Railway Trivia

This page will be devoted to a collection of trivial information collected from a variety of sources.

Who knows you might find something of interest here!!

Tay Bridge Disaster Christmas 1879

This is the aftermath of a famous accident that happened on a bridge at Christmas 1879

The Tay bridge was designed by Sir Thomas Bouch

More than 75 people lost their lives on the stormy night of 28th December 1879 when the centre section of the bridge collapsed as a train was passing over it. Sir Thomas� son in law was amongst the dead.

Here is a poem by William McGonagall entitled �The Tay Bridge Disaster�

Beautiful Railway Bridge of the Silv'ry Tay!
Alas! I am very sorry to say
That ninety lives have been taken away
On the last Sabbath day of 1879,
Which will be remember'd for a very long time.

This was the second of three poems penned by McGonagall about the Tay bridge. The first was �The Railway Bridge of the Silvery Tay�, written after bridge was opened in June 1878. The last was �An Address to the New Tay Bridge� written after the bridge was re-opened in July 1887.

Welsh Highland/Ffestiniog crossing of Network rail line

This picture shows a flat crossing installed to allow the Welsh Highland, Festiniog railway to cross Network Rail lines south of Porthmadog station between Machynlleth and Pwhelli. This will eventually allow the Festiniog and Welsh Highland Railways to meet in Porthmadog.

Flying Hamburger

In the period starting in 1933 the German flying hamburger was running the fastest timetabled service in the world.

A 2-car diesel train covered the 178 miles from Berlin to Hamburg at an average speed of 77.4 mph

Class 50 Deisel

This class was introduced from 1967 onwards to replace steam locomotives on the Scottish expresses to and from Crewe and then Carlisle, taking over from electric traction. They often worked in tandem and were sent elsewhere when the electricication scheme finally reached Glasgow.

The class were given the nickname of "Hoovers"

Here is a very bad picture of one in those days. I will try to find a better one
(or send me one at dave@rec-farnborough.org.uk)

North British Railway C Class No.673 Maude

This locomotive has been preserved by the Scottish Railway Preservation Society at the Bo'ness and Kinneal Railway.

It is named after General Sir Frederick Stanley Maude (24/06/1864 - 18/11/1917) who served in Egypt, South Africa and the Western Front.

Accident in Camberley (Local to our club)

In 1907 a Class T1 0-4-4-T of the LWSR (formerly the London and Southampton Railway) plunged down the embankment at Park St Bridge. It drew quite a crowd of onlookers.

'Fowlers Ghost'

This is the only known photograph of this locomotive. It is standing near Edgware Road station on the Metropolitan Railway in about 1865. What was special about it?

�Fowler�s Ghost� was an unusual - and disastrously unsuccessful - locomotive, built to run on the Metropolitan Railway in London. This line was, and is, just below street level, much of it being built by �cut and cover�, but some of it is in open air. There was concern about steam and smoke emissions from the locomotive and Sir John Fowker, the Metropolitan�s Engineer, ordered an experimental locomotive designed to not produce smoke while in the tunnel sections.

It was built by Robert Stephenson & Co of Newcastle, arrived in 1861, was tried on a few test runs, and was never seen again...

WRONG WAY ROUND

There is something a little unusual about this GWR starting signal at Staverton, on the South Devon Railway.

The signal is an upper quadrant one - most unusual for the great western

2006 -The class 350 holds the current record for the fastest acceleration from rest.

Operated by Central Trains this overhead catenary electric transmission emu? holds the current record for the fastest acceleration from rest.

Lever Frames

This lever frame (below) is installed in the National Railway Museum at York. Each lever�s function is denoted by its colour.

Signal Box Lever Colours

Lever	GWR	BR(W) if different
Stop Signal	Red	Red
Distant Signal	Yellow	Yellow
Point	Black	Black
Facing Point Lock (FPL)	Blue	Blue
Combined point & FPL Point motor with FPL Electric Releases	Blue over Black	Blue over Brown
Mechanical locks for wicket gates etc.	Blue	Brown
King	Brown with white stripes
Fog Signal	Black with White Diagonals	Black with White Chevrons

Notes:
Signals released electrically by another box e.g. Line Clear had a white stripe half way down.
Goods line signals had a broad Black band half way down and if released by Line Clear the smaller white stripe would be in the centre of this.
Relief line signals had the lower half painted Black so stop levers were half Red half Black whilst distants were half Yellow half Black.
If a white stripe was required this divided the two colours.
For Intermediate Block signals Red over Yellow with a white stripe for the release.
Top of lever shortened if motorised to remind signalman of lack of weight behind lever.

