Recent content by grumpyoldman01

This is basically how things were until the Thatcher government decided that the BR DM&EE had to transfer it's design capability to BREL, and then BREL was privatised; in the Sale of BREL Agreement, BR contracted not to design and build any more trains, and therefore a return to the situation...

Wasn't there also an electrified connection beneath the WCML which connected the Crewe - Kidsgrove line towards Basford Hall sidings?

Isn't a section also being erected at Etches Park depot for testing 810s? The population of Nottingham city itself is about 324k; however, it's one of those places where you can't tell where one town or city ends and another begins, and it's only because of this that the population of what is...

There's a difference between "approved" and "ordered"; none were actually ordered - the project was terminated before it got that far If the source of your information in the National Archive are BRB Investment Committee papers, please don't interpret everything found in them literally; I think...

NO electric HSTs were ordered - the only "hardware" produced was a model! The Mk3 BFOs were intended to operate with class 89s, or something similar; they predated WCML DVTs

Interestingly, there were about eight men wearing black polo-tops with Northern logos eating breakfast in the Premier Inn opposite Norwich station one morning in late September Could they have been visiting Crown Point to learn about Greater Anglia's FLIRTS?

An article has appeared on the Rail Technology Magazine website which includes a low resolution map of Northern Powerhouse Rail; the heading of the article is 'Network North details start to take shape after HS2 cancellation', and the map COULD be of those which will be electrified if the...

Interesting piece in the Independent a few days ago Rob Holden delivered HS1 on time and budget; apparently, he made it known that he was available to participate in the delivery of HS2 - and was told he didn't have the required skills and experience! If he had been involved, I wonder if HS2...

Does not that depend upon the wording of the relevant Act of Parliament? Wasn't the Festiniog Railway saved from being dismantled because the act which authorised its construction was written in such a way that a further Act of Parliament would be required to abandon it?

The link to the Facebook group on #128 will take you to a treasure trove of information about the line, including copies of the original MR drawings for the overhead; scroll through the media and you will find a scan of an article from December 1953's Railway Magazine about the conversion to 50...

A link to the Winter 1962 timetable has been provided at #123, but I too was surprised at the quick reversal at Green Ayre shown in it; from memory, trains always seemed to be to time, and the reversal seemed quite leisurely. Usually, the trains just comprised a single 3-car set, and as there...

Actually, it was a bit more extensive than described above The line towards Leeds was electrified east of Green Ayre and beneath Skerton Bridge towards Ladies Walk, and from Green Ayre to Lancaster Castle; two platforms at Castle were electrified - 5 and 6 - and wires were removed after the...

I didn't even get as far as that on my phone, but it opened OK on my laptop I've attached a transcript as a PDF; this opened when I tried it - hope you have success too

On the Independent website: https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/transport-secretary-gbr-will-remove-blame-culture-as-derby-unveiled-as-new-hq/ar-AA18UllF?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=51fb7e6982124cffe7b5589576d47b45&ei=83

I wasn't employed in an office of highly qualified or experienced engineers, and neither were the people I've known who have worked in the various Rolls Royce facilities except for one. It's true that the companies I've mentioned are all engineering ones, but good salaries are also paid by them...