• Our booking engine at tickets.railforums.co.uk (powered by TrainSplit) helps support the running of the forum with every ticket purchase! Find out more and ask any questions/give us feedback in this thread!

8 MPH Speed

Status
Not open for further replies.

Ploughman

Established Member
Joined
15 Jan 2010
Messages
2,882
Location
Near where the 3 ridings meet
I was just reminded of the 8 mph speed at London Kings Cross
It has often puzzled me as why this odd figure was chosen.

I was always told when designing that all railway speeds should be rounded to the nearest 5 below. So why this oddity?

Anyone know of any other odd figures not to the nearest 5 mph?
 
Sponsor Post - registered members do not see these adverts; click here to register, or click here to log in
R

RailUK Forums

John Webb

Established Member
Joined
5 Jun 2010
Messages
3,047
Location
St Albans
I was just reminded of the 8 mph speed at KC.
It has often puzzled me as why this odd figure was chosen.

I was always told when designing that all railway speeds should be rounded to the nearest 5 below. So why this oddity?

Anyone know of any other odd figures not to the nearest 5 mph?
At St Albans South signal box we have a 12 mph sign on display, which we understand is quite unusual.
 

LE Greys

Established Member
Joined
6 Mar 2010
Messages
5,389
Location
Hitchin
Remember it was set up at a time when most locos didn't have speedometers. They probably went for "double walking pace" in the hope that drivers could judge that accurately. Flying Scotsman nearly derailed when leaving Platform 9 on her record run to Leeds, they apparently found flange marks in some very unusual places.
 

dangie

Member
Joined
4 May 2011
Messages
1,177
Location
Rugeley Staffordshire
Where I work the site speed limits are 9mph & 19mph. Management reckon odd speed limits like this will make people more aware and not exceed them....

Yeh... right...
 

heart-of-wessex

Established Member
Joined
11 Jun 2005
Messages
3,008
Location
Trowbridge
I remember passing near Rugeley area once on my bike and seeing an 11mph limit to the entrance of one site, might have been the power station?
 

MK Tom

Established Member
Joined
31 Aug 2011
Messages
2,421
Location
Milton Keynes
Where I work the site speed limits are 9mph & 19mph. Management reckon odd speed limits like this will make people more aware and not exceed them....

Yeh... right...

19mph limits have been used on roads when people had thought metrication was imminent. I don't know if that applies to rail too though.
 

NIMBUS

Member
Joined
13 May 2011
Messages
176
I was just reminded of the 8 mph speed at London Kings Cross
It has often puzzled me as why this odd figure was chosen.

It's 5 mph at the KX end of Gasworks Tunnel, under the Regent's Canal, so perhaps another 3 mph was all that was realistically calculated to be possible in either direction between the platforms and the mouth of the tunnel?
 

Dieseldriver

Member
Joined
9 Apr 2012
Messages
971
Theres a bridge structure between Neasden and Finchley Road southbound on the Metropolitan line which is (IIRC) 18mph for engineers trains.
 

tirphil

Member
Joined
27 Jan 2011
Messages
275
Location
Wales
MGR loops at Drax are 3mph and are signed as such. Takes a while to get around, frustrating when you're not actually unloading coal.

Have the line speeds been revised down? Used to be 5mph on all lines except 3mph over the weigh bridges and 0.5mph or 1mph through the hopper house (depending on wagon type). Propelling from the FGD (Gypsum, limestone, flyash) was restricted to 3mph.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Top