Great Western Coffee Shop

Here are 11 questions. You will know some right off but others you will need to research.  How many do you know straight off?   Can you fill in the rest of the answers by research?  Which are difficult?   I will give complete answers in 24 hours

1. What did Bobbie Waterbury do at the end of the 1970 film "The Railway Children"?

2. Who were Ann Wood and Johnnie Jordan and what did they start that links them in railway history?

3. We have a number of stations that have expanded to have a platform 0 - but can you name a station where the platform numbers start at 3?

4. What is the quote at the bottom of the memorial tablet in Salisbury Cathedral honouring those who died in the 1 July 1906 Salisbury rail crash?

5. The investigators disagreed on the cause of the crash. Wxxxx insisted that it was caused by speeding; Kxxxxxxxx blamed rotten wooden sleepers, whilst Kxxx shifted the blame onto the railroad, exonerating state officials.

6. What colour are the socks that are embrodered with the image of Isambard Kingdom Brunel that are currently available for sale at a museum in Rotherhithe?

7. GWR has listed its "10 Must-Do London Activities" to get you into the holiday spirit. What is the top suggestion?

8. What links 1788, 1929 and 1973?

9. What is being honoured by this quote?  "Proving its resilience to later generations, this was surely a great tribute to Brunel's design."

10. Which of the cardinal points of the Great British Rail network is not a terminal?

11. 161, 163, 165, 180 and perhaps 529 - what have they in common in railway terms?

Straight off....  1,  and that was no1.
might be back later...

4. In the midst of life we are in death
Of whom may we seek for sucker
But of thee. O Lord.

Without looking things up there is only one that I think I know.
8. Financial crashes.

2 they were both pilots who flew aircraft beneath the Seven rail bridge.

9 - The Maidenhead railway bridge?

A slightly unfortunate typo for those who believe. The intended word is ‘succour’.

10  - the most westerly

8. Peckett No.1788, built in 1929, worked at Kilmersdon Colliery until it closed in 1973.

3. Okehampton’s only connected and operational platform is No.3, the former Up main platform.
The tracks of the former and still signed plats 1 and 2, looked after by the small band of station friends, stretch west into the overgrowing wilderness of hope and despair.

See also: Plymouth

Also add Shrewsbury - but not, now, Lincoln; it's been renumbered.

I was thinking the most northerly.

I think you're just showing off.  ;D

That IS an impressive answer - I thought that question was one of the more difficult!

Strangely enough, I reckon it's the other one: the eastern point.

Trying to think of Arisaig versus Penzance. Mallaig, the terminus is further east.

I have a feeling, without checking a map, that Scotland tends to be the left (ie west) of England, so I'd plump for Arisaig.  I do know that the westernmost point on the British mainland is in Scotland, on the Ardnamurchan Peninsula - and a long journey it was to get there when I visited many years ago.

When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.

Dr Watson, as ever, stands back in awe.  :-X

1. What did Bobbie Waterbury do at the end of the 1970 film "The Railway Children"?
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Railway_Children_(1970_film)
Bobbie held up a slate with "The End" chalked on it

2. Who were Ann Wood and Johnnie Jordan and what did they start that links them in railway history?
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Severn_Railway_Bridge
They flew planes under the Severn Rail Bridge - started a trend that was stamped out when the military authorities started taking an interest

3. We have a number of stations that have expanded to have a platform 0 - but can you name a station where the platform numbers start at 3?
From personal knowledge
I had West Ealing, but will give you Okehampton and Plymouth too

4. What is the quote at the bottom of the memorial tablet in Salisbury Cathedral honouring those who died in the 1 July 1906 Salisbury rail crash?
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1906_Salisbury_rail_crash
"In the midst of life we are in death". Of whom may we seek of succour but of thee, O Lord.

