Tangy's rail brainbenders II (terminated)

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Tangy's rail brainbenders II (terminated)

Post by tangy »

After some very serious thinking for questions to set, your request for more of my rail brainbenders has been granted. Here they are...

1. Only two stations in Scotland are not served by FSR trains, Lockerbie is one, what is the other?

2. The longest continous timetabled rail journey (on the same train throughout) is between which two stations? Looking for time wise not distance wise.

3. What is the inner end of a class 91 locomotive commonly refered to as?

4. How many rail miles (to the nearest half mile) is it between PAD and CDF, via OXF, WOS and HFD?

5. What is the overall running gradient of the rail incline between Bromsgrove and Blackwell Summit?

6. A "tin rocket" is an often used nickname for which class of multiple unit?

7. What event succumbed IC125 power car 43019 City of Swansea to its early demise?

8. The three 321/9s are normally allocated to which route?

9. Upon departure from WAT the 0612 WAT-WEY (M-F) calls at how many intermediate stations before reaching its destination?

0. What is the technical difference between a Mark 3 and a Mark 3a coach?

As per the previous quiz, you have two weeks (until 25th March) to submit your answers to me via PM ONLY.

ding ding....
Last edited by tangy on 26 Mar 2010, 23:40, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Tangy's rail brainbenders II

Post by tubeguru »

If I don't get number seven right I am a complete arse. Or number four.
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Re: Tangy's rail brainbenders II

Post by tubeguru »

I found this quiz slightly easier than the last one, thanks to the lack of a "I travel from x to y via z" question!
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Re: Tangy's rail brainbenders II

Post by jamesthegill »

tubeguru wrote:If I don't get number seven right I am a complete arse. Or number four.
If you don't get number seven right you're a number four?!?
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Re: Tangy's rail brainbenders II

Post by tubeguru »

Something like that. Anyway, I have submitted and I hope I've managed to weed out the right answers!
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Re: Tangy's rail brainbenders II

Post by tubeguru »

Are the answers (and possibly some more questions) going up today?
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Re: Tangy's rail brainbenders II

Post by tangy »

*Advance warning*

This quiz will be terminating at 20:00 today, plesae ensure you have submitted all answers before the door closes. Thankyou.
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Re: Tangy's rail brainbenders II

Post by tubeguru »

You know how to keep us hanging on ...
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Re: Tangy's rail brainbenders II

Post by tangy »

This quiz is now closed. The following people have entered, along with thier answers...

