Oops And Answers To Quiz Part 1

Oops International

It woud appear that most news feeds have simply pushed the Swiss Railway press release in German through Google Translate and printed the result. "Faido Interchange" appears in various accounts and the number of "carriages" is variable!

The Gotthard "Base" Tunnels (two single track tunnels each 35.5 miles long) opened in 2016 by-passing the old Gotthard pass line and speeding trans-Alpine traffic mightily.

In the tunnels there are numerous safety features including crossover tunnels, escape platforms and fire containment doors. References to the Faido "interchange" are to one of these deep level platforms. Here is Faido station on the old route ...

... and here is a diagram showing what lies in the tunnel way below.

There is a safety platform in case evacuation of passengers is needed ...

... and the two separate tunnels are joined by crossovers.

There are also fire doors like the one below to seal off any section where fire is burning or possible.

There are lifts to the surface ...

... plus other safety systems. So strict are the safety rules for passenger trains, that the undamaged tunnel cannot be used for passengers because it is a requirement that the second tunnel MUST be available either to get trains out via the crossovers or to evacuate stranded passengers.

Clearly the derailment is such that nothing carrying people can run

It appears that a broken wheel was the cause ...

... and the derailed wagon(s) severely damaged one of the safety critical fire doors.

A colleague opines that, if Swiss Railways can't get things up and running quickly, the damage must be bad!

Ooops Bloggable!

Thanks to several correspondents who pointed out fbb's bludner in yesterday's blog.

Wrong picture! The picture to match the caption should have been as below.

fbb is not sure whether the error was due to eyeball fatigue (unlikely) or brain fatigue (VERY likely)!

And so to the answers to Quiz Part 1 with a few extra commens.

Hayling  Island. The first Southdown bus to Leigh Park was an hourly extension tacked on to the route 47 to Hayling.

Dawlish. The substantial rebuild of the sea wall aims to mitigate the onslaught of big waves and high winds.

Brighton. The edifice referred to is the sumptuously OTT Royal Pavilion.

A bit like Marmite - you either love it or hate it!

The old bus station was plumb outside the railway station. It's somewhat less convenient and much smaller replacement has been delayed once again.

Newcastle. A  more extensive view ...

... and how it looked before traffic spoiled the view!

Leicester (formerly tagged "London Road"). Northampton Alan points out, perhaps unnecessarily, that, when King Richard 3 was buried in 1485, the site was not a car park.

York. Rowntree/Nestle ...

... and Terrys  ...

... had factories in the city.

Stockport

The Manchester and Birmingham Railway opened in stages from Manchester and reached Stockport in 1840. The 5+1⁄2-mile line ran from a temporary station in Manchester to another in Stockport at the north end of the uncompleted Stockport Viaduct. The temporary station, which was later renamed Heaton Norris, was Stockport's only station for more than two years. After the viaduct was completed, the M&BR built a station at its southern end as an experiment. The decision was prompted by complaints that the first station was a long way from the industrial parts of town and even farther from the residential districts on the south side. The second station opened on 15 February 1843 as Edgeley. By 1844, it was the town's principal station. Heaton Norris, at the north end of the viaduct, closed in 1959.

Edinburgh Waverley. The blocked out sign reads Diesel Trains to Glasgow - when diesel trains were a novelty!

Ah, those were the days!

Windsor and Eton Central. Queen Victoria preferred Riverside. The tall gates ...

... were installed to enable their Majesties' Household Cavalry escort party to ride to and from the platform without dismounting. There were lots of them to cover all alighting and boarding eventualities.

Also, tastefully shielded by the trees on the right and at the outer end of the platform to avoid contact with the snivelling minions, was the Royal Waiting Room.

The Royal Waiting Room at Windsor and Eton Central is now a pub.

H M Q V would NOT have been amused!

Peterville Puzzle

After some delay a major piece of infrastructure work is in hand for the model railway. But what is it?

fbb will reveal more when it is finished - if it works.

 Next Variety blog : Saturday 19th August 

Bank Holiday Monday Quiz

ALL of these items have appeared in this blog in the last six months.

1

She (? He, It?) was nicknamed "Big Bertha" but on which short stretch of line did she work.

2

Where did these freebies cease to be  relevant?

3

This plane was a failure. What was its full name?

4

In which Swiss City does this part rural new tram  (train?) route operate?

5

Between which two Hampshire communities does this pink ferry sail?

6

What is the T O P S class number of these locos. fbb has two on his model railway!

7

Between which two towns does this new-ish bus route run?

8

Where might you have once ridden this pier train/tram, its disused remnants now being replaced by a walkway?

9

Where can you ride this newly opened and expensive link?

10

Which company produces these models and what is their official "scale" name?

11

On which railway will you soon be able to ride on these new vehicles?

12

In real life what would this wagon (an OO model) have carried?

13

In which London area did this brand prevail - where "R" prefixes are still used today?

14

Now decommissioned, where is this building located?

15

Who operates this driverless bus (with driver) and where?

16

Where will Andy's hire bikes be yellow?

17

What is unusual about this Budapest tourist railway?

18

Where were these iconic 02 class locos lined up, awaiting their fiery fate?

19

What is this bus "system", running 'right round the city" to be called?

20

What was the purpose of this Berlin landmark, no longer in use.

Answers will be published later this week.

 Next West Lothian blog : Tuesday 11th April 

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It Was The Flatbread Wot Done It!

Cleopas and his unnamed companion (presumably his wife, yet another Mary) were trudging miserably back to Emmaus, a town about 7 miles from Jerusalem. As they walked a "bloke" joined them.

They did not recognise him - he was just an ordinary "bloke" on the road.

"You seem very miserable.," the "bloke" said sympathetically.. Cleopas, asked him, “Are you the only visitor in Jerusalem who doesn't know the things that have been happening there these last few days?”

“What things?” he asked.

“The things that happened to Jesus of Nazareth,” they answered. “This man was a prophet and was considered by God and by all the people to be powerful in everything he said and did. Our chief priests and rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and he was crucified. And we had hoped that he would be the one who was going to set Israel free! Besides all that, this is now the third day since it happened. Some of the women of our group surprised us; they went at dawn to the tomb, but could not find his body. They came back saying they had seen a vision of angels who told them that he is alive. Some of our group went to the tomb and found it exactly as the women had said, but they did not see him either.”

Then "the bloke" said to them, “How foolish you are, how slow you are to believe everything the prophets said! Was it not necessary for the Messiah to suffer these things and then to enter his glory?” And "the bloke" explained to them what was said about the Messiah in all the Scriptures, beginning with the books of Moses and the writings of all the prophets.

So they invited "the bloke" in for a bevvy and a snack - as you do. And as the honoured guest, they invited "the bloke" to break the bread, a Jewish hospitality custom.

Then their eyes were opened and they recognized "the bloke" who went on his way. They said to each other, “Wasn't it like a fire burning in us when Jesus talked to us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?”

You couldn't, you wouldn't, make it up!

"The Road to Emmaus" narrative is in Luke's Gospel Chapter 24.

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