Recent content by TPO

Totally. I am thankful that the Westminster govt stood behind the Aberpwergwyn mine when the greennie muppets recently tried to have their licence removed. Not only would closure of that mine remove 160 jobs, it would also make not a jot of difference to energy consumption. The anthracite...

By definition in the RID (the international Regs that govern transport of dangerous goods by rail) an empty tank that has previously held dangerous goods but is not fully cleaned out is defined as containing dangerous goods albeit the tanks bring empty should be noted on the Transport Document...

SMIS logs a lot of stuff.... certain SoL events, T&V, all sorts. It has widened in scope and become much easier to use in recent years. TPO

..... and some motorway incidents (accidents, severe weather) have resulted in people being stranded in their stationary vehicles for many, many hours- with no information or assistance. [Once it's over 6-8 hours then they will usually start turning traffic around to release on the same...

Yes there are statistics. The system all mainline Railway Undertakings report into (SMIS) is managed by RSSB, here's a link to the publicly accessible RSSB SMIS front page https://www.rssb.co.uk/safety-and-health/risk-and-safety-intelligence/safety-management-intelligence-system. So yes, the TOC...

Most of the output goes to the Middle East to make filters for desalination plants. (It is very high quality anthracite). A tiny amount is bagged and sold locally. TPO

The water from the Elan Valley reservoir complex to Birmingham is gravity fed. There's a height difference of 52 metres between the Foel Tower extraction point in the Elan (Carreg Ddu dam) to the Frankley reservoir near Birmigham. Gradient of 1:2300, flow of less than 2mph it takes up to 2 days...

Beech trees are notorious for shedding branches. Never, ever camp under one. And with Ash die-back, the tree becomes very brittle and doesn't take much to snap in. Most conifers are shallow rooted too. Woodland is a dynamic environment. TPO

Indeed, and of course Drivers "on a plan" may also be restricted from having others in the cab. Nor is route learning always as simple as jumping on with driver id. "Route learning cab passes" are a thing on quite a few TOCs. So another operator e.g. a FOC would need to arrange a certain...

The statement about Carmont is relevant. Network Rail buy in a specialist weather forecadt service, and that forecast is shared internally and with train operators. A variation of only a degree Celsius can be difference between rain and snow, plus there is more rain expected behind the first...

In some areas, in these conditions, it was previously not unusual for a Network Rail chainsaw crew to be on the first train through. Not sure if that is still the case tho. TPO

This. Absolutely. The railway needs to be run as a longterm transport system managed by public sector domain specialists (preferably Including railway operators who rose through the ranks) NOT the Oxbridge/arts degree/economics civil service generalists. The BR Management training and...

Surely though, it is better to get the core offering sorted first, otherwise the marketing campaign can backfire as it brings in new customers who cannot be accommodated, so both the existing and new customers are (even more) disappointed leading to 1. Initial increase in customers 2. Increase...

I am rather surprised given that GMRT2466 (Railway Group Standard for wheelsets, mandatory for main line rail) references the British Standard on railway wheelsets which has core specs for the steel used for wheel pans........ unless the steel in the pans was put of spec, but that would also be...

This..... ..... and this. It's not a shortage of passengers that's the issue. They need to fix the problems and run a reliable timetable not mess about doing marketing gimmicks. :rolleyes: TPO