GlasgowGaryH
Veteran
- Location
- Where ever I lay my hat
It wont be the same when they start replacing them with Skodas or Dysons I suppose.
Remember that thread about train drivers a while ago?
- Thread starter Mad Doug Biker
- Start date
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It wont be the same when they start replacing them with Skodas or Dysons I suppose.
Mad Doug Biker
Banned from every bar in the Galaxy
- Location
- Craggy Island
I don't mind the Skodas, but the sheds were definitly a step backwards on don't even get me started on those horrific carbuncles, the class 70s. Ugly doesn't even cover it.
Vapin' Joe
Formerly known as Smokin Joe
- Location
- Bare headed cyclist, Smoker
Where do Class 33s come in the pecking order?
I have one with my N Gauge stuff.
I have one with my N Gauge stuff.
GlasgowGaryH
Veteran
- Location
- Where ever I lay my hat
Class 70 always reminds me of Del Boys motor
Mad Doug Biker
Banned from every bar in the Galaxy
- Location
- Craggy Island
Mad Doug Biker
Banned from every bar in the Galaxy
- Location
- Craggy Island
Personally, I always liked the Hydraulics and the southern region things (including the '33s) because they were different from almost everything else. Pullman liveried 73101 was my favourite loco for a very long time.
I never cared for '37s and the like, opium for the massed veg and all that, but I do have a great love of the West Coast Electrics and EMUs
I never cared for '37s and the like, opium for the massed veg and all that, but I do have a great love of the West Coast Electrics and EMUs
classic33
Leg End Member
Mad Doug Biker
Banned from every bar in the Galaxy
- Location
- Craggy Island
Indeed, it looks stunning when newly painted.
It also had the added kudos of being a member of a class which were like nothing else on the network (this is still the case), what with being BOTH an electric and diesel loco, and also the fact that nobody ever seemed to take much notice of them. They mostly work(ed) in the south East too, so in order to see one you had to make the effort!
I still like the class 73s now, but I'm SO over them in equal measure. This happened when others DID start to notice them and they gained a cult following. They just weren't cool any more.*
* - Yes, they look like shoe boxes, but that didn't matter to me, whilst everyone else was still getting into a froth over '37s and so on, I was out there, I was an avant garde trainspotter!
It also had the added kudos of being a member of a class which were like nothing else on the network (this is still the case), what with being BOTH an electric and diesel loco, and also the fact that nobody ever seemed to take much notice of them. They mostly work(ed) in the south East too, so in order to see one you had to make the effort!
I still like the class 73s now, but I'm SO over them in equal measure. This happened when others DID start to notice them and they gained a cult following. They just weren't cool any more.*
* - Yes, they look like shoe boxes, but that didn't matter to me, whilst everyone else was still getting into a froth over '37s and so on, I was out there, I was an avant garde trainspotter!
classic33
Leg End Member
Seemed to remember the number also had a royal name to go with it, so a quick look through some books got me the name. From there it was easy
Mad Doug Biker
Banned from every bar in the Galaxy
- Location
- Craggy Island
The Royal Alex, named after a Hospital in Brighton or somat.
It used to be The Brighton Evening Argus (after the newspaper), but this was changed when it was painted into Pullman circa 1992.
It used to be The Brighton Evening Argus (after the newspaper), but this was changed when it was painted into Pullman circa 1992.
BrumJim
Forum Stalwart (won't take the hint and leave...)
- Location
- Selly Oak, Birmingham
Don't get it at all. 86, 87, 73? Its like falling in love with a paving slab.
70s may be pig ugly, but they are designed to pull serious load, and efficiently. And they do. Pity they aren't so good when dropped from a crane.
70s may be pig ugly, but they are designed to pull serious load, and efficiently. And they do. Pity they aren't so good when dropped from a crane.
Mad Doug Biker
Banned from every bar in the Galaxy
- Location
- Craggy Island
My local main station was Glasgow Central, so I spent most of my early spotting career watching the '86s and '87s come and go. Nothing wrong with them.
They might not have been the Roarers, I'll admit, but a paving slab?
You obviously had never been behind one, screaming through the night at speed with your head out the droplight during the winter, the wind in your hair, your face numbed from the cold and with the pantograph arcing like crazy, fizzing and crackling, giving an amazing light show, illuminating everything in brief, fleeting flashes in an eerie blue/white flickering light, including itself, meaning that its shadow could be observed effortlessly and gracefully leaping, ducking and diving over walls, along the sides of bridges, amongst trees, through fields and people's back gardens like an unseen intruder, an effect enhanced more so when it was a moonlit night, whilst on the trackside, exposed from the inky blackness in the scarcest of snippets, vegetation appeared to be doing manic crazy dances as you flashed past, as if that is what they did when nobody was looking, trackside equipment was momentarily lit up like it was day, also you could, in the random blinks of light, observe in quite some detail parts of insides of tunnels and so on, and all of this going on whilst you had great reflections from the arcing, the signals, and lights from elsewhere including the train itself shining, glinting and gleaming on the side of the loco, coaches and the rails. Sorry, but the front droplight of a Mk3 with an AC loco up front in the dark when it is frosty is where I'd rather be.
The darker you go, the more you see the stars, just pass me the scarf and woolly hat please!
As for the humble '73? Well, it was because they were Electro Diesels, and therefore different from everything else, but despite this, nobody ever took any notice of them, and that was terribly cool to me! (but also baffling). Also the fact that they were at the other end of the country just about, so they seemed rather exotic and mysterious to me (I know, I know) I wanted to travel on the Gatwick Express for years!
Class 58s or worse, '59s were the similar to me, you actually had to make the effort just to see one, and even then, it was a bit like a lucky dip as to what one(s) you would see, because you couldn't stay about for ages and wait for them. As a result, it took me an inordinate amount of time just to see all the class 59s, and I have still to see 5 or 6 '58s, and 1 '73. I don't spot now though.
Best thing for them!
Say, if one landed on its cab, except for the broken window, would anyone really notice?
asterix
Comrade Member
- Location
- Limoges or York
