We haven’t examined the answers sent in yet. We will do so shortly. Meanwhile, here are the answers as we currently believe them to be. Of course, it is always possible with some questions that someone will show us that we are wrong in which case we will have to revise our answer list.
Question 1
We asked you to identify a London station (past or present) with a Christmas theme. As we had given Turkey Street as an example that was not a permitted answer. We were thinking of Noel Park & Wood Green. However we overlooked the far more obvious Angel or Angel Road. Any of those three would get you the point.
Question 2
The potential structural failure that wrought havoc in 2019 was Hammersmith Bridge which was closed due to the fear of the wrought iron structure catastrophically failing.
Question 3
The questions start to get harder. We wanted the location of the unusual traffic lights shown. There was a bit of a clue because we stated it was vaguely related to the previous question. The answer is Hammersmith Bus station where the arrangement of the bus bays in a central island and the location of the entrance and exit for buses necessitate these lights.
Question 4
The platform that became visible once more in 2019 was platform 5 at Acton Town which was the platform for the former Acton Town – South Acton shuttle (a favourite quiz theme of ours). It is believed that the advertising hoardings that hid it were taken down due to the wood becoming rotten. The is a nice picture on this thread on District Dave’s Forum.
Question 5
We asked for a list of five Underground stations such that they fitted the pattern
AAAAA BBBBB
BBBBB CCCCC
CCCCC DDDDD
DDDDD EEEEE
EEEEE AAAAA
We allowed single-word stations with two syllables or two-word stations with any number of syllables.
As far as we are aware, the only stations that are consistent with the conditions are:
Royal Oak
Oakwood
Wood Green
Green Park
Park Royal
You could solve this by a brute force method having filtered out all stations that are not two words and are also not a single word of two syllables. However, the smart way is to realise that that Park Royal is a really good candidate since it, unusually, has the first word as one which normally appears last and a last word that normally appears first. Once Park Royal has been identified, the sequence pretty much falls into place. Using the index on the Tube Map may be helpful.
Question 6
Question 6 was similar in style to Question 5 but asked for two stations (both of two words) in the form
AAAAA BBBBB
AAAAA BBBBB CCCCC
The restriction makes Upminster/Upminster Bridge and Barking/Barkingside invalid so the only valid answer is West Ham and West Hampstead.
Question 7
We were looking for the next item in the sequence 1, 2a, 5a. It is fairly easy for followers our website and/or the Crossrail saga to realise that these are the revised opening phases that have taken place. 1 is Liverpool Street – Shenfield using (some) class 345 stock, 2a is Paddington – Heathrow using existing class 360 stock for all trains running between Hayes & Harlington and Heathrow.
Somewhat more difficult is to identify what phase is expected to happen next. All the indications are that this will be phase 2b. Usual Hamlet-related jokes apply. With yet further delay to phase 3 (Abbey Wood – Paddington) meaning it won’t open before 2021, it seems a near certainty that a full service between Paddington and Heathrow using Crossrail class 345 rolling stock (phase 2b) will happen before phase 3.
Question 8
We showed a large building with ‘BOMBARDIER’ on the side. We told you it was within Greater London. We then asked you to identify the nearest railway station. We have to admit to doing or best to mislead you. Bombardier is primarily an aerospace company that also makes trains and the building is located at the southern end of Biggin Hill Airport.
By our reckoning Hayes (Kent) railway station is closest. New Addington tram stop is surprisingly close but doesn’t qualify. Not much further away than Hayes station is Knockholt station.
Question 9
We asked what Latimer Road tube station, Old Street Roundabout bus stop and the AC sidings at Selhurst depot had in common. We also asked you to explain what had changed on order for the items stated to qualify for this category.
We were looking for something along the lines that they are all misnomers but were not originally.
Latimer Road tube station was originally close to Latimer Road but the construction of a the Westway (A40) Flyover severed the road and the southern part was renamed Freston Road. Currently the station is around 500m from the nearest part of Latimer Road which is not much less than the distance between stations on the elevated part of the Hammersmith & City line.
Old Street Roundabout bus stop did originally serve Old Street roundabout but in 2019 the junction became a ‘peninsula’ as part of TfL’s policy to eliminate roundabouts where practical as they are not cycle-friendly.
The ‘AC’ sidings at Selhurst were named as they were used to store the original electric stock on the Brighton Main Line (electrified as far as Coulsdon). This stock used overhead AC traction but was converted to or replaced by DC third rail stock almost a hundred years ago. Nevertheless, despite the sidings being DC sidings they are still officially known as and referred to as the AC sidings.
Question 10
We showed an extract of an advert put out by a transport organisation. We asked you to name the organisation. If you were observant you would have noticed that about 00:51 seconds in there is a caption, which is clearly in a modern Johnston font. So the answer is that the organisation is TfL.
