Recent content by torten

Thameslink would be best as a sub brand of Great British Railway with a noticeably different livery, and trains branded as Thameslink - Great British Railway.

That isn't really true, between 1930 and 1939 the Southern Railway built the following 135 locomotives. Schools Class 4-4-0 - 40 between 1930 - 1935 for Express passenger services W Class 2-6-4t - 15 between 1932 - 1936 for London area transfer services U Class 2-6-0 - 10 in 1930 for Mixed...

Is it perhaps best to call time on the Island Line given it is completely outdone by the bus service? Hand over the line from Smallbrook to Ryde St Johns to the IWSR, and use the rest as a footpath or bypass?

Perhaps they are still going ahead with the tour but using coaches and hotels instead?

One place where diesels and DMUs seem to fit in reasonably well on most preserved lines is running alongside steam as a second service. Perhaps more of an effort could be made to promote diesels on these turns?

Alton to Farnham would be a fairly promising candidate for re-doubling.

I'm sure one of the previous Polar Expresses had a couple of the traction lot turn up merely to travel behind a particular Class 31, and upset some of the other passengers.

I think you could make some platforms at Piccadilly 300m long, which would open up the possibility of ordering several 300m or 100m Manchester HS2 sets.

Have any of the stored ones beside 67019 been stripped for spares? I suspect some of these might be bound for the scrapyard.

They also obtained the Hampshire units from the Dartmoor Railway - one is a runner, but the other has been used as a Christmas Tree for the other. I think they want to convert one of the Hampshire Units to hydrogen or battery operation for some reason.

Spot on. I struggle to see what the long term plan for the unit is beyond leaving it to rot - I'm not sure towing it with a shunter is possible or practical.

One trick often used to get the heat to the back of the train quicker is to keep the steam cocks at the back of the train open for a few minutes, which blasts any condensate out.

What was the last loco-haulled Mk1 and Mk2 stock in use in regular passenger services? I presume for the Mk1's it would have been the North Wales coast line, and for the Mk2's the Caledonian sleeper?

Lots of steam and diesel galas these days are over a Friday/Saturday/Sunday, and sometimes over a Thursday or the following Monday.

Does anyone know who 'built' the prop?