forced together by circumstance rather than choice, the people on the train that like a beer and a smoke (but not everyone does both) tend to travel in one of the two buffet cars.  In the years I have been making this journey, I have gathered many good friends and have many wonderful memories that make the daily commute really worthwhile.  It really makes what would otherwise be a chore into a worthwhile experience. On a normal weekday evening home, the regular travellers in the back buffet split into two "ends" due to the layout of the Buffet car on the Wessex electric trains that provide the service (if you can call it that) between Weymouth and Waterloo. These ends are colloquially known as the coven and the poker end.  There's also a group known as the standers as they don't sit down often (and make regular trips to the bar!). On the other pages you'll find some associates and people that used to travel regularly but have moved on to better things.  There's also a few piccies of GT's leaving do and the Annual train Christmas dinner 1999, plus the Saturday Telegraph newspaper article about us that was published on 5th June 1999.  I've even been contacted by a TV company recently that may want to do a "fly on the wall" documentary about us soon!  We won't let fame go to our heads though. There's also a set of pictures of the 1999 train Christmas dinner in Winchester. And a set from Christmas 2000, 2002 and 2004 (dunno what happened to 2003). New: Christmas 2007!!! And the 18:32 golf society pictures are here, too: 2002 Autumn - West Wellow 2003 Spring - Dibden 2003 Autumn - Fareham Woods 2004 Spring - Paultons Park 2004 Autumn - Dudsbury