Best Scottish Engineering Podcasts (2025)

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The five reasons UK transport fails disabled people | #Railnatter 276 38:18

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12d ago38:18

38:18

In the second of our episodes focusing on disabled travel, we look at NCAT's latest report on the overall picture for accessible transport in the UK. It's not a rosy picture. Support #Railnatter at https://patreon.com/garethdennis. Merch at https://merch.railnatter.uk. Join in the discussion at https://discord.railnatter.uk. You can also buy my boo…

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This campaign made railways better for everyone | #Railnatter 275 34:25

19d ago34:25

34:25

With ScotRail announcing that their new fleet procurement will include level "access" as well as a key report being published on progress with transport accessibility, it's the right time to revisit Episode 31 and see what progress has been made - and it is actually good news! Disability ARK links here: https://linktr.ee/disabilityark Support #Rail…

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Episode 5 - UK Armed Forces Reservists and Benefits to Industry 30:19

19d ago30:19

30:19

In this episode of The Industry Wave, our guest today is John Campbell, whose career in industry has been significantly influenced by his connection with the UK’s Armed Forces and Scottish Engineering. We talk about his first experience as a 17-year-old reservist in Devonport and how it sparked a long term relationship with the armed forces. John s…

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Charles Kergaravat: Founder of the Interceltic Business Forum 25:45

21d ago25:45

25:45

In this episode of the Scottish Business Network Podcast, we sit down with Charles Kergaravat, a New Yorker with Breton roots who has built a remarkable career bridging cultures, business, and innovation across the Celtic nations.Charles shares his journey from Wall Street to Brittany, France, where he left behind a finance career to embrace a new …

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10 new railways to fix Devon and Cornwall | #Railnatter 274 1:01:35

26d ago1:01:35

1:01:35

We're back! And we're doing some classic network analysis, this time for Devon and Cornwall. I knew this one would be hard, but making this network make sense is extremely tricky! In any case, we'll list off 10 railway projects the region needs, think about why and what they might look like in more detail. Support #Railnatter at https://patreon.com…

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How to build your own train simulator | #Railnatter 273 50:27

2M ago50:27

50:27

We're joined by Daisy from newly-formed ProCab Simulators as she tells us the tale of taking a bunch of bits, wires and programmes and turning them from a fire hazard into a working - and ACCESSIBLE - train cab that works with off-the-shelf train simulator games. It's a story of knowledge, networks, determination, ADHD and the rail industry steppin…

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Episode 4 - Designing Equity: Innovation, Inclusion & Mamta's Journey 31:10

2M ago31:10

31:10

In episode 4 of The Industry Wave, we’re joined by the dynamic Mamta Singhal MBE — a Chartered Design Engineer whose career spans senior roles with globally recognised brands including Hasbro, Dyson, Coca-Cola, and Mars. With a background that seamlessly blends art, engineering, and business, Mamta is a passionate advocate for innovation, diversity…

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An engineer's tour of the Railway Museum's New Hall | #Railnatter 272 32:26

2M ago32:26

32:26

My visit to the New Hall at Locomotion in Shildon is FINALLY WITH YOU. See why I think this is the best bit of the whole railway museum, including York... Support #Railnatter at https://patreon.com/garethdennis. Merch at https://merch.railnatter.uk. Join in the discussion at https://discord.railnatter.uk. You can also buy my book #HowTheRailwaysWil…

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Australia's surprising rail transformation story - with Chris Brownbill | #Railnatter 271 56:51

2M ago56:51

56:51

It's the second half of our chat with the wonderful Chris Brownbill, and this time we are looking to the future. Urban and high speed rail plans feature! Support #Railnatter at https://patreon.com/garethdennis. Merch at https://merch.railnatter.uk. Join in the discussion at https://discord.railnatter.uk. You can also buy my book #HowTheRailwaysWill…

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This Scottish town is a nightmare | #Railnatter 270 40:29

2M ago40:29

40:29

One of the most severely and regularly gridlocked regional bottlenecks in Scotland sits slap bang on the top of Fort William, and in doing so it is throttling the life out of the town and surrounding communities. Plans to fix this are now in development, so in readiness for looking at those, we consider what options are available, and work out how …

