Yet Another Cycling Forum
Off Topic => The Pub => Topic started by: gordon taylor on 30 June, 2011, 04:08:51 pm
-
I don't understand trainspotters. There's a group of nearly a dozen blokes with fancy cameras and notebooks every time I go through Stafford station.
What are they spotting?
Why?
-
What are they spotting?
Trains.
-
I can understand trainspotters - trains are wonderful things (particularly steam trains)...
...but bus spotters ??? ??? Why?
There's a chap who spends most days stood in the Addenbrookes bus station taking down numbers.
-
... only 12 at Stafford! ... tootle up to Crewe and they're present in droves, lurking at the end of each platform.
One thing perplexes me - where to they buy those 1950s Thermos flasks in cream with the red border and cork stopper? [I guess someone will have a link here within 30 seconds ... ]
Rob
-
... only 12 at Stafford! ... tootle up to Crewe and they're present in droves, lurking at the end of each platform.
One thing perplexes me - where to they buy those 1950s Thermos flasks in cream with the red border and cork stopper? [I guess someone will have a link here within 30 seconds ... ]
Rob
www.1950sthermosincreamwithredborderandcorkstoppers-r-us.co.uk
-
If they had learned to ride bikes, they would have been audaxers.
* hides *.
-
Trainspotting is not just enjoying looking at trains, which is perfectly understandable. No, they have a book of all the train numbers in the country and attempt to see every one of them.
I got into it when I was about twelve years old ...for a few days, before getting bored stiff.
-
... only 12 at Stafford! ... tootle up to Crewe and they're present in droves, lurking at the end of each platform.
One thing perplexes me - where to they buy those 1950s Thermos flasks in cream with the red border and cork stopper? [I guess someone will have a link here within 30 seconds ... ]
Rob
www.1950sthermosincreamwithredborderandcorkstoppers-r-us.co.uk
ebay? (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/THERMOS-FLASK-VINTAGE-CORK-STOPPER-VERSION-/120741710264?pt=UK_Collectables_Kitchenalia_RL&hash=item1c1cc449b8) Well, you wouldn't want a new one...
-
I can understand trainspotting steam engines but not the soul-less contraptions of the modern rail network
-
What are they spotting?
Why?
Train numbers. To say they've seen it, and to cross it off as seen in their note books.
-
can you still get Ian Allen spotter's books?
-
You think trainspotters are weird.
There are also lorry spotters, and not just any lorry spotters, but specifically Eddie Stobart lorry spotters.
There is a program on telly purely about Eddie Stobart's haulage company, and on one they had a whole fleet of brand new lorries delivered, and before they were sent out on the road, a select group of nerds who had presumably all been invited or applied to be there, were let in to just walk around and look at them.
Before they could go out on the road and start making deliveries, they had to wait for them all to go round the whole warehouse and write down the number of each one.
Strange. :-\
-
What I don't get is do they ever actually go back and read their notebooks back to themselves (or, god forbid, each other), or is it write-once-and-forget?
-
No, they refer to their notebooks to cross off the numbers in their professionally-published books of numbers. Then they start all over again once they've got them all.
Must cost quite a lot in train tickets. The trainspotters at school (in London) used to talk about going to Crewe (apparently the Mecca for spotters).
-
I should think that their MS Excel spreadsheeting skills are second to none, as they can invariably recall what they saw and when. I once happened to endure a journey with a compartmentful of them discussing the various locos they had seen, when & precisely where. That isn't what drove me to seek alternative seating, however, it was the stench of BO that each one gave off.
All harmless enough though & I do sometimes wonder if my penchant for hub gears might seem just as weird to an outside observer.
-
When I was very young we decided to become car spotters. We started recording car reg numbers. It only lasted an hour or so and was excellent spotting aversion therapy.
-
Train admiration I can understand. "5,000 hp! 150 mph! 500 passengers! 1,000 tonnes of freight! Lands End to Vladivostok on a tankful!" But just noting down the serial numbers?
Still, I'm sure there's someone, somewhere, who jots down the frame numbers of parked bikes. "9C547, now I only 9C548 and I've got the whole series!"
-
And then there are the ones who video the trains with their camcorders. Not just interesting trains, but boring dirty normal trains. When on earth would you sit down and watch that video?
-
I had all the Class 50s and all the Class 253s. It was an excuse to get out of the house and ride our bikes to Thatcham station, which was unmanned at the time and therefore a good place to hang around and tell each other apocryphal tales of Marc Almond, King Dong and how many Germans our dads shot down in the war.
-
And then there are the ones who video the trains with their camcorders. Not just interesting trains, but boring dirty normal trains. When on earth would you sit down and watch that video?
I guess it makes it easier to check afterwards that you've noted down the correct number ::-).
But I'm in the "don't quite get it" category. Some of the technology/infrastructure is interesting, but the individual bits of rolling stock? Not really.
And making a special trip just to see trains? No chance (possible exceptions for steam, nuclear, or maglev...)
-
What are they spotting?
Why?
Train numbers. To say they've seen it, and to cross it off as seen in their note books.
It's a bit more exciting than that .... IF the spotter persuades the driver to let him get on the footplate then the number is marked off in the usual way BUT also has a "C" against it to denote "Cabbed"
... how do I know this ... the chap I rode the end to end with last year used to be a trainspotter (he may still be a closet one from his enthusiasm at the trains climbing Beattock!)
Rob
-
It is a well known fact that most train spotters are diverting unsavoury sexual impulses into a safe compulsion. We should be very thankful that they are collecting train numbers and not underwear (although many combine this hobby). Or body parts. The best possible place for spotters is somewhere like a train station or other public space where we can see them. You would not want these people to be behind you in the dark for instance.
-
I spotted a diesel engine names Kirst while I was at a station in Kent a few months ago. I've seen Sir John Betjemen and Lord Nelson quite frequently.
-
If you've been studying these individuals, does that make you a trainspotterspotter?
-
My friend Tom used to volunteer on a steam railway. He was stewarding on a steam service on day, and came across a chap holding a bit of paper out of the window. On questioning, it turned out that this chap collected a smut from every steam service he travelled on, and organised them in an album...
Actually, I can sort of understand the feeling of completing a set of numbers, but then I organise a tube of Smarties into colours.
And anyway, talk about casting the first stone, from a forum with a thread entitled "Cutlery Lust"...
-
If you've been studying these individuals, does that make you a trainspotterspotter?
A trainzit?
-
Ive still got my 'Platform 5' Motive Power' log books from 1980, 83 and 84 from my trainspotting days as a child and got a new 'Platform 5' 1998 edition a few year back. I don't go spotting trains anymore though if I see a engine I'll note it and mark it off in my log book
I loved the 'deltics as a child and the class 33' & 40's for there dirty loud engines.
Them Deltics n class 40's (the whistlers) shake the earth on rev.
Yeah I'm a freak.
This just turns me on. Class 40 thrashes out at piccadilly. Check out all the nut job train spotters
YouTube
- 40 181 thrashes out of Man Picc light engine after the last Skegness‏
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nwoVfpZEL0&NR=1&feature=fvwp)
-
If you've been studying these individuals, does that make you a trainspotterspotter?
There's a bloke in Leicester I haven't got yet.
-
I can understand trainspotting steam engines but not the soul-less contraptions of the modern rail network
Steam was before my time, so doesn't directly connect with me (though I enjoy seeing steam engines in museums etc), but I grew up near railway sidings and a station. The size, noise and power of a diesel engine was wondrous to me as a little boy, and the whole infrastructure of the rails and 'furniture' is such a different world from the roads that it's fascinating. There's loads of soul in it.
The only part I don't get is how adults can remain so fascinated that they collect numbers. But then they may not get how an adult can be fascinated wth reading and writing about bicycle parts.
-
It's some combination of OCD and Aspergers to which some men (it's almost always men) are prone. Egg collectors are a nastier variant.
-
You think trainspotters are weird.
There are also lorry spotters, and not just any lorry spotters, but specifically Eddie Stobart lorry spotters.
There is a program on telly purely about Eddie Stobart's haulage company, and on one they had a whole fleet of brand new lorries delivered, and before they were sent out on the road, a select group of nerds who had presumably all been invited or applied to be there, were let in to just walk around and look at them.
Before they could go out on the road and start making deliveries, they had to wait for them all to go round the whole warehouse and write down the number of each one.
Strange. :-\
I watch this programme, sadly. It is just wrong, wrong information (2 ways to cross the Thames? Legally drive for 13 hours per day?)
Anyway, you can often see these sad twats people sat by the side of roads, on bridges and hanging around service stations taking pictures of trucks.
Now i like trucks, i can go to a truck show and look at trucks, if i see a nice truck then i will take a picture maybe, but i dont get why you would want to sit on a bridge taking pictures and writing down notes on plates, names and fleet number.
"i think we will produce an excel spreadsheet and cross reference out notes" :facepalm:
One of them wanted their campervan/van being done like a stobby truck. That was the transexual and that other weird chap.
Its OCD, they will get a few then MUST GET MORE!!!!
A customer that goes into my brothers shop does it with buses. He can often be seen near where all the buses go taking pictures and having his note book out. Hi vis on aswell so he can be seen on the pavement, where all the other pedestrians are :facepalm:
-
There's probably a similar thread on a trainspotting forum enquiring as to WTF people ride bikes. ???
I used to be a trainspotter on the platform of Staines station waiting for my ever-late train to arrive. When it finally did arrive, I went back to scantilly-clad middle-age woman spotting! :thumbsup:
-
And anyway, talk about casting the first stone, from a forum with a thread entitled "Cutlery Lust"...
Quite. Live and let live, eh? Meanwhile, over on YATF:
No, honestly, they have! It's called "Interesting and Unusual Bikes You've Seen". 63 pages I tell you!
(edit: x-post with Steve!)
-
So should I stop taking pictures like this and posting them :-\
(http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee253/ianrsparrow/26062011257.jpg)
-
It's some combination of OCD and Aspergers to which some men (it's almost always men) are prone. Egg collectors are a nastier variant.
... with (proper) twitchers somewhere in the middle of the spectrum ;)
-
There's probably a similar thread on a trainspotting forum enquiring as to WTF people ride bikes. ???
Challenge accepted!
*googles*
*finds many, many threads about the intricacies of transporting bikes by trains, cycle parking at stations and even the occasional organised trainspotter bike ride (along disused railway lines, natch)*
*finds the obligatory cyclist hate thread, RLJ, helmet debate, "why don't they use the cyclepath", etc*
I'm forced to concede that, to a first-order approximation, trainspotters are just like us, only with more threads about trains, fewer threads about bikes and (presumably - I haven't checked) weak lemon drink instead of CAKE.
Actually, General Discussion - RailUK Forums (http://www.railforums.co.uk/forumdisplay.php?f=13) is like a parallel universe version of The Pub. It's even got some of the same threads.
-
I would expect trainspotters to take an interest in CAKE too - but simply not to have access to such a wide variety.
Variety? CAKE? Hmmmmmm ;)
-
So should I stop taking pictures like this and posting them :-\
(http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee253/ianrsparrow/26062011257.jpg)
steam is real :thumbsup:
-
(http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee253/ianrsparrow/08052011223.jpg)
;D ;D ;D
-
This
Foxfield Railway ~ A beautiful steam hauled trip through the Staffordshire Moorlands (http://www.foxfieldrailway.co.uk/)
is within easy cycling distance of joglersville,as is this
Churnet Valley Railway Home Page (http://www.churnetvalleyrailway.co.uk/)
Both are very popular
-
It's some combination of OCD and Aspergers to which some men (it's almost always men) are prone.
A former girlfriend of mine had a sister who was a trainspotter. She was young, pretty, shapely & blonde.
She was very popular.
She good draw rather well, & liked drawing train-related things. Most of her drawings were bought by trainspotters.
-
I can understand trainspotting steam engines but not the soul-less contraptions of the modern rail network
you've obvioulsy never done Dawlish Warren behind a Class 50 in full song (try that with a kettle without getting an eyeful of smuts)
sadder still are the coach tours that used to go to train depots to collect numbers. I only ever took down the numbers of ones I'd travelled behind :-\
-
(http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee253/ianrsparrow/08052011223.jpg)
;D ;D ;D
Is that at Colne Valley?
-
No, the Avon Valley Railway, Bitton.
The photo was taken at Oldland Common during their 'Thomas the Tank Engine weekend'.
-
Saw one today.
He brought his own headboard, so that he could put it on the train, and then take a photo of it.
(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm63/rower40/Bodmin%20Signalling%20Training/PICT0831.jpg)
Warning: Taking photos of trains might affect someone YOU know...
(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm63/rower40/Solstice%20Warty%202010/PICT0548.jpg)
-
Saw one today.
He brought his own headboard, so that he could put it on the train, and then take a photo of it.
And yet... My old friend on the railway also told of the time they arranged for a steam service to run with a wreath on the front, in memory of a long time volunteer who'd died the day before the run - might have been a restored loco's first trip I think.
There were outraged letters to the railway preservation press about the abomination of the wreath, wrecking people's photos.
-
Warning: Taking photos of trains might affect someone YOU know...
(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm63/rower40/Solstice%20Warty%202010/PICT0548.jpg)
Sh*t!
I think I was on that train :o
What does that mean ???
-
I work with a bus spotter.
-
I work with a bus spotter.
How did you find out ?
-
(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm63/rower40/Solstice%20Warty%202010/PICT0548.jpg)
That might not be a trainspotter, they could be a twitcher photographing the penguin on the stairs.
-
I work with a bus spotter.
Counselling?
-
There was a steam service running on the Wensleydale railway this last weekend :thumbsup:
-
I nearly crashed my bike on a Audax perm a few week back looking at a Scottish diesel engine crossing the Ribble Valley lol. The grass verge saved me ! I never did find out what diesel engine it was though I noticed what looked like it was hauling about 20 open containers of wooden logs, something I've not seen before.
How geeky is that !
-
(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm63/rower40/Solstice%20Warty%202010/PICT0548.jpg)
That might not be a trainspotter, they could be a twitcher photographing the penguin on the stairs.
More to the point, why is TimO crouching down in the foreground?
-
Because he is spheniscidaeaphobic.
-
I nearly crashed my bike on a Audax perm a few week back looking at a Scottish diesel engine crossing the Ribble Valley lol. The grass verge saved me ! I never did find out what diesel engine it was though I noticed what looked like it was hauling about 20 open containers of wooden logs, something I've not seen before.
How geeky is that !
Probably a Class 66 running the Carlisle-Chirk timber train via Ribblehead for Colas Rail.
-
I nearly crashed my bike on a Audax perm a few week back looking at a Scottish diesel engine crossing the Ribble Valley lol. The grass verge saved me ! I never did find out what diesel engine it was though I noticed what looked like it was hauling about 20 open containers of wooden logs, something I've not seen before.
How geeky is that !
Probably a Class 66 running the Carlisle-Chirk timber train via Ribblehead for Colas Rail.
I think it could have been. It had the new Scottish livery with large decals. :)
-
There were several examples of the species thermos anorakus lurking at Eaglescliffe station when I rolled up today.
I asked one of them what was coming through. "The Hogwarts Express," he replied, and he'd obviously committed some sort of faux pas, judging by the gasps and sucking of teeth from the others.
As well as the Hogwarts Express, it was the Mallard, being transported to Teesport for shipping to Germany. Even I've heard of that.
-
Probably a Class 66 running the Carlisle-Chirk timber train via Ribblehead for Colas Rail.
Go and sit on the geek step for 10 minutes..
-
As well as the Hogwarts Express, it was the Mallard, being transported to Teesport for shipping to Germany. Even I've heard of that.
Mallard! Going to Germany!
When are we going to get her back at the NRM!
-
It's to be displayed alongside the German machine which held the speed record for a month or two. Show those bally Krauts what for.
http://trainguy.co.uk/railway-museums/mallard-to-be-displayed-in-germany
-
Ah, cheers. Seems she'll be back in October. It's not quite same without her.
-
Couple of rubbish photos. They were better than the ones the trainspotters got, since they were standing on the bridge over the wrong line. Cue lots of dashing about as the train comes from a different direction...
