#ECML

[corroded-void]

A BR Class 40 in their early era, undertaking ECML expresses from King's Cross to Edinburgh.

D286 is photographed at Newcastle. This machine entered service in July 1960 and was likely brand new in this photo, which is only dated as 1960. Credit - Mick Cleaver

[supertrainstationh]

Popex ECS by Stephen Dance Via Flickr: 37 192 at Holgate Bridge, York with ECS to form 1G50, the 17:26 York - Newcastle Popex additional

[mathematical-cheese]

I genuinely believe anyone who trespasses on the railway are amongst some of the most selfish people. Even if you don't get hit by a train, the entire line has to be shut until you're removed which disrupts thousands of people's journeys, especially when it's a mainline railway. And then if you do get hit, all of the above applies but you've also traumatised the train driver and anyone who has to clean up your mess

[dugaodna]

so so funny that austrian sleeper trains are authorised to travel faster than british intercity high-speed trains

[tonictheseshhog]

Not trying to start something here I promise because it's true, massive investment is needed elsewhere in public transport and infrastructure especially outside of London, but you *need* to stop drinking the "business wanks on their fast train to London" Kool-Aid. While HS2 would reduce journey times, sure, it was mostly about adding capacity to the rail network. The West Coast Mainline is absolutely crush loaded with trains, especially in the Midlands, to the point where there are local stations that haven't had a train service since 2004 even though they're still officially open. The ECML and MML are a little better but both those have seen massive under investment for decades (The ECML electrification was done on the cheap and goes pop all the time and the Midland Mainline still has diesel trains on one of the core routes in the country). There's a lot of Beeching Cuts I'd like to see reversed, and I live in Hull and the buses are truly deeply awful (Cheers Stagecoach) but HS2 was a big part of that investment in local rail travel by just taking a lot of pressure off the network.

This HS2 shite - it was always irrelevant to most people in north anyway. You can already get from Birmingham & Manchester to London quickly. It's not worth the billions just to shave a bit of time off. The people that are making that journey have a few quid so fuck em.

A bigger issue is the fact you can't go 50/100 miles or even to nearby towns & cities without an 6 hour journey that involves 8 different trains.

There are huge tourist destinations on the east coast that are only get-to-able by car - and cars are becoming a luxury - cos they shut down the rail tracks 50 years ago.

Open up more of the north, south, midlands east to west, diagonally etc rather than just improving already well worn paths to London

[guerrerense]

Streaking down the ECML por Andrew Edkins Por Flickr: A4 Class No. 60007 "Sir Nigel Gresley" pictured at Newark Northgate station. Along her old stomping ground, hauling the Christmas White rose back to St Albans.

[network-rail]

Our Routes

Here at Network Rail, we are responsible for the railway infrastructure in Britain. However, Britain is a big* country, so you might be wondering how exactly we keep track of everything (eh? eh? that was a railway pun, LAUGH) and today we'll tell you about our routes and regions, along with some of what you can expect to find in them.

If you're wondering why that map up there has different colors, it's because everything is split into several larger regions: Eastern (orange), North West and Central (green), Scotland (light blue), Southern (greenish blue), and Wales and Western (pinkish red). (those colors are not the easiest to name). The regions all radiate out from London, because London is the most important part of the country, and the rail network was built to reflect this.

Anyway, here's all of the routes and a little bit about each one!

Anglia route: this region covers some of London (the northeast bit), along with places like Norfolk and Suffolk (the folks, if you will). There's probably stuff there. We aren't really doing any big projects here though.

East Coast route: this isn't a big area, instead it's just the East Coast Main Line (ECML). It's very important, it's how you go from London to Scotland along the right side of the country. It also visits some other places, such as the National Railway Museum. Not really doing anything big here either, there isn't a whole lot of upgrades we can do besides high-speed rail and we all know how that's going.

East Midlands route: the eastern part of the middle of the country, fairly obviously; this route goes to places like Leicester, Derby, Loughborough, and other towns that shouldn't be spelled the way they are. We're electrifying this right now, although how much we'll get done before the government cancels it is anyone's guess. Oh, and we'll be connecting Oxford and Cambridge with a new line going between them, because apparently people want to travel between them (why? it's not like you'd be attending both universities or anything)

North & East route: this covers Yorkshire and some other counties, but the people in Yorkshire are the only ones who care about counties anyway so the others don't need a mention. Here, we're upgrading the Transpennine route (which means electrifying at least some of it) and reopening lines in Northumberland.

