rodent279

A question for the professional signalling engineers on RMWeb. When a signalling layout is being revised, and signals are repositioned, a signal sighting exercise is done, aiui. This I assume (correct me if im wrong) is to ensure that drivers have sufficient time to:- see an adverse signal respond to it the train has sufficent space to reduce speed to the desired level by some predetermined point in advance of the signal all the above taking into account "worst case" possibilities such as wetrail, some brakes being below par etc. My question is, once the scheme is approved and implemented, are live trials run, under a line posession, with trains to determine whether the signal positioning is correct, and trains can to to a halt, or to whatever control speed is required, in the space available?

So what happens when a TOC is merged/demerged into or out of another? How are drivers all placed on a level playing field? Or are they? Are there drivers out there still on T&Cs dating back to the first TOCs set up after privatisation? As an aside, one of the unspoken aims of the original privatisation of BR was to reduce the power of the unions, yet they seem to be if anything more able to dictate terms now. (Any diehard union members please don't take that the wrong way, it's just an observation, not an anti-union rant).

Could the class 68 + Nova 3 sets be used on Edinburgh-Aberdeen-Inverness?

But even MK was half baked-wasn't it supposed to have a light rail or monorail system?

Having just come back to backwards Britain after 5 days in the Netherlands, the contrast with the UK in general, the Marston Vale line in particular, could not be greater. Everything is clean, everything is integrated, well thought through & works*. Cycle lanes are proper dedicated two lane affairs, in some cases on each side of the road, not the weedy half-footpath, half-cycle lane we get over here. We stayed in Den Haag, and visited Scheveningen, Utecht and Dordrecht (and Zuiderpark parkrun, the main objective of the trip). The car was driven from HoH to the Holiday Inn express in the Hague, and stayed in the underground car park until it was time to go back to HoH for the boat. Everything else was done by public transport, even parkrun, which was a 5 min walk & 15 min tram ride. I got the impression that traffic in the cities is about 15% private car, the rest bus/train/tram & bike. Cars seem to have equal priority with bikes, pedestrians & buses and trams. I thought Britain was only an hour behind Europe, but no, its more like 40 years. *There was one bus that didn't turn up at Utrecht on our way to the Spoorwegmusuem, due to lack of drivers. We waited 40 min, but hadn't realised that 3 other buses could have taken us there, plus there is the train shuttle to Maliebaan as well! So that is down to our own ignorance as much as anything. And I'm aware of the problems with the Dutch HSL and the Fyra trains that had to be returned- but at least they got the darn thing built!

But where's the incentive for LMR (or whoever runs it currently) to develop business for another incoming operation?

The engine on the far left looks interesting as well, a 2-4-0 0-4-2 with outside frames, large coffee pot dome and no cab to speak of.

One imaginary railway that is rationally possible is a line from somewhere on the Far North line to Ullapool. I believe a line was planned, but never got beyond the planning stage.

I think simplicity and cheapness. That's the answer to most questions in the UK.

How about a kind of battery banker? A self-contained battery traction unit that would work in multi with the rest of the train to push it out of the station& through the tunnels, but drop off at the end of the tunnel section & work back to the station, unmanned, to be recharged?

Not strictly an 08 I know, but a close relative, so no apologies. Former WD machine, then NS no. 512, stands in the rain at the NS Spoorweg Museum, Utrecht. The museum is located in the former Utrecht Maliebaan station, and a shuttle operates along an electrified spur, linking Maliebaan to the main line into Utrecht Centraal. The shuttle is well patronised, takes about 20 min, and includes reversal at the mainline connection. Maliebaan is about 2km in a straight line from Centraal, but the train ride is probably more like 6km. The museum is well with a visit, we had about 1½ hours and that was nowhere near enough. Amongst others, EM2 no. 1501 "Diana" was there, along with several UK built steam locos. Imagine an electrified shuttle being retained to take passengers from York station to the NRM!

Were there ever any 3 or 4 cylinder singles? If not, why not?

Seems to be a lot of this about. What is happening to our people?

I understand that, but they didn't want to go to the expense of the tunnels, cuttings and embankments that would be necessary to keep the grades to a manageable level. Enlarging on the above, I believe the reason the sainted IKB used timber for most of the Cornish viaducts was because the initial cost was less than for stone viaducts. In other words, the Cornwall Railway and to a lesser extent the SDR were built on the cheap.

I guess there just wasn't the need for the haulage capacity of an 0-8-0 until the early years of the C20th, and engines were not heavy enough to warrant 4 axles earlier than that.

I think that has been explored before, and the answer was something like "not very well." Something to do with the positioning of the cylinders all driving the leading axle necessitating a long boiler and front heavy design.

I believe Kenneth Leech did a pictorial survey of all Castles as well. He certainly did for the Kings, but there was only 30* of them. *Yes I know 6007 was more or less a completely new engine after the 1936 Shrivenham accident.

I suppose short sighted, parsimonious thinking is nothing new. The railway was only built there because it was the cheapest up-front option. Imagine the D@!ly M@!l headlines today if that was done....idiot builds railway right alongside sea front that suffers direct hits from Atlantic weather systems.......

Knowing our great & glorious DfT's ability for forward planning, they'll get stored in the open air for 5 years pending further use, then when someone does want them, they'll be too far gone to bring back into use.

Preservation era I know, but just look at the difference in shade of blue on those two blue & grey mk1's.

Don't know whether it is still running, but here's what a steam turbine loco sounds like.

Don't really associate 25's with the Southern, how common were they in later years, say post-1975?

I can't imagine any kind of tourist in Swindon, let alone French ones!

I really must stop drooling in public....

That's good. East-west links are OK in that part of the world, its the N-S links that are often lacking