At Exeter, Network Rail is using a water-filled tube to act as a dam to protect the main railway line between London Paddington and Penzance from flooding.
The train wreck illustrates one economic reality of the U.S. shale drilling boom, which is that energy companies have turned to shipping by rail as pipeline capacity has been filled.
He travelled widely by rail, invariably fourth-class, laden with suitcases filled both with junk for his collages and with Hanover potatoes and carrots for his meals.