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16
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All across the Great Western territory / Introductions and chat / Re: Jargon...
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on: October 16, 2011, 16:32:52
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.....ok anything to stop me working  FarNborough North (FNN) ReaDingG ( RDG‡) NaiLSea and backwell (NLS) NewBurY ( NBY» ) GaTWick airport NewBurY WeStBury ( WSB» ) WarMiNster ( WMN» ) ColNE (ANE) SeVern Beach (SVB) ShalFoRd (SFR) It's up to some other sad person to continue my list!! lol! e WOF fling on about?  |
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19
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Sideshoots - associated subjects / Campaigns for new and improved services / Re: Okehampton-Tavistock. Discussion on reopening and potential use as a diversionary route
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on: October 14, 2011, 11:00:08
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Not really because the units are built to UK▸ loading gauge, being basically 455 EMU▸ upper parts mounted on Mk1 underframes. Powered by EE / GEC 4SRKT engines and EE538 traction motors recovered from earlier units. And there are no side buffers to move / remount. If you can find some Mk1 EMU Mk6 (resusing motors and gearssets from existing power bogies) and B5T bogies, remount and shorten the footboards that's about the size of it. It may even be possible to modify the existing bogies, nothing that Pullman Rail Cardiff or Knights Rail at Eastleigh couldn't reasonably do, and probably cheaper to operate than a 31 and hauled stock.
I was referring to the track gauge not the loading gauge which is different in Northern Ireland. As for loading gauge, you say the units were built to UK loading gauge but if this gauge officially exists then it would also have to be the loading gauge for Northern Ireland as Northern Ireland is part of the UK. The Loading Gauge in Ireland was constrained by the pioneer Dublin and Kingstown Railway built in 1834 and laid to the Stephenson track gauge of 4' 8 1/2". This meant that the rolling stock was constructed to the then standard British loading gauge. As the DKR was built through the populated part of the City, subsequent widening to 5' 3" was unable to take advantage of the broader tracks, loading gauge wise, as the line's structure could not be altered without immense cost and disruption. This resulted in the use of vehicles that meet the BR▸ loading gauge, albeit with wider bogies. I am though, unsure as to the dimensions of the newer DART and IE stock. |
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All across the Great Western territory / Across the West / Re: The oncoming storm
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on: October 11, 2011, 13:23:39
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FGW▸ did indeed cope better with last winters bad weather than many other TOCs▸ .
Probably because most of their trains are old and/or diesel.
Electric trains are vulnerable to bad weather, conductor rail powered trains more vulnerable still, and generally the newer the train, the worse it performs in snow.
I am old enough to remember the slam door third rail EMUs▸ , these coped fairly well in snowy weather, and in really bad conditions could be assisted by a steam or diesel locomotive.
Then came class 455s for Waterloo suburban services, these seemed less reliable and frequently suffered from frozen sliding door mechanisms.
Some years later, slam door units on Blackfriars suburban services were replaced by class 319s, theses were so bad in snow that services were withdrawn if snow was even forecast, with customers advised not to travel.
We then suffered another modernisation in south east London when the networkers came into use, and performed very poorly in snow or ice, with customers again advised against travel. (last winter, just to make certain that no one could get to work, they stopped all the buses as well !)
I cant imagine FGW or their replacement, coping very well in snow when 40 year old HSTs▸ are replaced by modern EMUs.
Without wishing to bang any drums, FGW staff, perhaps having benefited from the PCF Customer Service Programme, also displayed a much more visible 'can do' attitude last winter. I travelled home from the 'frozen north' via a number of other TOC services and although naturally biased, I found that FGW came out way ahead. |
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25
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Journey by Journey / London to the West / Re: Train not stopping at Totnes
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on: October 11, 2011, 08:12:36
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g!
Doesn't explain the "cancelled due to signalling problems in the Taunton area" story though, but I never did believe that since it miraculously didn't affect the XC▸ train following, it didn't explain where the train physically was and it seemed an odd place to terminate a late-running service anyway. If the problems were on the Berks & Hants side of Cogload, (still within the Taunton area in railese), the XC train would have been unaffected on its run down from Bristol |
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26
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All across the Great Western territory / Introductions and chat / Re: Passing HST Noise
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on: October 11, 2011, 07:59:54
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I'm guessing that this may be the doppler effect. The air pressure, displaced by the moving train, will allow sound waves to travel at a different speed, thus altering the sound when the train reaches a certain point. Any one who knows me will appreciate that I am far from being a techie, but I seem to remember a physics teacher droning on years ago and old movies sometimes feature the sound of steam loco whistles altering as they pass at speed.
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