Roger Farnworth Railways

[rogerfarnworth]

RE: The Wenlock Branch, Shropshire, again. ...
The Wenlock Branch from Longville Station to Harton Road Station via Rushbury Station.

https://rogerfarnworth.com/2024/07/25/th...aven-arms/

[rogerfarnworth]

Re: Railway Company Staffing in 1929 - The Railway Magazine Nove
The Railway Magazine in November 1929 reported the detailed breakdown of staffing across Britain’s railways in the week ending 9th March 1929.

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2024/07/30/rai...29-census/

[rogerfarnworth]

RE: Advertising in The Railway Magazine, November 1929
This article features advertising from the November 1929 edition of The Railway Magazine.

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2024/07/30/adv...-magazine/

It will probably be of interest to compare the various adverts in the linked article with those in The Railway Magazine of November 1938. An article about the 1938 magazine can be found earlier in this thread.

[rogerfarnworth]

Re: Petrol Railmotors in The Railway Magazine, Sept.1922
The Railway Magazine of September 1922 carried two short articles about new Petrol Railmotors. ...

https://wordpress.com/post/rogerfarnworth.com/53706

The first short article was about an experimental vehicle used by the NER.

On certain portions of the NER network, the company realised that "there was room for a service conducted on lines as nearly as possible identical with those of motor buses on the roads. With the view of ascertaining, without much initial expenditure, whether the scheme is likely to prove financially successful, they have converted one of their 'Leyland' road motor 'buses, formerly running on the road services in the vicinity of Durham, so as to make it suitable for running on the railway."

The second short piece in The Railway Magazine of September 1922 related to a Railmotor constructed by the Drewry Car Company Limited (Works No. 1252), to the instructions of Colonel H.F. Stephens, who, along with other roles, was Engineer and General Manager of the Weston, Clevedon and Portishead Light Railway.

The railmotor was powered by a 4-cylinder Baguley 35 hp petrol engine with a 3-speed gearbox and its oil consumption, on easy gradients, [was] 16 miles to the gallon. It had a maximum speed of 25 mph. It was 19ft long and driven by a chain drive from either end. It had 2ft diameter wheels.

[rogerfarnworth]

RE: 'Railway' or 'Railroad'?
An article in The Railway Magazine, August 1905 discussed the use of 'Railway' and 'Railroad' in different jurisdictions around the world at the turn of the 20th century.

As the linked article suggests, there was considerable uncertainty over the use of the two terms.

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2024/08/14/rai...-railroad/

[rogerfarnworth]

RE: The Railway Magazine, Jan. 1934: Water Troughs, Campbeltown & Machrihanish, etc.
A series of interesting items from the Railway Magazine of January 1934. ...

https://wordpress.com/post/rogerfarnworth.com/53679

Water Pick-Up Troughs

Some superb diagrams showing the operation of water troughs were included on page 4 of the January 1934 edition of The Railway Magazine.

The GWR Capital Programme

The Railway Magazine noted, "A special programme of extensions and improvements, involving a cost of over £8,000,000, was put in hand by the GWR under the Development (Loan Guarantees and Grants) Act, 1929, in anticipation of its future requirements, for the purpose of assisting in the relief of unemployment. ... The Railway Gazette, issued on [8th December 1933] a profusely illustrated Special Supplement dealing comprehensively with these works. A notable feature of this supplement is the wealth of drawings, including a double-page map of the G.W.R. system, with inset detail plans of the new works."

The Campbeltown & Machrihanish Light Railway

The Campbeltown and Machrihanish Light Railway was one of only four 2 ft 3 in (686 mm) narrow gauge railways in the UK. The other three were/are in Wales: the Corris Railway, the short-lived Plynlimon and Hafan Tramway and the Talyllyn Railway.

