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I keep seeing this claim or interpretation that trains would have run with only one member of staff (the driver) but TOCs have been at pains to say over and over again that they intended to keep running with an on board supervisor (or equivalent term) with duties focussed on revenue proitection...

Yes but my point is if you are here as a non english speaker to learn English you are more reliant on signs that contain recognisable words and phrases. If you were on holiday in a European city and wanted to get to the station would you like a sign that said "Gare" (or "Gara in Romanian if you...

There's a good piece by Ian Walmsley in the current Modern Railways. Not about Class 73s or third rail but the issue of electric freight haulage, timings and multiple modes. The upcoming class 93 is already tri mode - if it became a quad mode it would gobble up all southern freight at a canter.

One that still gets my goat is in Bournemouth, where signs to the station are grandiosely style "Transport Interchange" - because the bus station is next door. to the railway station. Bournemouth has a reputation for language colleges so there are lot of non english speakers in the town and it...

Thanks for that. Couple of things though - the extra powered wheelsets in a co-co would give more tractive effort at slow speed which would be ideal in a freight loco, and in a Class 93 there is a large battery pack which can deliver up to 1000hp and which must have quite a weight perhaps even...

I don't follow this thread regularly so apologies if this has come up before but can any traction engineers explain why diesel electrics (say) above 2000hp are often co-co's, especially freight locos, whereas electric locos are often bo-bo's even though the power can often be well over double...

I don't believe there has ever been a proposal for a guided busway on this line. However there was a proposal before the millenium to create a new Metro linking Fareham Gosport and Portsmouth using a lot of the old trackbed of the Fareham to Gosport Railway. This scheme was in a highly advanced...

Really? I wish my local Con Club campaigned for better wages for the people who put money behind the bar!

Further to my reply above the other "ingredient" is that hardstanding areas need to be convenient and accessible from the Forest's own network of internal roads and tracks rather than convenient to the railway, so sawlogs can be hauled and stacked by off road tractors rather than retrieved by...

It's always interesting to see real costings - and thinking - many thanks for this. The report shows that the cost of laying sidings and connecting them to the main line is prohibitive unless a high density service is planned, and a grant is available to cover the capital cost. This is why it...

I noticed that - some chap was expressing the same opinions we've aired in the last few posts and he just threw his toys out of the pram and went off in a huff! I do believe we all want to see timber traffic return to rail - we're just pointing out some of the cruel realities.

Totally agree with the sense check above. I do not even understand what is being "trialled" by this "trial". What does it show that isn't already known? If this operation was ever going to pay it would firstly need a wagon type that could be fully loaded, and possibly with more wagons per...

Can we stop with the piety please? If anyone had been hurt it would have been the main headline. The OP was using deduction, which seems to be in short supply.

I certainly hope not, at least not using the current TV programme vogue which for all the copycat producers and directors is now based around the perceived need to include jeopardy in every storyline. This may serve to create the "Plucky underdog winning through" style on heritage steam railways...

Those are interesting points. As a forestry owner myself I would love to discuss these points in detail with you but as this is about the Waverley route I think others would lose patience! Suffice it to say that a) Multiple sawlog lengths are not a problem for rail freight any more than they are...

I agree that any viaduct rebuild is a showstopper but a 35 mile freight only line and viaduct rebuilding is not what I was describing. A long siding as far as Kershope, with a runaround loop at the end, about 13 miles, not even as far as Newcastleton and definintely not into Kielder Forest...

Yet it was worth doing for a single train a week. I'm no saying it would happen at Kielder but it has been suggested by the RFG itself, not just me flying a kite, and it will be interesting to look at the CBR.

Agree, margins are tight in all areas of freight logistics but in the case of timber specifically there is potential because of the nature of the commodity. Recently an abandoned 5 mile line was reinstated to Heathfield for timber loading to Chirk for this reason. In the case of Kielder the...

I agree with those who say a through line south of Hawick will not happen but I am surprised that those continuing to argue its merits have ignored the freight potential of timber south out of Kielder and other nearby forests. The Rail Freight Group have campaigned for timber by rail for some...

WHile the programme is of operational interest to those in or close to the rail industry it is a very poor piece of PR for rail travel generally. It gives the impression to anybody travelling from/to/via Euston and especially Birmingham New Street that their journey is likely to be unpleasant...