Useless information about Southern Region Slam Door Trains since 1964

1 Did you know that in their lifetime 353 units travelled one billion miles
2 Have gone through 10 repaints
3 Up to six livery changes
4 50,000 door lock changes
5 220,000 routine examinations
6 14 million brake blocks
7 35 million light bulbs

The Falkirk Wheel

The Falkirk Wheel is the world's only rotating boat lift and is used to connect the Forth & Clyde and Union canals in central Scotland.

This magnificent, mechanical marvel has been constructed to 21st Century, state-of-the-art engineering and it is already being recognised as an iconic landmark worthy of Scotland's traditional engineering expertise.

Designed to replace a series of lock gates built in the 19th Century - long since demolished - the Falkirk Wheel is the showpiece of the Millennium Link project where coast-to-coast navigation of the canals has been re-established for the first time in over 40 years.

The Forth & Clyde was opened in 1773 and extended from Grangemouth on the River Forth, to Bowling on the River Clyde. The Union (or Edinburgh & Glasgow Union) canal was opened much later in 1822 and operated from Edinburgh to Falkirk with a series of locks connecting the two canals at Port Downie in Camelon. These were demolished years ago and for decades there has been no through traffic on the canals.

When originally completed in 1773, the Forth and Clyde canal was the first sea-to-sea ship canal in the world. The connection of the Falkirk Wheel to the Union canal will restore the waterway between the cities of Edinburgh and Glasgow. The development has great economic and leisure potential. It is forecast that the project will help to create 4,000 new full-time jobs in Central Scotland. The project will enhance many of the tourist attractions along the span of its canals and towpaths.

Development around the Wheel included building an aqueduct and a tunnel - the first canal tunnel to be built in Britain for over 100 years. This was necessary to protect valued woodland and the scheduled monument of the Antonine Wall and the main Glasgow - Edinburgh railway line some 50 feet above.

The 100 metre-long aqueduct extends from the tunnel and towers above a basin into which boats will travel via the Falkirk Wheel. At each end of the 115 foot Wheel are caissons able to lift 300 tonnes of boat and water, and the trip between basin and aqueduct will take approximately 15 minutes. The basin will is more than 300 feet wide with moorings for at least 20 boats. Alongside there is a large visitor�s centre with a glass frontage that will overlook the Wheel and basin and a boardwalk to watch in awe as the Wheel rotates.

As well as reconnecting the two canals at Falkirk, the project involves a new link to the River Carron at the Sea Lock in Grangemouth and the removal of 33 obstructions. The dredging of severely contaminated sections of the Union canal, renovating old locks and bridges, repairing banks and improving towpaths have all been necessary to bring the 110km of canal and towpath back to life.

Pictures supplied by Tony Windmill. Text taken from www.falkirk-wheel.com

What's in a Number?

A mysterious gap in the BR Diesel shunter No. from the late 1950's onwards was 11104. This should have been allocated to a Drewry diesel-mechanical 0-6-0 (later Class 04), but wasn't because the number had already been used by a 1950-built Hibberd 0-4-0 used in Depart-mental Service at West Hartlepool.

Faulty Loading

On the 6^thof April 1967, faulty loading of one of two coils of stripped steel by the consignors was the cause of the derailment of a short wheelbase 13-ton highsided wagon between Cutnall Green and Hartlebury (W.Region) : one coil, weighing some 5.8 tons and being some 4 ft 5ins in diameter and 3ft 2ins high, was found in the left hand trailing corner of the wagon after derailment and the marks on the floor showed that it had been loaded originally about a foot off the centre line of the wagon.

Derailment due to faulty loading does not only occur on the N, OO, and O Gauge scales.

Electric Wagons?

The most unusual railway wagons ever built are almost certainly those forming a fleet of mobile power stations built by Westinghouse to supply emergency electric power to bomb damaged European cities during the Allied invasion of 1944. Each bogie wagon bore 4 huge roof mounted exhausts and each 8 wagon power station generated an output of 5,000 kw.