Central route: not to be confused with London's Central Line, or with the West Coast Main Line (which is not in this region), this region covers the Chiltern Main Line and some of Birmingham. Despite the Chiltern Main Line not being electrified, we aren't planning to upgrade it any time soon. Also, what's left of HS2 is under construction here.

North West route: these names are kind of boring aren't they? Anyway, this bit has Manchester and Liverpool. The other end of the Transpennine route is here, which is being upgraded. We already told you that though.

West Coast South route: this region, which resembles an american electoral district, is named for the West Coast Main Line, in case you were wondering why it doesn't have any coast on it. This is the other route from London to Scotland, or at least the southern part of it, and we consider it as a region rather than as a seperate line (like the ECML) because we're superstitious and didn't want to have 13 regions. Our main projects here include HS2, and trying to fix London Euston. Maybe. If we feel like it. You don't mind being compressed into a cube, right?

Scotland route: this region is Scotland. Obviously. We didn't need to tell you that. Anyway, there's a lot of electrification going on there, and generally things are being improved, so we here at Network Rail oppose Scottish independence and instead we welcome our new Scottish overlords, who clearly should be running the country instead.

Kent route: these routes aren't numbered counterclockwise around London, that would make too much sense. So we're here instead, in the south east bit of the country. It's the closest bit to France as well. Some upgrades are happening, but nothing too big, and most stuff is already electrified (with third rail).

Network Rail High Speed: this is HS1, the high-speed route from London to Paris (although the French run the bit that's in France). This is where you go if you want a truly fast train, although if you aren't going to France your options are a bit more limited. We don't really see that many people going from London to Ashford, although if they're taking the train that's always a good thing. Oh, and Southeastern don't want you to know this, but their high-speed services are only high-speed when they're on HS1, otherwise they're not actually any faster than normal trains on those routes.

Sussex route: Contains the Brighton Main Line, and also Gatwick Airport is there too. Very busy, uses third rail, we're upgrading some stations, not much else to say about it. Oh, and it has a bunch of south London's trains in it too, which is really the most important bit of the route.

Wessex route: the South West Main Line, and a bunch more of London's rail network. It goes to places other than London as well, such as Portsmouth and Southampton, and includes the Isle of Wight, despite that line being entirely isolated from the rest of the network. Really, the Isle of Wight should be its own region. Anyway, more line & station upgrades, etcetera, but this region also has level crossings for third-rail lines (it isn't the only one though) which are very safe.

Wales & Borders route: covers Wales and the bits next to it, because unlike Scotland, Wales doesn't get a whole region to itself. They're doing some sort of rail improvements in Cardiff, although that might not be our responsibility. We should check at some point, we don't want to have been sitting around thinking Transport for Wales was doing all the work while they were thinking we were doing all of the work, and meanwhile nothing gets done.

Western route: goes to Cornwall and whatnot, along the Great Western Main Line. Most of this isn't electrified, partly because the government cut a bunch of that project back in the day (no, HS2 was not the first time), and because Brunel didn't think electrification was important. That it had not yet been invented is not relevant, if he was such a good engineer than he should have invented it himself.

Anyway, that's how we organize Britain's railways by region. Some lines are important enough to get their own regions, and one line gets an area rather than a line, but only for part of that line (the WMCL).

Oh, and we aren't responsible for the railroads in Northern Ireland, so we don't know what's going on over there. Have they reunified? Do Iarnród Éireann operate their railroads or is it someone else? We've got no idea, but we're pretty sure it's not our job so we don't need to check.

*Britain is not a big country, it's just that there's a lot of railroads here so it makes sense to organize them geographically somehow

[lnwrcauli]

Gordon the Big Engine [NWR AU]

Yeah, I'm not quite ready for Henry yet.

