I’ve been saving a selection of links for future reference and future posts. Probably unwisely, as I won’t be able to use them again, here are a number of railway news items that caught my eye over the last couple of months.
The British Rail Advanced Passenger Train. A good idea that was probably before its time, and needed a few more years and the Pendalino to work properly. I suspect the British Rail management and workers at that time didn’t help things and the inability of British engineering to make anything reliable (c.f. British Leyland.)
I liked the quotes….
Journalists on board complained that the tilting mechanism caused motion sickness, nicknaming the APT “queasy rider”. In response, trip organisers suggested the journalists were already the worse for wear, having drunk copious amounts of free alcohol the night before.
And….
BR hired former Blue Peter presenter Peter Purves to make a film demonstrating the virtues of catching the APT from Glasgow Central to London Euston. As he arrived at Euston, Purves, sitting on a tartan-covered seat, having eaten an “excellent breakfast in the most delightful surroundings”, informed viewers: “It’s smooth. It’s quiet – and an altogether delightful experience.” But as he did so there was a slight shudder of the camera, the sound of rattling cutlery and crockery clearly audible.
Can Ethiopia’s railway bring peace to Somalia? One would like to think so. What could bring more love, peace and understanding than a railway?
Railways are being constructed all over Africa. The East African Railway Master Plan hopes to revive existing lines in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, eventually extending them to Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan and Ethiopia.
It all started when he took a trip with his family. “We were driving through the countryside when we came across a railway track. Like so many boys, my sons loved trains and insisted we wait for one. It never came. I asked somebody when it might arrive. He told me it had been 10 years since the last train. I decided to try to do something about it. Now they call me Ethiopia’s Brunel, after the famous British civil engineer.”
This is turning into rather more than just a page of links, so here’s one more and I’ll save the rest for another post!
Mega train delivers Australian record.
Australia’s longest-ever grain train has rolled across north-western New South Wales carrying 5,000 tonnes of wheat. Comprising five locomotives and 73 wagons stretching 1.3km (0.8 miles), the train left the town of Narrabri on Wednesday.
Almost as impressive as Paul’s Japanese goods trains at ESNG. The video on the link shows some good video of the train and the countryside it passes through.
esngblog 