Railway trivia

[Michael.Y]

My friend was born in Guernsey (a la Matt Le Tissier) and as such can represent any home nation he chooses.

 

[LE Greys]

I don't think that's right. I thought there were economic planning regions, and these are often evident in maps showing things like house price changes.

So Scotland, Wales, NI = themselves
Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, Durham, Cleveland = North
Lancashire, Merseyside, Gtr Manchester, Cheshire = North West
West, South, North Yorkshire and Humberside = Yorkshire and Humberside

Then my memory fades as to the exact boundaries, but there are West Midlands, East Midlands, South East excluding London, London, East Anglia and South West.

This has been clouded by the change to unitary authorities, so for example I'm not sure about the bit of Humberside south of the estuary, but these regions are well-known and defined for economic and planning purposes.

I always joke about being proud to be a northerner, but I was born in Glossop and live seven miles from Nottinghamshire, both of which are in the East Midlands.

These boundaries are always a bit arbitary. Be glad you don't have to watch the local news (Look East) with my mother, she's always moaning about Northamptonshire and Huntingdonshire being included in East Anglia despite the fact that she lives in Hertfordshire, which is not really East Anglia either. Still, I have relatives in Yorkshire who cheerfully ignore all the county boundary changes and call their local area "Yorkshire and a bit" when they don't insist they live in the West Riding.

 

[PaulLothian]

It's a little-known fact that during WWII rail travel (other than for official purposes) was strictly rationed. Only those whose surname began with the letters A to M could travel on even dates whilst the P to Zs were restricted to odd dates. The latter group were at an advantage as they could travel on two consecutive days at the end of every month except April, June, September and November. February 1940 and 1944 also gave the P to Zs a bonus travel day.

My mother, a lady in her later 80s considers that if this was true, she and everyone she knew must have been breaking the law throughout the war!

Where did this info come from?

 

[Shimbleshanks]

More of a question than a definitive statement, but is Llan- the most common prefix for a station name in Britain? being as it's the Welsh word for St., I imagine St. is its closest competitor, or perhaps New.

Llan is the Welsh for Church, or more accurately, 'church-settlement'. The Welsh for Saint is Sant as in Llanpumpsant (church of the five saints...)

 

[Gwenllian2001]

Llan is the Welsh for Church, or more accurately, 'church-settlement'. The Welsh for Saint is Sant as in Llanpumpsant (church of the five saints...)

The Welsh for Church is Eglwys. For the origin of Llan see my earlier post.

 

[Rugd1022]

I count six. Corby, Kettering & Wellingborough on the MML. Long Buckby & Northampton on the WCML and Kings Sutton on the Cherwell Valley/Chiltern Mainline.

Yup... I'd forgotten about Corby's re-opening, thanks!

 

[Ivo]

Some wiki-mischief here I think, as that appears to be a direct lift - remember wikipedia is writtne by any old so and so and is not an academically acceptable reference point. There is no 'English Regions' system, unless you adopt the Government Office regional structure. If you do then all the counties named above are in the same region - East of England. If you don't then there are no 'regions'. East Anglia is a title, derived from original kingdoms, given to the area covered by Essex, in the south, Norfolk, in the north and Cambridgeshire in the east. It doesn' actually exist as a region as there are none. There is no 'North East', 'North West', or such either, they are simply names given to areas, without defined borders.

The regions no longer have any actual powers but still exist officially, and the three divisions I mentioned related to the NTUS system used by the EU. Strictly speaking, not including official terms, at least part of Essex is and was independent of East Anglia, formerly as a separate kingdom. Growing up, the term to me meant Norfolk, Suffolk and parts of Cambrdgeshire and Essex. It is also worth noting that, as you drive up the A12, East Anglia exists as a destination on the northbound carriageway for quite a distance (at least Chelmsford, if not further north).

 

[LE Greys]

To get back to railway trivia.

It is possible to start a Deltic engine while moving. Most twin-engine diesels have to be stationary and in neutral, but apparently not so with Deltics, you just have to be in neutral. Although I believe you were not supposed to do so, it happened sometimes.

4,000th post!

 

[Thomas6187]

Class 444s and 450's doors are designed to "slam" shut just like the the slam door stock they replaced. The 185s and 350 are the same

 

[Stephen55a1960]

I don't think you are. Not a cricket fan, but don't some South African-born players play for England after living here a certain time? A kid in my class at school was born in Germany (army family) and apparently he could choose to play for either Germany or England at football. I wonder if Dutch railway enthusiasts consider class 27s (ex-Woodhead line) Dutch or English trains?

I'm not a cricket fan either; but Isn't Kevin Pietersen, a South African by birth. He plays for England.

 

[LE Greys]

I'm not a cricket fan either; but Isn't Kevin Pietersen, a South African by birth. He plays for England.

That's true, but he's naturalised British. He moved over here because he disagreed with the quota system for black players, IIRC. He's not the only England cricketer from overseas, Craig Keyswetter is also from South Africa, while Gereint Jones was born in Australia to Welsh parents.

