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Post by nickf on Oct 23, 2015 8:09:38 GMT
I am fairly sure that a very young Petula Clark [as a pre-teenager] also sang in public for the first time serenading tube dwellers during the Blitz. Arun That must have been good grounding for her later hit record, Don't Sleep in the Subway, Darling
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Post by nickf on Oct 16, 2015 14:31:52 GMT
What has caused the recent deterioration of the Central line trains? Seemingly over the last few weeks there has been a lack of available trains and service frequencies have suffered. What is the cause of this ? thanks Will The second bit of Auxy's blog Click Here provides some information on the subject.
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Post by nickf on Sept 14, 2015 19:50:50 GMT
There was a link on Facebook about the "forgotten" loop under the Thames at Embankment which suffered bomb damage during WW2. the author, whose name escapes me, describes how the tunnel was hit by the shock wave from a German bomb that dropped nearby. The tunnel flooded and was quickly filled to avoid the rest of the Northern Line being flooded. The loop tunnel was part of the original Hampstead tube and was taken out of use when the Northern was extended to Waterloo. I tried to copy the link from Facebook but couldn't manage to work out how to do it! No doubt someone else on here knows all about this "hidden" long-forgotten tunnel and will post more information. From IanVisits
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Post by nickf on Sept 13, 2015 11:46:26 GMT
Thanks for clarifying motorman.
Historically in the days of steam, these types of occurrences could presumably happen fairly frequently, or maybe back then track verges were kept deliberately clear for this reason? The said tree in this incident was quite close to the track. Not unknown for unscrupulous farmers to set fire to their own crops and then claim compensation - so I was told when I was working on a Steam Railway.
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Post by nickf on Sept 11, 2015 8:49:19 GMT
Apologies for bad link - see above for new version.
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Post by nickf on Sept 10, 2015 15:52:32 GMT
Cecil J Allen said that in Edwardian times, the speed of GER J69s on Chingfords was "nearer to 60 than 50" across the Marshes. Surely the determining factors would have been distance between stations, gradient, and signalling? I can't imagine an A class exceeding 25 save out in the far reaches of the Met... For what it is worth, here is Fred T. Jane writing about a trip around the Circle on the footplate of a steam locomotive. I hope this worksYou will see that between Farringdon and Kings Cross the speed is estimated to rise to 40 mph, but for most of the time 20 - 25 mph is the maximum. Sorry about bad link earlier on - I think I have fixed it now.
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Post by nickf on Sept 6, 2015 10:00:44 GMT
There used to be a small section in the Daily Telegraph that invited readers to send in new Liffs. Mrs nickf was a regular contributor - great fun.
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Post by nickf on Aug 11, 2015 15:32:27 GMT
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Post by nickf on Jun 30, 2015 7:34:53 GMT
Or Major Road Ahead and Corporal Punishment.
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Post by nickf on Jun 30, 2015 7:33:50 GMT
So sad to hear this. RIP.
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Post by nickf on Jun 27, 2015 13:02:09 GMT
Let the senior management of any company bidding to take over a part of Network Rail be personally accountable for the standard of service and safety resulting in their bid being successful. Any default in this follows the individuals - no closing down companies and setting up new ones - and would be punished with retribution that would make the Spanish Inquisition recoil in squeamish horror.
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Post by nickf on Jun 5, 2015 15:25:02 GMT
A cab ride on the Nilgri Hills line in India, on one of the metre gauge rack steam locos; later a footplate ride from Trichy to Nagoor on a metre gauge WP steamer. And my drive on a Deltic from Leeds to London, making up 17 minutes from Doncaster to London in 1978. (see RMweb "fastest Deltics thread). As luck had it, someone was timing the journey and turned up with the log and my duty sheet about 3 years ago. 114 mph top whack, unforgettable! Here is a link to Roy's thread. Well worth a read! ...and here is some audio, recorded by my old guv'nor, of a couple of Deltics. Sit back, close your eyes and enjoy. Deltics
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Post by nickf on Jun 1, 2015 7:24:56 GMT
As a baby I was taken on the train from Waterloo to Padstow - but I can't remember any of it.
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Post by nickf on Apr 24, 2015 4:55:53 GMT
I remember the poster that warned people not to open a slam door until the train had stopped....something like "A moment of folly, a lifetime of regret" underneath a picture of a lady being struck by an opening door on an arriving train.
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Post by nickf on Apr 22, 2015 10:17:33 GMT
Thanks a lot Chris. I've just received a THIRD email alert from GOV.UK about the derailment: the second was exactly like the first, but the third contained the link that was absent from the first two, so all's well that ends well.
