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No movement should exceed the line speed at any time. When entering an occupied section a loco should proceed at a speed that would enable the driver to stop within the distance they can see to be clear, basically a walking place. The rules for heritage railways are no different to the mainline and all drivers will be regularly assessed as competent and compliant. If you have genuine evidence (ie. not platform end or internet speculation) that anything you suggest is actually happening you should report it to the ORR.

The NYMR picture appears to show a vacuum toilet. I wonder where the power to operate such a system will come from, functional ETH isn’t common on most heritage line stock as steam locos can’t provide it. Weren’t the mark 3 sleepers built with conventional flush toilets that emptied into tanks due to their extended dwells in platforms? I think the BedPan class 317 units also had a similar set up that was subsequently removed. That would seem a much more practical arrangement for heritage lines. The point of vacuum toilets is that they use much less water, meaning smaller tanks for water and waste. This would be less of an issue on heritage lines with their lower ‘volumes’. Vacuum toilets are also horrendously complicated and would be a nightmare for heritage operations to maintain.

This came up on another forum a while back. It was a one off demonstration coach built to continental gauge, you can see how much wider it is from the overhang beyond the conventional B4 bogies. It ended up at the GCR(N) and was eventually scrapped. It has a page on the vintage carriage register: http://www.cs.rhrp.org.uk/se/CarriageInfo.asp?Ref=3495

The East Anglian Railway Museum has BCK 21027 converted for this purpose. There is a cover over the gangway with a window. The ‘cab’ consists of a brake valve and a vacuum gauge along with a loose seat for the ‘driver’. I guess this is for use on their short running line. The train would be driven from the loco with the driver in the BCK acting as a lookout with control of the brakes in case of emergency.

I think it is still in place in some locations. The recent transfers of former GA class 90s to Crewe were restricted to five locos at a time. A poster on another forum suggested it was due to the weight of multiple heavy vehicles in convoy being too great for some bridges etc.

Along the same lines, I am curious as to the set up when Freightliner 86’s work in multiple via the TDM cables. Is the leading loco directly transmitting the driver’s notch up/down etc actions to the trailing loco or is there a translation into a traction demand that is translated back to notches in the trailing loco?

First class compartments are very common on German loco hauled Intercity trains. If a train only has one first class carriage it will be a compartment one, any additional first class cars might be open but often aren’t. The latest refurbishment has started fitting six ICE style single seats into the compartments. I much preferred the original bench style, ideal for stretching out on an empty train.

DRS had a Mk2 BFK that found its way into the Greater Anglia class 37 operated ‘short set’ a couple of years ago. Unfortunately the compartment end was locked out of use, something to do with platform lengths at some of the stations I believe. I don’t know if they still have the vehicle now. I generally travel alone and I don’t like compartments unless I can get one to myself. Even in first class that would make for very inefficient use of space. Far better to have an open coach with a mix of ‘seating unit’ sizes ie. four around a table, one/two in airline seats etc.

Can you do anything with this? It doesn’t have all the dimensions you need but you could use the drawings to calculate them. http://www.barrowmoremrg.co.uk/BRBDocuments/Diagram_Book_200_for_issue.pdf

The toilet block conversion suggestion actually sounds like a good idea if track discharge toilets were completely banned. A couple of toilet carriages per train with large tanks and vacuum gubbins (and probably a genset to run it) might be a more viable option than retrofitting the many and varied charter vehicles that currently exist.

Just mocking the ignorance of the quoted comment.

Bloody Richard Branston!

9 million???? Taking entry to service in 1989, that amounts to over 800 miles a day, every single day, since then. I‘m taking that one with a pinch of salt...