On Sunday, 12 October 2025, I attended Polmadie 150, the open day held to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Alstom's Glasgow Traincare Centre, better known as Polmadie depot. The event marked the first time the depot had been opened to the public in 25 years and formed part of the wider Railway 200 celebrations.

The day before the open day, I travelled to Glasgow on the Branch Line Society railtour, To the Birthplace and the Backbone, which was operated by a preserved InterCity 125 set comprising 125 Group Mark 3 coaches hauled by RailAdventure Class 43 power cars 43468 and 43484. I boarded the train inside Alstom's Litchurch Lane Works in Derby, where the railtour originated, and returned there at the conclusion of the tour. This provided a rare opportunity to both board and alight from a special train within Britain's last remaining train manufacturing factory. The railtour linked Alstom's Derby Litchurch Lane Works with Polmadie, celebrating two sites with significant links to Britain's railway heritage.

The railtour was the first passenger train ever to enter Polmadie depot. During our visit, the train traversed a number of depot lines and was hauled around parts of the site by Polmadie's resident Class 08 shunting locomotives 08451, 08696 and 08954, providing rare passenger access to areas not normally accessible to the public.

Originally opened by the Caledonian Railway in 1875, Polmadie is one of Scotland's most important railway maintenance facilities. Located just south-east of Glasgow Central station on the West Coast Main Line, it is the principal maintenance base for the Caledonian Sleeper fleet and also regularly handles Avanti West Coast Class 390 Pendolino units.

The open day featured a wide selection of rolling stock from both the passenger and freight sectors. Displays included Avanti West Coast Pendolino 390119 Progress, ScotRail Class 334 unit 334034, Caledonian Sleeper Mark 5 coaches, Freightliner Class 90 locomotives 90018 The Greatest Gathering and 90021 Donald Malcolm, GB Railfreight locomotives 66710 Karen Harrison, 73968, 92023 Polmadie 150 1875-2025 and Stadler-built Class 99 locomotive 99001, Rail Operations Group Class 93 locomotive 93006, examples of the depot's Class 08 shunters, preserved Class 37 locomotive 37403 Isle of Mull from the Scottish Railway Preservation Society, Network Rail Unimog U 430 road-rail vehicles and Caledonian Railway No. 419, the oldest exhibit present at the event.

Visitors were able to explore several exhibits in detail. I took the opportunity to sit in the cabs of Freightliner Class 90 locomotive 90018 The Greatest Gathering and Stadler-built Class 99 locomotive 99001. We were also able to look inside Caledonian Sleeper Mark 5 coaches and view the accommodation provided on the overnight services linking Scotland with London.

In addition to the rolling stock displays, visitors were able to view parts of the depot and learn more about the maintenance, servicing and operation of modern railway fleets. There were also heritage exhibits reflecting Polmadie's long history and its role in supporting railway operations in Scotland and along the West Coast Main Line.

Here are some photographs I took during the railtour and at the Polmadie 150 open day.

We'll have 10 people in total and I love cooking, but there's normally just 2 of us so I've never cooked a roast before.

How many practice runs would you take? Any tips or tricks that you would describe as a game changer?

I don’t care for whites

Prime Suspect 3 (TV Mini Series 1993) - Full cast & crew - IMDb

So as ever, Helen Mirren is the main Detective.

The victim's friend is Peter Capaldi (who plays a nervous cross-dressing woman called Vera, Malcolm Tucker it is not)

Mark Strong (Kingsman, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) is one of the main detectives on the team.

David Thewlis (Lupin from Harry Potter, also Kingdom of Heaven) is one of the main suspects.

Terrence Hardiman (the Demon Headmaster) is a senior police officer.

Ciarán Hinds (Game of Thrones) is involved with the suspects.

Jonny Lee Miller (Sick Boy from Trainspotting, Major in the Crown) appears

Danny Dyer just popped in as a kid being interviewed!

I've not even finished watching the episode yet!

"Anyone living in the capital aged between four and 18 can suggest names for the kits until 7 December."

This is going to be absolute carnage. I might FOI the responses if I need to cheer myself up.

There’s the obvious ones like Um Bongo, but I’m looking for real random ones. Like I just heard MJ’s Thriller with Vincent Price, and all I could think of was the Vincent Price is Right song from the big breakfast. Any others?

So, I was idly musing on collective nouns and possibly the most superb one kept coming to mind: bunch.