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Episode 102: Stephen O’Donnell on Engineering, Enterprise, and Giving Back 46:24

3M ago46:24

46:24

In this insightful episode of the Scottish Business Network Podcast, host Ewan Dunbar is joined by Stephen O’Donnell, Chief Operating Officer of the Scottish Business Network, whose remarkable career spans engineering, global tech leadership, private equity, and now philanthropy.Stephen shares a deeply personal and inspiring journey—from humble beg…

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Railways we desperately need, cancelled in favour of roads | #Railnatter 269 47:45

3M ago47:45

47:45

The Department for Transport has published the list of projects that it is progressing, and those it is putting on ice... We take a look at the 50 projects that made it. See the full list here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/green-light-for-over-50-road-and-rail-upgrades-supporting-over-39000-new-homes-and-42000-jobs Support #Railnatter at http…

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Episode 3 - AI for Good: How Oliver King-Smith is using tech to transform lives 33:39

3M ago33:39

33:39

In episode 3 of The Industry Wave, we sit down with Oliver King-Smith, Founder of smartR AI and a pioneering voice in applied artificial intelligence, to hear about his journey through technology and entrepreneurship. During our conversation, Oliver reflects on how his passion for solving real-world problems through innovation has guided his work —…

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How North Wales will demolish car dependency | #Railnatter 268 45:26

3M ago45:26

45:26

Transport for Wales recently released their plan for a public transport network for North Wales, and it is actually very good. We'll take a look, and pick out why Westminster is incapable of delivering this sort of strategic thinking. Support #Railnatter at https://patreon.com/garethdennis. Merch at https://merch.railnatter.uk. Join in the discussi…

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Why the UK economy will continue to fail | #Railnatter 267 47:39

3M ago47:39

47:39

A couple of major things to cover this week that will set the direction of the UK economy for... a bit. Until this government changes their mind again. Those are: the new Industrial Strategy, and the Comprehensive Spending Review from earlier this month. Both talking about where money will - or indeed will not - be spent to make the country work be…

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Russia's railways WERE the best in the world - with Milo Edwards | #Railnatter 266 44:00

3M ago44:00

44:00

Readers of The Book will know that, pre-hot war (we'll get there), Russia's railways were ranked the best in the world by modal share. But how? And what does this look like? Who better to join us than the UK's official* vibes ambassador to Russia, Milo Edwards? Nobody, that's who. Milo lifts the lid on his experiences as we work out what's good, ba…

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A history of Australia’s railways - with Chris Brownbill | #Railnatter 265 1:06:16

4M ago1:06:16

1:06:16

Chris Brownbill (https://railmaps.com.au/) joins us this week to take us on a quick jaunt through the history of Australia's railways - in the process busting a few myths, talking about a major tragedy and helping explain how the Aussie railways nearly beat Japan on the Top Twenty national railway list... Support #Railnatter at https://patreon.com/…

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Episode 2 - Shattering Milestones: The Legacy of the only the second woman president in our 160 year history.... 19:32

4M ago19:32

19:32

In episode 2 of The Industry Wave, we catch up with Scottish Engineering's 89th President, and Thales Operations Director, Bernie O'Neil, to hear about her journey into Engineering. During our chat, Bernie underlines how strongly she feels that quality education opportunities should be open to all, and how she sees that shaped the career she contin…

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Burnham is key to northern high speed rail network | #Railnatter 264 49:50

4M ago49:50

49:50

This week we are looking at the proposals of the Liverpool-Manchester Railway Board, the collective of combined and local authorities across the north west of England wanting to finish off the Manchester bits of HS2 as well as the western end of whatever the trans-Pennine high speed line is called today. We'll also be talking about Great British Ra…

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The cases for and against open access rail operators | #Railnatter 263 48:03

4M ago48:03

48:03

The role of open access operations - you know: Hull Trains, Grand Central, Lumo, Go-Op - is one I've been dancing around in #Railnatter for a long while, but I'm hoping tonight to take a reasonably exhaustive look at the cases for and against... We'll be looking at two documents to do this: firstly, First Group's January 2025 paper making their cas…

