rodent279

But do we trust people like that anymore?

It takes two to tango. Followers have to own their part. Having many followers does not make one a "good" leader.

No. 1 is getting elected. Nothing else comes close.

Question- discounting EMU types, were any mk1's ever fitted with Gresley bogies?

You reckon? Personally I don't hold out much hope, but we'll see.

It'll go down a storm with *@!£¥ ∆π€¥| readers and @& News viewers, and that's all that it needs to do.

Sorry, bit OT, but if this thread on twitter (X if you prefer) is halfway true then I can't blame anyone's decision not to use the train. Have we really sunk so low? What shocks me is not that we have, but that it is just passively accepted, shrug of the shoulders, what can you expect?

GJC understood the importance of long travel long lap valves, and that, married to good boiler design, was the secret.

What are the relative merits of steel vs copper inner fireboxes? Steel being stronger & cheaper than copper, why did it take so long to catch on?

Could it be deliberately set like that to prevent lose ballast getting stuck between switch blade & rail?

Nothing new there, one was spotted in 1948.....

Here's an imaginary loco that may have been touched on before. The Hunsley Austerity 0-6-0ST had a short 11' wheelbase for 30'4" of loco. Would they have been better locos for short trip work if they had a leading & trailing axle, turning it into that rare beast the inside cylinder 2-6-2ST?

You'd want this surely?

On the subject of sounds playing for layouts at exhibitions, it is possible to live stream to a YouTube account, which bystanders can tune into and listen to via headsets.

What the BBC reports as "test" may not actually be a test.

Dies that mean it was largely a commuter railway?

Yep, I suppose if the WSR remained in BR ownership then a preserved S&D might be plausible. It would certainly give steam and diesel enthusiasts a spectacle!

I guess a preserved S&D of any reasonable length might come at the expense of another nearby real-life preserved line. Would there be room for a preserved S&D and the WSR, and the ESR, within an hour's drive of each other? Would they be able to compete for footfall, funding & volunteers?

Settle & Carlisle, right? Yep

None of it. It's not especially scenic, not in the same league of the S&C or the Cotswold line, just average southern England green fields,woods and rolling hills. Enthusiasts are attached to it, but its a Railway that never really served a purpose that couldn't be fulfilled by other routes, even if they are a little less direct.

Oh I think the idea of a Hughes-inspired 4-8-2 thumping along the WCML with a nice hefty payload is fascinating. But I guess the lesson is that it wasn't small locos that was the problem, it was our restricted infrastructure, and that extends to more than the physical bulk of it, it's the length of passing loops, radius of curves etc.

What, us Brits going abroad and leaving a mess? Never! We shan't admit it Carruthers, we shall carry on as if nothing had happened.

I'm sure it's been discussed before either on this thread, or on the Imaginary Railways thread, but it's interesting to imagine what a UK railway system with a loading gauge more like that on the European mainland would have evolved in terms of motive power? Even if we did have the larger loading gauge of our European friends, if we still retained the short goods loops and multiplicity of collieries, good yards etc., with sharp radius curves, and a large private owner wagon fleet wedded to the short wheelbase 4 wheel open or covered wagon with no continuous brakes, there's still little point in evolving impressive beasts like the French 4-8-2's, German Br01's, Br44's etc.

Use it while you can

Effectively a class 40, but a lot more modern looking, especially in the bogie area.