I spent a very pleasant afternoon on the Cumbrian-Lancashire stretch of the West Coast Main Line the other afternoon after getting recertified for Track Safety and Designated person competencies.It was a hot afternoon with a lot of flies about but as I watched the action I thought you might like an overview of the current modern train scene in England. The West Coast Main Line runs from London to Glasgow and was originaly built by the London North Western Railway as far as Carlisle where the Caledonian carried on to Glasgow. It features the infamous climb up 'Shap' which has always been a test for trains pariculalry in the days of steam and was electrified back in the sixties as part of the Modernisation scheme.Nowadays it features both electric and diesel traction and there have been bog changes in recent years with the introduction of Pendolino EMUs featuring 'Tilting' technology and the various 'Voyager' DMUs. The Class 390 'Pendolinos' are rated at 140 mph although in practice they run at 125 mph and are operated by Virgin Trains one is seen here at Preston station having terminated due to a massive signal failure north of the station The bulbous nose is captured in this shot taken at Oxenholme the main station for the 'Lake District' Out on the moors we see an example climbing up to Shap summit considerably quicker than steam engines used to do! The video shows the class in action on that afternoon. The drivers were taking every opportunity to clen the bugs of the front windows at station stops http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AC4Xh97Ifzc If you would like more information you can 'wiki' it at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Class_390