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Episode 101: Navigating Global Opportunity with Doug Stevenson 32:12

4M ago32:12

32:12

Welcome to the Scottish Business Network podcast. In this episode of the Scottish Business Network Podcast, host and SBN's Chairman Russell Dalgleish sits down with Doug Stevenson, the Network’s San Francisco Ambassador, for a dynamic conversation spanning continents, industries, and insights.Doug shares his personal background and early career, of…

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Driverless Cars Are Pointless - with Victoria Scott | #Railnatter 261 1:06:36

4M ago1:06:36

1:06:36

The wonderful, erudite and incisive Victoria Scott - that's right, my @wtyppod nemesis - is joining us this week for what will I already know will be one of our all-time greats. Why are driverless cars still being pushed onto an unwilling public, three-quarters of a century after the first trials? What's the real reason for adding a near-literal to…

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How not to do feasibility studies | #Railnatter 261 57:04

5M ago57:04

57:04

We're looking at the proposals for a new line connecting the North Wales Main Line and the Cambrian Coast Line between Bangor and Afon Wen... Are the plans any good? Should they go ahead even if the correct route for a north-south Welsh mainline is at the other side of the country? Way back in Episode 57 we analysed where any future north-south Wel…

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Episode 1 - The Making of a Young Innovator: Our young engineer winner of 2024 29:44

5M ago29:44

29:44

In episode 1 of The Industry Wave, we sit down with Ross McPhillie, our 2024 Scottish Engineering Young Engineer of the Year winner. Ross is a key innovator at RUA Medical, where he has played a pivotal role in developing a prosthetic heart valve prototype that has successfully endured 200 million durability cycles and is now transitioning to comme…

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Welcome to The Industry Wave 0:46

5M ago0:46

0:46

Welcome to The Industry Wave Brought to you by Scottish Engineering, The Industry Wave is your gateway to Scotland's vibrant engineering sector. For 160 years, we have championed innovation and growth for our sector, and with this podcast we aim to use our voice to share the uplifting examples that we hear and see every day. We aim to create a plat…

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Starline's high speed rail "plans" for Europe | #Railnatter 260 58:23

5M ago58:23

58:23

In the first of another two-parter, we look at some rather meaningless and silly plans for a high speed rail network that I can't quite categorise between "absolutely nothing" or "actively damaging". Join me LIVE to see if we can work it out together! Read the plans here: https://21st-europe.com/blueprints/starline Enjoyed this? Please do consider …

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Labour are out of ideas already | #Railnatter 259 1:01:43

5M ago1:01:43

1:01:43

It's a news episode! And as ever we've got loads to catch up on, not least Labour and the Prime Minister's supine desperation in using precisely the same language as the Conservatives by virtue signalling to car drivers as a distinct class of their own. It's grim to see. Enjoyed this? Please do consider supporting #Railnatter at https://patreon.com…

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Data, maps and how to use them (with Will Deakin) | #Railnatter 258 1:19:33

5M ago1:19:33

1:19:33

Ever wondered how you develop and deploy a new timetable? Or how to map flows of humans across regions, countries and continents? Well this is the primer on all of that, and crucially why we do it and what the pitfalls are... Friend of the show Will Deakin joins us to talk about temporal data, spatial data, big data and having fun with it in what I…

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Designing Glasgow a metro system | #Railnatter 257 1:37:22

6M ago1:37:22

1:37:22

It's the second half of the two-parter you all wanted in one go last week! Yes - this time we get to the good stuff. Maps. And using them to see what a realistic but bold modern metro system for Scotland's largest city could look like. Plus we might mention Glasgow Airport again since that got everyone very excited. See the piece I wrote about this…

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Clyde Metro? Glasgow must think bigger | #Railnatter 256 1:09:06

6M ago1:09:06

1:09:06

I've been promising this one for a while - what should Glasgow be doing about its urban mobility? What about the Glasgow Subway? Crossing the Clyde? What about the airport? Well, the way to solve all of this is with MAPS and that's what we will be doing! See the piece I wrote about this: https://www.glasgowbell.co.uk/a-blueprint-for-glasgows-rail/ …

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#Railnatter Episode 255: Goodbye USAID, hello China (and much more railway geopolitics) 58:47

