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Railway General Knowledge.

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Calthrop

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It's in the general "industrial railway" ballpark: came into being fairly recently; and, as per above post, it's more than a little strange.
 
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EbbwJunction1

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Is it connected with the Dounreay Nuclear Power Station ... ? I don't know what it's called or the strangeness of it, though!
 
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Calthrop

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EbbwJunction1 said:
Is it connected with the Dounreay Nuclear Power Station ... ? I don't know what it's called or the strangeness of it, though!
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It isn't connected with, or to do with, Dounreay -- it's "about" a different source of power; and its location coast-wise: is the coast south, not west, of John o' Groats.
 
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Calthrop

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Peterthegreat said:
Is this the narrow gauge railway in Caithness that is/was used for transporting oil pipes?
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That's the one -- the Wester Pipe Railway (metre gauge) -- a little way north-west of Wick. A very odd line indeed. If it's unfamiliar to participants (I had never heard of it until happening on it Internet-wise -- in the course of investigating something completely different, and non-railway -- a week or so ago): I'd reckon it worth Googling -- using just those very words, Wester Pipe Railway.

@Peterthegreat : next question is yours to set.
 
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Peterthegreat

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I first saw that "railway" about 6 years ago when visiting the Far North. I'd never heard of it until then.

Where in Britain would you find "The Brick Train"?
 
D6130

D6130

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Peterthegreat said:
It is indeed. Your turn to sculpture the next question!
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Thanks. As I'm now in Italy for the next three months, I'm tempted to set an Italian railway general knowledge question.....although I suspect that more than a few on here would call 'foul'!

Here's a fairly easy one:

Which Italian locomotive engineer invented a type of rotary valve gear for steam locomotives which was also used on some engines in Britain and other countries?
 
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randyrippley

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D6130 said:
Indeed....Dr. Arch. Arturo Caprotti. For a bonus point - before setting the next question - do you know why Caprotti valve gear came to be fitted to various British locomotives between 1947 and 1954?
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Was it because Riddles liked it?
 
DerekC

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Well, I think the first link in the telegraph, between London and Slough, was set up by Cook & Wheatstone, so perhaps one of them. I'll go for William Cooke.
 
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randyrippley

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D6130 said:
I believe it was because following the end of WW2, Caprotti's patent was bought by an engineering firm in Worcester and they demonstrated it to the LMS and/or BR. Will have to do a bit more research on that subject.
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this document may be a useful starting point
It's a note on discussions between the UK caprotti company and the LMS. Same site also has similar notes relating to the LNER and GWR. Unfortunately the site formatting prevents anything being copy/pasted to here

Also on the site is a page giving background to the changes made in the UK to Caprotti's original idea
In 1911, Arturo (Arthur) Caprotti, a student of automobile engineering at Milan University, was told by his tutor that the steam railway locomotive was THE most inefficient machine. The reasons were:

  • Steam does its work through expansion in the cylinders of the locomotive and when exhausted has greater volume than when admitted, yet the design of the universally accepted piston valve (and similar systems) meant that steam had to be both admitted and exhausted through valve ports of the same size.
  • Piston valve heads were fixed in position on their rod, compromising valve events.
  • The Walschaerts gear, most commonly used to operate these valves, did not permit any advance or retard of engine "timing".
  • On the other hand, the motor car engine used poppet valves, which were totally separate, with inlet and exhaust valves of different sizes.
Caprotti transferred the principle of the poppet valve from the motor car to the steam railway engine:

  • Instead of a simple single seat poppet valve, where petrol/air vapour or exhaust gases passes by the sides, he invented a hollow (spoked) double seat valve, where steam not only passed by the two seats but also went down or up through the centre of the valve as well. His invention was much more efficient than its motor car equivalent.
  • Instead of a camshaft, with fixed cams on it (to operate the valves), which gave fixed valve events, he invented an assembly with two inlet cams, which could be moved (mechanically) in relation to each other, giving variable inlet valve actuation and one exhaust cam, giving fixed valve events.
His invention was brilliant but flawed. The British Development of the valve gear, brought major changes in the poppet valves themselves, and in 1950 Tom Daniels, Chief Engineer for Associated Locomotive Equipment, changed the camshaft design to include two exhaust cams instead of one, which could be moved (mechanically) in relation to each other, like the inlet cams, thus achieving complete variable valve actuation
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Ashley Hill

Ashley Hill

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DerekC said:
Well, I think the first link in the telegraph, between London and Slough, was set up by Cook & Wheatstone, so perhaps one of them. I'll go for William Cooke.
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I believe they were contractors rather than employees. Their equipment was was credited with aiding the arrest of murderer John Tawell. Neither of them were elevated to the initial position in question though.
 
D6130

D6130

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randyrippley said:
this document may be a useful starting point
It's a note on discussions between the UK caprotti company and the LMS. Same site also has similar notes relating to the LNER and GWR. Unfortunately the site formatting prevents anything being copy/pasted to here

Also on the site is a page giving background to the changes made in the UK to Caprotti's original idea
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Wow....very interesting. Thanks for that!
 
DerekC

DerekC

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Ashley Hill said:
I believe they were contractors rather than employees. Their equipment was was credited with aiding the arrest of murderer John Tawell. Neither of them were elevated to the initial position in question though.
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Wheatstone and Cooke were a bit more than contractors - they invented the electric telegraph! They designed and installed the system on the London & Birmingham (covering just the cable hauled section between Euston and Camden Town) in 1837, and the GWR between Paddington and West Drayton in 1839, the latter being the first commercially successful electric telegraph in the world. Spagnoletti joined the GWR in 1855.

But I haven't a clue who the LSWR superintendent was!
 
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