Brunel's Atmospheric railway

[Il Grifone]

Oh well that's all right then

 

 

 

So did we and we also handled mercury

BTW I think one of the smallest industrial railways ever was a length of Hornby Dublo track with a loco and wagon used to move decidedly unsafe radio sources in and out of an experimental chamber at Harwell. Presumably it was as reliable as anything the workshops could have come up with and a whole lot cheaper. I'd also guess that the heavy Dublo motors would be pretty immune from radiation.

 

Only our teacher handled the mercury itself, but the vapours were available to all. Clearing up afterwards was through however.

 

This must be the HD at work. I don't think electric motors are affected by radiation but the die-cast shell would probably offer some shielding.

 

http://www.meccanoin...9&id=1349005134

 

To return to the OP, I always understood that pointwork was handled by a gap in the pipe and 'coasting' (or shunting by muscle power (man or horse) as was prevalent at the time). Locomotives were used for haulage of the train, once it had been made up.