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Post by nickf on Apr 22, 2015 9:49:40 GMT
I've received a notification by email just now of the RAIB updated report on the tram derailment at Mitcham Junction that happened on 29/12/14, but when I click through to it, I can get no further than what appears to be the first page. I am doubtless doing something stupid, but I can't figure out what it is. Can anyone help, please? It was so simple with the old method, but the new system based on GOV UK confuses me dreadfully.
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Post by nickf on Apr 19, 2015 5:54:03 GMT
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Post by nickf on Apr 18, 2015 19:00:47 GMT
To quote Mr Justice Cocklecarrot "What is Eastenders?" It would be improved if the cast included twelve red bearded dwarfs.
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Post by nickf on Apr 18, 2015 11:49:04 GMT
I can recommend the Herriot Museum in Thirsk, if only for its inclusion of Mrs Pumphrey and Tricky-Woo. But there's a lot more than that too!
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Post by nickf on Apr 12, 2015 13:08:39 GMT
Ladies/Gents The staff are watching the thread. We appreciate that the thread towards the bottom of the first page has referred to the Darwin awards in a light hearted manner, but we'd like to remind members that the gentleman struck by the train at Stockwell on Friday morning continues to fight for his life. Please bare this in mind when posting. Many thanks ChrisW Point taken - many apologies.
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Post by nickf on Apr 12, 2015 10:33:57 GMT
Second to that ,on reflection, as time progresses I think that "those that walk amongst us" are becoming the norm and the fully aware types are becoming the minority. Too true, yet Natural Selection would suggest that such people would self-obliterate and become, in time, fewer. cf. The Darwin Awards
Perhaps their powers of reproduction are greater than other folk's?
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Post by nickf on Mar 13, 2015 14:46:29 GMT
A pint of bitter was two bob then.
...and of course we had to work 28 hours a day, come home to a dish of ice cold poison and go to sleep at the bottom of a lake. Wonderful times.
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Post by nickf on Mar 10, 2015 12:13:58 GMT
...or if you go with the Harvard Lampoon's Bored of the Rings version it could be either Moxie or Pepsi.
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Post by nickf on Mar 10, 2015 8:26:51 GMT
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Post by nickf on Mar 2, 2015 9:19:55 GMT
I was just watching Silent Witness ( Falling angles part 1) on iPlayer as I knew part of it was filmed on the tube. There is a part where the police are chasing someone down the tracks. The tracks are 'live' as trains are running but you see the guy run past a crid that is placed on the current rails xD I love the fact that Silent Witness has a woman singing very loudly over the opening titles!
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Post by nickf on Feb 19, 2015 8:51:54 GMT
Having fought my way through the patent details (my brain still hurts), I think that this is a device by which a Stephenson type valve gear or its derivatives can be adjusted. The idea as far as I can see is to give the possibility of effectively lengthening or shortening the eccentric rods thus adjusting, among other things, the 'lead'.
Comparing the drawings in the patent with photographs very kindly sent me by mrfs42, taken of the valve gear of No. 23 in Covent Garden museum by himself. Angelislington and Tomcakes, it seems to me that this modification is no longer there and it is an unmodified Stephenson motion there now.
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Post by nickf on Feb 18, 2015 21:06:22 GMT
I have discovered a patent (No. 12561, 1888) granted to Thomas John Gibson which I think must be identical or very close to the Gibson and Lilley valve gear adopted by the Metropolitan Railway for its 4-4-0 tank locomotives after the Allan gear with which they had been built proved to be less than ideal. Gibson Valve GearThe technicalities are a little too abstruse for me, but if any knowledgeable member of the forum can shed some light, I'd be most grateful.
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Post by nickf on Feb 15, 2015 18:35:26 GMT
Thanks snoggle - I'll set the recorder.
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Post by nickf on Jan 12, 2015 7:33:01 GMT
In my continuing and so far unsuccessful quest to discover information about Gibson & Lilley valve gear - as retro-fitted to Metropolitan locomotives - I came across this site. ClickThis may well be a case of giving a copy of "Teach Yourself Egg Sucking" to my Grandma as I am sure that most of you who are interested in this sort of thing have already come across this interesting site, but just in case you haven't, it is worth a look. In the meantime the search for particulars of Messrs Gibson and Lilley's adaption of Stephenson's valve gear continues. Anyone know whether it was fitted to District locos as well?
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Post by nickf on Oct 3, 2014 8:42:38 GMT
It has been reported today that the ship the Canadians have found is HMS Erebus, in a remarkably good state of preservation. This was poor Lieutenant Irving's ship - his grave was found on King William Island.
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