Coaling Towers

Of the many concrete mechanical coaling towers built at engine sheds throughout Britain in steam days, only two still stand��. At Carnforth (as shown) and Immingham depots.

Late or What!

On September 8th 1900, a steam hauled train left Beaumont, Texas for Port Bolivar 70 miles away. The journey should have taken 2 hours 25 minutes, but after 33 miles the train became trapped by a flood which had washed away the track. The passengers were saved - but the train was unable to complete its journey until .....................SEPTEMBER 1907!!!

The records state that it was possible to steam the same loco for its continued journey despite its 7 years of "open air storage"

Boguses

LMS No. 6100 Royal Scot, which toured America in 1933, was in reality No.6152 The King's Dragoon Guardsman in disguise. Likewise, Princess Coronation Pacific No. 6220 Coronation, which toured the United States between 1939 and 1942, was in fact classmate No. 6229 Duchess of Hamilton.

Parcels the "LMS" Definition

Parcels - include all consignments under 2cwt except dogs secured by chain, returned empties, milk and cream.

Miscellaneous - includes all consignments 2 cwt and upwards and additional to the three exceptions quoted above, horses, cattle, except small animals less than 2 cwt and which do not utilise a special vehicle for their conveyance, carriages, motors, vans ( i.e. caravans, pantechnicons etc.) and corpses.

This traffic was referred to under 4 headings namely:

Forwarded - traffic brought to the station for despatch.

Received - traffic which had arrived at a destination for delivery and/or "Till called for". This meant that is was to be retained at the Parcels Office awaiting collection by their consignee.

Transfer- traffic which had arrived at a junction or station for forwarding to a destination or another transfer point.

Consider - in those days it was not recommended to to have arranged one's own funeral, the thoughts of one's corpse awaiting collection by consignee would leave a bit of a stink!!.

Hijack

In 1852, the Great Northern engine hauling the first through King's Cross - Nottingham train was "seized" at its destination by employees and officials of the rival Midland Railway. It was uncoupled from its train and hemmed in at front and rear by Midland locos which then proceeded to push and pull it - still with its driver bravely trying to resist - into a disused shed.

Seeing his efforts were useless the GN man climbed down and watched incredulously as the rails leading to the shed were lifted to prevent his loco's removal. It was seven months before the GNR succeeded in negotiating its return.

From "The Railway Magazine supplement - 101 Things you didn't know about Railways

What's in a Name

The most common named station is Newport. Five BR Regions had stations by this name: Western Region - Newport (Monmouthshire): London Midlands Region - Newport (Shropshire): Southern Region - Newport (Isle of Wight): eastern Region - Newport (Essex); Scottish Region - East Newport and West Newport. In addition, the North Eastern Railway had Newport (North Yorkshire) and the Hull & Barnsley Railway had Newport (East Yorkshire)

Wembley Stadium

An industrial steam tank locomotive is said to be buried under the pitch at Wembley Stadium. The soccer ground was built on a tip and during construction, one of the locos used for transporting infill material apparently met with a mishap, fell in and was buried where it fell. I wonder if this will come to light during the reconstruction now about to taking place.

The longest and heaviest freight train on record

The longest and heaviest freight train on record ran in South Africa in 1989 and required 16 engines to move it, it was 4.5 miles long and weighed 69,393 tonnes. But how many trucks I wonder?

Wot No Class 22s!!

The North British Class 22 diesel-hydraulics are only extinct because of an astonishing error by Swindon Works. In 1972, No D6319, the last of the class, was purchased for preservation by enthusiasts – but was cut up by mistake before it could be moved to safety. To compensate, BR sold Warship No D821 Greyhound in 1973 for the same price, making it the first mainline diesel to be sold for preservation.

Was it worth it?

The least know British mainline diesel loco of all time was Clayton Type 3 prototype No. DHP1. This 1963-built four engined centre cab B-B clocked up a grand total of just 450 miles in its four year life, never strayed more than twenty five miles from its manufacturers Derbyshire Works and never hauled a revenue earning train. It was scrapped in 1967.

clayton.jpg (18985 bytes)

Over the Top!!

