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Wisbech And Upwell Tramway
The Wisbech and Upwell Tramway was a rural standard gauge tramway in East Anglia. It was built by the Great Eastern Railway between Wisbech, Isle of Ely, Cambridgeshire, and Upwell, now in Norfolk, to carry agricultural produce. Although called a tramway, in many ways it more closely resembled a conventional railway line and paved the way for the passing of the Light Railways Act 1896. History The Great Eastern Railway (GER) promoted the idea of a tramway between Wisbech and Upwell, and permission to construct the line was obtained by W. L. Ollard in 1873, but he failed to raise the finance to build it. The GER were still in favour of the line, and authorisation to construct it was enshrined in the Great Eastern Railway Act 1881. In addition to carrying passengers it was intended as a freight line, and to this end it was built to standard gauge, with Rail profile, bull-head rails, rather than the tramway rails favoured by many British tramways. This allowed standard goods wagon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wisbech
Wisbech ( ) is a market town, inland port and civil parish in the Fenland District, Fenland district in Cambridgeshire, England. In 2011 it had a population of 31,573. The town lies in the far north-east of Cambridgeshire, bordering Norfolk and only 5 miles (8 km) south of Lincolnshire. The tidal River Nene running through the town is spanned by two road bridges. Wisbech is in the Isle of Ely (a former administrative county) and has been described as "the Capital of The Fens". Wisbech is noteworthy for its fine examples of Georgian architecture, particularly the parade of houses along the North Brink, which includes the National Trust property of Peckover House and Garden, Peckover House and the The Crescent, Wisbech, Crescent, part of a crescent (architecture), circus surrounding Wisbech Castle. History Toponymy The place name "Wisbech" is first attested in the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' for the year 656, where it appears as ''Wisbeach''. It is recorded in the 1086 Do ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
March, Cambridgeshire
March is a The Fens, Fenland market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Isle of Ely area of Cambridgeshire, England. It was the county town of the Isle of Ely which was a separate administrative county from 1889 to 1965. The administrative centre of Fenland District Council is located in the town. The town grew by becoming an important railway centre. Like many Fenland towns, March was once an island surrounded by marshes. It occupied the second largest "island" in the Great Level. As the land was drained, the town grew and prospered as a trading and religious centre. It was also a minor port before becoming, in more recent times, a market town and an administrative and railway centre. March is situated on the banks of the navigable old course of the River Nene, today mainly used by pleasure boats. History March was recorded as ''Merche'' in the Domesday Book of 1086, perhaps from the Old English ''mearc'' meaning 'boundary'. Modern March lies on the course ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Beeching Cuts
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] |
British Rail Class 04
The British Rail Class 04 is a 0-6-0 diesel-mechanical shunter, shunting locomotive class, built between 1952 and 1962 and was the basis for the later British Rail Class 03, Class 03 built in the British Railways workshops. History The prototype locomotive was built in 1947 and served as a SR departmental locomotives, departmental shunter at Hither Green depot as number DS1173, before being transferred to the capital stock list as D2341 in 1967. The Class 04 locomotives were supplied by the Drewry Car Co., which at the time (and for most of its existence) had no manufacturing capability. Drewry sub-contracted the construction work to two builders both of whom built other locomotives under the same arrangement. Early locomotives which became D2200-41 (including DS1173) were built by Vulcan Foundry in 1952–56, and later examples D2242-2339 were built by Robert Stephenson and Hawthorns in 1956–61. Design evolution A clear line of development can be seen in the Class 04 from ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Geared Steam Locomotive
A geared steam locomotive is a type of steam locomotive which uses gearing, usually reduction gearing, in the drivetrain, as opposed to the common directly driven design. This gearing is part of the machinery within the locomotive and should not be confused with the pinion that propels a Rack railway, rack locomotive along the rack between the rails. The geared steam locomotives that have been built have been for conventional track, relying on the Adhesion railway, adhesion between wheels and rail. Unlike conventional steam locomotives, they are not classified by their wheel arrangement. Instead, they are classified by their model and the number of trucks they have. Explanation and rationale The steam locomotive, as commonly employed, has its pistons directly attached to crank (mechanism), cranks on the driving wheels; thus, there is no gearing, one revolution of the driving wheels is equivalent to one revolution of the crank and thus two power strokes per piston (steam locomo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sentinel Waggon Works
Sentinel Waggon Works Ltd was a British company based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire that made steam-powered lorry, lorries (steam wagons), railway locomotives, and later, diesel engined lorries, buses and locomotives. History Alley & MacLellan, Sentinel Works, Jessie Street Glasgow Alley & MacLellan was founded in 1875 and was based in Polmadie, Glasgow. This company continued in operation until the 1950s. Initially manufacturing valves and compressors for steam engines, and later whole steamships, Alley & MacLellan acquired Simpson and Bibby of Horsehay, Shropshire, manufacturer of steam-powered road vehicles, in 1903. They began producing steam road vehicles in 1905 and in 1906 introduced a five-ton vertical-boiler steam wagon, which featured a two-cylinder undertype engine and chain drive. Around 1915, Alley & McLellan moved the steam wagon production to a new factory in Shrewsbury and it continued under a separate company (see below), and in 1918 the company also opened A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
