Interesting and inspiring photos from Flickr....

[montyburns56]

East Kent Light Railway LKR 6  at Eastry 1946 by John Law

 

 

 

[montyburns56]

I'm guessing that this track doesn't exist any more?

 

Metre gauge Peckett at Embsay 1973 by John Law

 

 

[Nearholmer]

I think that’s No.85 of Wellingborough Iron Co., so in a manner of speaking a bit does survive, but not at Embsay.

 

https://www.irchesterrailwaymuseum.co.uk

 

Edited September 25, 2021 by Nearholmer

[russ p]

23 minutes ago, montyburns56 said:

I'm guessing that this track doesn't exist any more?

 

Metre gauge Peckett at Embsay 1973 by John Law

 

 

 

Was that the only ever metre gauge bullhead track?

[Nearholmer]

10 minutes ago, russ p said:

Was that the only ever metre gauge bullhead track?

Off-hand, I don’t know about England, but there were miles, well kilometres, of it in France.

 

 

Edited September 25, 2021 by Nearholmer

[russ p]

21 minutes ago, Nearholmer said:

Off-hand, I don’t know about England, but there were miles, well kilometres, of it in France.

 

 

 

Oh wow Kevin 

I knew France had some bullhead standard gauge track but had no idea there was metre gauge track and certainly didn't expect any to be still in use.

Do they have any standard gauge bullhead still in use?

[Nearholmer]

TBH, I’ve no idea. SNCF231G might well know.

[montyburns56]

I think this must be the weekly beer supply for the navvies.

 

Leeds No. 1 Colsterdale Reservoir railway by John Law

 

 

[rodent279]

On 25/09/2021 at 19:51, Nearholmer said:

Off-hand, I don’t know about England, but there were miles, well kilometres, of it in France.

 

 

Was it (bullhead rail) a relic of the ROD operations in France during WW1?

[Nearholmer]

I don't believe so. In France its called "Double Champignon" and I think was standard practice there (imported from England, like most early railway technology) until Vignoles* rail (i.e. FB) was perfected. The difference between Britain and France seems to be that they adopted Vignoles enthusistically and rapidly, whereas we really took our time over it.

 

I'm not well-up on SG in France, but I know that some metre gauge systems clung to their mushrooms very keenly, Brittany being one such big system, and the still-surviving Blanc-Argent another.

 

Clive Lamming, France's most well-known railway historian, writes a blog, and I think if you ferret through the ten-zillion back postings, he did a good article about French track practices down the years. If you can't find it on his website, email him, he is fluent in English and seems to love a good e-chat about anything to do with railways.

 

*Vignoles name sounds French, but he was British, and at one time President of The ICE. He imported the idea of FB rail from the US and tried it on either the London and Croydon or Brighton line (I can never remember which), but the early version was very squat, and tended to bend too much under load, It was he who sorted out the ratio of foot width and web depth to make it the right rigidity. Some bits of early rail from the L&C/L&B were sold to industrial tramways when it was lifted from the main line, and in the 1970s I found quite a bit of it scattered about on the route of a chalk pit tramway that ran from Glynde station up to pits on Mount Caburn in Sussex.

 

 

Edited September 26, 2021 by Nearholmer

[Nearholmer]

Just noticed it has its own thread on RMWeb!

 

 

I also came across the SNCF technical note dated 2019 setting out how to calculate compatibility between items of rolling stock and different types of track, and that includes tables of all the rail types in use, including about ten variants of double-champignon, all I think dating from pre-WW2, so some of this stuff must still be in situ in odd corners of the network!

 

 

Edited September 26, 2021 by Nearholmer

[montyburns56]

Midland Railway inspection saloon at St Pancras 1952 by John Law

 

 

[Pinza-C55]

Bridlington station 1978 by me.

 

Bridlington {1} 17.12.78 by A1 Northeastern, on Flickr

 

Bridlington {4} 17.12.78 by A1 Northeastern, on Flickr

[Andy Kirkham]

The Chappar Rift Bridge, a.k.a the Louise-Margaret Bridge.

 

 

If your reaction is one of unease about the integrity of this raiway, you would be right:

 

On the night of July 10, 1942 there was a flash flood in the area which swept away the scree bank in the Chappar Rift. With the scree slope washed away there was nothing left for the railway to be laid upon. It is said that water level reached upto 30 ft in the mud-gorge area and it caused wide spread erosion of rail foundations.

 

I'm not sure I'd feel too comfortable with a railway laid upon a scree slope.

 

.... in 1943 it was decided that the railway line between Zardalu and Bostan which carried only one train a week, should be closed down.

 

https://www.irfca.org/articles/chappar-rift.html

 

Edited September 29, 2021 by Andy Kirkham

[montyburns56]

Manchester London Road 1920 by John Law

 

 

[LMS2968]

4 minutes ago, montyburns56 said:

Manchester London Road 1920 by John Law

 

 

Beautiful!

[Andy Kirkham]

1 hour ago, LMS2968 said:

Beautiful!

There were only 2 George The Fifths that had a two-digit number - 82 Charles Dickens and 89 John Mayall.

[Fat Controller]

12 hours ago, Andy Kirkham said:

There were only 2 George The Fifths that had a two-digit number - 82 Charles Dickens and 89 John Mayall.

They named a steam loco after the father of British blues?

[Andy Kirkham]

57 minutes ago, Fat Controller said:

They named a steam loco after the father of British blues?

From L&NWR Locomotive Names

John Mayall 1803-1876. Cotton spinner born at Lydagate near Ashton under Lyne. By the 1870s the largest specialised cotton spinner in the world.he was largely responsible for the growth of the Pennine town of Mosely, and lived and died there.

[Fat Controller]

2 minutes ago, Andy Kirkham said:

From L&NWR Locomotive Names

John Mayall 1803-1876. Cotton spinner born at Lydagate near Ashton under Lyne. By the 1870s the largest specialised cotton spinner in the world.he was largely responsible for the growth of the Pennine town of Mosely, and lived and died there.

I wonder if the blues musician is a descendant?

[montyburns56]

23 hours ago, Andy Kirkham said:

The Chappar Rift Bridge, a.k.a the Louise-Margaret Bridge.

 

 

If your reaction is one of unease about the integrity of this raiway, you would be right:

 

On the night of July 10, 1942 there was a flash flood in the area which swept away the scree bank in the Chappar Rift. With the scree slope washed away there was nothing left for the railway to be laid upon. It is said that water level reached upto 30 ft in the mud-gorge area and it caused wide spread erosion of rail foundations.

 

I'm not sure I'd feel too comfortable with a railway laid upon a scree slope.

 

.... in 1943 it was decided that the railway line between Zardalu and Bostan which carried only one train a week, should be closed down.

 

https://www.irfca.org/articles/chappar-rift.html

 

 

Shouldn't that be in the When the real thing looks like a model thread?

[montyburns56]

NER 2-4-2T No. 420 Church Fenton 1920 by John Law

 

 

[montyburns56]

Samuel Williams No.4 at Dagenham Dock 1955 by John Law

 

 

 

[62613]

On 29/09/2021 at 11:16, Andy Kirkham said:

From L&NWR Locomotive Names

John Mayall 1803-1876. Cotton spinner born at Lydagate near Ashton under Lyne. By the 1870s the largest specialised cotton spinner in the world.he was largely responsible for the growth of the Pennine town of Mosely, and lived and died there.

Lydgate, Saddleworth, and Mossley, Lancashire

[montyburns56]

Erith Station 1880 by John Law