Platform 9 and 4/4: A New Railway Appreciation Thread

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  • No leading pony truck on the Bachmann model - IIRC, they were added to Linda and Blanche very soon after their arrival on the FR.

    The addition of the pony truck, and the tender, turned them into very elegant locomotives IMHO. As built, their short wheelbase makes them look a bit clumsy (poor Charles - will he ever escape captivity?), but YMMV.
  • betjemaniacbetjemaniac Shipmate
    Not sure there has ever been a more proportionate narrow gauge locomotive than Talyllyn No3
  • Hmm. It looked a little odd without trailing wheels when new - with such a short wheelbase, it's no wonder they soon added them.

    Nice-looking little engines, though.
  • And of course the Corris has built a lovely new one.
  • So they have - and, naturally, it goes very nicely with their replica Kerr Stuart!
  • Upon which I have ridden.
  • Lucky you!

    Mrs BF and I visited the Corris once, but IIRC there were no trains running on that day, and it may have been before they received their replica Kerr Stuart. They have certainly achieved much in the intervening 25 years or so...
  • ETA:

    I learn from the Corris website that the new Kerr Stuart entered service in 2005, so I did indeed miss seeing it during my 2001 visit!

    My last stint on the Other Railway was in 2006, but IIRC we spent our day off riding on the section of the Welsh Highland which was then lately opened. The Garratts were on shed, but I think our train was hauled by Mountaineer.
  • Parts of which (on a flat wagon) made an appearance at Sunday's cavalcade.
  • Baptist TrainfanBaptist Trainfan Shipmate
    edited June 25
    From BBC Wales: "Rail track testing complex at former mine delayed".

    "We regret the late arrival of this testing complex, which is due to leaves on the line, the wrong kind of snow, an argument over who's going to pay, and general complexity and confusion".
  • Wesley JWesley J Circus Host
    Is there a rail track testing complex replacement service?
  • ...worked by buses, of course.
  • SignallerSignaller Shipmate
    edited June 26
    The UK market for testing facilities is already well served to the point of saturation by Old Dalby, Ollerton and Long Marston, and the chances of there being enough business to sustain another one are slim.
  • I had wondered the same, but I do know that this project has been "simmering" for some time. https://www.gcre.wales

  • The idea seems to be to cater for the European market as well, which is fair enough - but, as @Signaller implies, is there likely to be enough demand? I daresay most European railways have testing facilities of their own, or access to someone else's.
  • Wesley JWesley J Circus Host
    edited June 26
    Most railways and manufacturers over here, on the Continent, send their trains to Velim in the Czech Republic.

    There's also an oft-used 'Climatic Wind Tunnel' test centre in Vienna, Austria.

    And - how would you get any Continental loading gauge vehicles into Wales? (See earlier discussion, further up.)
  • And they'd need to do a lot of loading gauge enlargement to get European trains up there by rail. Mind you, they would probably use road as untested and non-approved rolling stock wouldn't be allowed on the national rail network. Plans show a line leading out of the southwest of the site and I suppose it could be connected to an upgraded (but currently-mothballed) Dulais Valley line ... but what would happen where that meets to South Wales Main Line? Or would there be transhipment to the A465 or M4? At present road access is poor - I know because I've been there!
  • No wonder the idea seems to have been shelved...it could, of course, be used for testing track and infrastructure innovations, rather than rolling stock.
  • LatchKeyKidLatchKeyKid Shipmate
    The English announcements on Japan's
    Shinkansen are voiced by an Australian, at least on the Tokaido Shinkansen, which is the line we use from Tokyo or Osaka to visit our family in Hamamatsu. "Shinkansen" is used by people for "bullet trains", though I think the term means the New (Shin) Railway. Shinkansen tracks are used exclusively by Shinkansen stock, which also do not run on the ordinary rail network.

    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-10-29/australian-donna-burke-voice-japan-high-speed-rail-announcement/104525878
  • On similar lines (see what I did there?), here is the French SNCF's ubiquitous jingle:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1UOIHsT8Ds

    I read somewhere that this is actually a recording of a Real Human Voice, and that the chanteuse receives a very small royalty each time it's played - but that may be an urban folk myth!