5. The investigators disagreed on the cause of the crash. Wxxxx insisted that it was caused by speeding; Kxxxxxxxx blamed rotten wooden sleepers, whilst Kxxx shifted the blame onto the railroad, exonerating state officials.
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borki_train_disaster
The Borki Train Disaster of October 29, 1888 between Kursk and Kharkiv. The imperial family was en route from Crimea to Saint Petersburg. Contrary to railway rules of the period that limited commercial passenger trains to 42 axles, the imperial train of fifteen carriages had 64 axles. Its weight was within the limits set for freight trains, but the train actually travelled at express speeds. Twenty-one people were killed instantly

6. What colour are the socks that are embrodered with the image of Isambard Kingdom Brunel that are currently available for sale at a museum in Rotherhithe?
From https://thebrunelmuseum.com/shop
Pink

7. GWR has listed its "10 Must-Do Activities" to get you into the holiday spirit. What is the top suggestion?
From https://www.gwr.com/stations-and-destinations/travel-inspiration/blogs/10-must-do-christmas-activities-in-london
Hyde Park Winter Wonderland: Immerse yourself in a festive fairyland with ice skating, a Christmas market, a magical ice kingdom, and thrilling rides.


8. What links 1788, 1929 and 1973?
From https://www.sdrt.org/stock-list/
Kilmersdon - locomotive number 1788 serves at Kilmesdon Colliery from 1929 to 1973


9. What is being honoured by this quote?  "Proving its resilience to later generations, this was surely a great tribute to Brunel's design."
http://www.broadgauge.org.uk/history/bg_gauge_map.html
The Broad Gauge

10. Which of the cardinal points of the Great British Rail network is not a terminal?
The most Westerly station is Arisaig, on the West Highland line which is not the terminus - it carries on north from the village of Arisaig to Morar and Mallaig and there's a hint of East in that line in that final stretch

11. 161, 163, 165, 180 and perhaps 529 - what have they in common in railway terms?
https://wiki.openraildata.com/index.php/Darwin:Late_Running_reason_codes_and_text
Codes of train delays due to inclement weather - Flooding, Fog, High Winds, snow and severe weather preventing crew getting to work.

Actually I just took a wild guess that 1788 might be a loco number, and Google did the rest ;)

My reasoning was that, while Thurso was of course designed and built as a terminus, if we look at Realtime Trains for today (https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/search/detailed/gb-nr:THS/2024-12-23/0200-0159?stp=WVS&show=all&order=wtt) (for example), we find eight trains calling at Thurso, none of which terminates there.

Your logic is good, and I don't think there's a definite answer.  I suppose it's a terminus station at the end of a line, but not a train terminus these days.

There are a number of other stations that are terminal stations in that trains enter, reverse and exit the way they came in and at Combe Junction there are even trains that don't go all the way in from the junction.   I think Thurso is unique that all trains call at the same junction station on their way in and out.

Edit to add. Easement 000081, Doubleback
Why on earth would there be an easement for an intermediate station?    While writing this I thought "is the easement even needed because a through train is always a valid route", but of course if it wasn't in place, all passengers for south of Inverness - e.g. Wick to Glasgow - would have to get out at George's on the first call and then get back on at the second call. Wick to Glasgow (or Aberdeen or Northampton if you're helping with the ticket wall) is not a through train.

Of course there are other valid answers! The eastern point is one, as follows:

The wording of question 10 means that it does not all apply literally to railways. "Cardinal points" are directions, as indicated on a compas rose by the longest lines. In some cases these have an arrow head on the end as a terminal. So that needs some interpretation; for example as cardinal directions from the centroid of the network. However the furthest distance in each direction is an obvious alternative as it's easier to measure.

Now, the end of the arrow or line is better represented by the terminus, rather than making a big deal of the accidental feature of railway lines that they are wiggly. So if we are asked if some are terminals and some not, that must be something different. And it so happens that three of out of these four terminus stations have ferry terminals associated with them, and one - Lowestoft - does not (of any kind).

Now you might try to quibble about whether Scrabster and Thurso are the same place or not, since they are both such small villages that there are some gaps in the houses. But the distance is quite walkable even wheeling your heavy luggage. It's well under two miles, and there is street lighting and a well-surfaced footpath along the whole of the road.