Steam engines needed coal in adequate quantities but water in large quantities. Getting enough of the oxygenated hydrogen to the engine's tender or tanks needed resilience of supply; hence the proliferation of water towers and water cranes.
Even in the halcyon days of Hortnby Dublo three-rail, you could buy a model of a water crane.
Even in the halcyon days of Hortnby Dublo three-rail, you could buy a model of a water crane.
Upstart Triang offered a very well proportioned water tank in its very early range of buildings.
Real water supply equipment was equally varied. Probably the most iconic of the smaller tanks was the conical topped version from the Great Western Railway.
The tank atop the former pattern store at Swindon, familar to all who whizz IEP-style along the Great Western main line ...
... is one of the biggest, supplying the Works rather than a few tiny locomotives.
Oddly, one of the designs most favoured by railway modellers is quite a rare design.
The Tetbury Branch was one of two that ran from Kemble on the GWR main line to Gloucester, the other being to Cirencester.
Oddly, one of the designs most favoured by railway modellers is quite a rare design.
The Tetbury Branch was one of two that ran from Kemble on the GWR main line to Gloucester, the other being to Cirencester.
The Tetbury branch was so typically GWR that all its appurtenances formed the basis for many models, either accurate or broadly based.
As passenger numbers on the line dwindled an attempt to stave off the inevitable was tried with the profoundly unsuccessful railbus policy.
Sadly it was inevitable that the line would close.
Its diminutive engine shed had a water tank "built in".
This formed the basis for many models, either utterly accurate ...
... or "free-lance" but using the Tetbury idea. This one is for large narrow gauge garden railway modelling ...
... and will cost you £92. AND you have to assemble it and paint it!
But, always ready to pinch ideas from the wider modelling fraternity, fbb felt in need of a water tank for his layout. After all, he had just created a pump house to raise the precious fluid from the aquifers below Peterville Quarry ...
... so storage and water cranes (à la Hornby above) would be an important adjunct.
But; what to obtain? Episode 1B will reveal all as part of tomorrow's mixture.
Like Martijn Gilbert of GoAhead North East, it is all SUPER exciting here!
Northampton's Passenger Confusion Policy
Monday 31st August, as well as being the last day of the month, is the late Summer Bank Holiday.
Northampton correspondent Alan explains all.
In the continuing campaign to stigmatize public transport and confuse potential passengers, Stagecoach Midlands have come up with a spiffing wheeze of a service update.
Bank Holiday Monday (31st August 2020) Service Level
A bank holiday service will run on all routes in Stagecoach Midlands on Monday 31st August 2020
Looking through my file of current local bus timetables the words “and Bank Holidays” are not to be seen on any page.
Is "some public holidays" the same as "late Summer Bank holiday"? Is 31st August one of the "some"?
So, Stagecoach Midlands are running a Bank Holiday timetable on Bank Holiday (Yay!) but they are not telling anyone what it is! Being a long-time bus user, Alan can cope with this air of secrecy. He knows stuff for his local route ...
However the times for Bank Holiday Monday on services 9/9A/9B/9C are identical to the normal Sunday service.
... and extrapolates (permitted these days, provided you are wearing a mask) that Bank Holiday Service does indeed mean Sunday Service.
Why not say so?
Why not say so?
The End Of The X5?
Whilst in the East Midlands, Alan reports a significant change in Stagecoach's long distance routes.
Currently the X5 runs between Cambridge and Oxford via Bedford and Milton Keynes.
In happier times it ran every 30 minutes and provided posh single deck coaches.
The service dates way back to a similar route operated by Premier Travel which never ran more frequently than hourly - if that.
Again, Alan reveals all in an email.
From August 30th the X5 will no longer operate from Oxford through to Cambridge. The X5 from Oxford will terminate at Bedford with passengers having to change at Bedford for Cambridge for a new 905 service being introduced between Bedford and Cambridge. The 905 will be worked by double deck vehicles and before 19:00 on weekdays will serve Cambourne and the Regional College/Science Park on its way into/out of Cambridge following funding from the Cambridge & Peterborough Combined Authority.
Cambourne is a splurging area of "new town - ness" to the east of Cambridge ...
The Current X5 whizzes past on the main road.
Cambridge Regional College, which is a "centre for vocational excellence" (surprise, surprise**) ...
... is off the A14, north of the busway and well off the route of the current X5; perhaps clearer from the Cambridge "local" bus map.
The main roan from the west and from Cambourne is the pale blue line, lower left. The busway is the straight mid-blue line running from upper right to top left.
The revised timetables (with just over two weeks to go) do not appear on Stagecoach's web site OR Traveline. More possible confusion!
** Surprise, surpirse : fbb does not recollect ever having seen a sign outside an educational establishment which says something like "a centre for boring mediocrity"!)
Removing The Bumpy Bits
fbb took a ride on Island Line on one of his more recent visits. This was a nostalgic possible last ride on the old 1938 Undergound trains. Now comes news of the arrangements for the introduction of the new class 484 ex "Underground" trains - but "big" ex underground trains.
A major line closure is announced.
The Company explains something of the work to be undertaken in those three months.
One on-line comment writer will not have endeared himself to many Island residents by suggesting that Network Rail saves a bit of money and keeps the buses on permanently; the Island Line has one of the highest levels of subsidy per passenger in the UK.
Also released is a picture of the internal layout of one of the 484s.
Yet another surprise - they are laid out just like the old trains!
Next Variety blog : Sunday 23rd August
Cambourne is west of Cambridge, not east.
ReplyDeleteI know it will upset the diehards, but splitting the X5 is ultimately the right thing to do if there are calls for better links from the area west Cambridge to North Cambridge/college/Science Park. The coaches would never be able to cover the extra bit if you eat in to the 30 mins layover at Parkside.
ReplyDeleteAlso it allows double-deckers to be used on the busier eastern leg as a low-ish bridge towards Oxford seems to restrict the usage of double-deckers on the western leg. The splitting of the two halves with through passengers having to change buses has been somewhat common over recent years often due to coach unreliability.
DeleteThis seems to line up with a number of wider changes to the Stagecoach network in Cambs. A number of the Busway routes seem to be split with the core network being seperated from the off Busway extensions (a number of the seperated routes being numbered into the 9xx series). There is much debate as to if this is strategic and long term or short term to allow for concentrating of the high capacity vehicles on busier corridors whilst social distancing is in place to give operational flexibility.
The Tweet with links to the new timetables was visible last night.
ReplyDeleteMany operators appear to be making revisions for the start of the school term, but with government only slowly agreeing funding and operational conditions, public information isn't going to appear any more quickly.
I have colleagues scrambling around trying to find other operators to cover some of the additional school duplicates that are necessary for social distancing. Whether they succeed is another matter...
I wonder if the other thing about the X5 is that it won't have a long term future between Oxford and Bedford once East West Rail is going? Surprised to see it so soon, though.
ReplyDelete