The Welsh Highland Railway

The Railway Magazine reported that the "Joint Committee representing the local authorities with investments in the Welsh Highland Railway has decided to ask the debenture-holders to close down the line. Carnarvonshire County Council has £15,000 in the venture, Portmadoc Urban District Council £5,000, and the Gwyrfai, Glaslyn and Deudraeth Rural District Councils £3,000 each. At a recent meeting of the Portmadoc Council, Mr. Oswald Thomas said it was important that if the railway were closed, the rails should not be taken up, particularly between Portmadoc and Croesor Bridge, as it was hoped before long to see quarries in the district working again. Captain Richard Jones said it might be arranged for the Portmadoc Council to take over that part of the railway."

West Monkseaton Railway Station Waiting Shelter

The Railway Magazine picked a rather modest platform building at West Monkseaton for praise.

Check Rails and Ramps

By 1934, it was common practice "to provide safety devices at viaducts and other important bridges to reduce to a minimum the risk of vehicles, which may have become derailed, falling over the edge. Special guard rails, fixed either inside or outside the running rails and usually at a slightly higher level, are laid across the viaduct, with some splayed arrangement at both ends to direct derailed vehicles from the edge toward the rails. An ingenious elaboration of this is shown in the accompanying illustration. It consists of converging rails with a steel ramp between them rising to rail level. Any derailed wheels would run up this and should automatically become re-railed at the top."

[rogerfarnworth]

Re: The Railway Magazine, August 1905 - Adverts
The August 1905 edition of the Railway Magazine was the 98th issue. In preparation for its 100th edition, it carried an advert for its 'centenary' of issues. ... The Railway Magazine had been established for over 8 years!

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2024/08/11/the...vertising/

[rogerfarnworth]

RE: The Railway Magazine, November 1899
Adverts

This is the earliest Railway Magazine that I have so far been able to view and it takes us back into the 19th century. ... A rather tatty copy with both front two and at least the back two pages missing.

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2024/09/07/the...9-adverts/

[rogerfarnworth]

RE: The Railway Magazine, November 1899 again. ...
Uniformity of Railway Gauge in Australia

The Railway Magazine of November 1899 started a three part series looking at the need for a uniform gauge across the Commonwealth of Australia once federation had occurred .....

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2024/09/10/uni...mber-1899/

Victoria’s and South Australia’s railways were 5ft 3in broad gauge. New South Wales’ railways were standard-gauge, Queensland’s were 3ft 6in gauge. And, as of 1899, the authorities were in no sense inclined to yield up their gauge to progress.

Perhaps we need a review of the historical context. Wikipedia provides a narrative which aids in understanding why Australia ended up with three different railway gauges.

“In 1845, a Royal Commission on Railway Gauges in the United Kingdom was formed to report on the desirability for a uniform gauge. As a result, the Regulating the Gauge of Railways Act 1846 was passed which prescribed the use of 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) in England, Scotland and Wales (with the exception of the Great Western Railway) and 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm) in Ireland. … In 1846, Australian newspapers discussed the break of gauge problem in the United Kingdom, especially for defence [and] in 1847, South Australia adopted the 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in gauge as law.”

[rogerfarnworth]

RE: The Railway Magazine, November 1899 - The Forest of Dean
The Severn & Wye Joint Railway and it’s Locomotives – The Railway Magazine, November 1899.

Reading the November 1899 edition of The Railway Magazine, I came across an article about railways and tramways in the Forest of Dean … ‘The Severn & Wye Joint Railway’ by E.A. Clark.

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2024/09/10/the...ember-1899

The article from 1899 adds something to the series of posts already made about the Forest and its tramways/railways

Clark says that “it was in the year 1809 that the initiative of the Severn and Wye took place. It had long been felt that there was great commercial scope in the Forest of Dean, and in this year Parliament sanctioned the construction of a tram road through the district. The undertaking was incorporated by the name of the Lydney and Lydbrook Railway Company, ‘for the purpose of making a railway or tramway from the River Wye at Lydbrook to the River Severn at Lydney, with various branches to serve the collieries in the Forest of Dean’. The Company finding their undertaking not complete, owing to there not being proper accommodation at Lydney for the export of coal, etc., in the following year (1810) obtained power by an Act of Parliament for the construction of a canal (over one mile in length) and docks or basins at Lydney to communicate with the River Severn, and the name of the Com- pany was changed by the same Act to the Severn and Wye Railway and Canal Company.” ...