terra-nova

On the question of extension onward from Curzon street onto existing routes, I was surprised that the HS2 plans did not include some kind of option given the established service pattern and demand for trains to Wolverhampton on the London route and to the South West on Cross Country ( I believe an early graphic may have even shown a classic extension to Bristol ) Whilst it would be difficult to extend beyond the stops at Curzon Street, it would seem an easier project to connect the country end of a couple of platforms to the New street Duddeston line on its northern pair of tracks for a Wolverhampton service via Bescot . This would entail a reversal, but the trains will need station time anyway to permit this. A stop in the Bescot area would be handy for North West Midlands /M5/ M6 interchange. I even submitted this to one of the consultations, but only got a very general reply. The infrastructure would look like c 1/4 to 1/3 mile of connecting inclined viaduct over land already claimed by HS2 or owned by Network Rail, which in the wider costs of HS2 would be marginal. Secondary considerations may be working round the new depot planned for Duddeston and a small increase in journey time on this section. Im sure there would be other works such as improving the junction at the London end of Wolverhampton station , but benefits would be there The work to connect to the Bristol route would be more extensive, but could follow a similar idea, with the connection to the Kings Heath route which in turn permits through running to both Oxford and Bristol . Current traffic levels are already 4 trains per hour, on these routes combined, so the infrastructure would hardly be idle and both schemes then free up space at New Street.

I have just seen the post about the flood. I am sorry to hear the news and hope it hasn't done too much damage When we had a flood at home , smaller in scale than this , the main concern from the surveyor was damage from moisture and humidity that would persist for some time after the incident, and indeed after the standing water had been removed. Consequently we had 2 weeks of humidity readings, dryers and fans running constantly, before the levels came down to normal. Have you been advised similarly I hope I am not butting into a situation that is already under control, but it would horrible to see consequential damage done to such a magnificent layout. You may be surprised at the levels of moisture that could be still in the air for some time to come

I have used mdf for several bits of decor around the house and I seal the cut edge sections with pva or resin w wood glue slightly watered down. When dry this sands perfectly smooth and seems to seal it. I then prime and paint using an mdf primer (which I suspect contains more pva). But I have not tested it in a garage environment Can I suggest that you do a test on a scrap piece of mdf and then put it in the bathroom for a while and see what happens

Your friend is correct. There was a line called the New Florence Mine Tramway running from Florence Siding on the Devon and Somerset Railway to the Croborn Mine and New Florence Mine via North Molton. The traffic was principally Iron Ore although other metals were I believe found in smaller quantities. It lasted from 1873 until the mid 1880s. It was horse worked. Historical detail is not only on the web, but also covered in the Devon and Somerset Railway books by Maggs and Huxtable and also in Railways around Exmoor I have walked the route from South Molton to North Molton and not only is the formation quite visible but it is a very pleasant walk in itself. It is marked as a footpath. The start takes a bit of finding. I started on the North Devon Link Road at the junction near the site of South Molton Station. You take a farm track until you see the site of the siding and then the formation becomes clear. It is also marked on the on line historical maps. Hope that helps

The current fare structure of UK passenger rail, particularly on InterCity routes, with high standard fares and then various levels of discounting has, arguably seen a relatively stable situation with good yield in terms of revenue and growth. I suspect franchise holders may be cautious of radical change, in case this stability of business were to be lost. Returns could actually drop, or demand would become embarrassingly high for the current capacity, with all the extra business at discounted rates. i.e. Do you remain content with a current reasonable profit or risk it in the search of more. The example of HS1 saw the premium pricing model extended and that has been running for several years now so I assume there is no great flaw there, and I expect the Government may see the appeal of a similar policy on HS2. Now for the but Uk roads are very congested with knock on effects for likelihood of incidents, delays to peoples journeys , slowness of freight transport, not helping the economy etc The UK population is forecast to rise by 15% and economy to grow by at least a similar amount by 2030 Decentralisation from London has worked to an extent but much of that growth will be in already busy areas. According to the UK Transport Statistics Nov 2017, rail represented 2% of all journeys and 8% by distance. This is all journeys. I have seen somewhere the mode split statistic for longer distance travel i.e. comparable to InterCity but I can't find it at the moment. My recollection was that it was c 13 to 14% Rail, with the vast majority of the rest (80+%) being by car. So my point is that HS2, and maybe some other bits of rail planning, is going to have to achieve something more . Even growth of rail usage at decent and commercially viable levels may not defuse congestion. The package of price, speed, connectivity etc for HS2 has got to be attractive enough to see that 80+% figure significantly reduced if it is to make a meaningful contribution to overall transport efficiency. The classic routes freed up by HS2 also form part of the equation presumably for the shorter distance journeys. This in short , my plea is that having taken the wonderful step to invest in High Speed rail , the true bigger picture must be seen to get maximum benefit, and this relates to fare levels, capacity and getting access to the network.

