eastwestdivide

Almost definitely from Basingstoke. However, not a tadpole, but a 3-H (cl.205) unit . The Tadpoles worked Reading-Tonbridge, other end of Reading station, and they had two thin Hastings gauge coaches plus one fat driving trailer.

Fair enough - as you say, no point in going diveunder to W side, cross to E side, lay over, cross to W side again.

Also, some of the container trains are booked for a long layover in the up side yards at Peterborough, inaccessible via the diverunder. e.g. this Tinsley-Felixstowe: https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:H00650/2021-11-30/detailed or this Masboro-Felixstowe: https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:H12558/2021-12-01/detailed#allox_id=0

The muted colours of the backscene gives a good impression of depth and distance.

In weak and watery November sun, 70010 on today's Dewsbury-Hope cement empties passes the site of Rotherham Road (between Rotherham Central and Rotherham Parkgate tram stop). Pleasingly, the PCA wagons included number 11111. The deep water warning refers to the drainage ditch in the foreground of the first photo. This runs under the railway near the bridge in the left background. It has been known to flood the line, which is why the equipment boxes visible just to the left of the sign are raised up.

Cut back to Hull-York only by the look of it, leaving Brid with basically the hourly Scarborough-Hull-Sheffield, mostly class 170s.

Similar thread over here:

They look the part to me - well worth the effort. How long is a signal arm in N?

I’d recommend having an extended play with your graphics editor before doing too many more. Looks to me from that sample above that you may be able to get some better results than what you got so far. Maybe! I’m always surprised by how much I can rescue things.

maybe 2026-27 according to Figure 9 in the document - see my earlier post at:

Yes, it's just a pity that it'll be another 4 years before there's any tangible progress on two projects (MML, TP) which were 'paused' a few years ago. As a package of projects, it's not all bad, just X years late.

Trouble is, the Integrated Rail Plan (IRP) timescales show electrification projects as follows: MML Market Harborough-Sheffield electrification running from about 2026-27 until about 2031-32, and TP Manchester-Stalybridge about 2025-26, Huddersfield-Leeds 2028-2030 and Leeds-York 2030-33 ish. So no immediate progress visible for the next few years anyway. That's all according my reading of Figure 9 in the PDF of the IRP at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1034576/integrated-rail-plan-for-the-north-and-midlands-web-version.pdf That figure 9 is hard to place the start and end dates versus the scale of years at the top.

Second attempt at RHTT on the Grain branch today, as the Sunday one runs earlier, so I had about half an hour more daylight, although it was pretty overcast and dull in any case. This time at Church Street N of Higham, where there's a foot crossing just to the west of where the Brett aggregates line to Cliffe splits off, "Cliffe Signal NK509" I think. Locos 66793 (leading here, in the retro livery) and 66776 according to RTT, on a 3W75 1445 Tonbridge West Yard to Tonbridge West Yard. via Grain, Swale and Sittingbourne (https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:78631/2021-11-14/detailed). Approaching from the west, first with my little camera, second with my phone: And going away to the east, stopping at the junction signal (for single line token purposes I think), both on the little camera: Those pylons are characteristic of virtually the whole line between Hoo Junction and Grain.

Sharnal Street on the Grain branch in Kent, 16:30ish, just as the light was failing. Did what I could with my little camera, pushing the exposure to get a holdable shutter speed, but the light had dropped by 3 stops or so in the last 10 minutes. Shutter speed down to 1/30. It looks light in the sky, but that's because I've attacked it in software. Just look how bright the headlight is! Anyway, approaching: going away, showing the site of the planned new station for Hoo: Realtimetrains tells me 3W75 1508 Tonbridge West Yard to Tonbridge West Yard, with locos 66750 + 66729. The first two "new" class 69s have been out a bit recently on Tonbridge-based RHTTs but not this one. https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:77230/2021-11-11/detailed

Yonks ago, near Blackheath/Lewisham, there was a graffiti "Happy New Year" that disappeared with the summer weed growth and reappeared in late autumn, just in time to wish everyone a happy new year again!