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Mid Hants Watercress Railway
The Watercress Line is the marketing name of the Mid-Hants Railway, a heritage railway in Hampshire, England, running from New Alresford to Alton, Hampshire, Alton where it connects to the National Rail network. The line gained its popular name in the days when it was used to transport locally grown watercress to markets in London. The railway currently operates regular scheduled services, along with dining trains, real ale trains and numerous special events throughout the year. History British Railways ownership In 1861, the Alton, Alresford and Winchester Railway Company was authorised to build a new railway to connect to the existing London & South Western Railway lines at Alton and Winchester. It was opened on 2 October 1865 as the Mid-Hants Railway. Trains were operated by the London & South Western Railway which eventually purchased the Mid-Hants Railway Company in 1884. Stations were initially constructed at Itchen Abbas, Ropley and New Alresford, Alresford. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, Dorset to the west, and Wiltshire to the north-west. Southampton is the largest settlement, while Winchester is the county town. Other significant settlements within the county include Portsmouth, Basingstoke, Andover, Hampshire, Andover, Gosport, Fareham and Aldershot. The county has an area of and a population of 1,844,245, making it the Counties in England by population, 5th-most populous in England. The South Hampshire built-up area in the south-east of the county has a population of 855,569 and contains the cities of Southampton (269,781) and Portsmouth (208,100). In the north-east, the Farnborough, Hampshire, Farnborough/Aldershot Farnborough/Aldershot built-up area, conurbation extends into Berkshire and Surrey and has a populati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aldershot
Aldershot ( ) is a town in the Rushmoor district, Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme north-east corner of the county, south-west of London. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Farnborough/Aldershot built-up area, Aldershot Urban Area – a loose conurbation, which also includes other towns such as Camberley and Farnborough, Hampshire, Farnborough – has a population of 243,344; it is the thirtieth-largest urban area in the United Kingdom, UK. Aldershot is known as the ''Home of the British Army'', a connection which led to its rapid growth from a small village to a Victorian era, Victorian town. History Early history The name is likely to have derived from alder trees found in the area (from the Old English 'alor-sceat' meaning copse, or projecting piece of land, featuring alder trees). Any settlement, though not mentioned by name, would have been included as part of the Hundred (division), Hundred of Crondall referred to in the Domesday Book ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sans Pareil
''Sans Pareil'' is a steam locomotive built by Timothy Hackworth which took part in the 1829 Rainhill Trials on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, held to select a builder of locomotives. The name is French and means 'peerless' or 'without equal'. Design While a capable locomotive for the day, its technology was somewhat antiquated compared to George and Robert Stephenson's ''Rocket'', the winner of the Rainhill Trials and the £500 prize money. Instead of the fire tube boiler of ''Rocket'', ''Sans Pareil'' had a double return flue. To increase the heating surface area, the two flues were joined by a U-shaped tube at the forward end of the boiler; the firebox and chimney were both positioned at the same end, one on either side. ''Sans Pareil'' had two cylinders, mounted vertically at the opposite end to the chimney, and driving one pair of driving wheels directly - the other pair were driven via connecting rods, in the typical steam locomotive fashion. Railhill ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ropley Railway Station
Ropley railway station is a railway station in Ropley, Hampshire, England, which opened in 1865 and reopened in 1977 after four years' closure, to be served by steam and select diesel trains on the Watercress Line which shares its terminus at Alton railway station along with the more major Alton Line. History The station was opened by the Mid-Hants (Alton Lines) Railway (MHR) on 2 October 1865. The MHR was leased to the London and South Western Railway (LSWR) in August 1880, which fully absorbed the MHR in June 1884. The LSWR amalgamated with other railways to form the Southern Railway (UK), Southern Railway on 1 January 1923. The station was destaffed in 1967 and closed by British Rail on 5 February 1973. Preservation Ropley railway station was reopened by the Mid Hants Railway (Watercress Line) on 30 April 1977. It is an intermediate station on the , four-station route which runs from Alton, Hampshire, Alton to New Alresford, also in Hampshire. The main locomotive shed and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ropley Shunting Yard And 506 (30506) – LSWR URIE S15 CLASS
Ropley is a village and large civil parishes in England, civil parish in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It has an acreage of , situated east of New Alresford. It is served by a station on the Mid Hants Railway heritage line at Ropley Dean, just over from the village shops. It is southwest of Alton, Hampshire, Alton, just off the A31 road. It lies within the diocese of Winchester. The St Swithun's Way, part of the Pilgrims' Way from Winchester to Canterbury, passes through the village. It is distinguished by its general absence of pavements in favour of boundary walls, hedges and mature trees. Ropley holds an annual Boxing Day walk, and a pram race on the spring bank holiday in May. Etymology Ropley is first recorded in AD 1167 as ''Ropeleia''. The name is derived from the Old English personal name ''Hroppa'', cognate to modern day Robert, and the common suffix ''léah'' which means meadow, small woodland or woodland clearing. The latter meaning is most li ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
British Rail Class 205
