Misc steam railway, traction, station and rail-related news
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StoneRoad
heckling from the back!
oh ffs ...
more darwin award candidates
luckily for them that's a terminal route not normally subjected to movements at unusual times ...
but only a few years ago there was level (user-worked) crossing in Wales where a lass was killed by a train not in the public timetables
more darwin award candidates
Couple posed on rail line for wedding shoot
Network Rail says taking photos on a stretch of track was "plain stupidity".
www.bbc.co.uk
luckily for them that's a terminal route not normally subjected to movements at unusual times ...
but only a few years ago there was level (user-worked) crossing in Wales where a lass was killed by a train not in the public timetables
StoneRoad
heckling from the back!
oh ffs ...
more darwin award candidates
Couple posed on rail line for wedding shoot
Network Rail says taking photos on a stretch of track was "plain stupidity".www.bbc.co.uk
luckily for them that's a terminal route not normally subjected to movements at unusual times ...
but only a few years ago there was level (user-worked) crossing in Wales where a lass was killed by a train not in the public timetables
Maybe there's a market here for heritage lines to exploit in a safe way ? like on non-running days with a photographic charter ...
E2A - but maybe not, as most people don't understand the dangerousness inherent in railways
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StoneRoad
heckling from the back!
Yeah, I know ... I'm fed up with idiots on the track. As I keep saying Railways are dangerous places ... would they pose like that in a main road, like a motorway ?
but if they did do "photo-charters" for wedding parties then some PTS training could be included ... and that might transfer over into real life. But most people don't understand railways.
existentialist
Tired and unemotional
I've always thought that, if I ever released an album, I'd like to have the cover shot be me, walking away from the camera down a railway line, with a violin case over my shoulder. This is about as near as I got...
So maybe I will have to revise my dream, in the interest of public safety...
Dead Cat Bounce
A member of the Waffle elite.
Not sure if this is the right thread for this but I found this on a walk in Cornwall this afternoon. Looked online briefly but couldn't see anything about it.
Any ideas?
Any ideas?
davesgcr
Reading books
As it says - standard GWR property / boundary marker. All over the place on their "turf" - they can be found on extant and closed lines , and even on lines surveyed by the GWR and not built. Look like piano stools. Very solid.
teuchter
je suis teuchter
Ian Allan bookshop closes its doors for good this weekend 
www.london-se1.co.uk
Ian Allan transport bookshop in Lower Marsh to close
The Ian Allan transport bookshop in Waterloo's Lower Marsh is to close at the end of October.
StoneRoad
heckling from the back!
Ian Allan bookshop closes its doors for good this weekend
Ian Allan transport bookshop in Lower Marsh to close
The Ian Allan transport bookshop in Waterloo's Lower Marsh is to close at the end of October.
That's really sad - loss of an important tradition. Feel sorry for the people who have lost jobs.
But not unexpected, as all the imprints were sold off or went out of print; some many years ago, even before the boss died.
And part 2:
The last one is particularly interesting, reflecting the private sector starting to get interested as privatisation changed from a possibility to a likelihood. I get the impression its makers didn't really want to like BR, but were quite impressed by it. A couple of the others feel the same, and are pretty even-handed in setting the views of understandably pissed-off passengers in the context of BR's difficult political and financial position, and the realities of running a busy railway after decades of underinvestment, cutbacks and - until the 70s - pretty poor management. They're all amusingly dated, which makes me feel old since I remember a couple of them from when they were first on, but in some ways it all looks very familiar. Even a lot of the trains are still in service.
The last one is particularly interesting, reflecting the private sector starting to get interested as privatisation changed from a possibility to a likelihood. I get the impression its makers didn't really want to like BR, but were quite impressed by it. A couple of the others feel the same, and are pretty even-handed in setting the views of understandably pissed-off passengers in the context of BR's difficult political and financial position, and the realities of running a busy railway after decades of underinvestment, cutbacks and - until the 70s - pretty poor management. They're all amusingly dated, which makes me feel old since I remember a couple of them from when they were first on, but in some ways it all looks very familiar. Even a lot of the trains are still in service.
