DavidB-AU

https://www.scottpages.net/ReviewOfControllers.html

I have personally had my H&M Duette tested by an electrician and tagged as perfectly safe to be plugged in today. Back to the original question, https://www.scottpages.net has photos inside various controllers including a Clipper. Cheers David

Political and business leaders in the midlands are demanding that the government end decades of under-investment in the region’s transport by funding a £3.6bn plan to cut rail journey times and increase capacity. https://www.ft.com/content/84b2b742-d491-11e9-a0bd-ab8ec6435630

On a similar note, does anybody remember a layout in RM that had bottle kilns made from turned wood with every brick (made from punched card chad) applied individually? Tedious but looked very effective! Cheers David

My bad! I meant to say a King Arthur. Yes the Schools was a cut down Lord Nelson. It would still be interesting to see a design for a 2-6-4T with the same 6'7" drivers. Cheers David

There is much disagreement among authors on this but a shorter frame means much less overhang on tight curves on the Hastings line. It did have higher axle loading but also had a higher tractive effort than a Lord Nelson. EDIT: Maunsell's original plan for the Hastings line was a fast 2-6-4T, but changed his mind after Sevenoaks. It would be interesting to imagine a bigger version of a K1 with 6'7" driving wheels. Cheers David

Some interesting proposed/notional extensions to Sydney Metro. The current extent is the M1 from Chatswood to Tallawong, with the extension to Bankstown due to be completed in 2024. I would imagine that M2 would have some sort of limited stop service to connect the two airports with Central and Parramatta. Cheers David

They initially had manual doors which generally weren't closed by passengers unless the train was close to crush capacity or it was cold outside. This photo was from a hot January so doors being left open was pretty normal. Some later refurbishments had manual opening, power closing doors using the same mechanism as the Hitachi trains, however not all received this modification as they were earmarked for withdrawal in the 1980s as the new Comeng trains were delivered. Cheers David

The first 20 of the X class were built at Vulcan Foundry and the final 12 at the Dick Kerr works in Preston. They are very similar to the New Zealand Railways DE class which were also built at Preston. The South Australian Railways 800 class and Midland Railway of Western Australia F class are mechanically the same (although the F was an A1A-A1A) but were built in Australia by English Electric at Rocklea. Cheers David

And used an image taken from an American Youtube video. Cheers David

Not exactly a loco, but the Melbourne Harris train was based on the class 506. Photo by Weston Langford from 1973 (CC-BY-ND).

Some EMD ear candy.

While we're on the topic, more stuff of nightmares. Cheers David

Yes the Pacers saved a lot of local services... but they were only supposed to be a short term solution to a shortage of rolling stock. They had an intended lifespan of only 15-20 years. GIven the youngest is now 32 years old the criticism of why they are still around isn't entirely unjustified. Their replacements should have started entering service 20 years ago. Cheers David

Speaking of which...