Last time i used one of their routes i took the southern route from the WCML and the northern route back. Bloody lovely route, fantastic scenery and oddball stations. Bradford had two main stations, one North, one south, a vagary of the east the railways were built over a hundred years ago, a short walk between the two stations.
Ps, dont use the service if you actually have to be antwhere on time, for me a combination of Northern, Trans and Ariva, a tripple fucking.
It’s difficult to imagine how South Western could be worse but I’m sure a Labour govt could manage it
I thought 4 operators ( East Coast Mainline, TransPennine, Northern and South Eastern (LNER) had already been ‘nationalised’ by the Conservative government, although they obviously couldn’t use that word
I do like a gronk. Amazing there are still a number in daily use across the network despite the first one rolling out in 1952. Mind you 996 were built between then and 1962
Also on a smaller scale; research your Bell Codes!
Quite an undertaking! Well done to this bloke:
Whenever I hear people say train drivers have it easy, I think about how they have to drive at night with lamps- which for the most part are designed for the fucking thing to be seen…
Signalling.
And driving technique.
I’ve had a play (light engine) with a system similar to this one and because I might be a bit sad, I find it fascinating:
I’d love to have seen that monster in operation! 
They also built a dedicated one in Rugby. Building stood till 1984.
Fuck that! Rather narrow platforms!
Long shot… Any of you remember these? In service?
Well it seems to be nearing completion:
When I worked in a hospice in Brighton we had an elderly volunteer who had used the Brighton Belle every day.
She told me she used to commute to London 1st class and always had breakfast on the train and do the crossword in the paper which was always at her place setting.
After she had retired and the Brighton Belle was no more she bought her chair from the carriage at auction.
I asked her what she had done for a living to be able to travel like that, turned out she worked at Shell Mex house and was the personal secretary to one of the directors
Shell Mex House - The Strand
That’s absolutely fascinating, thank you for sharing this. It brings life to the story of these rather fascinating trains! 
I signed up for the Club Avanti loyalty scheme and earned enough points for a free first class return, I’m intrigued to find out what I’ll get for £267 worth of travel from Liverpool to London and back next month. I have booked across lunchtimes so I’ll make the most of the food and drink offering.
And free wifi!
I generally find this has about the same bandwidth and responsiveness as the Voyager probe telemetry sadly.
Pics of the food offering and surroundings would be interesting.
