Where next for Welsh narrow gauge?

For most of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the main industry of north-west Wales was slate quarrying. The quarries fed a dense network of narrow-gauge railways, including the Ffestiniog and Penrhyn lines. Today most of the slate quarries are shut and the ones that remain send their product by lorry. The railways, however, are seeing a rebirth as tourist lines, carrying sightseers through the beautiful Welsh countryside. The first railway in Britain to be preserved by a volunteer group was the Talyllyn Railway. From small beginnings in the 1950s, the Talyllyn inspired a movement that has shaped the tourist industry in Wales and throughout the UK. But the Talyllyn started out with a railway that was already intact. One of the most ambitious preservation projects of recent times was the rebuilding of the entire Welsh Highland Railway from nothing more than an empty trackbed. The WHR had been closed and lifted in the 1940s. Nothing remained. Despite the legal disputes and controversy, the determined enthusiasts finally completed the rebuilt Welsh Highland Railway in 2011. The original WHR only ran from Porthmadog (where it connects with the Ffestiniog railway) as far as Dinas, but the reborn railway continues as far as Caernarfon on the former BR trackbed.
Using standard gauge trackbed as a basis for narrow gauge tourist lines has been tried elsewhere, notably by the Bala Lake Railway. An interesting case is the Llanberis Lake Railway, which occupies the trackbed of the former 4 foot gauge Padarn railway. The Padarn Railway originally carried slate as far as port Dinorwic, on the north Wales coast. Llanberis was also served by a standard gauge railway, which ran to Caernarfon. One wonders whether it would be possible to extend the Llanberis lake railway on this route to Caernarfon to meet up with the Welsh Highland Railway? According to "Steaming through the Mountains" by Robin Jones (a Morton Media bookazine), "In 2001, the Welsh Development Agency funded a feasibility study into the possibility of extending the [Llanberis Lake] line westwards to meet up with the Welsh Highland Railway, using parts of the trackbed of the old standard gauge line to Llanberis and the Padarn Railway, but nothing has yet come of this." 
Another famous slate line I mentioned earlier was the Penrhyn railway. Here, again, a group of volunteers are rebuilding part of the line as a museum. The WHR demonstrates what is possible. It will be interesting to see how much of the Penrhyn railway can be rebuilt.

Edit, 2024: Sadly the attempt to resurrect the Penrhyn Quarry Railway failed and the line closed in 2017.

The future of the Land Rover Defender.

The Land Rover Defender is an institution. Evolved from the original Land Rover, which appeared on the market in 1948, the Defender is an exceptionally able off-road vehicle. Its main rival is the Jeep Wrangler, which evolved from the original world war 2 Willy's Jeep (itself the original inspiration for the Land Rover). The Land Rover quickly evolved from a basic soft-top short wheelbase Jeep copy into a modular design encompassing van, "station wagon" and pick-up variants in two (and eventually with the Defender, three) wheelbases. The Jeep stuck with a short wheelbase, soft top design for many years (gaining a plastic hard top later), but the body shape and interior design evolved over time. Nowadays the Wrangler has a long wheelbase model to match the Defender 110. The Land Rover still retains much of the design of the original model, and these days it has been subject to stiff competition from Japanese pick-up trucks, which offer more comfort for drivers and passengers. The Land Rover might be able to beat them off road, but the comfort levels are still stuck in the 1950s. Safety concerns are also an issue for the Defender. So it will soon be replaced by a new model. The DC100 prototype has given the world a sneak preview of what the new Defender will look like, but will it be good enough to compete with its old rival, the Jeep?
So what do I think the new Defender should be like?

• The Defender has always had a separate chassis, which makes it easy for coach-built conversions such as fire engines, ambulances and caper vans. This feature needs to be retained.
• It has also had a power take-off option. Although not quite to the level of the Mercedes-Benz Unimog, this does mean the Defender is a good platform to built a snowplough, cherry picker or anything else that needs hydraulic power.
• Military Defenders and the Jeep Wrangler have a removable plastic hard top. This would be a nifty feature to have across the range. 
• Fix the ergonomics. The worst thing about the Defender at the moment is that it is very uncomfortable, with little leg or elbow room and controls that are difficult to reach, a problem the Jeep has managed to avoid.

