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The Up Lowland sleeper (1M11) left Watford Junction this morning running 47 minutes early. Now I realise that trains don’t have to wait for booked departure time at set-down-only stops, but that’s quite a reduction in the amount of sleep one might expect, if a passenger to Watford has to alight...

I fitted a push-button to short out the super-capacitor on my bike’s rear light for just this purpose. A red hand-lamp on the platform edge can mean ‘stop here’ when the far end of the platform is clear (i.e the train’s previous signal was yellow), but is going to be used for another train...

Is there something odd going on with the Fort William and Aberdeen portions? They appear to run only on alternate days. Is this just a glitch in the timetabling systems, or does the service actually slim down in the winter?

There's only one Scottish Bond. And he died in 2020.

The pre-rebuild Birmingham New Street was usually referred to on a Cycling Forum I frequent as “Mordor Central”. Modern LED lighting at platform level has improved it a bit, but there’s not much that can be done that far underground…

Between 9pm last night, and 9am this morning, there were 12 separate instances of description "TREE" being interposed in a TD berth. Many of these came in pairs - one berth on the up line, and one on the down line; and I can imagine that not every tree across the track causes the signaller to...

The only bit still shut is Church Fenton platforms 3/4 (and the through line) to Micklefield. Opens 26th Jan. Leeds to Micklefield to Selby is open, as is Colton to Church Fenton to Sherburn.

When will the new signalling at Church Fenton through Cross Gates be represented on the maps please?

As it’s an Insulated Block Joint, clamping it would electrically connect the two track circuits either side, and probably compromise the signalling. So not only an ESR, but authorising each train to pass one or two signals at danger.

XMAS was interposed in 28 different berths across the country on 24th December, and in 26 different berths on 25th December.

First few posts on this thread (7 pages back!) explain why the signaller needs to be aware of sidings etc that haven’t been used for a while. Rust on the railhead could lead to a wrong-side track circuit failure, with the siding apparently clear, but a train in there, invisible to the signalling...

Port is the place you’ve just Left. As soon as I heard that, I’ve never forgotten it.

Going through the motions?

On studying January’s timetables, it can be seen that Church Fenton to Micklefield remains closed until Mon 26th Jan. XC mostly diverting via Doncaster (omitting Wakefield and Leeds stops), other Leeds-York trains via Castleford.

Regarding the page (as per BillStampy's picture of 2P21 above) where RealtimeTrains shows a representation of the train; which is the front, and which is the back? Is there a convention that the train is shown travelling left-to-right, or right-to-left? Is that stated somewhere, or do we just...

The down line there now has H2O* in as well. Let's hope that 2O40 has been dragged out, and hasn't either been washed away or dissolved.

Aside - the loco from this railtour is returning to Southall as 5Z21. Was it turned at York somehow, so that it is the right way round? If so, how? My latest TrackMaps (fifth edition, dated 2020) doesn't show a triangle any more.

After the railtour left Newcastle, Flying Scotsman ran round its support coach in Newcastle platform 2, then hauled it as 5Z73 to Tyne Yard. Then, a bit later, 0G00 emerged from Tyne Yard, and turned on the Gateshead West triangle, and went back into Tyne Yard. This would suggest it was Flying...

Preparing you for the announcement about all four engines failing, and be glad you’re not in a 747…

Derby's new layout, while significantly reducing delays compared to what was there pre-2018, has an Achilles' Heel; if the scissors crossing between platforms 3 and 4 were to fail, then the Newark-Crewe and Nottingham-Birmingham services would be severely affected, with a reversal needed well...