"Rail News" Christmas Quiz

[tubeguru]

I've been meaning to post this for a couple of months now but one thing or another has got in the way of it; you know how it is ...

Anyway, Rail News (the voice of the industry since 1963) ran a quiz in their December 2009 issue, testing the rail knowledge of the readership and offering prizes. Sadly, I can't offer you any prizes but I can post the questions up here to test the knowledge of this forum. I'm banking on not many of you reading Rail News (the voice of the industry since 1963 don't you know) so hopefully you won't have a copy of the issue which contained the answers. On the off chance that you do happen to have a copy of them it would be nice if you could refrain from entering, you big fat cheaters.

There were 50 questions in the quiz so I'll post them up ten at a time. I'll allow an arbitrary amount of time for you to find the answers to each batch (and learn a few things along the way), whatever.

PM me your answers to each batch of ten and at the end we'll see who got the most right out of 50. If you don't know an answer just guess or leave it blank. I think you should be able to get most of them, but I can't do much if an answer contradicts one in Rail News (apparently, they've been the voice of the industry since 1963). We can argue about it afterwards.

So, here are the first group of ten questions to try your hand at. Not too hard for this first lot I think. Feel free to try to impress me with any additional comments you may have for answers.

1 - Which London terminus once possessed a Doric Arch?
2 - Who designed the first station at Bristol?
3 - Which castle had its own private halt for many years?
4 - Where would you be most likely to see a Class 390? a) Penzance b) Ashford c) Penrith d) Thirsk
5 - Who designed the iconic A4 locomotives?
6 - When the Metrpolitan Railway firstr opened in 1863, which main line company provided the first rolling stock fleet?
7 - What does GSW usually stand for?
8 - In the days of pre-printed Edmonson card tickets, if no child version was available, what did the booking clerk usually issue instead?
9 - How long does it take to travel by train between Bruxelles Midi and Brussel Zuid?
10 - What is the relevance to railways of 1435mm?

Next ten to be posted whenever (I'm off work next week so I'll have plenty of time).

[tubeguru]

Well, I've had six entries so far which isn't bad I suppose. So here are the next ten questions.

11 - When the Metropolitan line opened in 1863, one terminus was Bishop's Road. What was the station at the other end called?
12 - Before St Pancras opened, which London terminus was used by the Midland Railway?
13 - Which English city was originally served by a station at Curzon Street?
14 - What did an inverted triangle mean in a BR working timetable?
15 - What is the connection between a fruit and a campaign for High Speed Rail?
16 - Which was the first railway to be authorised by its own Act of Parliament?
17 - Which company built the Settle and Carlisle Railway?
18 - How many railway bridges cross the River Tamar?
19 - What was ORCATS stand for?
20 - After Richard Beeching left the BR board in the mid 1960's, which other major public service did he **** up reorganise?

PM the answers as usual, and it you haven't already answered the first ten, send those in too!

[tubeguru]

OK, time for the next batch of questions. Come on, they're not THAT hard to find out the answers to ...

21 - Which English town became well known for its "station without a railway"?
22 - Who operates class 378 units?
23 - What was the name of the Colonel who ran the Ffestiniog Railway for a while after World War 1, and also several light railways in England?
24 - At the time of going to press (December 2009), when was the most recent permanent closure of a passenger railway station or stations in Greater London? (Month and year required as well as the name of the railway or stations)
25 - Which BR sector ran Alphaline services?
26 - Who was the last operator of the Wotton Tramway?
27 - Apart from London, which other two towns or cities had station names including the word "Vauxhall"?
28 - What is the maximum speed permitted (in km/h) on HS1?
29 - There are now six platforms at London Marylebone after two were added recently. For how many platforms was the station originally designed?
30 - On which route does TfL provide a service with diesel trains?

PMs as usual please.

[tubeguru]

OK, I'll do the last 20 questions together to save time ...

31 - Where is Crewe Bank?
32 - Which Cornish station was used as a location for the 1941 Arthur Askey film Ghost Train?
33 - What kind of rail vehicles stop at Wolverhampton St. Georges?
34 - Which BR region was the last to operate slip coaches?
35 - After Chris Green (not moley!) became director of BR InterCity, which colour was added to its 'design palette'?
36 - Which line is nicknamed the Drain?
37 - Which two operators were the first to start running passenger franchises in 1996?
38 - Before the East Midlands Trains franchise started, which operator's trains called at Stamford?
39 - Which Edinburgh terminus was closed in September 1965?
40 - When did BR cease to operate steam locomotives?
41 - Which was the first heritage railway to be run by a Preservation Society in Britain?
42 - Which bird represented InterCity?
43 - Which was the first modern light-rail network in Britain?
44 - What was a Dukedog?
45 - Where was "the Crewe of Norfolk" said to be?
46 - Who drove the first Royal Train
47 - How many regions of BR existed in 1948 (post-nationalisastion)?
48 - Who is responsible now for producing Route Utilisation Studies?
49 - BR considered electrifying the proposed Channel Tunnel with a conductor rail - true or false?
50 - What connects a common crop with Buggleskelly?

