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British Rail Class 303
The British Rail Class 303 electric multiple units, also known as "Blue Train" units, were introduced in 1960 for the electrification of the North Clyde Line, North Clyde and the Cathcart Circle Lines, Cathcart Circle lines in Strathclyde. They were initially classified as AM3 units before the introduction of the TOPS classification system, and were the dominant EMU on the Glasgow suburban railway network for over 25years before being progressively phased out by newer rolling stock. The final units were withdrawn from service in 2002. The fleet's lifespan was 42years. The units were later used on the Inverclyde Line, Inverclyde and Argyle Line, Argyle lines of the Glasgow suburban railway network as various Railway electrification in Great Britain, electrification schemes came to fruition. Description Ninety-one three-car units were built by Pressed Steel Company, Pressed Steel at Linwood, Renfrewshire, Linwood near Paisley, Renfrewshire, Paisley, from 1959 to 1961, and they w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pressed Steel Company
Pressed Steel Company Limited was a British car body manufacturing business founded at Cowley near Oxford in 1926 as a joint venture between William Morris, Budd Corporation of Philadelphia USA, which held the controlling interest, and a British / American bank J. Henry Schroder & Co. At that time the company was named The Pressed Steel Company of Great Britain Limited. It acquired Budd's patent rights and processes for use in the United Kingdom.Address of the chairman to shareholders. Pressed Steel Company. ''The Times'', Saturday, 22 May 1937; pg. 19; Issue 47691 Morris transferred his interest to his company, Morris Motors Limited. Pressed Steel was acquired in 1965 by the British Motor Corporation and this led to BMC's acquisition of Jaguar later in 1965. At the end of 1966 BMC changed its name to British Motor Holdings (BMH). BMH merged with Leyland Motors in 1968 to create British Leyland and Pressed Steel's businesses were absorbed into the new conglomerate. Many comp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Metropolitan-Vickers
Metropolitan-Vickers, Metrovick, or Metrovicks, was a British heavy electrical engineering company of the early-to-mid 20th century formerly known as British Westinghouse. Highly diversified, it was particularly well known for its industrial electrical equipment such as Electrical generator, generators, steam turbines, switchgear, transformers, electronics and railway traction equipment. Metrovick holds a place in history as the builders of the first commercial transistor computer, the Metrovick 950, and the first British axial-flow jet engine, the Metropolitan-Vickers F.2. Its factory in Trafford Park, Manchester, was for most of the 20th century one of the biggest and most important heavy engineering facilities in Britain and the world. History Metrovick started as a way to separate the existing British Westinghouse, British Westinghouse Electrical and Manufacturing Company factories from United States control, which had proven to be a hindrance to gaining government cont ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Argyle Line
The Argyle Line is a suburban railway located in West Central Scotland. The line serves the commercial and shopping districts of Glasgow's central area, and connects towns from West Dunbartonshire to South Lanarkshire. Named for Glasgow's Argyle Street, the line uses the earlier cut-and-cover tunnel running beneath that thoroughfare. The term "Argyle Line" is commonly used to describe: * the extensive urban passenger train service that connects the towns and suburbs of North Clyde with Motherwell, Larkhall, and Lanark, to the southeast. Of the 48 stations, 4 are in West Dunbartonshire, 4 in East Dunbartonshire, 17 in Glasgow City, 10 in North Lanarkshire, and 13 in South Lanarkshire. * the central portion of railway infrastructure encompassing less than . History Prior to 1964 The Glasgow Central Railway (GCR) under central Glasgow opened in 1886, connecting the Lanarkshire and Dunbartonshire Railway at and Stobcross Railway at to the Lanarkshire and Ayrshire Railway ne ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Inverclyde Line
The Inverclyde Line is a railway line running from Glasgow Central station through Paisley (Gilmour Street) and a series of stations to the south of the River Clyde and the Firth of Clyde, terminating at Gourock and Wemyss Bay, where it connects to Caledonian MacBrayne ferry services. The line has been in operation since the 1840s between Glasgow and Greenock and was the first passenger service to follow the River Clyde to the coast. The line was electrified in 1967. History The line was opened by the Glasgow, Paisley and Greenock Railway on 31 March 1841, and initially ran from Bridge Street railway station in Glasgow to a terminus at Cathcart Street, Greenock (later renamed Greenock Central railway station), with the section between Glasgow, and Paisley Gilmour Street being run by the Glasgow and Paisley Joint Railway. For the first time a railway took passengers right down the River Clyde, taking about one hour whereas Clyde steamers took around twice as long. The term ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
TOPS
Total Operations Processing System (TOPS) is a computer system for managing railway locomotives and rolling stock, known for many years of use in the United Kingdom. TOPS was originally developed between the Southern Pacific Railroad (SP), Stanford University and IBM as a replacement for paper-based systems for managing rail logistics. A jointly-owned consultancy company, ''TOPS On-Line Inc.'', was established in 1960 with the goal of implementing TOPS, as well as selling it to third parties. Development was protracted, requiring around 660 man-years of effort to produce a releasable build. During mid-1968, the first phase of the system was introduced on the SP, and quickly proved its advantages over the traditional methods practiced prior to its availability. In addition to SP, TOPS was widely adopted throughout North America and beyond. While it was at one point in widespread use across many of the United States railroads, the system has been perhaps most prominently use ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Strathclyde
