Crossing the border

On Firday i shot up to Berwick-Upon-Tweed before work, on what turned out to be a beautiful day. Using the 100-300 mm lense i snapped a Scotland bound GNER express crossing the Royal Border bridge. I will come back to the bridge on a latter date, but also of interest is the train visible. These were the last of BR designed coaches, Mk4's , built for the East coast main line electrification. Constructed in Birmingham by Metro-Cammel* from 1989-1991, they were built for 140Mph running, with future-proofing tilt profiles, and are still one of the most comfortable trains in the country. They are also highly regarded for their strength and crashworthiness, due to excellent (British) engineering. This was demonstrated by the number of casulaties at both the Selby and Hatfield rail crashes, considering the trains were travelling at around 120mph - imagine a road accident at half that speed without seat belts.

*The more observent of the uni people may notice that the Metro-Cammel works also made the Tyne and Wear metro trains (look on the floor when you board). The company was bought by Alsthom in the 1990s, who now are seriously in debt (cue French government handouts). The factory shut last year (after making the new virgin tilting trains), and with the Preston factory now running a skeleton staff is another nail in the coffin for British manufactuing (if any more were needed).