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Recent content by Dr_Paul

  1. Dr_Paul

    What happened at Leicester railway station today (09/07/25)?

    I was on a Waterloo service at Barnes a few years back when we were held for 20 minutes or so because of trespass. The guard kept us well-informed of what was happening: a woman had stepped down on to the track at Putney and was walking along towards Barnes. He told us that the current was off...
  2. Dr_Paul

    When did British Railways cease carrying livestock?

    I think that this bloke thought that the railways still transported horses -- in 2011! See the BBC report < https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-13437279 >.
  3. Dr_Paul

    The jump from class 423s to 465s and later 707s?

    Thanks for the correction. I should not rely upon my memory alone, which can be unreliable. Looking at the various photographs of 4VEPs on the Internet, it's come back to me what the conversions were like, with one additional door on each side, one for each bay.
  4. Dr_Paul

    The jump from class 423s to 465s and later 707s?

    With 4SUBs, they were usually three saloon carriages and one compartment trailer, but I'm sure that a few were all compartment carriages. Can anyone confirm this? Were the 4SUBs reformed in order to get rid of compartment carriages, or had they been withdrawn by the time this happened with...
  5. Dr_Paul

    Abandoned Cars. Your experiences...

    There's a bloke near me who has for years kept three motors in his front garden. He uses one whilst the other two sit gathering dust and losing air in their tyres, having been SORNed. Every few years, he buys a new motor, then the older of the two inactive ones disappears, and the one he was...
  6. Dr_Paul

    Bus Damaged in South London Bridge Bash, 5 June.

    A double-deck learner bus had its roof chopped off when it attempted to go under the railway bridge in the A215, Portland Road, near Norwood Junction station. The bridge is 12' 3" and there are several warning signs. BBC report here.
  7. Dr_Paul

    Are some trains too long?

    That's right; what savings would be made in running four-car trains would be negated by the additional expense and inconvenience incurred by dividing them. I made the point in that discussion that it is rare to see a single four-car unit running out of Waterloo these days, whereas the past...
  8. Dr_Paul

    Not exceeding 40 shillings

    I've long thought it odd that the fine was shown as 40 shillings and not as two pounds. My memory of the old money was that round pounds were called that and not turned into shillings -- that is, 'one pound', 'two pound', 'five quid', 'ten nicker' -- that shillings were used colloquially up to...
  9. Dr_Paul

    HS2 Old Oak Common

    I have the sad feeling that the chance to build a big transport hub linking the various lines through Willesden Junction and Old Oak will be passed, and will within a few years be bitterly regretted. Having an interchange linking the lines out of Paddington and Euston, the North and West London...
  10. Dr_Paul

    Dual–Named Stations?

    The station started off as Islington, then became Islington or Highbury -- the 'or' being an intriguing conjunction, possibly unique -- then Islington and Highbury, then Highbury and Islington.
  11. Dr_Paul

    Controversial railway opinions (without a firm foundation in logic..)

    Rather than try to wedge a general station into London as it exists today, why not just build a new capital city somewhere central in Britain, with the general station at its centre, and the main, suburban and inner-city mass transit lines properly planned from the start? Problem solved!
  12. Dr_Paul

    BR Standard Locomotives — How Received By BR Workforce?

    Something that has intrigued me for a while is how the BR Standards locomotives were received by the workforce, in particular drivers and firemen. Prior to nationalisation the main companies had designed their own locos; were the Standard classes popular or otherwise with the workforce, in...
  13. Dr_Paul

    Out of the "go anywhere do anything" engines of The Big 4 + a few extras, which one was better at different things?

    Does this explain the various classes of 0-8-0 freight locos with a large overhang at the front, which made them look as though they were 2-8-0s missing their pony truck?
  14. Dr_Paul

    Historic Dudding Hill Line Query

    The connection between the Dudding Hill line and the former LNWR line at Harlesden was an afterthought. What is now the bridge over the canal that carries the link was originally the way to a wharf on the canal, going round an impossibly sharp curve on the canal's north bank. The wharf was...
  15. Dr_Paul

    Why were most multiple units 4 cars or less ?

    Suburban services to Waterloo services in the 1960s and 1970s were nearly always 4 SUBs, in pairs during the rush hours, and singles off-peak. There would be quite a bit of coupling and uncoupling at Waterloo at transition times. It's very rare to see a single 455 running into Waterloo these...

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