A nice article about taking Amtrak cross-country.

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David
Sitting on my butt while others boldly go,
Waiting for a message from a small furry creature from Alpha Centauri.

If you want to stay on a train but not go anywhere, you may like this. (But you have to go to Indianapolis.) (And that pretty much means driving or flying. Amtrak is there at midnight eastbound and 6am westbound.)

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David
Sitting on my butt while others boldly go,
Waiting for a message from a small furry creature from Alpha Centauri.

If you want to stay on a train but not go anywhere, you may like this. (But you have to go to Indianapolis.) (And that pretty much means driving or flying. Amtrak is there at midnight eastbound and 6am westbound.)

Well I can't match that!!

However next week I will be staying here.



This is Kirkby Stephen station in Cumbria.

It is still a working station, but the old booking office has been turned into a holiday cottage.

See Booking Office Cottage

And the other end of the station into the Platform Cottage.

If it isn't actually in the middle of nowhere, I believe you can see it from there.

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If he does not. I have my rolling pin ready.
Ziggy is available too.

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Pluto will always be a planet to me.

Seti Ambassador
Not to late to order an Anni Shirt

Crazy model RR
https://www.youtube.com/embed/ACkmg3Y64_s?rel=0

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If you want to stay on a train but not go anywhere, you may like this. (But you have to go to Indianapolis.) (And that pretty much means driving or flying. Amtrak is there at midnight eastbound and 6am westbound.)

Well I can't match that!!
However next week I will be staying here.

This is Kirkby Stephen station in Cumbria.
It is still a working station, but the old booking office has been turned into a holiday cottage.
See Booking Office Cottage
And the other end of the station into the Platform Cottage.
If it isn't actually in the middle of nowhere, I believe you can see it from there.

Looks almost like gingerbread houses:)

So here I am currently living in a working railway station.

The freight trains pass and the passenger trains stop, right by my living room window,and my front door is on the platform.

Kirkby Stephen station.



People even park a tamper in your back yard.



Well at the end of the platform.

First train is at 06:45 Carlisle to Leeds passenger and the last one seems to be the Fiddlers Ferry Power Stn to New Biggin British Gypsum freight at around 22:30. The passenger trains all stop here but the freight goes past a line speed which is 60mph!

I have several videos but my laptop doesn't want to let me edit them so they will have to wait till I get home.

This is the 158 I returned on from Settle yesterday, noticeable by

A - having a reversable number 158851

B - Having a mustache painted on, no they don't all have.



This light engine travels from Preston to Carlisle each morning(and back later in the day) apparently stands "Thunderbird" duties at Carlisle(i.e. rescue broken down passenger trains) Virgin trains had several all named after characters from Thunderbirds.



This is just a boring old class 57!

Today I ventured to Carlisle and into politics, well sort of.

Carlisle is a good station for seeing a variety of trains, locos and well odd things.

The chancellor today in parliament made his "autumn statement" in which he revealed "Northern Trains" are to have their fleet modernised, specifically these would go.



Now surely a train designed by British Rail and Leyland buses would be a good thing?

Well no apparently the "pacers" were unreliable (until they changed the engines and gearboxes), noisy, and they didn't corner well caused by the long wheelbase and lack of bogies. Few will morn their passing.

As for freight there is a long procession of Freightliner 66's going north and south here 66552 pauses at a red signal at the head of 477O - Fiddlers Ferry Power Stn to Hunterston High Level.



Also I was alerted by a sudden rush of "spotters" to the south end of the platforms that something was coming.

Indeed my first look at the latest loco to arrive on British soil the 68



Built by Vossloh in Germany for DRS a "mixed freight and passenger" loco.

Interesting few days.

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Highly cool, Bernie.

I just now noticed for the first time that British locomotives have single headlights in the center. American ones are required by law to have double headlights. (The low "ditch lights" came much later.)

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David
Sitting on my butt while others boldly go,
Waiting for a message from a small furry creature from Alpha Centauri.

So my last full day before the 5 hour drive tomorrow back to London.

Today as the last 2 days 57311 came through again same time, I swapped platforms.



I like that pic as you can see the station, the footbridge and the signal box, just behind 57311.

I also found some info on various websites, that this is not a "Thunderbird" job, but "route learning" from Preston to Carlisle.

Then finally I managed to get the elusive RHTT or Rail Head Treatment Train, that has been coming through mostly in the dark, or suddenly apearing 45 minutes early. Today I set up one camera on a tripod to video and the other set to high speed photos.



It is 66428 on the front, even if it is too dirty to read.

