Cycling UK Forum

I’m presently in Southport and discovered I can ride the train (Merseyrail) all day (after 9:30am) getting on and off where ever I like for £5.30. That’s got to be better than the hassle of driving and paying to park.

Paulatic wrote:I’m presently in Southport and discovered I can ride the train (Merseyrail) all day (after 9:30am) getting on and off where ever I like for £5.30. That’s got to be better than the hassle of driving and paying to park.

You omit the hassle and expense of running a car in the first place.

Paulatic wrote:I’m presently in Southport and discovered I can ride the train (Merseyrail) all day (after 9:30am) getting on and off where ever I like for £5.30. That’s got to be better than the hassle of driving and paying to park.

Plus one!

Hi all, I don't even have to pay the £5-30! Even travelling before 09-30 hrs No parking charges to worry about either .
IGICB MM in Liverpool

Next week I get the train (with my bike) from Berwick to Morpeth (50 mikes) for £2.45. I cycle to Hexham (40 miles) and spend a couple of days around the Roman Wall and then cycle to Newcastle (35 miles). I then get the train to Berwick (65miles) for £4.40.

If that isn't a bargain I don't know what is!

Big thank you to 100% who dislikes trains for starting this, Plus One!

Trams are good too, here is a little-known factoid: some trams have passenger doors only on the near side, why?
..
Because they run on routes where all the platforms are on one side and there is a reversing loop at each end, they go forwards only, but there is a simple driving cabin at the back just for maneuvering in the depot

Some towns in Europe have lots of trams but not all are standard gauge
Dublin has trams, 'Luas' (flash), standard gauge, mind

Hello all, Quite a few people are currently wondering about the viability of train travel in the Merseyside area? A wheel on a train travelling to Liverpool suffered a wheel seizure at 05-39 in Birkenhead Central Station. Result blockage which has lasted all day! Apparently such a problem means that the train couldn't be towed away, so chaos reigned.
The matter was made much worse by the poor information system. Only tannoy announcements were given, but as I am Hearing impaired I knew virtually nothing! Staff didn't seem to be available at platform level, so no assistance possible.
Surely is should be the case that speedy extraction of dead rolling stock is an absolute priority? MM

I was a bit late at the station but I saw the down train arrive just as I got there, it was late
'My up train shall have to wait at the loop, I shall get home 15 minutes late!', I bleated
But the flexible signalpersons had arranged for the trains to cross in my station instead, so I didnae lose time, Plus One!
No ticket machine on the station, none on the train, no guard to sell me a ticket, travelled free, Plus Two?
Have I committed an offence/crime?

We were up in the Yorkshire Dales a few weeks ago.Hawes to Ingleton road to be precise.We were having a coffee at the little chuck wagon just before Ribblehead and could see most of the viaduct.The steam train passed over and everyone there,and there were loads were practically wetting themselves Me?I was just thinking look at the cr@p that's chucking out...and I'm no Eco-warrier

Not my photo as I didn't take any and our view was from the opposite side of the Viaduct but you get the picture.



I've been going up there almost 50 years and my parents have lived there almost 25 years and it's the first time I've seen it(train not viaduct) and I can honestly say I don't know what all the fuss is about.The Viaduct itself is something I look forward to seeing when either driving or cycling as it brings back many happy memories.

Ignoring historic steam engines there are some interesting things about steam.

Even though they haven't had the cash spent in the same way as diesel a modern steam design is approaching the efficiency of diesel.
Steam trains can also make good use of regenerative braking fairly easily, either by driving a compressor to feed the cylinders or a generator to push heat back into the boiler.

Turns out if you apply modern tech to steam you may well end up with a better engine (most of the output in the picture above is water vapour). A lot of the complexities of steam simply no longer exist.
Obviously though you can't simply build to the old designs as per Tornado but to newer designs which can make use of the new tech.

It really just boils down to "internal combustion" or "external combustion". (See what I did there?)

That piccie could only be improved by adding Jenny Agguter

mattheus wrote:That piccie could only be improved by adding Jenny Agguter

Here you are:


Of course she didn't need to take off all her clothes in order to stop the train. We had to wait for Logan's Run and An American Werewolf in London...

Hi all, well Pete-661 didn't Jenny Agutter take all her kit off first in "Walkabout"?
But back to trains. Question - Why do they keep remaking reciprocating, piston & cylinder stem trains? Why no go bold and recreate the LMS Turbomotive??? Perfect that with modern engineering solutions! TFN MM

merseymouth wrote:Hi all, well Pete-661 didn't Jenny Agutter take all her kit off first in "Walkabout"?
But back to trains. Question - Why do they keep remaking reciprocating, piston & cylinder stem trains? Why no go bold and recreate the LMS Turbomotive??? Perfect that with modern engineering solutions! TFN MM

In trumpland a Big Boy is running again, a steam engine almost as big as Ormskirk
Lots of idiots chase it in cars to get photos, TDT, the tragedy of drive-trainspotting, -1

I do love noisy diesel locomotives, just been looking at pictures of CoBos, queer engines with one six-wheel and one four-wheel bogie, never saw one, only one is preserved
Did see class 31s and 25s, of the former 26 still exist