greatkingrat:
1. Dunbar
2. 0820 SO Aberdeen to Penzance (13h23m). For some reason this takes 1 minute longer than the M-F equivalent.
3. blunt end
4. 208.5 miles
5. 2.65%
6. class 153
7. Ufton Nervet crash
8. Doncaster - Leeds
9. 41
0. mark 3A has buffers
---------------------------------------------
barrykas:
1. Dunbar. Only served by CrossCountry and East Coast.
2. CrossCountry Aberdeen to Penzance (though bizarrely the 'return' working starts at Plymouth) at nigh on 13.5 hours.
3. Depends who you ask. Usually the "blunt" or "flat" end though...And a pain in the a*se, as they're limited to 110mph running the 'wrong way round'
4. Is that before or after you get done for being off route? Seriously though, I'm gonna go for 205 miles.
5. If memory serves, it's an average of 1 in 37, and one of the few (if not only) places on the National Rail network that still has banking engines!
6. I would've said "Scud" or "Doodlebug" was used more often...'cos when the engine stops, you're f*cked The humble Class 153 Single Car Sprinter.
7. Written off in the Ufton Nervet LC crash in November 2004.
8. Usually Leeds - Doncaster, though forays to Skipton, Ilkley and Bradford are not uncommon.
9. That depends whether you count Clapham Junction as a stop or not, as it's a pick-up only call. If you count Clapham Junction, Weymouth's the 42nd stop, making 41 intermediate station calls.
0. Mark 3's are the HST vehicles, taking power for the auxilliaries directly from the power cars at 415V, whereas the Mk 3A coaches are used in loco-hauled sets, and take power at 1000V DC, feeding it through a motor alternator set to convert it to the 415V and 240V supplies needed for the auxilliaries. The most obvious physical difference between the two is that the Mk 3 coaches don't have buffers, whereas the 3As do.
-------------------------------------------------------
tubeguru:
1. Dunbar, which is served by East Coast and Cross Country
2. For want of a better answer I'm going for the old Dundee to Plymouth, or vice-versa, or both
3. And for want of a more technical term, I would say it's referred to as the "blunt end"
4.
--Paddington to Shelwick Junction is 148 miles 11 chains
--Shelwick Junction to the LMS/LNW boundary is 2 miles 54 chains
--LMS/LNW boundary to Maindee West Junction is 41 miles and 66 chains
--Maindee West Junction to Cardiff is 12 miles and 14 chains
Total distance is therefore 203 miles and 145 chains, or 204 miles and 65 chains. To the nearest half mile this comes out as 205 miles or 204.5 if you're rounding down.
5. 1 in 37.7 (2.65%)
6. Class 153?
7. The Ufton Nervet level crossing crash in 2004. I have driven the power car named after the train driver Stan Martin (43139) on many an occasion. Yesterday I had the one named after the driver in the Ladbroke Grove crash.
8. Doncaster to Leeds (Wakefield line)
9. The 06.12 Waterloo to Weymouth (M-F) calls at:
--Clapham Junction (pick up only)
--Woking
--Farnborough (Main)
--Fleet
--Basingstoke
--Micheldever
<cut>
--Wool
--Moreton(Dorset)
--Dorchester
--Upwey
--Weymouth
So I make that a total of 36 stops, with 35 intermediate stations.
0. Mark 3a coaches have buffers for use in loco-hauled trains. They also have a different electric train supply system to HST mark 3 coaches. ETS on an HST is three-phase, provided from the auxiliary alternator at 206-415v AC. The mark 3a coach takes its ETS direct from the loco, single-phased at 1000v AC or DC, converted to three-phase at 415-240v AC under the floor of the individual coaches.
-----------------------------------------------------
jamesthegill:
1. Dunbar.
2. Trans Siberian Express.
3. The blunt end.
4. 185 miles.
5. 1 in 2.
6. Class 153.
7. A Mazda 323 on the level crossing ahead of it.
8. Doncaster-Leeds
9. No stations, there isn't one listed on Nationalrail.co.uk
0. The 3a has buggers.
-----------------------------------------------------
scrxisi:
1. Dunbar?
2. No time to look this up so I'll guess and hope that there is a direct XC between Aberdeen and Penzance
3. Ugly, flat, blunt but surprisingly operable
4. Guess at 204 since I don't have the timetable to hand
5. It's perfectly flat, i.e. 1:1 or 0%
6. Googel suggest 153
7. Pick a rail crash time: I'll guess Ufton Nervet as it's name suggests it might be FGW
8. So they were originally ordered for Leeds-Doncaster, but what do they do now? Meh, lets presume they still to that. Leeds-Doncaster
9.
--London Waterloo 06:12
--Clapham Junction 06:19 06:19
--Surbiton 06:29 06:30
--Walton On Thames 06:37 06:37
--Weybridge 06:41 06:41
<cut>
--Wool 09:44 09:44
--Moreton Dorset 09:50 09:50
--Dorchester South 09:57 09:58
--Upwey 10:05 10:05
--Weymouth 10:09
I make that 43 stations served so 41 intermediate calling points!
0. Mark 3a is rated for higher voltage supply
--------------------------------------------------------------
rhubarbrhubarb:
1. Dunbar.
2. I'll try Plymouth to Aberdeen (on a Saturday).
3. ?? The blunt end - ?
4. 205 miles.
5. 1 in 37.7
6. A 153.
7. The Ufton Nervet level crossing collision.
8. Leeds - Doncaster - Wakefield.
9. 35 stops (or 36 if you include Weymouth).
10. The Mk.3A has buffers and different electrical supply arrangements (both because of loco-haulage).

The proper answers will follow shortly.
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Re: Tangy's rail brainbenders II

Post by snudge27 »

I entered too!
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Re: Tangy's rail brainbenders II

Post by Starkey7 »

tangy wrote: 0. The 3a has buggers.
...
scrxisi:
5. It's perfectly flat, i.e. 1:1 or 0%
Haha!!!