Phew, that'll do then. PM your answers to me as usual and we'll see who got the most right. I'll leave the whole quiz open until Monday-ish so if you haven't had a go at any of the questions yet, there's plenty of time to get them in.

[snudge27]

Whoops!

[tubeguru]

Whoops!

Let me guess, you just became the first thicko to use the Reply button instead of the PM button?

[mullardo]

Dear Mr Tubeguru

Please can we have answers to the quiz please. They are, at the time of this post, 23 hours late. This makes us very disgruntled with the service.

Yours Sincerley

Us

[tubeguru]

Oh, how remiss of me.

It's not like I go to work every day and every now and then come home tired, wanting to do something like, I don't know, watching TV or reading a book or maybe spending some time with my wife. It really is quite selfish of me to think of such things when the world is beset by so many problems such as the answers to a pointless quiz being 23 hours late.

[Sam]

Since when do you do work??

[tubeguru]

I sat on my arse for eight hours today and moved one train ...

[Garion]

Just one train?

[tubeguru]

OK, so we moved another one afterwards but that was it for eight hours.

[Root]

I sat on my arse for eight hours today and moved one train ...

Isn't sitting on arses and moving trains generally what train drivers do?

[tubeguru]

OK, so before mullardo has a seizure here are the answers to the quiz:

1 - Which London terminus once possessed a Doric Arch?
Euston

2 - Who designed the first station at Bristol?
Brunel

3 - Which castle had its own private halt for many years?
Dunrobin
I've done some research on this and it seems there are a couple of answers to this. But the official answer is Dunrobin

4 - Where would you be most likely to see a Class 390? a) Penzance b) Ashford c) Penrith d) Thirsk
Penrith (A 390 is a Pendolino)

5 - Who designed the iconic A4 locomotives?
Sir Nigel Gresley

6 - When the Metrpolitan Railway firstr opened in 1863, which main line company provided the first rolling stock fleet?
GWR

7 - What does GSW usually stand for?
Glasgow and South Western

8 - In the days of pre-printed Edmonson card tickets, if no child version was available, what did the booking clerk usually issue instead?
Half an adult ticket

9 - How long does it take to travel by train between Bruxelles Midi and Brussel Zuid?
None - they're the same station

10 - What is the relevance to railways of 1435mm?
Standard gauge (4ft 8.5 inches)

11 - When the Metropolitan line opened in 1863, one terminus was Bishop's Road. What was the station at the other end called?
Farringdon Street

12 - Before St Pancras opened, which London terminus was used by the Midland Railway?
King's Cross

13 - Which English city was originally served by a station at Curzon Street?
Birmingham

14 - What did an inverted triangle mean in a BR working timetable?
Single, multiple or parcels diesel unit. No one got this right surprisingly.

15 - What is the connection between a fruit and a campaign for High Speed Rail?
Greengauge

16 - Which was the first railway to be authorised by its own Act of Parliament?
The Surrey Iron Railway (1801). This one caught a couple of people out.

17 - Which company built the Settle and Carlisle Railway?
The Midland Railway

18 - How many railway bridges cross the River Tamar?
Two - Royal Albert Bridge and Calstock Viaduct

19 - What was ORCATS stand for?
Operational Research Computerised Allocation of Tickets to Services

20 - After Richard Beeching left the BR board in the mid 1960's, which other major public service did he **** up reorganise?
The courts

21 - Which English town became well known for its "station without a railway"?
Dartmouth

22 - Who operates class 378 units?
LOROL, TfL or Overground are all acceptable answers

23 - What was the name of the Colonel who ran the Ffestiniog Railway for a while after World War 1, and also several light railways in England?
Holman F. Stephens

24 - At the time of going to press (December 2009), when was the most recent permanent closure of a passenger railway station or stations in Greater London? (Month and year required as well as the name of the railway or stations)
King's Cross Thameslink station in December 2007

25 - Which BR sector ran Alphaline services?
Provincial, then Regional Railways

26 - Who was the last operator of the Wotton Tramway?
The answer to this question reads "known as the Brill branch, it was closed by the London Passenger Transport Board in 1935. So one assumes the answer is the LPTB.

