Unusual PW configurations thread both real and model.

[The Stationmaster]

In 'railway French' the term 'sabotage des traverses' actually meant  - adzing (=shaping?) of sleepers the direct equivalent in railway French usage being 'entaillage des traverses>

 

Using the ever helpful UIC dictionary the word 'sabot' came in a variety of contexts - sabot de frein, as already noted, translating as brake shoe, 'sabot d'enrayage (ou arrêt)' officially translating as skid drag shoe (or stop) while 'sabot de déraillement' officially translates as derailer or stop.  I therefore begin to wonder if the origin in railway use possibly stems from a brake shoe used with a horse drawn cart although that in turn would almost certainly have derived from an earlier usage/meaning in wider French of the word 'sabot'.

 

And one dictionary gives the translation into English as hoof while another says both hoof or clog according to usage.

[martin_wynne]

adzing (=shaping?) of sleepers

 

An adze is a cross between an axe and a chisel:

 

linked from: https://www.toolnut.co.uk

 

Some companies (e.g. GWR) used to machine adze the sleeper surface to create a ridged bed for the chairs (before creosoting). The chairs had matching ridges on the base to prevent gauge-spread.

 

Martin.

Edited November 26, 2017 by martin_wynne

[Pacific231G]

I did "know" that but sadly a quick web search suggests that it isn't actually true.

 

I've also wondered about "clog" but it seems to have a different origin, being the name for a large lump of wood used as a sort of ball-and-chain to stop oxes (oxen?) from wandering too far.

I'm not so sure. People love to debunk popular myths but that doesn't necessarily make them untrue. There is a similar meaning in "throwing a spanner in the works" and its American equivalent of "monkeywrenching" which are also probably more figurative than real.

It is possible that the employers' tactic of bringing in sabot (wooden clog) wearing unskilled peasants as "blackleg" replacements for striking weavers, who were wealthy enough to wear leather shoes, may have led to the term being used by skilled workers who had learned that deliberately working badly or slowly was an alternative to all out strike action. Some sources suggest that the English word "slipshod" in a work context may have a similar origin with poor unskilled workers unable to afford proper shoes being brought in to replace skilled artisans but others state that the wearing of slippers-slipshod- simply implied general carelessness and slopiness of dress. 

 

A lot of words have multiple origins so one can't be too definitive about them though some myths can be busted. For example, the idea of sirloin coming from a grateful king knighting a particularly tasty piece of beef (difficult when you've just eaten it!) does seem to be entirely fantasy as it really is just a variant on the French spelling of "sur loin "

Edited November 29, 2017 by Pacific231G

[Talltim]

[Siberian Snooper]

ABBD4F36-E6AF-40EF-9697-143E54B29CBC.jpeg

I wouldn't fancy building that!

[Ian Smeeton]

I don't care about building it, but what's the story?

 

Regards

 

Ian

[Joseph_Pestell]

I don't care about building it, but what's the story?

 

Regards

 

Ian

It's for a tram depot.

[talisman56]

Peco's next pointwork offering?

[Budgie]

It would make a good entry to or exit from a fiddle yard.

[Talltim]

I think its for the tram system in Bergamo, built by Vossloh Cogifer Kihn

[olivegreen]

I wonder how it was transported to the final installation site.

 

 

 

 

(OK, I know it would have been dismantled and rebuilt, but I can fantasise about a llllloooonnnnnggggg low-loader, can't I?) 

[Re6/6]

Expand  tram system in Bergamo and see a superb tram layout with a circular track through the grass at the back!

[Talltim]

Expand tram system in Bergamo and see a superb tram layout with a circular track through the grass at the back!

I meant for my link to show the depot but it doesn’t seem to have

Dropped pin

near T.E.B. Tramvie Elettriche Bergamasche S.P.A., Via Tezze, 7, 24020 Ranica BG, Italy

https://goo.gl/maps/zJDwQKcSWTz

[imt]

Expand  tram system in Bergamo and see a superb tram layout with a circular track through the grass at the back!

 

Glorious overkill for a tramway (technically a "light railway so they say) with a single line and 12 stations!  But this is Italy of course - say no more.

[Ian Smeeton]

I have seen this arrangement in photos from the States, but never in the UK.

