Afternoon all!

Last week, me and SWMBO spent a couple of days in London, and while railway stuff didn't constitute the main reason for our trip, I did reserve some time for spotting!

And, in fact, we had deliberately chosen the "slow" way for the inbound trip, going by train all the way. Specifically, our itinerary looked as follows:

IC 2430 for Emden – Leipzig Central Station to Hanover Central Station, calling at Halle, Köthen, Magdeburg, Helmstedt and Braunschweig

ICE 650 for Cologne Central Station (joined with ICE 640 for Cologne-Bonn Airport and split at Hamm) – Hanover Central to Cologne Central, calling at Bielefeld, Hamm, Hagen and Wuppertal

ICE 14 for Brussels Midi – calling at Aachen, Liège and Brussels-Nord

Eurostar EST 9157, or 9I57, for St Pancras

Considering how much might have gone wrong on a trip that long, I was pleased that everything worked flawlessly and all trains met their timetables. However, it wasn't before Brussels that I got some opportunities for taking snapshots...

Almost maxing out the platform, SNCB's newish 1874 – one of the 120 examples of the Siemens Eurosprinter 2007 type locomotives which the company has obtained between 2008 and 2010 – was heading a joint double formation of M6 type double deck coaches, with another such loco on the distant end. The total number of 120 of these locos comprises 96 class 18 locos with conventional buffers and couplers on both ends, with the remaining locos being designated class 19 and having +GF+ type automatic couplers on one end for forming double formations and easy split-and-join workings.

The two formations were coupled across the driving trailers, whose cab faces resemble the Alstom-built class 13 electrics.

This is one of the small fleet of class 186 electrics which SNCB lease from Alpha Trains: 186 125, also designated 2803 by the traditional Belgian numbering system, at the head of the IC 1215 service to The Hague...

...and soon after accompanied by a pair of SNCB's new AM 08 series suburban/regional EMUs, headed by 08118 on the joined R 5337/5318 service from Dendermonde to Brussels and back. With 305 of these three-coach sets on order and to be delivered till 2016, 95 sets have been earmarked for the future RER network around Brussels.

A typical 1980s design with suitably angular bodywork, 2717 is one of the 60 class 27 electrics to have been built from 1981 till 1984. The loco is seen here pulling the P 8907 peak hour commuter service to Zottegem, composed of M4 series coaches.

As did her sister 2739, I should add.

Our ride from Brussels to London was the pair of SNCF's Eurostar demi-sets 3207 and 3208, named "Michel Hollard." This unit is seen here sitting side by side to Eurostar UK's 3019/3020 after blasting through a heavy rain front on either side of the Channel and bulleting right into the Capital.

At Victoria Station the other day, I managed to snap...

465001 on the 2M76 to Orpington...

465196 after arrival on the 2U88 from Dartford and 465928 standing by for departure on the 2K24 to Gillingham...

465161 on the 2M78 to Orpington, and next to it...

375620 and 375309 on the joined 1S46/1S47 to Ramsgate and Dover Priory...

and finally, 465020 on the 2M80 to Orpington.

And as the day turned into dusk, I again stopped by at Kings Cross...

...capturing 91125 after arrival on the 1A41 from Leeds and 91103 at the head of 1N32 to Newcastle.

180101 was idling at platform 1...

...and was soon joined by 321420.

And to round it all off, a portrait of 91125 standing by for departure on 5Y19.

I suppose much of this will have been familiar stuff to everyone from the UK, but for me, seeing stock like the 3rd rail Southern Region EMUs and the Class 91 sets made for a nice change of pace. I just wish there was a more refined Networker model available, and in current livery...