Railway General Knowledge.

[krus_aragon]

I'm guessing: being in the perceivably most-threatened south-east -- Kent & East Sussex, and East Kent. And -- Derwent Valley Light Railway? (seem to recall reading somewhere, that that line was a useful diversionary route for freight during WWII: so much concealing grass-and weed-growth over the tracks, that enemy aircraft didn't know from nothing).

Hit, hit, miss. Both the Kent & East Sussex and the East Kent Railways were on the list, but the Derwent Valley wasn't.

Of the remaining two, one was in the east of England, the other in the north-west.

 

[steamybrian]

Elham Valley Line between Folkestone and Canterbury West was taken over by the military but I believe in 1940.

 

[krus_aragon]

Elham Valley Line between Folkestone and Canterbury West was taken over by the military but I believe in 1940.

I believe the Elham Valley Railway was absorbed into the Southern Railway at the grouping, so wouldn't have been independent in 1939.

 

[krus_aragon]

Time for a further hint:

Of the two remaining railways, the eastern one was in Norfolk. For the northern one, look towards Cheshire. Both were coastally situated.

 

[Calthrop]

Time for a further hint:

Of the two remaining railways, the eastern one was in Norfolk. For the northern one, look towards Cheshire. Both were coastally situated.

In some desperation here: the northern railway -- Colonel Stephens's short, quasi-industrial (and still partially in use today) Weston Point Light Railway, near Runcorn?

As for the other one -- near the Norfolk coast, and not belonging (in whole, or "joint"-wise) to any of the Big Four? I'm completely stumped...

 

[krus_aragon]

In some desperation here: the northern railway -- Colonel Stephens's short, quasi-industrial (and still partially in use today) Weston Point Light Railway, near Runcorn?

As for the other one -- near the Norfolk coast, and not belonging (in whole, or "joint"-wise) to any of the Big Four? I'm completely stumped...

Not Weston Point. The northern one was (and is) an important passenger railway. The eastern one, on the other hand, was very much built for freight traffic.

 

[Calthrop]

Northern one: the Mersey Railway? I feel ignorant; but until consulting Wiki just now, I was unaware that the "Mersey" was not included in the Grouping -- thought that it had become part of the LMS.

The one in Norfolk: the only thing I can think of is the industrial / agricultural, and "unofficial" and dubiously legal, Wissington Light Railway; but that wasn't particularly near the coast.

 

[krus_aragon]

Northern one: the Mersey Railway? I feel ignorant; but until consulting Wiki just now, I was unaware that the "Mersey" was not included in the Grouping -- thought that it had become part of the LMS.

The one in Norfolk: the only thing I can think of is the industrial / agricultural, and "unofficial" and dubiously legal, Wissington Light Railway; but that wasn't particularly near the coast.

Correct on the Mersey Railway: I'm unsure why it hadn't become part of the LMS, perhaps because it was a small island (or tunnel) of electrification at the time of grouping?

The last railway is definitely coastal (it goes to the docks) but also obscure. If there isn't a correct answer by the morning, I'll put you out of your misery.

 

[Calthrop]

Great Yarmouth?? Googling tells me of something called the Yarmouth Union Railway -- serving and linking, in the docks area -- which I'd never heard of before.

(In the event of my being offered the floor, honour would require that I decline it: have had to do so much per search engine, as against little actually known...)

 

[krus_aragon]

Not Great Yarmouth either. The final tiddler of a railway that was taken over by the Railways Executive Committee was the Kings Lynn Docks Railway, a railway so obscure Wikipedia currently has no article about it.

(The information for this question was taken from a 1943 publication: "British Railways in War Time". It has clearly been past the censor's desk as not a single picture's location is stated, even the one of Surbiton station with the name visible on the wall!)

No need to be ashamed of using a search engine to help you: it's a great way of learning more with these quizzes. But as you request, open floor.

 

[Calthrop]

Well -- the Kings Lynn Docks Railway -- you learn something new every day ! Pretty well every big amalgamation of railway undertakings would seem to include a few so small and obscure, that effectively nobody's ever heard of them .

 

[krus_aragon]

Well -- the Kings Lynn Docks Railway -- you learn something new every day ! Pretty well every big amalgamation of railway undertakings would seem to include a few so small and obscure, that effectively nobody's ever heard of them .

Sometimes being left out of a big amalgamation is a good thing: Tom Rolt only started taking serious interest in the Talyllyn Railway when he saw it wasn't going to become part of British Railways (if my memory of "Railway Adventure" serves me correctly).

 

[Calthrop]

Sometimes being left out of a big amalgamation is a good thing: Tom Rolt only started taking serious interest in the Talyllyn Railway when he saw it wasn't going to become part of British Railways (if my memory of "Railway Adventure" serves me correctly).

Ah, yes -- assorted "narratives" as to how come the Talyllyn was left out in 1948. "The powers that were" had forgotten all about it; or, it was shown on the mid-1940s Ordnance Survey map with its stations "white" for closed, so was assumed to be no longer running (there was indeed the period, basically spanning 1945, when Dolgoch was away undergoing a major overhaul, leaving only Talyllyn, in ruinous condition: no passenger trains ran on the TR for most of 1945 / early '46); or, those administering nationalisation perceived the TR as no longer a serious railway -- essentially, running just for tourists in the summer -- so nationalisation not necessary.

 

[A Challenge]

I would like the floor for an interesting question that could possibly be more trivia-ish that General Knowledge, but what is the only place that is officially a village that is the basis for a substantial tram network?

 

[steevp]

Crich?

 

[A Challenge]

I was going for a bigger one than that, so I'll give the clue it is in the European mainland and you would probably think it was a city given the size of both it and the tram system, but it only isn't for political reasons, which is why I called it 'trivia-ish'

 

[krus_aragon]

A city-sized village, eh? I could name you a village-sized city, but it has no trams, and isn't in continental Europe.

 

[A Challenge]

Or St Asaph with that reasoning, but it isn't either of them (as you know).

 

[A Challenge]

Do people want a hint?

 

[EbbwJunction1]

Yes, please!

 

[A Challenge]

This 'village' is the seat of the parliament in the country, and is not a city so officially it is politically neutral from being affiliated to any of the city. According to wikipedia, however, this is a city.

Yet, due to an administrative error in the Middle Ages, <not a city> never received a city charter. This gives <not a city> the right to call itself the ‘world’s largest village’.

 

[martinsh]

Den Haag, Netherlands ?

 

[A Challenge]

Indeed, I'd be interested in how you got to that, and whether the hint even helped.

 

[martinsh]

Indeed, I'd be interested in how you got to that, and whether the hint even helped.

I didn't have a clue without the hint. It was the "seat of parliament" and "politically neutral" bits which gave me the clue, as I do have some knowledge of the Netherlands.

New Question
Name 4 stations in the UK which are served by both steam and eletric hauled trains

 

[A Challenge]

1. Alton
2. East Grinstead
3. Keighley
4. Wareham

 

[martinsh]

1. Alton
2. East Grinstead
3. Keighley
4. Wareham

Swanage Railway presence at Wareham is diesel. Other 3 correct.

 

[steevp]

How about Smallbrook jn or York

 

[A Challenge]

I think that it'll be Smallbrook Junction then, as @steevp has said. I'm annoyed at not getting that - I've used that more (and more recently) than Alton and haven't used Wareham!

 

[martinsh]

I think that it'll be Smallbrook Junction then, as @steevp has said. I'm annoyed at not getting that - I've used that more (and more recently) than Alton and haven't used Wareham!

Smallbrook Junction it is.

Your modal interchange

 

[A Challenge]

I'll declare an OPEN FLOOR