589
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Journey by Journey / Heart of Wessex / Re: Late change - extra service from 18th May 2020
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on: May 16, 2020, 12:23:31
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The service, since reconfigured, has seen ecs from Westbury first thing and to Westbury last thing in the day. I am not sure if Weymouth have a GWR▸ crew based there any more.
The late additions are services that were in the pre-virus WTT▸ hence the use of the 2Oxx and the 2Vxx codes rather than the 2Zxx codes
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590
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All across the Great Western territory / Buses and other ways to travel / Re: First West of England - Saturday service from Mon 23rd March during working week
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on: May 16, 2020, 08:31:50
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First Bus of Somerset reintroducing Yeovil Bridport service from 10 May. One bus from Yeovil depot will operate the service. 0855 Yeovil to Bridport 1030 Bridport to Beaminster and return at 1058 1230 Bridport to Yeovil and return at 1625, thence empty to Yeovil depot Yeovil to Bridport via Mosterton and Broadwindsor
First Wessex were going to stop their service on May 1 but the virus led to it ceasing on March 23. I believe Buses of Somerset continued their element of the service but have now come up with a modified version which allows travel between the villages to Bridport or Yeovil
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593
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Journey by Journey / London to Swindon and Bristol / Re: General Information - London to Swindon and Bristol (2.2020 refresh)
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on: May 10, 2020, 16:34:42
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I can recommend 'Hydraulic vs Electric' - the battle for the BR▸ Diesel Fleet by David N Clough, Ian Allen 2011
He writes that the origin of the hydraulics lay with the British Transport Commission's central staff in 1953, not with the WR in 1955. The WR was chosen for the hydraulic demonstration because it had no experience of electrical transmission and seemed a good place to locate the experiment.
One of the problems of the hydraulics was the 'torsional stress' in the power train from engine to wheels. Unbalanced rotational forces caused significant wear and tear.
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594
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Journey by Journey / London to Swindon and Bristol / Re: Thingley Junctions (deliberate plural)
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on: May 10, 2020, 15:23:53
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I have just read through the notes I made on the Board of Trade inspections of the WSWR. The inspection for the opening in 1848 makes no mention of a west chord. It simply refers to there being no facing points on the main line. So the train had to reverse into a siding before taking the WSWR.
The other report is from 1875 after the narrowing of the gauge. Again no mention is made of a west chord, which one would expect, especially with respect to the arrangements at the junction
Thingley Junction and Bathampton Junctions (both mixed gauge) were provided with this weird single moveable blade point. Here the switch was on the common, outer rail. As the train took the points it moved onto the branch and the nearside wheels were dragged over the fixed nearside B-G rail onto the branch! The moveable rail acted as a check rail to guide the train to the branch. (The National Archives Rail 1053-57 BoT report on Narrowing of the Gauge 12/6/1875)
Accidents did happen and it was eventually scrapped.
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595
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Journey by Journey / London to Swindon and Bristol / Re: Thingley Junctions (deliberate plural)
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on: May 10, 2020, 13:19:47
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Colin Maggs in his book “The Bath to Weymouth line” suggests that the chord was laid out in the 1840s as an alternative to the Bathampton to Bradford route, which the GWR▸ /WSWR did not really want. However, like the south chord at Yeovil rails were not laid. Then in WWII▸ it became an alternative route in case of bomb damage. Relevant page attached
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597
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Journey by Journey / Portsmouth to Cardiff / Re: Brighton [Dotd 7.5.20]
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on: May 09, 2020, 14:46:32
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Have just found a photo of the upper level of the funicular railway at Devils Dyke, taken on a visit some years ago. It shows the base 'station' The second shows the Devil's Dyke itself, across which the aerial flight was constructed
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599
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All across the Great Western territory / Introductions and chat / Re: Just this once ...
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on: May 07, 2020, 15:42:54
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We loosely planned for our retirement when Marion and I got married almost 25 years ago. Then her retirement age was going to be 60. We took life decisions based on that and then, some years ago, were informed that her retirement age would now be 66. That shot serious holes in to the plan and meant that I was still supply teaching at 69, some four years ago.
It was this 6 year rise that has caught out so many of the mid-1950s women.
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