Railway General Knowledge.

[Springs Branch]

Open floor......

 

[steamybrian]

Here is one (but I am open for correction)..

What was the first passenger station opened specifically to serve an airport and have "....Airport" in its name.?
Ignore any stations which added suffices"...for Airport" but were not actually adjacent to the airport but merely acted as the nearest railhead.
Can you also state the year the station opened.

 

[Strathclyder]

Gatwick Airport?

The present station opened on 27th May 1958.

 

[steamybrian]

Gatwick Airport?

The present station opened on 27th May 1958.

Sorry incorrect on both facts-

The first station to serve the original airport was opened as Tinsley Green in 1935 and became Gatwick Airport in 1936. The old airport closed in 1956 and the first station closed in 1958 to be replaced by the present one when the present airport opened.


Should have added to previous...
I am aware of Hendon Factory Platform which closed around 1919 which carried workers to Hendon Aerodrome. I have discounted this as it was not in use as a full public passenger use.
I will include the name of ".........Aerodrome" in the name as an alternative to "...Airport". I have just checked another station which when opened used".........Aerodrome" however it opened slightly later than my answer.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Bungalow Town Halt was opened in 1910....It was renamed Shoreham Airport Halt in 1935 and was closed in 1940

 

[theageofthetra]

The question doesn't specify the UK so Berlin Templehof Flughafen in 1927. The first airport to have a rail line specifically built to serve it was Brussels for the expo in '58.

 

[steamybrian]

Bungalow Town Halt was opened in 1910....It was renamed Shoreham Airport Halt in 1935 and was closed in 1940

This was the answer I was looking for

I must admit I did not specify UK but my railway knowledge outside the UK is virtually nil.
I did check Cosford as it opened as Cosford Aerodrome but it opened in 1937

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Once again, I declare Open Floor

 

[Welshman]

Where, in the British Isles, is the only station footbridge to span a 7.25", 15" and a standard gauge track?

 

[steamybrian]

Where, in the British Isles, is the only station footbridge to span a 7.25", 15" and a standard gauge track?

Bettws-y-coed spanning the Conwy Valley line and railway museum.

 

[Welshman]

Correct.

 

[steamybrian]

Which passenger railway in the UK was first opened with a track gauge of 6 feet 2 inches..?

 

[theageofthetra]

The Ulster Railway.

 

[steamybrian]

The Ulster Railway.

Correct

Belfast to Armagh


Further details..
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulster_Railway

 

[theageofthetra]

What is the largest number of wheels fitted to one locomotive. This includes tenders if steam & A+B units in the US = one locomotive.

 

[Springs Branch]

To get the ball rolling........

• Including the tender, the well-known Union Pacific Big Boys had 4-8-8-4 plus a 7-axle tender = 38 wheels.
• Considering the Garratt type, the NSW Government Railway in Australia had the AD60 class at 4-8-4+4-8-4 = 32 wheels.

 

[theageofthetra]

I can't find any more than the UP Big Boy. Roll on one being back in Steam. Your floor.

 

[Springs Branch]

Open floor

 

[krus_aragon]

What exclusive club do these railway stations belong to?

Ambergate, Arram, Chester-le-street, Formby, Goole, Gorton and Openshaw, Selby, St Erth, St Ives

 

[t_star2001uk]

All mentioned in song lyrics

Open floor if correct....

 

[krus_aragon]

All mentioned in song lyrics

Open floor if correct....

Could be, but your answer is a little vague...

 

[Welshman]

They're all mentioned in the Flanders & Swann song "The Slow Train"

 

[krus_aragon]

They're all mentioned in the Flanders & Swann song "The Slow Train"

They are indeed, Welshman. More specifically, they are the railway stations from the song that avoided closure and are open to this day. (Chorlton-cum-hardy has been Metrolinkified.)

Your floor, Welshman.

 

[Welshman]

Whose boast about the safety of his tunnel was vindicated towards the end of the last century, and how?

 

[krus_aragon]

Whose boast about the safety of his tunnel was vindicated towards the end of the last century, and how?

Would we be discussing the Channel Tunnel here?

 

[Welshman]

Not the Channel Tunnel.
I'm thinking of one built much earlier than that.

 

[deltic1989]

I'm thinking that the tunnel referred to is the Severn Tunnel.
I know that in 1991 (though the date escapes me), a 155 rear-ended an HST, in the tunnel.
If this is the case the vindicated Gentleman would be Mr Charles Richardson.

Open Floor if Correct.

 

[Welshman]

I'm thinking that the tunnel referred to is the Severn Tunnel.
I know that in 1991 (though the date escapes me), a 155 rear-ended an HST, in the tunnel. ,
If this is the case the vindicated Gentleman would be Mr Charles Richardson.

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I was under the impression that Daniel Gooch was unhappy with Charles Richardson's work, and that after flooding in the tunnel workings, he was replaced by John Hawkshaw as Chief Engineer.

Although the collision you cite was indeed regrettable, and resulted in serious injuries to five passengers, the incident I have in mind had the potential for far more disastrous consequences for the tunnel structure, and, amazingly resulted in neither loss of life nor injuries.

 

[Darren R]

Could this be a reference to Summit Tunnel on the Manchester & Leeds Railway? The last brick was keyed into place by Bernard Dickinson (Assistant Engineer on the line to George Stephenson) on 11th December 1841. According to the Manchester Guardian he said at the ceremony that "the tunnel defies the rage of tempest, fire or war, or wasting age."

This was tested on the early morning of 20th December 1984 when a fully-loaded tanker train carrying almost a quarter of a million gallons of petrol derailed inside the tunnel and caught fire. Two tankers melted in the resultant inferno, and flames rose almost 150 ft into the air from the ventilation shafts. In the cleanup operation afterwards, small globules of metal were found on the ground surrounding one of the shafts; these had been melted from the tanker walls, swept up with the exhaust gases, and dropped out onto the grass around the top of the shaft.

Despite temperatures exceeding 1,500 deg C, damage was found to be fairly minimal due to the thickness of the brick lining. Following repairs, the line reopened 8 months later.

 

[Welshman]

That's the one I had in mind.
Amazing that the tunnel escaped with so relatively little damage.

Your floor.