 

https://goo.gl/R42yyf

 

Whiteinch, Glasgow

 

Regards

 

Ian

[Dave John]

Heh, I bet there are bits of the tramway still buried under the tarmac on South Street Ian. Certainly feels like it when you drive down it though officially the rails have been lifted.  The CR lines along the embankment are now a walkway / cycle path, come the good weather the Caledonian pup and I will walk it with a camera and do a blog. 

 

There is a good burger van just along from where the photo was taken. Satisfied customer etc ....... 

[Southernman46]

An adze is a cross between an axe and a chisel:

 

linked from: https://www.toolnut.co.uk

 

Some companies (e.g. GWR) used to machine adze the sleeper surface to create a ridged bed for the chairs (before creosoting). The chairs had matching ridges on the base to prevent gauge-spread.

 

Martin.

 

Before the introduction of the flat "D" type ramp end insulator on SR (necessitated partly by the increased use of concrete sleepers in the 60's) - a sleeper end at a conductor rail ramp end was adzed with just such a tool to provide an inclined surface for a normal insulator to act as a ramp end insulator.

[Trog]

Before the introduction of the flat "D" type ramp end insulator on SR (necessitated partly by the increased use of concrete sleepers in the 60's) - a sleeper end at a conductor rail ramp end was adzed with just such a tool to provide an inclined surface for a normal insulator to act as a ramp end insulator.

 

 

Interesting the traditional method of creating a ramp end on the ex-LNWR north London electrified system was to have a welder cut out 18" of the web at the end of the conrail then bash the head down to make a ramp with a sledge hammer while the metal was still hot, chuck a C pot under it and job done.

[DavidBird]

This was posted on farcebuck earlier. Any ideas?

[martin_wynne]

40 minutes ago, DavidBird said:

This was posted on farcebuck earlier. Any ideas?

 

 

It's uni-directional sprung catch points at the bottom of a single-line gradient.

 

If trains running uphill (left tack, away from camera) suffer a broken coupling, the runaways will be caught by the catch points.

 

Downhill trains (right track, towards the camera) are diverted clear of the sprung catch points.

 

The switches at each end are interlocked with the signalling for the direction of running.

 

Martin.

Edited March 31, 2019 by martin_wynne
typo

[talisman56]

I've seen that before, at a different angle. If I remember correctly, it's on one of the branches on the LSWR Devon and Cornwall area.

Edited April 1, 2019 by talisman56

[DavidBird]

Presumably the box in the cess on the left is the spring mechanism, together with some sort of equipment to allow the points to be held over in the event an uphill train needs to set back over the points.

 

What do folks make of the structure in the 4ft by the far switch? Looks a bit bulky for a normal switch stretcher and FPL...

[RailWest]

This was a pair of catch/trap points at the approach to Bodmin North station, at the top of the gradient up from Boscarne Junction.

[CazRail]

On 20/11/2017 at 11:33, Southernman46 said:

Yes that was exactly the situation ...................... I have some inside info on this particular incident ............

 

The organisation who are contracted by NR & responsible for routine examination of such signal posts (classified as structures) including this particular one are prevented from clearance of anything obscuring the structure being examined including vegetation, soil, ballast, cornflakes etc, etc. by NR BECAUSE this constitutes work under the terms of the SSOW Group Standard and means that a single examiner can not be used to undertake the exams and NR are not prepared to pay for the extra staff required. We would have to report any structure obscured (such as this signal) and rely on NR getting it cleared so the exam could be properly undertaken - Absolute feckin' madness and typical of NR's penny-pinching attitude on essential items that has gotten them up ######-creek in the past and as usual they got VERY, VERY, lucky in this case as the full linespeed through Newbury is 100mph but fortunately despite the darkness no severe derailment resulted from the HST striking such a solid object.

 

The situation may have changed since I have left in 2016 - I certainly hope so !!!!

Thats exactly my job currently... clearing vegetation etc from structures for inspections

[Southernman46]

22 hours ago, CazRail said:

Thats exactly my job currently... clearing vegetation etc from structures for inspections

Then you'll have plenty of work for quite a while

 

A recent clearance from the retaining wall (holding up the entire formation) on the N side of Dartford station revealed buddilea (never could spell it - that bloody bush anyway) roots of 3"-4" diameter into the brickwork to a depth of 3 courses !! Splitting into buggery and requiring major repair work.