The British Rail Class 205 (Southern Railway multiple unit numbering and classification, 3H) diesel-electric multiple units were built by BR at Eastleigh railway works, Eastleigh from 1957 to 1962, and in service for 47 years from BR Southern Region to Connex South Central and finally to the Southern (Govia Thameslink Railway), Southern franchise. They were eventually replaced by British Rail Class 171, Class 171 Turbostar units. Description This class of unit was built in four different batches for use on different lines. The Southern Region class 201 to 207 DEMUs are nicknamed 'Thumpers' owing to the noise they made while in motion. The first batch of units, numbered 1101–1118, was built in 1957 as two-car units and classified as 2H. They were built for services in Hampshire on the non-electrified routes between , and and between , and . The first units entered service in September 1957. However, owing to increasing passenger numbers, all eighteen units were strengthene ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
British Railways
British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. Originally a trading brand of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Commission, it became an independent statutory corporation in January 1963, when it was formally renamed the British Railways Board. British Railways was formed on 1 January 1948 as a result of the Transport Act 1947, which nationalisation, nationalised the Big Four (British railway companies), Big Four British railway companies along with some other (but not all) smaller railways. Profitability of the railways became a pressing concern during the 1950s, leading to multiple efforts to bolster performance, including some line closures. The History of rail transport in Great Britain 1948–1994#The Modernisation Plan, 1955 Modernisation Plan formally directed a process of dieselisation and Railway electrification in Great Britain, electrification ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Beeching Axe
The Beeching cuts, also colloquially referred to as the Beeching Axe, were a major series of route closures and service changes made as part of the restructuring of the nationalised railway system in Great Britain in the 1960s. They are named for Dr. Richard Beeching, then-chair of the British Railways Board and the author of two reports''The Reshaping of British Railways'' (1963) and ''The Development of the Major Railway Trunk Routes'' (1965) that set out proposals for restructuring the railway network, with the stated aim of improving economic efficiency. The first report identified 2,363 stations and of railway line for closure, amounting to 55% of stations, 30% of route miles, and the loss of 67,700 British Rail jobs, with an objective of stemming the large losses being incurred during a period of increasing competition from road transport and reducing the rail subsidies necessary to keep the network running. The second report identified a small number of major routes f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Southern Region Of British Railways
The Southern Region was a region of British Railways from 1948 until 1992 when railways were re-privatised. The region ceased to be an operating unit in its own right in the 1980s. The region covered south London, southern England and the south coast, including the busy commuter belt areas of Kent, Sussex and Surrey. The region was largely based upon the former Southern Railway (UK), Southern Railway area. The Region The Southern Railway was still comparatively profit-making despite World War II, thanks to its extensive Railway electrification in Great Britain, third rail DC electrification and the intensive service patterns this allowed for. However, large-scale investment was required in the infrastructure of all of the Railways Act 1921, "Big 4" companies, including the Southern. The Transport Act 1947 provided for the nationalisation of all heavy rail systems in the UK to allow for this investment and, in theory, to improve the rights of railway workers. The railway comp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Southern Railway (UK)
The Southern Railway (SR), sometimes shortened to 'Southern', was a British railway company established in the Railways Act 1921, 1923 Grouping. It linked London with the English Channel, Channel ports, South West England, Seaside resort#British seaside resorts, South coast resorts and Kent. The railway was formed by the amalgamation of several smaller railway companies, the largest of which were the London and South Western Railway (LSWR), the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR) and the South Eastern and Chatham Railway (SE&CR).Bonavia (1987) pp. 26–28 The construction of what was to become the Southern Railway began in 1838 with the opening of the London and Southampton Railway, which was renamed the London & South Western Railway. The railway was noted for its astute use of public relations and a coherent management structure headed by Herbert Ashcombe Walker, Sir Herbert Walker. At , the Southern Railway was the smallest of the Big Four (British railway comp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Meon Valley Railway
The Meon Valley Railway was a cross-country railway in Hampshire, England, that ran for 22 miles (36 km) between Alton and Fareham, closely following the course of the River Meon. At its northern (Alton) end, it joined with the Alton Line from London. It was conceived as an additional main line to the area around Gosport, and it was opened in 1903. It never fulfilled its planned potential, and remained a local line through sparsely populated agricultural areas, and it closed to passenger services in 1955; some local goods services continued until total closure in 1968. The name does not refer to an independent company; it was constructed and run by the London and South Western Railway (LSWR). History Background By the last decade of the nineteenth century, the railway map of Great Britain was already mature, and there were few gaps waiting to be filled by speculators. In 1852 the London and South Western Railway had reached Alton, from Brookwood on the London to S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
