4: Miiint and McGonagle

Hello, this is Railwaymedia blog number 4, not that I'm counting...

It's been a fairly quiet 7 or 8 days for me really. After some nice weather at the beginning of last week it turned out totally uninspiring at the end, so I concentrated on catching up on sorting out my files. The one 'highlight' of sorts was getting to drive nice and shiny new Pendo 390055. It, along with set 54, is meant to be now on a dedicated diagram: one day working Manchester to London then the next on the Birmingham to Glasgow and Edinburgh route. We have several jobs working this second day's diagram so, unlike with number 54, I've got to see it whilst its still fairly clean inside. I believe they are using the 2 extra coaches from it to test in some of the old sets, basically to check the computers talk to each other before they start inserting coaches into them for real.

 

Arriving back at Preston Monday afternoon I spotted London Midland 150110 in the bay platform on the Ormskirk 'Bumble'. This line is now booked for a 142 on Mondays to Fridays with a 153 only being used on weekends. As a few of Northern's latest acquisitions have already been re-liveried I'm guessing this one will quickly get repainted too, so nipped out for a shot of it on Farington Moss.

 

Wednesday was time to go to Edinburgh. If not required by work to come straight back then I try to spend some time up there (I had to deliver a birthday present to my sister anyway), so after doing that I went north up to Dundee. I've not been there for many years and I'm fairly sure that the last time I alighted there I saw a class 06 shunter stabled in the sidings, so that must make it about 30 years! The light was dire so I just got a few shots around the station and had a stroll along the front towards the Tay Bridge. Need to return with better light and to time it for a longer train.

 

I returned to the station at the right time, totally by accident, to see a DRS 66 on the Grangemouth to Aberdeen intermodal. Fortunately this is booked to be looped in the station (making a shot possible) and also meaning I got to Arbroath in front of it for another shot. 800ISO was the order of the day by then so I gave up with any photography and enjoyed a trip back to Edinburgh on a East Coast HST. Always nice to ride on a proper train although the dreaded high-backed seats spoil it somewhat.

 

 

AsDundee has featured, I'll have to share a stanza from the towns most famous poet, widely regarded as Britain's worst ever poet, the great William McGonagall, 'Poet and Tragedian'.

Bye for now!

 

Oh! Ill-fated Bridge of the Silv'ry Tay,

I must now conclude my lay

By telling the world fearlessly without the least dismay,

That your central girders would not have given way,

At least many sensible men do say,

Had thy been supported on each side with buttresses,

At least many sensible men confesses,

For the stronger we our houses do build,

The less chance we have of being killed.