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Found myself staring at a Mile Post yesterday, and suddenly realised I had no idea why it should be that instead of stencilled numbers, or standardised lettering, many of them look like they've been painted by (drunk?) primary school children with a yellow-and-black painting set. Why??

I'm old enough to remember seeing passenger diesels wreathed in steam from leaky joints (at intervals along the train as well) on cold days in winter. What never occurred to me at the time was the likelihood that the rear carriages got less heat as the steam supply cooled along the train - and I...

'Frinstance, if it was taken to Holland's 1500v network to do some railtours? I worry that things that go to the National Railway Museum end up sanitised, and bereft of living spirit, like castles "entrusted" to English Heritage.......

Used to be a 1300 Allegro. Slam dunk. But, unexpectedly, coming up on the inside rail, my current Peugeot 2008. Uncomfortable seats, a stupid touch-screen radio (I just want knobs!!), irritating bleeps if it thinks it has an unsecured passenger (shopping....), and poor all round visibility...

Here's a quote from the excellent Disused Stations website; "When electrification of the line was planned the twin-bore Woodhead tunnels were too narrow and low to allow for the overhead electric cables. Rather than enlarge these tunnels, it was decided to create a new tunnel, immediately to...

When did the Child Fare age threshold rise from 14 to 16? Was there any publicity at the time? How many years elapsed between the school leaving age rising, and the fare threshold catching up? I just know that somebody out there knows!

There are, it seems to me, few places where the railway infrastructure post WW2 has survived more or less intact. Can anywhere rival Colchester? An MPD, a triangle with all three sides extant, a terminus branch to the town centre, and no track removed at all, as far as I can tell. Can...

I am notoriously forgetful. How strict will a ticket inspector be about me producing a railcard when I travel, eg would a photo of the railcard on my phone help?

Small metal plate. Think I found it at a model railway junk table sale in the 70s. Any ideas to what it refers? Thanks!

Never really considered this before, but if a diesel or steam train has to stop in the middle of a long tunnel, can carbon monoxide become an issue?

When trains with air conditioning break down, or are deprived of their power supply, a frequently heard (and legitimate) passenger complaint is that the atmosphere on board can quickly become oppressive and unpleasant. This is not an unforseeable scenario. How hard can it be for...

Just imagine for a moment a proactive government decision to direct mail and parcels carriers to use rail instead of road / air wherever possible. The nostalgist in me would fondly imagine platforms once again littered with parcels trolleys, Red Star facilities at every staffed station...

My guess would be one of the Class 86s. Is there a way of knowing?

Was it not scary driving into inky darkness, especially at high speed?

Sorry, should have started a new thread on this instead of burying my question in the ETH thread.... I'd be fascinated to know!

Just saw a photo which prompted a thought. It was from the 1980s and featured a class 50 hauling a rake of air con ETH Mk 2 stock. But, as was so often the case, immediately behind the 50 was a Mk1 Guard's / parcels carriage. Clearly some sort of through cable carried the ETH. Did they...

Unless I just couldn't find it, news of progress in restoring the extraordinary CoBo 5705 seems to have stopped in Feb 2013 (on cl15 website) . Any updates?

Is this the sort of good news we've been waiting for? http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-27962642 They may have struggled in avoiding the usual "train station" nonsense ("railways station" sounds like a child experimenting with an unfamiliar term), but this could be really good, no??

With increasingly dire warnings about climate change ringing in our ears, I am quite often bemused to see diesel trains making journeys that are, from beginning to end, "under the wires". Voyagers from Euston to Glasgow for instance. Should the TOCs be fined for such profligacy?

Hello all, Didn't quite know whether to put this here or in "preservation", as you'll see...... I've noticed as I browse around the abundance of photos on the internet, it is often really easy to spot when a loco from the "Modernisation Plan" era is in service, or conversely stored...