When Fletcher is on the train and it is seen arriving at Stafford, the Class 86 has a loco number of 86211 and is hauling Mark 2 Carriages and a Mark 1 brake van. In a later scene, upon arrival at another station the locomotive number has changed to 86208 and is now hauling Mark 2B carriages.
When Fletcher first gets on the train, British Rail Mark 2 carriages are shown. However in a later scene a Mark 1 carriage interior is shown. British Rail never mixed rolling stock on passenger trains with the exception of the buffet cars.
When the express train first appears on screen the locomotive is a class 55 Deltic diesel/electric that only operated on the East Coast line between Aberdeen and London.
When the train pulls into Stafford, the locomotive has changed into a class 86 electric unit. The station announcer says the train is the 1.18 from Carlisle bound for London Euston. Carlisle is on the west coast electrified line to London Euston. Deltic locos did not operate on the West Coast line.
When the train pulls into Stafford, the locomotive has changed into a class 86 electric unit. The station announcer says the train is the 1.18 from Carlisle bound for London Euston. Carlisle is on the west coast electrified line to London Euston. Deltic locos did not operate on the West Coast line.
Fletcher's diary shows that he arrived in Slade on [Wednesday] 11th September 1974, which would - almost - fit in with the original broadcast of the first episode, New Faces, Old Hands (1974), on BBC1. However, it doesn't tally with the fact that in the pilot Prisoner and Escort (1973) (the events of which get referenced later) it's explicitly stated that Mackay and Barrowclough are collecting Fletcher at New Years'.