Railway General Knowledge.

[theageofthetra]

Correct. It was fitted with a speedometer. It had been calculated that the optimum speed to collect the water efficiently was 40 mph. The electronic speedo hadn't been invented so a bizarre spinning tube was used which contained an oil film. The faster it spun the more concave the oil became & the distorted shape was read against a scale. Your floor.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Correct. It was fitted with a speedometer. It had been calculated that the optimum speed to collect the water efficiently was 40 mph. The electronic speedo hadn't been invented so a bizarre spinning tube was used which contained an oil film. The faster it spun the more concave the oil became & the distorted shape was read against a scale. Your floor.

I'm afraid I don't have a question ready to go, so I'm declaring an open floor...

 

[EbbwJunction1]

I'll take it, if I may ... here's some more (edited) railway quotes:

1. "Over my desk hangs a poster from The XX XX that my husband had framed for me. It is so lovely to see the children smiling as they run down the railway track."

2. "I flew a full string of 35 combat missions over some of the most heavily defended targets in Europe. We were hitting Hitler's oil refineries, his tank factories, his aircraft factories, his railway yards. Those were our prime targets."

3. "Railway termini are our gates to the glorious and the unknown. Through them we pass out into adventure and sunshine, to them, alas! we return."

4. "I am glad to learn that the Parliament Bill has been passed for the Darlington Railway."

So, who said these?

 

[TheEdge]

3. John Betjeman
4. George Stevenson

 

[EbbwJunction1]

3. John Betjeman
4. George Stevenson

No. 3 is wrong, but No. 4 is right .... although it should be Stephenson.

 

[DaleCooper]

2. James Stewart?

 

[EbbwJunction1]

2. James Stewart?

No, afraid not.

 

[Calthrop]

2. Guy Gibson?

 

[EbbwJunction1]

2. Guy Gibson?

No, sorry.

 

[t_star2001uk]

1: Dinah Sheridan
2: George McGovern
3: E M Forster
4: George Stephenson

open floor if correct

 

[EbbwJunction1]

1: Dinah Sheridan
2: George McGovern
3: E M Forster
4: George Stephenson

open floor if correct

Yes, you are correct ... well done.

As advised, an open floor beckons.

 

[Calthrop]

Hoping people not too fed-up with my fondness for narrow gauge, and times past: There was an extremely restricted time-window, in which all Great Britain’s “classic” public narrow-gauge lines; and its three principal 15” gauge ones (at the 15" 's maximum extent "now, and ever"); were all in service and travellable-on. Given an uninterrupted fortnight (probably) at one’s disposal, and enough money: what were the “bracketing” dates of that time-window, in which one could have visited and travelled on the whole lot?

 

[Calthrop]

Hint: the time-window concerned was of not many months, just under 90 years ago; and was the result of events on two rail undertakings – one 15” gauge, the other conventional narrow-gauge -- situated not quite 100 miles apart.

 

[theageofthetra]

I am guessing it must be when the RHDR opened so 1927.

 

[Calthrop]

I am guessing it must be when the RHDR opened so 1927.

As Mr. Tolkien would say, "You hit near, but not in the gold". I stipulated "maximum extent, now and ever'; and the RHDR as at today's extent, did not open all at once, or all in the same year.

 

[martinsh]

August 1928 (extension of RH&DR to Dungeness) to October 1929 (closure of Southwold Railway)

 

[Calthrop]

August 1928 (extension of RH&DR to Dungeness) to October 1929 (closure of Southwold Railway)

"Pedantsville" -- Southwold closed to all traffic w.e.f. 11th April 1929. And Welsh Highland Railway's winter passenger service ceased after 1924; but between end of WHR summer 1928 passenger workings, and 4 / 29, our traveller could presumably have arranged a ride on a freight train -- or if wealthy, chartered their own special.

However, all this is pretty small-time stuff. The floor is yours !

 

[martinsh]

Thanks. No narrow gauge in this one !

The (Virgin) TVMs at Crewe have 21 stations preselected. Only one of these stations is NOT reachable by direct train from Crewe. What is this station ?

 

[Peter Mugridge]

At a guess - York?

 

[martinsh]

At a guess - York?

Not York, but a reasonable guess

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Then I'll make Newcastle my second guess.

 

[Cowley]

Heathrow?

 

[martinsh]

York is the closest of the 3 guesses so far

 

[EbbwJunction1]

Leeds?

 

[Cowley]

Hull?

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Doncaster?

 

[martinsh]

Leeds?

Leeds s correct.

Your slightly random destination selection

 

[EbbwJunction1]

That's a surprise ... anyway, here goes.

The Bowes-Lyon family had their own private station on the Barnard Castle Branch. What was it called, and what was the equestrian connection to the name?

 

[EbbwJunction1]

That's a surprise ... anyway, here goes.

The Bowes-Lyon family had their own private station on the Barnard Castle Branch. What was it called, and what was the equestrian connection to the name?

It looks like I'm not going to get any takers for this, so I'll give you the answer.

The name of the station was Broomielaw, and it was open between 1856 and 1964. Although originally a private station for the Bowes-Lyon family, it was opened to the public in 1962.

The equestrian connection was that John Bowes was so proud of the station that he named on off his horses after it.

I was going to give a clue that Sir Alex Ferguson also owned a horse of a similar name, but I don't think that that would have helped, hence this post.

I declare an open branch line!

 

[EbbwJunction1]

I'll take this back, if I may?

Two of the GWR Kings originally carried different names to the ones that they ended up with. What were the numbers and both names, and when were they renamed?