Recent content by Justin Smith

On the subject of maximum power v continuous power the following has been written by an Railway performance Society member with driving experience (Class 309 specific info is further down) : I drove various types of electric and diesel traction on the main line in BR days (post 1996) and there...

Funnily enough I was investigating this just the other day. My N gauge layout has two sets of locos/coaches, essentially rail blue and rail green / steam. When running the latter it has an A4 in green and a Deltic in green with a yellow warning panel. Since the latter were added from 1962 and...

I do not think we have discussed the Northern Ireland DEMUs (the class 70s, 80s and 450s). As I understand it they have the same engine but that gives out 550hp, i.e. different from the 500hp or 600hp of the aforementioned English units ! As far as I can tell the NI units develop max power at...

Better a slightly shorter train than no train at all !

What about a generator car ? Not a new idea, I believe some Class 27s had an additional diesel engine fitted to provide ETH for Mk2 coaches ?

I see what you did there, very good.

OK, thanks Gordon.

What ! There's a 26 to 30 rail card ! ! I can remember as a child in the late 70s having to pay full price over the age of 14 !

What's changed since, say, the construction of Mk3 coaches ?

Alright, the great majority of peopel between 25 and 60 travelling on ther own, cannot have a Railcard. 1790767878 Can you double head and get twice the ETH, and if not why not ? That said, one could use the same argument about the couplers, ordering in a carriages that hardly any loco can...

Are we saying they have never had the right couplers ? If so why did CS limit their choices so drastically when they ordered the carriages ?

Those between 25 and 60 travelling on their own have not got a railcard....... 1790765545 Why can't they use class 90s, or even class 87s before they were exported ?

Has Doncaster Works actually closed yet ? Simple question one would have thought, but Google does not appear to give a definitive answer !

Looking through Milepost* 32/2 (Oct 2011) I read a very interesting article by Jeremy Harthill which complements the above quoted stats nicely. Fastest services on British Rail mainlines in October 1974 WCML - Rugby to Watford - 88.8mph ECML - Stevenage to York - 81.7mph MML - St Pancras to...

I thought it did, but careful rereading of the (small) text on (slightly browned paper...) reveals the advert (which I read in poor light before going to bed ! ) actually said : Wolf of Badenoch £1500. "A1" Archibald Sturrock £800. £800 for an A1 nameplate !