Tornado meets Top Gear – post airing

Now earlier this month, I reported on discovering that 60163 (98863) Tornado had been recorded by the BBC as part of an epic race from Top Gear, with Jeremy Clarkson on board the train, being raced by James May in a Jaguar XK120 and Richard Hammond on a motorcycle… now I expected Jeremy to have been in the coaches but he was on the footplate shovelling coal, which I found utterly hilarious, he even commented on wheelspin produced by Tornado, and tried to fry some bacon in the fire which was just sucked in, and then an egg which didn’t taste particularly pleasant according to him, now I had high hopes and expectations that the train would win this……… but here’s how it turned out……

1. Car
2. Train
3. Motorcycle

Yup… Tornado, the only Peppercorn A1 remaining, was beaten by a car driven by James “Captain Slow” May

Ah well, it’s still a great locomotive :)

The British Rail sandwich, catering icon or catering disaster…

Now, I happened to be trawling the British Rail related articles on Wikipedia and I came across this article on the British Rail Sandwich, which was never eaten by me despite train travel during my childhood between Darlington and Berwick-upon-Tweed, now according to the Wikipedia article it’s pretty much made fun of…

Now, the ridicule stems from British comedy and comparing of the sandwiches to other ready-to-serve meals primarily on transport, now as we all know most of the food served on British Rail were absolutely sub-standard, the sandwiches were often located on counters under glass covers and therefore the corners curled up.

Now, a few years ago, the NRM in York discovered the guide to how to make the sandwiches, the recipe in other words, they displayed this in 2001 at the museum, this document even went as far as to specify they use 1/12 of a punnet of cress in egg and cress sandwiches, how specific does one need to get? lol

Next time you eat a sandwich on a train, think of the catering icon that was the British Rail sandwich

 

Happy journeys :)

Edinburgh Waverley, the maze of a railway station

This is my latest gripe about Britain’s railways, today I went to Edinburgh, I was SUPPOSED to meet a group of people at a bar in Waverley station but I could NOT find it, then on my way back my return train, where I am now was SUPPOSED to part from platform 11, but platform 11 was poorly signed and located on the other side of the  station I entered at, where I didn’t see it at first, but I found it.

Now, who the hell designed the layout of that station as it currently is? Probably some dipstick at British Rail did it all them years ago, so I’ll blame them

Now, just off the subject of that station, I’m passing roughly close to the site of the now abandoned Penmanshiel Tunnel, but that’s something for another day

 

Happy Journeys :)

Tornado meets Top Gear – Pre-airing

Now, I just heard that the BBC have recorded 60163 Tornado hauling a private train from London King’s Cross to Edinburgh Waverley, with Jeremy Clarkson of Top Gear on board, this is supposedly part of an epic race where the other two presenters use road-based vehicles, James may in a vintage Jaguar XK120, Richard Hammond on a vintage motorcycle, I expect this to be aired in the next series of Top Gear coming up later this month, now as a fan of Tornado part of me wants that to win but also as a fan of cars part of me wants James’ Jaguar to win, and because I think he’s cool, part of me wants Richard to win on the motorcycle, although the road vehicles can only use A-roads and not the motorway network

Let’s see what the result is, heh

I’ll update this one when that show of Top Gear gets aired