A Mallard in the wild:
(http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6132/5955009883_2833730096_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/30024450@N04/5955009883/)
And the Harry Potter thing:
(http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6137/5955009895_69fd583c65_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/30024450@N04/5955009895/)
-
I have to admit that I can be a bit of a sailing boat spotter especially racing ones and old gaffers. I do it because I kind of understand how they work and am thus interested in their history and how people kit them. I don't take photos but when I spot one, I will try to approach and have a look.
I would imagine that trainspotters have similar motivations.
There aren't that many proper racing boats in the UK so when I get homesick, I check this: http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/
-
I've seen 7 Bromptons today. I failed to note all their colours, but two were all-over black.
Didn't get the frame numbers. :-[
-
must try harder ;D
-
Another thing that makes trains interesting:
The British railways are still using about a hundred 08 shunters built in 1953 to 1962, making them up to 58 years old. What great longetivity. Funny how they can only do 15 or 20mph, but that's all that's needed for shunting. Also funny how how they look nearly like steam engines.
Are these the oldest locos still in regular use on the UK's proper railways (excluding heritage stuff)?
My info is from Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Class_08). I've got some of the interest of a train spotter, but not the knowledge or desire to collect numbers.
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1a/08694_Great_Central_Railway.jpg/300px-08694_Great_Central_Railway.jpg)
-
Also funny how how they look nearly like steam engines.
The heritage railway that I am training to be a signalman on has a mixture of steam and diesel engines. The "class 10" shunter (same bodyshell as an 08) is treated as an honorary steam engine, because it, like the steam engines, is far quicker to change direction than the 2-cab diesels; on these, the driver HAS to close one cab down, get down onto the track, walk to the other end, and start the new front cab up. (Rulez, innit? Can't be driven from the back! Elf-n-safety gawn mad...)
Whereas an engine designed for shunting has just the one cab, and a reversing lever.
-
... it turned out that this chap collected a smut from every steam service he travelled on, and organised them in an album...
That's not trainspotting, that's art.
-
Did you hear the programme on the radio earlier about a chap collecting dust from various buildings around the world? I couldn't work out if it was a spoof.
-
Here's one of mine - one of those 'spur of the moment' shots taken when I was wandering through York Station. Given that my house backs onto the ECML, seeing a Class 66 is a bit 'meh', but one stabled in the station less so.
(http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6009/5984545556_62fffff520.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/interzen/5984545556/)
66421 in York (http://www.flickr.com/photos/interzen/5984545556/) by interzen (http://www.flickr.com/people/interzen/), on Flickr
Since it's summer, there've been quite a few kettles running back and forth along the mainline, most likely the Scarborough Spa Express.
-
Did you hear the programme on the radio earlier about a chap collecting dust from various buildings around the world? I couldn't work out if it was a spoof.
No radio, I'm working today.
-
Ah, so you can't do whatever you like on a heritage railway?
-
ps. Please don't forget to answer my question on the 08s. :) Are they the oldest locos still used on the proper railways?
-
ps. Please don't forget to answer my question on the 08s. :) Are they the oldest locos still used on the proper railways?
Pretty much, yes, if you rule out main-line certified steam locos.
The actual design of the 08s and their ilk predates nationalisation, just (they're originally an LMS design, if memory serves)
-
Ah, so you can't do whatever you like on a heritage railway?
I think the high-ups in that particular heritage railway wouldn't mind if the drivers of the diesels drove from the rear cab, but I guess these drivers don't want to get into bad habits when they go back to their day job. I can (sort of) see the point of the driver being able to (*shock horror*) SEE where he's going. Particularly when reversing over a couple of foot-crossings - which there are at this specific shunting location.
I bow to interzen's better knowledge of the history of the rolling stock being used out on the real railway.
-
Well, if we're showing Class 66 pictures, here's a picture that I took on holiday a couple of weeks ago:-
(http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6123/5984029305_a592e60329_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/31668252@N05/5984029305/)
P7150506 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/31668252@N05/5984029305/) by Chocolatebike1 (http://www.flickr.com/people/31668252@N05/), on Flickr
No doubt there is a web-site somewhere detailing the movements of these and other locos.
-
The Classes 20 and 37 are also from the steam era yet still survive. They've probably been re-engined though.
-
I note that this thread has, thankfully, been derailed from the rather sad (IMO) pastime of noting down engine numbers into the happier one of railway admiration. That makes sense to me, along with bridges, ships or even radio transmission masts.
-
ps. Please don't forget to answer my question on the 08s. :) Are they the oldest locos still used on the proper railways?
Pretty much, yes, if you rule out main-line certified steam locos.
The actual design of the 08s and their ilk predates nationalisation, just (they're originally an LMS design, if memory serves)
The class 11 design dates back to 1939, there was no difference in the engine or traction motors between them and the class 08.
-
Meanwhile the Swiss are still using loco's built in 1912.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhaetian_Railway_Ge_2/2
-
I can understand trainspotters - trains are wonderful things (particularly steam trains)...
...but bus spotters ??? ??? Why?
I used to know a guy who did this. We mocked him until we realised that he was an invaluable resource if we needed to get a bus from point to point B!
-
Meanwhile the Swiss are still using loco's built in 1912.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhaetian_Railway_Ge_2/2
These are my faves: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhaetian_Railway_Ge_6/6_I even if they date 'only' from the 1920s :) Then again, I'm a bit of a sucker for Swiss metre gauge railways (and narrow gauge stuff in general)
-
The class 11 design dates back to 1939, there was no difference in the engine or traction motors between them and the class 08.
But it's not still used on normal British railways, is it?
-
The class 11 design dates back to 1939, there was no difference in the engine or traction motors between them and the class 08.
But it's not still used on normal British railways, is it?
Not the Class 11, no.
I think the point being made is that whilst the Class 08s themselves are probably the oldest non-heritage locomotives in revenue-earning service, certain aspects of the loco's design are a lot older (pre-nationalisation and, in some cases, pre-WW2). The historical details of British diesel shunters are somewhat labyrinthine.
The previously mentioned Class 20s were introduced in the late 50s (1958-ish?) and the Class 37s in the early 60s (1962-3 rings a bell).
-
Zimbabwe still has working steam, many moons ago mrs ao and I did the ~450ml return trip from Bulawayo - Vic Falls as passengers pulled by a Class 14A Garratt.
(http://inlinethumb18.webshots.com/46481/2596301060101458909S600x600Q85.jpg)
(http://inlinethumb15.webshots.com/47246/2384364380101458909S600x600Q85.jpg)
Sorry about the quality...
My trainspotter anecdote, is that on my very first day at Uni, on a tour of the city - I sat next to a fellow student on the bus, who said he was going to get out at the station and walk back to the campus. I though OK, might as well. He leant over the railing to survey the marshalling yard and took out a notebook and began jotting details down, with me thinking 'what on earth is he doing!?' To this point I'd been oblivious to the whole phenomenon...
-
The Classes 20 and 37 are also from the steam era yet still survive. They've probably been re-engined though.
They've still got the same type of engine (some 37s were fitted with, IIRC, a straight 6 motor) but I doubt that any surviving locos are fitted with their original engines.
-
Well, if we're showing Class 66 pictures, here's a picture that I took on holiday a couple of weeks ago:-
(http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6123/5984029305_a592e60329_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/31668252@N05/5984029305/)
P7150506 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/31668252@N05/5984029305/) by Chocolatebike1 (http://www.flickr.com/people/31668252@N05/), on Flickr
No doubt there is a web-site somewhere detailing the movements of these and other locos.
I really like those Class 66 units - they are always dirty and hard working looking. I also think that they are some of the best looking locos, all function and no fucking about.
-
I really like those Class 66 units - they are always dirty and hard working looking. I also think that they are some of the best looking locos, all function and no fucking about.
Google for the PowerHaul Class 70 ... looks like it fell out of the ugly tree, hit every branch on the way down and was then given a good going over with the ugly stick for good measure.
-
Oh dear.
-
Here is one diesel engine I would love seeing. 47813. John Peel
(http://farm1.static.flickr.com/32/62883296_60963742df_o.jpg)
Heres 47813 John Peel & 47828 Joe Strummer pulling coaching stock. How cool is that ! :)
(http://www.railtourinfo.co.uk/images/47828_47813_sev_tun_jun.101107.jpg)
-
Joe Strummer? You serious? Cool. He was a trainspotter when young.
-
Then of course there is the class 139 :-\
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/73/Stourbridge_Parry_People_Mover.JPG/250px-Stourbridge_Parry_People_Mover.JPG)
-
Joe Strummer? You serious? Cool. He was a trainspotter when young.
Yep - http://www.class47.co.uk/c47_names.php?s_name=459&index=J
-
Joe Strummer a trainspotter ? No idea why or how you get your name on a diesel engine ?. I ve just seen also in my log book 47810 is called Captain Sensible lol >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
-
"Captain Sensible" has to be the best name ever.
Were there any green 47s or 31s?
I'm trying to work out what I used to see. Some of my earliest memories are standing at the front room window watching the trains on the sidings. Most of the locos were BR blue and yellow, but some were green. I liked the green ones.
-
To answer my own question: yes.
-
Surely it would make more sense if they were taking pictures of the trains, rather than just crossing them off a list, wouldn't there?
I saw a film recently about bird-spotting (I don't know the proper term) and the guy had a small book of 500 birds and was at like 496 and wanted to commit suicide when he got to 500. Strange thing to live for, I have to say. Or to die for. But then again, all people have their little quirkinesses, that's what makes lives good.
Hahah, bus spotting, that would be useful. Or like tram-spotting, would just call up my friend and ask which tram to take to somewhere and when it runs :) It's good to have friends like this.
I love trains, though. Being in them, seeing them, mostly the antique-looking and older ones, rather than these new flashy cars. More like this http://www.novinite.com/media/images/2011-04/photo_verybig_126944.jpg (http://www.novinite.com/media/images/2011-04/photo_verybig_126944.jpg). Something really soothing about trains and train-tracks.
-
Surely it would make more sense if they were taking pictures of the trains, rather than just crossing them off a list, wouldn't there?
Some do both, but still they have the satisfaction of seeing all the trains they can even without a record other than the numbers.
-
Have to say for the record - I just can't seem to get excited about diesel locos (yes even Deltics) or electric trains. ;)
-
Google for the PowerHaul Class 70 ... looks like it fell out of the ugly tree, hit every branch on the way down and was then given a good going over with the ugly stick for good measure.
One of them didn't fall out of the ugly tree - it fell 15 feet out of the crane lifting it out of the ship at Newport Docks. Made a bit of a "BONG" noise. Badly bent, written off, had to go back to Canada to be stripped for spare parts.
-
Here's exciting diesel noise:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqTCdl2gSEk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THwQzHJWVV4&NR=1
-
I really like those Class 66 units - they are always dirty and hard working looking. I also think that they are some of the best looking locos, all function and no fucking about.
Google for the PowerHaul Class 70 ... looks like it fell out of the ugly tree, hit every branch on the way down and was then given a good going over with the ugly stick for good measure.
Bah, that isn't good - the cabs are too flouncy.
(http://www.railwayherald.org/images/photos/750/750196321.jpg)
http://www.railwayherald.org/imagelink/196321
The 66 is just so much better looking.
(http://www.railwayherald.org/images/photos/750/750200055.jpg)
http://www.railwayherald.org/imagelink/200055
For anyone who finds train pictures and videos a massive timesink, I would caution you against looking at this site apart from when you are supposed to be working!
http://www.railwayherald.org/imaging.centre/classbyclass/
-
@ bigsey. I think the green livery was from the 1950' s and became redundent when British Railways became one in the 60's and all trains (most) had the classic BR blue/yello livery
Noticed one guy had his head stuck out of the window in one of those clips lol. As I did as a kid
Here is why you should not stick your head out of the window on a train
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQslnmcHOeM
-
@ bigsey. I think the green livery was from the 1950' s and became redundent when British Railways became one in the 60's and all trains (most) had the classic BR blue/yello livery
The rail blue with full yellow ends livery started to be introduced in the late 60s, although some locos carried the green livery into the early 70s. Generally, repainting was scheduled around major overhauls, which is why you can still see some Class 66s in EWS livery despite the fact that EWS doesn't exist any more (ex-EWS locos are now being painted in the DB Schencker red livery)
Without a doubt, my favourite livery was the Railfreight 'triple grey' scheme that was introduced just prior to privatisation in 1994.
-
I really like those Class 66 units - they are always dirty and hard working looking. I also think that they are some of the best looking locos, all function and no fucking about.
Google for the PowerHaul Class 70 ... looks like it fell out of the ugly tree, hit every branch on the way down and was then given a good going over with the ugly stick for good measure.
Bah, that isn't good - the cabs are too flouncy.
(http://www.railwayherald.org/images/photos/750/750196321.jpg)
http://www.railwayherald.org/imagelink/196321
The Class 70 is actually a fairly logical extension of what BR tried (and failed) to achieve with the Class 58, which is to say a modular, double-end cab freight loco. It actually reminds me of the bastard offspring of a Class 58 and a Class 67.
Whilst most of the coal traffic that goes past my house is Class 66 hauled, I've seen the occasional 70 and whilst they're as ugly as sin, the fact that they make relatively little noise whilst accelerating from a signal pulling nearly 2000 tonnes of coal is quite freaky. Can't beat a bit of good old Class 56 or Class 37 thrash though ;D
EDIT: Kinda like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UE12Ee9CgzE
Or this (hell, yeah!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66LoApI-Y94&feature=related
-
Damn you all.
I started this thread to point and laugh at trainspotters.
Today I noted down 66519.
Damn, damn, damn.
::-) Gits
-
Today I noted down 66519.
Damn, damn, damn.
::-) Gits
Gabba Gabba, we accept you
We accept you
One of us
One of us
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BBfybCPkjA
;D
-
One thing I've always wondered:
What synchronisation is there between locos when more than one is powering a train? What happens if one is trying to pull/push harder than another? I'm particularly wondering about pre-computerised diesels, and exlcuding "multiple unit" trains.
-
....The trainspotters at school (in London) used to talk about going to Crewe (apparently the Mecca for spotters).
I used to live in Chester and go through Crewe often on the train... banks of people with notebooks and cameras - quite impressive... ;)
Found this blockbuster... "Wet day at Crewe trainspotting". ;D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geJ7bsVplSc (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geJ7bsVplSc)
-
Somehow they link the locos to provide dual power in either a push-pull format which used to be the norm. for the Glasgow-Edinburgh route or in double header formats -- 2 x locos on the front.
I used to enjoy it when I was growing up and went all over the country with people from school looking at locos and depots. I spent happy weeks with rail rover tickets on the Southern Region or my father getting me into Plymouth Laira to get some numbers (laira was a hard depot to get in - it was a working repair facility full of heavy engineering stuff. H&S would go nuts now!)
-
One thing I've always wondered:
What synchronisation is there between locos when more than one is powering a train? What happens if one is trying to pull/push harder than another? I'm particularly wondering about pre-computerised diesels, and exlcuding "multiple unit" trains.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple_working
The majority of mainline BR locos used the 'blue star' MU system, which was electro-pneumatic based. 'Communication' between locos was handled via the impressive array of pipework you generally see on a loco's buffer beam. Because of the nature of the system, the driver of the leading loco was fairly limited in what he was able to do (basically control the engine and brakes of the trailing unit and that's about your lot) whereas nowadays drivers have a lot more control (this info via a mate of mine who's a driver for EWS/DB Schencker)
Later electric locos used something called TDM (Time Division Multiplex) which was, as the name suggests, electronic in nature - I think the Class 90 might have been the last class to use this. Some locos were only able to do multiple working with other members of the same class (Class 60 springs to mind here) with everything being controlled by the driver of the leading loco.
I suppose one way of describing multiple-working on modern locos is kind of like fly-by-wire, with the driver of the leading unit controlling both 'his' loco and the trailing loco from the same set of controls. I could be wrong here, though.
Geez, I'm a sad git ;)
-
....The trainspotters at school (in London) used to talk about going to Crewe (apparently the Mecca for spotters).
