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Post by nickf on Sept 7, 2021 9:01:19 GMT
60 years ago I remember the company accountant coming in and telling everyone how the person next to him in the tube had been holding on to the 'thing' hanging from the roof. It had come detached and struck the accountant a mighty blow to the shoulder. Unsympathetic laughter all round.
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Post by nickf on Dec 19, 2020 16:37:18 GMT
It's an urban myth but you can make a film out of it. Death Line springs to mind ("mind the doors" anyone). Hobbs End featured in Quatermass and the Pit. There was a Goon Show devoted to this subject as well! I have it somewhere on an LP.
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Post by nickf on Oct 4, 2020 8:29:43 GMT
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Post by nickf on Sept 7, 2020 15:30:07 GMT
I can remember as a child in the early 1960s (perhaps earlier) a steam hauled goods train passing East through Tower Hill station.
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Post by nickf on Aug 19, 2020 9:38:39 GMT
Before I retired I was a freelance sound recordist, and one of the jobs I did was a short film for Railtrack, which included an interview with Gerald Corbett, who was then Chief Executive. We rolled up to Railtrack House, close by Euston, and set up in the board room for our interview. We were told that there would be a short delay and I looked upon this as an ideal opportunity to ask our minder (who was accompanying us) what the state of Thameslink 2000 was. He looked at me with some suspicion and finally came out with the sentence: "Ah. One's got in." This amused me greatly. First was the unspoken assumption that nobody with any interest in railways should be in Railtrack House; and secondly that there should be armed guards to eject any such pollution!
Needless to say that my question went unanswered.
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Post by nickf on Aug 27, 2019 12:01:58 GMT
I was working in Washington DC (USA) many years ago and we dined in a restaurant that prided itself on its authentic British railway decor; it modeled itself on Clapham Junction. When I complained that the apparently genuine station lead in boards proclaiming Warrington and Skipton were wrong for Clapham Junction I was told (by my associates) to "shut up" and to "get a life". Life is so unfair.
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Post by nickf on Aug 26, 2019 7:21:55 GMT
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Post by nickf on Jul 2, 2019 14:53:08 GMT
"So drink one today" (Sung by a Bass voice.) DD was brewed by Ind Coope. The premium Bass beer was Red Triangle (actually the same beer as White Shield, Bass and Worthington being parts of the same company). I never got to try any of the "hole in the wall" bars sadly. The first time that I went to Kew Gardens I recall that the buffet counter divided the room in two so that both "rail side" and "land side" customers could drink inside. Back in the day I loved White Shield: it had to be opened and poured carefully, as it had sediment at the bottom of the bottle which should not be poured into the glass. If it was and you were careless enough to drink it, you would be visiting the loo sooner than you expected. (N.B. The final line of one of the TV adverts which advertised Double Diamond was "So drink one today" sung by a bass voice....geddit?)
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Post by nickf on Jul 2, 2019 8:27:06 GMT
"So drink one today" (Sung by a Bass voice.)
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Post by nickf on Apr 17, 2019 10:07:14 GMT
Although not the fuller description which I have in mind, I have found the following in London's Metropolitan Railway by Alan A. Jackson p.119.
"...Sir Benjamin Baker was was commissioned to design the apparatus. He erected exhaust troughing along the top of the tunnel for a test installation attended with moderate success, but his system was rejected on grounds of high first cost and high maintenance expenditure. An alternative, designed by Christopher Anderson of Leeds, was tried out at Neasden in 1890-91, using a Metropolitan locomotive and iron plate trunking between the rails with box slides dragging along it, moved by the locomotive.* Benjamin Baker reported to the board that although the design was both good and workable it would heavily increase working and maintenance costs and was moreover very noisy. This too was therefore rejected.
"*The working of this ingenious device is described the The Engineer, 29 January 1892, pp88-90."
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Post by nickf on Apr 16, 2019 13:50:34 GMT
Thanks stapler. I knew about the blow-holes but as well as this there was an experimental section of ducting placed above the track somewhere to carry off the smoke. It didn't work well enough to be rolled out and so consigned to oblivion. I read about it years ago and cannot for the life of me recall where!
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Post by nickf on Apr 15, 2019 10:44:48 GMT
I remember reading somewhere that in the days of steam traction on the Metropolitan, as an experiment overhead ducts were fitted above the track into which the funnels of the locomotives discharged. I assume that this experiment was unsuccessful, but does anyone have further information on this subject?
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Post by nickf on Mar 18, 2019 7:09:11 GMT
Best advice for visitors I have heard:
From 4.50 onwards.
