brushman47544

And there was me looking at the “driver” (ahem) and thinking it was supposed to be James...

Some more excellent photos Jamie. You appear to have captured the one daily Sybic hauled daytime TEOZ service from Nice to Bordeaux, the others were diagrammed 22200s. West of Marseille they were either 7200 or 22200. In another you’ve captured Cunard’s Queen Mary 2 along with one of AIDA cruises ships with the ludicrous (in my opinion anyway) eyes.

Interesting to see the difference in styling between the two TGVs 56 and 4529 side by side. I think I prefer the original, which looks more purposeful.

With a D8xx behind, which had perhaps failed?

The Aberdonian headboard in 1939 was also curved but a slightly different size so probably not that https://www.steve-banks.org/prototype-and-traffic/262-the-aberdonian

A bit later - early 80s - I was at Kyle and in came a Class 37 leading a 26. The 26 had been added inside as the 37 was reported on low power. Tried to run them round, but they wouldn't work together when coupled up with the opposite cabs. They couldn't let the 26 lead on the way back as it wasn't RETB fitted, so they decided to leave it behind. Was disappointed as as 26+37 pairing would have been a good thrash.

There were at least three (this one plus ADB781375 and ADB781479) as there are photos of them on Paul Bartlett’s website. No idea if there were others, but as Departmental vehicles I suspect they each had their own separate circuits to deliver spares to different depots rather than operating together. Be happy to be proved wrong though.

Being in the EU and since the models go via Heljan in Denmark, it would be nice to be able to buy from Heljan direct and avoid UK to EU customs. But it seems that only older models that did not sell out to retailers are available direct.

which surprised me when first revealed, as those names are in many cases the most emblematic. I will be not be adding to my Royal Mail unless or until that changes.

Can you give us a couple of pointers...

Obviously not busy as that car is pretty much on the wrong side of the road.

Looking very good now Rick. Going back to your first posts, the layout looks remarkably similar to your original design. Mine never did...

Notwithstanding the other comments about 33009 and 33026 being different shades of yellow and the different depth of yellow band on the prototype, looking at this,photo,on my iPad (so not scientific) if I was keeping one only it would be 33009. The yellow looks closer to what I remember (33026 is too canary) and the bottom of the yellow band on 33026 almost touches the windows so too high.

I don’t think the Sybics were ever that common on the line between Marseille and Nice. In the 2000s one of the Nice - Bordeaux trains was diagrammed one, but most trains were and still are 22200s. However, it seems that the Sybics displaced from Paris St Lazare - Le Havre 200km/h services are moving south to take over the Bordeaux - Marseille/Nice TET(?) trains from 7200s and 22200s. Will be interesting to seek what works the reinstated Paris Austerlitz - Nice sleeper (from 16 April now apparently) as the loco works throughout, the train calling at Blancarde to avoid a reversal at St Charles.

I used to catch the Eurostar to Brussels regularly for work and the coaches used for the Nice train were always in the yard outside Midi station. Same SNCB types every day so presumably both rakes provided by SNCB. I agree a train to Amsterdam is likely, what I was curious about was why NS and FS (but no SNCF) stock in the same train in Nice. I’ve always been interested in the long distance international trains in Europe in the 80s/90s. Does anyone know where to find a diagrammatic map of those services. I’ve searched but...