A government-commissioned report says the alternative to a new HS2 high speed rail link would see 14 years of weekend route closures and longer journeys….. Our supplier of Train Sets had a great idea last year when they submitted their own bid for the West Coast main line rail franchise to Transport Minister, Patrick McLoughlin.

Bigjigs Rail bid – click to enlarge

Over the year’s we’ve had many testimonials from our customers that happily back Bigjigs claims of trains that “run on enjoyment”, and that lots of people have been delighted with the service they offer. Few can also argue with their compelling service promises, such as:

“No delays – our track is not affected by sun, rain, snow, wind or leaves. Our trains run whatever the weather!”

It was a very cute tongue in cheek letter that definitely would have brought a few smiles to people’s faces. Who would have thought that Bigjigs would get a reply from the Department of Transport?

Department of Transport response – click to enlarge

Whilst the Right Honourable Patrick McLoughlin was unavailable to read the letter, his private secretary, Mark Reach, took an interest and outlined some of the bureaucratic hurdles sitting between Bigjigs and running services on the National Rail network. Mr Reach suggested that the wooden carriages were unlikely to meet modern crash worthiness standards and that “Aluminium might be a better bet.”

He also noted that the two axel design of each carriage would “likely result in poor ride quality at high speed” and that four per carriage might be more appropriate.

Needless to say, it looks like Bigjigs Rail might need to make a few minor changes to their bid before they get approved to serve the 31 million travellers the West Coast Main Line serves annually. We’d love to see what they would do with the National Rail network though, especially if they can design it as smartly as their Wooden Train Set, Rail Carry Station or their other wooden toys amongst our trains collection.