OFF THE RAILS !
When sometimes it's hard to hold it all together!
27 February 2014 / Posted in: OFF THE RAILS !
As railway travellers sleepily got out of their beds on Monday morning, little did they expect that someone else's duvet would cause the cancellation of their journey!
Mysteriously a duvet was found lying draped across the overhead power lines when a commuter train ran underneath – tangling it in the electrical mechanism – near Keighley railway station. It took more than an hour before the bedding could be freed, during which time dozens of trains had to be cancelled on the Airedale line. How the duvet got there remains unknown.
But the British Transport Police said the incident had not been reported as an act of vandalism, so no investigation was under way. “It is a mystery as to how the duvet ended up on the overheads in the first place – it is possible it blew there.”
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30 October 2013 / Posted in: OFF THE RAILS !
A Norwich community garden group is renting out nine raised beds made from new railway sleepers for people to grow vegetables in next year. The Grapes Hill group, which was set up in 2008 has five small raised beds that are fully accessible for wheelchair users and four larger raised beds. To apply you will need to become a member of the group. Rental for raised beds starts from £5 a year for a small raised bed, if unwaged, with prices increasing depending on size of bed and income.
This year the garden welcomed a local children’s group that enjoyed using the garden on a weekly basis, while the young children learned a lot about sowing and nurturing their own vegetables. The run-down disused former play area near the city centre was converted into a community garden in 2011. The group is growing organic fruit, vegetables and herbs and ornamental shrubs and flowers to make the garden attractive to people and wildlife, and improve the poor air quality in the area.
What a fantastic way of encouraging children and 'new gardeners' into the wonderful world of growing vegetables and learning to love plants!
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13 October 2013 / Posted in: OFF THE RAILS !
200 year old railway sleepers discovered! A 25m (82ft) stretch of the 1790s’ historic Tyneside wooden railway was unearthed weeks ago by archaeologists at the former Neptune shipyard in Newcastle. The superbly-preserved railway sleepers & track, which carried coal from collieries to the Tyne for shipment, is the earliest and only surviving example of the standard gauge railway which spread across the world. It is to be stored at the Stephenson Railway Museum in North Tyneside.
The section of rails and railway sleepers will be stored in environmentally-controlled conditions at the Stephenson Railway Museum in North Tyneside. Newcastle historian Les Turnbull said: “This is really exciting and I am overjoyed that some of the railway will be preserved.
Archaeologist Richard Carlton said “These wooden railway sleepers were part of a major main line in the late 18th century which probably carried a ‘train’ of horse and coal-filled cart every minute. It would have been a disaster if the railway had been lost. This is the railway which gave the standard gauge to the world and its loss would have been an international tragedy. The railways are the greatest gift the North East has given to the world."
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09 October 2013 / Posted in: OFF THE RAILS !
An incredible 14ft sculpture made from recycled railway sleepers, called 'Pilgrim' - by Glenn Morris. Glenn was invited to create an outdoor sculpture for an ancient Abbey in the heart of Wales, dating back to the 12th century. Glenn was one of 9 sculptors invited to give a sculptural response to the historic site and whose work was placed within the Abbey grounds.
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22 September 2013 / Posted in: OFF THE RAILS !
Champion boxer Tyson Fury is taking on David Haye in an all-British megafight on September 28 and has been training by lifting railway sleepers. Sky caught up with Fury at his training base in Belgium and filmed scenes for the advert that will be aired to promote the fight. Fury was filmed skipping through a Bay Tree nursery, jogging down a disused railway line and lifting railway sleepers above his head.
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20 September 2013 / Posted in: OFF THE RAILS !
Fire investigations officers have started searching for evidence pointing to what may have sparked a large blaze of railway sleepers at a Nottinghamshire firm. Around 60 firefighters battled the blaze, which started at a Nottingham railway sleeper yard.
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19 September 2013 / Posted in: OFF THE RAILS !
Train derailed by theft of railway sleepers.
A steam train carrying 627 people derailed in South Africa near Cullinan after thieves removed some 40 wooden railway sleepers during the night.
Luckily no-one was seriously hurt as the train, operated by the Pretoria's steam club 'Friends of the Rail', was traveling very slowly when it derailed on the approach to the station. The restored train was substantially damaged.
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Railway sleepers fasten the rails to the track bed. Without railway sleepers, the rails would spread and topple under the weight of a train – which is what happened here. Because the railway sleepers sit in a 'ballast' of stones, it is almost impossible for the train driver to see from the cab if they are missing.
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Stealing railway sleepers is common in South Africa. The railway sleepers, made from the hardwood Australian Jarrah, are highly valued for making furniture, and in recent years, railway lines all over South Africa have been targeted by railway sleeper thieves. Some lines have lost so many railway sleepers that they have been closed since the cost of replacing the railway sleepers has been deemed uneconomic. The thieves unscrew the bolts and slide out the railway sleepers from under the rails.
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30 August 2013 / Posted in: OFF THE RAILS !
Police who seized a van in Wanstead found both a gun and a railway sleeper. They were discovered when the vehicle was raided by police in an armed robbery operation this morning. Police with automatic weapons surrounded the white van near to Wanstead Chemist at about 9am. A man in his 30s, was arrested at the scene. It is understood that the police were investigating the possibility that the used railway sleeper was planned to be used as part of a smash-and-grab raid on
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28 July 2013 / Posted in: OFF THE RAILS !
Network Rail to recycle rubbish into railway sleepers. Material from old car bumpers and plastic bottles will replace timber railway sleepers in trial on slower lines. Britain's railways are turning to recycled plastic in a trial of environmentally friendly railway sleepers. Network Rail is to fit up to 250 of the green railway sleepers, made from old car bumpers and plastic bottles, on the network this summer. The material will replace traditional timber railway sleepers, which are ...
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27 July 2013 / Posted in: OFF THE RAILS !
There are new fears over the safety of our railway sleepers & railway lines tonight following the publication of a new report. The report, which is the latest in a long line of such works, states: "For years we have been having trouble with damaged or missing railway sleepers," said Dr Douglas Ramsbottom. "At last we have found an explanation: Alan Titchmarsh.
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