Recent content by LowerQuadrant

On the Heart of Wales Line, I think Transport for Wales could probably charge Network Rail for lineside vegetation management. A Class 150 with its hopper windows open makes a very effective strimmer. The interior of the train acts as the grass box!

The Buffers at Norwich were given a rather unplanned test back in 2004. Weirdly, someone in the comments claims it was a deliberate move to reverse the loco more quickly, and congratulates the driver.

Today (Thursday October 14) most services on the Heart of Wales line are being operated by 3-car Class 170 units. Normally the line only sees 153s (mostly single-car, sometimes two-car) or 150s. I can't find any reason for the sudden change to 170s - and three-car units, too, which is definitely...

Just to update my photo above - I was back at Builth Road yesterday, and the track now seems to have dried out. Here's a photo of the same area as it is now. I don't know if the drainage has been fixed, or if it's looking better because the weather has been dry recently. There's some evidence...

There's no passing loop at Builth Road. I think the speed limit through the station is 45mph for units, 30mph for loco-hauled trains. It's a request stop, so in practice most trains do slow down so the drivers can check the platform for passengers. If nobody wants to board they do accelerate...

The Central Wales Line (as I still think of it) has some 1950s-and-on flat-bottom rail on assorted baseplates, with various clips and fastenings mixed up almost at random. At Llandrindod Wells station it's possible to see three adjacent sleepers with three different kinds of rail fixings (1950s...

Some time ago I read on the Cornwall Railway Society website about a set of catch points leading to a sand drag, protecting a gradient on the Cornish main line. Supposedly the track in the sand drag was laid with Brunel's bridge rails. I can't remember the location offhand, and there were no...

Until a year or so ago the last few yards of track in the Windsor bay at Slough was laid with lightweight bullhead rail on inside keyed chairs - only used for a short while in the 19th century. I think it's a fair bet that this little bit of track dated back to 1860, when Slough was converted...

Here's a photo I took a couple of years ago of a German ICE with glass bulkhead between passenger area and cab: It's marketed as an 'observation' end, although you can't really see much out of the driver's windscreen from the passenger seats. Local DMUs in Germany also have similar...