I used to live in Chester and go through Crewe often on the train... banks of people with notebooks and cameras - quite impressive... ;)
I used to pass through Crewe a fair bit when I was at Uni if I was getting the train from Aberystwyth to Durham. Nearly every time I went through it was raining ...
When I was a kid, the real 'go to' places were Carlisle if you wanted a bit of electric action (plus it was a scenic trip from Newcastle with some guaranteed loco haulage, generally a Class 31) or Thornaby, so you could see all the Teeside steel traffic as well as the comings and goings in Thornaby sheds and Tees Yard (usually involved a trip from Bishop Auckland to Thornaby on a crappy old DMU, sometimes with a change at Darlington, sometimes not) - hell, we used to do overnighters at Carlisle when there was a lot of container traffic up to Scotland (generally double-headed Class 86s, sometimes a couple of 87s)
There are a couple of hotspots near where I live, too - having had a look round YouTube there's a surprising amount of footage shot from the car parking area behind my house, as well as at Colton Junction where the ECML and Leeds lines diverge - if the layby at Colton is full of neds, then there's a fair chance that something interesting is afoot.
Probably shouldn't say it, but one of the reasons I bought my current house is because it gives me a nice view of the ECML and I can just sit and watch the trains if I feel like it :)
-
The best place to see Class 66 corrugated-iron pigs is...Didcot.
-
Probably shouldn't say it, but one of the reasons I bought my current house is because it gives me a nice view of the ECML and I can just sit and watch the trains if I feel like it :)
And since I came to visit that time, I always look out for your row of houses! Apart from anything else, it's a handy warning for Tesco, which is my cue to get my stuff together for getting off.
Of course, I use the mill at Bolton Percy as a cue to start looking out for your house...
-
As this post is so popular I recomend a Trainspotters day on bikes.
Ive not been trainspotting for years. 1983
-
Geez, I'm a sad git ;)
Well, I'm grateful for it, thanks. :) (It's not sad, really; it's happy).
Is there any automation when two steam engines work together?
-
Oops . As I was saying. 1983 was the last time I went out trainspotting.
The faves were, Sheffeid, Manchester, Doncaster, Glasgow, Crewe as a kid. A lot has changed. Maybe we could work something out for a day out spotting trains on bikes ?
Im not really interested in muesuem pieces, just working engines or engines ready for the scrap myself as museum pieces can be seen anytime. Whos up for a day of trainspotting on bikes then ? :)
-
Geez, I'm a sad git ;)
Well, I'm grateful for it, thanks. :) (It's not sad, really; it's happy).
Gosh, that makes me feel much better :)
Is there any automation when two steam engines work together?
To be honest, I don't know - I suspect not, and a double-headed, steam-hauled service would likely have involved a fair degree of understanding between the two drivers, especially if it was an unfitted freight (ie. the only brakes on the train were on the locomotive(s) and possibly a brake van)
The GWR did have a form of automation on their so-called auto-trains. These were rural passenger trains which generally consisted of a single 'auto coach' and a loco, generally a 14xx class. It was possible for the driver to control the loco from the 'cab' in the auto-coach, although I imagine that the fireman would have had to stay with the loco. Clearly this was useful on single-line branches where it may not have been possible to run the loco round to the other end of the train, and it also
saved time too.
Not sure what the requirements are for main-line certified steam locos, and I'm not sure if Tornado (a 'new' steam loco built to modern standards) is equipped for multiple working.
-
Oops . As I was saying. 1983 was the last time I went out trainspotting.
The faves were, Sheffeid, Manchester, Doncaster, Glasgow, Crewe as a kid. A lot has changed. Maybe we could work something out for a day out spotting trains on bikes ?
North York Moors Railway on a diesel gala weekend :)
Ride from Malton up to Whitby via Pickering, following the line of the NYMR/Whitby line if you like, and then get the train back. Hilly as hell, though.
EDIT: Next diesel gala is 16-18th September ... hmmmm .... ;D
-
How do environmentalists and asthma sufferers feel about diesel trains?
http://youtu.be/iBQeD5eevwc
-
Bring back steam.....http://www.5at.co.uk/
-
"Captain Sensible" has to be the best name ever.
You jest Shirley; wasn't that an April Fool article in RAIL where BR decided to make loco names more contemporary and streetwise; IIRC Roland Rat and Power of Grayskull were 2 suggestions;
FWIW the last namer I hauled was
Charlotte
Later electric locos used something called TDM (Time Division Multiplex) which was, as the name suggests, electronic in nature - I think the Class 90 might have been the last class to use this.
Geez, I'm a sad git ;)
Me too;
IIRC TDM involved sending signals down the train heating 13A flex that ran through the coaches, it was a work of genius as it worked with pretty much every coach in use on BR at the time as the steam heated stock had all expired. It needed a specially constructed driving trailer at the other end though. Prior to that they had to run special cables all the way through the train with special connectors between each coach a la Glasgow-Edinburgh push-pulls
-
How do environmentalists and asthma sufferers feel about diesel trains?
http://youtu.be/iBQeD5eevwc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvOzcP_BTt0&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9MLEw_Qw80&feature=related
This one is just epic, and has a bonus kettle too:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JpQivta6MQ&feature=related
Clag-tastic! :) Compare and contrast with a Class 66 starting up - positively weedy by comparison.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7cBHlOe9EE&feature=related
The last clip was filmed at .... Didcot :)
-
"Captain Sensible" has to be the best name ever.
You jest Shirley; wasn't that an April Fool article in RAIL where BR decided to make loco names more contemporary and streetwise; IIRC Roland Rat and Power of Grayskull were 2 suggestions;
John Peel, Joe Strummer and Captain Sensible really were names of 47s.
http://www.class47.co.uk/c47_zoom_v2.php?img=0712051002211
http://thequietus.com/articles/03195-the-damned-s-captain-sensible-on-why-he-likes-trains
(http://new.assets.thequietus.com/images/articles/3195/trainplate1_1257853169_crop_550x413.jpg)
-
What's the best train simulator for the PC - in terms of driving experience?
-
I sae an HST power car today called "Reading Panel Signal Box", which has to be The. Worst. Name. For. An. Engine. Ever.
-
Metronet for the London Underground has battery locomotives for maintenance called Walter, Lou, Anne, and Kitty. Say the names quickly together to get what line they were bought for.
-
How do environmentalists feel about diesel trains?
http://youtu.be/iBQeD5eevwc
uck em :P :P
-
How do environmentalists and asthma sufferers feel about diesel trains?
http://youtu.be/iBQeD5eevwc
They're generally better with the new MTU engines. The old Paxman Valenta engine (which the power car in the video has) could get desperately smoky.
-
The GWR did have a form of automation on their so-called auto-trains. These were rural passenger trains which generally consisted of a single 'auto coach' and a loco, generally a 14xx class. It was possible for the driver to control the loco from the 'cab' in the auto-coach, although I imagine that the fireman would have had to stay with the loco. Clearly this was useful on single-line branches where it may not have been possible to run the loco round to the other end of the train, and it also
saved time too.
I was asked about the connection between the auto-coach and the loco. While the driver in the auto-coach has mechanical control of the regulator (sorry, Reg, not you) and can apply/release the brake, there's also a bell communication too. So everything else (e.g. requesting more boiler pressure, sounding the loco whistle etc) is done in software.
The preserved railway I go and do the signalling on has an Auto-coach :thumbsup: But it doesn't carry enough punters to make it worthwhile :thumbsdown:
-
Here's an Autocoach.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMSm3CzviAc
The regulator was controlled by a really long spindle under the coach. In this case, the fireman has to work the reversing lever which, as well as its obvious function, sets the cut-off or "gear" of the locomotive - the proportion of the piston stroke for which fresh steam is admitted.
-
Damn you all.
I started this thread to point and laugh at trainspotters.
Today I noted down 66519.
Damn, damn, damn.
::-) Gits
Welcome to the sooty side.
-
Just seen 66002 at Filton Abbey Wood.
You've got me at it now :facepalm:
-
What's the best train simulator for the PC - in terms of driving experience?
A few years back I did quite enjoy playing Trainz (http://"http://www.auran.com/trainz/"). Can't say whether it was an accurate driving experience, however it does have a rather fun terrain editor! Much fun was had making roller coaster type tracks.... ;D
(Since moving to linux though, no more Trainz.... :( )
-
I think people interpreted the thread title, Exchange & Mart style, to be "Trainspotters. What have you?"
-
Thinking of exhaust, I like this video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYpXwLg5GeM&NR=1
(admin note: doesn't embed)
-
Yesterday, whilst zipping through Leighton Buzzard, I had to stop due to the narrow gauge train (http://www.buzzrail.co.uk/index.html) set running through. Sadly, they weren't running one of their steam engines, just a diesel shunter which was used on the Channel Tunnel.
(http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a239/FlyingDodo/2011%20rides/31%2007%202011/IMG_0611.jpg)
-
Maybe this ought to be "Interesting trains you've seen today" :)
Today's sighting: 37 706, in West Coast Railways' rather fetching maroon livery with small yellow warning panels stopped at a signal on the Down Slow line just outside Copmanthorpe. Needless to say, there was a pleasing amount of clag as it pulled away ;D
No photo, sadly - by the time I was able to extricate my iPhone from its case, 706 was merrily on her way towards York.
-
According to the beeb the traffic for all of the independent old maintained lines has increased 300% in the last 3 years. Anyone spot a trend here?
-
Just spotted first trainspotters of the day - a dozen at Crewe.
-
(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm63/rower40/Cornwall/PICT0896.jpg)
Something for everyone: trains, trainspotters, tent selling Real Ale, plume of smoke to annoy the "trains are a clean form of transport" faction. The plume was much blacker and thicker a few minutes earlier, but my camera wasn't to hand.
Methinks its prolly time to get a slightly better camera. Blurry photos aren't to everyone's taste, and it seems to have got worse since Nothing Happened. When I look into the lens, there's a drying mark on the inside.
-
Hmm. Shall have to try and get some pics of the various kettles that are working York station on the Scarborough Spa Express. Saw "Oliver Cromwell" (Britannia class) heading south yesterday under a seriously impressive cloud o' clag.
A bit of extrapolation led me to the conclusion that the atmosphere in York station during the steam days must have been so thick you could chop it into cubes and build houses with it.
-
On the way back from Nailsea yesterday I thought I had found some trainspotters. Four of them standing on a bridge on the sustrans route over the railway. But somehow they didn't look nerdy enough and - two of them were women! So I stopped and asked, turned out they were waiting for a steam train. It had been due about 2 o'clock, by now it was 2:50, but in a couple of minutes it arrived - The Atlantic Express bound for Exeter, hauled by a Battle of Britain class from 1935 and a something else from the 50s. So they said. Lovely dark green colour anyway. Lots of coal smoke, which I find surprisingly aromatic, in contrast to diesel smoke.
-
This reminds me. At Tamworth station the other week, there were a couple of trainspotters. I can't imagine why, as it seems a plain, suburban type of station, without a hidden steam engine to excite them.
-
The cross-country line and WCML cross over in the station, so I suppose they'd have a few trains to look at. Also used to be a royal mail centre so maybe looking for a mail train (all info thanks to wikipedia)
-
On the way back from Nailsea yesterday I thought I had found some trainspotters. Four of them standing on a bridge on the sustrans route over the railway. But somehow they didn't look nerdy enough and - two of them were women! So I stopped and asked, turned out they were waiting for a steam train. It had been due about 2 o'clock, by now it was 2:50, but in a couple of minutes it arrived - The Atlantic Express bound for Exeter, hauled by a Battle of Britain class from 1935 and a something else from the 50s. So they said. Lovely dark green colour anyway. Lots of coal smoke, which I find surprisingly aromatic, in contrast to diesel smoke.
Aha! That special, the Atlantic Coast Express (ACE), called at Bodmin Parkway, where some of its passengers were connecting onto "my" heritage railway. But it called there about 120 mins late. So our train (having waited 2 hours) then did a "spirited" run from Bodmin Parkway to Bodmin General, then to Boscarne Junction and back, before I could close up for the night. Yes, I was signalman for that day.
The plan was that some of the railtour passengers were going to do the full route of the ACE by biking from Boscarne Junction along the Camel Trail to Padstow. But there didn't seem to be any takers for that option - not just because it was by now pitch dark - they all came back aboard the train to Bodmin General, where they got onto road coaches for Padstow and Newquay.
I'd've ridden that path in the dark like a shot.
-
Hmm. Shall have to try and get some pics of the various kettles that are working York station on the Scarborough Spa Express. Saw "Oliver Cromwell" (Britannia class) heading south yesterday under a seriously impressive cloud o' clag.
A bit of extrapolation led me to the conclusion that the atmosphere in York station during the steam days must have been so thick you could chop it into cubes and build houses with it.
I spotted this from the bridge over the railway on Bootham last Thursday - the last day of the service I gather. According to the website, it might be The Scots Guardsman, although that name plate could say Oliver Cromwell if you squint.
(http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6069/6121640254_d131d81893.jpg)
And then on Sunday, not exactly a spot, as it was at the NRM, a replica of a grand old lady.
(http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6069/6121114691_c78f6e526a.jpg)
We paid our £2 for a ride up and down behind her...
(http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6069/6121666492_90f1a02a5a.jpg)
She was lovely. A very soft chuffing, and a little shiver everyso often from a valve as she released steam pressure. And when we reached the end of the line in reverse, the driver coasted to the end, and then went into forward so gently, we could hardly feel the transition. Several of us remarked on the smoothness of the move.
-
Thread Bump.
Brand-new steamy goodness (Tornado) was parked briefly outside my window. It has since departed southbound with its support coach.
-
Accidental trainspotting, but I couldn't help but note that the HST power car I loaded my bike next to on the way back from Scotland on Sunday was confusingly named "DELTIC 50 1955-2005". I assume that's a commemorative title.
(This one actually dispensed electrons.)
-
Accidental trainspotting, but I couldn't help but note that the HST power car I loaded my bike next to on the way back from Scotland on Sunday was confusingly named "DELTIC 50 1955-2005". I assume that's a commemorative title.
(This one actually dispensed electrons.)
Yep - the Deltic Prototype (DP1) took to the rails in 1955, but was withdrawn in 1961. It's sister loco, DP2, was destroyed in a collision just outside Thirsk in 1967. As well as that, the Deltic locos that most people know of became Class 55 under the TOPS scheme.
Not sure of the significance of 2005, other than being 50 years since DP1 was introduced, since the Class 55s were withdrawn from mainline service in 1981.
I'll get me anorak ...
-
Not sure of the significance of 2005, other than being 50 years since DP1 was introduced, since the Class 55s were withdrawn from mainline service in 1981.
Googlepedia suggests that particular Class 43 was re-engineered in 2005, so named after the Deltic on account of it being the 50th anniversary.
This is how it starts, isn't it?
-
Not sure of the significance of 2005, other than being 50 years since DP1 was introduced, since the Class 55s were withdrawn from mainline service in 1981.
Googlepedia suggests that particular Class 43 was re-engineered in 2005, so named after the Deltic on account of it being the 50th anniversary.
This is how it starts, isn't it?
Yes.
Yes it is ...
-
Yep - the Deltic Prototype (DP1) took to the rails in 1955, but was withdrawn in 1961. It's sister loco, DP2, was destroyed in a collision just outside Thirsk in 1967.
It's all going to get heated now...
DP2 wasn't DP1's sister. They had the same bodyshell, but DP2 was the testbed for the class 50 engine.
I first saw DP1 in the SCIENCE Museum in That London. I've a suspicion that it's been re-homed to York. Splendid colour scheme - pity it doesn't run any more.
-
Yep - the Deltic Prototype (DP1) took to the rails in 1955, but was withdrawn in 1961. It's sister loco, DP2, was destroyed in a collision just outside Thirsk in 1967.
It's all going to get heated now...
DP2 wasn't DP1's sister. They had the same bodyshell, but DP2 was the testbed for the class 50 engine.
I first saw DP1 in the SCIENCE Museum in That London. I've a suspicion that it's been re-homed to York. Splendid colour scheme - pity it doesn't run any more.
I'm not going to argue - for one thing I lack the inclination to do so right now.
The Deltic prototype is part of the National Collection, but is (currently) housed at Shildon rather than York. May well take a look when I next go up to see the parents.
