Quite by chance, I discovered that London Midland were taking over the former Silverlink and Central Trains franchises on the 12th of November, when I intended to travel locally by train to a business meeting. I managed to snatch a couple of shots of 'Desiro' 350 106 in full 'London Midland' livery leaving Stafford, one of which appears above. My own journey on a 'London Midland' service was made by 170 635 in a completely 'unbranded' green livery. I presume the 'Central' has been removed and the 'London Midland' computer-cut self-adhesive signage not yet applied.
Incidentally, whilst 'London Midland' appears as two words with initial capitals when used in text (as we grumpy old people would consider appropriate to proper names), the company logo is 'londonmidland'. The 'midland' is in robust characters but the 'london' is in very spindly and hard-to-read characters. The dot over the 'i' is green, as are the seven smaller dots (one above the other) which are placed on the right of the logo. One wonders how much the brand consultants charged to come up with that one.
Railway photographs from 12th November.