History

Gordon was built in 1922 as the prototype for the Great Northern Railway's A1 Pacifics. The tests proved less than satisfactory for the GNR's needs, and thus he was sold to the North Western Railway to work the Wild Nor' Wester express. He was repainted into North Western Railway blue upon his arrival and given the number 4. He was stabled at Vicarstown sheds, where he'd often butt heads with the other engines due to his arrogance. During Henry's periods of illness, Gordon would take the Flying Kipper service, gaining much of his grumpy attitude from sleep deprivation.

During the Second World War, Gordon worked fast freights, troop trains and evacuee trains, his speed and power making him a valuable asset. This all came to a very abrupt stop in 1942 when he fractured his central cylinder outside of Wellsworth. In no position to lose one of his main fleet, Sir Topham Hatt sent him to Derby Works where he was fitted with a pair of larger Stanier-designed cylinders to replace his trio of Gresley ones. To fit these, however, they had to raise his running board at the front, forever altering his appearance. Seemingly unfazed by this, Gordon returned to service in 1943 and continued to work just as hard if not harder than before, being reallocated to Tidmouth in 1945.

In 1949, British Railways offered to rebuild Gordon above the frames to the specifications of an A3. Sir Topham Hatt accepted and Gordon made the trek to Doncaster light engine and under his own steam. When he returned to traffic a few months later, his driver remarked that the increase in his engine's power output was so great that he felt he was an entirely different engine. This was demonstrated in early 1950, when Gordon slipped violently outside of Tidmouth Station, bending his eccentric rods and melting the bearings on his return cranks. He was sent to Crovan's Gate Works, where the engineers spent a long while tinkering. When he was returned to traffic in 1951, he had finally been fixed for good. He went on to run the express as usual, joined by Bronzino and Velocity in 1963, Blenheim in 1965 and Larkspur in 1980.

In 2011, the loco-hauled leg of the Wild Nor' Wester express train was axed for good with Gordon and Edith double-heading the train. Since then, Gordon has been assigned to regular fast passenger trains and railtours.

Personality

Gordon's colourful personality needs no introduction, being arrogant, grumpy, snooty, aloof and boastful. Though he has calmed down in recent years, he's still very much the same Gordon he was in 1922. He has a close relationship with Henry and James, the three often being inseparable at the sheds. He also has quite a strong bond with Velocity, Bronzino and Larkspur, all 3 having been ECML staples at some point. All in all, Gordon may be grumpy, irritable and obnoxious at times, but is a trustworthy and formidable ally to have.

Thank you very much for reading, I hope to see you in the next one.

Cheerio!

[a-queer-rail-fan]

They're putting in-cab digital signalling on the ECML??? It's only between London and Grantham but this is big! Hopefully they'll do the rest of the line

[dalihdgaming]

FIRST LOOK | Cargo Line Vol. 3 - Intermodal | Train Sim World 5

The Cargo Line series continues! Contain your excitement as you haul intermodal freight across UK routes in Cargo Line Volume 3. Cargo Line Volume 3 continues Skyhook Games’ series of freight-themed gameplay packs that add different freight wagons to formations and more gameplay to selected Train Sim World routes.

The Scenarios for WCML are: -4L44 Trafford Park to London Gateway. 60mins / Loco+28 wagons / 1,967t / 582m. Starting at Milton Keynes, heading south to Wembley Yard. -4M24 London Gateway to East Midlands Gateway. 60mins / Loco+28 wagons / 1,967t / 582m. Starting at Wembley Yard, heading north as far as Bletchley. -4L84 East Midlands Gateway to Barking Eurohub 40mins / Loco+28 wagons / 1,967t / 582m. Starting at Kings Langley, heading south to Willesden.

The Scenarios for ECML are: -4E30 Felixstowe North to Leeds Terminal. 30mins / Loco+30 wagons / 1,943t / 622m. Starting at Retford, heading north to Doncaster -6L55 Tinsley Yard to Ripple Lane. 45mins / Loco+22 wagons / 960t / 462m. Starting at Newark Northgate, heading south to Peterborough. -4E20 Felixstowe to Masborough. 120mins / Loco+24 wagons / 1,013t / 502m. Starting at Peterborough, heading north to Doncaster.

