Complete array of AC traction at Crewe this morning: 90002, 87002, 86101, 89001, 90001 with lots of dodgy Falcon Grey

Hard to believe that the Up Fast at Crewe still has wooden sleepers in 2026

Common sense has begun to prevail, in that the GBR 720s on the Anglia region appear to have a plain middle coach; how much longer before GBR realise that the ‘glitch‘ is also redundant on coaches 2 and 4? If only the red had extended down the length of the train

Never really thought that running-in boards needed a symbol, doesn’t add anything to the message whatsoever #LessIsMore

Of course! This is the frontispiece…

Not sure the Railway200 logo was a ‘good thing‘, even if they did use Rail Symbol 2 (and ignored the basic design guidance at the same time 🙄)…

“The BBC have obviously taken note of your observation,” remarked Job (rhymes with ’robe’, not ‘rob’).

Genuinely thought this was AI; bewildering decision to put the crummiest version of all the Great British Railways logos on the front of the train 😩 Looks super messy, fighting with the set number

@gawuffy.co.uk just seen your Electrababy at Donny (looking slightly the worse for wear if I’m honest)

Complete with Highland Stag, blue Scottish Region ‘Thurso’ totem and small locomotive numbers to ‘add interest’! flic.kr/p/2jMQDPM (Gavin B, August 1988)

Feels familiar #glitch

I maintain that the ‘glitch’ remains the wrong visual identifier/metaphor for the railway, because its essence (a) reinforces division (because sadly that’s what our flag currently does), and (b) evokes indiscriminate fracture and disorder (because it looks a lot like broken glass)

For what it’s worth, Regional Railways (which I think this 2020 sign probably is) specified BS 4800 14 E 53 (Irish Green(!)/Avarice/Verona) for the colour of the green text for the Welsh component of bilingual signs) So it’s probably sun-bleached ☀️☀️☀️

@wemadethis.co.uk do you know what the typeface is here?

Come on TfW, that symbol is far too thick (and has rubbishy parallel arms) (I know this makes me look like ‘Terrible TfW Signs’ but it’s purely coincidental, I just happened to be in North Wales today)

Or on the station identifier outside, where the symbol is rendered feeble (although the red is not helping here) (Photograph: Fen Line Users Association)

The running-in boards do still have the symbol, although the alignment is sadly on cap-height which (a) makes the symbol too small relative to the station name, and (b) means the symbol is too high up on the sign, all very avoidable

Not sure of the spacing rationale on the ‘Way out’ patches, doesn’t seem to be working, the black being wider at one end Appreciate the word ‘to‘ rather than a dash (or, even worse, a hyphen, which so often don’t align properly with digits) Not sure when ‘via stairs’ is relevant and when it’s not

The directional signs at Cambridge South appear to be a regression with the potential for lots of identical arrows stacked above each other; also the pictograms are no longer lined up but appear somewhat scattergun

Note the correct position of the symbol relative to the lowercase x-height of the ‘British Rail’ legend (especially if you are GBR)

I thought I had found the earliest record of 87006 in Executive Dark Grey with large logo livery on 12 May 1984… flic.kr/p/2oefNf1 (Geoff Dowling)

Also, exactly how chonky did Hornby want to make the symbol?

Was there ever a nicer looking locomotive than 87006? flic.kr/p/2r8rSUN (c/o David Hills, original photographer unknown)

Also such a weird choice to put red on the buffer pylons/stalks (or whatever they are called)

…this probably isn’t Nanking Blue flic.kr/p/2s9DEYs (Paul Braybrook)

This is Nanking Blue (BS 5252/4800 18 E 53, which is now called Tartan Blue)…

This image is making me think that it’s not original as the parallel fourfoots (fourfeet?) look a little too heavy compared with the sixfoot

It’s actually really hard to take even a half decent photo of a flag, probably easier to film it and then take a still at the best possible moment

The flag itself looks to be Flame Red (so possibly British Rail era?) but is flying as per the Network Rail 2022 spec with top arrow pointing away from the staff; also a bit tatty in the fly

British Rail duster flying above Leeds today