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Railway General Knowledge.

Whistler40145

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Hmm, so we're talking about the Southern Region and electric locomotives around about that time would've been the Class 73s and 74s.
 
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backontrack

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One answer which may have been posted in jest is in fact rather close to the actual answer - but it wasn't the APT! To be clear... I am thinking of the images which showed a train actually inside the tunnel.

Ah!

Could it be described as a blue engine? Or is this information which you are not willing to divulge?
 

Peter Mugridge

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Ah!

Could it be described as a blue engine? Or is this information which you are not willing to divulge?

They were in blue livery at the time. Look at the two answers provided by theageofthetra and you might just realise what it was. Remember we are looking for what was shown in some PR stuff, this is not necessarily what was actually proposed to operate through the tunnel...

( Sadly I don't have the poster in question to hand, but I have seen it online a few times in recent years - once we have the answer it won't surprise me if someone on here has a link to show it to us all... )
 

Peter Mugridge

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Phil - yes - one of the posters showed the front of an EPB type unit inside the tunnel.

That would have made for an interesting journey if had happened - but I suspect if they were really planning to use those it would have only been as far as Calais and not all the way to Paris.

What may have happened is they simply commissioned a commercial artist to produce the poster and he or she simply drew in the first train they could think of.

You have the floor.
 

Phil.

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Open floor. I'm not erudite enough to set a question - not a worthwhile one anyway.
 

krus_aragon

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Here's a question, then.

Which locomotive set a record for carrying mail, but saw its medal given to a lady instead?
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Let's add a hint:

Which steam locomotive set a record for carrying mail, but saw its medal given to a lady instead?
 

HMS Ark Royal

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Here's a question, then.

Which locomotive set a record for carrying mail, but saw its medal given to a lady instead?
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Let's add a hint:

Which steam locomotive set a record for carrying mail, but saw its medal given to a lady instead?

Thomas The Tank Engine
 

Phil.

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I suspect that you're referring to the G.W.R.'s "City of Truro" and it's improbable record set whilst hauling the Ocean mails service.
No idea what the medal reference is though.
 

krus_aragon

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I suspect that you're referring to the G.W.R.'s "City of Truro" and it's improbable record set whilst hauling the Ocean mails service.
No idea what the medal reference is though.

No, it's neither City of Truro nor Thomas the Tank Engine.
 

krus_aragon

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Next hint:

Which steam locomotive set a record for non-stop running while carrying mail, but saw its medal given to a lady instead?
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Was the Lady-GWR loco Lady of the Lake?

Ah, Lady of the Lake is a relevant name, but not a GWR loco.
 

Mvann

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Lady of the lake was an LNWR engine. Presume the medal was from one of the exhibitions

The problem is I'm not upto speed on locos from that era
 
Last edited:

TheEdge

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I guess it has something to do with the Irish Mail in LNWR is in the fray. Beyond that I remain stumped.
 

krus_aragon

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We're getting very close now Mvann and TheEdge. Can anyone name the loco? (I'll also accept the name of the event that prompted such haste in carrying the mail as an alternative.)

Which steam locomotive set a record for non-stop running while carrying the Irish Mail, but saw its exhibition medal given to Lady of the Lake instead?
 

krus_aragon

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I'm guessing the loco was a Claughton and the event the news of the end of the first world war?

No, not a Claughton. This predates the First World War, but there was another war going on at the time.

Next clue:

Which steam locomotive set a record for non-stop running while carrying the Irish Mail, but saw its 1862 International Exhibition medal given to Lady of the Lake instead?
 

HMS Ark Royal

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Would this have any relation to the carrying of dispatches regarding the Trent Affair? 229 Watt made the majority of the run using newly installed water troughs. However, when the LNWR exhibited a class member, it was not Watt but 531 Lady of the Lake - the catalogue for such making note this was the same class that had made the "American Express" as it was called at the time. Lady of the Lake was awarded a Bronze Medal instead of Watt
 

krus_aragon

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Would this have any relation to the carrying of dispatches regarding the Trent Affair? 229 Watt made the majority of the run using newly installed water troughs. However, when the LNWR exhibited a class member, it was not Watt but 531 Lady of the Lake - the catalogue for such making note this was the same class that had made the "American Express" as it was called at the time. Lady of the Lake was awarded a Bronze Medal instead of Watt

That's the very locomotive (229 Watt) and also the reason for the express run: carrying despatches regarding the Trent Affair. It ran non-stop from Holyhead to Stafford (where the engine was changed) covering the 130-odd miles at an average speed of 54mph, using the new-fangled water troughs at Mochdre. At the exhibition, it was made clear that an engine of Lady of the Lake's class had made the American express run, but such was the attention garnered at the exhibition that the entire class of locomotives became known to many as Lady of the Lakes.

For the historians among you, the Trent Affair related to the interception and boarding of the British mail packet RMS Trent by Union forces looking for Confederate diplomats. They found two and captured them illegally. This breach of neutrality led to ruffling of feathers in London, and for a time there was a danger of Britain becoming directly involved in the American Civil War. Watt was carrying news of the release of the diplomats, thus diffusing the situation.

Your ocean, HMS Ark Royal.
 

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