LNER Class Y10
The LNER Class Y10 was a class of two 0-4-0T geared steam locomotives built by Sentinel Waggon Works for the London and North Eastern Railway and introduced in 1930. The LNER numbered them 8403 and 8404 but they were later re-numbered 8186 and 8187. This was the second use of the classification Y10 by the LNER. The first was for an ex-North British Railway 0-4-0 steam tender locomotive, withdrawn 1925. Both the Sentinels passed into British Railways ownership in 1948 but 8187 was withdrawn almost immediately. Number 8186 was allocated the BR number 68186, but never actually carried it, and was withdrawn in 1952. Power unit The superheated vertical water-tube boiler and the motor were similar to those used in Sentinel steam wagons. Each locomotive had two 2-cylinder engines, giving a total of . The engines had poppet valves and reversing was by sliding camshaft. The advantage of the water-tube boiler was that steam could be raised much more quickly than with a conventional ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
North Norfolk Railway
The North Norfolk Railway (NNR) – also known as the "Poppy Line" – is a heritage railway, heritage steam railway in Norfolk, England, running between the towns of Sheringham and Holt, Norfolk, Holt. The North Norfolk Railway is owned and operated as a public limited company, originally called Central Norfolk Enterprises Limited. The railway is listed as exempt from the UK UK Notified Bodies, Railways (Interoperability) Regulations 2000. History Route history The line once formed part of the Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway's Melton Constable railway station, Melton Constable to Cromer railway station, Cromer Beach branch line. The first section, from Melton to Holt, was opened on 1 October 1884. After a suspension of work, the Holt to Cromer section of line was completed by direct labour and opened on 16 June 1887. A through London King's Cross railway station, Kings Cross to Cromer express started running in August 1887 and, although the construction had be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Titfield Thunderbolt
''The Titfield Thunderbolt'' is a 1953 British comedy film directed by Charles Crichton and starring Stanley Holloway, Naunton Wayne, George Relph and John Gregson. The screenplay concerns a group of villagers trying to keep their branch line operating after British Railways decided to close it. The film was written by T. E. B. Clarke and was inspired by the restoration of the narrow gauge railway, narrow gauge Talyllyn Railway in Wales, the world's first heritage railway run by volunteers. "Titfield" is an amalgamation of the names Titsey and Limpsfield, two villages in Surrey near Clarke's home at Oxted. Michael Truman was the producer. The film was produced by Ealing Studios and was the first of its comedies shot in Technicolor. There was considerable inspiration from the book ''Railway Adventure'' by established railway book author L. T. C. Rolt, published in 1953. Rolt had acted as honorary manager for the volunteer enthusiasts running the Talyllyn Railway for the two yea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kelvedon And Tollesbury Light Railway
The Kelvedon and Tollesbury Light Railway was a locally promoted railway company, intended to open up an agricultural district that suffered from poor transport links. The enactment of the Light Railways Act 1896 encouraged the promoters to persuade the dominant main line railway, the Great Eastern Railway (GER), to participate in the construction and operation of the line. The line opened from Kelvedon to Tollesbury in 1904. At Kelvedon it had its own station close to the GER main line station. All the stations had minimal buildings—in most cases old coach or bus bodies served as waiting rooms, and the passenger rolling stock consisted of conversions of old vehicles. Passenger business was never dominant, but the area around Tiptree experienced major growth in the culture of soft fruit and of jams. The GER took over the original company, and built an extension to Tollesbury Pier on the Blackwater Estuary, River Blackwater estuary; this opened in 1907. It was hoped that this w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
London And North Eastern Railway
The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) was the second largest (after London, Midland and Scottish Railway, LMS) of the "Big Four (British railway companies), Big Four" railway companies created by the Railways Act 1921 in Britain. It operated from 1 January 1923 until nationalisation on 1 January 1948. At that time, it was divided into the new British Railways' Eastern Region of British Railways, Eastern Region, North Eastern Region of British Railways, North Eastern Region, and partially the Scottish Region of British Railways, Scottish Region. History The company was the second largest created by the Railways Act 1921. The principal List of constituents of the London and North Eastern Railway, constituents of the LNER were: * Great Eastern Railway * Great Central Railway * Great Northern Railway (Great Britain), Great Northern Railway * Great North of Scotland Railway * Hull and Barnsley Railway * North British Railway * North Eastern Railway (UK), North Eastern Railw ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Railways Act 1921
The Railways Act 1921 ( 11 & 12 Geo. 5. c. 55), also known as the Grouping Act, was an act of Parliament enacted by the British government, and was intended to stem the losses being made by many of the country's 120 railway companies, by "grouping" them into four large companies, dubbed the " Big Four". The system of the "Big Four" lasted until the nationalization of the railways in 1947. During World War I, the British government took control, although not ownership, of British railways. The intention was to reduce inefficient internal competition between railway companies, and retain some of the benefits which the country had derived from a government-controlled railway system during the war. The provisions of the act took effect from the start of 1923. History The British railway system had been built up by more than a hundred railway companies, large and small, and often, particularly locally, in competition with each other. The parallel railways of the East Midlands, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
