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There's a picture on Shorpy (Glass-plate era US photographs for those that don't know) of some strange apparatus. https://www.shorpy.com/node/25506 You might need to click on the pic to enlarge it to see the details. At a first glance this looks like horseplay but then notice electricity on...

Very nice. I like the slip coach bit. (That'll be bizarre for readers. Needs explaining, but what's the point of having culture if you don't refer to it? Thanks.

Timetable question. In a story I'm writing, set about 1900, I'm setting-up my main character to appear at an inquest in Oxford at about 11am on a weekday. Assuming he would travel from Gloucester to Swindon then to Oxford (possibly via change at Didcot station? (Was that possible)) then what...

Sorry for the link cock-up above. The proper link is:https://www.railpictures.net/photo/722000/ (No, it wasn't an excess of 'lubrication'.)

Apparently it is in SNCF-land. https://www.railforums.co.uk/forums/infrastructure-stations.43/create-thread

A very early one: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carstairs_House_Tramway

Thanks for the information. PS. It's nice to have a thread about something that would be slammed about the UK papers and party conferences with endless digging-in of positions, conducted so calmly.

'Everyone knows' (but perhaps those here know a bit better) that commuting by train is expensive in the UK when compared with France. Can anyone give some rough comparisons? All European countries considered. Any quality of journey info would be handy too. eg. One ticket for...

OK. Here goes. (Every Boris-related issue will be loaded with over-simplification and odours of fantasy.) (1) Leeds isn't the be all and end all of 'the north beyond Manchester' (2) Freight needs investment in depots not speed. (And solid long-term government commitment. [Oh dear!]) (3) If...

On the freights passing by me here in Witham on the East Anglia main line to and from Felixstowe, I see a mix of diesel and electric locos. (Aside: Electrics are sometimes doubled-up but never diesels.) I'm a great fan of it isn't broken don't fix it, but these locos must be about 50 years...

Really good example. Plus (from somebody who has never been on a steam footplate) it's good to see the REALITY of how things go wrong (in the curious world of accident reports) brought to bear on mere opinions.

The problems with actual obscured vision pale into insignificance with the general difficulty of fatigue, grime, physical effort, weather in your face and down your neck. Also at the ends of the shift the crew didn't get into their plush Bently and probably walked or cycled in all weathers at...

Thank you detectives. I learn something new every day.

I was given a calendar for Christmas. One picture per month. All British (London bus, RAF biplane etc.) but none captioned. I've attached a picture. The whole thing is weird. There are no overhead wires in the photo. No electric rail. The coupling looks good for O-gauge. (The tilt at the...

The position of a train is only half the problem. The real issue for a crosser is the time available. Drive a car, negotiate the bends with my tractor and trailer, herd a flock of sheep across? That needs cooperation and experience.

Gadzooks! Extending steps you say? Actual modern technology on the dear old Eastern Counties Railway? Thanks.

So not stopping at Chelmsford or Manningtree then? The platforms are at a distance anyway to let the freights bounce through, but on the curves there will be a bad 'Mind the gap situation' as they're on a curve. Wivenhoe will be another no-no.

Passing through Witham this morning at 06:20. 501N 0343 Ripple Lane Exch Sdgs to Norwich C.Pt. T.&R.S.M.D Big red diesel (cl 66?) dragging some whitish mu with red painted doors in the centre of the coach rather than the ends. That's what it looked like from my house. One set of central...

That was a completely different story. (Show's you're paying attention.)

Would the stopping train on Boxing day 1966 have been DMU? Reason for asking is in my latest novel (Research 'Merlin Smallbone' if you're interested. Nothing railwayish except a short story featuring class 66 and class 60. If you want it posted on-line then ask.) happens to have the hero at...