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The Opicina tram – an update
The Opicina tram in Northern Italy, the world’s only tramway of its kind, has been shut nearly 5 years. Following an accident on Via Commerciale between Trieste and Opicina in August 2016, it was forced to close. The line was meant to reopen in March 2020 but then came the COVID pandemic. The last time […]
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Crossrail – the Old Oak scene
I bet you never realised Crossrail had major working sites at both of West London’s ‘Oaks!’ That is, Royal Oak and Old Oak. The former is the location where the tunnels begin their journey to either East or South East London, and the latter is where the company built and stored its thousands and thousands […]
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Upgrading the Transports Publics Fribourgeois (TPF) #3
With the conversion of the line from Bulle to Broc-Fabrique (and its continuation as a private rail network right into the Nestle chocolate factory itself) the delightful La Gruyère system (the GFM, aka the Gruyère-Fribourg-Morat or as it was officially known, the Compagnie des Chemins de fer Fribourgeois) is no more. The 42 km of […]
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Montreux Oberland Bernois 120th
Celebrating the 120th anniversary of the Chemin de fer Montreux Oberland Bernois (MOB.) The line opened in December 1901 between Montreux and Les Avants, a climb of about 1866 feet or 575 metres and a mere 3km (just under two miles) distant as the crow flies. The original plans were in fact for a line […]
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Upgrading the Transports Publics Fribourgeois (TPF) #2
This second part covers the new Bulle station and the famous Bulle to Broc line in part. This line is famous because it connected directly to the celebrated Nestle chocolate factory in Broc. Also famous for considerable standard gauge freight traffic carried via the narrow gauge as well as the celebrated ‘Chocolate Express.’ Not now […]
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King’s Cross tunnels & canal aqueduct #3
The final part of the King’s Cross station remodelling took place between Easter and early June 2021 with the west side of the station being closed and the tracks and platforms upgraded to longer sections as well as better track geometry. Unfortunately the design has left the former platform 10 without any track of any […]
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London’s only tube trains with a forward view!
Now that the 1938 tube stock’s long era in public service has come to an end with the last examples having bowed out from the Island Line, I thought it would be a good time to talk about the one element of these tube trains no one ever seems to mention. That is the fact […]
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Upgrading the Transports Publics Fribourgeois (TPF)
In the canton of Fribourg, the TPF (previously known as the GFM) has a long metre gauge route (as well as two standard gauge lines) that make up the authority’s diverse transportation offerings, which include trolleybuses. Enhancements have been made to almost all of the company’s lines, including the standard gauge, and some of these […]
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Oxford Circus escalator pics – the update!
Just over a week ago I published a feature on the new pictures at Oxford Circus tube which featured the history of escalators on London’s underground. One curiosity was the fact all the pictures were in chronological order other than the final three which were set out as 1976, 1950 and 2014 (that’s in the […]
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Oxford Circus escalator pics
Work on the down northbound escalators at Oxford Circus is accompanied by a novelty rarely seen at any escalator work on the tube. This is a photomontage of images depicting escalator history and building. While this has been done at one, maybe two, other tube stations, this particular exhibit includes a photograph of London’s only […]