More difficult, unless you manage to track down the original video, is to name the group of people this advert was aimed at. The advert was actually about the need to notice cyclists when you weren’t expecting them and so the advert was aimed at motorists.
The original video is on YouTube and can be linked to here.
Question 11
This was a question about the station with the greatest number of electric traction systems past and present. We reckon the answer is Stratford.
The post-World-War-2 Shenfield electrification programme brought 630V fourth rail on the Central line and 1500V DC overhead on the Liverpool St – Shenfield service. The Shenfield service was then converted to a combination of 6.25kV and 25kV AC overhead with the lower voltage applying in the Stratford area. When it was realised that required clearances required for AC traction were less than originally mandated a decision was made to convert all 6.25kV systems to 25kV.
In addition Stratford used to have the North London line extended North Woolwich and that ran on 750V DC third rail. Finally, it is served by the DLR which is also 750V third rail but this is a 750V third rail bottom-contact system completely incompatible with the other 750V third rail system.
Question 12
We asked what something probably was if it was described as ‘pre-Worboys’. The answer is a road sign.
For details of pre-Worboys traffic signs see this post by Diamond Geezer. We will come back to traffic signs in question 16.
Question 13
We asked what made the bus stop that we showed unique. The bus stop had a location name of St George’s hospital.
We will be generous with the answers and accept anything reasonable. The sign in question is indoors and in use. It is located inside a hospital. It is approved by TfL although no buses stop at it. It is actually located in the dementia ward at St George’s hospital and is intended to help dementia patients by being something familiar that they will recognise.
More details can be found on this tweet by TfL.
Question 14
We asked why TfL served station on the Great Western Main Line did not follow the usual convention of the first platform on the left being platform 1 as you look towards London.
The answer is a bit complicated but if you get the gist of it we will give you the point.
Strictly speaking, the convention is that the first platform on the left as you look towards the direction of the original railway company’s headquarters is platform 1. Clearly the rule about looking towards London only works for railway companies that went to London.
The Great Western Railway, very unusually, didn’t locate its headquarters in a major town but chose, diplomatically, to originally locate its headquarters midway between London and Bristol.
Stating that the Great Western Railway always had to be different to everyone else won’t get you the point – even if it is largely true.
The Great Western is not unique in this respect and stations between Battersea Park and Selhurst (inclusive) generally have the platform numbers ‘the wrong way round’. New Cross Gate on the Brighton Main Line is somewhat stranger as it is an isolated case.
For the second part of the question, we asked which at TfL stations on the Great Western Main Line could you catch a train originating from Heathrow from an odd numbered platform.
The ‘obvious’ (but wrong) answer is Hayes & Harlington as it has fairly recently had a new terminating platform added to the north side of the station as part of the Crossrail upgrade and some TfL start from there. However, this does not actually qualify as the service doesn’t originate from Heathrow as required in the question. We will not penalise you for this answer but you won’t get a point either.
The answer we were looking for is Hanwell. We believe that, rather strangely, there never was a platform at Hanwell on the down main line. This would normally be platform 1. Consequently the up main (no longer used) is platform 1, the down relief is platform 2 and the up relief is platform 3. You can see this on the National Rail station map for Hanwell which, somewhat confusingly, has south at the top.
It is important to note that the TfL service from Heathrow using class 360 stock does call at Hanwell. Class 345 ‘Crossrail’ trains do not currently call at Hanwell.
Question 15
We asked in what way ATO (automatic train operation) on the Jubilee line assisted TfL’s inclusivity and diversity objectives in 2019. The answer was it enabled people with colour-blindness to become train operators since they were not required to be able to differentiate between red and green signals. See this Evening Standard article for more details.
Question 16
We asked where a street sign displaying various restrictions relating to vehicles was located.
The fact that there was a height restriction suggested a very low overbridge or a tunnel. However, overbridges do not usually have width restrictions. The Rotherhithe Tunnel becomes an obvious possibility and the challenge then is to deduce which approach road the sign could be on. One way is to note the slightly unusual bridge in the background which in fact is at Limehouse station. Another way is to track down this diagram on the TfL website.
The answer is on the A13 westbound on the approach to the Rotherhithe tunnel. Any reasonably similar answer will be accepted.
We then asked what the bottom right prohibition sign was. This is actually a sign forbidding Hazchem (hazardous chemicals) plated vehicles from using the tunnel. A plated vehicle is one that, by law, must display an orange rectangle to indicate that hazardous chemicals are on board.
The strange thing is that this sign does not appear to be present in the Highway Code or in any other formal publication referenced in a road traffic law so one wonders how it can be enforced. It is even worse at the approach to the Blackwall tunnel which appears to have numerous invented traffic signs that may have no legal status.
