#Railnatter

It's all very well moaning about Beeching, but have you ever ACTUALLY read the infamous report? Well, after this week's #RailNatter, you'll be able to say you have!

Is it pure evil etched in paper? Did it spell doom for Britain's railways? Did it actually represent the only time anyone in power actually decided to answer the question "what are Britain's railways for"?

It's a classic #RailNatter page-turn, so do join LIVE to shout things at me!

Enjoyed this? Please do consider supporting #RailNatter at https://patreon.com/garethdennis or throw loose change at me via https://paypal.me/garethdennis. Join in the discussion at https://garethdennis.co.uk/discord.

I’m back in the National Railway Museum North Shed at long last!

Tonight’s #RailNatter brings you all a challenge: can I talk unscripted for an entire hour in the North Shed? Will I survive microphone malfunctions, battery overheating and a general lack of oxygen to bring you a non-stop hour of treats?

See what you need to do to visit the museum (you still need to book ahead): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQYmi…

Enjoyed this? Please do consider supporting #RailNatter at https://patreon.com/garethdennis or throw loose change at me via https://paypal.me/garethdennis. Join in the discussion at https://garethdennis.co.uk/discord.

It’s another on-location #RailNatter! Join me and a motley crew as we explore one of Europe’s largest construction sites – High Speed 2’s Chalfont Lane staging point for the construction of not one, not two, not three but FOUR record-breaking things: the UK’s first and second longest railway tunnels, the UK’s longest railway viaduct, and Europe’s largest chalk habitat regeneration project.

This episode will look in detail at the HS2 Chiltern Tunnels, getting up close and personal with a tunnel boring machine and touring the factory that manufactures the tunnel lining segments. We’ll also go for a bit of a walk to explore the far reaches of the site…

Watch an excellent and decidedly more concise video from the day, with me popping up here and there, by @Geoff Marshall.

See the official HS2 Ltd TBM tour with the brilliant Adrien (as heard in this podcast too)

Watch the YouTube release of this podcast (for the visuals!)

Enjoyed this? Please do consider supporting #RailNatter at https://patreon.com/garethdennis or throw loose change at me via https://paypal.me/garethdennis. Join in the discussion at https://garethdennis.co.uk/discord.

This week’s #RailNatter is an utter delight, with Bessie Matthews joining us to talk about her role on the railway and her incredible (and wonderfully artistic) efforts to raise money for Samaritans by making the most of a big bag (and later a much littler bag) of ballast…

Join in LIVE(ish) at 7pm on Wednesday!

Find out more about Samaritans here: https://www.samaritans.org/

Enjoyed this? Please do consider supporting #RailNatter at https://patreon.com/garethdennis or throw loose change at me via https://paypal.me/garethdennis. Join in the discussion at https://garethdennis.co.uk/discord.

PART TWO The UK government has FINALLY released their Transport Decarbonisation Plan, and in this week’s #RailNatter we’ll be looking at whether it’s worth the paper it hasn’t been printed on… I have so many questions that need answering, frankly.

It’s a classic page-turn, and you can see what whent on in the live chat on YouTube.

Enjoyed this? Please do consider supporting #RailNatter at https://patreon.com/garethdennis or throw loose change at me via https://paypal.me/garethdennis. Join in the discussion at https://garethdennis.co.uk/discord.

We’re getting back to our #RailNatter roots in this week’s episode, as I’ll be doing a mostly “big face” Q&A to talk about the e-Highway plans proposed by the UK government for trial on the M180 near Scunthorpe. Is putting catenary over a motorway a good idea? How will it actually work in practice? Is this yet another distraction technique for a government desperate not to actually invest in rail?

Tune in LIVE to find out!

Enjoyed this? Please do consider supporting #RailNatter at https://patreon.com/garethdennis or throw loose change at me via https://paypal.me/garethdennis. Join in the discussion at https://garethdennis.co.uk/discord.

This was Ela’s first proper upload. How did she do? Tweet Gareth and tell him!

The UK government has FINALLY released their Transport Decarbonisation Plan, and in this week’s #RailNatter we’ll be looking at whether it’s worth the paper it hasn’t been printed on…

I have so many questions that need answering, frankly.

It’s a classic page-turn, so do join LIVE to get involved!

Enjoyed this? Please do consider supporting #RailNatter at https://patreon.com/garethdennis or throw loose change at me via https://paypal.me/garethdennis. Join in the discussion at https://garethdennis.co.uk/discord.

This week we’ve the pleasure of being joined by Iain Kitt, who will use British Transport Films to guide this #RailNatter through the story of rail freight’s twentieth century decline…

We look at the key figures and establish if the common villains actually had anything to do with this trend, or whether there were bigger things at stake. Indeed, we explore how this is actually a story of innovation against almighty odds, and one that is now, ever so slowly, paying off again.

Join LIVE to get involved!

Enjoyed this? Please do consider supporting #RailNatter at https://patreon.com/garethdennis or throw loose change at me via https://paypal.me/garethdennis. Join in the discussion at https://garethdennis.co.uk/discord.

Right, well it is high time we had another proper live #RailNatter like the olden days, so your wish is my command…

I’m back in the chair this week to talk about the Great Central Railway, why it was brilliant, why that doesn’t make it some form of panacea today, and to talk about how engineers choose between reusing existing alignments versus creating new ones.

Join LIVE on Wednesday at 7pm!

Enjoyed this? Please do consider supporting #RailNatter at https://patreon.com/garethdennis or throw loose change at me via https://paypal.me/garethdennis. Join in the discussion at https://garethdennis.co.uk/discord.