6M ago58:47

58:47

Whilst there's plenty of local news for us to pick through, I wanted to focus this week's episode on how railways are becoming sharply relevant in the rise and fall of national and international powers... Whether it's the railway expansion intentions of USAID versus China in south central Africa, increasingly heated riots in Greece over the Tempi r…

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#Railnatter Episode 254: Urban transport in Dubai (and what’s stupid about a lot of it) 56:51

6M ago56:51

56:51

At the World Government Summit in early 2025, Dubai's city leaders revealed the latest nonsense they were putting their mobility hopes and dreams into... And it is a real hotch-potch of junk ranging from obviously stupid to mostly pointless to outright fascist. So let's get the #NotAMetro sorter out and sift through them! Read Nicole's great retort…

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#Railnatter Episode 253: The (draft) Mid Wales Regional Transport Plan 1:02:26

7M ago1:02:26

1:02:26

Given it's our fifth anniversary, how better to celebrate than to look at and think about rural Welsh transport and what to do about it? Cue the music! Access the documentation here: https://www.growingmid.wales/article/10136/Mid-Wales-Transportation Enjoyed this? Please do consider supporting #Railnatter at https://patreon.com/garethdennis or thro…

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#Railnatter Episode 252: What we must learn from the Grenfell Tower disaster (2) 1:35:55

7M ago1:35:55

1:35:55

Back in Episode 240 we looked in detail at the corruption, callousness and incompetence that led to the deaths of seventy people in the fire in Grenfell Tower in 2017. Tonight, we are joined by fire engineer and researcher Alastair Temple to look at what the inquiry into the disaster recommends to avoid it ever happening again. Find Alastair Temple…

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#Railnatter Episode 251: The Future of Cities (keeping an eye on urban trends) 53:46

8M ago53:46

53:46

Cities are extremely important, despite only one of them getting much meaningful attention in the UK. Network Rail and WPI Economics have pulled together a report looking at cities and the trends that are defining their futures right now, including post-COVID behavioural changes, and it piqued my interest. Let's take a look together in the usual wa…

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#Railnatter Episode 250: The little station that defeated Westminster 1:15:36

8M ago1:15:36

1:15:36

To celebrate our reaching 250 episodes, I thought I'd tell the tale of the little railway station that rebelled against Westminster's swinging axe and survived for us all to enjoy today... Located in a stunning spot on the railway line from Inverness to Kyle of Lochalsh, Duncraig station sees only around 500 passengers a year hopping on or off trai…

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#Railnatter Episode 249: Heathrow's Third Runway and other economic disasters 1:50:56

8M ago1:50:56

1:50:56

Well, they did it. Where the Conservatives blocked it from being built, Labour have in fact waved it through, in a move that will set back both the UK's environmental and economic targets by decades. We'll talk a bit about this decision, why it is really bad, and of course dig into a few months of other news as well. And we have the delight of bein…

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#Railnatter Episode 248: What should the Scottish railway map look like? 2 1:33:11

8M ago1:33:11

1:33:11

Way back in Episode 65 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2v846_jqwc), we took a network development look at the Scottish railway map, but we didn't really take a material look at what the missing bits really were... Tonight, we fix that! We look at Scotland's missing railway links that will need to be plugged for the future economy the Scottish Gov…

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#Railnatter Episode 247: A look at Scotland's draft Islands Connectivity Review 1:19:32

9M ago1:19:32

1:19:32

In the first of a couple of Scotland episodes, we're thinking about ISLANDS and how the hell to get to them in a way that's sustainable by all definitions of the term... Enjoyed this? Please do consider supporting #Railnatter at https://patreon.com/garethdennis or throw loose change at me via https://paypal.me/garethdennis. Merch at https://garethd…

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#Railnatter Episode 246: A page-turn through the English devolution white paper 1:18:31

9M ago1:18:31

1:18:31

This week, we are taking a close look at the UK government's white paper on English devolution... Back in Episode 105 with Jon Stone, we talked in detail about how the UK would simply never have better public transport without deep and meaningful devolution, including of funding powers... It's something we'd been talking about before and we've cert…

