Railway General Knowledge.

[EbbwJunction1]

All names used on the GWR 3300 (Bulldog) class steam loco.... Open floor if correct

Yes, that's close enough:

"Amorel" was Bulldog 3306 and Duke 3277;
"Jupiter" was Bulldog 3313 and Duke 3318;
"Quantock" was Bulldog 3315 and Duke 3324; and
"Vulcan" was Bulldog 3318 and Duke 3330".

 

[Calthrop]

If I may, I'll take up t_star2001uk's "open floor" invitation.

A "cryptic-ish" question, such as we've had now and again on "Railway General Knowledge".

There's a certain British railway luminary (mechanical side), active in the overall earlier parts of the 20th century, whose surname can be anagrammatised in a fair number of ways. Definitions below, of words which are anagrams of the name: the question is, what's the name?

keeps

eyeball-linings

one who colours / alters tone of woodwork

colour / alter tone of woodwork, afresh

a particular type of flavoured European wine, reckoned an acquired taste

more loathsome

more fidgety (if you're American)

and lastly -- a bit cheekily -- inhabitant of a particular town in Romania

 

[DaleCooper]

Stanier?

 

[Calthrop]

By 'eck, that were quick ! DaleCooper, your floor.

 

[DaleCooper]

By 'eck, that were quick ! DaleCooper, your floor.

Your question could have been made for me as I've spent ages playing around with that name for the Cryptic Clues thread however I haven't got a question so - open floor...

 

[TheEdge]

What links the Eemian Interglacial and the UK rail network?

 

[Cowley]

Is it something to do with a natural geological line which might cross the country somewhere incorporating parts of London where north of the line was glacial and south of it wasn't?
I seem to remember watching something on TV a few years ago where they showed that in a tube station in I think North London you could see where the rock changed.
Maybe this affected the way railways were tunnelled/built, or maybe I just made all this up in my head ?

 

[TheEdge]

Wrong, but yes, its obviously to do with tunneling.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Also, as an aside I think you are probably thinking about the problems presented by tunneling through the clay and mud underneath London.

 

[Cowley]

Another total guess. Were early railways forced to take long detours as it wasn't possible to tunnel through certain types of glacial rocks/deposits? Maybe until they learnt how to do blasting?

 

[TheEdge]

It's tunnel related but nothing to do with the difficulties of tunnelling.

 

[DaleCooper]

Is it anything to do with the loss of the land bridge between England and France which, if it existed, would obviate the need for a channel tunnel?

 

[EbbwJunction1]

It's a guess, but is the Eemian Interglacial "crossed" by a tunnel which was built by one of the major contractors / engineers of the UK rail network?

Actually, ignore this ... I've Googled "Eemian Interglacial" and I know that it's not right ... mind you, I'm even more in the dark about what the answer is, though!

 

[TheEdge]

All still wrong. Googling Eemian might help. In geology/geography certain things, including interglacials migth have different names in different countries or regions.

 

[EbbwJunction1]

"Googling Eemian might help" .... no, it didn't!!

 

[Calthrop]

Google says that in Britain ,the Eemian Interglacial period is called the "Ipswichian". Ipswich is on the UK rail network... but this seems to me so feeble, that it just can't be it !

 

[TheEdge]

If only something linked Ipswich and tunnels...

 

[RJ21]

Ok, educated guess here, interglacials saw periods of melting of ice caps & glaciers leading to widespread deposition of sediments, particularly clays.

Bricks are made of fired clay which is worked from drift deposits, I don't know which workings supplied most of the engineering brick for tunnel linings and other structures but my guess is that the link is that the clays used for bricks came from areas of Ipswichian interglacial deposits.

 

[TheEdge]

Yes, your understanding of glacial geomorphology is good and its possible that clays of that age are widely used but this answer is much more direct.

Again, if only something directly linked Ipswich and tunnels, some sort of tunnel like structure...

 

[Darren R]

In this country the Eemian Interglacial is known as the Ipswichian after the deposits found in the area (it has various other local names around the world, all named for similar reasons.) Fossils from that period were found when Ipswich Tunnel was first excavated, and also in the early 20th century when further works were being done.

If that is the link you are looking for, I feel obliged to declare open floor: I stumbled on the answer last night while checking that there was indeed an Ipswich Tunnel since I couldn't remember for sure!

 

[TheEdge]

Correct, the fossils and deposits used in the UK to define the Eemian/Ipswichean Interglacial were the "Stoke Bone Beds" discovered while digging Ipswich tunnel. Hence the tunnel and approach cutting are an SSSI.

Open floor then.

 

[Calthrop]

Which UK public passenger line had as its nearest other passenger rail station: one about 25 miles distant, and in another country of the kingdom?

 

[martinsh]

Campbeltown & Machrihanish in Scotland. Nearest other railway was in Northern Ireland ?

 

[Calthrop]

Campbeltown & Machrihanish in Scotland. Nearest other railway was in Northern Ireland ?

Correct -- and nearest passenger station was, indeed, Ballycastle, terminus of 3ft gauge line of Northern Counties Committee's system.

Your floor.

 

[martinsh]

Standard Gauge (4ft 8 1/2in) is the commonest gauge worldwide (just over 50%). Which gauge has the second-largest amount of mileage ?

 

[Cowley]

I'm going to take a guess at 5' as in Russia and other countries?

 

[TheEdge]

5' 6" as used in the Indian subcontinent plus other places?

 

[AlterEgo]

Standard Gauge (4ft 8 1/2in) is the commonest gauge worldwide (just over 50%). Which gauge has the second-largest amount of mileage ?

OO gauge?

 

[martinsh]

I'm going to take a guess at 5' as in Russia and other countries?

And that guess would be correct ! Approx 18% of world mileage IIRC.

Your floor

 

[Cowley]

Thanks Martinsh.
In the 1980s Hornby introduced a digital control system, a precursor to DCC so to speak.

1) What was it called?
2) How many locomotives/trains did Hornby claim it could control independently at the same time?

 

[Peter Mugridge]

I remember that; I think it was called Zero One but I'll have to guess on six locomotives as I can't remember the actual number.