|
Stapleford Miniature Railway
Stapleford Miniature Railway is an historic steam locomotive-hauled gauge railway at Stapleford Park, Stapleford near Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire, England. Considered one of the finest examples of its type, the railway is now private but still attracts thousands of visitors from the UK and abroad during its two public charity events each year. History The ridable miniature railway began life in 1958 as a short line to carry visitors from the car park, to Lord Gretton's stately home. Due to its popularity, the railway was quickly expanded, running down to and then eventually around the lake in the landscaped parkland and the park which also featured a drive through lion reserve. The SMR featured in a 1965 episode of the television show '' The Avengers'' called "The Gravediggers", where Emma Peel (played by Diana Rigg), was tied to the railway track, before Steed rescued her just in time. After the estate closed its doors to the public in 1982, the railway was mothballed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Box Tunnel
Box Tunnel passes through Box Hill on the Great Western Main Line (GWML) between Bath and Chippenham. The tunnel was the world's longest railway tunnel when it was completed in 1841. Built between December 1838 and June 1841 for the Great Western Railway (GWR) under the direction of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the straight tunnel descends on a 1 in 100 gradient from its eastern end. At the time the tunnel's construction was considered dangerous due to its length and the composition of the underlying strata. The west portal is Grade II* listed and the east portal is Grade II listed. Ammunition was stored near the tunnel during World War II, reusing mine workings. During the 2010s, the tunnel was modified and the track lowered to prepare it for electrification. History Background During the 1830s, Isambard Kingdom Brunel developed a plan for a railway running east–west between London and Bristol. The Great Western Main Line, would maintain either level ground or gentle gradien ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Uganda
}), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territories make up Eastern Africa: Due to the historical .... The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The southern part of the country includes a substantial portion of Lake Victoria, shared with Kenya and Tanzania. Uganda is in the African Great Lakes region. Uganda also lies within the Nile, Nile basin and has a varied but generally a modified equatorial climate. It has a population of around 49 million, of which 8.5 million live in the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kampala. Uganda is named after the Buganda kingdom, which encompasses a large portion of the south of the country, includi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
GWR 2900 Class
The Great Western Railway 2900 Class or Saint Class, which was built by the Great Western Railway's Swindon Works, incorporated several series of 2-cylinder passenger steam locomotives designed by George Jackson Churchward and built between 1902 and 1913 with differences in the dimensions. The majority of these were built as 4-6-0 locomotives; but thirteen examples were built as 4-4-2 (but converted to 4-6-0 during 1912/13). They proved to be a successful class which established the design principles for GWR 2-cylinder classes over the next fifty years. Background After finally converting the last broad gauge lines in 1892, the Great Western Railway (GWR) began a period of modernization as new cut-off lines shortened its routes to west of England, South Wales and Birmingham. During the first decade of the twentieth century the Chief Mechanical Engineer, George Jackson Churchward, designed or acquired a number of experimental locomotives with different wheel arrangements and boile ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
4-6-0
A 4-6-0 steam locomotive, under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, has four leading wheels on two axles in a leading bogie and six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles with the absence of trailing wheels. In the mid-19th century, this wheel arrangement became the second-most-popular configuration for new steam locomotives in the United States, where this type is commonly referred to as a ten-wheeler.White, John H., Jr. (1968). ''A history of the American locomotive; its development: 1830-1880''. New York, NY: Dover Publications. p. 57. As locomotives pulling trains of lightweight all-wood passenger cars from the 1890 to the 1920s, they were exceptionally stable at near speeds on the New York Central's New York-to-Chicago Water Level Route and on the Reading Railroad's line from Camden to Atlantic City, New Jersey. Overview Tender locomotives During the second half of the nineteenth and first half of the twenti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hampton Court
Hampton Court Palace is a Grade I listed royal palace in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, southwest and upstream of central London on the River Thames. The building of the palace began in 1514 for Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, the chief minister of Henry VIII. In 1529, as Wolsey fell from favour, the cardinal gave the palace to the king to check his disgrace. The palace went on to become one of Henry's most favoured residences; soon after acquiring the property, he arranged for it to be enlarged so that it might more easily accommodate his sizeable retinue of courtiers. Along with St James' Palace, it is one of only two surviving palaces out of the many the king owned. The palace is currently in the possession of King Charles III and the Crown. In the following century, King William III's massive rebuilding and expansion work, which was intended to rival the Palace of Versailles, destroyed much of the Tudor palace.Dynes, p. 90. His work ceased in 1694, leaving the pala ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nickel Plate 765
