Is it only me that has trouble remembering the new class numbers?
The new modernisation plan has brought a rash of new classes onto the railway, at the same time as years of logical class numbering has faltered. If that wasn’t enough, some train operators have decided they don’t need class numbers on the front of their trains, so they have gone the way of yellow paint. Does this matter? Well, no, not as much as HS2 or the Williams report, but yes if you are looking for a unit on a dark and stormy night or reporting a defect.
The advent of six-figure vehicle numbers has enabled the principle of vehicle numbers linking with unit numbers to survive, something really useful to depot staff as you see one vehicle and you know which set you are looking at. What has gone is the logical grouping of types of unit, such as Class 14X (Pacers), 15X (Sprinters) and the like, so now you have to remember the actual class, not just a group. In another zany development some train operating companies (TOCs) have started painting the multi-digit European Union numbers on the side on the off chance that the Scarborough train rolls up in Berlin one day.
CORPORATE NAMES
Big companies come up with names for their designs, or …