Cargo Line Vol 3. Intermodal: https://live.dovetailgames.com/live/train-sim-world/articles/article/cargo-line-vol-3-intermodal

#tsw5 #trainsimworld5 #dovetailgames #cargolinepack #skyhookgames

https://youtu.be/TSuejt5uoss

[solahifuefos]

anyone wanna take shifts doing a 24h survey of the trains on the ECML

[corroded-void]

Colour views of Class 40s on the ECML are rare. They only held the fort on London King's Cross passenger trains for a couple of years, moving over to the 'west side' by 1961/2.

D206 soaring along in its new and keen days, looking smart in the all over green livery.

1959

[supertrainstationh]

Whistler on Coffins by Stephen Dance Via Flickr: 40 012 Aureol passes under Holgate bridge at York hauling a rake of air conditioned stock forming 1N31, the 15:42 Sheffield - Newcastle. Popex day saw all sorts of unusual combinations with no ETH supply available on the 40 the A/C equipment on the first coach would be inoperative

[nanas-45]

Rails of the Nation: The Story of the West Coast Main Line

The West Coast Main Line (WCML) is more than just a railway; it's the backbone of Britain's rail system, connecting major cities like London, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, and Glasgow. Spanning over 400 miles from London to Glasgow, and branching out to other key cities like Edinburgh, it’s one of Europe's busiest mixed-traffic routes. Carrying everything from intercity trains to regional and freight services, the WCML is the lifeline that keeps the UK moving.

The line's importance is underscored by the fact that it handles 40% of all UK rail freight traffic, making it a crucial artery for commerce between the UK and the European mainland, thanks to the Channel Tunnel. In fact, it’s recognized as a priority route within the Trans-European Networks, solidifying its status as a "strategic European route."

Interestingly, the WCML wasn’t always one seamless line. It began as a patchwork of smaller, regional lines built in the 1830s and '40s by different companies. Over time, these were linked together, and by 1846, the London and North Western Railway (LNWR) formed, uniting most of the route. The line was gradually expanded and improved, with the biggest changes coming in the late 1950s when the WCML was fully electrified, modernizing it for faster and more efficient travel. By the 2000s, tilting trains like the Class 390 Pendolino were introduced, pushing speeds up to 125 mph and redefining the way we travel.

Geographically, the WCML is fascinating. It navigates a variety of terrains, including the Chilterns, the Trent Valley, and the mountainous regions of Cumbria and South Lanarkshire, with challenging gradients at Shap and Beattock Summits. This diverse landscape makes the WCML one of the most scenic rail routes in the UK.

Despite its success, the WCML hasn't been without its challenges. Several modernization projects, like the Advanced Passenger Train (APT) of the 1980s, were met with setbacks, and even the ambitious InterCity 250 project of the 1990s failed to take off due to funding issues. But the WCML continues to evolve, adapting to the demands of modern travel.

The history of the WCML is rich with stories of competition and innovation. During the 19th and early 20th centuries, it competed fiercely with the East Coast Main Line (ECML), leading to the famous “Race to the North,” where railway companies raced to offer the fastest journey from London to Scotland. Trains like the “Coronation Scot,” introduced in 1937, became legends in British railway history.

In the post-nationalization era, British Rail continued to prioritize the WCML, making it the UK’s premier route. Today, it remains a vital part of the country’s rail infrastructure, with trains speeding between some of the UK’s largest cities in record time.

Whether you're a rail enthusiast or simply someone who relies on it for daily travel, the WCML stands as a testament to British engineering and innovation. It has shaped the way we travel, moving both people and goods with efficiency and speed. 🚆

[mathematical-cheese]

I have just learnt of the potential of upgrading sections the ecml to 140mph. Whilst it's unlikely to happen any time soon if at all, this is very exciting

[guerrerense]

York Yorkshire 12th March 2024 por loose_grip_99 Por Flickr: Another star of the National Collection Great Northern Railway Stirling No 1 is a 4-2-2 built at Doncaster Works in 1870. The single driving wheel was 8ft 1in in diameter and was built for speed. It ran on the ECML expresses and had a top speed of 85mph. It was withdrawn from service in September 1907 having completed 1,404,663 miles.