GordonC

The Class 50s (e.g. 50046) is also TEC as is the Class 56s (e.g. 56084)

Transrail Class 60 60005 is TEC

I really cant see this current 'dash for gas' doing much for our energy security either ... what happens if the Russians decides to turn off the tap of the big pipe??? Coal must give much more security

Hurst Models do or did etched sides for the Mk3 BFO coaches

thats the 3 BFO coaches

I've had Yodel chucking stuff over the fence into the back garden before now ... fortunately it wasn't a model on that occasion but I'd never use them again

If we haven't seen any Engineering Prototypes yet or anything beyond CAD for one of them I'd think it'd be more than a year away. Next July or September would be ambitious

I've recently found a Working Timetable for 1984-1985 and there was a service from Mayfield which stood out as being a bit odd. There's a listing for a 3O12 service in the heading from Manchester Mayfield at 00:00 to Crawley, but the timetable only seems to show times from Manchester Piccadilly at 00:15. There doesn't seem to be a listing showing it shunting from Mayfield to Piccadilly in the opposite (Down) timetable direction. Does anyone know how this service would have operated?

ECML and WCML dont really compete other than for passengers travelling the full way between London and Edinburgh, which I would suspect would be a small proportion of the total number of passengers

I think he means the Parcels Red and Grey livery that was pre-RES

No, it was the Mk2 brakes and 2 of the other Mk3s 2918 and 2919 I think it was (the only others in stock!)

They're very much still in business, I ordered some Royal Train etched sides that had come back into stock and they were delivered last week ... very happy!!

Is there any news of whats next in the Class 143/144 pipeline Charlie?

..... and photographic evidence!!!

Were any of the blue and grey coaches that worked these services ever branded with the Trans-pennine lettering, presumably in white? Think I've only ever seen them lettered with Intercity or latterly a few with scotrail as they were transferred south when sprinters ousted them north of the border

Had I been starting from scratch with the quality of N gauge models now I would have ... but having collected all I have over the past 30+ years in OO its not something I could ever imagine doing

Would you consider doing these in 00 gauge too? Normally it's the other way round and something gets done in 00 first before getting shrunk! I'd love a couple of 320s and possibly an NSE 321 but I don't model in N gauge unfortunately

Ah right, I'd just assumed there would have been more 100mph sections. I happened to be watching a Railscene video from 1984 recently with a cabride from Perth to Inverness and it was mentioning a section of line which had been upgraded for 100mph for the HSTs. I'd expected lower speeds on that line than the lines to Aberdeen for example.

Were they limited to 95mph on the Aberdeen trains? - presumably the stock was the same (or Mk2 air conditioned in place of Mk3, but still 100mph capable) - were there no 100 mph stretches of line on the Glasgow to Aberdeen (after leaving the E-G at Greenhill) or Edinburgh to Aberdeen routes? or on the Edinburgh leg of the Carstairs portions?

I'm surprised the Class 117 was picked when it has been done before by Lima ... yes I know the standard will be far higher now, but I'm surprised the more numerous 116s weren't chosen to be done first. Also are there many differences between the 116/117/118 which have been raised here already and the 115s? Were the 115s always 4 car sets? and even the Class 125s - were they more different on the underframe being diesel hydraulic rather than diesel mechanical?

Or you could have something like a Class 128 coupled on for parcels

How do you take such sharp night-time photos? do you keep a tripod with you?

when its labelled as 'Bachmann Branchline' is that just OO gauge releases and presumably not including Graham Farish N gauge too?

Great picture Big Jim!!

ah I wasn't distinguishing between the different areas of sidings around Red Bank. Were they used for different things? How were the carriage sidings used by the 1980s? Were they used to save platform space at Victoria for terminating trains to do the engine running round in the carriage sidings? Presumably there was still the newspaper vans gathering during the day until a nightly exodus and I assume stock was stored there between the morning and evening peaks. Would terminating trains often wait for long in the carriage sidings before returning as stock for another service? Was stock cleaned in the carriage sidings - either internally or externally? Was there any fuelling facilities there for locos and or diesel units? When did Newtown CS close?