Forward!

Historic England. Sadly the interior of the old drawing offices was more or less gutted when BR closed-up shop. But a few reminders remain. For instance, any fixture or fitting that could be at risk of being stolen back-in-the-day is still stamped 'GWR'. Everything from the door handles to the underside of the toilet seats (reference photo for the latter definitely not attached!).

I'm currently sat at a desk having my lunch on the fourth window in from the right, second floor!

Pre- common user my understanding was that the RCH managed two sets of charges for wagons- mileage (the fixed rate for sending a wagon out to another company's system for an agreed period) and demurrage (the penalty the other company would incur for keeping the wagon beyond that period). From a 1930s article Railway Wonders of the World: "Mileage and demurrage charges were at one time raised on wagons, and their covering sheets or tarpaulins. Wagons at the end of a journey were unloaded and sent back empty to the forwarding company - thus causing an enormous amount of unnecessary haulage. A company would frequently return empty wagons to another company at a junction and at the same time receive from that company its own empty wagons." https://www.railwaywondersoftheworld.com/clearing-house.html

Re a method of making reins that will withstand a lot of handling- have you thought of an elasticated thread? The most common 'modellers' product is "EZ Line", but other non-modelling products are identical, cheaper and readily available from a local haberdashery. Will

Sorry, not clear. The last remaining civilian bombed-out building that has not been subject to some form of intentional post-war retention, stabilisation or repair works to bring it into some form of use, even as a ruin (many bombed churches, in contrast, became part of postwar parks and gardens as part of clearance and reconstruction schemes). The retention of bombed-out secular buildings post-war was much less widespread and invariably never really intentional. They lingered for (in cases) decades, but redevelopment inevitably saw that they were demolished. The National Picture Theatre in Hull was a site abandoned after its destruction in 1941 and until very recently had simply not been touched at all. There are still smoke stains on the facade and rubble in the back. https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1391850?section=official-list-entry Will

Not to mention getting destroyed on the Hull Blitz which gutted the museum. Presumably the artefacts were in storage at the time. (Fun fact, totally off topic, the last remaining bombed-out building in the UK is in Hull. Its a former cinema and is now grade II listed and being preserved using lottery money.)

It's been at Hull since 1939 when it was added to the city's Museum of Commerce and Industry (the precursor of the modern Streetlife museum). It was on the iniative of HA Whitcombe, a noted tramway enthusiast. I'm not sure whether he had a connection to Hull or whether it was simply an expedient to save the loco by finding any municipal museum willing to take it?

Such a shame it didn't make it- already nearly 80 years old when it was fatally injured in a shunting accident.

It's the former MS&LR, GCR director's saloon and is famously a case of "one that got away" despite the intention to preserve it in the late 60s.

Perhaps they could run them like a GWR auto train- put the loco inbetween two sets!

Tender locomotives definitely ventured onto the North Lindsey Light Railway, which was privately built, but was operated as part of a 'proper' railway (the GCR), so may not be what you were getting at. https://northlincsmuseumimagearchive.org.uk/frontend.php?keywords=Ref_No_increment;EQUALS;s06746&pos=2&action=zoom Will

I don't want to be guilty of taking this thread anywhere near the concept of contested heritage (I believe the Daily Mail and the Guardian both have more appropriate forums for that sort of thing, depending on your political bent). But it is worth noting that there is no such thing as "neutral" language and no such thing as "settled" history. Two different people can look upon a statue of a dead white guy on a horse and one may be inspired to think that that 150 year old commemoration represents something pertinent to British identity in the 21st century, and another can be wholly repulsed by the exact same thing that statue was intended to commemorate. Both are entirely valid reactions. The only thing that is true is that the statue represents what those who created it at the time valued, celebrated and intended to use to create their own national idendity. And inevitably, that was a rather narrow elite who got the opportunity to do that. How much those values can, and indeed, should define a 21st century notion of UK national identity- well your opinion is as equally valid as mine (and I've been absolutely clear in a previous post about mine). Everybody adds their own layers of meaning to how we name public spaces, and, by selecting who we choose to honour, what we wish to convey to the world about any collective sense of identity. Our history is re-written every single day. And we all have our own stories to explain how we arrived at what we think we are today. I think the recent announcement is an interesting reflection of where we are as a city in 2024. A little trite perhaps, but not fundamentally any different to how things were done in the past. The future is impossible to predict. Will people in 2054, 2104 collectively remember the "Lionesses", or will it have taken on a completely different meaning? Who knows? My only real gripe was I just wished they'd come up with some slightly snappier names! Anyway, let's steer clear of the whole hornet's nest of contested heritage. These are complex discussions and one thing I've learned in my day job (I work in the heritage sector) is any attempt to iron them out in an online space is doomed to fail. I apologise if my language was indiscrete. Will

Good idea- I have found getting about on the Overground increasingly tricky, especially if there was disruption because you basically had to memorise the entire system to work out where that disruption was and whether it would affect your part of it. I have no problem with chosing names that reflect how London wants itself to be seen by the world, but I think they could have chosen some that roll off the tongue a little easier. I tried saying "Lioness Line" out loud a few times quickly and I very easily ended up contracting it to "Line'sline". I'm not sure how much thought has been given to how easily some of these can be pronounced (or heard) by visitors whose first language isn't English. Will p.s. for what it's worth almost anything would be a "political" choice- and there's plenty of older examples on the system. Naming something is an intrinsically political act. They in their own way tell you a lot about what those politicians cared about in their own time- battles and royalty- the glories of Empire. You see it everywhere across London- lot's of statues of dead white guys on horesback. No bad thing- our history is our history, but claiming that Khan is somehow politicising the tube is nonsense. I'd rather have some slightly silly names than be boring like the Germans and just have S1, S2, S3...

Full retro NSE for me!

DfT claims it costs less to maintain road/motorway road earthworks because they were constructed (more or less) to modern standards. They commissioned some research in 2021 that found that railway earthworks were much more likely to be built on cuttings or embankments which do not meet modern standards and as such steep embankment slopes increase the risk of slips. The UK’s third Climate Change Risk Assessment (2021) claimed that older, less well compacted assets such as those supporting the rail network (i.e. embankments made by simply tipping spoil and allowing natural settling) are deteriorating at a faster rate due to increased rainfall than newer assets built to more modern standards. I'm no civil engineer so I don't have the patience or skill to read the science, but my takeaway from the research I've read is motorways=new, railways= old and knackered. And again- the scale of the problem is staggering. Network Rail is responsible for 70,000 soil cuttings, 22,000 rock cuttings and 100,000 embankments- the overwhelming majority of which are over 100 years old, and much of them are over 150.