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Railway General Knowledge.

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krus_aragon

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They've been at it since 1997 (January and March for the Xc and WC portions respectively), so that's 22 years. But it's not the longest.

He's asking for company, not franchise, so I'll say Stagecoach.
Good thinking (and in a direction I hadn't considered)!
From what I can see, Stagecoach started operating trains with the Island Line franchise in October 1996, and they have of course been operating trains somewhere or other since then. But there's another company that's been at it for longer than that.
 

Marton

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Thank you. Guessing can work

Which railway civil engineering project led to the demise of Hopkins Gilkes and Company?
 

DerekC

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All railway stations have their oddities, but Waterloo has one large scale feature that you wouldn't expect in a major terminus. What is it and why is it that way?
 

Cowley

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Is it something to do with the old link roads to Waterloo East?
 

Cowley

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Yes. Keep thinking. If you look at a detailed OS map of the station it's obvious.
Ok I’ll go for there being a redundant bridge (that’s now used for storage I believe), and the remains of the route that linked the two stations. In other words that part of Waterloo wasn’t a terminus at all?
 

DerekC

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Ok I’ll go for there being a redundant bridge (that’s now used for storage I believe), and the remains of the route that linked the two stations. In other words that part of Waterloo wasn’t a terminus at all?

That's very close to the mark, but not on it. As you imply, the original Waterloo was designed to be a through station. Look at a map and see what effect that had on its overall shape. (I think the word "characteristic" might have been better than "feature" in the original question).
 

Cowley

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That's very close to the mark, but not on it. As you imply, the original Waterloo was designed to be a through station. Look at a map and see what effect that had on its overall shape. (I think the word "characteristic" might have been better than "feature" in the original question).
I think I know what you’re saying, but I’m going to back away now as I don’t have a question to set and even if I did I know that I won’t have any reception all day tomorrow...
 

Marton

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Platform 1 is not at one extreme of the station as usual. (Assuming no Platform 0)
 

341o2

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Due to the original intention of Waterloo being a through station, the line continuing to the City, the station developed in a haphazard fashion, resulting difficulty in finding where a departure was leaving from. The situation was lampooned (with artistic licence regarding "Waterloo High Level") by Jerome K Jerome in Three Men in a Boat,

"No one at Waterloo Station could tell the men where to catch their train. They ran around questioning railway employees from those with the simplest of jobs to the traffic superintendent to no avail. Finally, they slipped a porter from the Exeter Mail some extra money to take them to Kingston........ the railway looked for the train for hours, but they got where they wanted to go."
 

341o2

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No - simpler than that. Hint - what is it about a station that makes dispatching a long train more difficult?
Being on a curve, it is difficult to see the whole train to ensure it is safe to start
 

DerekC

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Being on a curve, it is difficult to see the whole train to ensure it is safe to start

That's what I had in mind - the whole station is built on a curved alignment dictated by the original LSWR plan to continue to London Bridge along the route subsequently adopted by the SER for its Charing Cross line. Not many other major terminal stations are built on a curve. (There was a plan at one point for the LSWR and SER to run to a grand joint terminal station at Charing Cross which would presumably have meant the closure of Waterloo, but they fell out with each other)

Your platform
 

Calthrop

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Due to the original intention of Waterloo being a through station, the line continuing to the City, the station developed in a haphazard fashion, resulting difficulty in finding where a departure was leaving from. The situation was lampooned (with artistic licence regarding "Waterloo High Level") by Jerome K Jerome in Three Men in a Boat,

"No one at Waterloo Station could tell the men where to catch their train. They ran around questioning railway employees from those with the simplest of jobs to the traffic superintendent to no avail. Finally, they slipped a porter from the Exeter Mail some extra money to take them to Kingston........ the railway looked for the train for hours, but they got where they wanted to go."

Just a random comment, not to do with quiz as such: after first reading Three Men in a Boat at a young age, I was long puzzled as to why Jerome seemed to have it in for the LSWR; which I'd not heard of as ever having been a byword for inefficiency and cluelessness. After many years, I finally learnt that the passage was -- with considerable hyperbole -- only about the confusing nature of Waterloo Station.
 

341o2

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As most of the answer was given away, I'm declaring open floor
 

Calthrop

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It's open floor -- I'll have a go.

Which railway attains the highest point in North America, reached by rail (now, or ever)? The line is still active today, though at present temporarily closed for renovation.
 

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