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A trio of smiling Pendolinos (Pendolini?) line up at London Euston on 31st January 2016, with 390136 on the left which was to form 1H17 to Manchester Piccadilly.

Always difficult to be completely sure without seeing Hornby's sample for oneself and up close. Here are a couple of my images of the full size version to compare with the image shown on Hornby's video. The usual caveats about perception of colour, light angles and colour output on display screens also applies. 802218 9M12 Brighouse 13982022 802216 1P21 Heaton Lodge Junction 24082020 Hopefully the final versions will also include evidence of the various 'yellow' warning notices. It's not clear if they're present on the Hornby video. Also, I'll keep my fingers crossed that the destinations shown in the bodyside displays are relevant to the actual route that the 802/2s serve. Good news about 21pin though. 👍

Good to see some people being imaginative with this years Remembrance Day tributes. 👍 Well done the locals in Stourbridge who put this together. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-67328047

My subscription copy arrived at least a week ago Stewart.

Sky News take on todays announcement. https://news.sky.com/story/humiliation-for-mark-harper-and-blow-to-rail-industry-with-rollback-on-ticket-office-closures-12997228

With the feather to take the 'Down Fast', a South Western Railway class 158 accelerates away from Eastleigh on 25th September 2023 with a service from Romsey to Salisbury, via Eastleigh and Southampton Central.

I recall many many years ago working for a Manager who adopted the tactic of locking the meeting room door (from the inside obviously) at the prescribed time at the start of a meeting, thereby denying entry to those who had the temerity and lack of respect by turning up late. Needless to say the message got through to most people pretty quickly. I guess that sort of ‘direct action option’ is not available in today’s world of work, or academia.

I completely agree. I agree too, although as I appreciate you know, Liverpool-Norwich isn't a CrossCountry route. Seems a bit unfair on Birmingham NS really. I suspect one of two things is happening here; 1. Beacon Rail, who own the Mark 5A is keen to find work for them quickly, otherwise their expensive asset becomes a liability. I Imagine they're knocking on the door of any operator that might just be able to make use of them. The same, but to a slightly lesser extent and with less urgency for DRS and the class 68s. 2. CrossCountry Voyagers and class 170s are, as I understand it, pretty rigorously diagrammed. Although CrossCountry are supposedly getting more Voyagers from Avanti West Coast, they may not get all that they want/need. Especially with Grand Central having already taken a couple of units on a short term lease and by all accounts impressed with them (not a surprise when compared to their unreliable and incendiary class 180s). CrossCountry might need additional rolling stock, under keen leasing terms, to cover for their Voyagers when they're being refurbished. Just my thoughts to add to the pot.

Yes for sure. Although it could be argued that until a couple of weeks ago CrossCountry were already running three types of unit in the form of HSTs based at a third depot - Plymouth Laira. Four if you count Leeds Neville Hill, where HSTs routinely received some overnight maintenance. The piece in Modern Railways goes into detail about full fleet refurbishment of both the Voyagers and class 170s, plus additional services that CrossCountry would like to introduce. The comment about the 68s and Mark 5s is in the last couple of sentences and references "...could be deployed on Nottingham to Cardiff services...".

This thread is about 68s and Mark5.

I quoted as the comment appeared in the magazine.

Comment in the November issue of Modern Railways on page 12 that CrossCountry "is considering taking on the fleet...". Remains to be seen, of course, if "considering" actually amounts to anything specific in terms of a contract to lease.

Yes, WB is one of the settings on my list to work through.

That's interesting. I do use a couple of different cameras and although they're both Fujifilm, they're different models and I know from past experience that despite being set up with almost identical settings, they don't always produce similar, consistent results. Your initial comment was timely as I hadn't been entirely happy with several of my images recently - a couple of the Colas 66s on the local RHTTs last week also spring to mind. Time for a factory reset and a few tests I think. Thanks again Jim.

Thanks for the feedback Jim. Not that I'm aware, but I'll have a closer look at some of the camera settings just in case something has inadvertently got changed. Cheers. 👍

GBRf 60056 heads west along the Calder Valley between Brighouse and Elland on 23rd October 2023 with 6M36, Drax to Liverpool Biomass Terminal, empty biomass hoppers.

Out for a spin along the Calder Valley, 37418 'An Comunn Gaidhealach' (which Google advises me translates from Scots Gaelic to 'The Highland Society') with 975025 'Caroline' approaching Brighouse on a misty and damp 23rd October 2023... ...working as 2Z03, Halifax to York, via Drax Branch Junction, Goole, Bridlington and Scarborough.

With the Stonehaven tragedy still in Network Rail’s collective consciousness, I imagine that the safety of the crew of 6Z78 was of particular concern.

Yes, I was just about to suggest similar based on its very late start from Tyne Yard and its very protracted journey across to Carlisle..

If the timings at Carlisle match this as it was a very late arrival, then yes 6Z78. https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:05789/2023-10-21/detailed

Difficult to feel much, if any, sympathy for them. I’ll reserve my sympathy for any other unfortunate road user caught up in the incident, and of course, the emergency services who would have had to clear up the mess and cart the individuals off to the local hospital.

To be fair, in this instance, to the Royal Mail, that could just as easily be attributed to issues at the NHS as some other recent press reports have confirmed.

In case it might be useful to others, this is a free ‘Property Alert’ service offered by the Land Registry that attempts to prevent some forms of property fraud. Or at least provide an early indication that something abnormal might be being attempted. Property Alert

And here they are, further into today's schedule, in the afternoon sunshine approaching Brighouse. Colas 66849 Wylam Dilly and 66847 Terry Baker, 3S14 Grimsby Town - York Thrall Europa - 18th October 2023.

On 25th September 2023, Locomotive Services Limited's 57311 stands outside the paint shop at Eastleigh Arlington.