Recent content by India Four Two

If that's the case, where is the exhaust port on single-chimney Castles and Kings?

I grabbed this image from a video of Clun Castle. I had never before seen the small extra hole in the chimney. I tried ChatGPT but beyond finding out that it was related to the double-blastpipe, I couldn't find a satisfactory explanation. Can someone explain how it works?

Two questions. 1. Why did the GWR use copper for chimneys and brass for safety valves? 2. Who introduced the Brunswick Green colour scheme?

Thanks everyone for your responses, particularly about the merits of the different train options. It's so long ago when I went into London from Heathrow, that the only option was the Piccadilly Line! I have recommended to my friend that she consider flying up to Edinburgh. Less hassle and...

A friend of mine, who is an inexperienced traveller, is arriving at Heathrow from Canada at 1205 on 24 October. She needs to travel by train to Edinburgh. Can she buy a through ticket for the whole route? Is there an advantage to buying online, in advance? If so, which website? Which of the...

Yesterday was the first time I had looked at this forum. Today this showed up on the Churnet Valley FB page that I follow! "We are pleased to announce the arrival of CARINA our very first Pullman Car! It’s in need of a complete overhaul but has an amazing history… built by the Birmingham...

Thanks everyone for the information. One of my reasons for going to North Wales is to ride on the narrow guage railways, so I will definitely take up PlatformEdge's suggestion about the Welsh Highland Heritage Railway at Porthmadog. I'm also going to be spending some time in Scarborough, so...

I'm going to be visiting North Wales, Lancashire, Lincolnshire, Yorkshire and Northumberland for two weeks in April next year. Are there any Heritage Railways that offer footplate experiences?

Thanks for the feedback everyone.

Harvester, you beat me to it!

I like watching videos of steam trains on Youtube - particularly GWR-hauled steam trains, but then I'm biased! Sometimes, I see a diesel engine idling along at the back and sometimes not. Yesterday I saw a Deltic-hauled train with a diesel bringing up the rear! What determines whether a...

In the 60s, when I was a spotter on the GWR mainline, a 61xx tank was universally known as "tanner-oner". For the post-decimalization generation, that's a reference to sixpence and one penny. :) I don't remember any nicknames for any other GWR locos, although of course, any self-respecting...

Which reminds me of a wonderful Beyond the Fringe sketch. I'm paraphrasing from memory here: ... where there is that marvellous unpunctuated motto "Gentlemen lift the seat". Is it a sociological definition of a gentleman? Or perhaps it's a loyal toast?

Heads have rolled! https://www.lemonde.fr/en/economy/article/2023/02/10/spanish-rail-s-costly-blunder-new-trains-too-large-for-tunnels_6015208_19.html

Thanks for the input dutchflyer. Luckily I was being picked up at Sentral, so I didn’t have to continue by train. However my friend was at another door, which led to a parallel-universe phone conversation. “I’m outside the door but I can’t see your car.” “I’m parked outside the door, but I...