rodent279

How did they get the Crompton over there a couple of years ago? Same ferries, or a different boat?

So were things like bogies & traction motors shipped to Eastleigh for overhaul?

Ha! Yes, I see what you mean. I think I may have been on it once just before it closed for rebuilding, but not positive. If so, I'd have been about 7.

An under-reported and often overlooked railway. Only been on it twice, once when virtually new, the 2nd time about 3 years ago.

Dunno guv, pass. I guess they could put it in a large storm tunnel or similar. It (the brook) actually crosses the main road on the other side of Station Road (the road to Patchway station), which is about 30m from the embankment, so they might just get away with it.

2nd vehicle looks like one of the XP64 stock.

Yes, I guess for a couple of years until XC took over, VT liveried Voyagers would have been seen alongside Meridians, but I'd imagine it's not common now.

I'm not sure I'd want to be anywhere near those driving wheels at anything over about a walking place.

Fair point, you wouldn't (normally) see WC liveried Voyagers at Derby etc.

Must admit, I don't think I've seen many photos of the two Voyager variants together, though I guess they would be seen together at Derby, Sheffield and Leeds.

I'd forgotten how narrow those lanes are. I'm in LB on the 10th, shame it won't be open, or I'd take a drive down there. Thanks for posting the photos, much appreciated.

I don't know. I would think mainly rail conditions, also weight transfer, and small differences in wheel diameter, and no two motors will be completely identical electrically. Edit-I guess it's possible that small differences in wheel diameter and tyre profile might make it possible for one pair of wheels to "pick up" and start slipping before another. Once they start slipping, they'll carry on until either power is removed, anti-slip brakes are applied (if fitted), or rail conditions are restored to normal.

The way I look at it is that a motor also acts as a generator as it turns. When a voltage is applied to it, it starts to turn, and will try to continue accelerating until its back EMF (the internal voltage it is generating) very nearly equals the applied voltage. Of course, the mechanical load applied to it may mean that it can't reach its electrical balancing speed.

I think drivers were instructed not to have the ammeters in the red zone for more than 15 minutes in any 1 hour period-can any AC drivers confirm this?

I think it was AL4's that had two Ignitrons. The difference that they had a single anode, the other types (Excitrons?) were multi-anode designs. Or was it the other way round? :-)

AM10's, apart from being the best units BR ever built () had very distinctive horns, slightly off tone and short & sharp. As regards power, the big limiting factor in power developed by traction motors is keeping them cool. If they get too hot, nasty things start happening to the insulation and the brush gear. If you can keep them cool, then they can run at a higher rating, as long as the maximum voltage of the insulation isn't exceeded. In fact the 1 hour rating can be exceeded, usually for no more than 15 minutes, so powers in excess of those quoted are at least theoretically possible.

Completely off-topic, but here's my old desk and chair which came from TR House (the TR buildings), and was rescued from the skip when the office furniture was replaced in 1990. Somewhere it is date stamped 1976, so I guess it was part of the original office furniture when the building opened. I've had it for twice as long as the company had it!

I've only just thought about this, which speaks volumes for the processing speed of my brain-but there were only 50 class 50's and 135 (eventually) class 56's, so why were several hundred vehicles renumbered out of the 50xxx & 56xxx ranges? It's not like BR was ever going to add a few hundred more class 50's to it's books is it? Likewise class 56's-by 1983, class 58 was the future "standard" freight loco.

A picture is worth a thousand words:-

As an aside, when did BR stop issuing oil handlamps (as opposed to head/tail/guards van lamps) to staff? I have one such thing, black, with large square glass in 3 sides, and a silver reflective back to the burner, with a BR arrow embossed in it, which dates it to ~post-1966.

I guess it's partly because the nature of the place means there's more than the usual amount of "drunk & disorderly" types.

@Nearholmer You really have missed your vocation in life!

I think some were made, and repaired, at Horwich works. I remember, back in the 70's, my dad (a railway employee) finding a tail lamp in the undergrowth near Horwich station, and taking it to the works for repair.

Wasn't there a gas main that exploded up in Manchester, which was traced to suspected electrolytic corrosion from nearby electrified railways?