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Not sure what SPATE means. But both were Avanti Pendolino's - the ex-Liverpool running to slightly slower Class 810 timings with stops at Crewe, Stafford and Nuneaton. The ex- Glasgow stopped at Warrington BQ and was not due to stop until Rugby. It was about a minute late through Crewe, while...

Who is maintaining the power cars for Rail Adventure?

What is a Y code? There seemed plenty of opportunities to route the ex-Liverpool down the Trent Valley slow before its Nuneaton stop to allow 1M19 to pass and remain on time. Seems a strange bit of regulation that. Doesn't seem to be the way to run a right time railway at least. In fact the...

Just noting that 1M19 Glasgow to Euston has been stuck behind a slower Liverpool Lime Street to Euston service tonight. Looks like NR signallers are to blame as the Glasgow was on time as far as Stafford but the Liverpool was not routed out of the way on the up slow from Stafford. The Glasgow is...

LNER's HST interiors were probably the best Mk3 - in terms of feeling modern, brightness , seat comfort etc. Mark 4's are sn almost identical interior except for the slightly tapered bodyshell. But larger vestibule area and larger entrance doors and improved loos were the plus points - sadly...

Looks like two 5-car rakes of mk3's sitting at Slateford. How long since they last turned a wheel?

It will be a sad day when most Intercity stock is an IET variant. Castle HST's on GWR will be missed. I hope 390's have a longer life in them yet. Tilting along the curvy bits of the WCML is a unique experience - great scenery in places - particularly north of Preston.

I managed to take a trip recently. The set and power cars seemed to be in pretty good shape. On a busy service with many short stops - Bedminster, Parson Street etc, this is not an ideal train. Getting on and off loses time due to door entrances and gangways seeming narrower than modern stock...

Out of interest, does anyone know if Scotrail managed to lure any LNER Craigentinny staff to maintain their HST's? Just talking to a GWR 'Castle ' driver earlier - seems to think they are pretty reliable still on GWR - though Modern Railways stats suggest the figures are far lower than EMT and...

Surely they are getting to a point where certain spares are now unavailable? And how long can those power units and other ancillaries remain unused before they start to seize up?

Absolutely it had a lot to do with it. Plus the fact these were being run on premium Intericty services probably meant a much larger maintenance budget was allowed for them. Wasn't Craigentinny one of the better performing depots - but sadly that expertise isn't easily transferred. You can move...

Any increases in HST diagrams planned for May onwards?

The current GA timetable is based on the slothful performance of 321's. There were a few tweaks for the 745's but even those timings are still very conservative. It looks like most paths are regulated by the need to fit freight along the GEML too - especially as lots of it is still diesel hauled.

Too much padding (oops performance allowances) means you get a mixture of driving styles - either running at line speed with loads of dwell time, or dawdling along at 60-70mph on 90-100mph stretches of track. either way, it doesn't 'feel' like a quick and efficient service to the customer. You...

Not seeing any change WAML in terms of timings. A few minutes can easily be knocked off Liverpool Street to Cambridge north of Tottenham Hale. The main pinch points are Clapton Jn, Broxbourne Jn, Stansted North Jn and Shepreth Branch Jn - all flat junctions! . If you kept the same paths at...

You won't attract people to the HML if it remains - slow - unreliable - not enough seats and more convenient to take the car. So investment is needed. Four coach HST's seemed to be an improvement, but despite their potentially superior performance and the spending of money to improve...

Losing heaps of time. The smaller passing loops such as Kincraig don't seem to allow simultaneous entry from each direction. So that means both trains being brought to a halt before the loop. One train is then cleared to enter. The second train is then allowed to enter from opposite direction...

The whole timetable needs a refresh to reflect the Class 720 running times being superior. At Tottenham Hale southbound in particular - longer than necessary running time and long dwell times of 1 to 1.5 min cause bunching of trains. It is. Shame the track layout doesn't allow use of Platform 2...