British online friend: "Saw a flying banana tonight. I only noticed because of the purple light shining upwards"
Everyone: ???
"We have track measurement trains. They run around, checking the tracks for faults, the power cables, etc
They're bright yellow. So they're nicknamed the Flying Banana, as a joke on the Flying Scotsman
Night time they have this blue laser that scans the overhead wires. It creates this giant glow you can see when it moves"
@GreenSkyOverMe the flying banana is actually only one of the multiple test trains we have in the UK!
There's iirc something like 6 or 8 HST power cars used, but the actual consists they run with are not consistent, and often you'll see them run with a Class 37 and a DBSO (oldddd cab car)
@GreenSkyOverMe in fact, looking at the schedules I have available (on a paid-for forum) there's 4 test trains scheduled to run today
One from Leicester via London Euston then back to Leicester, one from Mossend to Mossend via the Glasgow suburban lines (Mossend being a large freight yard just outside of Glasgow)
Rugby to Derby
Derby to Cambridge (this one is running with a 37)
GreenSkyOverMe (Monika)
Koko
Andrew Deacon