Author Archives: hogg1905

The Bowes Railway: Re-enactment of rope hauled railways

An interesting post by railway historian Anthony Dawson on his Facebook Page ‘On Historical Lines’ titled ‘Replication, Experimentation, and Re-enactment.‘ is shown below as a screenshot, but raised a question about the operation of one railway that is already ‘lost’ despite still operating until the very end of the 20th Century, and maybe slightly intoContinue reading “The Bowes Railway: Re-enactment of rope hauled railways”

Pit closures of the 1980’s

An interesting article about the post-1985 pit closures, and the very interesting graph showing continuation of coal as a fuel but a rapid run-down of the domestic mining industry. In my own view, whilst the decline of coal would have been almost certain as coal for power generation tailed off and demand for coal wouldContinue reading “Pit closures of the 1980’s”

Reflections on North Eastern Steam (VHSRailwayFilms)

An interesting video by ‘VHSRailwayFilms‘ from the early/mid 1980’s has been recently uploaded to YouTube showing: Consett iron ore and coal trains (9F & Q6 locomotives), Northumberland: Border Counties Railway and Wansbeck Railway (Woodburn to Morpeth) inc Wansbeck Piper, Morpeth, inc sidings and shunting, ECML March 1965, November 1965 at Hepscott Junction, Hepscott Station andContinue reading “Reflections on North Eastern Steam (VHSRailwayFilms)”

The Alnwick Garden in LEGO

If you were to step inside the The Alnwick Garden, through an ancient gate and into the Pavilion, you’d be facing the Grand Cascade; this was one of the first parts of the renewed Alnwick Garden to open back in 2001, and despite being an almost daily sight for many years is still every bitContinue reading “The Alnwick Garden in LEGO”

Getting rid of level crossings a good way forward?

A good video showing a case study of Melbourne, Austrailia of their program to remove a substantial number of level crossings on the city’s metro network. What is clear throughout this video is the benefits of level crossing removal schemes: Greater safety through separation of road traffic and rail traffic. More frequent rail services byContinue reading “Getting rid of level crossings a good way forward?”

S&CR 150: Could a new Scotby Curve create a Newcastle to Settle via Hexham Line?

Yesterday, the Green Signals podcast with Richard Bowker featured a special on the Settle and Carlisle Railway. This episode covered a wide range of aspects of its recent history, particularly the story of it being saved from closure and now thriving as a tourism hotspot due to the amazing views available from the line, asContinue reading “S&CR 150: Could a new Scotby Curve create a Newcastle to Settle via Hexham Line?”