On 3 Mar 2005 01:10:13 -0800, alan b wrote:

You do not often see a freight on the fast. Signaller logic dictates
that a 75mph class 4 freight is slower than an all stations
stopper.For instance, a freight will frequently have to wait at say
Didcot for the stopping service to head off towards Reading.The
freight will then follow it all the way on the relief lines hence
taking three times longer. The gut wrencher is when you arrive at
Reading and realise that nothing has actually gone by you on the main!

I've often wondered about this kind of thing myself, having observed
some of the situations you describe. My logic say that even though a 165
can get from 0-75 reasonably quickly, it won't actually catch up with a
freightliner that does 75 all the way from Reading to Basingstoke...
--
http://gallery120232.fotopic.net/p9767298.html
(4TC unit 8023 on the Weymouth Tramway on 31 Dec 1989)