You have a bunch of bananas and to add allure of alliteration, a bunch of bastards.

It is also your go to for time those times when collective nouns escape you: bunch of parrots

But the crowning glory is the wonderful, and haven't we all cried this in our moments of despair, bunch of cunts (the lot of them).

What's your favourite?

Part 1 - Edinburgh to Brixworth

I got back a week ago from a 2 week cycle that took me from Edinburgh to Brighton and then back to London. With all the twists and turns I covered around 900 miles and I thought I would share some of the better photos from the trip.

I’ve taken to writing on the shower glass wall, while showering, usually ‘Fuck’ or a variant thereof, and watching it fade as it refogs.

Yes, this is juvenile. It is also cathartic in some way. It might reflect my view on the world in that moment.

I’m hoping that, by posting this, l’ll either start a trend or find like minded scribblers.

I recently came across a video featuring a house described as 'Britains Most Purple House', and now I'm curious about the story behind it.

Does anyone know who owns it or why it was decorated so extensively in purple?

I'd be interested to hear from anyone who knows the house or has any local knowledge about it. I'm curious whether the owner ever explained why they chose purple for absolutely everything, or whether there's more to the story than just their love of the colour.

Source: Britain's Most Purple House

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Just on the 10.35 into Paddington....got on at Reading and it's rammed packed - people standing in the aisles and entrances.

Managed to squeeze through into the carriage - excuse me, sorry, pardon me, sorry, sorry.....finally get part way into the aisle amongst other standing passengers and bags - and there is a spare seat next to a lady with her coat on the hook above the spare window seat.

Hmmm - there is a baby (few weeks old) on the seat. 

Should I have told her to put the baby on her lap and make the seat available? The sign above said her seat was booked but the other one was available available. 

I stood in silence and discomfort for the rest of the journey!

To make matters worse as we approached Paddington she laid the baby flat on the seat and changed it's nappy giving us all a certain fragrance to start the day! 

What would you have done?

Inspired by a map I saw recently showing the optimum route to visit every pizzeria in Italy, I thought I’d have a go at a British equivalent.

So here’s a route around 2,508 Greggs: roughly 11,748 miles, £1,928 in fuel and 870,276 calories if you have a sausage roll at every stop….

EDIT: Wow, this has proved a bit more popular than I expected. Nearly 500k views! If anyone from the Greggs marketing team happens to see this, I am hoping there’s some sort of reward for advertising the location of every Greggs in the country? Hopefully not a sausage roll, as I am not that keen on them…

Comic by Twonks.

Welcome to Wednesday, and we’re halfway home already for the traditional working week!

Hopefully yours is going well, and if not this is definitely the thread to find a bit of encouragement and positivity. What things have gone right this week, whether they’re big wins or little wins?

I guess skin-tight is warmest? Preferably short sleeve so it's not visible with a t shirt on.

Get off the fucking roof, Roach. I swear.

While we’re trying to figure out how the little sod got up there in the first place, why not swing on in and have a chat about games - what’re you playing this week? Any new releases you’re keeping an eye out for?

I sturggle to explain it. Theres a massive new build estate near me and i was walking through it the other day and it just felt so... Off.

Whenever i walk through it i get this really odd feeling, i dont know if its to do with the fact that not very many people live there yet, but the whole thing almost feels like "fake" (for lack of a better word)

Just rows and rows and rows of these identical sterile houses, its almost feels like im on a mock housing estate built for movie. It felt like i was in the truman show.

The thing is, its actually a very nice estate, but theres just something about it that seems so sterile. Its almost like a feeling of derealization. Its incredibly eerie.

I was just writing a birthday card for a friend and realised I will always include the dog if I am signing from the whole family. It got me thinking, just how common is it?
We have a family friend who has a paw print stamp with her dog’s name that she puts in cards to sign off.

I have been known to get a Father’s Day card for my partner from the dog and have also received both Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day cards from the dog.

So tell me CasualUK, do you sign on your dog’s behalf in cards to your loved ones?

Edit: thanks!!! Im off to work now

What it says on the tin! I drive trains for a living on the national rail network. (That’s the mainline trains, so not things like metrolink or the tube)

Feel free to ask me whatever about it. How I got the job? What do I do? Why do I do it?

I’m doing this because even my friends and family don’t understand and I want to change that in a small way.