C2C Drivers eye view review

TrainfanMatt

I bought this DEV and thankfully after about 11 days of waiting it arrived (I think it had to be shipped). I was not disappointed, the 357's have an exceptionally smooth ride both when riding on them in real life and in this DVD. As mentioned C2C is a largely self contained network which I believe only runs for about 70 miles. First we board a 357 from Shoeburyness before leaving it at Southend Central. From there we pick up another electrostar for the run to London Fenchurch Street, via Tilbury and Ockendon, before rejoining the main line for the run to LFST. And finally we board a 357 from LFST to Grays via Dagenham and Rainham.

My only main criticism is that the section between Upminster, West Horndon, Laindon and Basildon is missing, where perhaps we could have just boarded a Shoeburyness via Basildon train before leaving it at Pitsea?

One extremely strange moment, is when the driver is just about to depart Westcliff, I believe a cat runs across the tracks before jumping on the platform towards Shoeburyness lol, bit strange but never mind.

The only other criticism and it is only a minor one, is that it says "filmed during the glorious summer heatwave of 2009" I remember it being hot, especially through the tennis at Wimbledon, but I don't think it could be classed as a heatwave, it just could be me, but that isn't relevant...

But that doesn't effect the quality of this DVD, which as usual Peter and his team have got absolutely right. Not the best DEV on here, but definetely one you should add to your collection.

Rating: 3.5/5

TrainfanMatt :D

KentuckyFriedTony

I liked it.
I, too, as many others, have seen the cat.

I have Railfilms "Network Southeast Cab Rides" volumes 4 and 5 that were filmed in the early 1990s to use as a comparison. One was from Fenchurch St to Shoeburyness via Upminster, West Horndon, Laindon and Basildon.
The other is the other way - Southend to Fenchurch Street via Tilbury.
(One gets to see a lot of track that is now lifted).

North East Rail

Could it have been-

Shoeburyness to London Fenchurch Street via Southend Central and Basildon
Pitsea to Upminster via Tilbury and Ockenden
London Fenchurch Street to Grays via Dagenham

TrainfanMatt

Yeah suppose it should have been NE Rail :)

peter125

Totally disagree. Time after time, surveys have shown that people want us to make decisions about what to show and what not to show.

ROBsLab

Peter already knows my thoughts on this, so I won't repeat it. :-P

I'm going to nit-pick now though and say that it is not "C2C", it is "c2c". ;-)
It might have been something else from next month (June 2011), but National Express received a 2 year extension.

ROBsLab :-).

Deviewer

Stupid name anyway. I would have made it a condition of the franchise extension that they changed the name to something sensible - and repainted their station furniture a less offensive colour :)

peter125

I like the name. It is distinctive. What would you have called the franchise? LTS?

The "one" name that was truly absurd was "one railway". Thank goodness somebody saw sense and got rid.

TrainfanMatt

I agree with Peter, I have always liked the name c2c, and probably always will. There is no distinct meaning, it keeps you guessing!

jameswake

I like the name c2c, and their staff are always very helpful, particularly on the Last Blue Train Railtour. The only fault was that when there was an OLE problem near East Ham, all London bound trains were turned at Barking and we were expected to cram onto the Underground Rail Replacements. I managed to get a service bus to Redbridge and pick up the Central Line, where I heard the Jubilee Line had broken down too! On a note to the production, it is one of my favourite DEVs, however such a pity it didn't go through Basildon, so I got the 225 Studios Shoeburyness to Three Bridges (my local station) via Basildon. No commentary, but quite a good ride.

techniquest

I've heard c2c stands for City 2 Coast...but then I read c2c is a name not meaning anything...so I don't know what it is but I agree it is a good name as it's smart and also short and sweet.

ONE was confusing for passengers especially over the PA, but I didn't know ONE actually stood for something until someone told me!

Flying Basher

I'm sure I recall, when on the last blue train tour, someone saying the idea behind c2c was to make it deliberately vague, as the service they provide 'means many different things to many different people'. The vague / non specific name was intended to reflect this.

Pure marketing, of course, but I suppose the idea works.

baldrick

I have heard it as meaning commitment to customers , but think it really has no true meaning.

jameswake

I heard about the vague meaning too, as I was on the Last Blue Train Railtour, But I tend to go for city2coast.

essexnumberone

Fantastic DVD. As someone else has already said, my only criticism is the lack of West Horndon, Laindon and Basildon, but other than that, a fantastic addition to my ever growing collection of Video 125 productions. Well done!

I still miss the Class 302s though! :)

OxbridgeLink

c2c was thought up by Sachi & Sachi... goodness knows what sort of fee was involved!

This is one I have and I rate it highly.

peter125

I don't follow you...

ROBsLab

Saatchi & Saatchi are an advertising company and (I'm assuming) get paid loads of money for creating brand names, adverts etc. They created one of the British Rail adverts with Intercity ("Anytime you choose, kick off your shoes, doo doo de do").

Apparently, they are the ones who came up with "c2c". Unfortunately, I cannot find the source of that anymore. Thinking back actually, I'm pretty sure that's mentioned in the c2c DEV...

ROBsLab :-).

Reason for edit: Typo and a small addition.

peter125

I quite like the name c2c though the media (typically) put C2C (with capitals) which doesn't look so good. The worst of all time was "One Railway". Whoever was paid to come up with that should have been tied to the railway line. Thankfully it has gone. Sadly, c2c will no doubt go soon - just a people get used to it. It was the same I recall with NSE. That only last a few years.

DavidH

Living in the land of red lamp posts and stripey trains was good. NSE transformed our local services, we benefited from cheap day tickets into London, the Network Card and those wonderful Network Days.

ROBsLab

Ahh the Network railcard...

Worth it if travelling regularly after 10:00 (or after the last train that arrives in London before 10:00 on some lines) on weekdays and the fare is more than £13, though there's no restriction on weekends and bank holidays (on both fare and time).

ROBsLab :-).

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