Mary Grant held her leaving party the night after mine so there was another round of people and goodbyes, and then I was in Aberdeen on Thursday. By a happy coincidence I was on the plane with Sir Moir Lockhead who was, of course, enjoying HIS very last day on the books of First and heading home.
But another surprise this morning as crafty work by my incredible PA Sheila and my team lead by Nick Vane got me on a train the public knows as the 0802 Bristol Parkway to London but we know as 1L24. However today my reserved seat was in the cab and I had a tremendous run at up to 125mph in the nose of the HST125 all the way to Paddington.
These sets have done several times their design mileage - some 8m miles on some of them and their future on the UK rail network remains assured to some extent for the near future. A reminder, as with the Routemaster, of how a higher purchase price and superior engineering repays itself with a long and reliable lifespan.
A whirlwind day of meetings, catching up with people and trying to get finished. One or two old friends also dropped in.
I'm off on two weeks' holiday now to the USA, before my first day at TfL on 20th April. Maybe some more unusual stories here whilst I am away.
Whilst I pack here are two photos - firstly my going away card - a spoof front cover of leading transport magazine RouteONE (look at me with Boris' hair!) and a view from the front of 450 tons of High Speed Train earlier this morning.
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