Recent content by Peter Fox

In the olden days we used to have 'bands' of rain. Now we have 'Blankets'. The trouble is EVERY bloody time it rains the line between Totnes and Plymouth is shut for checking the bridges haven't been washed away or sealions haven't eaten the sleepers. This time for over Wednesday pm and Thurs...

I can remember in the 1960s at Bat And Ball (Sevenoaks) three things in particular: (1) The horrible sour smell of the gas lamp in the booking office (2) The letting-off of pigeons from the back platform (3) There was a bell, just a ding not a brrring, on one platform [Down] which told you that...

Hours of poring over that ahead. Thank you SHD. 1706127986 Thank you for your lengthy reply nwales58. It all helps to build the ambience in a story from an era that is so far out of people's experience it might as well be Star Trek! Who would ever believe you didn't carry your own suitcases...

Just to do with a story I'm writing set about 1890. Could you get a through sleeper coach from Nice (in the springtime) to Paris? Or would you have to change at Marseilles? (I presume there were UK-term 'sleepers' on the PLM.) This is a completely trivial question, no bit of the plot rests on...

And everyone is a weightlifter. And dropping a suitcase on somebody will never happen. Prams and buggies fly up to the overhead racks on their own!

Thanks for that very clear illustration Railsigns. Looking at it I can see why it's an inferior method unless all dimensions of rails and wheels are immaculate. I know it's a guess but I'd say a very good one.

On the Railway Accidents Archive is a report Accident Returns: Extract for the Accident at Mansion House on 30th July 1877 where a train derailed at a set of points. These points are described as 'fixed' (but not in the never moving sense) and are recognised in the report as an obsolete and...

Last week I spent two hours looking out of the window on a pleasant journey through Devon and Somerset. I'd variously lean towards the window and look forward or angle myself against the middle arm rest and 'look straight out'. ie. My head roughly in line with my torso. (Seat facing direction...

Bad news. See the p20 of Christmas edition of Private Eye. eg. DfT has to give authorisation for any item over £1000 by depot managers. All 'discretionary costs' eg staff training and recruitment,

For 'lost property' read 'lottery'. When station A (say for example Colchester) have my property and obligingly send it to station B (say Witham) then the next day station B had no knowledge of said property. So it takes 30 mins to force the champion wasoks at WTM to actually *LOOK* and...

I was looking at a picture of Tornado and it has the speedometer connected to the rear, left, driver. The complication is that there's an arm required from the crank pin back to the axle centre. In addition, this can't help access to connecting rod bearings. Why not use the pony truck right...

From BBC web site: "Fire crews have told police three carriages of the train are on fire" Who are these morons? Don't they know that should be "Fire crews have told police three wagons of the Thomas are on fire"

Being on the train (except for vibrationaholics) is not very exciting. But if you take your (e- recommended) bike you can enjoy the Carnon viaduct at SW 785 405 from beneath. I was also impressed with the scale of the embankment at SW 785 405. Those railway builders must have been mad! As...

Taken July 2020 next to Penryn station (Cornwall). How long since this line had a steam loco on it?

A lot of promoting of railways was done by contractors. Peto for example is referenced above. Their object was to be paid to dig and lay rails and their profit was in the bag. What happened to the finances of a railway after that was irrelevant to them. To say there were financial...