Overhead catenary masts have existed at no fewer than six standard gauge locations within 16 miles of Nottingham � on the electrified section of the Old Dalby test track, at the Brush Traction Works in Loughborough, at Derby Litchurch Lane Works (as shown), at Derby Research Centre, at Crich Tramway Museum and in the former training compound at Toton depot. In addition to this, more than 60 industrial railway systems in Britain have at one time or another been powered by overhead electrification.

8 Wheeled tender

An eight-wheel tender (the only one built by the GWR apart from the Great Bear�s) was constructed in the 1930�s for "Castle" 4-6-0 No 5001 Llandovery Castle. Over the next three decades it ran with several other "Castles" as well as "Star" No 4043 and "Halls" 4918, 5904,5919, 5957, 6905 and 6951.

2 of the records set in 2001

The West Coast Track Alliance set new production records for its Track Renewal Train working on Railtracks West Coast route modernisation.

In a 29 hour possession over the weekend of May 6/7 on the down slow line at Stableford, north of Stafford, the Alliance�s production team delivered an unprecedented 2400 yards of new sleepers and rail. The TRT�s record for a weekend shift had previously stood at just over 2000yards.

Not only was the work completed on time, but follow-up operations, including signal and power reconnections, were also completed ahead of schedule, allowing the possession to be handed back an hour early.

Following it�s pace setting weekend, the TRT moved onto a week of 7-hour, midweek night possessions at the same site, setting further new records. From a previous best of 320 yards, the team delivered 380 yards on the Monday night, only to smash this the following successive nights with 475, 560 and finally, 620 yards.

Odd Logos

In 1988, Bluebell Railway "Q" class 0-6-0 No 541 was temporarily fitted with BR Railfreight "Petroleum sector" and diamond shaped cast "Crewe Diesel Depot" logos on its tender and cabside.

Wheely Interesting!

The English Electric prototype gas turbine loco GT3 was built on a set of frames based on a BR Standard class 5MT 4-6-0 steam loco.

William Stanier

William Stanier was born in 1876, and became an apprentice in the Great Western Railway (GWR) at Swindon in 1892. From 1897 to 1900, Stanier worked as a draughtsman, before becoming Inspector of Materials in 1900. In 1904, Churchward appointed him as Assistant to the Divisional Locomotive Superintendent at London. Stanier returned to Swindon in 1912 to become Assistant Works Manager. In 1920 he became Works Manager, and as such accompanied Collet's new King George V to the centenary celebrations of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad in the USA.

In 1931, Stanier was approached by the London, Midland & Scottish (LMS) Railway to solve their motive power problems. Inter-company rivalry had caused a lot of problems with the LMS, and these had still not been solved 8 years after Grouping. On 1st January 1932, Stanier became the LMS's CME. He was successful at reducing the struggles between his subordinates, and chose a close team to help with designing the LMS's much needed locomotive designs

Stanier took up an advisory job with the Ministry of Production during World War 2, and his work with the LMS virtually stopped in 1939. He retired from the LMS in 1944. He was knighted in 1943, and made a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1944. He died at Rickmansworth in 1965.

What is this? Where can it be found?

Task 45 all-purpose track machine, The Swindon & Cricklade Railway

Short Biography

Latest acquisition to be seen at the Railway is this Task 45 all-purpose track machine.

It provides its own HiAb crane, a side-tipping body and a crew cab for around 10 people. It is already proving extremely useful in carrying people and tools for maintenance and new construction (especially as it includes its own tea-making facility!)
The Swindon & Cricklade Railway is based on the site of Blunsdon Station between Swindon and Cirencester, the line uses part of the trackbed of the former Midland & South Western Junction Railway.

Today, visitors can enjoy all the facilities they expect from a Heritage Railway centre. But it is worth remembering that everything they see has been re-created by the Society. Rolling stock, track, locomotives and building materials are all delivered by road.

More Information can be found at: - http://www.swindon-cricklade-railway.org

Ignorance is Bliss

The following was heard during a recent edition of the radio programme �Round Britain Quiz�.

Question: (Yes this is what was said.) "If a locomotive tender wheel arrangement is 4-4-2 it is know as an �Atlantic�, what is the wheel arrangement known as �Pacific�?"

The four contestants all tried in turn to answer, their suggestions ranged from �0-2-0� to 2-6-2�!

Ah well

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