And now here is a gratuitous photo of some old Land Rovers:

Whither the northern powerhouse?

George Osborne's pre-election pledge for a "northern powerhouse" to rebalance the economy away from London seems to have derailed mere months after the election. It has been announced that much-needed electrification work between Leeds and Manchester will be delayed due to financial worries. Meanwhile London Overground and Thameslink remain on track to receive brand new trains.
Away from the North of England and its "powerhouse", Scotland is faring little better. Prestwick airport in Ayrshire has lost £4million in the last financial year. Meanwhile Heathrow airport remains in rude health and some are arguing for a third runway to be built. On the rails, electrification to Stirling, Dunblane and Alloa was shelved some time ago along with GARL. It remains to be seen how soon we will see these projects restarted.
Going slightly off the transport theme for a moment, house prices in London continue to reach ludicrous hights, while those in Scotland remain in the doldrums.
London seems to be a black hole, sucking in wealth and investment from the surrounding nation. Unfortunately government soundbites aren't followed up with real action and the economy remains as skewed as ever.

General election 2015

So the general election is just around the corner, so I decided to summarise the transport-related manifesto proposals from all the main parties.

Conservatives:

• £38billion investment int he railway network.
• Commitment to HS2 and HS3. 
• Electrify Great Western main line and Midland main line. 
• Crossrail 2
• £200 million "to make cycling safer" (cycling infrastructure?)
• Many road improvements, including dualling the A1 north of Newcastle.

Labour:
"We will continue to support the construction of High Speed Two, but keep costs down, and take action to improve and expand rail links across the North to boost its regional economies. We will support long-term investment in strategic roads, address the neglect of local roads, and promote cycling. Following the Davies Review, we will make a swift decision on expanding airport capacity in London and the South East, balancing the need for growth and the environmental impact."

Liberal Democrats:

• Develop a comprehensive plan to electrify the overwhelming majority of the UK rail network, reopen smaller stations, restore twin-track lines to major routes and proceed with HS2, as the first stage of a high-speed rail network to Scotland.
• Invest in major transport improvements and infrastructure. 
• Transport for the North strategy to promote growth, innovation and prosperity across northern England.
•  Develop more modern, resilient links to and within the South West peninsula to help develop and diversify the regional economy  
• Complete East-West rail, connecting up Oxford and Cambridge and catalysing major new housing development.
• Ensure London’s transport infrastructure is improved to withstand the pressure of population and economic growth. 
• Work to encourage further private sector investment in rail freight terminals and rail-connected distribution parks. We will set a clear objective to shift more freight from road to rail and change planning law to ensure new developments provide good freight access to retail, manufacturing and warehouse facilities. 
•  Opposed to any expansion of Heathrow, Stansted or Gatwick and any new airport in the Thames Estuary, because of local issues of air and noise pollution.  
• Ensure new rail franchises include a stronger focus on customers, including requirements to integrate more effectively with other modes of transport and a programme of investment in new stations, lines and station facilities. 
• Support a new generation of light rail and ultra-light rail schemes in towns and cities where local people want them. 

SNP

• Connecting Scotland to HS2 as a priority, with construction beginning in Scotland as well as England, and a high speed connection between Glasgow, Edinburgh and the north of England as part of any high-speed rail network."
• Pressing for a fair deal on fuel prices for rural areas

Scottish Green party:

• Renationalise the railways

UKIP:

• Scrap HS2
• Campaign to re-open Manston airport to address the lack of airport capacity in the South East
• Ensure speed cameras are used to improve road safety, not just to raise money.
• End road tolls wherever possible
• Oppose ‘pay-as-you-go’ road charging schemes 
• Support British HGV drivers by charging foreign lorries extra to use our roads
• Roll back the VED exemption for classic vehicles to 25 years.

New Caledonian Sleeper franchise ads another unnecessary layer of bureacracy to the railways.