-
Definitely at Shildon, no engine in there, but looking very fine indeed.....
When you visit, say hello to my little friend, ex Sierra Leone Hunslet no85, who is sat on a well wagon there for 5 years while we save up for a new boiler for her, so she can return to the Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway.
Sad bugger that I am, I have driven that loco, done maintenance work on it, ridden behind it countless times, and have an original painting of it, and a 16mm scale live steam model of it.
Where's my anorak?
-
Accidental trainspotting, but I couldn't help but note that the HST power car I loaded my bike next to on the way back from Scotland on Sunday was confusingly named "DELTIC 50
how sick is that? given that (to quote the stickers you could buy at the time)
"HST's murdered the Deltics"
hopefully they'll scrap the ugly bastards soon and the Deltics will outlive them :)
-
Sad bugger that I am, I have driven that loco, done maintenance work on it, ridden behind it countless times, and have an original painting of it, and a 16mm scale live steam model of it.
Where's my anorak?
We have a winner ;D
-
how sick is that? given that (to quote the stickers you could buy at the time)
"HST's murdered the Deltics"
hopefully they'll scrap the ugly bastards soon and the Deltics will outlive them :)
Fabulous though the Deltics were, the HSTs saved Inter-City, and, by extension, Britain's railways. That they're still carrying passengers over 30 years after their roll-out, is testament to their superb design. Lower track-forces at 125mph than the Deltics (and other loco-hauled trains) at 100mph (so as not to antagonise the Civil Engineers), and ability to stop from higher speeds in the same distance (ditto the Signalling Engineers) meant that their delayed introduction was only due to union obstreperousness. (Opens another can of worms...)
-
Thought it was about time to post a workhorse EMU that I rather like.
http://www.railwayherald.org/imagelink/145498
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Class_319
The Class 319 dual-voltage EMU pictured at Farringdon, my 'work' station (as opposed to my 'home' station).
I like these trains primarily because they have windows that open, which makes being a passenger so much more bearable than the stuffy, smelly air 'conditioned' (I think that they really mean 'de-conditioned') that denote the Class 375s that I occasionally travel on.
I also like watching the white-blue arc every time the train raises or drops its pantograph at Farringdon (dropping it to go South, raising it to go North).
-
Now that the Scarborough Spa Express has stopped running for this year, the traffic trundling past my office window at home is the usual mix of Class 91s, HSTs, 66s and DMUs of various sorts (there are no EMUs operating out of York that I know of) - bog-standard East Coast Mainline fare, really. We've had a couple misty/foggy nights recently, though, so the 91s usually put on a good light show if there's enough moisture in the air - mucho sparking.
Recent high point, if it can be called such, was one of the PowerHaul Class 70s; no heavy haul loco should be as quiet as those things are, it's just a pity they look like they fell out of the Ugly Tree and caught every branch on the way down, after which someone gave them a good going over with the ugly stick.
Last railway pic I took was this one:
(http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6009/5984545556_62fffff520_z.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/interzen/5984545556/)
66421 in York (http://www.flickr.com/photos/interzen/5984545556/) by interzen (http://www.flickr.com/people/interzen/), on Flickr
Noteworthy if only because it's quite rare to see a loco stabled in York station proper (they usually stick 'em in the yard near Holgate bridge)
-
The annual Autumn Steam Gala on the Severn valley Railway was a wonderful opportunity for trainspotterspotting, including many who get a great deal of pleasure playing with the lifesize trainset. It's not an event I would normally attend, but I was staying at my sister's about 50 ft from the Bridgnorth terminus, and I was awoken by 6024 being fired up and shunted, so I nipped out after breakfast to see what was going on.
(http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6171/6207163406_acdbf08751.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/johnspooner/6207163406/)
(http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6014/6206645357_6efbab724d.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/johnspooner/6206645357/)
(http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6020/6207159412_5ccd48f9ef.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/johnspooner/6207159412/)
(http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6163/6207157806_1d282c1c9c.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/johnspooner/6207157806/)
(http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6129/6207439537_d7a7f44884.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/johnspooner/6207439537/)
And plenty of impressive bits of machinery
(http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6176/6207167084_8686a5fcbc.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/johnspooner/6207167084/)
(http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6021/6207489849_aac447f76f.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/johnspooner/6207489849/)
-
Nice bit of trainspotting on my trip to Leicester on Saturday.
I travelled up there in a very shiny Class 43 HST, which was definitely feeling a bit hot - the intake fans were deafening as I walked past the engine to board the train. Inside it had been refitted fairly recently - everything was nice and clean, functioning (including the loos) and not worn out. I had a fairly peaceful Standard Class journey up in a thankfully child-free carriage, I have a suspicion that the early departure meant that some of my fellow adult passengers were too hungover to listen to overly loud music. ;D
(http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t299/jacomus-rides-Gen/Leicester%20Trains%2001%2010%202011/Class43HST43043StPancras1.jpg)
I also had a preview of the Class 222 Bombadier built trains that I would be travelling home on.
(http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t299/jacomus-rides-Gen/Leicester%20Trains%2001%2010%202011/Class222222020222010StPancras2.jpg)
A few pics from my arrival at Leicester
(http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t299/jacomus-rides-Gen/Leicester%20Trains%2001%2010%202011/Class43HST43043Leicester2.jpg)
(http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t299/jacomus-rides-Gen/Leicester%20Trains%2001%2010%202011/Class43HST43043Leicester1.jpg)
(http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t299/jacomus-rides-Gen/Leicester%20Trains%2001%2010%202011/Class43HST43043Class222222104Leicester3.jpg)
For my return journey in the evening I was on the 2145hrs from Leicester, which suffered a delay and departed at 2215. It was a Class 222 (pictured below on arrival at St. Pancras). Due to the train heaving with noisy, obnoxious drunks and noisier, more obnoxious children, I decided that a £9 upgrade to First Class would be well worth it.
I shared one of the pristine First Class carriages with a woman who, I assume, was also seeking solace from the madness of the rest of the train. Muted colours, comfy leather seats with proper headrests to hold your head should you sleep, a table, a smart little table light and blissful peace and quiet... and no ticket check. :thumbsup: The Class 222 has an engine per-carriage, but the noise wasn't particularly intrusive.
(http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t299/jacomus-rides-Gen/Leicester%20Trains%2001%2010%202011/Class222222003StPancras3.jpg)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Class_222
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Class_43_(HST)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Class_170
Bonus DMU - Class 170 at Leicester
(http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t299/jacomus-rides-Gen/Leicester%20Trains%2001%2010%202011/Class185170108Leicester5.jpg)
-
The only thing that's bonus about the Class 170 is the smell of poo.
-
I've just seen the last remaining class 17; it was at the southern extremity of the West Somerset Rly as my Voyager hurtled through. I've never seen it before. Or have I got confused - is it a class 14 that they've got?
No chance of a photo. We were out of visual range in less than the time it takes to say "What was tha..?" let alone "Where's my camera?"
-
They've definitely a class 14 at the West Somerset Railway, this one: -
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9b/Wiliton_D9526_double_headed.jpg/300px-Wiliton_D9526_double_headed.jpg)
-
The difference is the cab windows - they're a lot bigger on the Class 17, and the cab itself is quite a bit longer too. I can see how the two would be confused at a distance, though.
-
Class 14 it was. I blame the apparent shortening on relativistic effects!
-
There was something going on along the Avon Valley Railway today (I think that's the name, the one that runs alongside the Bristol-Bath Railway Path - or maybe I should say the Path runs alongside it). Apparently it was Black 5, which is famous for something or other. Being big and black, I suppose. It was very shiny and smoky. There were several other steam engines moving around, including a small green one with a big Polish eagle on the front of the boiler. Apparently that doesn't even belong to the Railway but was brought over by a private individual. I'd like to think of it driving across Europe to get here, but I expect it was brought over on a ship. Or a lorry.
-
Not Black Five, which implies a single loco, but A black five, a class of locos...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LMS_Stanier_Class_5_4-6-0
-
Are we turning into train anoraks by the power of google?
-
Not Black Five, which implies a single loco, but A black five, a class of locos...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LMS_Stanier_Class_5_4-6-0
I misheard then, or possibly I was misinformed. You display a frightening amount of train knowledge, Arch. Do you have a paunch, a thermos flask and grubby sandwich box, an untidy beard and a tendency to count things obsessively? ;)
-
Not Black Five, which implies a single loco, but A black five, a class of locos...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LMS_Stanier_Class_5_4-6-0
I misheard then, or possibly I was misinformed. You display a frightening amount of train knowledge, Arch. Do you have a paunch, a thermos flask and grubby sandwich box, an untidy beard and a tendency to count things obsessively? ;)
Hmmm, four out of five ain't bad!
Nah, I know some little bits, from knowing a guy with a fairly encyclopedic knowledge. I've forgotten a fair bit.
-
I meant to post this near the beginning of the thread and forgot but was involved in a sponsored train spot at school. Can't remember many details but Crewe might have been involved.
-
Damien Alban production Monkey had a very impressive Pendalino advertising the theatre production. I seen it a few year back in Manchester Piccadilly. Not sure if its still about. Shame if its gone. Probably the best looking train for artwork Ive ever seen
(http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1026/1332951746_5a4b897eb0.jpg)
(http://www.oneinchpunch.net/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2007/05/monkey-king-train3.jpg)
(http://static.nme.com/images/gallery/84_MonkeyTrain_L310507.jpg)
(http://www.coolhunting.com/culture/assets/images/gorillaztrain.jpg)
(http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1033/646099510_c98748a175_b.jpg)
-
That'd turn a few heads, be a shame if it's been repainted. I quite like looking at the graffiti on forrin trains when I get chance to see them.
-
I'd just like to say that I'm loving this - you can't have too many trains. It's an n+1 thing.
Since scotrail put on the extra fast trains from Embra to Glasgow central, my life has been transformed by the ability to easily travel with bicycle to one of my regular places of work in darkest lanarkshire. Lots of trains have been seen and enjoyed.
-
Thread necromancy because we haven't had much steamy goodness around here recently.
From/THROUGH my office window:
(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm63/rower40/IMAG0035.jpg)
That's as much zoom as the camera on my phone allows. It looks bigger in real life.
-
Where is it going?
-
Where is it going?
Nowhere. Or possibly back into the Railway Technical Centre. There's an ever-growing cluster of hi-viz vests on the adjacent track, peering at the wheels and driving gear. The photo I posted shows two - it's now at least 5. I suppose this is what proving-runs are for.
-
Crop, Rower, crop! Please.
-
Crop, Rower, crop! Please.
Sorry - that assumes IT and photo-manipulation skillz which are well beyond me. I'll attempt to learn sometime.
-
It also assumes you want to spend time doing it. :)
Cropping is easy with Irfanview (free).
-
Itsok. We can see a larger version of the steamy goodness here: http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm63/rower40/IMAG0035.jpg
-
Thread bump. More trainspotter-spotting.
Start them train-spotting when young...
(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm63/rower40/Random%20Trains/SDC11106.jpg)
-
When Oli was still but a Very Little Nephew, we had a day out at Alresford steam railway, where I took this especially nice family group.
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8161/7545636448_29d347b010.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/59866846@N02/7545636448/)
S7001125 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/59866846@N02/7545636448/) by Panticle (http://www.flickr.com/people/59866846@N02/), on Flickr
Why look at boring Auntie Sue's camera, when there's a TRAIN behind you....
-
Black one, so that's Donald or Douglas, isn't it?
-
Black one, so that's Donald or Douglas, isn't it?
Can't be. The maker's plate (just above the bufferbeam) says Crewe. Donald & Douglas were from Glasgae.
-
Jack is a trainspotter. When he's out on his walk, he'll quite happily sit for ages, watching trains go past the allotments. And on Saturday (his first birthday) his treat was a trip on the Bo'ness Steam Railway. He loved it and they even gave him a special doggy ticket! :thumbsup:
-
Can't be. The maker's plate (just above the bufferbeam) says Crewe. Donald & Douglas were from Glasgae.
Donald and Douglas were essentially Caledonian Railway Class 812, though Donald carried an imaginary BR number. Black was their freight livery although The Fat Controller soon had them painted in blue, ostensibly North Western Railway blue, but Caley blue to trainspotter readers. Oli is looking at a LMS Ivatt Class 2.
How about some LNER blue?
-
How about some LNER blue?
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7218/7232520888_921be897dd.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/beqi/7232520888/)
"Oh, no, Officer. We didn't cut down these trees just so that we could get a proper view. No, really."
-
I was slightly worried about myself on my way home from Scotland when I noticed a class 57 parked up on the through line at Carlisle and immediately knew it was there as a thunderbird loco for the WCML (which was having overhead power problems at the time).
I really do blame this thread
-
While I was making an impromptu connection at Doncaster just now, a GBRF freight train rumbled through. 3 class 66 engines, three hopper wagons (empty). Now THAT's a power-to-weight ratio!
-
You saw a Class 66 in the wild? I thought they were all at Didcot.
-
While I was making an impromptu connection at Doncaster just now, a GBRF freight train rumbled through. 3 class 66 engines, three hopper wagons (empty). Now THAT's a power-to-weight ratio!
Maybe someone had finally cottoned on to the fact that light engine movements aren't exactly cost effective. I shudder to think how much money DB Schenker must be pissing up the wall given the number of Class 66s I see running light past my house.
Anyway ...
About half an hour ago I heard a 'certain' sound which I'd not heard for a while - lo and behold, the Network Rail weedkiller train top'n'tailed by DRS Class 20s :thumbsup:
-
We've got a couple class 20s parked in the marshalling yard at the South of site. They make a change as we are usually a class 37 only zone
-
We've got a couple class 20s parked in the marshalling yard at the South of site. They make a change as we are usually a class 37 only zone
Back to the 1950s!
Wasn't Diesel from The Railway Series a class 20?
-
IANATS, but I spotted a reference elsewhere to the Luxtorpeda (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luxtorpeda). Thought some of you might be interested.
-
Threadcromancy!
I present: The commemorative 150 years of the Tube, restored and running it's original route. Snapped at Farringdon.
The odd looking unit number 12 was a very early electric electric locomotive, which seemed to be helping the steam train for some reason. Also snapped was a maintenance train of some sort.
You can tell that I was a little caught out for the first pic, as the lens on my phone was smeared with finger grease :facepalm: Annoyingly the train was running really quite fast, which my phone couldn't quite cope with, though I'm pleased with my panning ability luck for the side-on photo, even if there is still a smear on the lens.
The random not-as-old pic is only in there because I think it is a good photo :)
(http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t299/jacomus-rides-Gen/IMAG0281_zpsf4d10f3f.jpg)
(http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t299/jacomus-rides-Gen/IMAG0320_zps5b3003cf-1_zps194e49bf.jpg)
(http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t299/jacomus-rides-Gen/Metropolitan1_zpsecb64949.jpg)
(http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t299/jacomus-rides-Gen/IMAG0308_zpse9d6e7ff.jpg)
(http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t299/jacomus-rides-Gen/NewishTube_zps8ad62112.jpg)
(http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t299/jacomus-rides-Gen/IMAG0295_zps06011ab4.jpg)
-
I'll be taking an old trainspotter to the Great Goodbye at Shildon this week :thumbsup:
-
Butterfly took this shot of the Severn Valley Railway:
(https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7026/13639287655_ea3963b98b_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/mMfV2Z)
-
Bit unexpected, but while waiting at Ravenglass to go home after playing on the Ratty with Crinklylion and the cubs on Tuesday, I was passed by a nuclear flask train. Two Class 37s pulling one truck: -
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-op3yKFFdgIU/U-Jk8uUb6wI/AAAAAAAAGi0/mGNmFlmF7fk/w737-h553-no/IMG_20140805_172339)
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Dz3uHu6HCd0/U-Jk1tJh2II/AAAAAAAAGis/ryCxX2vCKAo/w737-h553-no/IMG_20140805_172344)
-
Oh! I thought they only operated under the cover of darkness. Read somewhere there is/was one of those which passed through my station regularly, but only during the night, so maybe it depends on location.
