Recent content by Dumpton Park

A very good summary of how the place has evolved. Buses essentially serve trunk routes on trunk roads with the odd route branching off. There are really only two traditional high streets now. Broadstairs, just about hanging on and, slightly oddly I always think, Birchington. Interestingly both...

Not terrible. A bit Scotrail-ish really. Actually better than some recent attempts (yes, Cross Country 221s, looking at you). Also realtively easy to adapt some other liveries (especially SE, but also Avanti, Northern and LNER) to it with a few vinyl touches until a full repaint becomes due. I...

Yes, it's a walk either down commercial streets or through a rather nice park. Not sure about the standing. Cercanias in Madrid is a complete free for all at busy times. Or when things fall apart, as they do all too often. DP

As everything that's not a local (regionales or media distancia) or commuter train (cercanias/rodalies) in Spain is compulsory reservation, regardless of operator, the ticket structure bears no similarity to the UK. There are different tiers of flexibilty available on all the high speed...

Someone posted on another forum once that a light 90 or 87 could accelerate much like a Hornby 00 one if it was allowed. Possibly an exaggeration. Possibly not. DP

Talgo carriages vs Frecciarossa would certainly put the former in trouble, but to make matters much worse, apparently some of the Renfe train has ended up down a 4m deep drainage channel. Just to advise/warn, some of the Spanish newspaper reporting is significantly more graphic than UK media...

It's decades since I used either service (the horrendous queues at St Pancras and this reminds me why I don't much mind). Can someone clarify - does St Pancras (and Folkestone, come to that) have UK exit passport checks? If so, that would make it different to every UK airport I've ever used...

Travelled on a five car set in November (in the FC driving car) and couldn't work out if the engine was actually running or not at times - hefty amounts of vibration (especially just before or when setting off), then near silence when running at speed and at stations. A shame these trains don't...

Yes. Which is the one occasion? Presumably the end of 455s or Chiltern Mk3s are two more one occasions? This is not even the last run of service train passenger 43s in the UK. Perspective time. Being a railway enthusiast is, essentially, being slightly to very nosey about something that...

That bit doesn't make too much sense. It reads like the first sentence was reworded (from something like "People with the ability to overcome that resistance are scarce"?). But the second one wasn't reworded (leaving that "do" meaning something different to how it wants to be read) and no-one...

Could that be in electric mode from, say, Acton? Even if this is (just) a trial, how much electric-hauled freight, if any, has the GMWL seen up to now? DP

I think that's a reference specifically to the Broc factory. The branch is now standard gauge and, if GMaps streetview is to be trusted, the factory's (narrow gauge) lines haven't been upgraded and are still in situ but obviously now OOU. Somewhat ironic really! DP

Ironic that in the summer in Vietnam most of the tour guides I met were trained engineers who'd been (sent?) to Cuba for extended periods (why, I know not), learnt Spanish (as well as already knowing English) and then (been?) moved into tour guiding. (Vietnam has been going big on attracting...

Had that. But am now getting a log in screen that doesn't log me in. Best to not read anything into anything at the moment! B

Maybe. But I think it ¡s the main news & info site that subscribers pay for and that's apparently not affected. DP