Building an Extension within 10m of Railway Boundary

[JohnD]

4 foot 8 and a half inches apart.

Used to be, now they're four foot eight and five eighths.

Shortly before denationalisation, I spent a while working at British Rail. The people I was with were immersed in railways. One explained to me how it had been found that trains self-centred themselves better with old, barrelled wheels than with new flat ones, and went round bends better with an extra 1/8th inch on the gauge. So over several years, during maintenance, the tracks were relaid with the bigger gap.

I was mostly at Darlington Low level, one of the world's most historic railway sites, though dwarfed by Darlington High Level, which is a stunningly huge station for a small Northern town.

 

[John D v2.0]

Well, original railway was Stockton to Darlington after all, so they deserve a decent station (Stockton certainly missed out on that one)

 

[JohnD]

the big station is not on the site of the original railway. The big one is also known as Bank Top because it is on the crest of hills overlooking the town. Hence "High Level."

While I was at the old one, somebody (not me) reversed into the commemorative stone monument and knocked it down.

 

[^woody^]

Can anyone recommend a good anorak?

 

[bernardgreen]

Anoraks galore

Which if any is JohnD ?