@der_heubi :das_ist_mist: :omya_db:

@moogal You're right. New crossing being put in, which I'd assume will be fully replaced during Christmas.

@swoonie Yeah. :avanti: are diverting that way at the moment. Fix is being planned for tonight.

Good job that these points are being replaced at Christmas...

Only problem is when you send a train over said track to "examine the line" only to have the train report said fault & then be told "train is to move no further" - said train needed to have a side-to-side evacuation.

The sleeper underneath has cracked as well. Not really what you want when trains pass over this piece of infrastructure at 200km/h.

Heute funktionierte alles deutlich besser. Trotz Verpsätung weil der Tf verschlafen hatte (es gab sogar eine persönliche Entschuldig!) alle Anschlüsse erreicht und nach dem frostigen Sonnenaufgang zuerst mal die Welterbe Stadt Quedlinburg besichtigt. Hübsch und die Zeit hat auch genau gereicht, um einmal etwas Herumzubummeln und uns noch kurz mit Kaffe und Baumkuchen etwas aufzuwärmen. Perfektes Wetter, aber halt sau kalt. 😁

Time to go to bed. Wishing you all a Happy New Rail Year to those who celebrate. Or dread its arrival… :lner: :thameslink: :br:

The fucking absolute state of the BBC forcing out the great Robin Ince... his support of the LGBT+ community clearly being too much for the state broadcaster https://www.theguardian.com/media/2025/dec/13/comedian-robin-ince-quits-as-host-of-bbcs-infinite-monkey-cage

Wieder nach Nantwich! #Schwergewicht :neocat_laugh:

Had a quick look tonight at routes in Switzerland. Probably easy to score off the lines heading towards Milan in a day or so - actually never done the Gotthard Base Tunnel, or the Ceneri Tunnel either. There’s still much to do around Lausanne and Zürich too.

Will firm up some plans perhaps over the weekend. Need to get my stuff organised for my next trip, plus Christmas as well.

@Renni I’d love to drive through parts which trains and buses don’t reach. Sadly I don’t drive :blobcatcry2:

"There are, as one industry insider puts it, some “heroic assumptions about performance”. But with the timetable so long in the planning, and the key operators under direct state control, anxiety owes more to lingering trauma from 2018 than any of the danger signals that presaged that fiasco."

It is acknowledged that the East Coast Timetable coming in on Sunday is not for performance, but for maximising revenue... How effective it is will only be known probably early March after the usual engineering works/amended timetables over Christmas.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/dec/12/britain-new-rail-timetable-goes-live-sunday

Quite like the livery on this :northern: Class 323! https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/dec/11/first-trains-to-join-manchesters-bee-network-by-end-of-2026

Forgot to post this photo from earlier in the week: this is Cathedral Approach in central Manchester, which crosses over the River Irwell.

It led up to Manchester Exchange station, one of Manchester's stations which has closed and completely disappeared [unlike Manchester Central] - you wouldn't know there used to be a station here! In reality Manchester Exchange was mainly in Salford: the boundary between Manchester and Salford being down the middle of the River Irwell.

The road in the middle of the photo used to be underneath the station, but the bridge was removed. Only the lines into/out of Manchester Victoria cross it now. The site was disused for a long time, only recently seeing high rise buildings being built.

http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/m/manchester_exchange/index.shtml

@Footle I've heard about these before. Thankfully wasn't a thing where I lived in Nottingham! :neocat_laugh:

Challenge accepted. Rawwwrrr!! 😺 #cats #FosterKittens #CatsOfMastodon

Decided to make a little Bingo, any suggestions for the remaining fields?

Vor einem Jahr haben wir einen Linienbus gespendet, damit daraus ein weiterer Duschbus für Menschen auf #Hamburg​s Straßen werden kann. Und schaut mal, was das #GoBanyo-Team daraus gemacht hat: Dusche, WC, Garderoben - das volle Programm.

Wie genial ist dieses Projekt bitte? 😊❤️

#Hochbahn

Hurrah. I now have my ÖBB and ZSSK coupons for Christmas, and had the DB and all my Swiss FIP coupons [which are valid to the end of next March too].

So now: what do I do with the 🇨🇭 and 🇩🇪 ones...