#Railnatter

#RailNatter Episode 69 (nice): How to make trains go faster

This week’s episode is charging forwards at an increasing rate of knots, as Steve Wood guides us through the ways that we can make trains faster… And no, Hyperloop is not the answer!
We cover the law of unintended consequences, bang the “the railway is a system” gong a few times, and point out that playing with the slow bits may well be far more useful than playing with the fast bits. We also touch on HS2 and get a signallers perspective on the beauty of Colton Junction!
I’m properly on holiday this time, so whilst you can all join LIVE I will in fact be entirely unable to… So fingers crossed this launches when it is supposed to!
Enjoyed this? Please do consider supporting #RailNatter at https://patreon.com/garethdennis or throw loose change at me via https://paypal.me/garethdennis. Join in the discussion at https://garethdennis.co.uk/discord.

#RailNatter Episode 68: The three generations of signalling control and interlocking

We’re back for a proper live #RailNatter episode, and this time Danny Scroggins is joining us to talk about the three generations of conventional signalling control and the three generations of conventional signalling interlocking…
You’ve been asking for signalling episodes, so this one should really hit the spot!
Join LIVE to ask your questions and get involved!
Enjoyed this? Please do consider supporting #RailNatter at https://patreon.com/garethdennis or throw loose change at me via https://paypal.me/garethdennis. Join in the discussion at https://garethdennis.co.uk/discord.

#RailNatter Episode 67: Rail Live 2021!

Last week, the British rail industry returned to Long Marston after a year’s hiatus, as Rail Live 2021 kicked off… Whilst lots of us in the industry have been sorely missing the event, lots of you don’t get to visit at all, so I thought I’d dedicate a nice long episode towards showing you what it’s all about!
First up, I walk through the site and give you an overview of what visiting is like, what sort of things you get to see and why it happens in the first place. Then I’ll pick out some things that particularly interested me, like the Merseyrail Class 777, the Network Rail NMT, the Network Rail helicopters and the Vivarail Class 230. There’s lots of other stuff to see as well – plus a lot of cameos from past and future #RailNatter guests!
I round off with a good long chat with Nigel Harris, managing editor of RAIL magazine and the man in charge of making Rail Live a reality each year.
I’ll drop into the chat LIVE, so do join in the fun as there are lots of easter eggs strewn about for you to spot!
Enjoyed this? Please do consider supporting #RailNatter at https://patreon.com/garethdennis or throw loose change at me via https://paypal.me/garethdennis. Join in the discussion at https://garethdennis.co.uk/discord.

#RailNatter Episode 66: Why isn’t Standard Track Gauge Four Foot Eight And A Half Inches?

Hello from the mid-Rail Live pub! As a result of my being down in Stratford-upon-Avon (recording next week’s #RailNatter!), this week’s episode is a pre-record and we are revisiting track gauge once more…
Having established why standard track gauge is 4ft 8.5in, now we will spend an hour working out why it *isn’t* 4ft 8.5in!
Do join in LIVE with the chatter as I’ll be dropping in to say hello!
Enjoyed this? Please do consider supporting #RailNatter at https://patreon.com/garethdennis or throw loose change at me via https://paypal.me/garethdennis. Join in the discussion at https://garethdennis.co.uk/discord.

#RailNatter Episode 65: What should the Scottish railway map look like?

This week’s #RailNatter is picking up after our Welsh railway network episode (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyJBN…) – and this time we are in SCOTLAND!
What should the Scottish railway network actually look like? I’ll take a more analytical look at things and think about how our “algorithm” might be improved to create optimised and realistic rail networks entirely automatically…
Join LIVE to have your say!
Enjoyed this? Please do consider supporting #RailNatter at https://patreon.com/garethdennis or throw loose change at me via https://paypal.me/garethdennis. Join in the discussion at https://garethdennis.co.uk/discord.

Episode 64: The Williams-Shapps Plan for Rail (PART TWO)

IT’S HERE! The Williams-Shapps Plan for Rail has FINALLY been published, and we’ve had almost exactly a week of everyone shouting about it.
But what does it actually say? What doesn’t it say? What is missing? Will it mean real positive change or more of the same? Well, in this beefy #RailNatter two-parter, we’ll be doing the now-traditional page-turn to attempt to answer all of these questions, and more…
Join LIVE at the usual time to share your thoughts!
Download the report here.
Enjoyed this? Please do consider supporting #RailNatter at https://patreon.com/garethdennis or throw loose change at me via https://paypal.me/garethdennis. Join in the discussion at https://garethdennis.co.uk/discord.

Episode 63: The Williams-Shapps Plan for Rail (PART ONE)

IT’S HERE! The Williams-Shapps Plan for Rail has FINALLY been published, and we’ve had almost exactly a week of everyone shouting about it.
But what does it actually say? What doesn’t it say? What is missing? Will it mean real positive change or more of the same? Well, in this beefy #RailNatter two-parter, we’ll be doing the now-traditional page-turn to attempt to answer all of these questions, and more…
Join LIVE at the usual time to share your thoughts!
Download the report here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publica…
Enjoyed this? Please do consider supporting #RailNatter at https://patreon.com/garethdennis or throw loose change at me via https://paypal.me/garethdennis. Join in the discussion at https://garethdennis.co.uk/discord.

#RailNatter Episode 62: Pacers were bad and saved nothing (with Dr Kevin Tennent)

We’re diving back into the history of British DMUs in this week’s #RailNatter – and this time esteemed guest Dr Kevin Tennent and I will be setting our sights on the dreaded Pacer!
Given these trains ran their final Welsh services last week, it felt like a good time to pick through the common myths surrounding them: first and foremost that their poor quality was a justified compromise to allow the “saving of rural railway lines”. It’s not true, and in this episode, we’ll tell you why!Join LIVE at 7pm on Weds to get in on the fun. Enjoyed this? Please do consider supporting #RailNatter at https://patreon.com/garethdennis or throw loose change at me via https://paypal.me/garethdennis. Join in the discussion at https://garethdennis.co.uk/discord.