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In practice, only the high speed line between London St Pancras International and the Channel Tunnel is cleared to UIC gauge. The original Eurostar sets had to run on classic lines and were a compromise. The Siemens E320 sets use the extra gauge, I believe.

We’re just off to Canada for a few weeks, which should involve several ferries in BC, including up to Prince Rupert. I’ll post a report if anyone is interested.

It was indeed the Midland’s main line to Manchester, via Bakewell (Buxton was just off the main line, which dived through the Dove Holes tunnel). It was quite heavily engineered, compared with the London & North Western’s line via Crewe, but the Midland were intent on getting to the major...

Agree with you about Zürich and Waverley. Also in Scotland, Glasgow Central is good. I find the Gare du Nord a bit soulless. Off to Toronto Union later this month.

I know what you mean, but the old St Pancras was rather pigeon-infested (and worse) and unloved. By most objective standards, the new station is an improvement.

In a word, the hills. South of Lancaster the line avoids any hilly areas. North of there, the engineering challenge was to get from Lancaster, at sea level, to Carlisle, also at sea level, in the space of about 65 miles, rising up to about 1,000 feet in the middle. Which doesn’t sound much now...

It’s stunning since the refurbishment to take the Eurostar service. It was in serious need of TLC before that, though the old Shires Bar was OK - remember that?

Oh well, if you insist… Leaving Birmingham on a local train, we change at Crewe to a Pendolino - that had come from London - for the rest of the trip to Glasgow. I should have got a picture of the roof at Crewe, which needs some TLC, but Preston is looking fit for purpose. The stop at...

The train photographed by Eddie was a Class 170 DMU. Not as fast as the Voyagers but - as you suggest - more pleasant. The Bombardier Voyagers get the job done at 125 mph (where possible), but at a price. The underfloor engines are a real bugbear. If you are wise in the US, you will go for...

Interesting, Eddie. I believe that when the London & Birmingham and the Grand Junction jointly extended their lines (from side-by-side stations) into the new station in the early 1850s, the proposed name - probably a piece of marketing BS even then - was Grand Central, but it clearly didn’t...

We We’re in a similar, but slightly different, boat. Plan A sees us arrive in New York on September 12, road trip from Boston to Prince Edward Island and back, then the LSL/CZ leaving New York on October 1. Apart from the obvious snag, I’m slightly wary of driving a US rental car into Canada...

Just to add to what others have posted, 40 minutes would normally be generous for a traction change in isolation, so you were probably the victim of padding in the timetable. In cases such as the NEC - where you have a core service (Washington-New York-Boston) plus some add-ons for some, but not...

Thanks. I suppose I was assuming this was a tax/revenue bill, but it clearly isn’t. The situation here in the UK is similar, in that money bills are really the preserve of the lower house** but anything else may originate in either house. In practice, most business originates in the Commons, but...

Genuine question from the other side of the pond: is passing a Bill through the Senate before it goes to the House (i) unusual, or (ii) invariable practice, or (iii) it depends?

Yes, a couple of hours - as far as Perth - is all you will get, even in midsummer.

I remember that fire. Was it really as long ago as 1984?

Of course, one of the USPs of Scotland in the summer is the incredibly long hours of daylight. Even today sunset in Inverness is 9.15 pm. The grouse season starts on Thursday. A hundred years ago on the evening of the 11th the sleepers from London on all three routes would no doubt have been...

As so often, it’s worth checking out the Man in Seat 61. The Edinburgh/Glasgow train, on the face of it, shouldn’t really work, since the daytime run times are comfortably under five hours. But it’s better than flight plus hotel for a morning meeting - which is what I was doing the only time I...

I was born and bred just down the road, and until my mother died last year I used to visit her by travelling to Lowdham.

Duplicate post by mistake.