Andrew Smith Hallidie was shocked to see a cart overturning on the steep San Francisco streets, killing five horses. He later stated that this inspired him to build his world famous cable car system, something he was well placed to do as his father, Andrew Smith, was a Scottish...

When Prime Minister David Cameron announced the “biggest modernisation of our railways since the Victorian era” back in July, in the form of the High Level Output Specification (HLOS), it became apparent that a major transformation of the current UK rail infrastructure was about to be seen. However, at...

One of the key areas in which Network Rail uses precast concrete products is in the construction of station platforms. Look at a modern platform or platform extension, and it is likely to be made from a variety of concrete beams, slabs and trestles, all manufactured elsewhere and then...

Across the rail network, the deterioration of a bridge structure due to the action of water, exacerbated by the presence of chloride ions, can cause serious maintenance problems, incur major expense and lead to inconvenient line closures. The installation of an effective waterproofing membrane is therefore an essential part of...

Tractors are useful pieces of kit - ask any farmer. They are strong and reliable, they can go almost anywhere, and the range of attachments that can be fastened to them is huge. Of course, some of those attachments are industry-specific. Ploughs and harrows are useful in agriculture, but wouldn’t...

To be fair, Shore Road pumping station is difficult to reach. Network Rail’s project manager Simon Barraclough and his colleague Behnam Sarani had been doing battle with their belligerent satnav that had already succeeded in sending them on three circuits of Birkenhead and was determined to have them drive...

Frederick Francis became a statistic at the age of 36. His was one of 1,032 lives taken by Britain’s railways in 1879. Back then, where trains went, death too often attended. Struck at just 10mph, Francis lost a boot, found later by the engine driver with his foot still...

With its vast collection, finding your way around the British Museum is difficult. Some readers may recall the Radio 4 series “A history of the world in a hundred objects” which featured key exhibits and, if used as a focus, made visiting the museum far less intimidating. Berlin’s InnoTrans, the...

The Department for Transport (DfT) is about to launch a new Technical Strategy for Rail in the UK. What is this all about and why is it necessary? The Institution of Railway Signal Engineers (IRSE) recently hosted a Railway Engineers Forum (REF) meeting at which Clive Burrows from First Group...

The direct rail route between Edinburgh and Dundee required the construction of the Forth and Tay bridges - respectively the UK’s most iconic and longest. This was a massive investment and demonstrated the economic importance of rail traffic of the time. However, it didn’t start well. The first Tay Bridge,...

On a dark night, with rain in the air, a car turns left onto a narrow lane on the outskirts of Belper in Derbyshire. As it makes the turn, a stream of vehicles approaches from the other direction to turn right and follow it down the lane. A few...

London’s new orbital railway will be complete on 9 December 2012 when the new timetable will introduce a service of four trains per hour between Highbury and Islington and a new platform that Carillion has installed at Clapham Junction. It will not be a continuous service around the capital. (In...