The '100 defining aspects of British Rail' is a fascinating list of those characteristics, happenings and products which we loved and loathed and BR will be remembered for. It was certainly not all bad as some will have us believe. Much listed here is still with us including HS125 and the ticketing system. See here for the full list and below for the first 101) APTIS and PORTIS
3) Acronyms
Pioneered by the Great Western, the Automatic Warning system
was seen as nice-to-have, rather than essential, for most of BR's 46 years.
After all, it was the driver's job to obey the signals.
5) Derby
Often dismissed as an ivory tower inhabited by PhD and Bar
scientists, BR Research left an enduring legacy including the first real
understanding of vehicle ride dynamics, high speed pantographs and the world's
most successful computer based interlocking. But don't mention the Railbus.
6 Black Macs
More than the bowler hat, the black gabardine raincoats worn
by supervisors identified the hard men at the sharp-end who made the railway
run.
7) Beeching
Hero or villain? As BR Chairman Dr Richard Beeching
undoubtedly cut too deeply, but he also sparked a revolution in operational
thinking which created the modern railway – particularly in freight.
8) Black books
At the end of the 1960s, Director of Design Walter Jowett
produced two black-jacketed publications – ‘Locomotives for the 1970s' and
‘Diesel electric multiple unit trains'. The first was a missed opportunity but
the second gave us IC125
9) Blue book
Published in 1985, ‘Main-line locomotive renewal programme
1985-2009' forecast 850 new freight diesels, 390 passenger diesels and 260
electrics. Production would have peaked at over 100 locos a year in the 1990s.
BR naiveté at its most extreme.
10) Chief Inspecting Officers
Invariably retired military men, Chief Inspecting Officers
brought authority, rigour, common sense and man management to accident
investigation and safety regulation.
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