More challenging still is the question about what the ‘E’ means on the sign. This actually specifically forbids a particular sub-category of hazardous chemicals which suggests that vehicles carrying other chemicals are permitted which seems rather confusing and contradictory. We did put a request in to TfL using their ‘contact us’ page to clarify what the sign meant but we got no reply.
Question 17
We asked about various things found under London terminus stations
a) St Pancras, famously, used to have beer barrels (from the brewing town of Burton-on-Trent) stored in the station undercroft.
b) Paddington used to have checkin desks for Heathrow. The luggage then went on a conveyor belt under the station prior to being loaded on the train. You can see one of Geoff Marshall’s Londonist videos about it here.
c) In the Great Northern Hotel (now linked to King’s Cross) there is a replica 1890 padded cell. The replica can been seen in this tweet.
d) The remains of Matthew Flinders was found buried in the vicinity of Euston station as part of the preparatory work for HS2. Flinders Street station in Melbourne is probably one of the busiest stations in the southern hemisphere.
e) Under Charing Cross station is, amongst other things, the Charing Cross Theatre.
f) London Bridge station hosted a replica Spitfire – as reported by the Evening Standard.
Question 18
We asked what special events or occasions had a custom design roundel temporarily adorning TfL stations in 2019:
- Pride 2019
- Poppy Day 2019
- World Children’s Day
- Larry Achiampong: Celebration of African Art (Westminster Station)
- The opening of the new Lion King film (“Lion Kings Cross” at Kings Cross)
England men’s football team qualification (“Gareth Southgate”)- England women’s football team success (Lionesses)
- Westminster Jungle (Promotional event / tie-in with the The Times)
- Walthamstow, first London Borough of Culture
Question 19
We asked you to name a station had three direct trains a day from London but none to London. Either Rotterdam or Amsterdam are valid answers. It happens because of a passport control issue which means that passengers currently have to change at Brussels on the return journey to London. Sometime in 2020 when the necessary infrastructure is in service at Amsterdam and Rotterdam this restriction should be removed.
An out-of-date PDF file of the timetable can be found on the Eurostar website here. There is no up-to-date one online.
Question 20
The question showed a picture of a robin on what was clearly a rather decrepit Underground train and asked why the robin was in a sticky situation.
The answer is because the robin is on a Rail Adhesion Train (RAT). These are London Underground trains, generally converted from old rolling stock, that lay a sticky paste on the track to help with adhesion during autumn (or ‘the leaf-fall season’ as it is called on the railways).
Thanks as always for an entertaining quiz. Didn’t have as much time as usual due to election activity, although it did make Q2 a doddle as it was a big issue in our constituency.
I don’t think I did too well this time
However, a few questions.
Q8 Chelsfield station looks to be nearer than Knockholt (Chelsfield 4.1 miles, Knockholt 4,6)
Q18 surely “Gareth Southgate” was in 2018?
Q16 The road sign is specified on page 141 of the Traffic Signs Regulations & General Directions here https://tsrgd.co.uk/pdf/tsrgd/tsrgd2016.pdf
Tunnel hazardous cargo codes are specified here http://intranet.rha.uk.net/docs/internet/hazardousgoods/ADR%20Tunnel%20Guide%2009.pdf
Forgot to send in my answers but did ok I think.
6 – gareth Southgate was 2018; and I don’t think there were any roundels for the Lionesses (just some special billboards I think).
Other roundels I found were:
– The Clash, London Calling 40th anniversary
– Spiderman costume style roundel, Oxford Circus (for Spiderman: Far From Home)
Along with Angel, the other “obvious” (to me) answer to Q1 is St. Mary’s. As always an entertaining quiz, well done the setters, and anyone who managed more than 3 right (or at least acceptable) answers.
I would argue that Gospel Oak should also be accepted as an answer to Q1, given that the Gospels tell the story of the first Christmas.
Pudding Mill Lane DLR.
Well done to anyone who got more than 3 right and Happy 2020 to everyone.
Thanks again for another tough quiz!
I thought that the answer to A1 must be Angel Road as it has been both open and closed in 2019, which I though the question was asking.
I got into a terrible loop on Q5 as I was convinced that one of the words must be EALING and one ACTON.
Q6 I knew because I had written a station-name autocomplete code and come across it there (see also Barking/Barkingside, Leyton/Leytonstone, as well as all the Beckton/Beckton Park)…
I managed to get most of the others apart from the “impossible-unless-you’ve been” questions 8 and 3 and 17 or 20, I didn’t have the time to research them.
@Friar Sven
That would also imply Mark Lane and St Johns Wood.
Oh yes – Shepherds Bush.
Q’s I actually got … though I didn’t enter:
1, 2, 3, 11 ( notes ), 12, 16 (again), 17 a,b,e.
Pathetic, isn’t it?
