Great Western Coffee Shop

Very much looking forward to Regatta this week and of course travelling to the riverbank festivities by train. Glad that there is still flex in the Turbo fleet to run the usual 7 car set on Saturday, with 4 cars doing the honours for the other 4 days (the most that can fit in the bay at Twyford). On Saturday the sevice has to use platform 4 at Twyford (the up relief) and skip Wargrave as the platform isn't long enough. There also appears to be a solitary through service to Paddington at 0100 on Sunday morning taking just 37 minutes:

https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:V80905/2021-08-15/detailed

One of the fastest ever timetabled through trains from the branch I would suggest and perhaps the first since the regular through running ended in late 2017.

Thinking ahead to when we get the 769s - will they be able to operate in multiple? Could an 8 car 769 run on the branch on Regatta Saturday in the future? (8 car 769 is a tad shorter than a 7 car 165/6 by my calculation).

Derby Rowing Club knocked out in the first round of the Wyfold Challenge Cup (coxless 4s) by Minerva Bath. So I won’t be making the trip this year.

Given their stellar reliability on the Rhymney Valley Line, it's probably safest to run them in multiple. And have a diesel loco on standby for when both units fail.