    I suppose English-language announcements in Japan are voiced by an Australian, because Australia is probably the nearest English-speaking country.
  • PuzzlerPuzzler Shipmate
    Sorry to interrupt, but can anyone tell me if the Leeds Settle Carlisle trains are air-conditioned? I haven’t yet booked my ticket. With this weather, even with cooler temperatures in the north, I am not sure about the journey if there is no air-con. I read that class 158 diesels which have air-con are normally used, but will that be every train?
  • Certainly all services yesterday and today have been 158s. The other "Sprinters" which, I guess, might make an appearance do have a section at the top of each window which can be opened.
  • I was under the impression that all trains these days had air-conditioning - I don't think we have any Sprinters and such in these parts.
  • Since I last dipped into this thread, I note that there was some discussion of Intercity 125s. Perhaps some here will be interested in this short video; we are making some space at our engine museum, and someone is getting some useful stuff which might see service on a railway.

    https://www.facebook.com/theenginemuseum/videos/709050798718134

    Also bunging up the barn are two might-be-saveable Deltic engines - marinised ones off a minesweeper. It would be nice if they found a new home, but I think discussions with their owner are at the moment inconclusive. We don't have too much relevant to railways, though I know there was the odd DMU which used a Gardner engine, of which we have quite a few. More of those appeared in buses, of course.
  • Funny how even a picture of an engine like that can create a warm feeling inside. Why are they so appealing? Perhaps because they are people-sized machines that we somehow relate to. I think you mentioned the Anson museum here once before, and I resolved to visit next time I visit my cousins in Greenfield. I will!
  • Funny how even a picture of an engine like that can create a warm feeling inside. Why are they so appealing? Perhaps because they are people-sized machines that we somehow relate to. I think you mentioned the Anson museum here once before, and I resolved to visit next time I visit my cousins in Greenfield. I will!

    Let me know if you are planning a trip and I'll try to be around. Watch out, as we don't have so many volunteers and so open days are Fri through the summer (not convenient for everyone!), one Sunday a month, and the odd special day on top.
  • PuzzlerPuzzler Shipmate
    Certainly all services yesterday and today have been 158s. The other "Sprinters" which, I guess, might make an appearance do have a section at the top of each window which can be opened.

    Thank you. I wrote that yesterday but must have forgotten to post.
  • I was under the impression that all trains these days had air-conditioning - I don't think we have any Sprinters and such in these parts.

    Do you (still) have any 465/466 "Networkers"? Perhaps they don't go further east than Slade Green. They have opening window vents.
  • Ah - I'd forgotten about the Networkers! I think you may be right, and they don't come this far any more.
  • ETA:

    I've noticed with amusement the efforts made by younger people to open windows in the compartment doors of old coaches on heritage railways. Some of you may remember how to lift the droplight slightly, and how to lower it to the required position by means of the leather strap and the brass knobs...

    IIRC, the ubiquitous Mk 1s have the sliding top vents.
  • Baptist TrainfanBaptist Trainfan Shipmate
    edited June 29
    The windows in the Mk 1 doors have a sort of push bar at the top.

    Last summer we travelled in a Ffestiniog carriage which had the leather straps.
  • Yes, that push-bar was to be found on Southern slam-door stock right up until they were finally taken out of service.

    The trick was not to push the bar, but to smite it mightily with the side of one's fist...
    :naughty:
  • Very Biblical (Old Testament of course).
  • The more mightily ye smote the thing, the easier it was to achieve the lowering thereof...there's a sermon in there somewhere, I think.
  • Wesley JWesley J Circus Host
    edited June 29
    The panicked looks of a group of young French students attempting to alight at Kingswear (Dartmouth Steam Railway), a couple of years back, when they noticed their slam-door carriage didn't have an inside door handle!

    A friendly heritage railway worker came to their rescue before I could. :)
  • Heehee...

