Misc steam railway, traction, station and rail-related news
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editor
hiraethified
Here's a man we owe a lot to:
Wow: In 2012, 1.2million passenger journeys were made, compared to 90,000 in 1983.
www.yorkshirepost.co.uk
Wow: In 2012, 1.2million passenger journeys were made, compared to 90,000 in 1983.
The man who saved the Settle to Carlisle Line from closure has died
The British Rail project manager who was appointed to try to close Yorkshire's most scenic rail route has died.
www.yorkshirepost.co.uk
editor
hiraethified
And on a related note:
www.yorkshirepost.co.uk
Meet the man who operates Yorkshire's most remote railway signal box
Youngsters save a train from disaster by desperately '¨waving improvised flags made red from flannel petticoats in The Railway Children, Edith Nesbit's classic story. If only signalling on our railways was always so simple. Nowadays signal boxes, one of the icons of our railways' heritage, are...
Puddy_Tat
naturally fluffy
minor related bit of trivia -
the southern railway issued station staff and guards with red ties - not out of socialism, but so they could be used as an emergency red flag / held in front of a light by night if the person in question didn't have a red flag / lamp to hand
mid hants railway traffic staff member continuing the tradition
davesgcr
Reading books
minor related bit of trivia -
the southern railway issued station staff and guards with red ties - not out of socialism, but so they could be used as an emergency red flag / held in front of a light by night if the person in question didn't have a red flag / lamp to hand
mid hants railway traffic staff member continuing the tradition
My much cherished and somewhat battered BR Station Managers cap (would post picture if technology would let me) - has a red lining , which in dire emergency could be waved as an emergency stop signal - this was issued as late as the early 1980's.
In any case , the BR rulebook I was issued with - and stood me in good stead for a reasonable career , made it clear that "any light waved violently - denotes a danger signal" - along of course with the daytime hand signal of both arms raised to a movement to stop it pronto.....
StoneRoad
heckling from the back!
I've done that "in anger" - an idiot (camera toting, of course) was foul of the barrow crossing and looking away from the station at the scenery. He ignored or didn't hear the starting off honk. Luckily the unit wasn't moving much when I stuck my arms up ... and I was on decent terms with the driver, known him for a couple of decades at that time. I got a mouthful of abuse of the "camera man" when I tried to get him to safety, unfortunately for him, the local BTP were present as it was almost school chucking out time two stops up the line.
davesgcr
Reading books
What you have to watch , and I have remonstrated with someone , - of a person getting off a train (which departs) and putting on his bike red rear light and pushing it along the platform - next train through was a non stop - which if he had spotted the redlight would almost certainly have dropped the brake into full emergency.
To be fair the cyclist understood the message - and we parted on amicable terms (when it had been explained) ........
To be fair the cyclist understood the message - and we parted on amicable terms (when it had been explained) ........
Puddy_Tat
naturally fluffy
oops.
and didn't it cause some confusion when vermin rail issued all their station staff with red coats -
StoneRoad
heckling from the back!
I got yelled at once because I had a green sweatshirt on - it was British racing green, so not the same shade as the flags ... I put a coat on over the top, to save the argument escalating. I was being escorted to have a look at something in a non-public area, my escort had full hi-viz on, and I had a tabard. But I've not been back to that line since, despite the apologies.
Dogsauce
I’ve got Skol but I’m not a Scholar
I’ve had a member of station staff tell me to turn my bike back light off when I was wheeling it onto the platform. Think it was Kings Cross so probably not much chance of an unplanned emergency stop, but got the general principle (what with being a sentinel card holder and all that!)
davesgcr
Reading books
oops.
and didn't it cause some confusion when vermin rail issued all their station staff with red coats -
But then a Freightliner or similar container train with a red container on the back would be construed as a right side event !
I do take your point , we were always told about not wearing red or yellow clothing (non uniform) when "on or about the railway" - to be honest , just a it tricky to police to the general public. Even from 1979.
Dogsauce
I’ve got Skol but I’m not a Scholar
Similar to this is that for a while it was more or less just rail staff that would be decked out in fluorescent orange clothing, for other workers it would generally be yellow, but now more posties, general construction workers and cyclists have adopted this hue, so drivers can no longer assume an orange figure ahead would be a track worker, might just be a warehouse worker waiting on a platform.
StoneRoad
heckling from the back!
... or at a foot crossing, there are several on the Tyne Valley and Cambrian Coast lines that spring to mind.
Not to mention the "enthuuuuusiast" in their "invulnerability" tabard, who assume that trains can stop / avoid them just because they are decked out in bright orange or yellow. [grrrrr - annoying subspecies] Or when carrying an expensive camera / tripod at special events ...
editor
hiraethified
Portland railway - last train. What a lovely journey it must have been.
en.wikipedia.org
Portland Branch Railway - Wikipedia
StoneRoad
heckling from the back!
I have actually travelled along the along the Weymouth Harbour line, back in the late 1970s. I had been on a week's field work in Jersey and we were all going straight to the second week, based near Exeter (I think !) We had a block party booking on the trains. I did a bit of window hanging but as my camera was nicked a few days later (with that film) no pictures. Would it have been a class 33 ?
Bus Honeygun
This week the score draws are plentiful
Almost certainly. The boat trains then were generally Class 73s as far as Bournemouth for a 33 forward over the then-unelectrified line to Weymouth.
cybershot
Well-Known Member
Flying Scotsman’s 2020 schedule.
www.flyingscotsman.org.uk
Scotsman on the Tracks | National Railway Museum
Find out where Flying Scotsman is making special appearances across the UK.
hash tag
Books, not bombs
hash tag
Books, not bombs
Looking at above, I have just fallen into the wondeful black hole that is the NRM archives Objects and stories | National Railway Museum
Dogsauce
I’ve got Skol but I’m not a Scholar
a scene never recreated in preservation because they polish everything too much, they should let some stuff get a bit dirty occasionally.
hash tag
Books, not bombs
Charlie or no Charlie, I would really be up for this were it not for my daughter staying over this weekend 
www.ianvisits.co.uk
P steam locomotive roadshow
Update on the project to build Gresley class P2 No. 2007 Prince of Wales - Britain's most powerful steam locomotive
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StoneRoad
heckling from the back!
Shameless name drops ...
I don't think I ever met Eric Tracey or Teddy Boston, but I did met Alan Pegler on numerous occasions.
And I met Wilbert Awdry plus son Chris at Tywyn once or twice (but not at one the early style TTE events).
pogofish
Testicle Hairstyle
Was by the vestigial remains of Muchalls Station at the weekend. The grassed-over platforms were reasonably recognisable until the 1990s, when the line was rebuilt. strengthened and raised, obliterating them entirely. The former Railway hotel beside it survived till more recently but its site is a clump of posh houses now. Apart from some former railway cottages and a solid little bridge under the embankment that marks the start of a path that drops precipitously down to the formerly busy little fishing harbour amongst the cliffs, all that remains now it the "Peace Sign", on a bit of sheltering embankment, which was built to commemorate the first and only "Peace Day" in 1919 - the precursor to our current Armistice Day and held on July 19th 1919.
It seems that this was first permanent Cenotaph in Scotland, and possibly one of the first in the whole UK - the London Cenotaph at the time was a temporary wood and plaster structure until its permanent replacement in stone was erected in 1920.
It seems that this was first permanent Cenotaph in Scotland, and possibly one of the first in the whole UK - the London Cenotaph at the time was a temporary wood and plaster structure until its permanent replacement in stone was erected in 1920.
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