Another Puzzle Picture
What is it? There is a clue later in this blog - maybe!
Yesterday's Puzzle Picture Answer
This is an aerial view of the original Island Gardens station, a terminus of the first emanation of the limited-scope Docklands Light Railway. That was when it was a "Light" Railway with diddy two-car trains ...
... and serving diddy stations in London's developing docklands area. Here is the map of the line as first opened ...
... and here is the original specification.
And just look at it now! Five-car trains on the way ...
... and a huge network with more developments under discussion.
The original line that terminated at Island Gardens was extended under the Thames to Lewisham. The first terminus station was on a viaduct ...
... built with an unusual entrance.
So the line had to descend in tunnel to get under the wet stuff, hence stations at Island Gardens and Mudchute ...
... had to be rebuilt completely. Mudchute is now at ground level and the tunnel starts immediately south of the station.
The distinctive Docklands viaduct was repurposed from its historic ancestry as the North Greenwich Railway ...
... whose terminus was (roughly) where Island Gardens was (actually almost on the river bank).
It was also a "light" railway ...
... but did offer trains every 30 minutes ...
... and a connection to Greenwich via the famous (and still very much in use) foot tunnel ...
... entrance cupola building upper left in the above view.
Much of disused viaduct south of Mudchute remains as a feature of the delightful Millwall Park.
If you haver never visited the area, then fbb recommends that you eschew trendy bistros, coffee shops and throbbing night life elsewhere in the Capital and explore the Isle of Dogs. But beware, the modern North Greenwich Station (on the Jubilee Line) is at Greenwich and south of the river.
It just isn't the same as the quaint early DLR!
'Execrable Eastbourne' Epistle
The thrust of this letter to the local press is that the "improvements" to the Town Centre have made life much more difficult for visitors arriving by bus. The detail is particular to Eastbourne, and fbb will need to spend some more time in research, so a full blog is to follow.
But the righter is absolutely write!
The part pedestrianisation of the town has made public transport more of a bother and less attractive.
So much for discouraging motorists and saving the planet!
More later.
Now That's When Shelters Were Shelters
The picture was twittered, but no location was given. The L T Museum collection reports that it was snapped in 1934 and was designed by L T luminary Charles Holden.
Very pretty, Charles, but unlikely to keep the wind and rain out.
Does anyone know where it was, and were there others like it?
How Much?
The keen railway modeller (with pots of cash) can now buy a OO version of the Class 17 Clayton Diesel.
This was not a particularly successful design but was used almost exclusively on freight.
The British Rail Class 17 (also known as the Clayton Type 1) was a class of 117 Bo-Bo diesel-electric locomotives built 1962–1965 by Clayton Equipment Company and their sub-contractor Beyer, Peacock & Co., for British Railways. Following problems with the single-cabbed pilot scheme Type 1 locomotives, the Class 17s were designed with a centre cab and low bonnets to maximise visibility for the driver. The low engine covers required the use of two Paxman 6ZHXL six-cylinder horizontal engines and these gave unreliable performance even after extensive modifications. The class proved to be one of the least successful of the Type 1s. Withdrawals took place from the late 1960s to 1971, some locomotives having a working life of less than five years. Several were sold to industrial users.
The OO model is, as you would expect these days, exquisite in all its intricate detail!
And ONLY £152, discounted by Rails of Sheffield from £195. Cheap as very expensive three Michelin star plus rosette restaurant chips!
Now if the Clayton is a bit big for your layout, you could but a teensy weensy Class 07. It is about one third the length no of the Clayton. This one was pictured in Southampton Docks where there are sharp corners - hence the tiny wheelbase.
The keen railway modeller (with pots of cash) can now buy a OO version of the Class 07 shunter.
So, at one third the size of the Clayton, this diminutive six-wheeler will cost you ...
... exactly the same as the much bigger bogie loco!
OUCH!
More from More
*****UPDATE***** we are now pleased to advise that Morebus will also start running routes 18, 33 & 36 from Saturday 6th August!
Route 18 - Bournemouth to Broadstone via Westbourne, Upper Parkstone, Dale Valley Road, Canford Heath, Waterloo Estate & Hillbourne up to every h our Monday to Saturday
Route 33 - Bournemouth to Christchurch via East Cliff, Boscombe, Littledown, Royal Bournemouth Hospital, Southbourne, Broadway & Kings Avenue up to hourly on Monday to Saturday
Route 36 - Talbot View Estate to Kinson via Bourne Valley, Bournemouth, Glenferness Avenue, Fern Barrow, Wallisdown, Turbary Park Avenue & Anchor Road up to hourly Monday to Saturday
All the new timetables are on-line ...
... and in his recent post, Roger French spotted full departure lists at the stops ...
... and piles of printed timetables on the buses.
Yahoo!
And Finally ...
A clue to today's puzzle picture.
All will be revealed tomorrow.
"Not much of a clue", our readers complain!
Like "Pointless" (TV show) it will be "fun" and "exciting". (??)
Next Freight Transport blog plus : Tuesday 9th August
Note how the original DLR trains just had the one big window across the front - wonderful for viewing and pretend "driving". Now there are doors, to facilitate emergency exit and passage from one unit to the next, particularly in the tunnel sections.
ReplyDeleteI have to say that More has done a phenomenal job getting so many services up and running so quickly, with timetables at most bus stops, on buses and being handed out in the town centre, together with most Yellow Buses publicity also being removed from stops to avoid confusion. Yes, they've been lucky that the new University buses have just been delivered and they have been able to transfer some spare vehicles from Southampton and Salisbury. Hopefully this good start will allow for further expansion as long as sufficient drivers, vehicles (and depot space?) can be sourced. Services I used at the weekend were running fairly slowly due to drivers having a lot of questions and confused passengers to deal with but they seemed to deal with it all patiently, politely and professionally and passengers didn't seemed concerned by the delays, in fact they seemed very appreciative and impressed with what had been achieved in a matter of just a few days.
ReplyDelete