Railway General Knowledge.

[SteveyBee131]

@SteveM70 and @Calthrop got them both between you. Please sort out between you both who takes the platform

 

[Calthrop]

@SteveM70: you go, please -- I'm coming up completely empty as regards ideas.

 

[SteveM70]

Thanks, but I’m in the same boat so open floor

 

[LSWR Cavalier]

If I may..
The Ruebelandbahn in Germany, not far from the much more famous HSB has or had at least three unusual features, what are they? Not far away at Halberstadt there are two examples of a particular unusual sort of junction popular with rail enthusiasts, what is it? Halberstadt shall be famous for centuries for an art project, not to do with railways, what project?
Five points available

 

[Gloster]

Is the last a triptych?

 

[LSWR Cavalier]

No, it is unconventional and has 'only just started'
It is indeed to do with a church

 

[Gloster]

I looked it up afterwards: the new triptych must be somewhere else. I was aware of the project, but it hadn’t registered that it was in Halberdtadt.

 

[LSWR Cavalier]

@Gloster
You got me thinking and goegling
Michael Triegel was the artist who occurred to me, he has done some interesting religious art, but I could not find anything about a triptych

 

[xotGD]

Unusual Junction - Two flat crossings like you get at Newark?

Other odd feature - Spiral where the line does a loop the loop?

 

[LSWR Cavalier]

Unusual Junction - Two flat crossings like you get at Newark?

Other odd feature - Spiral where the line does a loop the loop?

Metre-gauge tram crosses main line on the level in Halberstadt. Twice
2 points
..
Not a spiral

 

[Nick_C]

Isn't the art project musical? A piece being played on the church organ that will take centuries to finish?

 

[Calthrop]

One unusual feature of the Ruebelandbahn: since 1966 it has been (overhead) electric, in a non-standard mode -- single-phase 25kv A/C, 50 Hz.

 

[LSWR Cavalier]

@Nick_C
Correct, ASLAP as slow as possible by John Cage, lasts centuries
Glad it is in little Halberstadt, not some metropolis
@Calthrop
Correct, a different electrical system, all the trains have to be diesel-hauled from the bottom of the hill at Blankenburg (Harz)

Still waiting for two more unusual features of the Ruebelandbahn, there are at least five to choose from

 

[Calthrop]

In steam days, to deal with its steep gradients the line used enormous 2-10-2Ts of the "Mammut" type?

 

[LSWR Cavalier]

@Calthrop
Correct
Still looking for a couple more Besonderheiten, specialities
Goods trains on the line have a loco at either end, why?

I had a couple of specialities in mind to start, there are at least six. I was lucky, rode the line in 1997

 

[Spamcan81]

@Calthrop
Correct
Still looking for a couple more Besonderheiten, specialities
Goods trains on the line have a loco at either end, why?

I had a couple of specialities in mind to start, there are at least six. I was lucky, rode the line in 1997

Was a loco at either end because of the reversal required at Michaelstein?

 

[LSWR Cavalier]

@Calthrop got two, so may set the next question

Other queer things about the Ruebelandbahn:
Went to diesel, back to electric after residents complained about the noise
'Down' loaded mineral trains go up hill for a stretch
Used to use rack to get up the hill
Transported more than a million tonnes a year

I dreamed up the questions in my head, checked the answers and realised how fascinating the little Ruebelandbahn is

 

[Calthrop]

@Calthrop got two, so may set the next question

Open floor, please; my question-inspiration seems to be, at least for the present, defunct.

 

[DerekC]

The ballad of Casey Jones is very well known. What actually happened to cause his death, where and in which year?

 

[Spamcan81]

The ballad of Casey Jones is very well known. What actually happened to cause his death, where and in which year?

I seem to recall that his passenger train collided with a failed freight train.

 

[martinsh]

He was trying to make up time because his train was extremely late

 

[DerekC]

I seem to recall that his passenger train collided with a failed freight train.

There was a failure in the buildup to the crash.

He was trying to make up time because his train was extremely late

That's true

I was looking for a more precise description of the crash.

 

[LSWR Cavalier]

I think Casey was known for going too fast, but he tried to stop the 'accident'

 

[Spamcan81]

There was a failure in the buildup to the crash.

That's true

I was looking for a more precise description of the crash.

Wasn't it a case of the stalled freight being too long for the loop and thus some of the cars were left fouling the main line?

 

[DerekC]

Wasn't it a case of the stalled freight being too long for the loop and thus some of the cars were left fouling the main line?

Now we are getting there. It was a bit more complicated than that, but there were certainly cars fouling the main line.

I think Casey was known for going too fast, but he tried to stop the 'accident'

Casey had made up almost all of a 75-minute delay over a run of 178 miles to the point of collision, with speeds of up to 80mph on a schedule which was already one of the fastest in North America. (Which probably says a lot about average speeds at that time)

What didn't happen that should have prevented the accident altogether?

and what seems inherently unsafe about the operating procedure which was being applied?

 

[DerekC]

I think @Spamcan81 got nearest. Briefly:

On April 29th 1900 Casey was booked to drive the Illinois Central RR's locomotive #382 hauling the 23:35 express, Memphis Tennessee to Jackson Alabama over a mostly single track main line. The train left 75 minutes late because of delay to the incoming service. Casey managed to make up nearly all the lateness over the first 168 miles to Goodman Mississippi where the train was held to pass a northbound service. At Goodman he received a Train Order which told him that he would pass another northbound passenger service at Vaughan Mississippi, 15 miles south of Goodman, but that it would be held in the loop and his train would have priority. In fact there were three trains at Vaughan, two freights and the passenger train. The combined length of the freight trains was too long for the loop and they were expecting a "saw-by" in which the opposing train stops on the main line to allow the looped trains to progress past it. In reality they were still shunting after getting the passenger train into a siding and had had a brake hose problem on one of the freights when Casey's train arrived on scene at a speed estimated as 75mph. The crew of the freight should have placed a flagman and detonators 3000 feet from the end of the loop, but whether they did or not is unclear. The official report said they did, but Casey's fireman swore that he didn't see them.

The legend is that Casey was a hero who saved many lives by sticking to the controls, applying the Westinghouse brake and reversing the motion. There may be other interpretations!

@Spamcan81 - your Train Order (but go carefully!)

 

[Cowley]

I always think when I hear the term “He stayed at his controls like a hero” where on earth he would have gone anyway?
Throwing yourself off an engine at 75mph wouldn’t make a good plan B.

 

[DerekC]

I always think when I hear the term “He stayed at his controls like a hero” where on earth he would have gone anyway?
Throwing yourself off an engine at 75mph wouldn’t make a good plan B.

I agree, although the fireman jumped and survived. Some sources suggest that the speed was reduced from 75mph to 35mph at the point of collision, which would suggest quite a long braking distance. That makes me think that the warnings must have been placed. What isn't clear is whether it was accepted practice for a train to pass another which had been looped without stopping or even slowing down. If it was, and since safety was only ensured by the train order which assumed that trains would run as predicted, it's surprising there weren't even more accidents. i suspect that the ICRR was happy to let the hero legend grow because it avoided the spotlight being turned on their operating procedures. We are talking 1900 and not 1870!!

@Spamcan81 - your floor

 

[DerekC]

Since @Spamcan81 seems to have deserted us I am going to invoke Rule 17(b) and declare open floor!

 

[Cowley]

Since @Spamcan81 seems to have deserted us I am going to invoke Rule 17(b) and declare open floor!

Erm, I’ve got one...

Please name five working Network Rail signal boxes in Cornwall?