FGW HST altitude

[LexyBoy]

Trivial question but one I've been wondering about for a while - what's the highest altitude a FGW HST would achieve in regular service? (For those unfamiliar with the sets, the seat-back TVs include a moving map which shows not only speed but altitude).

Highest I've seen is ~510 feet between Kemble and Stroud, and also ~500 feet near Bodmin.

No prizes for lowest point!

 

[jopsuk]

They certainly won't get as high as Cross Country or East Coast- or, I'd guess, EMT- HSTs

 

[rf_ioliver]

Wasn't there a BR advert at one time that claimed that you cruised at an altitude of 2 meters?

t.

Ian

 

[bailey65]

I would have thought the perth to inverness route where the highland chieftain hst goes must be quite high altitude in a lot of places.

 

[sprinterguy]

I would have thought the perth to inverness route where the highland chieftain hst goes must be quite high altitude in a lot of places.

Drumochter summit on the Highland main line between Perth and Inverness is in fact the highest point on the British railway network I believe, at 1,484 feet.

I don't know about the Western region. How high are the summits of the Hemerdon and Dainton banks?

 

[MidnightFlyer]

In regular service, there's:
Sperritt, between Bodmin Parkway and Liskeard.
Wranganton and Rattery (separate), between Ivybridge and Totnes.
Dainton, between Totnes and Newton Abbot.
Severnake, between Pewsey and Bedwyn.
Sapperton, between Stroud and Kemble.

Sorry I don't have any altitudes though!

 

[calc7]

Drumochter summit on the Highland main line between Perth and Inverness is in fact the highest point on the British railway network I believe, at 1,484 feet.

I thought it was Dent, or is that just England?

 

[Zoe]

Wranganton and Rattery (separate), between Ivybridge and Totnes.

Rattery and Hemerdon (Hemerdon is west of Ivybridge) are the banks, Wrangaton summit is between the two. The section around Redruth is also quite high in altitude.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

I thought it was Dent, or is that just England?

The sign at Druimuachdar summit says "Highest point on rail network".
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Wrangaton summit at 455 feet is the highet point on the Great Western Main Line between Paddingon and Penzance according to the "Line by line" book.

 

[philjo]

I thought it was Dent, or is that just England?

Dent is the highest station in England. I think Ais Gill summit is slightly higher than that - though of course HSTs don't usually run on that line. There are higher places in Scotland.

 

[bnm]

No prizes for lowest point!

Okay no prize, but that would be the Severn Tunnel. 144ft below sea level, the lowest point on the National Rail network.

Now, what's the lowest point above ground?

 

[dave55uk]

Somewhere in the Fens I'd guess.

 

[Ploughman]

Or even around Hessle alongside the Humber

 

[Eagle]

Okay no prize, but that would be the Severn Tunnel. 144ft below sea level, the lowest point on the National Rail network.

Some parts of HS1 under London get lower than that, down to 50 or 52 metres.


EDIT No wait, that's depth below ground level, not sea level. So the Severn Tunnel might be deeper.

 

[badger1badger]

Dent is the highest station in England. I think Ais Gill summit is slightly higher than that - though of course HSTs don't usually run on that line. There are higher places in Scotland.

Would hst run over S&C ? If any spare ones that would be worth a trip - and better than the units we get every day ?

 

[pendolino]

Somewhere in the Fens I'd guess.

You're probably right. The ECML runs across Holme Fen, just south of Peterborough, which is generally reckoned to be the lowest point in England at around -3m (i.e., 3m below sea level). And it's getting lower all the time too, as the peat soil is degrading at a rapid rate (and has been since the Fens were drained for agriculture which allowed biodegradation to begin - the anaerobic conditions in the undrained soil prevented most microbial activity).

There are two cast iron posts right by the level crossing here which were buried to their full length (the first in the 1850s when Wittlesey Mere was first drained and supposedly from the Crystal Palace when it was dismantled and moved from Hyde Park to Sydenham), but are now sticking 8ft or so above ground level as an indication of how much peat has disappeared since the mid 19th century. There's a good picture of the original post here.

 

[sprinterguy]

Would hst run over S&C ? If any spare ones that would be worth a trip - and better than the units we get every day ?

Not very long ago at all an East Midlands HST worked up the S&C to Carlisle on UK Railtours' "Settle & Carlisle 125 Special" from St Pancras on August 18th.

The HST set that was reliveried for the launch of the Virgin Crosscountry franchise in 1997 was routed up the S&C on it's way to Polmadie, stopping en route for some publicity photographs (in the snow) at Dent. I imagine that some Crosscountry HSTs have also been diverted that way in passenger service when the WCML has been closed for engineering works.

 

[LexyBoy]

So it sounds like the highest point is ~500 feet and I've been through all of them (thanks MattE2010). It's interesting that Sapperton is a similar height to some of the Cornish Mainline, the latter definitely feels higher!

Now, what's the lowest point above ground?

Unless it's on a bridge or in a tunnel, I'd say that anywhere on the network is at ground level

On the Western I'd think that the lowest points would be at or near Dawlish or Penzance? Holme Fen sounds right for the whole country.

 

[Nat the Ned]

On the Western I'd think that the lowest points would be at or near Dawlish or Penzance? Holme Fen sounds right for the whole country.

Par station is the lowest on a Paddington to Penzance journey.