Notes: 11: Isn’t the tube now at a higher voltage thna 630? Which would add yet another stage … ( If true )
16: ALSO the N approach to the Rothehithe tunnel – as seen on Google Sreet View, surely? – yes I know … mutter …
“E” means “explosive” – I think … but agree that it’s unclear & TfL need to clean their act up over that one.
And – Timbeau … they are stil “buggers to find” I’m afraid – should be in the Highway Code or readily viewable on-line, surely?
Q1 Also Maryland?
@ Greg T Q16. I guess if you are driving a vehicle carrying the type of cargo specified you will have been trained in its handling and the special signage that relates to it.
@Friar Sven and Nameless: Only Matthew and Luke include accounts of the Nativity. Mark and John do not, thus in the context of Q1, their connection to “Christmas theme” is rather indirect. Here endeth the lesson.
What a tease!… as ever. Six correct answers/guesses is not bad for me. I’m looking forward to find out if anyone got the St. George’s Hospital one.
Q1 Seven Kings? (allowing for inflation). Star Lane?
@Nameless – Neither Mark’s nor John’s Gospels give any account of the Nativity – both start with Jesus meeting John the Baptist in adulthood. Neither Matthew nor Luke seem to have had any stations named after them.
@nickBXN
“find out if anyone got the St. George’s Hospital one”
I put the words in the picture into “Google Images” and the first three hits were all of that flag. If only they were all that easy!
A very similar situation exists at Amie-le Plagne station as well, where you can get off a Eurostar, but not onto it. You have to take a local TER upto Bourg-St Maurice where the UK passport control is prior to departing to London.
An in the answer RE the Rotherhithe tunnel, should the answer not read A13 Westbound on the approach to the Rotherhithe tunnel not blackwell tunnel as stated (given that Limehouse is in the background!) [Yes of course. Typo corrected. Malcolm]
Aah crap I completely forgot to send my answers in this year 🙁
For 19 I had Netley which also qualifies. It’s just a quirk of the timetable. On ordinary (non-strike) weekdays in the current timetable, two trains from London Victoria (one in the morning and one in the evening, as part of the Southern service which almost all don’t stop there) and one from London Waterloo (a peak-time Waterloo to Southampton via the Pompey Direct Line) stop there, and none in the other direction.
Q 17 (b): There are conveyor belts below the platforms at St Pancras and used to be at Waterloo, as part of the equipment for scanning Eurostar passengers’ luggage.
Q1,
This was only intended to be an easy question to get you going. Shepherd’s Bush and Star Lane are just about acceptable. Referencing Mary is definitely too remote. As an aside, Maryland, unusually, is an English place named after an American place (the state of Maryland). The state was named after Queen Mary (Mrs Charles I).
Q8, timbeau, I may have misremembered my Chelsfield and Knockholt proximities.
Q11,
Greg, interesting thought but the Central line is definitely still at 630V. The only voltage upgrades I am aware of are on the Subsurface Railway (not sure about Victoria line). Even then in places it has to remain at 630V for compatibility with inter-running stock or adjacent 630V lines. I am also pretty sure there are no plans to increase voltage as part of the Central Line Improvement Project.
Q16,
timbeau. Thanks for the links. I have updated the answers with a relevant snip from the first document. I knew there had to be something somewhere and spent hours looking to no avail. Also, I once actually did a classroom-based Hazchem for HGV drivers course one weekend about 30 years ago. I remember lots about the course which was mainly about paperwork and what to do in the event of an accident but I don’t remember anything specific about roadsigns.
Q18,
Oops. I did warn at the start we may change our answers depending on answers received. That also applies to comments. Gareth Southgate now struck out as clearly it doesn’t qualify.
I have images of all the roundels (except for Borough of Culture) for all that qualify so I am in no doubt there was a roundel. I am pretty sure these were the only ones in 2019.
Q20 and more generally on the subject of ‘impossible questions,
Brian, I agree that Question 3 might be almost impossible to get without having been there. But I did give a bit of a clue. One needs some very hard ungoogleable questions to avoid too many people getting all the answers. Question 8 (Bombardier) is hard but not impossible. There are very few Bombardier buildings on the railway (I can only think of Ilford) in London. Once these are eliminated one needs to think more creatively so it should at least be possible to have a guess at an airport. I think most of Q17 can be done with a bit of research.
Question 20 was not my question and I didn’t know the answer. But I was rather pleased with myself for identifying it as old LU rolling stock and the reference to ‘sticky’ made me think of the Rail Adhesion Train. So it is definitely not impossible. By the way, I think question 20 is the epitome of a good question. It is entertaining (nice photo), has an oblique reference to help you get the answer and it is possible to have a good guess at the answer. And it is definitely not googleable.
Muzer,
Fascinated by the Netley example. I did think it might be possible there would be a UK station but thought that the chances of there being one very small – especially one that has exactly 3 services.
