Great Western Coffee Shop

A fascinating (well, I thought so!) timelapse video of freight marshalling in Germany:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nz-n49pIFQ

We had those once http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dZIFKVEFlI&feature=related (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dZIFKVEFlI&feature=related) the clip is Tinsley, but there were others Whitmoore near March and there was one also planned near Blechley (that is why the concrete flyover was built but the yard never was)

Tyne Yard - similar set up to Tinsley - masssive investment and hardly ever used.  The layout of the hump yard there is still obvious on Google Earth, Multimap etc.  Search for 'Low Fell'..

One way of looking at it ??? is how could BR have collectively, and so comprehensively, failed to notice what was happening on the roads?

Paul

Another way of looking at it is that Marples and Beeching knew exactly what was going on on the roads! Those yards and concentration depots were massive white elephants that hindered rather than helped the revival of rail freight. Intermodal containerisation was the coming thing and the UK had already adopted the ISO standard in the 1950s. Yet these yards were built to marshal loose coupled wagons from the four corners of a network that was rapidly being pruned. All those line closures left insufficient freight traffic that required marshalling.

But roads were the future and rail was left to wither on the vine with ill concieved 'modernisation' plans such as these yards.

The irony of Lord Beeching unveiling that commemorative plaque at Tinsley on 29 October 1965 - when, as bignosemac says, there already wasn't enough freight traffic remaining on the railways to secure the future of such yards.

There were other white elephant yards as well Perth (too far North), Kingmoor which was built to concentrate freight in the Carlisle area and save trip working, just when the local wagon load traffic was dropping dramatically. It was not even working to capacity in 1965 when I visited on a course from Derby Managemetn College.

We suggested that it should be used to marshall freight from the South to Scotland and vice versa. eg Bescot would put all Scottish and Borders traffic in one or more trains to Kingmoor where it could be sorted for direct runs to Glasgow, Edinburgh (Waverley route still open). You could get overnight delivery that way. Pick up wagon in Birmingham late pm run to Kingmoor midnight sort and run to destination for delivery early next morning.

Enjoyable Video but what's the "trainfart" at 0.25-0.40?

"trainfart" is the name of the uploaders' YouTube channel. Seeing as they appear to be German it may not be as amusing a name to them. It is us Brits that are amused by bodily functions......

Fart Juice anyone?

(http://s2.hubimg.com/u/55489_f120.jpg)

 ;D ;D ;D

Oh dear, BNM, that joke was a bit of a stinker.  ;D

I'll get my coat....