gauge

[DaveNewcastle]

. . . . . This was primarily a mineral railway, like the Stockport and Darlington, and Brunel's broad gauge was designed for comfort and speed.

You're not the first person to believe they'd be happier if Stockton didn't exist. (You wouldn't - and it hosts a great annual festival)

However, Stephensons' great advances in railway development were firmly in the North East.

 

[LE Greys]

I know there's talk of 165/166s being cascaded to Avon/ Devon/ Cornwall when the Thames Valley electrification takes place (albeit not loads of them, as the branches won't be wired), but will it be worth doing clearances on branches (if it is needed)?

Many of the branches were once BG anyway, so it's not required. Newquay, Falmouth and St Ives almost certainly had "Centenary" stock work to there, through coaches from the Cornish Riviera Limited.

 

[tbtc]

Many of the branches were once BG anyway, so it's not required. Newquay, Falmouth and St Ives almost certainly had "Centenary" stock work to there, through coaches from the Cornish Riviera Limited.

Yeah, I was wondering this, and whether there had been any changes in the alignment since then - the infrequent Newquay branch would be an interesting cost/benefit to do... enough 165/166s to replace all the FGW Pacers, 150s and 158s?

 

[The Barlow Boy]

When Eurostars used Waterloo they coped with different platform stepping distance/height by having steps that extend depending on the platfom position.

At Waterloo the platforms were B.R. height and only the top step on the sets were deployed. At St. Pancras the platforms are sort of half height UIC and there both top and bottom steps deploy.

Of course St Pancras meets modern European standards (760mm), but various other platform heights are found all over Europe anyway, I think the Paris and Brussels platforms are also different...

Both Paris and Brussels have low low platforms. At St. Pancras the bottom step is actually just below the level of the platform, at Paris and Brussels you step up onto the bottom step.

 

[krus_aragon]

You're not the first person to believe they'd be happier if Stockton didn't exist. (You wouldn't - and it hosts a great annual festival)

However, Stephensons' great advances in railway development were firmly in the North East.

Oops, the Stockton and Darlington of course!Sadly, I've yet to have the honour of visiting.

 

[Class41]

Urban myth I'm afraid. If this was the case they wouldn't fit on various railways off the GW they operate on, some of which were built after the last broad gauge train ran.

One Quite Interesting fact, maths fans: as near as makes no difference...
Standard gauge is Pi/2 yards, Broad gauge is Pi-1 metres.

Urban Myth or not, I quote RSSB gauge extension investigation,
"Class 166 ... wider body profile built for use on GW routes historically built to a wider gauge.."
I always check my facts before posting.http://www.rssb.co.uk/sitecollectiondocuments/pdf/reports/research/T787_rpt2a_final.pdf

 

[swt_passenger]

At Waterloo the platforms were B.R. height and only the top step on the sets were deployed. At St. Pancras the platforms are sort of half height UIC and there both top and bottom steps deploy.

Both Paris and Brussels have low low platforms. At St. Pancras the bottom step is actually just below the level of the platform, at Paris and Brussels you step up onto the bottom step.

I didn't write the bit about Waterloo so I've copied it into the quote above, but I think the platforms mustn't have been at normal BR height, ie 915mm/3ft. If they had been, platform 20 wouldn't have needed to be altered to a new height for (theoretical) use by SWT services?

The St Pancras platform height is declared as 760mm by HS1, which is one of the current TSI specified heights, the other is 550mm. So I don't understand your point that St Pancras is 'half UIC' - that would make a UIC platform 1.5m???

 

[route101]

The Bog Standard european carriage is a lot taller than our stock and in Eastern Europe you often have climb a few steps upto the door.

 

[Bald Rick]

Urban Myth or not, I quote RSSB gauge extension investigation,
"Class 166 ... wider body profile built for use on GW routes historically built to a wider gauge.."
I always check my facts before posting.http://www.rssb.co.uk/sitecollectiondocuments/pdf/reports/research/T787_rpt2a_final.pdf

I stand corrected, apologies. However they have got all around the network through some pretty tight spots, Birmingham New Street and Ilford to my knowledge.

 

[route:oxford]

I stand corrected, apologies. However they have got all around the network through some pretty tight spots, Birmingham New Street and Ilford to my knowledge.

That's interesting. Did they travel through the notoriously narrow/kinky tunnels at New Street that the 180s are alleged to be banned from.

 

[The Barlow Boy]

I didn't write the bit about Waterloo so I've copied it into the quote above, but I think the platforms mustn't have been at normal BR height, ie 915mm/3ft. If they had been, platform 20 wouldn't have needed to be altered to a new height for (theoretical) use by SWT services?

The St Pancras platform height is declared as 760mm by HS1, which is one of the current TSI specified heights, the other is 550mm. So I don't understand your point that St Pancras is 'half UIC' - that would make a UIC platform 1.5m???

I dunno why work is being carried out on platform 20 at Waterloo. The platforms there are definately standard B.R. height.

The "half UIC" platform height at St.Pancras was quoted to me by one of the operations Managers there who said that the height is a compromise between the B.R. standard 915mm ARL and the lowest of the low UIC platforms. He may have been sort of getting confused with the very low platforms in la belle France. It's certainly peculiar how the steps on a Eurostar set don't match the height of the platform. The top step on the train is actually below the platform height.

 

[Bald Rick]

That's interesting. Did they travel through the notoriously narrow/kinky tunnels at New Street that the 180s are alleged to be banned from.

For a year or so in the early 90s they came up from the Worcester direction, via Five Ways I think, into Platform 12.

 

[ChrisCooper]

Urban myth.

Berne Gauge standard set 1912.

Great Central London Extension built 1899.

That's why I didn't mention Berne. It was still built to a larger gauge of the type found on the continent and could take continental stock.

 

[swt_passenger]

The "half UIC" platform height at St.Pancras was quoted to me by one of the operations Managers there who said that the height is a compromise between the B.R. standard 915mm ARL and the lowest of the low UIC platforms. He may have been sort of getting confused with the very low platforms in la belle France. It's certainly peculiar how the steps on a Eurostar set don't match the height of the platform. The top step on the train is actually below the platform height.

Ah, so he might have meant 'half way between' - and 760mm could be seen as roughly half way between BR 915mmm and the lower TSI of 550mm?

Also, is a TSI platform edge further away from the track than BR - so are the Eurostar steps being used as a sort of 'gap filler' at St P, rather than an actual step?