London in Scotland,
Perhaps I should have emphasised I meant a long conveyor belt. Are you sure about Waterloo and St Pancras ? Usually airport-style scanning systems have rollers so they don’t break down. Also they enable people to move the crates at different speeds. I suppose there is a conveyor belt immediately in the machine but, on that basis, any shop with a supermarket-style cash desk underneath would qualify.
I can also argue that the conveyors underneath Waterloo International Terminal (WIT) were only ever under WIT – even if that is now a part of Waterloo.
Q 17
I didn’t enter, i only got 4.
But did the air terminal at Gloucester Road have conveyor belts? The question did not specify RAIL termini.
I failed to send in my answers, so here are a couple of places where I had unusual ones:
16: According to MerseyTravel, tunnel code E forbids all hazardous goods apart from five UN numbers, 2919, 3291, 3331, 3359 and 3373, which are allowed in all tunnels. That seems to agree with ADR itself. Technically I suppose that is “a particular sub-category of hazardous chemicals” (namely the subcategory containing almost all of them), but I don’t see how it’s either confusing or contradictory.
17(e): There’s also The Vaults under London Waterloo.
After the reference to ABBA in a Q1 from years past, I was sure the answer to Q1 this time round must be Slade Green. Oh well!
Quite pleased my initial vague guess of ‘probably Stratford’ for the electrification question was more on the money, as I never found time to do the web research to stand it up…
Q19 – there exists no Rotterdam station, nor Amsterdam station, both are suffixed with Centraal.
Q3: It’s possible to find some posts about these lights by searching for “dft authorisation red arrow” ; as it happens, I suspect DfT authorisation isn’t needed because there isn’t access to the general public. With hindsight, there are also some clear clues in the road markings visible in satellite imagery.
Q6: I assumed that the instruction to “Replace each sequence of identical letters with a *word* (of any length)” still applied, and noted that “pstead” isn’t a word. There is a station near Liverpool called Eastham Rake, so East Ham and Eastham Rake seemed like a better solution.
Q8: Rather than guessing possible sites for Bombardier, you can just look up their contacts page (which lists their UK sites). Biggin Hill turns out to be the first (London) one alphabetically.
Q10: In case the use of Johnston wasn’t enough, or you’re concerned about it predating TfL, then you can also just make out the “TfL” written on the clapperboard.
Q11: The North London Line also had a period of 3rd/4th rail (i.e. at +630/0V instead of +420/-210V). It’s unclear whether the 4th rail removal and the boost to 750V happened simultaneously – if not, then there was also 630V third rail.
Q18: There were five different roundels used for UNICEF World Children’s Day. The question specified nine different designs (not nine different events), so I stopped looking after finding another four events.
Q20: Look at images of old underground trains, the shape of the dividers and grab rails matches the 1938 stock, some of which was converted to Class 483 for the Island Line. However, grab rail on the divider seems to have been removed on the Class 483s, so that rules them out. The colour is also more consistent with images of 1959 and 1962 stock (which have the same divider/grab rail shape). Reading into the history of these, it turns out that there is a specific car which is used for applying Sandite as part of a Central Line sandite train (nicknamed “The Wasser”). There’s lots of information about it at https://www.squarewheels.org.uk/rly/stock/1962tubeStock/#wasser
Re Netley
Also Woolston, 3 trains I believe.
There is also Bitterne with one train only direct from London and no return.
Ooops.
Woolston has 4.
3 of these are from Victoria and 1 from Waterloo.
Alice,
Thanks for those comprehensive details. We will take onboard your comment concerning the roundels when marking. I try to be very careful with the wording but it is hard – especially when the nature of the question is suggested by someone else and these subtleties might not be appreciated.
I admit question 6 was not entirely clear as the rules had been relaxed a bit but, in reply to a query, I did spell out in the comments the exact rules.
We had some behind-the-scenes discussion about different electrified rail systems. We stand to be corrected but our belief is that 4th rail on the North London Line only applied when it ran into Broad St (and possibly Liverpool St via the Graham Road curve). As far as we are aware it was always 750V when it served Stratford.
I’ve spotted the clarifications about Q6 and Q18 in the comments now – I read them before seriously attempting those questions, and probably should have reread the comments more recently.
And oops, I forgot that the NLL didn’t always serve Stratford, even though it is written in the same small section of the Wikipedia. The subsection on traction current supply even says “when the through service to North Woolwich started in 1985, trains used the third rail throughout” (though perhaps I was thinking incorrectly that it was extended from Stratford, rather than diverted from Broad Street). The change from fourth-rail to third-rail took place in the 1970s.
And then I misread the bit about fourth rail in the answer here, failing to notice it was about the Central Line rather than the NLL.
