Tom Anderson wrote:
Hi,

I recently discovered that First Great Western operates a motorail
service to Penzance. Came as a bit of a surprise - i thought motorail
had gone out with BR!

Now, this service starts from Paddington, which means the cars are
loaded there. However, i can't imagine quite how this is done - i've
been to Paddington many times, and never seen a car queueing at the
gateline. The motorail website says "cars need to be loaded well in
advance of the advertised departure time to allow the Motorail section
to be attached to the main train", which indicates that there's a
separate loading area for cars, following which the car cars (as it
were) are coupled to the passenger cars between loading and departure.
Is that the case? Where do the cars board? Where is the coupling done?
How, generally, does this all work?

I used the 'Night Riveria' service a couple of weeks ago: was pleasant
enough (and better than the return leg which I did in First Class on a
day train.) I definitely appreciated a bunk rather than a seat on the
overnight leg.

We didn't take a car (hired one at Penzance) but I have seen the
Motorail entrance clearly signed as you drive into Paddington. You
should also note the days on which the Motorail runs, and the
appropriate directions. No doubt someone with direct experience will be
able to tell you more on the Motorail side of things, but you should
certainly be aware of the threat to the wider service and sign
http://www.petitiononline.com/sleeper/petition.html for what good it
will do