27 - Apart from London, which other two towns or cities had station names including the word "Vauxhall"?
Great Yarmouth and Birmingham

28 - What is the maximum speed permitted (in km/h) on HS1?
300km/h

29 - There are now six platforms at London Marylebone after two were added recently. For how many platforms was the station originally designed?
Ten

30 - On which route does TfL provide a service with diesel trains?
Gospel Oak to Barking

31 - Where is Crewe Bank?
Shrewsbury

32 - Which Cornish station was used as a location for the 1941 Arthur Askey film Ghost Train?
Liskeard

33 - What kind of rail vehicles stop at Wolverhampton St. Georges?
Trams

34 - Which BR region was the last to operate slip coaches?
Western region

35 - After Chris Green (not moley!) became director of BR InterCity, which colour was added to its 'design palette'?
Claret

36 - Which line is nicknamed the Drain?
Waterloo and City

37 - Which two operators were the first to start running passenger franchises in 1996?
Great Western Trains and South West Trains

38 - Before the East Midlands Trains franchise started, which operator's trains called at Stamford?
Central Trains

39 - Which Edinburgh terminus was closed in September 1965?
Princes Street

40 - When did BR cease to operate steam locomotives?
1989, when the Vale of Rheidol line was sold. That got you didn't it?

41 - Which was the first heritage railway to be run by a Preservation Society in Britain?
The Tallylyn

42 - Which bird represented InterCity?
The Swallow

43 - Which was the first modern light-rail network in Britain?
Tyne and Wear Metro

44 - What was a Dukedog?
A reuilt class of GWR locomotive which combined a Bulldog chassis with the boiler of a Duke

45 - Where was "the Crewe of Norfolk" said to be?
Melton Constable

46 - Who drove the first Royal Train
Several people were there, including Brunel but Daniel Gooch was the driver

47 - How many regions of BR existed in 1948 (post-nationalisastion)?
Six

48 - Who is responsible now for producing Route Utilisation Studies?
Network Rail

49 - BR considered electrifying the proposed Channel Tunnel with a conductor rail - true or false?
True - it was considered in the late 70's

50 - What connects a common crop with Buggleskelly?
Hay. Will Hay was an actor in "Oh! Mr Porter" which was set at the station of Buggleskelly

OK, let the moaning commence while I see who got what right ...

[tubeguru]

OK, so here are the results of the quiz. The following people entered:

greatkingrat
al
mullardo
jamesthegill
starkey
Rich Tea G
uefacup81
jonny

Nobody got all 50 questions right. And just to prove it, I am now going to post the answers that everyone sent me:

greatkingrat

1. Euston
2. Brunel
3. Dunrobin Castle
4. Penrith
5. Nigel Gresley
6. Great Western Railway
7. Glasgow & South Western Railway
8. Tear an adult ticket in half
9. 0 seconds
10.Standard Gauge (distance between the rails)
11. Farringdon
12. Kings Cross
13. Birmingham
14. empty stock working?
17. Midland Railway
18. Two
19. Operational Research Computerised Allocation of Tickets to Services
20. the court system
22. London Overground
23. Colonel HF Stephens
24. Kings Cross Thameslink - Dec 2007
25. Regional Railways
26. London Transport
27. Great Yarmouth, Birmingham
28. 300kph
29. 10
30. Gospel Oak-Barking

al

1. Euston
2. Mr Temple Meads
3. Carbisdale
4. b Ashford
5. A paper merchant
6. Connex
7. General Sandwich Warning
8. A lollipop
9. 2 minutes
10. Standard Gauge
11. Choir Boys End
12. Marylebone
13. Birmingham
14. Give Way to the other train you can see
15. Bananas
16. Stockton & Darlington
17. A mad one
18. 3
19. Orchestra of Riga City and The Symphonies
20. Gas
21. Mansfield
22. LOROL
23. Colonel McFfestiniog (Colonel Sanders was too obvious )
24. North Greenwich branch of North London Line, must be about Feb 2003
25. Regional Railways
26. Mr Bill Smith
27. Manchester and Glasgow
28. 280km/h
29. 10
30. Gospel Oak - Barking
31. Exeter
32. Lostwithiel
33. Midland Metro
34. Scottish
35. Red
36. Waterloo & City
37. Stagecoach and Sea Containers
38. Central Trains (Strange question - EMT barely stop there now, it is mostly AXC)
39. Leith
40. 1978
41. Severn Valley Railway
42. Kestrel
43. Tyne & Wear Metro
44. Steam loco
45. Norwich
46. King George
47. 7
48. Network Rail
49. False
50. Wheat