-
Often during the day round here. That one would be heading out empty going that way anyway
-
When Trawsfynydd was being decommissioned the nuclear train used to come through Chester station at 18:20 every working day. About 5 minutes later it went by the end of my garden. You could hear it from miles away as the exhaust beat of the 2 engines went in and out of sync as it climbed the incline away from the city.
-
Just saw three maroon BR carriages sandwiched between 4498 Sir Nigel Gresley and 61994 The Great Marquess. On their way from a steam gala apparently.
-
Get your geek on.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/11/10/network_rail_new_measurement_train_ride/?page=1
-
Saw this on Twitter.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v249/Bloke_on_a_bike/Mobile%20Uploads/IMG_20141130_173206_zps054d154d.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Bloke_on_a_bike/media/Mobile%20Uploads/IMG_20141130_173206_zps054d154d.jpg.html)
-
Good spot Basil!
Normally they only run the Class II on that line.
-
Oh! I thought they only operated under the cover of darkness. Read somewhere there is/was one of those which passed through my station regularly, but only during the night, so maybe it depends on location.
Probably at night where the daytime schedule is full.
-
The Titfield Thunderbolt's on telly this morning, a glorious Ealing comedy filmed on a recently-closed Somerset railway line in 1952. They don't make 'em like that any more, more's the pity.
-
The Titfield Thunderbolt's on telly this morning, a glorious Ealing comedy filmed on a recently-closed Somerset railway line in 1952. They don't make 'em like that any more, more's the pity.
Awww, missed it. That's one of the few Ealing comedies that I've not seen. I've seen the ending about 3 times.
-
On iplayer until tomorrow morning. Location may mean this isn't helpful to you, of course.
-
:D
-
Rudyard Lake Steam Railway in Staffordshire for sale
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-stoke-staffordshire-30830799
Hmm. Must buy a lottery ticket this weekend.
-
My new favourite website
http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/sites.shtml (http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/sites.shtml)
I'm sure I can fill some gaps (if I can find the discs with the pics on, that is)
-
You evil person!
-
Bit unexpected, but while waiting at Ravenglass to go home after playing on the Ratty with Crinklylion and the cubs on Tuesday, I was passed by a nuclear flask train. Two Class 37s pulling one truck: -
<snip>
Niiiiiice spot. :thumbsup:
I'm guessing they run 2 locos in case one breaks down on route, because Shirley the flask can't outweigh the towing capacity for a unit?
-
Bit unexpected, but while waiting at Ravenglass to go home after playing on the Ratty with Crinklylion and the cubs on Tuesday, I was passed by a nuclear flask train. Two Class 37s pulling one truck: -
<snip>
Niiiiiice spot. :thumbsup:
I'm guessing they run 2 locos in case one breaks down on route, because Shirley the flask can't outweigh the towing capacity for a unit?
Precisely. Not as hard to spot round here as many other places really as that's just down the line from Sellafield. THey always double up on locos to make sure the train keeps moving as it would be a security issue if it broke down while carrying material to the site. Often 2 class 37s, though they also have some Class 20s they mix in with them. Both the 20 and 37 are a bit underpowered compared to current freight locos (not that this matters with only a flask or two to pull), but have good route avaliability so probably are a good fit for the wiggly little line along the Cumbrian coast.
-
Bit unexpected, but while waiting at Ravenglass to go home after playing on the Ratty with Crinklylion and the cubs on Tuesday, I was passed by a nuclear flask train. Two Class 37s pulling one truck: -
<snip>
Niiiiiice spot. :thumbsup:
I'm guessing they run 2 locos in case one breaks down on route, because Shirley the flask can't outweigh the towing capacity for a unit?
Precisely. Not as hard to spot round here as many other places really as that's just down the line from Sellafield. THey always double up on locos to make sure the train keeps moving as it would be a security issue if it broke down while carrying material to the site. Often 2 class 37s, though they also have some Class 20s they mix in with them. Both the 20 and 37 are a bit underpowered compared to current freight locos (not that this matters with only a flask or two to pull), but have good route avaliability so probably are a good fit for the wiggly little line along the Cumbrian coast.
Cool, thanks mcshroom :thumbsup:
-
They're fixing up some A1s.
This is the view of the end of my street wot I lives on :D
(https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7708/16731888924_842ccd3813.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/ruxiDw)May 2015 608 (https://flic.kr/p/ruxiDw) by ruthturner3 (https://www.flickr.com/people/106826773@N02/), on Flickr
-
I like trains well enough, but the only thing that really interests me if if they're roughly on time.
Visited (http://prettygoodbritain.com/wp/?p=4858) the London Transport Museum Depot on their open day last week. It was pretty congested; reminded me of those trains you see in India with passengers riding on top...
(http://www.prettygoodbritain.com/pics/liltrain.jpg)
-
They're fixing up some A1s.
This is the view of the end of my street wot I lives on :D
(https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7708/16731888924_842ccd3813.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/ruxiDw)May 2015 608 (https://flic.kr/p/ruxiDw) by ruthturner3 (https://www.flickr.com/people/106826773@N02/), on Flickr
To be precise, an A1, or more precise THE A1, as its the only one (none were preserved), wot was built as a replica/recreation, a few years ago. Shame the boiler was made in Germany, buy hey, its a nice big girly, is Tornado.
-
I stand corrected.
Did I mention that's taken from outside my house? 8)
-
I stand corrected.
Did I mention that's taken from outside my house? 8)
;D
-
They're fixing up some A1s.
This is the view of the end of my street wot I lives on :D
(https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7708/16731888924_842ccd3813.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/ruxiDw)May 2015 608 (https://flic.kr/p/ruxiDw) by ruthturner3 (https://www.flickr.com/people/106826773@N02/), on Flickr
To be precise, an A1, or more precise THE A1, as its the only one (none were preserved), wot was built as a replica/recreation, a few years ago. Shame the boiler was made in Germany, buy hey, its a nice big girly, is Tornado.
Apparently the tender and locomotive are being painted by one Ian Matthews, intrepid rider of 200km audaxes.
-
I was feeling in need of a little OCD boost this morning so dropped into this thread.
I recall when I was about 14 or 15 a couple of chaps at school used to spend their lunchtimes plane spotting. They used to bring small radios which could pick up the frequency on which the pilots were communicating and each had a book of aircraft and could tick them off as they went. I understand that they even managed to persuade their parents to take them on day trips to Heathrow and Gatwick (I don't think Stansted was operation then) so that they could spot planes.
-
As of the 18th May there will be some loco hauled services on the Cumbrian Coast Line (as Nothern have run out of trains) . They are going to be 4 carriages long apparently. I'm hoping they run a set like on the Sellafield workers trial three years ago where one of these was a full sized guards van with masses of cycle capacity :D
List of which services they be* are here: -
http://www.railtourinfo.co.uk/locohauled17.html
[eta]Looks like 5 days a week (though may still be 6 days as quoted in the local paper), and looks like they are going to have a locomotive at either end to start with.
[eeta]*Looks like my Devonian side is resurfacing with phrasing like that :facepalm:
-
Just been reading how the proposals for reopening the Keswick line have been spoiled by the Council approving industrial estate straddling the line. This seems to be amazingly far sighted of them and not a little strange. How many visitors does Keswick get annually?
-
Where is the industrial estate? If it's out towards Penrith it is quite possibly in a different local council to Keswick. I haven't seen anything about the story though it will be a shame if it is true :(
-
Eden DC, Flusco business park. Source Wiki.
-
That would be about right. Keswick is in Allerdale BC (and planning is dealt with by the Lake District NPA). I've found the page on it now - http://www.keswickrailway.com/id21.html
I know that's a very partial account, but it looks like the council have decided that there will be no railway and therefore are going to do nothing to preserve it's alignment :(
I'm assuming no conideration of the impact in Keswick will have been made by the council planning committee as it's outside of their boundary.
-
Doesn't surprise me. The North Yorks Moors Railway is very successful and attracts a huge number of tourists pumping money into the area. There have been on and off plans for years to reinstate the line between Pickering and Malton so that trains could run all the way through from York to Whitby. Then the council sold of the old coal yard in Pickering so now they can't. Incredibly short sighted.
-
I stand corrected.
Did I mention that's taken from outside my house? 8)
Yes, I am indeed jealous, Ruthie!
Don't mind if you stand or sit, your privilege ;D I'm just a sad old railway anorak that knows this sort of thing. Well not really sad, but I got an inordinate amount of pleasure on Monday when I needed to speak to the guy who was driving the little narrow gauge train at Kew Museum, so I said I'd come along with him, and he just said "you drive it, then". I've only driven a steam locomotive a few times, but its great fun! Ah, the childish pleasures of blowing the whistle as you go across open crossings in the middle of Wales.
The A1 Steam locomotive trust are building another one, a P2 class loco, again one was not preserved, because Gresley's successor didn't like them and had them all destroyed by rebuilding them into something else that was not particularly outstanding.
-
Check her out, fully dressed. I've got the windows open so I can hear her. Lovely thing. While I was taking this I got chatting to a neighbour, apparently he helped in the building of the locomotive. So that's another win - always good to talk to your neighbours :D
(https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/504/18082957544_b3952483fc_z.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/txVTh5)DSCF0701 (https://flic.kr/p/txVTh5) by Ruth Turner (https://www.flickr.com/photos/106826773@N02/), on Flickr
(https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/424/18519338009_b332c2c37f_z.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/udurZc)DSCF0703 (https://flic.kr/p/udurZc) by Ruth Turner (https://www.flickr.com/photos/106826773@N02/), on Flickr
(https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/459/18700764832_bbd6daf737_z.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/uuwiRS)DSCF0702 (https://flic.kr/p/uuwiRS) by Ruth Turner (https://www.flickr.com/photos/106826773@N02/), on Flickr
She's off to Shildon on a flatbed, either tonight or tomorrow morning.
-
And you can play too!
http://www.a1steam.com/
-
Does that happen to be the end of your street?
:)
-
Does that happen to be the end of your street?
:)
Might be ;D
-
Check her out, fully dressed. I've got the windows open so I can hear her. Lovely thing. While I was taking this I got chatting to a neighbour, apparently he helped in the building of the locomotive. So that's another win - always good to talk to your neighbours :D
(https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/504/18082957544_b3952483fc_z.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/txVTh5)DSCF0701 (https://flic.kr/p/txVTh5) by Ruth Turner (https://www.flickr.com/photos/106826773@N02/), on Flickr
(https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/424/18519338009_b332c2c37f_z.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/udurZc)DSCF0703 (https://flic.kr/p/udurZc) by Ruth Turner (https://www.flickr.com/photos/106826773@N02/), on Flickr
(https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/459/18700764832_bbd6daf737_z.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/uuwiRS)DSCF0702 (https://flic.kr/p/uuwiRS) by Ruth Turner (https://www.flickr.com/photos/106826773@N02/), on Flickr
She's off to Shildon on a flatbed, either tonight or tomorrow morning.
She'll be safe there, my mate Anthony (Coulls) will see she's OK. Handy having mates who are significant folk in these circles...
-
Nice photo here.
https://twitter.com/brumpic/status/613428921028227073?s=09
-
Nice photo here.
https://twitter.com/brumpic/status/613428921028227073?s=09
Lovely!
-
Can't beat a steam engine with a British Rail lion on the side!
-
As of the 18th May there will be some loco hauled services on the Cumbrian Coast Line (as Nothern have run out of trains) . They are going to be 4 carriages long apparently. I'm hoping they run a set like on the Sellafield workers trial three years ago where one of these was a full sized guards van with masses of cycle capacity :D
List of which services they be* are here: -
http://www.railtourinfo.co.uk/locohauled17.html
[eta]Looks like 5 days a week (though may still be 6 days as quoted in the local paper), and looks like they are going to have a locomotive at either end to start with.
[eeta]*Looks like my Devonian side is resurfacing with phrasing like that :facepalm:
Properly running for a while now. I was in our Whitehaven office yesterday and there was definitely more of a vibration when the loco hauled service pulled out of the station across the road. Up until recently they've had two locos on each train as there's nowhere to turn round. Yesterday's was pulling a DBSO so it can be driven from the rear carriage now.
When I was looking up the proper name for this thing (I called it a 'reversing trailer') I found out that three more are being refitted. I'm guessing the trains will be around for a while then.
They are causing a few complaints about noise and smell from some of the local villages.
-
You can turn locomotives at Didcot - there is a triangle of lines. You can also turn them at most coal fired powet stations because merry-go-round trains travel around a loop.
-
Both the Class 37 trains have DBSO's now. Mine back from Carlisle today was running in push mode :)
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-CtMEJ6RgIh0/VdIU_aziZ6I/AAAAAAAAJ0Q/JYxXDVo_HPg/s640-Ic42/20150817_142618.jpg)
Does it say something about the state of the UK railways that of the three trains back from Inverness today (the others being a ScotRail Turbostar, and a Virgin Pendolino), the train made of 40 year old carriages and pushed by a 50 year old locomotive was by far and away the most comfortable?
-
Nice photo here.
https://twitter.com/brumpic/status/613428921028227073?s=09
I'm late to all this, so I expect you know that's Saint Mungo. I may even have travelled behind it as a boy.
I saw Tornado at Heywood, when she visited the East lancs Railway a couple of years ago. I don't like the name-plate but it's a magnificent engine.
-
I am quite surprised, given the title of this thread, that nobody has mentioned the passing of the man who made it all happen in the first place...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/11708536/Ian-Allan-trainspotter-obituary.html (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/11708536/Ian-Allan-trainspotter-obituary.html)
-
I am quite surprised, given the title of this thread, that nobody has mentioned the passing of the man who made it all happen in the first place...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/11708536/Ian-Allan-trainspotter-obituary.html (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/11708536/Ian-Allan-trainspotter-obituary.html)
Many thanks for posting that. Made me get out my 1958 "Combined Edition" price 10/6d
-
Couldn't find my combo. Probably chucked out years ago when I discovered gurls.
Numbers were underlined neatly in green ink when spotted. A little P inscribed next to it meant Pulled (by it). A little C (the ultimate) meant I'd "Cabbed" it.
As a youngster I actually believed that a time would come when every single number would be underlined with PC next to it.
Don't expect this post to exist for very long. I can't believe I've shared that.
-
I cabbed a Pendolino once. But didn't get the number.
-
But didn't get the number.
You're not doing it right!
-
I've talked my bike into the Posh end of a Pendolino after a FNRttC. Does that count for anything?
The 1st class carriages smelt less of poo. Perhaps that's an inducement for people to upgrade.
-
What on earth does "cabbed" mean?
-
Getting into the driver's cab
-
Thought you might like this:
https://youtu.be/_eFMYfgc5S8
-
Was pleased to read in a local rag that the Todmorden curve is being reinstated allowing Burnley a direct line to Manchester again, after 40 odd years.
-
Local news has been reporting for some time now on the push to
re open re build the line between Carmarthen and Aberystwyth.
That would be just wonderful for Llandysul.
But I reckon, even if the go ahead were given now, I'm unlikely to be around to see it open.
Bugger.
-
The new borders railway cost circa £300m whereas doubling the A9 will cost £3 billion. Mmmm. Huge areas of Wales, should, of course, be reconnected to the rail network. Speed is not the issue in the UK as it is too small, access is.
-
Was pleased to read in a local rag that the Todmorden curve is being reinstated allowing Burnley a direct line to Manchester again, after 40 odd years.
Trouble is, its had a heritage cost, and a huge one. The Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester, whch includes what I think is the oldest railway station in the UK (possibly the world?) is no longer rail connected. This is a direct result of that curve being reinstated. I'm not sure why, but apparently 'tis so. So, no more visiting stuff, ever.
-
On holiday in France as littlies, we used to play the "spot a car registered in each département" game.
In Japan a few years ago, the fate of the last chocolate lime was determined by the next spotting of a non-Japanese car, which turned into quite a good game (for very vague definitions of "good").
