A footplate provides the structure on which a locomotive driver and fireman stand in the cab to operate a British or continental European steam locomotive. It comprises a large metal plate that rests on top of the locomotive frame, usually it is covered with wooden floorboards. It takes up the full width of the locomotive cab, and in depth it extends from the front of the cab to the coal bunker on the tender. The cab and other superstructure elements are in turn mounted on it. On some locomotives, the footplate is extended beyond the front of the cab to form a walkway around the boiler – usually referred to as the "running board" or "foot board" – to facilitate inspection and maintenance.
The Sutton Coldfield train crash took place at about 16:13 on 23 January 1955 in Sutton Coldfield, Warwickshire, when an express passenger train traveling from York to Bristol, derailed due to excessive speed on a sharp curve.
The Great Western Railway (GWR) 1500 Class is a class of 0-6-0 pannier tank steam locomotive. Despite being a GWR Hawksworth design, all ten were completed under the administration of the Western Region of British Railways in 1949, just after Nationalisation.
Minffordd railway station is a pair of adjacent stations on separate lines in Gwynedd, Wales. The mainline station opened as Minfford Junction on 1 August 1872 at the point where the then recently built Aberystwith and Welsh Coast Railway line from Dovey Junction to Pwllheli passes under the earlier narrow gauge Ffestiniog Railway. The latter was built in 1836 to carry dressed slate from Blaenau Ffestiniog to Porthmadog for export by sea, and had carried passengers from 1865 onwards. The station was renamed Minffordd in 1890.
Devil's Bridge railway station is a railway station serving Devil's Bridge in Ceredigion in Mid-Wales. It is the eastern terminus of the preserved Vale of Rheidol Railway.
Torquay railway station is on the Riviera Line and serves the seaside resort of Torquay, Devon, England. It is 219 miles 79 chains (354 km) from London Paddington.
Draycott railway station was a station which served the village of Draycott, Derbyshire, England. It was located on the south side of Station Road.
The Caledonian Railway 264 and 611 classes were 0-4-0 saddle tank locomotives designed by Dugald Drummond and built by Neilson and Company in 1885. Later examples were built at St Rollox Works under the direction of John F. McIntosh in 1895, 1900, 1902 and 1908.
The Grantham rail accident occurred on 19 September 1906. An evening Sleeping-Car and Mail train of the Great Northern Railway, running from London Kings Cross to Edinburgh Waverley hauled by Ivatt 'Atlantic' No 276 derailed, killing 14. The accident was never explained; the train ran through Grantham station, where it was scheduled to stop, and derailed on a set of points on a sharp curve at the end of the platform, which at the time had been set for a freight train. No reason was ever established as to why the train did not stop as scheduled, or obey the Caution and Danger signals.
A mechanical stoker is a mechanical system that feeds solid fuel like coal, coke or anthracite into the furnace of a steam boiler. They are common on steam locomotives after 1900 and are also used on ships and power stations. Known now as a spreader stoker they remain in use today especially in furnaces fueled by wood pellets or refuse.
The Reverend Edwin Richard Boston MA (Cantab), known as Teddy Boston, was a Church of England clergyman and author. He built a narrow gauge railway in the grounds of his Rectory at Cadeby, Leicestershire, and was immortalised as the "Fat Clergyman" in The Railway Series children's books by the Rev. W. Awdry.
The H&BR Class A was an 0-8-0 heavy freight engine designed by Matthew Stirling and built by the Yorkshire Engine Company of Sheffield. They were the largest of the engines on the Hull and Barnsley Railway. The Class A was developed to deal with the steeply graded eastern section of the H&BR between Springhead and Sandholme. Because of this the special link workings they dealt with were nicknamed the "Sandholme Bankers".
Swanwick Junction railway station is a heritage railway station situated on the former Ambergate to Pye Bridge Line which closed in 1968, but has been partially reopened by the Midland Railway - Butterley. Despite the station's name it is some distance from Swanwick.
The Race to the North is an episode of Top Gear that featured a three-way race held in 2009 between a Jaguar XK120 car, a Vincent Black Shadow motorcycle, and railway locomotive 60163 Tornado – a brand new mainline steam engine completed in Britain in 2008. The race saw the car, bike and locomotive, race from London, England, to Edinburgh, Scotland, a journey of around 400 miles (640 km). Eighteen months in the planning, the race was filmed in secret on 25 April 2009, and shown on 21 June 2009 as the first episode of the thirteenth series of Top Gear
The cab, crew compartment or driver's compartment of a locomotive, or a self-propelled rail vehicle, is the part housing the train driver, fireman or secondman, and the controls necessary for the locomotive or self-propelled rail vehicle's operation.
The South African Railways Class 12 4-8-2 of 1912 was a steam locomotive.
The GS&WR 400 class or CIE class B2/B2a were a class of ten 4-6-0 steam locomotives built for the Great Southern & Western Railway (GS&WR) between 1916 and 1923 for express passenger duties on the Dublin to Cork main line. They proved initially unreliable but rebuilds from four to two cylinders between 1927 and 1937 for the seven survivors produced locomotives yielding satisfactory performance with the last two being withdrawn in 1961.
South Australian Railways locomotives 1, 2 and 3, the first locomotives delivered to the railway, arrived in time for deployment on the soon-to-be-opened Adelaide to Port Adelaide line. Built in 1855 by William Fairbairn & Sons in Manchester, UK, they arrived at Port Adelaide on the brig Theodore in November 1855, and were unloaded in January 1856; they were assembled and placed service in the succeeding three months. They were named Adelaide, Victoria and Albert but were numbered only after many years, and a locomotive class was never assigned to them.
A blowback is a failure of a steam locomotive, which can be catastrophic.
The Victorian Railways X class was a class of 0-6-0 mainline goods locomotives operated by the Victorian Railways between 1886 and 1920.