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#Railnatter Episode 245: Is there any reason to be cheerful about the future? 24:43

9M ago24:43

24:43

2024 was dismal, for me and for lots of other people too... But 2025 brings us a wealth of opportunities for shaping our railways and the wider world for good. Whether it's rail reform, devolution, level boarding, #Rail200, or the enormous sustained demand for more rail services in the UK, it might just be a really exciting year. At least we can st…

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#Railnatter Episode 244: Ten Of The Most Pointless US Regional Flights That Should Be Trains 2:08:18

9M ago2:08:18

2:08:18

In the first of what I hope will be a format we can exploit long into the future, Tom Pain (host of @tenthousandlossespodcast4026) joins us to talk about US flights that don't need to exist because they should - or indeed already do - have better rail alternatives. But which, according to our patented scientific assessment system, will be the most …

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#Railnatter Episode 243: What a year 2024 was! (an on-location live AMA) 33:00

10M ago33:00

33:00

For various BUSY WEEK reasons, we're slotting into a different spot this week so that we can all have a nice chat about the utterly bonkers year that was 2024... Tuesday at 7pm! As the last live show of the year, we're going back to #Railnatter basics and having an open Ask Me Anything session with a twist: it will be our first on-location live epi…

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#Railnatter Episode 242: Contrast on the London Underground 1:11:32

10M ago1:11:32

1:11:32

I'm delighted that Luke Agbaimoni (a.k.a. @tubemapper) is joining us once again to talk through a few images from his latest, stunning, book themed around contrast on the TfL system... It really is a treat, and we get stuck in as we've done for his previous two books! Luke's book is available here: https://amzn.eu/d/2AO6bna or you can pick up a sig…

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#Railnatter Episode 241: An Integrated National Transport Strategy? 57:42

10M ago57:42

57:42

Before being unceremoniously ousted for no reason whatsoever, Louise Haigh's last act as Secretary of State for Transport was to announce her integrated national transport strategy, or at least that it would land in about a year's time. We'll read through the announcement, speculate on why she has been booted and what it might mean, and talk a bit …

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#Railnatter Episode 240: What we must learn from the Grenfell Tower disaster 1:21:45

10M ago1:21:45

1:21:45

In what I expect to be a sobering but incredibly important episode, we will be picking up the Phase 2 Report of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry. We'll go through the events leading up to the disaster, and the many chances we had to avoid it happening. We'll look at the role of government, of the various building and housing regulators, of the private in…

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Episode 100: An interview with SBN Chair and Founder Russell Dalgleish 35:12

10M ago35:12

35:12

Welcome to the Scottish Business Network podcast. For the 100 episode of the SBN podcast I had the pleasure of speaking with a truly remarkable individual, Russell Dalgleish, the founder and chairperson of the Scottish Business Network. Russell is a dynamic leader with a career that spans decades and industries, from technology to global networking…

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#Railnatter Episode 239: Vancouver's SkyTrain and what we can learn from it 1:39:52

10M ago1:39:52

1:39:52

I'm delighted to say we're joined this week by genuine Vancouverite Cariad Heather Keigher, who takes us on a tour of the SkyTrain and the messy history that created it. Don't worry though - it's actually very good! We chart the fall of the interurbans and the rise of this not-a-gadgetbahn system as it grew across the city, and consider what's next…

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#Railnatter Episode 238: How a Sheffield Crossrail would boost South Yorkshire 1:28:21

11M ago1:28:21

1:28:21

Okay, so if by Crossrail we mean high capacity suburban rail - yes. And in this episode we'll look at exactly what that might look like for Sheffield and the wider South Yorkshire area. There will be maps! Enjoyed this? Please do consider supporting #Railnatter at https://patreon.com/garethdennis or throw loose change at me via https://paypal.me/ga…

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#Railnatter Episode 237: Bad budget, worse election (it's a news ep/struggle sesh) 1:23:30

11M ago1:23:30

1:23:30

We've an awful lot of news to get through, not least the horrible budget from last week and the dismal election results in the US announced today. Those big stories aren't all of what we'll cover, though. There's a lot of interesting stuff going on that's worth us all talking about together! Enjoyed this? Please do consider supporting #Railnatter a…