Hi Anth.
Yes, the early engineers were nobody's fools, they thought up
all the solutions to the problems of running a railway where it was
needed. Incidentally, the loco small high pressure cylinders
between the frames dorove the rack sprocket and the large low pressure
cylinders on the outside drove the wheels.
I personally feel that the world heritage status is thoroughly
deserved, for the people as much as the railway. The whole thing is run
with the same philosophies as the railways were run in this country 150
years ago. It was a job you were born into, the railway provided the
housing and your income, your children probably became
railway employees and you died on the railway. Everyone that worked
for the railway took a great deal of pride in his work and it was taken
personally if there was a problem. Like the driver on the film that
said he loved his engine above all else, even his wife and family!
In India the employees live in a railway village just the same as
at Swindon 150 years ago. In fact the evidence is still there if you
know the town. If you travel from the railway through the town centre to
the top of the town you come to a long street called Victoria Road
where the town gives way to residences and occasional professional
businesses, travelling about three quarters of a mile up Victoria Road
you come to what is effectively another very much smaller and compact
town, still known as Old Town. This was Swindon before the railway came!
Hey! I'm rambling on again, once I get on my soapbox there's never an end to it!
Gotta go now.
Best regards.
Sticky.