Here’s what I answered (given I forgot to send in my answers, I’m really hoping this wouldn’t have been a “winning” score…)
1) I had Angel for this, basically just from looking at a tube map 🙂
2) I had this one from just knowing the answer
3) This took a fair bit of Googling but I found a SABRE roads thread. Including “Hammersmith” in the google search really helped, since the question implied it was close by to the previous answer.
4) I didn’t get this one
5) I got this one, pretty much in the manner you suggested.
6) I got this one immediately; it’s in my head from my knowing the Jay Foreman song Every Tube Station https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jPyg2pK11M
7) Took me a little while (I was thinking platform numbers at first!) but it eventually just clicked with me. I then found an LR article which explained the stage numbers and figured out which one would come next 🙂
8) I did a Google Maps search for Bombardier and looked on street view for each result until I found one that looked right. Then I just used the “measure distance” tool to figure out which station was closest.
9) I got this one from the Wikipedia page for Latimer Road Tube Station. Noticing the bit about the road moving and then seeing the AC Sidings in a place where there isn’t AC led me quite quickly to the answer here. Figuring out exactly what was going on at Old Street Roundabout was the hardest bit…
10) I had this one, I don’t actually recall off-hand how I found it. I think I found the full version of the video somehow, probably by some googling.
11) I had Stratford for this (DLR, Overground 3rd rail, the three GEML systems, LU 4th Rail). Liverpool Street was the possible tie, because of Mail Rail and the additional pre-4th Rail Central Line electrification system making up for the lack of Overground and DLR — though I decided in the end that under the criteria the Mail Rail third rail would probably not count as a separate system (despite the different gauge!).
12) I vaguely knew this in the back of my head but it was quite an easy Google to confirm.
13) This actually took me a bit of a wild goose chase looking around the hospital on Street View (as I presume you hoped we would do!) but then I eventually figured out from a Google search where it actually was!
14) I thought the actual reason for this was that all original GWR stations were on the down side of the line… But that was just something I had in the back of my head. Would you mind providing evidence for your assertion that it’s to do with Bristol? I did get the Crossrail one though, from looking at track maps.
15) Didn’t get this one. I was really thinking outside the box here as well, like if it was something to do with Stratford platform 13 (wrong year for that though…), or something to do with the increased use of dynamic brakes improving Londoners’ health (which is listed as a goal on their website)! https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/about-tfl/corporate-and-social-responsibility/equality-and-inclusion
16) Got this one by googling the actual restriction. Then finding the sign meanings was quite challenging but I ended up getting most of it from the SABRE forums.
17a) Got this from general knowledge
17b) Ditto
17c) Didn’t get this — I think I found a station where there was rumoured to be a REAL one but not a replica!
17d) Didn’t get this
17e) I got Waterloo for this with The Vaults — this is physically under the railway and I believe where it’s located the platforms extend out to there. Would this have been counted?
17f) I found this from Googling
18) I got very few of these, quite a nasty question!
19) As mentioned above I got Netley for this. My discovering it was pretty much by luck because I knew about the West Coastway stations getting odd services and so I kept looking at stations until I found the right one. I was honestly convinced this was the answer you had in mind too, Rotterdam/Amsterdam just didn’t occur to me at all!
20) I thought it looked a lot like a RAT. To be sure I reverse-Google image searched the image, found a reference to the person’s Flickr username, then eventually found it complete with description on their Flickr 🙂
Q3. The only place I knew that had traffic signals where the right hand head points left and the left hand head points right is outside Waterloo station, and is to control buses crossing each others’ paths. (Although there only the green lights are arrows). As there was a strong hint that the question had some connection with the previous one, which I was fairly sure was Hammersmith, this led me to consider Hammersmith bus station as a possibility, and Google Street View confirmed that.
Q20. I recognised the handrail as being 1959/62 stock but didn’t make the connection
Muzer,
I just *know* about the GWR and platforms. The HQ was at Steventon See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steventon_railway_station.
Although, rather worryingly, I have checked the platform numbers at Newport and they are not what I expected though I know that at Cardiff they are. The diagram for Swindon is unavailable on National Rail but it wouldn’t have helped as the station has been rebuilt with a different layout so might have been renumbered.
Unless I can show that the Vaults isn’t actually under Waterloo or it isn’t really a theatre then that would be accepted as an alternative. As I say, you learn a lot from the feedback.
I’m now satisfied that Stratford has seen 6 different electrification systems (having checked the extent of 6.25kV using a report on EMU failures available on Railways Archive).
I believe that Liverpool Street has also seen the same number of systems – namely three OHLE systems, fourth rail at 630V, fourth rail at 750V (upgraded SSL electrification, which is implied to count as a separate system by the “anything less than 650V” clarification), and the original Central London Railway system (which was 550V DC through a central third rail 1,5″ above the running rails; this system existed between Ealing Broadway and Liverpool Street before being replaced by the current fourth rail system). I’m not including the Post Office Railway here (which stopped at a connected station).