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Post by nickf on Mar 13, 2019 18:15:22 GMT
Heavens yes! Nitrate film stock was highly inflammable. When I started out at BBC Alexandra Palace in the '60s they had a projector there specially fitted out for nitrate stock - absolutely festooned with fire extinguishers.
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Post by nickf on Mar 10, 2019 17:32:07 GMT
If the signs were not put there for identification purposes while watching the film, I can't think of another reason why. They are placed to be clearly visible from the driving position and of little use to anyone else. In 1910 I imagine that shooting movie films was an event in itself and a camera placed next to the driver must have had the company's knowledge and consent, as the signs must have had as well. But perhaps we'll never know for sure.
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Post by nickf on Mar 10, 2019 12:30:53 GMT
I see in the video that each station is clearly identified by a large sign board. I am presuming that this is specially for the film being shot, but does anyone know for sure?
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Post by nickf on Mar 5, 2019 17:09:01 GMT
I'm trying to locate images of a piece of LU trackside equipment that I can only describe from memory as being like a Grecian urn on a pole, about 3-4 feet high, black iron, with a bolted lid so probably some sort of hydraulic oil filled pressure vessel. It would date from possibly from the early days of the deep level up to the 50s / 60s. It may have been associated with sidings, possibly related to buffer stops. Can anyone assist? Q: What's a Grecian Urn? A: Quite a few Drachma a week. I thank you.
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Post by nickf on Dec 15, 2018 9:17:52 GMT
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Post by nickf on Nov 1, 2018 11:56:16 GMT
I love the shark fin swimming in the opposite direction at 1:34
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Post by nickf on Oct 26, 2018 12:31:42 GMT
I had to look at the thread title twice. Baked beans, anyone?
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Post by nickf on Sept 4, 2018 11:45:28 GMT
I think that sensitive edge / automatic door re-opening technology has a lot to answer for in terms of giving passengers the belief that train doors will open if they are obstructed. It totally infuriates me when I see people doing that just so that they can board the train that they have missed. I am all for making our railways as safe as possible, but in this day and age there is a culture where people think that accidents are never their fault, no matter foolish their own actions may have been. However, the main concern of the RAIB is to ensure that procedures and policies are in place to mitigate risk as far as possible, and there is a clear failure in this case, regardless of the actions of the passenger in question. I quite agree. While initially my thought was that whatever happened to the passenger was well deserved payment for their arrogance and stupidity, at the same time you have to consider legal consequences and TfL (or whoever carries the can) must do everything to avoid being found wanting in court.
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Post by nickf on Sept 1, 2018 8:26:09 GMT
I had one of the early Sony portable CD players and to avoid it being stolen from my parked car I took it into the West Country pub I was honouring with my presence. It was spotted by a local and I was persuaded to give a demonstration. It was as if I had brought in the Ark of the Covenant: eyes widened with surprise, then narrowed with distrust; this was clearly the Devil's work. The pub went quiet, I finished my pint quickly and departed. They don't care for strangers around those parts.
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Post by nickf on Aug 24, 2018 17:17:42 GMT
Many used to alight at Victoria too. I think that there was a good opportunity there for TfL to highlight the serious issue of fare evasion. They always used to wing it whenever Revenue protection inspectors came on board. If they didn't, they would be up before the beak.
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Post by nickf on Aug 9, 2018 10:50:31 GMT
Quite a useful discussion HERE
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Post by nickf on Aug 2, 2018 14:43:26 GMT
When badly maintained rolling stock causes damage to the infrastructure, such as HERE , does the company responsible have to pay for, or contribute to the cost of putting the damage right?
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Post by nickf on Jul 31, 2018 9:07:57 GMT
I bet that's what TSB thought!
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Post by nickf on Jul 5, 2018 7:34:54 GMT
The news reports serious disruption around the Streatham area this morning, with no trains into Victoria, and Thameslink services affected. Writing as a forum member with no specialised knowledge, I am wondering if this is an inevitable result of modernisation, in that centralised signalling, and just about everything else, will make things more efficient and give greater capacity for 99% of the time, but when things do go wrong the effects are far more widespread than if there were more signal boxes, for example, each responsible for a small area. Is this the case? I would be very interested if any members better informed than I am would share their knowledge with us.
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Post by nickf on Jul 2, 2018 9:38:41 GMT
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Post by nickf on Mar 4, 2018 14:00:33 GMT
To me, and I suspect to others of my age, the name Grenfell is initially associated with Joyce Grenfell. Joyce Grenfell LinkI wonder if this possible confusion (in the mind of an old guy who lives out of town) is sufficiently worth while taking into account?
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Post by nickf on Dec 18, 2017 10:46:56 GMT
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