DerekC
Established Member
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Railway General Knowledge.
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Which West Indian islands, or nations thereon (we're thinking strictly "islands", not places anywhere on the continental land-mass of the Americas) have, or have had, public commercial passenger railways? Please name five -- or more, if you like.
theageofthetra
Established Member
Jamaica, Trinidad, Cuba, Puerto Rico (Metro) , Aruba(tramway) Dominican Republic (Metro in Santo Domingo), St Kitts scenic railway for a start. In fact you struggle to find an island that didn't have a passenger rail system of some sort!
theageofthetra, I might mildly dispute with you over a couple of fine points; and being a dinosaur, I wasn't thinking about modern Metros (though they perfectly fulfil the "public commercial passenger railways" condition) -- in any case, you've named a satisfying number of locations chiming in with my archaic notions ! It's your tropical paradise on which to promote railed-transport enterprise...
DerekC
Established Member
martinsh
Established Member
you can add Barbados to the above list
And Haiti; and (marginally) Curacao -- internal-combustion-operated tram route for about 10 years in early 20th century. (theageofthetra, if I wasn't fully clear -- your answer correct, it's your floor !)
theageofthetra
Established Member
Which still standing rail record was achieved and then broken by two neighbouring countries rail systems just over 2 years apart.
DerekC
Established Member
I think we might need a clue for this one. I am going to guess France and Germany but I have no idea what the record is.
theageofthetra
Established Member
The record is not speed related. You are in the correct part of the world but wrong countries. The record was broken, then re broken in the last 25 years
EbbwJunction1
Established Member
Is it something to do with the highest railway station, and the two countries are Switzerland and Austria?
krus_aragon
Established Member
If they're that high, maybe instead of greatest speed they could tie for greatest acceleration (9.81m/s^2) :P
DerekC
Established Member
Hmm - a bungee jumping train? But then as you say they would tie and the record can't have changed hands so that can't be right.
Ah - now Switzerland claims the slowest express train in the world. Could it be that this title used to belong to Austria - or even maybe Italy?
theageofthetra
Established Member
Nothing to do with altitude or any kind of speed/acceleration
DerekC
Established Member
I think it must be the record for the longest passenger train. Currently held by Belgium but previously by the Netherlands.
theageofthetra
Established Member
Thats it. The Belgian one was done to raise money for a local cancer charity.
I must admit I thought the Florida auto train was longer than all of them but I suppose for the record all the vehicles other than the locomotives must be capable of carrying passengers- most of the Florida one's length are the car carriers.
Your never mind the length feel the quality floor..
DerekC
Established Member
I can see regular trains from four main line passenger operators and two London Underground lines. Where am I standing?
krus_aragon
Established Member
My first (obsequious) thought was "next to a telescope on the International Space Station", but you'd be floating there, not standing.
DerekC
Established Member
Well yes, and if you panned your telescope round a bit you would be able to see trains from a lot more than four operators!
Peter Mugridge
Veteran Member
Anywhere between Paddington and Westbourne Park:
Great Western
Heathrow Express
Heathrow Connect
Chiltern
Hammersmith and City Line
Circle Line
martinsh
Established Member
In the grounds of Northwick Park Hospital, where Aylesbury line crosses over the WCML
Chiltern
London Midland
Southern
Virgin West Coast
Metropolitan
Bakerloo
Also London Overground and Caledonian sleeper ...
Chiltern
London Midland
Southern
Virgin West Coast
Metropolitan
Bakerloo
Also London Overground and Caledonian sleeper ...
DerekC
Established Member
A very good shot although not the location I had in mind - I thought Chiltern only ran this way in exceptional circumstances.
Spot on - and you are right, there are more TOCs than I thought. I did think of Caledonian Sleeper but thought this was a bit unfair. However I completely forgot Southern. Anyway, your floor.
martinsh
Established Member
What claim to fame does "Hercules" an 0-4-0ST of the Ystalyfera Tinplate Works have ?
theageofthetra
Established Member
Wasn't it the inspiration for Percy the small engine?- think the Awdrey story of him being attached to a passenger train & going too fast came (as with all his stories) of a real life incident involving this loco?
martinsh
Established Member
Err, No. Nowhere near in fact.
What I'm looking for is connected with the subsequent history of this loco.
DerekC
Established Member
"Hercules" eventually joined BR as locomotive No.1. Sadly he was scrapped in 1954 - the story should have a better ending!
theageofthetra
Established Member
I know it joined BR as No 1 but it was towed from the industrial site behind a rake of coaches & I am sure this lead to the Awdrey story.
martinsh
Established Member
DerekC
Established Member
This one should be easy, I think:
When the London & Birmingham Railway bought land for its "Euston Extension" in 1835, why did they acquire sufficient for four tracks?
When the London & Birmingham Railway bought land for its "Euston Extension" in 1835, why did they acquire sufficient for four tracks?
Would this be because of the relative feebleness of the steam loco when that device was very new -- making it necessary initially on the L & B, for cable haulage on the incline between Euston, and the point where loco haulage could be switched to (Chalk Farm?) -- the cable set-up requiring more tracks than the loco-hauled one?