surfsup

The circled bit appears to be for a curved roof on the footbridge - itself designed to match the main one at Bletchley. According to Phil Marsh, the last part of the span (and the widest bit) was craned into position on the 12th, so shouldn't be too far off completion:

There is a very small caveat in all this: GWR can, if they demonstrate enough of a reason why and isn't a financial basket case, place an appeal with the Secretary of State for Transport for a review. So a small glimmer of hope for the 769s. I hate to say it, but isn't this quasi nationalisation wonderful. Of course, the modern railway needs to prove itself financially and for several years been somewhat wasteful, but we really are now entering the age of the cutbacks - Less trains to run less services. Everything must prove itself or it will be cut. Things will certainly be interesting in the South West over the next few years (one of the areas fighting the trend and coming out of the covid era stronger than before) - The reliability and state of the Turbo's leaving something to be desired, 150s and 158s stretched to the max, and even the (popular) HSTs seem to be struggling again with 43005 catching fire yesterday (the rear power car subsequently shut itself down due to low coolant!).

Another bit of good EWR / HS2 news is Calvert bridge has finally been installed. https://mediacentre.hs2.org.uk/resources/f/construction/wendover-to-warwickshire/calvert-east-west-rail-bridge

I'm led to believe they aren't test runs now - more to the point of both keeping the units they do have at Reading 'warm' and keeping the driver trainer's competencies up. Meanwhile, a number of units have been moved to Long Marston and surprisingly, sheeted over already.

I have a feeling that started under Wessex. Don't forget for some time, Bristol - Weymouth was in the hands of loco haulage, before being replaced by 150/2s. Since then, it's been anything from 150/1s, 150/2s, 153s, 158s and HSTs to the present day mix of 158s, 165s and 166s. Lucky passengers who get a 2 car 165 along that route now!

I think the recent incidents occurring in the Craven Arms area have shown us that even the most rural of areas like this can have their issues and elements of criminality / vandalism. Potentially, TfW may now be down two 150/2s from the Craven Arms incident, certainly the subsequent vandalism and arson may well have caused the writing on the wall for one or either of them! And yes, I was quite surprised to see the amount of damage caused by vandalism during their time parked up there while awaiting recovery to Canton!

Taking a leaf out of Hornby's book with an announcement of an announcement! (but if we're going to live in hope, SWT 158 at last!)

FYI, All the 159/1s are Cummins engines. Only 158815 – 158862 (all 2 car units and largely concentrated on Cardiff Canton though others have since escaped to Northern & EMR) were fitted with the Perkins 2006-TWH engine (the same as fitted to the 165 / 166 fleets). The /1 subclass only came about as there were a small number of differences between the standard 159/0s (Toilet retention tanks, 400HP engines etc) vs the incoming ex TPE Units (No retention tanks, Cummins 350HP engines). I believe SWR have started to standardise engines at Salisbury now, concentrating on the NTA855-R1 (350HP) engine as there's next to no difference in performance and a slight fuel saving advantage. And more in the way of spares. The 158/159 engines are as follows Cummins NTA855-R1: 260 kW (350 hp) Cummins NTA855-R3: 300 kW (400 hp) Perkins 2006-TWH: 260 kW (350 hp)

Is that... ducks for cover... a long awaited increase in Quality Control...

Indeed, the plan will see 69008 - 13 fitted with a 47 / 73 style drop head Dellner Coupler and an additional LPA socket fitted next to the EMD Multi Socket. 007 / 008 / 009 should be complete by now and should be heading to Arlington shortly - both 007 & 008 have had their obligatory small yellow panels painted up ready for the move! Also of note, former preserved 56097 moved to Longport last week, quite likely to end up joining the program.

On that front, it depends on which Bachmann 158 you are using as a base model - the 3D printed air dam is quite chunky and is probably more suitable for the older version. It's one area I really wish Bachmann had got right with their newer model - they've tried, but it's just too flat.

Ooo, now a Scottish Reggie Rail 117 would be nice come to think of it. And just, just about brings back the faintest of memories for me.