Bank Station comes close, with arguably five different systems – all three of the CSLR, CLR and W&C (precursors to the Northern, Central and W&C lines) initially used a 500-550V third rail system, but with different locations for the third rail. These locations were all between the running rails, but the CSLR third rail was offset to the west of centre, the CLR’s was 1.5″ above the running rails, and the W&C’s was level with the running rails. However, this 1.5″ difference is less than current differences in fourth rail height (which is roughly 1.6″ higher on the Central Line), so might not be enough to make this count as distinct.
Biggin Hill
I saw that on Bombardier’s web site & went … “No, I’m looking for a TRAIN depot” … I suppose I should have known ….
PoP
The Graham Rd curve was never 4th rail, ever.
If the upgrade of the SSR counts as two fourth-rail systems, then I think Moorgate has had six too: the other four are
– the City & South London Railway’s original off-centre three-rail system
– the Great Northern & City Railway’s original 4-rail system (positive rail on the east side of the track and negative on the west side – or maybe vice versa) used until 1940
– British Railways 3rd rail system (Northern City line since 1975)
– 25kV OHLE (City Widened Lines – “Bedpan” route – until 2009),
timbeau,
I reckon that is a valid alternative answer according to the criteria given. It never occurred to me but then I never realised the original City & South London Railway had a different system – and certainly not one that was still in place by the time it reached Moorgate in 1900.
I discounted Noel Park for Q1 as it appears to be named after Ernest Noel, chairman of the Artizans, Labourers & General Dwellings Company, which led to the building of the Noel Park Estate.
Q2 – considered Hammersmith Bridge vs various air strikes, but getting Q3 confirmed the answer.
I’m impressed my guess of Stratford turned out to be right for the types of electricification one, but that weighs against my answer for Q4 – my thinking from ‘something rotten’ led to looking up events round Denmark Hill/Street, then figured ‘platform’ could be a stage (perhaps for performing Hamlet), which led me to the reveal by archaeologists in 2019 of the Boar’s Head Theatre stage, years after “a deep cutting for the former Aldgate East tube station ripped right through the southern end of the playhouse obliterating it.”
Was amazed how hard it was to find the road sign symbols, though fortuitously the Worboys Committee popped up within a few minutes – does beg the question of whether drivers can be expected to obey signs whose meaning is not readily available, but I assume there’s extra legislation covering truck drivers.
Finally, I was impressed how every bus stop round St George’s Hospital on Street View is obscured by a bus! And how easy the question was when I simply googled “St George’s hospital” “wait here”!
Loads of educational fun as always, many thanks to the question setters!
Great fun and the discussion is always revealing.
On Q11 – I thought Stratford until I decided that Liverpool Street Mail Rail station should also count, and on further reading discovered that the Central London Line seemed to have a different form of electrification until the 1940s. Which I counted at seven if the sub-surface voltage at Liverpool Street has been increased to 750V. Oh well. Experts will doubtless politely correct me!
Post Office Railway 440V DC Third Rail
Contemporary 25kv AC 50 Hz Overhead
Shenfield Metro 1500V DC Overhead
Shenfield Metro 6.25Kv 50 Hz AC Overhead
Central London Line 550V DC Third Rail
Underground (Central) 630V DC Fourth Rail (top contact)
Underground (Metropolitan) 750V DC Fourth Rail (top contact)
Q16 – I recently completed the LGV Theory Test and can confirm this was not part of the syllabus. Presumably (and hopefully) it’s part of further hazardous materials training
Q20 – It is, indeed, the perfect question.
@PoP @BenHarris Re: The Vaults
I guess the critical question is whether The Vaults (the ex-BR archive space under Waterloo) qualifies as being a *permanent* theatre as per the wording of the question. A few years ago it was simply an all-purpose venue space in a bunch of arches for rent, which was often used for performance art but couldn’t really be described as a permanent theatre.
Now however I believe there *is* permanent theatre seating installed in one of The Vaults arches so it probably ought to qualify.
@PoP
The off-centre-rail system of the C&SLR was necessitated by the tiny dimensions of the trains, as a central rail would be in the way of the drawgear. It lasted until conversion to standard dimensions in the 1920s. The asymmetry did not matter in practice as it was a simple shuttle service and there was no way a vehicle could get turned back-to- front. The same considerations applied to the asymmetrical electrical arrangements which operated until 1940 on the G&NCR, which was also a shuttle.
I feel good about how I did this year although I do think that I could have got a couple more points if I’d had more time available. I’m very pleased with the fact that I got all of the first 13 questions 100% right, that must be a new record for me! As for Q14, that depends on how leniently it’s marked since I did put down something about the location of the head office but I incorrectly stated where it was. I did get the second part of the question without any trouble, though.
