It's all interesting Adam and p'raps I should extend my thread to include stuff like this ? I know the route of old, well certainly back to the 70's when I think there was just two through journeys each day! I've read and listened to reports even recently of services in winter being at best suspended, at worst stranded, due to snow. So yes I do see the bigger picture of just how llogistically difficult to operate the route, a route that is kinda victim of its own popularity.