Some anti-HS2 campaigners have taken a slightly different approach to grab the public’s attention… although I’m not sure about the garish re-spray of the Class 373…
[youtube.co.uk=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfRN-ZFaxh4]
Author: Andy Carter
Side Tracked: Tube Off Peak Services Explained
London Reconnections is an absolute gem of a site for any of our Capital’s train geeks. You’ll find on their blog a plethora of London related railway paraphernalia, history, and operational studies. They also provide an insight into what might be coming in the future, including articles on line upgrades and service improvements.
This particular article looks at the complicated nature of off-peak services and delves into which lines provide the best service frequency and suggests which others may see improvements in the future.
It’s certainly worth a read, if purely for the link to the map of London Underground’s hottest tunnels!
Embed from Getty ImagesSide Tracked: Build Your Own Underground
Reckon running a railway is easy? Think you could solve the overcrowding and delays you always experience? Then try this!
Mini Metro
Mini Metro, by Dinosaur Polo Club, lets you create your own Underground/Subway network. Easy to pick and wonderfully designed, the aim of the game is to satisfy customer demand and expand your ever growing network. The black shapes are your passengers and you must deliver them to their corresponding desired destination. Watch out though as too many passengers waiting at a station will result in overcrowding and Game Over! See how long you can keep your network running!
Warning: Immensely addictive.
– Andy Carter
Side Tracked: Stock Cascading & Lazy Journalism
Last night I became mildly enraged as a colleague showed me a report from BBC North West Tonight. The report detailed how First Trans-Pennine would be losing 10 of it’s trains to Chiltern Railways in the South of England. Unfortunately for the usual boring legal reasons I can’t post a clip of the report on this site, but if you’re quick you can watch it on iPlayer here. If you’ve missed the boat then there’s a cut down version on the BBC website here.
“First TransPennine Express is already the most overcrowded train company in the UK and will now lose 13% of its train units.” the report quotes exceptionally misguided John Owen from TravelWatch North West along side such scaremongering lines such as: “North Loses Again”, “outrageous” that trains will be moved from the North to the South of England” and “This is absolutely unacceptable.”
Continue reading
Langstead – Episode 21: New Station Open
Last time I was working on hiding the rear of the layout underneath a new raised town scene…
Since then I’ve tidied up the corners so it’s not so square and added a retaining wall and ‘tunnel’ mouth. (above). I’ve not laid any new roadways, paving or grass scenics yet as I’m going to wait until I get a few more buildings to plan it all out. In the meantime I’ve added a townscape back-scene – you can pick these up very cheap and they add plenty more depth to your layout. Continue reading
Calling All Stations 