However, after that things went a bit downhill for me. I’m disappointed that I didn’t get Q15 as I remembered reading about the colour-blindness thing. I was also only able to get the first part of Q16 after I got fed up trying to search for the identity of the mystery sign and put down a completely random answer instead.
For Q17 I got 4 out of 6 while I also only got 4 answers for Q18. As for Q19 & 20, I couldn’t think of anything though I’m very disappointed for forgetting about Amsterdam. I also feel like I could have found the alternative answer of Netley if I’d had more time.
With all that said though, I’m still happy with my performance overall. I’ll be interested to see the detailed results.
@PoP, 23:47 on 1/1
GWR platforming – it does seem to have just been the GWR being odd. The general pan-GW policy that platform 1 should be on the Down side is common all the way down to St Erth (Penzance is the wrong way round).
There are a few exceptions, for which examples include:
– Swindon was remodelled by BR in the late 1960s and old (Down side) platforms 1-4 demolished. The current (Up side) platform 1 used to be platform 8;
– Bristol TM lost platforms 1 and 2 in the 1960s and the platforming was renumbered to count from the entrance instead, although those platforms have now been restored as platforms 13 and 15 (still with the old board directing passengers to the rest of the station);
– So far as anyone cared about platform numbering at wayside stops “back in the day”, some places like Lostwitheil and Kemble have lost a down-side bay and the ensuing renumbering appears to have kept platform 2 as was while the old platform 3 became 1.
– Cardiff Central seems to have just resulted from someone deciding not to put platform 1 in the Taff Vale part of the station.
A quick images search produces a couple of pictures showing a 4-platform station at Hanwell, plus this video: https://www.britishpathe.com/video/hanwell-railway-station/query/hanwell. I assume when the main lines were slewed away from the Up Main platform it was found that the Down Main platform was in the way. Same fate befell the Down Main platform at Acton Mainline.
(Not quite the only question to which I had an answer….)
Borderer & PoP
The GW being “different”/odd ( Or, as some of us call it – “wrong” 😁) … yes.
However I wonder which came first – platforms being numbered backwards to everyone else … or putting the mileposts on the “wrong” ( i.e. “Up” ) side, whereas everone else put their posts on the “Down” side …
Lets not get into signalling.
Hanwell station did indeed have a Platform 1. I never remember it being used, it was in a dilapidated state even in the 70s. It was demolished in the mid 70s – presumably in the enabling works for HST 125 mph running which saw the track upgraded.
The remaining platforms were number 2, 3 and 4 for many, many years afterwards. I rather surprised to find that the renumbering had happened, which (presumably) has not taken place at the similarly affected West Ealing and Acton Main Line.
Just a quick, irrelevant correction to Q14 – Hanwell did have a down main platform at one time. If you go the the NLS maps site and look at the OS 1:1,250 scale maps, it shows the platform and the map is dated 1956. The following link refers –
https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=19&lat=51.5117&lon=-0.3391&layers=170&b=7
Christmas does celebrate the “Lord’s” birthday, so I genuinely thought that that was what you must have had in mind…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord%27s_tube_station
Generally impressed with how the questions relate to the past year.
Surprised Mary’s role in the Nativity is judged remote, I learnt that was Joseph.
To me Bombardier Rail signs use Black font so the sky White was my clue.
I’m still learning the subtleties so some of my answers did not pick up enough differentiation.
Have not judged my own response fully yet, if mods are already doing that could an official mark not be emailed out?
To further expand on Q16 (one of the few questions I was able to answer), the following document gives details of the restriction codes. E is the most restrictive and does not mean “explosive” –
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/adr
Details of what the restrictions actually mean are in the “European Agreement concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road” which can be found at –
http://www.unece.org/trans/danger/publi/adr/adr2019/19contentse.html
This is very long and detailed, and boring unless you need to know it. It shows just how many hazardous materials there are (thousands) and each one has an entry. If you need to know this stuff, you are trained on it, otherwise it is ignored as being too detailed.
Chipping in late ‘cos I’ve been away. Thanks PoP et al for a great quiz, sorry I didn’t have time to do it justice this time.
For Q11, there have been 6 traction systems at Liverpool St:
GEML 1500VDC “electric lines”
GEML 6.25kV AC
GEML 25kV AC
Mail Rail 420V 3rd-rail (I believe CLR used 3rd rail DC for a while but couldn’t find the voltage, assuming it’s in the “<650V are all the same" bucket)
LU 630V 4th-rail
LU 750V 4th-rail (SSL upgraded in 2017)
Apologies if I have missed the final outcome. I did not make a submission but always look forward to seeing the winners scores. Is there a timescale for them being declared?
David W,
Apologies for the delay. I had intended for the past three weekends to finally carefully mark the answers but other things (such a leak from the ceiling) intervened. I would have done it by now but there really is so little difference in the top few with only the odd point dropped that it needs to be done carefully and methodically.