London and South East Region Line Nicknames Bedpan – Line between Bedford and St. Pancras. Brain Line – Informal name for the railway that used to link the university cities of Oxford and Cambridge, and a pun on the term main line. qv Varsity Line. ChEnFord – London Overground’s new Cheshunt, Enfield, and Chingford routes out of Liverpool Street. Clockwork…
A Big Bulbous Bloated Bludner The above engraving appeared in the published volume of Alexander Pope’s “The Dunciad“, a superb example of 18th Century Satire. Amazingly, Satire did not begin with Millicent Martin and David Frost! Hmmm; seems quite mild by today’s journalistic standards. The engraving above shows chaps bathing in the River Fleet (as in Fleet Street) as it…
It is hard to overstate the impact Hackney Wick station makes on a visitor, as well as the unexpectedness of it doing so. Reopened in 2018 after a complete rebuild, it is one of the most photogenic small stations on the British rail network. Yet somehow, it seems to have slipped somewhat under the radar; […]
Answers And Appropriate Additions. Fenchurch Street The station must lay claim to the least altered terminus in London, certainly externally. The rather ineffective canopy was changed quite early in the station’s life span, but otherwise it looks the same. It is also the smallest, having just four platforms. Here the station throat is viewed from Tower Gateway Docklands station. These…
Answers And Appropriate Additions. Kings Cross This was a bit of a cheat because fbb missed out most of the the actual station. Here is how architect Thomas Cubitt envisioned the station as he submitted his designs … … and here is what the railway company, London Underground, Islington Council managed to do to spoil it. Clutter remained until new…
• UK rail industry has grown used to failing everyday on accessibility, MPs hear (DisabilityNews) • The weird, colourful postmodern Berlin U-Bahn station architecture (ExBerliner) • The world’s first covered bike path could be made under Berlin’s U-Bahn Line 1 (Reset) • App to help visually impaired navigate chaotic NYC subway stations (Engadget) • SEPTA, Amtrak plan to reconnect their…
Answers And Appropriate Additions Paddington. Well, it has always been called “The Lawn” although it did not remain a proper lawn for very long. The name is now used for the catering and shopping area, There are plenty of places to spend your money whilst waiting for your train! It is officially called The Lawn which must baffle newcomers! Reputedly,…
Polyglot Word for Loriot Wagon? The old GWR had some weird names for its wagons. They weren’t named for fun or to entertain railway enthusiasts (?); they were named to allow telegraph messages to be transmitted in an unambiguous way. So instead if specifying a low sided wagon to carry ballast to a track relaying site, the consist could include…
Taken Aback By Double Stack Confused.com? Where within the UK loading gauge could you ever run a double stack container train? What’s one of them when it is at home anyway? Here is a video of a double stack container train in the good old U S of A – well actually Canada. The video says 220 wagons; fbb counted…
WHY PRODUCT LONGEVITY IS POWERFUL FIRST STEP TOWARDS GREENER WASTE MANAGEMENT For many warehouse and logistics firms, the desire to improve the sustainability of their operations has increased significantly in recent times, and with three quarters of businesses facing pressure from customers to improve their sustainability credentials1, there’s never been a better time to invest in the waste management systems…