-
My train home from Barrow in Furness the last few days is a 3 carriage affair (153 & 156). They stick them together on the station. Today we were delayed because the driver locked himself out of the class 153 on the front and had get a friend to retrieve the key from the staff room :facepalm:
-
A friend used to have a journey where they joined 2 377? electrostars together at Barnham. One day they had 3 goes at coupling them together, with increasing violence, and then some delay. it turned out that it wasn't that it wasn't coupling, it was that the system wouldn't acknowledge that it had coupled. Apparently it was literally ctrl-alt-del, and after a long pause and a blue screen or two, all was well. Probably find that each unit ran different versions of Windows... ;D
-
Today's train home is being pulled by a loco in Full BR colours. ???
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-GuU_NDu0jMo/VfronGYTYxI/AAAAAAAAKF4/5iZoDO0wIyk/s640-Ic42/20150917_160014.jpg)
-
Couldn't find my combo. Probably chucked out years ago when I discovered gurls.
Numbers were underlined neatly in green ink when spotted. A little P inscribed next to it meant Pulled (by it). A little C (the ultimate) meant I'd "Cabbed" it.
As a youngster I actually believed that a time would come when every single number would be underlined with PC next to it.
Don't expect this post to exist for very long. I can't believe I've shared that.
You were intending on deleting the post. Ah
I can understand why you'd want to do that.
-
Bugger, I forgot. Too late now.
-
I see that the Gov't has quietly (not much cover in the press) cancelled the planned improvements to the cross pennine and midland rail routes. What price northern powerhouse? Does the Government actually realise that two thirds of the nation is outside London?
-
Today's train home is being pulled by a loco in Full BR colours. ???
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-GuU_NDu0jMo/VfronGYTYxI/AAAAAAAAKF4/5iZoDO0wIyk/s640-Ic42/20150917_160014.jpg)
Big Logo livery. Used to best effect on the thumping Class 50, one of those diesels everyone likes, maybe because of the noise they make or just because all of them were named after Royal Navy ships. I had all 50 eventually* , although it took me 25 years to get 50 031 "Hood"; finally seen sitting indoors, next to the cafe area at the Swindon railway museum ;D
(http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5099/5503798684_c50cabe8d1.jpg)
I'll get me anorak now.
*I also had all the Class 253 HST sets, since renumbered Class 43.
-
A couple of express trains:
(https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1505/25297283760_8f28efb881_z.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/Exrc7Q)Express (https://flic.kr/p/Exrc7Q) by TJ Clarion (https://www.flickr.com/photos/93751227@N04/), on Flickr
(https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1645/25474340402_e08e4bbf35_z.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/EP5DTy)Express 2 (https://flic.kr/p/EP5DTy) by TJ Clarion (https://www.flickr.com/photos/93751227@N04/), on Flickr
OK, so this is all just a wind up ;)
(https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1534/25592738515_db663cb5bc_z.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/EZxtwk)Wind up (https://flic.kr/p/EZxtwk) by TJ Clarion (https://www.flickr.com/photos/93751227@N04/), on Flickr
(https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1600/25566769486_3a83813723_z.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/EXfnQs)P6278519e (https://flic.kr/p/EXfnQs) by TJ Clarion (https://www.flickr.com/photos/93751227@N04/), on Flickr
-
That's not spotting, that's driving :thumbsup:
-
Absolutely the best use for a pool table!
-
Snooker!
-
Even better - could run a Beyer Garrett on a snooker table!
-
If it hasn't been posted before, here's Bill Bryson on Trainspotters: "They looked as though they had never had sex with anything they couldn't put back in a cupboard afterwards."
-
On BBC4 next Monday evening: Trainspotting Live (http://www.bbc.co.uk/events/ec55v2/live/c5v2fx). The first programme is coming from Didcot (https://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=34316.0), natch.
I'll record it as I'm in France. Trouble is, it apparently features my mate Tim Dunn, who is very very very very enthusiastic, and I get tired just watching him speak after a few minutes. It also features my other mate Andrew's daughter Megan, who is brill, 'cos she is a teenage gurl wot fires steam locomotives on the Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railway, and is a generally fun person. This weekend just gone, I encountered her in a pub in Llanfair Caereinion, and didn't initially recognise her because she was clean and tidy, next day I saw her in the messroom and recognised her OK, in overalls and with the obligatory smear of oil on her cheek. As the programme will feature the W&LLR I must watch it!
-
In another millennium, I had a girlfriend whose younger sister was a trainspotter. Good-looking 17 year-old. She had quite an entourage.
-
I suffered a trainspotting type between Hereford and Craven Arms. He had bought a week network pass and was going on about how cheaply he was travelling and all the trains he had been on ::-). From Craven Arms to Llanwrtyd station I travelled in railcar. I did not know that there were any still running :)
-
I quite enjoyed that, silly and interesting at the same time, in only the way that the BBC can be. Dick Strawbridge doing enthusiasm, Hannah Fry with maths and Jon Snow as anchorman. Tim Dunn somewhere in Scotland with a steam train. I might have to watch the next two episodes, must be my age...
I didn't watch, but I passed the museum around that time, and they were playing tunes on the whistles that I hadn't heard before; clearly showing off for the cameras (& Ms Fry?).
-
I've watched both episodes and really quite enjoyed them. I'm not a train spotter in that I don't stand on platforms collecting numbers but have enough vague interest to know the difference between a Class 43 and a class 66 and have always had a geeky fascination with anything with an engine. It made entertaining watching.
Well done BBC, keep making interesting programs.
-
Apparently there are people who tick of track as well as trains according to a mate of mine who is restoring his own ex BR shunter. They have maps of all the track and and will go on a trip to Scunthorpe or the like when there is track maintenance on just because the train will go over to bit of the track normally only used for slow freight or something.
-
I think they're called trackbashers.
12 pages in and I don't think we've yet had an explanation of the allure of noting down train serial numbers, as opposed to admiring trains for engineering, aesthetic or nostalgic reasons, or simply as a mode of transport. My best guess is it must be similar to the impulse which drives some audaxers to collect as many badges, medals and awards as possible, as distinct to riding a bike for a bike ride's sake. ;)
-
Having watched the program there is definite excitement to be had in seeing something unusual and unique. In order to know it's unusual and you haven't seen it before you need to write down everything you have seen.
That's the best I can come up with.
-
It's a completist thing, which is a mutation of the hunter-gatherer instinct. You won't understand unless you're a completist,
-
Is there anything more British on the telly at the moment? Or ever?
Made it through the first episode; Dr Fry helped.
-
I viewed a few minutes of it, only to reinforce the prejudice I hold, that they must be bonkers. Harmless perhaps, but bonkers nonetheless. Fact.
I'm sure I heard Peter Snow announce, in his inimitable delivery "Don't go away … because, at the end of the programme …" And, admittedly, I did go away, without finding out what it was that was being tantalisingly dangled in front of the viewer. Perhaps it was a list of train numbers hitherto unreleased? Who knows?
-
It's a completist thing, which is a mutation of the hunter-gatherer instinct. You won't understand unless you're a completist,
... which probably includes the Pokémon!Go! players.
(cant believe IE autocorrect put that accent in there for me)
-
I viewed a few minutes of it, only to reinforce the prejudice I hold, that they must be bonkers. Harmless perhaps, but bonkers nonetheless. Fact.
I'm sure I heard Peter Snow announce, in his inimitable delivery "Don't go away … because, at the end of the programme …" And, admittedly, I did go away, without finding out what it was that was being tantalisingly dangled in front of the viewer. Perhaps it was a list of train numbers hitherto unreleased? Who knows?
I believe (if it was episode one) you were going to get exclusive video footage of the Flying Banana!
-
The Rail Zeppelin (http://www.thevintagenews.com/2016/11/03/the-train-that-thought-it-was-a-zeppelin/) (aka The Flying Hamburger).
-
The flying Hamburger was no relation at all, not a prop driven thing, but a fairly conventional (albeit clever and fast) railcar design that was practical, and worked. It was that, that the LNER hierarchy had in its sights when Sir Nigel Gresley decided that the answer was a more conventional, albeit somewhat "tuned up" steam locomotive and a short train was the answer (and the A4 class loco was born). And from that, Mallard's 126-ish mph speed record was born (even if it did throw itself to pieces in the effort...) The German loco which achieved a fraction of a mile per hour less, didn't disintegrate, but carried on.
-
Despite Mallard's rather ignominious end to the record atttempt, the A4 class were extremely good designs and went on to the end of steam (until the Deltics were built, diesels couldn't match them for performance). And they are an icon of 1930s design.
Their Achilles heel was the centre big end bearing, which either melted or developed so much slop at high speed that the piston knocked the end out of the centre cylinder. The root cause was that the centre cylinder's tortuous steam circuit, and whip in the derived valve linkage, meant it was doing far more than its fair share of the work as the speed increased. Kenneth Cook, an ex-GWR man at British Railways, solved the problem in the end by redesigning the big end and machining it much more accurately, and the A4s never really gave any trouble after that.
The advantage of three cylinders is that you can space the power strokes more evenly and get more useful starting effort without slippage. It's like a V12 petrol engine (six power strokes per revolution) compared to a V8 (only four power strokes per revolution). Even four cylinder engines are nearly always configured so you still only get four power strokes per revolution. The only exception I can think of is the Southern Railway "Lord Nelson", which gives eight power strokes per revolution so it sounds twice as fast.
Now, where's my anorak and thermos flask?
-
Despite Mallard's rather ignominious end to the record atttempt, the A4 class were extremely good designs and went on to the end of steam (until the Deltics were built, diesels couldn't match them for performance). And they are an icon of 1930s design.
Their Achilles heel was the centre big end bearing, which either melted or developed so much slop at high speed that the piston knocked the end out of the centre cylinder. The root cause was that the centre cylinder's tortuous steam circuit, and whip in the derived valve linkage, meant it was doing far more than its fair share of the work as the speed increased. Kenneth Cook, an ex-GWR man at British Railways, solved the problem in the end by redesigning the big end and machining it much more accurately, and the A4s never really gave any trouble after that.
The advantage of three cylinders is that you can space the power strokes more evenly and get more useful starting effort without slippage. It's like a V12 petrol engine (six power strokes per revolution) compared to a V8 (only four power strokes per revolution). Even four cylinder engines are nearly always configured so you still only get four power strokes per revolution. The only exception I can think of is the Southern Railway "Lord Nelson", which gives eight power strokes per revolution so it sounds twice as fast.
Now, where's my anorak and thermos flask?
This post disturbs.
-
Most four cylinder steam engines were set up the way they were (pistons opposed) to reduce hammerblow to the track at speed. That arrangement allowed a greater axleload without track damage.
-
This whole thread disturbs . . .
-
The Rail Zeppelin (http://www.thevintagenews.com/2016/11/03/the-train-that-thought-it-was-a-zeppelin/) (aka The Flying Hamburger).
The Soviet Union upped the ante (http://www.thevintagenews.com/2016/06/02/the-strange-now-sadly-abandoned-soviet-jet-train-from-the-1970s/)
-
Despite Mallard's rather ignominious end to the record atttempt, the A4 class were extremely good designs and went on to the end of steam (until the Deltics were built, diesels couldn't match them for performance). And they are an icon of 1930s design.
Their Achilles heel was the centre big end bearing, which either melted or developed so much slop at high speed that the piston knocked the end out of the centre cylinder. The root cause was that the centre cylinder's tortuous steam circuit, and whip in the derived valve linkage, meant it was doing far more than its fair share of the work as the speed increased. Kenneth Cook, an ex-GWR man at British Railways, solved the problem in the end by redesigning the big end and machining it much more accurately, and the A4s never really gave any trouble after that.
The advantage of three cylinders is that you can space the power strokes more evenly and get more useful starting effort without slippage. It's like a V12 petrol engine (six power strokes per revolution) compared to a V8 (only four power strokes per revolution). Even four cylinder engines are nearly always configured so you still only get four power strokes per revolution. The only exception I can think of is the Southern Railway "Lord Nelson", which gives eight power strokes per revolution so it sounds twice as fast.
Now, where's my anorak and thermos flask?
This post disturbs.
Nope, I'm fine with it, because its almost exactly what I would have said, word for word!
-
Steam at Mordor Central yesterday.
https://t.co/vI35HTGXmh
-
Despite Mallard's rather ignominious end to the record atttempt, the A4 class were extremely good designs and went on to the end of steam (until the Deltics were built, diesels couldn't match them for performance). And they are an icon of 1930s design.
Now, where's my anorak and thermos flask?
If you can find them there's an *excellent* series of books, Locomotives of the L.N.E.R., published by The Railway Correspondence & Travel Society in the 196os and 1970s. I managed to get 4 of the volumes (from Noakes on Leith walk IIRC) when I was a PSO and I've been cursing the fact I couldn't afford the rest of them ever since. All sorts of interesting (yes, well I know, but this , now, is a train-spotting thread) info., design history, major and minor changes through class life, teething troubles, fuel economy, comparisons to other companies' locomotives... oooh _lots_ of fun stuff.
If you're interested . . .
Vol 1 - Preliminary Survey
Vol 2A - Tender Engines - Classes A1 to A10
Vol 2B - Tender Engines - Classes B1 to B19
Vol 3 - Tender Engines - Classes C1 to D24
Vol 4 - Tender Engines - Classes D25 to E7
Vol 5 - Tender Engines - Classes J1 to J37
Vol 6 - Tender Engines - Classes J38 to Y10
Vol 7 - Tank Engines - Classes A5 to H2
Vol 8A - Tank Engines - Classes J40 to J70
Vol 8B - Tank Engines - Classes J71 to J94
Vol 9A - Tank Engines - Classes L1 to N19
Vol 9B - Tank Engines - Classes Q1 to Z5
Vol 10 - Miscellaneous Engines, Railcars and Statistics.
-
I'll leave this here...
http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/transport/tornado-pictures-and-aerial-video-after-50-years-a-triumphant-return-to-steam-1-8388345 (http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/transport/tornado-pictures-and-aerial-video-after-50-years-a-triumphant-return-to-steam-1-8388345)
-
That's just cool. I always miss this stuff.
-
It is doing some trips (https://www.a1steam.com) this year. You need to dig a bit to find the timings. It's coming near us :thumbsup:
-
It is doing some trips (https://www.a1steam.com) this year. You need to dig a bit to find the timings. It's coming near us :thumbsup:
Work today took me to Filton Bank, Brizzle, which is in the process of being made into four track (again). Some time in the day, we were interrupted by Tornado (with a St David plate on the front) coming past. It seems it was going from Paddington to Cardiff.
-
I can understand trainspotters - trains are wonderful things (particularly steam trains)...
...but bus spotters ??? ??? Why?
There's a chap who spends most days stood in the Addenbrookes bus station taking down numbers.
and I know a guy who spends all day and night trolling cycle chat and other forums and winding people up ....a nob and his name starts with R and ends with an r >:(
-
I can understand trainspotters - trains are wonderful things (particularly steam trains)...
...but bus spotters ??? ??? Why?
There's a chap who spends most days stood in the Addenbrookes bus station taking down numbers.
and I know a guy who spends all day and night trolling cycle chat and other forums and winding people up ....a nob and his name starts with R and ends with an r >:(
Somewhat lacking in excellence there, I feel.
-
I can understand trainspotters - trains are wonderful things (particularly steam trains)...
...but bus spotters ??? ??? Why?
There's a chap who spends most days stood in the Addenbrookes bus station taking down numbers.
and I know a guy who spends all day and night trolling cycle chat and other forums and winding people up ....a nob and his name starts with R and ends with an r >:(
Somewhat lacking in excellence there, I feel.
Digging up a post the thick end of six years old? Nothing much to see on the platforms at Lime Street ATM, I suppose.
-
Because you want to get close ...
https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--aLupcuyc--/c_scale,fl_progressive,q_80,w_800/lu50zwzimma12ir1nv9v.gif
Maybe a bit too close this time, look at the lady with the hat.
-
At Darlo station last Tuesday :D
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4504/37229952130_b85d22e1a0_k.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/YHTeGo)Untitled (https://flic.kr/p/YHTeGo) by Ruth Irving (https://www.flickr.com/photos/106826773@N02/), on Flickr
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4384/37456995432_a67348a049_k.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/Z4WTL5)Untitled (https://flic.kr/p/Z4WTL5) by Ruth Irving (https://www.flickr.com/photos/106826773@N02/), on Flickr
-
They weren't so shiny when they were hauling freight in the 50s!