    There are probably clips on YouTube of a Southern train of 4SUBs or 4EPBs arriving at Waterloo, with all doors swinging open, and the passengers rushing towards the barrier, before the train has stopped.
    :flushed:
  • Very dangerous if people were on the platform (not so bad at termini if the entrance gates were barred), also the risk of falling out.
  • Indeed it was, and I daresay there were a fair few injuries caused by falls, but there wasn't so much Elf and Safe Tea around in those days...
  • Wesley JWesley J Circus Host
    edited June 29
    Quite.

    Might I add, about my story: I would so have loved to do a Marcel Marceau mime impression on how to lower the door's window and manipulate the outside handle through the open window, because, well, being French they might have immediately understood! :D

    Unfortunately, it wasn't to be. But the thought still amuses me. :)
  • It would have been worth capturing on film, though!
    :wink:
  • Yam_castleYam_castle Shipmate
    Wesley J wrote: »
    Quite.

    Might I add, about my story: I would so have loved to do a Marcel Marceau mime impression on how to lower the door's window and manipulate the outside handle through the open window, because, well, being French they might have immediately understood! :D

    Unfortunately, it wasn't to be. But he thought still amuses me. :)

    😆😆😆😆 and a number of us sillier people too...
  • My son is a Health & Safety Consultant. This week he is working at a major cycling event in the Italian Alps. The resort has a useful website, with one page telling people how to arrive by various means of transport. The nearest station is Aosta which, according to the accompanying photograph, is reached by ... a Southern Railway Electrostar train! Who knew that they'd been sent to Italy?
  • SignallerSignaller Shipmate
    Ah - I'd forgotten about the Networkers! I think you may be right, and they don't come this far any more.

    Networkers don't have air conditioning for the passengers, but it was fitted to the driving cabs quite early on after objections by drivers to having to work in a greenhouse that faced the midday sun, and concerns by the regulator (me) that this was bad for their health and the passengers' safety.
  • Interestingly, that's just the opposite of the old 4-SUB whose cabs were cold and draughty.
  • My son is a Health & Safety Consultant. This week he is working at a major cycling event in the Italian Alps. The resort has a useful website, with one page telling people how to arrive by various means of transport. The nearest station is Aosta which, according to the accompanying photograph, is reached by ... a Southern Railway Electrostar train! Who knew that they'd been sent to Italy?

    I expect one of them has escaped via the Channel Tunnel, though how it got to Italy without a third rail, I don't know.
    Interestingly, that's just the opposite of the old 4-SUB whose cabs were cold and draughty.

    The compartments were cold and draughty, too, if some fresh-air freak wanted the window(s) open to let out the warm reek of damp overcoats and the clouds of fag smoke...
  • I expect one of them has escaped via the Channel Tunnel, though how it got to Italy without a third rail, I don't know.
    That sounds a very "Thomas the Tank" comment. Didn't some engines (Oliver, at least) escape by night from the Other Railway to Sodor to avoid being scrapped?

  • Yes, I think it was indeed Oliver.

    As for the wandering Electrostar, no doubt his Controller was annoyed that His Arrangements Had Been Upset, not to mention any prospective Passengers...
  • Especially if he had been tricked to believe that said Train was in fact at London Bridge.
  • betjemaniacbetjemaniac Shipmate
    edited June 30
    I expect one of them has escaped via the Channel Tunnel, though how it got to Italy without a third rail, I don't know.
    That sounds a very "Thomas the Tank" comment. Didn't some engines (Oliver, at least) escape by night from the Other Railway to Sodor to avoid being scrapped?

    I love the complete implausibility of a 14xx and two auto coaches legging it from Paignton (ish, IIRC) to Sodor overnight, out of gauge, and presumably with a crew who hadn’t signed the route. What even was the route from Devon to Barrow? Can’t imagine they went up the WCML…

    In real life it was either a pannier or a 14xx that was nicked from Wolverhampton Stafford Road MPD and driven most of the way to Droitwich (28 route miles) by joyriders IIRC…
  • Baptist TrainfanBaptist Trainfan Shipmate
    edited June 30
    And, of course, there are the antics of "The Titfield Thunderbolt".

    PS Oliver didn't have to come all the way from Devon, there were 14xx locos allocated to Oswestry and Croes Newydd (Wrexham). Don't know about the trailers though.
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