Railway General Knowledge.

[Peter Mugridge]

Ah... is it the Inverness to Wick via Thurso...................................?

 

[krus_aragon]

I think I know what they are there for, but are the 'x's replacing letters?

An X in a timetable would typically indicate a request stop, so this may be stations along a route.

 

[backontrack]

An X in a timetable would typically indicate a request stop, so this may be stations along a route.

Quite correct.

Ah... is it the Inverness to Wick via Thurso...................................?

It'll change when Dunrobin Castle opens for the summer.

That's the one! The Far North Line. Over to you.

 

[A Challenge]

I know, but I can't get what I assume to be CRS codes to work, so I thought they were with the middle lettterissing maybe, replaced with an X

 

[backontrack]

I know, but I can't get what I assume to be CRS codes to work, so I thought they were with the middle lettterissing maybe, replaced with an X

That's a pretty good shout, though.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

A very, very, easy one here this time:

Name the furthest point from London to which any of the lines which constitute the present day London underground operated.

 

[AndrewE]

Metropolitan to Verney Junction?

 

[backontrack]

I'm going to say Shoeburyness - I know it was the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway over District Line tracks (with District stock), but Verney Junction's been guessed already.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Verney is further out than Shoeburyness, so @AndrewE - it's your remote route terminus.

 

[AndrewE]

I'll resist the temptation to ask one about the Manchester club trains, so
Which railway cutting was the deepest in the world when built (and remained so for some years?)
Apparently it was not tunnelled because of the need for lots of good stone to build the structures on the line!

 

[martinsh]

Olive Mount cutting, Liverpool ?

 

[AndrewE]

Olive Mount cutting, Liverpool ?

The one I'm thinking of was is half as deep again...

 

[hexagon789]

The one I'm thinking of was half as deep again...

Could it be Talerddigg on the Cambrian? (About 100 feet with once near vertical sides.)

 

[AndrewE]

Could it be Talerddigg on the Cambrian? (About 100 feet with once near vertical sides.)

Correct, although I have seen 120 ft deep quoted in several places. My book says tunnelling was reckoned to be cheaper beyond about 60 ft depth, but they wanted the stone anyway.
Your go...

 

[hexagon789]

Sorry, I was away for a bit and hadn't realised I had won the last question.

In that case -

What was Rondout, Illinois on the Milwaukee Road once famous for?

 

[hexagon789]

Sorry, I was away for a bit and hadn't realised I had won the last question.

In that case -

What was Rondout, Illinois on the Milwaukee Road once famous for?

Perhaps a clue?

It relates to sign boards.

 

[Calthrop]

I couldn't resist Googling re Rondout, Illinois; which I felt disqualified me from directly answering. However -- in the light of your clue -- the Wiki item shows a sign at that place; which if I'm correct, gives particulars of a dramatic railway-related event there nearly a hundred years ago.

 

[hexagon789]

I couldn't resist Googling re Rondout, Illinois; which I felt disqualified me from directly answering. However -- in the light of your clue -- the Wiki item shows a sign at that place; which if I'm correct, gives particulars of a dramatic railway-related event there nearly a hundred years ago.

Actually that's news to me, signs to do with an event that took place there - do you know what the event was?

The sign boards I was thinking of related to train operations specifically.

 

[Calthrop]

Train robbery with biggest "haul" from any such, in US history, 14th June 1924; carried out on mail train ex Chicago, where the perpetrators had boarded the train. Some $2 million in cash, jewellery and securities, was stolen.

 

[AndrewE]

Seeing the number of lines that met there I wondered if the actual station name boards were the biggest physically (if they listed all the participating railways?)

 

[hexagon789]

Train robbery with biggest "haul" from any such, in US history, 14th June 1924; carried out on mail train ex Chicago, where the perpetrators had boarded the train. Some $2 million in cash, jewellery and securities, was stolen.

Thank you very much, I'd never heard of this event.

Seeing the number of lines that met there I wondered if the actual station name boards were the biggest physically (if they listed all the participating railways?)

I think I've been too ambiguous; the sign boards are to do with the operation of trains themselves, one could say the safe operation of trains. Additionally I feel I should add they no longer exist, certainly they wouldn't be needed for the line as it presently is.

 

[hexagon789]

Have I made this too obscure I wonder?

Shall I put everyone out of their misery?

 

[AndrewE]

It apparently had a very early signal box/interlocking with lots of lines converging, so maybe biggest signal gantry/most signals? (a bit like Rugby in the UK)

 

[hexagon789]

It apparently had a very early signal box/interlocking with lots of lines converging, so maybe biggest signal gantry/most signals? (a bit like Rugby in the UK)

I'm sorry, but no, that's not it. What I had in mind was introduced at the location when the Hiawathas started operating.

 

[EbbwJunction1]

Were they some form of warning signs instructing drivers to stop at a particular place or not to take a particular line?

 

[hexagon789]

Were they some form of warning signs instructing drivers to stop at a particular place or not to take a particular line?

Warning signs yes, but not to do with stopping point or diverging route.

 

[AndrewE]

Buffalo herd migrating across tracks?

 

[hexagon789]

Buffalo herd migrating across tracks?

No sorry, the warning signs in question were there from 1934 to 1944.

 

[hexagon789]

The Hiawathas were renowned for their fast running, therefore what sort of a warning sign might relate to that?

 

[EbbwJunction1]

Keep off the track?