The train is made up of three wagons, the first and last have three tanks each and the middle one two tanks and I assume the control unit, where the "treatment" seems to be done.



I assume they get so dirty from the spray blowing back, yes it is 66427



Bit cleaner at the other end, not by much though.



My other hobby is walking and here in Cumbria I have found several "railway themed" walks. Today I found this.



Smardale Gill Viaduct, part of the now closed South Durham & Lancashire Union Railway. There are miles of track bed and three restored viaducts,

The fully story is here South Durham and Lancashire Union Railway

Good thing is enthusiasts are working to restore as much as possible.

This is where Merrygill Signal box used to be.



This was it in 1960.



So all in all a good time was had with over 500 photos and videos.

Must do it again sometime.

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More coolness, Bernie. What are they treating the railheads for and with? Fallen leaf sludge?

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David
Sitting on my butt while others boldly go,
Waiting for a message from a small furry creature from Alpha Centauri.

Thanks for showing us some of those pic's Bernie and it sure seems that you enjoyed yourself. ;-)

Cheers.

More coolness, Bernie. What are they treating the railheads for and with? Fallen leaf sludge?

This is what they use and why.

Sandite

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The main problem is because most trackside vegetation is broadleaved trees. I posted before that I regularly travel from London Waterloo to Exeter to see family, and over the last 12 months from Salisbury westwards, considerable work has been done in cutting back stuff away from the tracks. They are now making a start on the Woking to Salisbury section.

One other problem is that the railways don't own that wide a swathe of land either side of the track, so on occasions they need to get landowners permission to lop overhanging trees. Wonder if we'll get any more of the wrong kind of snow this winter?

That's what I figured.

Well, I need to go to bed so I can be conductor on a retired Chicago L train on the Happy Holiday Railway tomorrow.

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David
Sitting on my butt while others boldly go,
Waiting for a message from a small furry creature from Alpha Centauri.

Chris, the Canadian railroads had a long history of chemical suppression of rail side growth on an industrial scale. I suspect that modern laws have put some restrictions on that now, but back in the day if you wanted to really REALLY kill some troublesome weeds, you tried to find a railroad man.

Not naming names, but I know of a gravel driveway near a rail yard in a certain western Canadian city that has been totally vegetation free for 50+ years. And that is even after the new property owners tried to relocate the driveway, and grow grass where the old driveway had been

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As we are still talking about leaves and cleaning, here is something I noticed.

Yesterday before I left the last train to come through was the RHTT, I decided to try for a different angle from the foot bridge. This showed something unusual, as it comes round the curve you can see it is steaming away.



However it is about to cross a set of points (switches I believe in the US), and as it does it stops cleaning.



Once past and under the foot bridge it starts again.



I hadn't noticed but it did the same the day before.

Not steaming over the points



Steaming again as soon as past.



So I am guessing that whatever is in that steam is not good for points/switches, and these are lever operated from the nearby signal box so nothing to do with electrics.

Interesting.

PS someone cleaned the front of 66428!!

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Bernie. Im guessing they stop the cleaning as to not wash away the lubrication at the points.

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[/quote]

Old James

Holland has plans to clear them the high-tech way.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22429984.800-lockedon-lasers-burn-through-leaves-on-train-lines.html

If anybody wonders about the need for these cleaning trains,trains, ask the driver of of this Virgin 221 as he tried to stop at Chester last year.



Data showed that whilst he was in full braking the wheels slipped on the rail.
You can see the buffers stops on the platform and the glass was from a screen, wonder who left a bike there.

In daylight



Shouldn't the wheels be touching the rails.

Both images are from the very detailed Rail Accidents investigation Branch report, which can be read here http://www.raib.gov.uk/cms_resources.cfm?file=/141124_R262014_Chester.pdf.

While leaves weren't the only cause the residue did not help.

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Chris, the Canadian railroads had a long history of chemical suppression of rail side growth on an industrial scale. I suspect that modern laws have put some restrictions on that now, but back in the day if you wanted to really REALLY kill some troublesome weeds, you tried to find a railroad man.

Not naming names, but I know of a gravel driveway near a rail yard in a certain western Canadian city that has been totally vegetation free for 50+ years. And that is even after the new property owners tried to relocate the driveway, and grow grass where the old driveway had been

I remember Hormoslyr.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZssCEZKX-ds
In Sweden, Foss is known for in a television interview in 1975 drinking herbicide Hormoslyr. Inaccurate rumors argues that Foss would have died (cancer) shortly after this. This was not the case; Foss lived another 32 years, and died only in 2007 at the age of almost 83 years (Wikipedia).

And this of course
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9YIaVoIZ5o