Strathclyde ( in Welsh language, Welsh; in Scottish Gaelic, Gaelic, meaning 'strath [valley] of the River Clyde') was one of nine former Local government in Scotland, local government Regions and districts of Scotland, regions of Scotland created in 1975 by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 and abolished in 1996 by the Local Government etc (Scotland) Act 1994, Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994. The Strathclyde region had 19 Regions and districts of Scotland, districts. The region was named after the early medieval Kingdom of Strathclyde centred on Govan, but covered a broader geographic area than its namesake. History The Strathclyde region was created in 1975 under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, which established a two-tier structure of local government across Scotland comprising upper-tier regions and lower-tier districts. Strathclyde covered the whole area of six shires of Scotland, counties and parts of another two, which were all abolished for lo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Electric Multiple Unit
An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple-unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a number of the carriages. An EMU is usually formed of two or more semi-permanently coupled carriages. However, electrically powered single-unit railcars are also generally classed as EMUs. The vast majority of EMUs are passenger trains but versions also exist for carrying mail. EMUs are popular on intercity, commuter, and suburban rail networks around the world due to their fast acceleration and pollution-free operation, and are used on most rapid-transit systems. Being quieter than diesel multiple units (DMUs) and locomotive-hauled trains, EMUs can operate later at night and more frequently without disturbing nearby residents. In addition, tunnel design for EMU trains is simpler as no provision is needed for exhausting fumes, although retrofitting ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
British Rail Class 311
The British Rail Class 311 alternating current (AC) electric multiple units (EMU) were built by Cravens at Sheffield from 1966 to 1967. They were intended for use on the line from to and , which was electrified in 1967. Appearance Outwardly, the units were virtually identical to the earlier British Rail Class 303, Class 303 units built in 1960. The interiors were also very similar, including the panoramic full forward passenger view through the glass-walled driving cabs, although the Class 311 had fluorescent lighting instead of the tungsten filament bulbs used on the Class 303. The Class 303 units had been built by the Pressed Steel Company at their factory in Linwood, Paisley, but by the time the Class 311 was required, Pressed Steel no longer built railway carriages, so Cravens of Sheffield worked from the same original drawings, updated at a few points, to build the new trains. Along with the Class 303, the wrap-around driving cab windows were replaced with flat, toughene ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Janney Coupler
Knuckle couplers are a semi-automatic form of railway coupling that allow rail cars and locomotives to be securely linked together without rail workers having to get between the vehicles. Originally known as Janney couplers (the original patent name) they are almost always referred to as Knuckles in the US and Canada (regardless of their actual official model name, nowadays generally various AAR types in North America), but are also known as American, AAR, APT, ARA, MCB, Buckeye, tightlock (in the UK) or Centre Buffer Couplers. There are many variations of knuckle coupler in use today, and even more from the past, some variants of knuckle couplers include: Janney: the American original, a rather finicky coupler; reportedly annoying to make open and close. This design was obsolete by 1900. MCB: In the latter 1880's the Master Car Builder's Association (MCB) were faced with choosing a standard from the multitude of mutually incompatible automatic coupler designs then on offer. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Automatic Warning System (railways)
Automatic Warning System (AWS) is a railway safety system invented and predominantly used in the United Kingdom. It provides a train driver with an audible indication of whether the next signal they are approaching is clear or at caution. Depending on the upcoming signal state, the AWS will either produce a 'horn' sound (as a warning indication), or a 'bell' sound (as a clear indication). If the train driver fails to acknowledge a warning indication, an emergency brake application is initiated by the AWS; if the driver correctly acknowledges the warning indication, by pressing an acknowledgement button, then a visual 'sunflower' is displayed to the driver, as a reminder of the warning. Principles of operation AWS is a system based on trains detecting magnetic fields. These magnetic fields are created by permanent magnets and electromagnets installed on the track. The polarity and sequence of magnetic fields detected by a train determine the type of indication given to the tr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Railway Brake
A railway brake is a type of brake used on the cars of railway trains to enable deceleration, control acceleration (downhill) or to keep them immobile when parked. While the basic principle is similar to that on road vehicle usage, operational features are more complex because of the need to control multiple linked carriages and to be effective on vehicles left without a prime mover. Clasp brakes are one type of brakes historically used on trains. Early developments In the earliest days of railways, braking technology was primitive. The first trains had brakes operative on the locomotive tender and on vehicles in the train, where "porters" or, in the United States brakemen, travelling for the purpose on those vehicles operated the brakes. Some railways fitted a special deep-noted brake whistle to locomotives to indicate to the porters the necessity to apply the brakes. All the brakes at this stage of development were applied by operation of a screw and linkage to brake bl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pantograph (transport)
A pantograph (or "pan" or "panto") is an apparatus mounted on the roof of an electric train, tram or trolley buses to collect power through contact with an overhead line. The term stems from the resemblance of some styles to the mechanical pantographs used for copying handwriting and drawings. The pantograph is a common type of current collector; typically, a single or double wire is used, with the return current running through the Rail profile, rails. Other types of current collectors include the bow collector and the trolley pole. Invention The pantograph, with a low-friction, replaceable graphite contact strip or "current collector, shoe" to minimise lateral stress on the contact wire, first appeared in the late 19th century. Early versions include the bow collector, invented in 1889 by Walter Reichel, chief engineer at Siemens & Halske in Germany, and a flat slide-pantograph first used in 1895 by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. The familiar diamond-shaped roller ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
