When the large handwheel seen in the illustration of a 68000 class cab is moved from stop to run, the traction circuit contactors are closed and the locomotive moves off with the diesel engine running at idling speed.

Eldridge closed the despatch-case with a snap and, rising briskly, walked down the corridor to his solitary table in the dining-car. Mulligatawny soup, poached turbot, roast leg of lamb—the usual railway dinner.

Since submitting our Strategic Outline Business Case to the DfT last summer, MPs, government ministers and even the new Prime Minister have started talking about our £2 billion proposals as the answer to poor rail connectivity between the East Midlands and the West Midlands.

They were taken unawares and overcome when the room filled with a lethal, odorless gas.