Railway General Knowledge.

[Spamcan81]

I strongly doubt that this is right; but -- Lappa Valley Railway?? A short section of, originally, the Cornwall Minerals railway (4 ft. 8 and a half in.) -- after this concern taken over by the Great Western, the relevant stretch was for a while -- at least notionally -- dual-gauge 4 ft. 8-&-a-half, and 7 ft. Lappa Valley (15 in. gauge) laid on a section of this, by then abandoned, Chacewater -- Newquay line.

Not the Lappa Valley but it would seem there's more than one possible answer to my question.

 

[Spamcan81]

Not the Lappa Valley but it would seem there's more than one possible answer to my question.

As a clue, this railway has an interchange with the national network.

 

[Calthrop]

My track record (geddit?) hasn't been wonderful so far; but -- Ravenglass & Eskdale? Originally 3ft. gauge (a few accounts, say 2ft 9in.); transformed into a 15in. gauge line in the World War I era; was for quite a long while mixed-gauge 15in. / 4ft. 8-and-a-half in., from Ravenglass as far as the stone-crushing plant.

 

[341o2]

I'd forgotten about the Fairbourne Tramway part of it's history so had only considered the railway two have run on two gauges during its history. I have a different railway in mind so see if you can discover which one I'm thinking of. As a clue, this line had a period of operating on two gauges at once.

Actually, the Fairbourne has had 4 different gauges, short of money and locomotives, they purchased a model of the Stirling Single, 18" gauge, and laid a third rail as far as the golf links.

 

[Spamcan81]

My track record (geddit?) hasn't been wonderful so far; but -- Ravenglass & Eskdale? Originally 3ft. gauge (a few accounts, say 2ft 9in.); transformed into a 15in. gauge line in the World War I era; was for quite a long while mixed-gauge 15in. / 4ft. 8-and-a-half in., from Ravenglass as far as the stone-crushing plant.

That’s the one. The gauge conversion is yours.

 

[Calthrop]

Thanks; but at the present time, I'm totally out of railway questions. Open floor, please.

 

[DerekC]

I hope we are allowed pictorial questions. What's special about this locomotive, which railway did it run on and when?

 

[Calthrop]

This loco is No. 4 of the Swindon, Marlborough & Andover Railway: a single Fairlie, with Walschaerts valve gear; built by Avonside as a demonstration loco for the Paris Exhibition of 1878, bought by the SM&AR in 1882. The loco proved unreliable and expensive to maintain, and was withdrawn and scrapped in 1892 by what had meanwhile become the Midland & South Western Junction Railway.

Open floor if correct, please.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Well... it looks superficially like half of a Fairlie off the Ffestiniog ( spent a week looking at those things last summer! ), but it looks more like it's a full size standard gauge locomotive... Did such a beast exist? No idea where it would have run, though. As for the when, I'd say late 1800s or possibly early 1900s?



Edit: Beaten literally by seconds and with much more detail...

 

[DerekC]

Well... it looks superficially like half of a Fairlie off the Ffestiniog ( spent a week looking at those things last summer! ), but it looks more like it's a full size standard gauge locomotive... Did such a beast exist? No idea where it would have run, though. As for the when, I'd say late 1800s or possibly early 1900s?



Edit: Beaten literally by seconds and with much more detail...

This loco is No. 4 of the Swindon, Marlborough & Andover Railway: a single Fairlie, with Walschaerts valve gear; built by Avonside as a demonstration loco for the Paris Exhibition of 1878, bought by the SM&AR in 1882. The loco proved unreliable and expensive to maintain, and was withdrawn and scrapped in 1892 by what had meanwhile become the Midland & South Western Junction Railway.

Open floor if correct, please.

@Peter Mugridge on the right track, but @Calthrop spot on! So open floor it is!

 

[341o2]

Why did this line have a trackside bell? Or to rephrase the question at a certain location, the train would cause a bell to ring
Picture of train from Wickipedia

 

[Calthrop]

The picture shows a train on the Rimutaka Incline of the New Zealand railways -- on the route north-eastward from Wellington, with Fell centre rail for climbing assistance, worked by appropriately adapted tank locos as shown: all this replaced in 1955 by a deviation, including tunnel. I'm completely ignorant about the "bell" element on this scene. Total guess -- I understand that the incline section sometimes had a problem with winds strong enough to blow vehicles right off the track (a thing also faced by certain lines in the west of Ireland). Was the bell, somehow involved with warning procedures concerning this "gales" issue??