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davesgcr
Reading books
"Old , Dirty and Late" is particularly good - shot in a bleak winter in a challenging era of minimum cash available (hence train crew shortages etc) , an ongoing terrorism threat, etc
The master class in how to clip a set of points in the breaking light at Charlton Junction is quite superb -
Yes, I noticed that, mainly because I used to live in Charlton and go past there most days.
hash tag
Books, not bombs
My local, the Falcon has a great bar!
davesgcr
Reading books
Yes, I noticed that, mainly because I used to live in Charlton and go past there most days.
By the book too (albeit he is being filmed !) , driver told - he calls up the guard and advises him , 2 on the bell and a blast on that wonderful EPB horn , meanwhile a yellow handsignal to the guard - multi/tasking all round.
hash tag
Books, not bombs
Nice to see but I worry about the future of museums, heritage railways and the like right now
Salvaged Victorian signal box to become museum
It became redundant in 2016 along with others in the East Midlands.
www.bbc.co.uk
editor
hiraethified
Oh to stumble across a station like this now! Closed in 1962.
On reflection, this anecdote from the interesting fact thread is too good not to share here.
In 1859 there was a bit of an incident at Petworth engine shed. Someone left a locomotive in forward gear and with the regulator open a little after the fire had been dropped for the night. In the morning the fireman lit it up again and left a cleaner with the engine whilst he went off, presumably for a break. Some time later the cleaner went to find the fireman because he needed the engine moving to get at some of the underside, leaving the engine alone. The two of them came back to find it happily trundling out of the yard and onto the main line with no-one on board.
Some time later an engine cleaner on his way to work at Horsham shed heard a train coming up behind him, and looked round to see the engine coming slowly towards him up the hill with bits of a level crossing gate hanging off the front. Concluding something must be wrong, he jumped on board and brought the engine to a stop. It had crashed through four level crossings and travelled more than 17 miles!
Sources here and here.
In 1859 there was a bit of an incident at Petworth engine shed. Someone left a locomotive in forward gear and with the regulator open a little after the fire had been dropped for the night. In the morning the fireman lit it up again and left a cleaner with the engine whilst he went off, presumably for a break. Some time later the cleaner went to find the fireman because he needed the engine moving to get at some of the underside, leaving the engine alone. The two of them came back to find it happily trundling out of the yard and onto the main line with no-one on board.
Some time later an engine cleaner on his way to work at Horsham shed heard a train coming up behind him, and looked round to see the engine coming slowly towards him up the hill with bits of a level crossing gate hanging off the front. Concluding something must be wrong, he jumped on board and brought the engine to a stop. It had crashed through four level crossings and travelled more than 17 miles!
Sources here and here.
StoneRoad
heckling from the back!
Opps ...
Whale sculpture catches crashed Dutch metro train - BBC News
Very importantly, no-one hurt, not even the driver (apart from his pride, and possibly his underwear !)
Whale sculpture catches crashed Dutch metro train - BBC News
Very importantly, no-one hurt, not even the driver (apart from his pride, and possibly his underwear !)
Bus Honeygun
This week the score draws are plentiful
Mid-Cornwall Metro anyone? Probably needed but can't see it happening myself:
Another good railway documentary, Last Days of Steam, from BBC Timeshift:
Features Professor Terry Gourvish, whose books on BR are as authoritative as they get. Reputedly ended up being stripped to his boxer shorts by a group of 'rough local women' (not my words) in a city-centre bar in Hull back in the 1990s, after a rather wild conference dinner.
It's wrong about Britain hanging onto steam late, though: across much of western Europe main-line steam services lasted into the 70s, and in some Eastern Bloc countries well into the 80s.
Features Professor Terry Gourvish, whose books on BR are as authoritative as they get. Reputedly ended up being stripped to his boxer shorts by a group of 'rough local women' (not my words) in a city-centre bar in Hull back in the 1990s, after a rather wild conference dinner.
It's wrong about Britain hanging onto steam late, though: across much of western Europe main-line steam services lasted into the 70s, and in some Eastern Bloc countries well into the 80s.
Dogsauce
I’ve got Skol but I’m not a Scholar
Portugal got up to the mid-70s (narrow gauge a bit longer), there’s still a line of rusting steam locos in the sidings at Gaia station like Barry hulks.