My father was a bit of a trainspotter and rode in the cab of the LMS Turbomotive, about the only unconventional steam locomotive to be superior to the conventional type (Gresley tried a water tube boiler, Bulleid got away with some shocking things like the Leader class and chain-driven valve gear, but none of them worked well). Turbomotive was damned by its umiqueness in the end, being rebuilt as piston-engined Princess Anne when it needed spare turbine parts and promptly being written off at Harrow & Wealdstone.
-
A Black 5, and one with a place in history :)
http://kwvr.co.uk/steam-train/london-midland-scottish-railway-class-5mt-black-5-4-6-0-no-45212/
-
Spotted in Marc's in Broadview Heights, Ohio.
(https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1852/44616699532_015c6835d3_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2aYCfmd)
20180905_120314 (https://flic.kr/p/2aYCfmd) by Andrij (https://www.flickr.com/photos/bebchenko/), on Flickr
-
I didn’t know there was a train spotters thread, if I had I’d have got photographic evidence1.
The florist where we got the flowers for mum’s funeral was in a garden centre whose owner I assume was a train spotter because suspended in the roof space in more than one place where G scale rail tracks complete with trains trundling around them.
-
I didn’t know there was a train spotters thread...
Just like there is an app for that, there's a thread for that :)
-
(https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1921/31115731998_fc86a797e0_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/PpAg4U)
20180928_175521 (https://flic.kr/p/PpAg4U) by Andrij (https://www.flickr.com/photos/bebchenko/), on Flickr
Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad (https://www.cvsr.com/), recorded after yesterday's ride through Cleveland Metroparks (ride report to follow).
-
Steam on the underground! (https://www.ianvisits.co.uk/blog/2019/01/26/steam-trains-returning-to-the-london-underground-in-2019/)
In conjunction with the London Transport Museum, TfL will run a steam train along the District line later this year. The modernisation of signalling on the Hammersmith & City, District, Circle and Metropolitan lines means that this will be the last time a steam train will be able to travel through the central section of the Underground.
Details of the steam train tours will be announced later this year.
(https://cdn.ianvisits.co.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/25201455/8379472771_c36a96822a_h-600x369.jpg)
Could be rather smelly...
-
I still have the picture and article from the Grauniad about the last steam train on London Underground.* It was an ex-GWR Pannier in London Transport red, with a couple of wagons and a brake van. The picture was taken at the same location as the one above, but from a different angle.
*We were doing painting at Playgroup and the newspapers were covering the tables**. I was allowed to use the scissors to cut the item out myself :smug:
**I seem to have a lot of Grauniad articles from that time, mainly covering rail and aviation topics.
-
Here you go Guy some video of that day:
https://youtu.be/SKetxc9lFm8
https://youtu.be/ri0_M6F7aPA
https://youtu.be/2TjPdjFXImg
-
Thanks for the links @pcolbeck. I'd never seen those before :thumbsup:
-
Shinkansen vs TGV - Is One Better Than the Other? (https://youtu.be/p3zrqotjw7A)
-
Shinkansen vs TGV - Is One Better Than the Other? (https://youtu.be/p3zrqotjw7A)
Tokyo to Singapore... Jacob's bogies...AGV... maglev... :thumbsup:
(but what was he thinking with that shirt!)
-
...
(but what was he thinking with that shirt!)
That one is pretty low-key. Check out some of his other videos.
-
And another from Curious Droid: What happened to the Trans Europe Express? (https://youtu.be/mszQwdUMMyY)
I love the Italian train!
-
And another from Curious Droid: What happened to the Trans Europe Express? (https://youtu.be/mszQwdUMMyY)
I love the Italian train!
Wikipedia is your friend https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans_Europ_Express
Essentially TEE was a branding exercise for first class, fast, long distance trains run by multiple cooperating national operators.
As they separately developed their own fast services, and the prices of second class travel dropped, the model fell apart.
The nearest we have now are the Thalys services. And the various national operators find it hard even to cooperate on cross border ticketing.
Great looking trains, bloody good tune.
-
How about station-spotting?
Redcar British Steel - Least Used Station in Britain (https://youtu.be/5QCB6UdlnVw)
Lots of rail geekiness (especially for London) from Geoff Marshall (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCd18OhMfRmjMjzSHP7Zrzmw).
-
I’ve follow this modeller on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/east_coastway
There is no better way to put it than to copy his profile: Remembering the 2001-2004 South Central Trains franchise with a fleet of multiple units in 4mm
His work is superb. Once upon a time I used to be able to immerse myself in detail like this but I’m not sure if I have the focus any more.
Hope some of you enjoy it.
-
How about station-spotting?
Redcar British Steel - Least Used Station in Britain (https://youtu.be/5QCB6UdlnVw)
Lots of rail geekiness (especially for London) from Geoff Marshall (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCd18OhMfRmjMjzSHP7Zrzmw).
ISTR that there is a Sporcle quiz on the least used stations in the UK. Dovey Junction and Maidstone Barracks feature.
-
How about station-spotting?
Redcar British Steel - Least Used Station in Britain (https://youtu.be/5QCB6UdlnVw)
Lots of rail geekiness (especially for London) from Geoff Marshall (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCd18OhMfRmjMjzSHP7Zrzmw).
ISTR that there is a Sporcle quiz on the least used stations in the UK. Dovey Junction and Maidstone Barracks feature.
I'm going to guess Lympstone Commando features as well.
-
How about station-spotting?
Redcar British Steel - Least Used Station in Britain (https://youtu.be/5QCB6UdlnVw)
Lots of rail geekiness (especially for London) from Geoff Marshall (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCd18OhMfRmjMjzSHP7Zrzmw).
Yes, Geoff and Vicki's stuff is great. Worth checking out their All The Stations series, if you haven't seen it. They have been everywhere.
Also been doing some nice pub quiz videos recently. https://www.youtube.com/c/AllTheStations
-
I’ve follow this modeller on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/east_coastway
There is no better way to put it than to copy his profile: Remembering the 2001-2004 South Central Trains franchise with a fleet of multiple units in 4mm
His work is superb. Once upon a time I used to be able to immerse myself in detail like this but I’m not sure if I have the focus any more.
Hope some of you enjoy it.
4mm scale
FFS!
-
4mm scale
FFS!
British OO and N are just barmy. I understand the historical reasons for the non true scale dimensions but its crazy that UK modellers didn't switch to HO and continental N in the 60s.
4mm as a solution to gauge to rolling stock scale inaccuracy just seems perverse, "OO isn't true to scale as the locos and rolling stock are too big for the 3.5mm track gauge. I know lets not do what the entire rest of the world does and go HO so they are true to scale no we will move to 4mm for a track gauge and now we need unique track of our own and unique locos and rolling stock of our own". It's bonkers.
-
Does EM gauge track still exist? (Wider than OO so it's true to 4mm scale)
-
EM 18mm gauge was an intermediate stop between OO 16.5mm and P4 18.83m. All 4mm scale stuff is an oddity really.
-
Well, that will teach me to post on a trainspotting thread without first checking for the presence of sensitive issues ;D
-
I’ve follow this modeller on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/east_coastway
There is no better way to put it than to copy his profile: Remembering the 2001-2004 South Central Trains franchise with a fleet of multiple units in 4mm
His work is superb. Once upon a time I used to be able to immerse myself in detail like this but I’m not sure if I have the focus any more.
Hope some of you enjoy it.
"This account doesn't exist" :-(
Bummer, it was fascinating.
-
4mm scale
FFS!
British OO and N are just barmy. I understand the historical reasons for the non true scale dimensions but its crazy that UK modellers didn't switch to HO and continental N in the 60s.
4mm as a solution to gauge to rolling stock scale inaccuracy just seems perverse, "OO isn't true to scale as the locos and rolling stock are too big for the 3.5mm track gauge. I know lets not do what the entire rest of the world does and go HO so they are true to scale no we will move to 4mm for a track gauge and now we need unique track of our own and unique locos and rolling stock of our own". It's bonkers.
Two things:
1. In the 60s, you couldn't physically fit electric motor drive in UK outline models. British trains have a small loading gauge (an unfortunate consequence of being the railway pioneers, as well as eternal cheapskates) and are rather tiny in true HO.
2. OO gauge uses HO track, which is why trains look a bit wrong from the front.
-
During lockdown I've become a regular viewer of Virtual Railfan on Youtube.
I tend to have it running in the background on a small screen.
My favourite location is Flagstaff, AZ:- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnotRrW1udI
See if you can find the "Grab bag" showing the recent sno apocalypse.
-
That's great Andrew, crap day here, Flagstaff, AZ on all day on second screen.
That line handles a lot of freight, often in double decked containers.
-
And you can acquire a reasonable proficiency in a FOREIGN language while waiting at the level crossings. Fortunately whenever I've stayed in Flagstaff I've had a room round the back :thumbsup:
-
That's great Andrew, crap day here, Flagstaff, AZ on all day on second screen.
That line handles a lot of freight, often in double decked containers.
I'm glad you're enjoying it :thumbsup:.
In pre-covid times they had one Amtrak in each direction stop at the station.
IIRC, the eastbound goes through around mid-day UK time although punctuality isn't an Amtrak strength.....
I think the train is the South West Chief.
If you like lots of freight, albeit moving slowly, then the Belen, NM camera is worth a look.
It shows a marshalling yard with trains coming and going and some being built up using an SD40 shunter in the old, blue/yellow Santa Fe livery.
I wasn't really into trains when I went to Flagstaff. That came later when a (long suffering) girlfriend and I followed the Union Pacific mainline across part of Nebraska into Wyoming. Then we went up to the Powder River basin and, finally, down to Denver via Tennessee Pass* and Leadville where we took a trip on a preserved line to near the highest point on the US train network.
Epic.
Or at least I thought so.
*Not in Tennessee.
-
I’ve follow this modeller on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/east_coastway
There is no better way to put it than to copy his profile: Remembering the 2001-2004 South Central Trains franchise with a fleet of multiple units in 4mm
His work is superb. Once upon a time I used to be able to immerse myself in detail like this but I’m not sure if I have the focus any more.
Hope some of you enjoy it.
"This account doesn't exist" :-(
Bummer, it was fascinating.
That’s a pity.
-
Train spotter and a a nerd ? Then there is help https://www.traintrackr.co.uk/
-
Train spotter and a a nerd ? Then there is help https://www.traintrackr.co.uk/
www.opentraintimes does most of that for free - at least where National Rail is concerned.
ETA - It might look slightly less pretty, but it is what the platform staff use to figure out where the train that you are waiting for is. [/notatrainnerd]
-
but but but it does not have blinking lights !!!
-
Back in the day I followed the uk.railway USenet group. Great discussions about bits of track in out of the way places. 'Gricers' are not train spotters - they aim to travel over every track segment possible.
Regarding UK track guages I live near the Rotherhithe Tunnel, which is now on the East London Line. UK gauge of course. Someone told me that a Eurostar train would fit through there as they are UK guage. Does anyone know if this is true?
-
The Thames Tunnel is 20’ high in the middle while the usual clearance under the overhead wires in the Channel Tunnel is 20’8”, so the answer is probably “not without some reëngineering”.
-
But didn't the Eurostars initially run on third rail north of the Tunnel (due to Great British Planning, of course)? In which case the answer is, "Yes but only if there's third-rail electrification."
-
The Thames Tunnel is 20’ high in the middle while the usual clearance under the overhead wires in the Channel Tunnel is 20’8”, so the answer is probably “not without some reëngineering”.
"Will this fit?"
"Yes, if (a) shut your eyes and (2) go rilly rilly fast."
-
"Yes, if (a) shut your eyes and (2) go rilly rilly fast."
AKA Eurotunnel's original fire evacuation policy.
-
Regarding UK track guages I live near the Rotherhithe Tunnel, which is now on the East London Line. UK gauge of course. Someone told me that a Eurostar train would fit through there as they are UK guage. Does anyone know if this is true?
The original Trans-Manche Super-Trains were TGVs shrunk down to UK gauge so they could trundle through Kent and South London (and up to Manchester International). So they would definitely fit.
The newer Siemens Eurostars are standard-issue European size and too big for any other UK line. If the East London Line tunnel* had been built to a slightly larger gauge then they might fit. IIRC it wasn't originally built for trains at all.
(* the Rotherhithe Tunnel carries cars and occasional foolhardy cyclists and pedestrians. I'd guess a Eurostar would fit down through but you'd need a decent run up to get it out the other side, and it wouldn't do the wheels or the tarmac any good)
-
Regarding UK track guages I live near the Rotherhithe Tunnel, which is now on the East London Line. UK gauge of course. Someone told me that a Eurostar train would fit through there as they are UK guage. Does anyone know if this is true?
The original Trans-Manche Super-Trains were TGVs shrunk down to UK gauge so they could trundle through Kent and South London (and up to Manchester International). So they would definitely fit.
The newer Siemens Eurostars are standard-issue European size and too big for any other UK line. If the East London Line tunnel* had been built to a slightly larger gauge then they might fit. IIRC it wasn't originally built for trains at all.
(* the Rotherhithe Tunnel carries cars and occasional foolhardy cyclists and pedestrians. I'd guess a Eurostar would fit down through but you'd need a decent run up to get it out the other side, and it wouldn't do the wheels or the tarmac any good)
I think we're talking about different tunnels. Road vs Rail.
-
Regarding UK track guages I live near the Rotherhithe Tunnel, which is now on the East London Line. UK gauge of course. Someone told me that a Eurostar train would fit through there as they are UK guage. Does anyone know if this is true?
The original Trans-Manche Super-Trains were TGVs shrunk down to UK gauge so they could trundle through Kent and South London (and up to Manchester International). So they would definitely fit.
The newer Siemens Eurostars are standard-issue European size and too big for any other UK line. If the East London Line tunnel* had been built to a slightly larger gauge then they might fit. IIRC it wasn't originally built for trains at all.
(* the Rotherhithe Tunnel carries cars and occasional foolhardy cyclists and pedestrians. I'd guess a Eurostar would fit down through but you'd need a decent run up to get it out the other side, and it wouldn't do the wheels or the tarmac any good)
I think we're talking about different tunnels. Road vs Rail.
The tunnel in Rovrive that takes trains is the Brunel one. It's called the Thames Tunnel these days I belive.
-
Given that third rail 750V DC is shit, apart from aesthetics, we have pretty much perfected it. We have the fastest third rail train in the world.
-
The newer Siemens Eurostars are standard-issue European size and too big for any other UK line.
are you sure about that? don't think HS1 and stations like Ashford International were built to Berne Gauge* but IMBW
* also neither was the Great Central which would have required special rolling stock had it ever ran through to the continent
-
List of third-rail systems here. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_rail_transport_systems_using_third_rail
Lots of them but apart from a couple of lines in France, maybe one in Italy, and some in Japan and USA, they're all metro or urban – apart from the UK!
-
2. OO gauge scale uses HO track, which is why trains look a bit wrong from the front.
There's no such thing as OO gauge apart from 18.83mm track which is pretty rare
-
But didn't the Eurostars initially run on third rail north of the Tunnel (due to Great British Planning, of course)?
more to do with the fact that HS1 didn't exist
-
are you sure about that? don't think HS1 and stations like Ashford International were built to Berne Gauge* but IMBW
Eurostar doesn't call at any stations or platforms that weren't purpose built. I don't think much of Ashford (Kent) survived.
more to do with the fact that HS1 didn't exist
But LGV Nord did!
-
are you sure about that? don't think HS1 and stations like Ashford International were built to Berne Gauge* but IMBW
Eurostar doesn't call at any stations or platforms that weren't purpose built. I don't think much of Ashford (Kent) survived.
more to do with the fact that HS1 didn't exist
But LGV Nord did!
you are right about the 374s :)
The Channel Tunnel was built with private finance, BR had no direct part in its construction. Not British Planning but a reluctance by the UK government at the time. Also LGV Nord was built to service Northern France and Belgium / Netherlands which is why it doesn't head straight for Coquelles, the bit towards the tunnel was added later. IIRC France offered to build the whole of HS1 but were rebuffed by the Maggon
-
The Thames Tunnel is 20’ high in the middle while the usual clearance under the overhead wires in the Channel Tunnel is 20’8”, so the answer is probably “not without some reëngineering”.
