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Post by afarlie on Oct 18, 2016 19:57:39 GMT
Does anyone happen to know of any articles on this railway in Wembley for an exhibition?
It came up in a disscussion about 'unmanned' trains, and I was wanting to know if it was the first use of
an 'unmanned/unstaffed' system in the London area.
(Although not necessarily relevant to this forum, it would be nice to know what the first automated/unmanned/unstaffed rail operation in the Uk generally was.
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Post by John Tuthill on Oct 18, 2016 20:41:05 GMT
Does anyone happen to know of any articles on this railway in Wembley for an exhibition? It came up in a disscussion about 'unmanned' trains, and I was wanting to know if it was the first use of
an 'unmanned/unstaffed' system in the London area.
(Although not necessarily relevant to this forum, it would be nice to know what the first automated/unmanned/unstaffed rail operation in the Uk generally was. Without looking into it, I'd hazard a guess it was the Post Office U/G railway? |
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Post by norbitonflyer on Oct 18, 2016 20:50:37 GMT
it would be nice to know what the first automated/unmanned/unstaffed rail operation in the Uk generally was. Without looking into it, I'd hazard a guess it was the Post Office U/G railway? What about its pneumatic predecessors? Or maybe the Tower Subway? Did that have a conductor? |
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Post by grahamhewett on Oct 18, 2016 21:31:38 GMT
afarlie - it's quite likely that some of the cliff-lift services had no onboard staff well before 1923, although whether they abandoned /never had permanent engine house staff is less clear. .
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Post by theblackferret on Oct 18, 2016 21:31:48 GMT
Without looking into it, I'd hazard a guess it was the Post Office U/G railway? What about its pneumatic predecessors? Or maybe the Tower Subway? Did that have a conductor? Vide Tower Subway, found this on Subterranea Britannica-see para as a Pedestrian Subway: Tower SubThere was a perpetual railway at the early 1920's Empire Exhibition, where Wembley Stadium was originally built to serve it. Now, was there also one at The Franco-British Exhibition of 1906, on which site White City Stadium was built? And what of the Atmospheric Railway at Crystal Palace Park in 1864? Only 600 yards long, with one carriage: Crystal Palace PneumoNo mention of conductor. |
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Post by brigham on Oct 19, 2016 8:26:18 GMT
The Never-Stop used the Adkins & Lewis system, which might help in a search. There was a demonstration line at Southend, before the Wembley installation, and film of this exists; probably Pathe.
It was offered to the LPTB on more than one occasion. Speed is lower than an electric train, but operation is continuous. For short journeys, it probably deserves another look.
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Post by grahamhewett on Oct 19, 2016 9:48:48 GMT
One Swiss railway (the forerunner of the present SOB, I believe) used a similar system in place of rack, whereby the vehicle wound itself uphill using (presumably) several wheels engaged in a screw thread laid between the tracks. That didn't last long: a train jumped the screw and ran back down hill with devastating results after which the line was rebuilt...
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Oct 21, 2016 9:31:50 GMT
The Neverstop Railway at Wembley has always fascinated me, having grown up in Wembley Park.
My dad always used to say that a section of it remained, as part of the structure of a Voltswagen garage on the industrial estate round the back of the stadium. Whether it's still there or not, I don't know.
There's footage of the railway in action in Metroland, but I also found this on Youtube:
Shows clearly the corkscrew mechanism, and that the screws get tighter to slow the carriages as it approaches a station.
Beautiful, simple, effective engineering.
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castlebar
Planners use hindsight, not foresight
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Post by castlebar on Oct 21, 2016 9:41:44 GMT
Now, 90 years on, parts of "Southern" have a 'Never Start Railway'
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