parry on travelling

Two shots courtesy of Midsomer Norton volunteer and Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for North East Somerset Gail Coleshill. These show a Parry People Mover, an ingenious and low energy railcar that currently trundles up and down the Stourbridge branch, but has also made appearances in Hove and Bristol, among other places. The clever thing about these is that they employ a flywheel to capture brake energy, and can be recharged very quickly when stopped at a station. It obviates the need for overhead wires, which has both economic and aesthetic advantages. It is also free from future oil price rises!

I haven't thought a lot about motive power for the New S&D, only that it can't be diesel! That leaves electric and/or steam power. Both have the advantage of being able to be fuelled exclusively from sustainable sources, which will be an essential requirement for all modern transport past the Peak.

I can see PPMs filling some roles on the line, particularly on the branches. Obviously the majority of traffic will be heavy goods and passenger trains, many originating or continuing off the S&D. But some off-peak services may well utilise a PPM or something similar. Another big advantage of these is that they can just as easily run on tram routes, and I suspect there will be plenty of these, urban, interurban and rural, connecting to the S&D in the future!