Sunday Variety

Puzzle Picture 1

Sadly, for the enjoyment of collectors, the L N E R Dynamometer Car did not last long enough to be repainted in BR maroon. So it is part of the craze for creating OO models of stuff that never existed - of which more tomorrow. At least the manufacturers admit its falsehood.

The LMS railway had its own dynamometer car, delivered to BR after nationalisation. It was maroon and is still extant. After a massive refurb/rebuild ...

... it is now restored to its former maroon glory!

But is is very different from the L N E R one.

The model will cost you £140! In case you wondered, it is "just" an unpowered coach - but with astounding interior and external detail.

A dynamometer car used the top technology of the day to monitor and record train performance. It was all mechanical - in the case of the L N E R vehicle with an extra wheel (painted white) to drive some of the gubbins.

Puzzle Picture 2

Snailbeach District Railways was a British narrow gauge railway in Shropshire. It was built to carry lead ore from mines in the Stiperstones area to Pontesbury where the ore was transshipped to the Great Western Railway's Minsterley branch line. 

Coal from the Pontesford coal mines travelled in the opposite direction. The line ended at Snailbeach, the location of Shropshire's largest and richest lead mine.

Lets be geographical!

There is Snailbeach bottom left with Pontesbury above on the A488 from Shrewsbury. The photo below illustrates the often unusual working methods!

The line of undergrowth on a modern Streetview view marks the location of the long-gone overbridge above.

And here is the location on an old map.

W

At the southern end of the line, there is a substantial village called Snailbeach ...

... and the lead mine, served by the railway ...

... is open on selected days. There are remnants of this narrow gauge line here and there - well worth looking for as part of a railway "detective" activity.

The above was the end of the line!

Minsterley Motors 552 service ...

... offers a number of journeys to Snailbeach and on to Stiperstones ...

... Monday Saturday (with no Sunday buses) should you wish to explore the former line.

fbb had never heard of Snailbeach or its railway, but it has come into prominence as Peco are now manufacturing a model of their distinctive little wagons ...

... to OO scale but running on 9mm (N gauge) track.

A village was built for workers at the local lead mine - Snailbeach Mine, which reputedly dates back to Roman times. Snailbeach Mine was the biggest lead mine in Shropshire and it is reputed to have yielded the greatest volume of lead per acre of any mine in Europe. Although the miners mainly extracted lead ore (galena) from the mine, smaller quantities of Barytes, Calcite, Fluorspar, Silver and Zinc were also obtained. Underground mining ceased in Snailbeach in 1955.

There is no beach!

But you would guess there were plenty of snails?

Talking of Contravision!

This bus has been cleverly painted (if you don't mind obscured windows!) to advertise Copenhagen Zoo. The clever roofline artwork could easily convince you that a huge snake was crushing your bus!

This may not be the most comfortable advertising scheme for those suffering from ophidophobia (look it up!) but there is also a metro train treated with a similar coach-constrictor artwork.

And ferocious animals are ready to tear your flesh to shreds even after you are brave enough to actually board the train!

Ooo-er!

Brand Awareness

The prestigious Scottish Citylink service 900 between Glasgow and Edinburgh runs every 15 minutes, 7 days a week.

It even runs hourly all night.

The brand is strong with distinctive high-spec three axle luxury coaches.

You can't miss 'em!

Well you might miss 'em if you are unfortunate enough to get a Stagecoach vehicle like this.

Brand awareness? What brand awareness?

Don't Use Your Phones ...

Don't consume beefburgers, drinks or ice cream - but saurkraut sandwiches are, presumably, fine. But, above all, don't disturb other passengers by using your phone!

Here's the password for our wifi!

More bits and pieces tomorrow.

 Next Variety blog : Monday 9th May 

Saturday Variety

Empty Victoria - a P.S. 

Correspondent Richard is anxious to point out that, whilst Victoria station may be empty, many of the trains that have been deleted from their usual terminus are still running.

I have a suspicion that the alterations to Southern services at Victoria are not due to lack of train crews.  If you check Realtime trains for Southern services at London Bridge you will see that most of the longer distance trains are in fact running to/from London Bridge. This includes trains to Portsmouth Hbr; Littlehampton; Eastbourne/Ore; Southampton.

There was a planned block between Victoria and Balham over the Christmas period  (signalling renewal?)  Is it this work which is over-running?  Perhaps due to shortage of Signal Techies.

Richard writes a follow-up email:-

Just taken a look at the “Traksy” site and all lines are shown under T3 possession from Battersea Pier Jn to Streatham Common (red dots). 

This would explain why Gatwick Express service is suspended.  It all smells a bit fishy!

The Traksy web site also clearly shows (local?) trains running to Brockley.

Curiouser and curiouser - but with strong odours of haddock and cod!

Can You Spare A Few Coppers?

Yet another First Kernow brand - but we ask, "What's going on?"

Currently, the route from Redruth to Falmouth is the U2 ...

... Redruth U2 to Falmouth U2 part of the University of Penryn network.

It is confirmed by First Kernow's map!

In a relatively recent development, the other main U route (U1 Truro to Falmouth) has been extended to Newquay as U1 and U1A; thus somewhat diluting the brand. Is the arrival of "The Copper" a precursor to a rebrand of all the Penryn University branded routes?

If so why?

Remember THIS Advert?

It was a bit "twee" and probably did nothing to boost bus business. But the advert from Midttraffik is, as they say, something else!

Midttraffik?

The company operates public transport in the "middle" of Denmark (possibly a clue in the name?).

If you are familiar with the home of double underlined bacon, you may recognise the towns where Midttraffik operates.

One place NOT served by Midttraffik is the Danish community of Lorem Ipsum, as shown on this Midttraffik on-line map extract.

In case you ever try to visit this picturesque town, you may like to know that "Lorem Ipsum" is the name given to the fake language used by designers to show where they want their text to go - even before anyone has written it!

In publishing and graphic design, Lorem ipsum is a placeholder text commonly used to demonstrate the visual form of a document or a typeface without relying on meaningful content. Lorem ipsum may be used as a placeholder before the final copy is available. It is also used to temporarily replace text in a process called greeking, which allows designers to consider the form of a webpage or publication, without the meaning of the text influencing the design.

Lorem ipsum is typically a corrupted version of De finibus bonorum et malorum, a 1st-century BC text by the Roman statesman and philosopher Cicero, with words altered, added, and removed to make it nonsensical and improper Latin.

Whoops! It is most definitely NOT a town in Denmark.

But here is the Advert!

Strangely, fbb has never experienced such enthusiasm for a bus ride anywhere in the UK?

Maybe after Boris has finished Building Buses Back Better?

Farewell X57

Today is the last day of the X57 from Sheffield to Manchester via the Snake pass.

Or is it?

This was the message from Hulleys yesterday.

Later ALL their bus services were suspended.

There was a bit of weather "oop noorth"!

Puzzle Picture?

It is a  bit of pavement that generates electricity! Alan explains ...

So, in simple terms, the pavement generates electricity to power a sign telling you how much electricity the pavement is generating? Maybe the company (Pavegen) can offer a more helpful description.

No it can't!

Used, amongst other things, in the entertainment industry ...

... you can find them elsewhere in the UK ...

... and world wide.

More "bits" tomorrow.

 Next Variety blog : Sunday 9th January