British Railways #4 Trivia Quiz

Answer: West Coast Main Line

The WCML electrification scheme was completed in 1974 when Carlisle and Glasgow were connected. The ECML and East Anglia Main Line were not completed until the 1990s. The North Wales Main Line has never been electrified.

Answer: wordsworth

William Wordsworth believed that the Branchline being constructed would ruin the Lake District though, he said, the uneducated commoner not being able to appreciate the area and their negative impact on the local populations.

Answer: They had a "Bo-Co" wheel arrangement

Unusually, these locomotives had one bogie that had four wheels while the other bogie had six wheels. If anyone knows why this was, please let me know.

Answer: The Tay Bridge

The Tay Bridge is 3,460 meters (2 miles, 264 yards) long and the original bridge was constructed in 1878. This bridge was also the site of Britain's worst railway-bridge disaster when it collapsed as an Edinburgh-bound train was crossing. 74 passengers and crew were killed.

Interestingly, although no-one survived the disaster, the locomotive was recovered and continued to run on northern routes. It was unofficially nicknamed "The Diver".

Answer: All of these

Interestingly enough, all three of the individuals were commissioned to design the bridge. Thomas Bouch was the original designer, but was replaced by Baker and Sir Fowler when one of his other designs, the Tay Bridge, collapsed and the inquiry decided that it was an engineering fault that caused the disaster, although many have speculated (including the author William Topaz McGonagall in his poem "The Tay Bridge Disaster") that it was a policy of poor repair and maintenance to the bridge.

Answer: Severn Tunnel

The Severn Tunnel is 7,070 meters (4 miles, 628 yards) long and was opened on 1 December, 1886 to connect England and Wales.

Answer: 100 million pounds

Believe it or not, it costs the British Railway companies this much PER YEAR to repair all damage done by vandalism (from broken windows to derailed trains). Furthermore, a study done by Railtrack with 11-16 year olds found that 30% had either trespassed or conducted vandalism against the railway in their lifetime.

Answer: The Class 92 locomotives bought by Railfreight could not operate past Dollands Moor Exchange Sidings to the rest of BR's network.

Railfreight bought 42 Class 92 locomotives to be used on container trains from Britain through the tunnel to mainland Europe. However, the locomotives used revolutionary new types of computers and electronics that could interfere with the signalling system on the rest of the network.

Therefore, the trains could only operate through the tunnel while the containers were brought to Dollands Moor by Class 47s. 42 locomotives to move freight 34 kms was rather excessive.

Answer: 1

The Class 153 is a single car DMU with a cab at both ends of the car.

Answer: It was a prototype for the Class 47 locomotives.

"Falcon" was used for testing the design for the future Class 47 locomotives. However, since it was unique and actually was built to "type-5" specifications unlike the Class 47s (type-4s), it was given its own subclass. "Falcon" was withdrawn in 1975.

Answer: False

D9000 is still used by Virgin for railtours or regular loco-hauled passenger services and D9016 is used by Porterbrook/Riviera Trains.

Answer: flying scotsman

The Flying Scotsman, which finally changed in WWII when it was combined with a London-Leeds express and departed at 9:36AM, ran the same route and departures for three-fourths of a century, making it the longest running train diagram in British history.

Answer: London Waterloo

Waterloo has 38 platforms broken down the following way: 19 platforms (main station platforms) for trains to the suburbs and to the west counties, 6 platforms in Waterloo East for services to the South East, including Dover, 5 platforms for the Eurostar trains that work the Channel Tunnel and a further 8 platforms under the station for the London Underground.

Answer: Victoria

The fastest way to get to Gatwick Airport by rail from central London is on the Gatwick Express, which takes around 30 minutes from London Victoria Station. It is also possible to get there by slower (and cheaper) trains from London Bridge and London St Pancras International.

Answer: True

This is true. The Settle and Carlisle Line, connecting the north-west of England with Edinburgh, was opened in 1875 by the Midlands Railway.