 

[341o2]

Right railway, but the bell was not located where the photograph was taken and has nothing to do with weather. It would sound for every train

 

[Calthrop]

Utterly, randomly guessing -- anything to do with making sure that the train's whole consist was all present and correct?

 

[341o2]

No, there was in the days before continuous brakes, a bellcord on some overseas railways, where the end of the cord was tied to the rearmost vehicle, so if the train parted, a bell would ring in the loco cab to alert the crew. The Rimutaka line had continuous brakes however. There is a clue in the picture, think tunnel

 

[Graham H]

Just watched a video of the Severn tunnel and I know it has lights to indicate the bottom gradient change to help when unfitted trains were the norm. So shot in the dark (haha) did a bell sound to indicate a key point in the tunnel as I assume it suffered from the usual smoke issues, even more so in this case given the smoke in the picture as I take it trains were climbing rather than coasting downhill in the case of the Severn.

 

[Trackman]

something to do with signalling?

 

[alistairlees]

The banking engine (I assume there is one as there is more smoke behind) could ease off / stop banking... in a tunnel? I'm guessing really.

 

[341o2]

Just watched a video of the Severn tunnel and I know it has lights to indicate the bottom gradient change to help when unfitted trains were the norm. So shot in the dark (haha) did a bell sound to indicate a key point in the tunnel as I assume it suffered from the usual smoke issues, even more so in this case given the smoke in the picture as I take it trains were climbing rather than coasting downhill in the case of the Severn.

Your shot in the dark is on target. The bell was located in Summit tunnel at, well....the summit. The incline was worked by a train being split into portions, with a leading and banking locomotive, and one or more intermediate locos, then recoupled. The picture shows the smoke of the second locomotive.

It was said that to be on the footplate of the fourth loco when five were in use was the best preperation for the hereafter known, the banking engine tended to draw cleaner air with it. Impossible to see, so the bell marked the end/beginning of the incline and for crews to disengage/engage the Fell mechanism.

Another illustration showing the full length of an ascending train. So the floor passes to Graham

 

[341o2]

The banking engine (I assume there is one as there is more smoke behind) could ease off / stop banking... in a tunnel? I'm guessing really.

Essentially right, Graham got in first with the change of gradient.

One of the stories from working the incline was a driver on the footplate when the engine was working hard, glanced at the injector glass only to see it empty. So he calls out to his fireman "How's your water?, to receive the reply "Fine, I took a leak before starting"

 

[Graham H]

With the modern 3 digit station codes now commonplace, which station would be most appropriate for the reigning monarch ? This should be a very easy one for a change !

 

[xotGD]

Horsham - HRH

 

[Graham H]

Told you it was easy. Lots of 3 letter words, some amusing like POO (Poole), BOG (Bognor Regis) and WEE (Weeley). Animals such as CAT, DOG, COW and FOX. Also lots of names. Probably quite possible to come up with a story using just the 3 letter codes. PAT AND HER GUN DOG SAM is a start ! I did once fly to California and my wife was very put out when they put on the luggage tags.........we were going to Fresno and thats known as Fresno Air Terminal so you can guess that code.
Over to you xotGD

 

[GRALISTAIR]

Told you it was easy. Lots of 3 letter words, some amusing like POO (Poole), BOG (Bognor Regis) and WEE (Weeley). Animals such as CAT, DOG, COW and FOX. Also lots of names. Probably quite possible to come up with a story using just the 3 letter codes. PAT AND HER GUN DOG SAM is a start ! I did once fly to California and my wife was very put out when they put on the luggage tags.........we were going to Fresno and thats known as Fresno Air Terminal so you can guess that code.
Over to you xotGD

I have the TShirt “I fly SUX” and yes I have flown in and out of that airport!

 

[xotGD]

Which was the first Deltic to work a train in preservation, and on which railway did this occur?

 

[Ashley Hill]

55009 NYMR?

 

[xotGD]

55009 NYMR?

You are 50% correct. I'll be mischievous and not say which 50%

 

[Ashley Hill]

55019 NYMR?

 

[xotGD]

55019 NYMR?

That is 100%....


....correct!

On August 22nd 1982.

Your turn at the front droplight...

 

[Ashley Hill]

I'm stumped for a question so open window!!!