UK Rail and Trains

"I've got a model railway that runs all the way around my flat," says TikTok trainspotter Francis Bourgeois.

This admission will make perfect sense, and perhaps bring a grin, to the millions who follow the 23-year-old on social media.

For those less familiar, he's a unique kind of internet celebrity.

His trainspotting reaction videos, showing his uncontainable, wholesome excitement as locomotives fly by, appeared to touch people during the pandemic, with comments underneath regularly pointing to the dose of joy he provided.

Now, boasting a combined five million plus followers across TikTok and Instagram, life is busy.

Celebrities including singer Joe Jonas and retired footballer Thierry Henry have starred in his videos, there's a book to his name, and fashion partnerships, Gucci included. Oh, and a live onstage appearance at a Sam Fender gig.

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Now he is set to front his full-length solo TV debut for the BBC Travel Show.

The adventure sees him travel nearly 900 miles, making 87 train stops over five days, riding exclusively on British Railway rolling stock.

Under the chalk cliffs east of Folkestone sits the Warren, a coastal wilderness largely owned by the railway, hosting a nature trail for walkers, as well as the Victorian rail line that runs on to Dover.

It is also, problematically for Network Rail, an active landslide. “Our monitoring here,” says Derek Butcher, principal geotechnical engineer for the southern region, “shows we’re actually moving ever closer to France – despite Brexit.”

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The Warren is just one of many risk sites. Unprecedented rainfall in the last 18 months – hot on the heels of record-breaking summer heat – has in every sense shifted the ground for the railway. Resilience to extreme weather of all kinds is a preoccupation in planning.

The kind of money that not long ago would have electrified a railway line is now going, in large part, down the drains. Network Rail has dedicated £2.8bn in the next five years simply to bolster Britain’s tracks against the changing climate – and its leaders have warned that it may never be enough to save all the routes that exist today.

Teenagers will be able to qualify to drive trains on Britain's railways under new proposals.

The government is asking for views on reducing the minimum age from 20 to 18, in a consultation running until 13 June.

The number of train drivers due to retire in the next five years has prompted concerns of a shortage. Their average age at the moment is 48.

The Department for Transport said the plan would "build resilience".

School leavers would be able to take up apprenticeships to become drivers.

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The idea was welcomed by industry groups and the main train drivers' union, Aslef.

Ministers have repeatedly said they want operators to become less reliant on rest day working - overtime days - to fulfil schedules.

Aslef general secretary Mick Whelan said the union had always been in favour of lowering the age drivers can start training. He said it believed "there should be enough drivers to cover all the available shifts", and did not agree with reliance on rest day working and overtime.

Mr Whelan added: "Not only will [the plan] increase the number of drivers but we also believe that those at the pointy end of the train should reflect the communities they serve and that includes having young people in cabs".

The driver qualification process currently takes between one and two years.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/11913061

When most homeowners move into a new property, they expect to find a few bits and bobs left behind – perhaps a couple of appliances or old cleaning supplies. But most people wouldn't expect to find a giant 150m model railway track buried in the undergrowth of their new back garden.

Lauren Chessum uncovered just that after moving into her 4-bedroom detached home in Derbyshire in November - and she's been unearthing more and more track as she tidies up the back yard. She's now on a mission to restore the track to a working state and has gained her more than 13,000 followers on TikTok who are eager to see her dream turn into a reality.

Lauren told Yahoo News UK: "We've found around 150-200 metres, at a guess, and it could be more, as there're a lot of double lines you just can't see at the moment.

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Lauren was aware of at least one section of railway track from when she and her husband Sean came to view the property, but much of it was covered by a huge bush at the time, and she had no idea how much was lying further back in the garden.

"I'm still uncovering more. I'll find some tracks buried in the mud," she says.

"I think because the garden's full of trees and because it hasn't been maintained for so long, the leaves are falling and it's composting, and every year it's getting a little bit deeper.

"It's like I'm excavating it. Every time I find more and think the track might be missing, I find it further down in the mud."

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The previous owner, a model train enthusiast named Frank Hammersley, was an elderly man who lived alone, having lost his wife and child, meaning not enough maintenance was being carried out on the property before he passed away in his nineties.

Lauren is considering ways to pay tribute to Frank after restoring his track to its former glory - such as a station or train named after him.

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"I joke on my videos that it's like carrying out an archaeological dig, because you're meticulously being so careful not to damage anything as you uncover it," she adds.

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Lauren's three-year-old son is already having fun playing with his Hot Wheels on the tracks, and she thinks her 16-year-old son, who is autistic and non-verbal is going to be "so excited" once a train is up and running.

A few parts of track do appear to be missing for reasons that are unclear, meaning Lauren and Sean may have to spend about £60 per metre replacing those sections.

Rather than settling for cheaper battery powered trains, they plan on buying mini-steam trains for the railway, which can cost upwards of £1,000 each.

Tried out lumo for a trip to London to Edinburgh. Happened to be on strike day, was a very full train.

Pros:

• fast
• somewhat cost effective
• didn't have to deal with airports

Cons:

• not enough luggage space
• my "window" seat, only had a bit of window
• my seat was not very comfortable, seat faced away from travel and had party if the plastic moulding of the carriage jabbing me in the side

Any one else used them? What were your thoughts?

It seems to take nearly 10 minutes to get started. What's actually happening? Are the pistons literally unable to move in the cylinders until the engine is warm enough?

Via @rwtwm