mullardo

1. Euston
2. Isambard Kingdom Brunel
3. Sandsfoot Castle
4. Ashford
5. Nigel Gresley
6. GWR
7. Garswood station in Wigan
8. a cut in half ticket
9. No time at all (being the same station)
10. Minimum railway curve radius
11. Farringdon Street
12. King’s Cross
13. Birmingham
14. Driver steps back
15. The lead campaigner was gay (a fruit)
16. The first one
17. Midland Railway
18. Two
19. Operational Research Computerised Allocation of Tickets to Services
20. Utilities
21. Dartmouth
22. London Overground
23. H. F. Stephens
24. South Quay (23/10/09) {The old station is permanently closed, there is now a different station with the same name}
25. Regional Railways
26. London Passenger Transport Board
27. Birmingham, Great Yarmouth
28. 300 km/h
29. 10
30. Goblin (Gospel Oak – Barking)
31. Shrewsbury
32. Liskeard railway station
33. Midland Metro tram
34. Western Region
35. Yellow
36. Waterloo & City Line
37. Great Western Trains, Chiltern
38. Central Trains
39. Princes Street Station
40. 1989
41. RHDR
42. Big Bird (from sesame street)
43. Tyne and Wear Metro
44. 3200 Class steam locomotive
45. Melton Constable railway works
46. You (Neil)
47. 6
48. Network rail
49. Probably (seeing as it was BR)
50. The previous 49 answers

The answer to question 49 is not acceptable as it means neither true nor false.

jamesthegill

1 - Euston
2 - I K Brunel
3 - Windsor
4 - Penrith
5 - Sir Nigel Greasley.
6 - GWR
7 - Garswood station
8 - A half ticket, literally one half of a ticket.
9 - No time at all, they're the same station.
10 - It's the distance between rails - the standard gauge.
11 - Praed Street.
12 - King's Cross.
13 - Birmingham
14 - Train goes via Bermuda.
15 - Class 395 trains come with a free Apple iPod.
16 - The Stockton & Darlington Railway
17 - The Midland Railway.
18 - 7.
19 - Operational Research Computerised Allocation of Tickets to Services (the clearing system for dividing up passenger revenue between TOC's)
20 - The courts system, mostly assizes and quarter sessions.
21 - Dartmouth, with a ferry crossing a river between the booking office and the trains.
22 - London Overground. (The drivers.)
23 - Colonel McMullen
24 - Kings Cross Thameslink, December 2007
25 - Regional Railways.
26 - The Metropolian Railway.
27 - Duddeston in Birmingham, and Great Yarmouth.
28 - W225 km/h
29 - 10
30 - The Goblin - Gospel Oak to Barking line.
31 - A signal box 500 yards up from Crewe Junction.
32 - Liskeard.
33 - Trams.
34 - Western Region
35 - Grey.
36 - Waterloo and City.
37 - Connex and Sir Topham Hatt.
38 - Arriva.
39 - Princes Street.
40 - 1968.
41 - Kent and East Sussex.
42 - Swallow.
43 - DLR.
44 - A GWR amalgamation of a Bulldog and a Duke.
45 - Melton Constable.
46 - The driver.
47 - 6.
48 - Network Rail.
49 - True.
50 - Will Hay played the eponymous "Oh! Mr Porter!" in the film which was set at Buggleskelly station.

starkey

1 - Euston
2 - Isambard Kingdom Brunel
3 - Windsor?
4 - Penrith - the 390 is the cool Virgin Pendolino I think
5 - Iconic? News to me. Er, Trevithick?
6 - Great Western
7 - Get Stuffed, Waterloo
8 - A platform ticket?
9 - Total guess - ten minutes.
10 - Height of overhead power lines in the UK.
11 - Edgware Road
12 - Euston
13 - Ashton-under-Lyme
14 - No warning triangle available in the cab
15 - the leaf fall timetable
16 - Settle and Carlisle Railway
17 - LNWR
18 - 1
19 - Oh Really, Can't A Train Stop?
20 - National Health Service