 When the Transport Scotland consultation went out a few years ago suggesting separating the Caledonian Sleeper from the Scotrail franchise as an option, I objected, suggesting to either keep it as part of Scotrail or include it in either the West Coast or Cross Country franchises (the sleepers were nominally part of Intercity under British Rail) on the grounds that a separate franchise would cost more to run and effectively be the country's smallest franchise, only operating four trains a day (two going north and two south, although both trains split into 2-3 portions north of Carstairs). What would be the point in having a whole franchise just to run these few trains? So it's finally here; the new Caledonian sleeper franchise, which will be operated by Serco from 1st April, with locomotives supplied by GBRF (instead of DB Schenker as is the case at the moment). This could almost be an April fool's joke as the locos that will haul the train in the highlands will be Class 73 Electro-diesels; a type designed to run on the DC third rail-electrified regions of the South East and the Wirral. Why not stick with DBS and its proven Class 67s, or go to DRS and its Class 68s? Cost must be the obvious answer. But why the need to borrow locos from a freight company at all? With the supply of new Sleeper coaches (to be built by CAF in Spain) imminent, why not acquire a few locomotives (either new or second hand) and drivers for Serco itself? The use of third-party locomotives is not unique to the Caledonian Sleeper. Chiltern and Arriva Trains Wales also have long-term arrangements with DBS for supply of Class 67s. Under British Rail, where everything was owned by the same organisation, you could easily more locos and drivers between sectors. Under our fragmented system of Privatisation, such arrangements are complex and no doubt require a lot of back-room staff and lawyers to arrange. It's time to re-integrate our railways, not break them up even further.
 https://www.sleeper.scot/

I have a car! And why crossovers are the way for the future.

Crossovers. Part 4x4, part family car. They have become incredibly popular in the last few years, but the concept is not a new one. Jeep's Jeepster of 1948 was an early attempt to mate the practical body of a Jeep with an inexpensive two-wheel-drive drivetrain. Rover's "Road Rover" prototype of the 1950s was a more refined concept, but never made it to production. The Range Rover eventually became a successful, refined 4x4, but it still retained all the off-road engineering of its Land Rover brother. The Land Rover Freelander introduced the concept of the "soft roader", a vehicle with slightly less off road hardware, resulting in a lower price. In the late 1990s, demand for family 4x4s rocketed. However most of these vehicles never went off road. The time was right for a vehicle with the looks and practicality of a 4x4 with the economy of a regular estate car. The Nissan Qashqai, introduced in 2006, was an immediate success, with more than 39,000 sales in 2010 making it the tenth best selling new car in Britain. Other car companies have jumped on the bandwagon, with "crossover"models in varying sizes and styles. Some are more "soft-roader" like the Skoda Yeti, which is available with or without four-wheel drive. Others are essentially restyled or re-engineered conventional cars like the Volvo XC70, which is a 4x4 variant of the V70 estate car, or the Rover 25 Streetwise, which was a regular Rover 25 with chunky plastic bumpers and styling modifications. Similar to the latter is the Ford Fusion, which is based on the Fiesta chassis, but with raised suspension and a chunky 4x4-style body. It's a practical little car, although it's not very sporty. I just bought one and I love it. It's economical (the 1.4TDCi diesel I own managing 52mpg), practical (with a relatively large estate-style boot) and good looking. Confusingly, the Fusion name is used in the US market on an executive saloon, but that's a whole other subject.

How about a North Glasgow circle?

In 2005, Kelvindale railway station was opened in Glasgow, allowing diesel trains from Queen Street high level to travel to Anniesland via Maryhill to connect with electric services to Dalmuir from Queen Street low level. Now a look at the railway map shows an almost circular route from Anniesland to Ashfield (by diesel train) in one direction, and to Springburn (via Queen Street low level) in the other. The missing part of the circle is a non-passenger line at Cowlairs junction. To get from Ashfield to Springburn, one must travel into Queen Street and change trains. But what if the circle was completed/ If the line from Springburn to Anniesland (via Kelvindale) was electrified and the Kelvindale branch (which terminates in a bay platform at Anniesland) was joined to the electric line to Queen Street low level, you could than have an urban electric route that allows cross-city travel without changing trains and frees up platforms at Queen Street high level.