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Not so far mentioned and a slightly surprising candidate is the Bristol RE/Northern Counties combination, just 11 all told. One batch of 6: WMA113-5E, YLG716-8F (SHMD 113-118, later SELNEC/GMT 5073-8) and a batch of 5: LHG384-8H (BC&N 84-8, B&P same f/nos). These (5) all passed to independents...

Given the state of opinion polls this report is as much for the attention of the Labour Party as it is for current government decision makers. While on here we regularly slate both HMT and DfT for their apparent attitude to railways after 14 years of Tory led policy it would hardly be surprising...

Given we were discussing genuine HSR it's absolutely a valid comparison.

The mayor was elected with creation of the Bee Network as a central part of his manifesto. If residents are unhappy with the outcome they have the opportunity to vote him out next month. Seems like an unlikely result but politics and elections don't always go as expected...

If we're going to stick to the @GusB guidelines then very much a borderline case as the Mancunian body style was in fact a development of the standard body style developed specifically for Bolton Corporation's PDR1s and built by East Lancs. It does seem as if the continuation of this thread is...

Yet it doesn't stop people flying. And the most widely used aircraft around the world have 3+3 seating. So long as the width available in each seat is adequate there should be no issue about middle seats other than snobbery. So the real issue is whether that adequate width is in fact provided.

Talk of Alexander R-types reminds me that the only examples I saw regularly were those fitted to Dennis Dominators for South Yorkshire PTE. But amongst that substantial fleet were some non-standard vehicles which if not rarities were certainly oddballs. Namely 2311-20(A311-20XAK) which had...

Divide that between 20 with Gardner engines and 10 with Cummins, the latter might just qualify. And those Cummins powered Metrobuses actually had enough oomph to actually justify the 400 service, their normal haunt, being described as the Trans-Lancs Express.

It's more sensible than Aberystwyth-Carmarthen. But as likely to happen as Colne-Skipton or Northallerton-Ripon! Despite being one of the definite Beeching mistakes there are too many breaks in the available formation for it to be possible.

Exactly this. Passenger fans go to Crewe or Manchester Piccadilly while the freight fans are at Acton Bridge or Winwick Jn. Or Clapham Junction vs Wandsworth Road. What's more the unit spotters need nothing more than their phones, with tracking apps being able to confirm what is allocated to...

I'm afraid this is a generalisation that is massively wide of the mark. It may well describe yourself and your circle of loco fans very well but there is now a whole new generation of enthusiasts who have known only the madness of the quasi-privatisation era with its rainbow of liveries and MU...

As late as 1986 there was still a 1603 Queen Street-Arbroath which could produce just about anything. During August of that year I had both a 26 and 27 (separately!) on that service and doubtless 37/0s appeared too. Of course that summer was marked by a dispute with Haymarket maintenance staff...

Not yet mentioned is NJA568W/GMT 1451, a Northern Counties bodied Olympian prototype. Although in general terms the body was a development of the long established GM standard style this vehicle was unusual in having a Nottingham style front bumper. Although NC had built plenty of Atlanteans for...

Connectivity can be achieved by changing at Hindley for those who don't fancy the walk across the street in Wigan. Journey time for Southport is not really affected by routeing either way between Manchester and Wigan, it's the stopping pattern that makes the difference. The spare capacity makes...

So they've stolen a march on Hamburg's Miniatur Wunderland whose British section is only scheduled for opening in 2028 or 2029. The Falkirk Wheel being next to the Forth Bridge is a little incongruous (but in a good way).

This sub-thread prompted me to have a look through Nick Meskell's excellent Scottish Class 37s (Volumes 1 & 2). Vol 1 includes a shot of 035 with well-worn black paint in the headcode boxes. Note it was taken in November 1988 by which time it had been transferred back to Eastfield. It retained...

Of course in BR days such trains were likely to be longer than their latter day equivalents so were better able to provide such overflow capacity. The practice of using longer-distance trains to serve smaller communities is fine so long as appropriately sized trains are used. But having spare...

I believe @Geeves has it right. At Bolton station there are two loop platforms on the Down side: in the event of a Wigan/Southport bound 769 struggling to fire up its diesels other trains can still get past it. Not possible at Hindley. Doesn't matter in the Up direction as a 769 could simply...

But arguably a more efficient use of resources as 769s could be usefully redeployed, like on Clitheroe-Rochdale perhaps (assuming their gensets can cope with the climb to Sough). Though we are drifting somewhat OT here.

The section actually affected is between Ravensthorpe and Leeds via Dewsbury meaning that the actual diversion doesn't add that much time to the journey. Travelling via Sheffield can offer competitive journey times but is somewhat more expensive. Unfortunately there will be no TPE service via...