On Tue, 31 May 2016 09:08:21 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

On Tuesday, 31 May 2016 14:29:19 UTC+1, Recliner wrote:
I went on the 'Bridge too Far' rail tour last week which featured a
Javelin venturing into new or unusual places. This involved no fewer
than a dozen reversals, some in sidings that in-service trains
wouldn't visit, and some which have never seen a Javelin before.
Despite this, time-keeping was impeccable.

The trains are good, but the seats are typically hard for a modern UK
train (less comfortable than you'd find in its oriental cousin, a
Japanese narrow gauge A-Train, which would have wider seats and more
legroom), but it must be rare to spend so many hours in a packed
Javelin. Perhaps unusually for a Javelin tour, little time was spent
on HS1, and 140 mph was only achieved very briefly, once in each
direction.

Some pictures:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/reclin...57668319839600

Note that some of these are taken through the train windows (which
seem to have some sort of film on them), so they're not of the same
quality that is possible in the open.

Very interesting!

I'd no idea there were disused platforms at Stratford
International, or that the Javelin units

Javelin was a service between Saint Pancras Station and Olympic Park.
It ran for the duration of the Olympic Games. By definition the
Javelin service did not, and clearly does not, run anywhere other than
between those two points.

were dual
voltage and 3rd rail capable. Will have to go for a
ride on one at some point when next in London.

The class 395 multiple units serve outer suburban communities in Kent.
The stations are mainly in third rail only territory. The 395s use
HS1, and thus 25kV for the final high speed run into Saint Pancras.