Post 1978, after a flurry of 07-16 incomings and the arrival of a new batch of thirty-seven 07-32s, Plasser's 07 series tampers rapidly became a very familiar sight across the British Rail network.
Three classic British Rail era Plasser & Theurer machines in a lineup at Wolverhampton (WolverTampton?) on 11th January 2001. At the front, 07-16 No. 73241. More details on this lineup later in the post.
How would rail enthusiasts treat a train that they couldn't travel on, couldn't underline in their spotting books, and whose fleet number they struggled even to find? Well, as is evidenced in the amazingly scant coverage of tamping machines on the World Wide Web, the vast bulk of railfans would comprehensively ignore it.