1:1 is not flat. 1:1 means forty-five degrees! You mean 0:1, I think.
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Re: Tangy's rail brainbenders II

Post by jamesthegill »

Starkey7 wrote:
tangy wrote: 0. The 3a has buggers.
...
scrxisi:
5. It's perfectly flat, i.e. 1:1 or 0%
Haha!!!

1:1 is not flat. 1:1 means forty-five degrees! You mean 0:1, I think.
I meant Buffers, it was a typo.

A very unfortunate typo.
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Re: Tangy's rail brainbenders II

Post by tangy »

The official answers from the quizmaster:

1. Dunbar. Only served by inter-ciity trains of XC and EC.

2. The honour of the longest continous UK rail journey belongs to XCs 0820 ABD-PNZ, arriving PNZ at 2142 (2143 SO). That's a journey time of 13 hours and 22 minutes!

3. The "blunt end" is the term most often used to describe the inner end of a class 91. There is driving controls at this end of the loco, thus (on rare occasions) can be used in service with the blunt end fiirst. However when the blunt end is leading a train they are restricted to 110mph.

4. The official mileage of PAD to CDF via OXF, WOS and HFD is 204 miles and 65 chains (205 exactly to the nearest half mile). In which to quote Tubeguru (couldn't of put it better myself):
--Paddington to Shelwick Junction is 148 miles 11 chains
--Shelwick Junction to the LMS/LNW boundary is 2 miles 54 chains
--LMS/LNW boundary to Maindee West Junction is 41 miles and 66 chains
--Maindee West Junction to Cardiff is 12 miles and 14 chains

During the STJ blockade over Christmas 2009, some through trains were routed from NWP to DID via this route (as the usual diversion via GCR was also blocked), which I immediately grabbed the chance to do as it meant rare HST action on the HFD- NWP section!

5. The Lickey Incline has an overall running gradient of 1 in 37 or 2.65%. The steepest incline on the NR system and the only location where banking locos are used to assist heavy freights to ascend.

6. A "tin rocket" of one of numerous (usually derogatory) nicknames given to the class 153 single coach Sprinter DMU. Personally I call them "bricks."

7. IC125 power car 43019 City of Swansea was the leading power car of the train which was involved in the Ufton Nervet (or Berkshire) level crossing crash back in November 2004. It was declared too expensive to repair and was subsequently written off.

8. The trio of class 321/9s are usually allocated to LDS-DON stopping services, although trips to Bradford or Skipton (usually the preserve of class 333s) are not uncommon.

9. The 0612 WAT- WEY calls at 41 intermediate stations before reaching its destination, this does include the call at CLJ to let people join the train. The full station list is as follows:
--Clapham Junction, Surbiton, Walton-on-Thames, Weybridge, Woking, Brookwood, Farnborough Main, Fleet, Winchfield, Hook, Basingstoke, Micheldever, Winchester, Shawford, Eastleigh, Southampton Airport, Swaythling, St Denys, Southampton Central and then ALL stations to Weymouth.

This train currently holds the NR title for the most amount of stations called at in one journey. It cannot be found on the NR site unless you check the "include overtaken trains" box as you can get the WEY faster by catching the following 0630 WAT-WEY.

0. For this question, I was mainly looking for the differences in electrical systems and how on board ETH is provided. Mark 3 is the designation given to HST trailers whose ETH is provided by a separate alternator (three phase) within the power car itself at about 210-410v, which is then fed directly down the train at the voltage required for the auxillary equipment to function. Mark 3A coaches are those used in loco hauled sets and take ETS the more traditional way, by taking a high voltage single phase (nominally 1000v) feed direct from the loco and then converted to the required lower voltages under each individual coach.

The more obvious difference is that Mark 3s do not have buffers wheras Mark 3As do.
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Re: Tangy's rail brainbenders II

Post by tangy »

uefacup81 wrote:I entered too!
The date/time on your PM read 26th March 2010, 16:38 and the deadline was 25th March 2010, 20:00. In other words you were too late and your entry is not counted.
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Re: Tangy's rail brainbenders II

Post by jamesthegill »

tangy wrote:2. The honour of the longest continous UK rail journey
Hang on a minute. There's nothing in your original question:
tangy wrote:2. The longest continous timetabled rail journey (on the same train throughout) is between which two stations? Looking for time wise not distance wise.
that mentions anything about the journey being in the UK.
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