Railway General Knowledge.

[A Challenge]

Kent?

 

[Calthrop]

Kent?

We've already got Kent.

The last county without Midland trackage is neither far-south nor far-north; discovering the lack of Midland presence there, surprised me a little.

 

[A Challenge]

Sorry, hadn't noticed it!

 

[Calthrop]

Further hint -- the final county: all its contiguous English counties had Midland trackage. All other counties bordering on it -- not in England -- didn't.

 

[krus_aragon]

Further hint -- the final county: all its contiguous English counties had Midland trackage. All other counties bordering on it -- not in England -- didn't.

Would this be the yes-or-no-answer county? I'll nominate Monmouthshire, as, IIRC, the Midland's Hereford, Hay and Brecon Railway skirts north of it.

 

[Calthrop]

Would this be the yes-or-no-answer county? I'll nominate Monmouthshire, as, IIRC, the Midland's Hereford, Hay and Brecon Railway skirts north of it.

Rightly or wrongly, I just can't "grok" the idea of Monmouthshire / Gwent as an English county -- for purposes here, have been regarding it as in Wales; though am aware that pre-the 1970s, there was anyway ambiguity as to which country it belonged to.

The "missing" county is in the same sort of latitude as Monmouthshire, but further north. (Am feeling slightly anxious that there might have been some Midland Railway element therein, which I've overlooked !)

The "yes-or-no" county is Essex -- contained the London, Tilbury & Southend, which was taken over by the Midland Railway in 1920. There are some who consider the various switchings-around and amalgamations in the last couple-of-years before the Grouping, as minutiae best disregarded: the Ian Allan Pre-Grouping Atlas and Gazetteer, notionally giving position as at 31 / 12 / 1922, chooses to show the LTS as a separate, independent concern.

 

[martinsh]

I assume the missing county is Shropshire ?

Open floor if correct

 

[Calthrop]

I assume the missing county is Shropshire ?

Open floor if correct

Correct, indeed.

 

[Calthrop]

As it’s still “open floor” – I’ll set another, if I may make so bold.

The well-known, popular-in-the-past song Last Train to San Fernando: in which country is the once-rail-served San Fernando, to which it refers?

 

[EbbwJunction1]

Is it Cuba?

Actually, I've just Googled it, so I know it's not - but I won't cheat!

 

[theageofthetra]

Trinidad- I think the producers wife was from there.

 

[Calthrop]

Trinidad- I think the producers wife was from there.

Correct -- your floor.

If I understand rightly, this musical "number" is not -- or only in a figure-of-speech way -- about trains or cessation of passenger services: it is in fact a (slightly raunchy) love song.

Link below, to video of the actual last train from Port of Spain to San Fernando: per the video, on occasion of 1965 abandonment of section Tunapuna -- San Fernando (alternative sources give a 1963 date).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fdKDiUnzHc

 

[theageofthetra]

I don't have a question so open floor.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Another nice easy one here:


Since the abolition of steam, three types of train have run on the Isle of Wight. Two are former Underground types. What was the third?

 

[Cowley]

Another nice easy one here:


Since the abolition of steam, three types of train have run on the Isle of Wight. Two are former Underground types. What was the third?[/QUOTE

A couple of diesel shunters have been used, an 05 and at least one 03 over the years?
I did have it in mind that contractors may have used an 02 to help with track removal after steam finished too?

That's like two answers sorry

 

[Phil.]

Well, since the abolition of steam on the national network - including the lovely island - private steam has been running so that (possibly) is the third.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Diesel shunters is what I was looking for so it's Cowley's floor.

 

[Cowley]

Ah thanks, I remember looking at a class 03 on the island in the 80s.
This is pretty easy I think.

What became of 97401?

 

[t_star2001uk]

It was used in Operation Smash Hit. The staged collision between a train and a nuclear flask...

 

[Cowley]

It was used in Operation Smash Hit. The staged collision between a train and a nuclear flask...

Thought that wouldn't take long.
The test track is yours (don't forget to slow down at the end though)

 

[t_star2001uk]

I declare open floor

 

[theageofthetra]

Double chimney steam locomotives are not unusual however a UK railway developed a triple one. Who designed it and for what specific reason? It wasn't successful and was converted back soon after.

 

[EbbwJunction1]

It sounds like something that O V S Bulleid would come up with, so I'll say the Southern Railway.

 

[theageofthetra]

Correct but need the exact reason he decided on this.

 

[Calthrop]

He was bonkers? Seriously -- no, he had a great innovative mind -- just, with some of his creations things didn't work out.

 

[EbbwJunction1]

I made my guess before I checked whether it was right or not, and this is what I found from a web site listing odd types of chimneys:

STEALTH - Triple stealth chimneys

This was a stealth experiment by Bullied; the idea was to disperse the exhaust quickly to make the train less visible to enemy aircraft. There was no significant improvement and it was quickly removed.

There's a picture of SR "King Arthur" class 4-6-0 No 783 "Sir Gillimere", photographed in the mid 1930's - it looks quite odd!

Assuming that you'll accept this, here's my question:

What was the "Becton Shoebox", and what was odd about it?

 

[theageofthetra]

Yes that's the one. A bizarre idea that was as unsuccessful as you would imagine.

 

[EbbwJunction1]

Yes that's the one. A bizarre idea that was as unsuccessful as you would imagine.

Thank you .... here's my question again:

What was the "Becton Shoebox", and what was odd about it?

 

[theageofthetra]

Thank you .... here's my question again:

What was the "Becton Shoebox", and what was odd about it?

I assume you mean Beckton Gasworks shoebox? -the odd vertical cylindered contraption which had its cylinders where the chimney would be and the chimney at the back.

 

[EbbwJunction1]

Yes, that's the one - here's the description from the web site I referred to above:

The Becton Shoebox
"Another contender for 'Strangest Chimney' is this locomotive which kept its cylinders in its 'chimney'. This peculiar looking machine started life as a conventional 0-4-0 well tank engine No 1562 in 1870, when it was delivered to Beckton Gasworks which were variously described as "The largest gasworks in Europe" or "The largest gasworks in the world".

After many years work, in 1927 it was rebuilt as a vertical-boilered locomotive using Sentinel technology, and was renumbered as No 6951. Sentinel locomotives had vertical-cylinder steam engines that were geared-down and drove the wheels via chain or shafts, the technology being derived from Sentinel steam-wagons.

In this case the square 'chimney' at the front is actually a cover for the two-cylinder vertical steam engine. The real chimney is a very squat affair protruding through the cab roof at its front; the vertical boiler, also a rather squat item as wide as it was tall, is inside the cab, just behind the spectacle plate.

The rebuild was not a success, being less effective than the original design. (An unmodified sister engine, No 1561, was available for comparison at Beckton) The locomotive crews called it 'The Shoebox' and did not like it. It was not much used before being disposed of (and presumably scrapped) in 1938."

The web site also has photos, which I can't include here ... but it really looked odd!

You have the Design Shop!