The Rail Enthusiast thread

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Bristolian

Senior Member
Location
Bristol, UK
Great picture, if only I'd known... 😬

I use the railadvent.co.uk web site to look for steam excursions. The next one is tomorrow (Bristol TM to Carlisle) pulled by 35018 British India Line but it is due through Filton at 05:42 and 22:59 so no good/too dark for photos :sad:
 

Mrs M

Guru
Location
Aberdeenshire
46100 Royal Scot came thundering through my local station (Filton Abbey Wood) this afternoon, light engine en-route to Crewe (from Bishops Lydeard). The weather was pretty awful leading up to her arrival but we got a few minutes of weak sunshine just as she hove into view at the top of Filton Bank. The damp air meant she was putting out lots of steam ^_^ :okay:
View attachment 710665

Came by us recently but we missed her 😞
 

Paulus

Started young, and still going.
Location
Barnet,
I missed Clun Castle a couple of weeks back. Kings Cross to Lincoln.
I use The Main Line Rail tours site. I should check more regularly.
 
Exciting new developments in German rail organisation, if that's your thing.

German Railways (Deutsche Bahn) took over railways in East Germany (Deutsche Reichsbahn) and was then 'reformed' and privatized. The result wasn't quite as bad as the UK's system, but you could be forgiven for thinking some politicians looked at the UK's mess and said "Hold mein Bier."

It has become increasingly obvious that the system isn't working. One problem is that the network was sold off as a private company which promptly put more effort into maintaing its profits and share price than actually fixing the network... you get the idea. Two main problems were that because of compensation payments for track possesions, it was cheaper to rebuild closed lines than rebuild operating lines, and because stations and track were maintained by two different companies that apparently couldn't communicate, it was entirely possible that a station could be closed for track renewal, then closed again the next week for station rebuilding.

Anyway, the current coalition (Every government is a coalition; the voting system makes sure of it) have unveiled a plan to bring stations and track maintenance under one organisation which will be technically owned by Deutsche Bahn, but will be a not-for-profit company.

This will theoretically improve matters and increase investment. I'll let you know if there's any results in the next years...
 
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I use the railadvent.co.uk web site to look for steam excursions. The next one is tomorrow (Bristol TM to Carlisle) pulled by 35018 British India Line but it is due through Filton at 05:42 and 22:59 so no good/too dark for photos :sad:
Slipped to a standstill on the Furness line, passed Grange over Sands more than 2 hours late.
 

Mike_P

Guru
Location
Harrogate
Slipped to a standstill on the Furness line, passed Grange over Sands more than 2 hours late.

So much for towing a diesel around on the back of the train for such eventualities.
 

Paulus

Started young, and still going.
Location
Barnet,
I thought the class 47/57 on the back was partly to do with the electric carriage heating and kitchen power.. Steam loco's obviously not having generators on board.
I know some trains have generator cars for this purpose, so then the diesel on the back would only be for backup purposes.
 
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Paulus

Started young, and still going.
Location
Barnet,
An interloper at Kings Cross on thursday.
A 153 unit from The Midland on a tour from Peterborough via East Anglia, Kings Cross and Cambridge. Reason unknown.
F9X-jYMWIAEekNe.jpeg
 
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