I have written before about the rules I think should apply about the naming of trains (June 2018 issue). There I listed my 10 worst names, from the plain daft (Penny the Pendolino) to examples more like essays than train names.
On my trip to Doncaster to see the Class 321 parcels conversion (‘Pan Up’, July issue), I stopped to admire the new-look front of the station. It is a fantastic piece of work and includes an artwork featuring Doncaster’s finest from years gone by. While there are good examples of names about these days (see Direct Rail Services’ Class 68s and 88s and the names planned by Rail Operations Group for its new Class 93s), the best names of days gone by came from the (classic) LNER. The artwork at Doncaster features vertical plates of names from the obvious Mallard and Flying Scotsman to the less obvious Royal Lancer and Flying Fox, accompanied by their numbers on adjoining plinths. Mostly named after racehorses, they have a mystique somehow, possibly because I never saw them in service, but the whole thing is both attractive and evocative. I can’t help wonder if what sold it to the council was the inclusion of the winner of the 1917 2000 Guineas, Derby and St Leger, A3 No 60108.
TRAIN CRASH