Another story I heard was definitely seventh hand and went like this. A fitters mate was working a weekend night turn and decided he had contributed enough, so went and found a nice compartment to rest. It must have been good because the next he knew the train was in motion, but luckily it stopped at a signal and so he dropped down onto the ballast and started back down the track. But he came across a junction and without thinking followed the straight path. He walked for miles and miles. It had long become daylight and like most of us would have done he started to panic . Eventually he came across an over bridge with a path leading up to the road He climbed up the path and stood on the road. As he had made the wrong decision at the junction, he couldn't trust his instinct of which way to go. Eventually he found a house and asked to be handed over to the police Somewhat bizarrely his clock card recorded a prompt exit I am sure somebody on RMWeb will know the true version of this story

Another railway tall tale I heard was again nth hand and originated from the time that the drugs and alcohol screening programme was first introduced. This caused a bit of concern to some people, although one worried member of staff thought he had a plan to outwit the test. I don't know the exact method he used but it involved using a sample provided by his wife smuggled into the medical centre. Test duly completed, the results were received which confirmed that the member of staff was clear, ......and hoped that congratulations were in order as he was pregnant. I'm sure that somebody on RMWEB will know the true origin of this story

In the spirit of the title of this topic , I have heard a railway story which I've always assumed to be a tall tale because I've heard it told several times but based on different regions and locations and it was clearly about 9th hand. I hope that in telling this tale no libel is felt. Anyway it goes like this - A senior manager commuted by train from home to his office, and liked to travel up front with the driver. He was a friendly and popular man so the crews liked his company and he got to know what was going on. One day returning home , he must have been a bit confused or forgetful , but as he was walking up the platform, the whistles started blowing , so he ran and just made the cab in time. Comments were passed that he had left it a bit late , but conversation then turned to other things. Later as they approached his stop, he thought the driver was leaving braking a bit late, so much so that he eventually said something. The driver gave him a concerned look back and just said i'm not braking because we are first stop XXXXXX. - a station far down the line. Allegedly a very slow and very temporary speed restriction got the manager off soon afterwards. The story either places XXXXXX as Exeter , Preston or York depending on the version told. But I am sure somebody on RMWEB will know the definitive true version.

My overall feeing regarding this announcement is an uncomfortable feeling that this is an opportunity for the whole rail industry and common sense in general missed. But clearly there is a mismatch between the estimated cost of electrification and its real cost or the cost related to the way Network Rail have delivered the project. This would appear to have been the case on many other projects as well and until this fault line is cured , it will only continue to stymie investment , but understood and solved it could enable massive growth So surely even in defeat it must be insisted that something is learnt from this electrification experience, if only to improve the success of other projects to come. So I feel it essential that there is a proper cool look at what has gone wrong. But I don't mean a top down review by a big shot who ignores detail, or a politically motivated assessment or a view that suits the interest of some party. We have seen these all before This needs a proper engineering/project/finance based review that takes an elemental analysis and shows us where the deviation has truly happened on each job that was done. Yes this might be a load of detail, but it would appear that about 2BnGBP has gone missing so it might be good to know what happened. So what made up the cost overrun. Was it too much direct labour cost or hours, or material , or corporate on costs, or costs to provide possessions, costs to compensate TOCS , repeat or rectification work, idle hours , cancelled work, poor planning etc etc etc I don't know what the answers are, but somewhere this info must exist If and when Network Rail can truly understand the above then I would expect a solution to how (electrification) projects can be delivered on time on budget in future. How do they think other successful companies do it

Could you not spread your existing furniture out a bit to include the empty rooms. Might even make the house look even more spacious.