Rich Tea G

1. Euston
2. The first Temple Meads station was one of Brunel's I believe, but I cannot say whether Temple Meads was the fist Bristol station! (ie, was the Bristol & Exeter there first?)
4. Ashford
6. GWR wasn't it?
9. Stab in the dark - 36 minutes
10. Is it standard guage?
11. Farringdon
12. Kings Cross
15. (Longshot, for amusement value only really...) The trains aren't going to have Windows... :p
16. Liverpool & Manchester
17. LNWR
18. One
22. TfL / London Overground
24. East London Line betwixt Whitechapel and New Cross (Gate)... don't recall when though...
25. Regional Railways (guessing there as I know that Wales & West then Wessex Trains ran them - thought they started it...)
29. Three
30. London Overground - Gospel Oak to Barking
31. Crewe High Street, next to Somerfield...
34. Not an answer, but what are slip coaches?
35. Red
36. Waterloo & City
37. C2C is one of them - in its current issue, Rail Magazine states that there were three not two though...
42. Swallow
43. DLR?
47. Four
49. False

uefacup81

1 - Euston... and it still does. In pub form!
2 - Isambard Kingdom Brunel
3 - Avon Castle
4 - Penrith
5 - (Sir) Nigel Gresley - who has an A4 named in his honour now working on the Yorkshire Moors Railway
6 - GWR... Nowadays having a very different meaning in the context of the Metropolitan Railway
7 - Garswood railway station, near Wigan
8 - Issue half of an adult ticket
9 - It doesn't... they're the same station!
10 - It's the width between the inside edges of the rail on a standard-gauge track
11 - Farringdon Street - Bishop's Road - Platforms 13 & 14 at London Paddington lie within what was the old Bishop's Road station
12 - Euston
13 - Birmingham
14 - Reservations required for bicycles
15 - Greengage/Greengauge
16 - Surrey Iron Railway - 1801
17 - The Midland Railway
18 - One - the Royal Albert Bridge
19 - Operational Research Computerised Allocation of Tickets to Services
20 - The Court System
21 - Dartmouth
22 - Transport for London as part of the London Overground service
23 - Colonel H. F. Stephens
24 - King's Cross Thameslink - December 2007
25 - Regional Railways
26 - London Passenger Transport Board
27 - Birmingham and Great Yarmouth
28 - 300 km/h
29 - Eight
30 - The GOBLIN - Gospel Oak to Barking LINe
31 - Shrewsbury - it's the name of a signal box used to control a goods loop
32 - Liskeard Station
33 - Trams (Operated by Midland Metro)
34 - Western - At Bicester North Station on 10th September 1960
35 - Green?
36 - The Waterloo and City Line
37 - Chiltern Railways and C2C
38 - Central Trains
39 - Edinburgh Princes Street
40 - 1968
41 - The Bluebell Railway in Sussex
42 - The Swallow
43 - Manchester Metrolink (1992)
44 - Another name for the GWR 3200 Class steam locomotive - so named as the locomotive was a composite of Duke-class boilers on Bulldog-class frames
45 - Melton Constable Railway Works
46 - Although I can't find a definitive record of the driver, on the footplate of the first Royal Train were: Isambard Kingdom Brunel, Daniel Gooch, "The Driver" and Queen Victoria's Personal Coachman (who insisted on pretending to handle the controls!)
47 - Six - Eastern, London Midland, North-Eastern, Scottish, Southern and Western
48 - Network Rail
49 - True
50 - A windmill - used to mill common crops such as wheat and barley, and also a key feature in the film "Oh Mister Porter" which features the fictional location of Buggleskelly

jonny

1 - Euston
2 - Temple Meads
3 - Avon Castle
4 - Penrith
5 - Nigel Gresley
6 - Great Western
7 - Glasgow & South Western
8 - Cut it in half
9 - They're the same station
10 - Is that the width between the two rails on the UK network?

And so, the scores are as follows (lowest first, ranked by percentage out of 50 answers and NOT on how many answers you sent me):

starkey
Answered: 20
Correct: 4
Points: 4/50 (8%)

Rich Tea G
Answered: 26
Correct: 11
Points: 10.5/50 (21%)
(Half a point for "Farringdon" in #11)

jonny
Answered: 10
Correct: 9
Points: 9/50 (18%)

al
Answered: 50
Correct: 13
Points: 13/50 (26%)

greatkingrat
Answered: 27
Correct: 26
Points: 25/50 (50%)
(Half a point for "Farringdon" in #11 and also for "LT" in #26)

jamesthegill
Answered: 50
Correct: 32
Points: 32/50 (64%)
(The answer to question 46 is literally correct, but not specific enough)

mullardo
Answered: 50
Correct: 35
Points: 35/50 (70%)

Which means the winner must be:

uefacup81
Answered: 50
Correct: 38
Points: 37.5/50 (75%)
(Half a point for the Royal Train question because you named Gooch but did not specifically point the finger at him).