Having said that.. is this not exactly what was done at Glasgow Queen Street? They dug out the floor of the tunnel into the station to make room for the overhead wires
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-36978943
-
But didn't the Eurostars initially run on third rail north of the Tunnel (due to Great British Planning, of course)? In which case the answer is, "Yes but only if there's third-rail electrification."
Yes. I remember taking the Eurostar from Waterloo and trundling through the back gardens of Balham. Quite a contrast with the speeds across northern France. There must have been some impressive engineering to swap between third rail low voltage/high current and overhead high voltage wires.
-
But didn't the Eurostars initially run on third rail north of the Tunnel (due to Great British Planning, of course)? In which case the answer is, "Yes but only if there's third-rail electrification."
Yes. I remember taking the Eurostar from Waterloo and trundling through the back gardens of Balham. Quite a contrast with the speeds across northern France. There must have been some impressive engineering to swap between third rail low voltage/high current and overhead high voltage wires.
I think there was just a section around Dollands Moor freight terminal that had both types of electrification. A similar thing existed near White City so the Eurostar trains could go up to the 25kv wired Old Oak depot for servicing and is still used by the London Overground trains which operate on both systems, this is now done on the move whereas the previous class 313s had to stop like at Drayton Park on the Moorgate branch
The only time I went on a SNCF TGV in 1983 it did quite a lot of trundling out of Paris until it reached the LGV
-
The Thames Tunnel is 20’ high in the middle while the usual clearance under the overhead wires in the Channel Tunnel is 20’8”, so the answer is probably “not without some reëngineering”.
Having said that.. is this not exactly what was done at Glasgow Queen Street? They dug out the floor of the tunnel into the station to make room for the overhead wires
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-36978943
They did that elsewhere too. Notably Penmanshiel, which collapsed, killing two workers. Although it may have collapsed anyway. I remember the aftermath well, as i was going to Northumberland from Edinburgh for a weekend, and had to cycle instead of train/cycle. Into a howling gale coming off the North Sea. Coming back was great though, Berwick to Edinburgh in three hours.
-
But didn't the Eurostars initially run on third rail north of the Tunnel (due to Great British Planning, of course)?
more to do with the fact that HS1 didn't exist
Precisely. Britain hadn't built its end of the high-speed rail link although France had completed theirs.
-
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/mar/04/cat-on-a-fast-train-roof-holds-up-london-to-manchester-service
It's a shame that, on World Book Day, the Graun's staff were unable to summon the erudition to make the link to Skimbleshanks.
-
I IZ PWNING UR TRAIN AND FUX0RING UR PUNKTUWALITY FIGS LOLZ
-
'Gricers' are not train spotters - they aim to travel over every track segment possible.
RailoViewer.
:D
-
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/mar/04/cat-on-a-fast-train-roof-holds-up-london-to-manchester-service
It's a shame that, on World Book Day, the Graun's staff were unable to summon the erudition to make the link to Skimbleshanks.
Blooming cats joining XR protesting against public transport. You'd think that moggies would be more anti-road traffic or is it that you don't hear about those ???
-
Yes the moggies don't complain about road traffic, because the ones it affects are dead, and the others can't make the connection.
(Little sore point, two of my nextdoor neighbours cats/kits have died from motor vehicle collision in the past 6 months)
-
Here's one for pub quiz fans: what was the most numerous UK steam locomotive? Clue: it's not the one you think it is, by quite a margin.
The most numerous locomotive of ANY type is, boringly, the Class 08 diesel shunter (996 made).
-
Can't be arsed to look it up, but something like the Black 5, War Dept 2-8-0 or some little shunter.
-
Thomas the Tank Engine?
-
LNWR DX Goods. Some lasted until 1930, which is remarkable given that they look distinctly Victorian. 101 more than the Black Five.
-
Ah. My money was on the steam locomotive of the Merioneth and Llantisilly Rail Traction Company Limited.
-
Does EM gauge track still exist? (Wider than OO so it's true to 4mm scale)
There are certainly a lot of EM layouts and officianados and I think Peco make the track. converting OO stock to EM usually involves more than just pulling the wheels out.
Having initially started with Continental HO I like OO, Ok it's out of synch with the rest of the world (although works out at about the same size due to our smaller loading gauge also IIRC US HO is not true 1/87 either) but an entire UK cottage industry has sprung up to support the scale (buildings vehicles people signals etc etc) my favourite building is a Pola (German but OO!) model of the fantastic Italianate Mortimer station on the Reading-Basingstoke line.
Lima and Fleischmann did dip their toes into HO British outline in the late 70s. The Lima stuff is now going for a song on eBay I imagine the Fleischmann is worth £££££££s now
-
He's a bit pleased https://twitter.com/bobby/status/1387905239441883139
-
This one seems to feature Wowbagger doing a Clangers impersonation, back in his hippy youth in California.
https://twitter.com/bobby/status/1387907657810550784
No trains mind.
-
Yes. I remember taking the Eurostar from Waterloo and trundling through the back gardens of Balham. ...
"Bal Ham, gateway to the south...." :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RTWk9QIKS0
Utterly pointless ...
https://www.scotsman.com/news/transport/ben-alder-to-be-first-steam-locomotive-built-in-scotland-for-60-years-3261440
... but I don't care. Thrice Huzzah! for men in sheds!
-
...Utterly pointless ...
https://www.scotsman.com/news/transport/ben-alder-to-be-first-steam-locomotive-built-in-scotland-for-60-years-3261440
... but I don't care. Thrice Huzzah! for men in sheds!
Is that going to run on branch lines?
-
Is that going to run on branch lines?
Is this coat yours? :)
-
LNWR DX Goods. Some lasted until 1930, which is remarkable given that they look distinctly Victorian. 101 more than the Black Five.
A reasonably well-known fact up here near Todmorden, where Ramsbottom (the designer) was born. What's less well-known is that he invented the split piston ring - as used in cars - although he died before cars happened. He was the real deal as an engineer and designer and should be up at the top of the Engineering ladder with Stephenson and ..... Stephenson.
-
Ramsbottom was an absolute genius. Up there with Frederick Lanchester, who invented most things on a modern car and is similarly forgotten.
-
Walked up to the GWML on Saturday evening to see Flying Scotsman pass under the footbridge at Stratton. It was accelerating, so there was a lot of steam.
-
Apparently trainspotters are just frustrated rock stars.
Going back a bit, Frank Sinatra was said to own $1m worth of model trains and replicas of his native Hoboken, New Jersey, which he kept in a room called – but of course – All Aboard. Rock gods known to have private passions for tiny engines and carriages include Roger Daltrey, Bruce Springsteen, Eric Clapton, Phil Collins and Ringo Starr. But perhaps the music and railway modelling worlds aren’t as different as they might seem.
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2022/mar/23/im-proud-to-be-called-a-nerd-the-pop-and-rock-greats-who-love-model-railways
-
The most numerous locomotive of ANY type is, boringly, the Class 08 diesel shunter (996 made).
I have a strange affection for Gronks.
-
Apparently trainspotters are just frustrated rock stars.
Going back a bit, Frank Sinatra was said to own $1m worth of model trains and replicas of his native Hoboken, New Jersey, which he kept in a room called – but of course – All Aboard. Rock gods known to have private passions for tiny engines and carriages include Roger Daltrey, Bruce Springsteen, Eric Clapton, Phil Collins and Ringo Starr. But perhaps the music and railway modelling worlds aren’t as different as they might seem.
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2022/mar/23/im-proud-to-be-called-a-nerd-the-pop-and-rock-greats-who-love-model-railways
Pete Waterman, he of Stock, Market and Watermelon fame, is also a railway enthusiast, both model and full-size.
-
Yes, I've seen him pop up at a local exhibition. He kept that quiet when he was filming The Hit Man And Her ;D Maybe Her also goes home from Springwatch and builds model coaling stages.
-
And don't forget Rod Stewart. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-50403561.amp
-
Watermelon and Stewpot both feature bigly in the article. Which it seems no one was nerdy enough to read.
-
... it seems no one was nerdy enough to read.
I did, but then I also watched (and enjoyed) all the recent documentaries about Hornby in one of which Mr. Waterman's Cathedral layout featured. I still have the loco & coaches and a few lengths of track from my 1969 xmas pressie, a Tri-Ang train set.
-
I amused a couple of trainspotters by sprinting up to the bridge, jumping off my bike and whipping my phone out in time to capture this photo of something steamy (but I suspect not coal-fired) on the GWSR near Southam earlier:
(https://www.ductilebiscuit.net/gallery_albums/cycling/2022_09_11_15_42_28.sized.jpg)
I explained that I'd heard the whistle about half a km back, and reckoned if I gave it the beans, I might be able to make it to the bridge / level crossing by the time it arrived.
Interestingly, I caught up with the same train again after Winchcombe. Without the aid of a tunnel. That's a pretty slow train!
-
I amused a couple of trainspotters by sprinting up to the bridge, jumping off my bike and whipping my phone out in time to capture this photo of something steamy (but I suspect not coal-fired) on the GWSR near Southam earlier:
(https://www.ductilebiscuit.net/gallery_albums/cycling/2022_09_11_15_42_28.sized.jpg)
I explained that I'd heard the whistle about half a km back, and reckoned if I gave it the beans, I might be able to make it to the bridge / level crossing by the time it arrived.
Interestingly, I caught up with the same train again after Winchcombe. Without the aid of a tunnel. That's a pretty slow train!
Why do you suspect not coal fired, Kim?
Most heritage railways are trialling coal with added "stuff" to make it less ungreen. The Government, of course, wants us all to import Russian coal, rather than use the absolutely perfect stuff that many railway locos were designed for, from Ffos Y Fran, near Merthyr. Obviously far greener to import filthy low grade coal from across the world, than use our own much higher grade stuff... The coal used by heritage steam is an absolutely tiny fraction of that used by the cement industry and the steel industry, but they'd rather destroy an entire tourism and heritage sector than insist those industries make a 5% reduction in coal use. Grrr...
-
Isn't Winchcombe on the Severn Valley Railway? In which case the official reason given for running on diesel this summer has been lineside fire risk, but apparently – so I've heard from someone who lives nearby, who heard it from a driver (or fireman or similar) – the real reason is precisely that they were running on Russian coal and can therefore no longer get it.
-
That's a steam engine running backwards. AFAIK all UK preserved ones are coal-fired. Oil firing is surprisingly disgusting as the lack of fly ash means the boiler tubes quickly soot up...then the fireman chucks sand in there to clear the tubes, and you get a black cloud like that from a burning Kuwaiti oil well.
One of the coal substitutes uses the byproduct of olive oil manufacture.
-
Isn't Winchcombe on the Severn Valley Railway? In which case the official reason given for running on diesel this summer has been lineside fire risk, but apparently – so I've heard from someone who lives nearby, who heard it from a driver (or fireman or similar) – the real reason is precisely that they were running on Russian coal and can therefore no longer get it.
Winchcombe is on the GWSR. They have run steam all summer because the line is very flat. Steam engines only tend to throw sparks when being worked hard.
-
The Tallylyn Railway has been trying 'yellow coal', made from waste off rape seed oil production. Seems it works OK, but smells like a chip shop...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGaP3iCB_XM
-
Why do you suspect not coal fired, Kim?
Suspicious absence of smoke (I only saw the steam), though I was upwind and couldn't smell anything. I thought it might be running on oil, as I've previously encountered on the Welsh Highland Railway, but it could equally be some newfangled solid fuel.
It was definitely a steam engine, though, and making all the right noises.
-
On a visit to the IOW steam railway earlier this year, we heard that the coal washing plant at Merthyr had failed and wasn't worth their while repairing. So a notice said they expected to have to get coal from Russia or Columbia.
-
I amused a couple of trainspotters by sprinting up to the bridge, jumping off my bike and whipping my phone out in time to capture this photo of something steamy (but I suspect not coal-fired) on the GWSR near Southam earlier:
(https://www.ductilebiscuit.net/gallery_albums/cycling/2022_09_11_15_42_28.sized.jpg)
I explained that I'd heard the whistle about half a km back, and reckoned if I gave it the beans, I might be able to make it to the bridge / level crossing by the time it arrived.
Interestingly, I caught up with the same train again after Winchcombe. Without the aid of a tunnel. That's a pretty slow train!
Ah, you foxed me there for a minute with "Southam" - I forgot that there's a Southam just to the N of Cheltenham - rather than the one to the E of Leamington.
-
On a visit to the IOW steam railway earlier this year, we heard that the coal washing plant at Merthyr had failed and wasn't worth their while repairing. So a notice said they expected to have to get coal from Russia or Columbia.
They fixed the plant, although the mine is still closing soon.
Kim - a steam loco emits nothing of note from the chimney if the regulator is closed, as it is when coasting. There is some steam up the chimney from the brake vacuum ejector and possibly the blower, but this is invisible on a warm day.
-
And don't forget Rod Stewart. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-50403561.amp
And Neil Young - https://www.trains.com/ctt/how-to/toy-train-layouts/neil-youngs-o-gauge-railroad/
-
Kim - a steam loco emits nothing of note from the chimney if the regulator is closed, as it is when coasting. There is some steam up the chimney from the brake vacuum ejector and possibly the blower, but this is invisible on a warm day.
Yes, the steam/smoke was more visible as it was accelerating out of the station. It was all white though.
-
It generally is white (or close to white) as it's mostly steam (water vapour for pedants). Dark smoke indicates too little air is getting through the firebed. Firemen aim for light grey smoke, as this means the most efficient combustion, with air a little above stoichiometric.
-
In my collection of Very Intertesting old tat I have this booklet. All you need to know about fire, smoke and steam:
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/gsFMU7zIfdj9YS32iluOyqa1soKTwEbaxO0P7KMt6aiDGbzeG0fn5hwvhk67pa6xxN9XnIsQPery7P4QnXv2MyhJmgYd9iZZuBv-PKkHyHQclpZkSDUe8nyQD1QLGOIVZmugZr-WoBY=w1200)
-
FWIW, a well-fired and driven steam locomotive of typical British express design (simple, non-condensing, piston valves, superheated) has a thermal efficiency of 5% on a good day. Most of the energy in the coal goes up the chimney.
-
On a visit to the IOW steam railway earlier this year, we heard that the coal washing plant at Merthyr had failed and wasn't worth their while repairing. So a notice said they expected to have to get coal from Russia or Columbia.
Its been fixed. However, the coal is now far more expensive than it was, so we're (Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railway) still working with Wildfire, one of the weird composite stuffs. It looks like the Phurnacite stuff they used in the school stoves, and it rolls all over the footplate!
-
Didcot were using ovoids (basically eggs made from compressed coal dust) last time I was there. They burn very cleanly, presumably due to the guaranteed air gaps between round things, but received wisdom is that they need a lot of attention, or the fire can die on you just like that.
-
Did it when I was in my teens. Went all over the country and had a great time. Had a crash in our van when we hit a milk float in Kidwelly, South Wales. That was exciting. Had some good friends who did it. Train travel was cheap and a couple of older guys in the 6th form organised some over nighters to various areas. My dad even got me into Plymouth Laira, a notoriously difficult shed to visit. These were working environments tho, large engines, fuels, men working. BR used to run excursions to eg Windsor, Hampton Court or Fort William. These were not expensive so a fantastic day out watching trains or just visiting somewhere.
-
Hornby are really getting into the spirit of things with their Era 1 / Pioneer locos. This from about a month ago.
https://d63oxfkn1m8sf.cloudfront.net/5517/0626/2678/1._Locomotion_Engineering_Sample_GIF.gif
From https://uk.hornby.com/community/blog-and-news/engine-shed/locomotion-no-1-motion
-
If they're reproducing the first locomotives, will they also make a figure representing William Huskisson MP?
https://www.historytoday.com/first-fatalities
-
I've seen his memorial in Chichester Cathedral. There's an enormous elegy about what a good egg he was (he wasn't), and a very obscure reference to how he was fatally injured.
-
He was alluded to in one of the questions in the 2023 KWC Quiz. Have the idle buggers published the answers yet?