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Looking at the RCTS Locomotive Stock Book for 1948, it gives a total aquisition figure for the Big Four of 24217 (at grouping and subsequently); and acquired by British Railways at 1948-1-1 of 20106 - these both include small numbers of non-steam; and exclude non-mainline locomotives (London...

The British Army had two 14 inch guns on railway mountings in WW1, as described - HMGs (His Majesty's Guns) Boche-Buster and Scene-Shifter. The 14 inch guns (being non-standard in British service) were declared obsolete in 1926: while the guns themselves were scrapped, the mountings remained...

I do wonder whether - and to what extent - the railway (i.e. Network Rail) actually knows itself. TfL have made available a spreadsheet of station depths (I think via FoI), giving track levels at platforms. But I am unaware of Network Rail having done the same - to any standard (as to what is...

I think the great problem with the development of Britain's railways was that they were built - initially at least - by a mass of seperate companies, all trying to work out what they were doing - after all, it hadn't been done before. If - back in the 1820s - there been some study/report on...

The current 'phonetic' alpahabet was devised and introduced by NATO and ICAO in the early 1950s, and has gradually spread into fairly universal world-wide use (at least for countries using the Latin alphabet). There is a lot out there on the web for those prepared to seek it out... one of the...

While that does seem to be the case for that particular model, the company has a whole range of such chairs for different scenarios. Given the reliance of the railway on lifts - which do fail periodically - for getting disabled people to and from platforms (hence trains) I would expect 'what...

All rolling stock is adequately safe up to a point; beyond another point, none of it is. How many accidents there are are beyond the first point, and the second is something uncertain (but both are essentially low). Whether its worth replacing or improving stock towards being safe at the second...

The Shenfield (306 as they became) sets were 'handed' and could only be coupled (to work in multiple) the same way round - and they were always kept that way round - for this reason they were banned from one side of the Hythe triangle, to avoid getting turned. As built the sets were DMB-T-DT -...

Waiting Around to Die, by Townes Van Zandt.

The other one that comes to my mind is the Hamburg S-Bahn (which originally used the same electrification syatem as the LBSC) Also I think Bury-Holcombe Brook - an oddity, it ended up reverting to steam, before being closed. Also, I think - don't know details - parts of the Chicago L used to...

I think in bygone days most, if not all, frontier stations had - sometimes quite extensive - facilities. In central Europe there are quite a number of relatively minor stations (now) which have massive, and now largely disused, station buildings to provide offices for all the frontier staff: the...

One example I can think of not mentioned so far is Buenos Aires (Argentina), but I don't know details - I think several of the railways radiating from the city had suburban electrification schemes which are still going - and have relatively recently acquired new trains. The New York systems...

Harsig's signalling diagrams include the Metropolitan Railway in 1933, and the Bakerloo Line in 1941 (including the Met from Baker St to Preston Road), both - at https://harsig.org/Metropolitan.php - showing the connection to the exchange sidings with the LMSR at Finchley Road/West Hampstead.

The Midland-Metropolitan connection at Finchley Road-West Hampstead was always I believe described as interchange sidings - suitable for the exchange of goods wagons, but not for the through running of trains (looking at the NLS maps, there was no suitable track to permit this). I expect it...

I won't disagree with what you say. But - while split ticketing is allowed - if it results in a lower fare then for the correct ticket, is that not "fare dodging"? Or is the railway overcharging for the correct ticket? No - they are they paying the correct fares for two journeys, neither of...

Might I point out that split ticketing for the purpose of saving money (i.e. buying tickets A-B and B-C, for less than a ticket A-B-C, for a journey A-B-C, which I assume why most people do so) is - prima facie - fare evasion: anybody who does so has not paid the correct fare for their jouney...

The XAs - at least initially - went to the Central Area for crew operation; the XFs to the Country Area, and were fitted for the upper deck to be closed off, enabling operation as a 'single decker' (i.e. lower only) at quieter times: not sure if/to what extent this was actually done. I think...

Statements that contactless is valid at those stations (without any mention of restrictions); an advertised fare for that journey (without mention of what route or trains it applies to); and general rules that, unless otherwise indicated, tickets and fares are valid by 'any permitted route', and...

So? It does say that you can use contactless at those stations; and there are direct trains between them. What says you can't use contactless on those trains? (Even if not at intermediate stations). And the single fare finder quotes fares without specifying a route.

This is one of those areas where the railway manages to shoot itself in the foot. The "London's Rail & Tube Map" - which is what is pointed at to show the "Contactless-payment area" (as well at the Oyster area) states that "Pay as you go with contactless (card or device) or Oyster is valid at...