Let's hope they come out better looking than the Mk3s then, as so far I'm rather disappointed with them. However, Hornby and errors seem to continue to go hand in hand. While the pre production samples shown at the weekend show a more promise than the MK3s, I found myself taking more interest in 43136 than I should have to - being rather puzzled as to what the name plate it seems to be carrying is (136 was un-named). Unfortunately, Hornby seem to be fans of the "Railway Heritage Trust" that they've decided 136 should also carry 189s nameplate. I hope that's removed before production!

Some new 158s and 150s would be welcome, particularly anything from the FGW Local Lines, Wessex Trains and South West Trains staple.

It seems to be a bit of a complicated one, but Rail Adventure seem to have split from their original UK Partners, Hanson + Hall, before beginning work with SLC operations. Since then, RA has bought (/merged) with SLC operations to become the UK arm of the business. I think RA's HST Power Cars will normally live at Kings Norton but have temporarily moved over to Tyseley while the RHTT season is on.

So, the mystery TransPennine Express IET model seems to be making a surprising appearance again - this time in Network Rail's Transpennine Route Upgrade promotional material. Surely it cant be long before it's announced as part of the main range? (yes, that is an odd hybrid 150/1 / 195 too!) https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=148188837907078&set=a.148184981240797 https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=148188987907063&set=pb.100081478877971.-2207520000..

While there is that, 003 remains pretty non standard in the GBRf fleet though, and seems to spend most of it's working days on the Eastleigh > Westbury > Eastleigh engineers circuit, I gather in part because of it's reliability. I just think a swap between owners would be a benefit to both - FL use the rest of the 59 fleet on the Mendip jobs (which of course they were designed for) while GB seems to use 60s and the lower geared 66s on the big heavy jobs in the North and South East. Swapping fleets at least would give FL all the 59s, GB a more standard fleet of 66s and probably slightly less headaches for both FOCs. Until anything of the sort happens though, this is all pretty academic though.

It should be back out and about soon as it's moved into the main shed just last week. Unfortunately it's been a resident in Eastleigh Works since it's exploits at Salisbury - she's currently awaiting a shiny (and expensive) new set of wheels. To be honest though, I'm surprised GB hasn't swapped it with Freightliner for a 66 - it's still a pretty non standard loco in the GB fleet and a 66 would probably work out better for GB.

I suspect it is in part down to the actions of the DfT than anything else, IanVisits mentioned this yesterday in an article about the temporary funding package expiring: So potentially the DfT has it's wishes wants and desires, gives TfL incredibly short notice to study the documents and TfL has, rightly, responded by not accepting it until they know what they are signing themselves up for.

Possibly a Provincial, but a Double Donkey yes to the First North Western / and or FGW Livery! (I can easily repaint those doors and grab handles if needs be!)

Still surprised at the lack of new liveries for existing toolings though - the 158 has been crying out for new liveries for a while now!

One thing I did notice within the video though - and I certainly will applaud Bachmann for, the comment regarding the "Lighting colours and temperatures are no less important than the liveries applied to our models". Hornby - Take Note with your light bleeding bright white LEDS!!!

Excellent! Well done all! They really capture the bulky look of the prototype very well. They will certainly look great behind a 59 (if / when that get's released) and the Dapol Yeoman Hoppers.

I do rather agree with this to be honest, both in terms of the Accurascale packaging and the look of the loco itself. Like the new 47, there's just something I cant put my finger on that doesn't look right. It's an nice model, but if I were to vote with my feet I'd be buying the Accurascale model (not just on price but the comment mentioned below about everything Accuracies does screaming quality, attention to detail and a premium experience across the board). It's obvious Bachmann were working on this for a while, but I do wish we'd perhaps see a little less of the race to produce the ultimate everything, and perhaps either producing classes / locos / units that haven't been produced before - or at least of models that haven't been produced before (Vi-Trains owner of 37422 here!). Either way, it'll be interesting to see how the market copes with 2 very high detail 37s.

It certainly still does. I didn't enjoy conducting Platform Patrols at Slough etc when that came through - as if you couldn't find a reason enough to hate being in Slough early in the morning... It was more, shall we say, particularly fragrant on a nice summers morning when snarled up in the peak commuter traffic 😷