Nickel Plate Road 765 is a class "S-2" 2-8-4 " Berkshire" type steam locomotive built for the New York, Chicago & St. Louis Railroad, commonly referred to as the "Nickel Plate Road". No. 765 continues to operate in mainline excursion service and is owned and maintained by the Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society (FWRHS) and was also added to the National Register of Historic Places on September 12, 1996. Since 2010, the locomotive visits the ''Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad'', hauling several train excursions every year. History Background (1925–1944) At the turn of the 20th century, railroads faced a surmounting problem: an increase in traffic and limited steam technology. Railroads commonly relied on drag freights with engines that could pull heavy tonnage but at low speeds. Following experiments with existing designs, Lima Locomotive Works developed a new wheel arrangement to accommodate an increase in the size of the locomotive's firebox. An increase in the firebox size ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2-8-4
Under the Whyte notation, a 2-8-4 is a steam locomotive that has two unpowered leading wheels, followed by eight coupled and powered driving wheels, and four trailing wheels. This locomotive type is most often referred to as a Berkshire, though the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway used the name Kanawha for their 2-8-4s. In Europe, this wheel arrangement was mostly seen in mainline passenger express locomotives and, in certain countries, in tank locomotives. Overview In the United States of America, the 2-8-4 wheel arrangement was a further development of the enormously successful 2-8-2 Mikado. It resulted from the requirement for a freight locomotive with even greater steam heating capacity. To produce more steam, a solution was to increase the size of the locomotive's firebox, though the 2-8-2 wheel arrangement, with its single axle trailing truck, limited the permissible increased axle loading from a larger firebox. The most practical solution was to add a second trailing axle to s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Curwen
David C. Curwen (30 November 1913 – 26 May 2011) was an English miniature railway steam locomotive mechanical engineer. Born in Sydenham, South London, and educated at King's School, Canterbury, Curwen worked from 1935 to 1945 for Short Brothers in Rochester as an aircraft engineer. In 1946, he established his own engineering firm, Baydon. In 1950 he married Barbara Willans, an actress. In 1951 he became Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the Talyllyn Railway in Wales for its first year of preservation. At the end of the 1951 season, he returned to Devizes, Wiltshire where he went into partnership with A.E. Newbery to create Curwen and Newbery. He left the partnership in 1966 and established his own workshop at All Cannings, Wiltshire. He published his autobiography titled ''Rule of Thumb'' in 2006, and a review of his work was published as ''The Miniature Locomotives of David Curwen'' in 2008, by Dave Holdroyd. Locomotives Locomotives built by Curwen include the followi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
4-4-2 (locomotive)
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, represents a configuration of a four-wheeled leading bogie, four powered and coupled driving wheels, and two trailing wheels supporting part of the weight of the boiler and firebox. This allows a larger firebox and boiler than the configuration. This wheel arrangement is commonly known as the Atlantic type, although it is also sometimes called a Milwaukee or 4-4-2 Milwaukee, after the Milwaukee Road, which employed it in high speed passenger service. Overview While the wheel arrangement and type name Atlantic would come to fame in the fast passenger service competition between railroads in the United States by mid-1895, the tank locomotive version of the Atlantic type first made its appearance in the United Kingdom in 1880, when William Adams designed the 1 Class T of the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway (LT&SR). The is the tank locomotive equivalent of a 4-4-0 American ty ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Gretton, 3rd Baron Gretton
John Henrik Gretton, 3rd Baron Gretton DL (9 February 1941 – 4 April 1989) was an English peer, owner of Stapleford Park in Leicestershire. Gretton was born the son of The Hon. John Gretton, who became the 2nd Baron in 1947. He was educated at Shrewsbury School Shrewsbury School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13 –18) in Shrewsbury. Founded in 1552 by Edward VI by Royal Charter, it was originally a boarding school for boys; girls have been admitted into .... He was farming when on 17 October 1970 he married Jennifer Ann Moore, only daughter of Edmund Moore, of York. They lived at Holygate Farm, Stapleford, Leicestershire. They had two children; Sarah Margaret Gretton (born 1971) and John Lysander Gretton, who would later succeed his father as 4th Baron. He was Deputy Lieutenant of Leicestershire in 1986. He inherited the title as the 3rd Baron on the death of his father in 1982. Lord and Lady Gretton had issue: * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
GCR Class 11F
The Great Central Railway Class 11F or Improved Director Class is a class of 4-4-0 steam locomotive designed by John G. Robinson for passenger work. The LNER classified them as Class D11 from 1923. They were based on the earlier GCR Class 11E "Director" class (LNER D10). There were two subclasses: D11/1 were the original GCR engines and D11/2 were those built in 1924 by the LNER to a reduced loading gauge with smaller boiler mountings for hauling passenger trains in Scotland. Operational career The 11F Class was initially used on passenger work on the GCR system, including fast expresses from Sheffield Victoria to London Marylebone. Later in their careers, they were used on short-distance passenger trains. On lines of the Cheshire Lines Committee during the late 1940s and early 1950s, they hauled expresses between Manchester Central and Liverpool Central; also semi-fast trains from Manchester Central via Northwich to Chester Northgate. Their 6 ft 9 inches driving ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