 

[Stephen55a1960]

That's true, but he's naturalised British. He moved over here because he disagreed with the quota system for black players, IIRC. He's not the only England cricketer from overseas, Craig Keyswetter is also from South Africa, while Gereint Jones was born in Australia to Welsh parents.

Was Tony Greig a South African too? This is going back to the 70's.

 

[David]

I'm not a cricket fan either; but Isn't Kevin Pietersen, a South African by birth. He plays for England.

That's true, but he's naturalised British. He moved over here because he disagreed with the quota system for black players, IIRC. He's not the only England cricketer from overseas, Craig Keyswetter is also from South Africa, while Gereint Jones was born in Australia to Welsh parents.

And another from the continent of Africa, Graeme Hick, although he originally came from Zimbabwe.

Was Tony Greig a South African too? This is going back to the 70's.

Yup, he was ....

Anyway, getting back to "Army families" .... Not only do I qualify to play sport for Germany (I was born in Rinteln) or England, but thanks to a grandparent of mine, I also qualify for Poland. Now, lets see if I can qualify for a Polish passport because of that. It may make it a bit easier for me to find work .... :roll:

 

[Scotty]

At one point in a previous Test match against South Africa, all 13 players on the field (11 SA, 2 Eng) were born in South Africa! Strauss and Pietersen I think were the England players...

 

[imagination]

- Chelmsford is the busiest (by passenger number) non-London station to see no terminating services.

With this one discredited I decided to try to find what the actual busiest was. Unless I'm missing something, I believe the honour would go to Haywards Heath with 4081k entries and exits and 702k interchanges in 2010/11.

 

[Michael.Y]

Didcot and Gobowen are stations which were built away from the settlements they were meant to serve (Abingdon and Oswestry) due to local objections.

 

[Darandio]

Was Tony Greig a South African too? This is going back to the 70's.

Don't forget our captain, Andrew Strauss, he was born in South Africa as well.

 

[Ivo]

With this one discredited I decided to try to find what the actual busiest was. Unless I'm missing something, I believe the honour would go to Haywards Heath with 4081k entries and exits and 702k interchanges in 2010/11.

Moorfields has no terminating services and is some distance ahead.

On any reasonable scale, Chelmsford would win because its starting/terminating services are so limited. Second on the same scale would go to Bath Spa, which has literally one starting and one terminating service per day.

If starting/terminating services should be omitted, I think interchange facilities should be too. If this was the case, James Street would win, and then positions two through five would belong to a B in South Essex (Basildon/Benfleet/Billericay/Brentwood).

 

[Stephen55a1960]

Don't forget our captain, Andrew Strauss, he was born in South Africa as well.

Thanks for that. Not being a cricket fan, I wouldn't have known. I have, in spite of that, heard of Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Strauss.

 

[John55]

Moorfields has no terminating services and is some distance ahead.

On any reasonable scale, Chelmsford would win because its starting/terminating services are so limited. Second on the same scale would go to Bath Spa, which has literally one starting and one terminating service per day.

If starting/terminating services should be omitted, I think interchange facilities should be too. If this was the case, James Street would win, and then positions two through five would belong to a B in South Essex (Basildon/Benfleet/Billericay/Brentwood).

Moorfields doesn't qualify as several trains start here Monday to Friday. Nor did James St 8 days ago.

There is no correct answer to this as every timetable will give a different answer.

 

[Swanny200]

To get back to railway trivia.

It is possible to start a Deltic engine while moving. Most twin-engine diesels have to be stationary and in neutral, but apparently not so with Deltics, you just have to be in neutral. Although I believe you were not supposed to do so, it happened sometimes.

4,000th post!

I can certainly vouch for that, standing in the front cab of RSG a couple of years ago at Boness while running a return leg, one engine is deafening enough but when he started the second!

 

[MCR247]

With this one discredited I decided to try to find what the actual busiest was. Unless I'm missing something, I believe the honour would go to Haywards Heath with 4081k entries and exits and 702k interchanges in 2010/11.

Depends how you class it though! Technically you could say Haywards Heath has at least 2 terminating and 2 starting trains per hour!

 

[Oswyntail]

My friend was born in Guernsey (a la Matt Le Tissier) and as such can represent any home nation he chooses.

Not so! For Commonwealth Games qualification you represent the nation of your birth, unless you request to represent another; you need your birth nation's permission, and a jolly good reason (such as one I handled who was born in England as her mother was rushing home to Wales). Guernsey is a nation in its own right.

 

[Michael.Y]

Not so! For Commonwealth Games qualification you represent the nation of your birth, unless you request to represent another; you need your birth nation's permission, and a jolly good reason (such as one I handled who was born in England as her mother was rushing home to Wales). Guernsey is a nation in its own right.

That may be true for the Commonwealth Games, but I think it is the only case in which it applies. For football, what I said applies.