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woodenhead

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Posts posted by woodenhead

  1. 32 minutes ago, didcot said:

    Very true @Oldddudders. Newey has given a large part of his career to RB. To leave in such circumstances will probably hurt. 

    But he’s leaving a team at the pinnacle thanks to him so I don’t think he really has any unfinished business or regrets.

    • Agree 1
  2. For the 47 I would guess the 56 had a big impact on MGRs as that's where the 56s first went.

     

    HSTs on Cross Country and Midland routes displaced Peaks and steam heat stock leading to 46s and 45/0 with not a lot to do, even the 45/1 was then onto just Trans Pennine.

     

    At the same time the 47s were actually stretched when it came to ETH services so BR began converting 47/0 to 47/4 and then they began range extending too with the later 47/7 & 47/8 derivatives.

     

    So rather than finding themselves with less for the 47 to do, it rather focussed them on long distance ETH passenger services with all the older Type 4s going to scrap.  The 47 even pushed 50s out in some respects with lots of Network rail 47s working out of Paddington and even on the services out of Waterloo at the end before the 159s were introduced.

     

    The 47 really was and is a useful engine.

  3. A nice couple of days financially has seen me able to purchase the remaining three John Hodge Welsh Valley Lines series of books I needed.

     

    £40 for talking to a tech company, £20 from Avanti and then £5 from Amazon for simply adding another credit card - so the bill was £4.99.

     

    Hold on, I buy lots of books about the Welsh Valleys and then I model the North West of England, something wrong there isn't there.

    • Like 8
  4. 2 hours ago, Philou said:

    ^ Those are the gantries to which I refered and they extend over the Valleys Line beyond the Bute Street bridge. However, I hadn't realised there was a rigidly defined frontier between NR and TfW. Banging and heads springs to mind. I do hope the OLE will get to Queen Street and Bute Road at the very least. So much for the green credentials of HMG.

     

    Cheers,

     

    Philip

    It's easy to blame TfW but the reality is that the UK central Goverment c0cked up the GWML electrification massively, just as it c0cked up the north west electrification and latterly HS2.  Doing grand political gestures, promising so much then finding it can no longer afford things, or simply seeing the project so poorly managed that costs spiral out of control lays firmly at the door of Westminster.  Westminster needs to be wiring down to Plymouth or even Penzance plus to Swansea but it isn't in a position to do so now, even with a wave of funds from the apparent savings of cancelling the 2 and 2a elements of HS2 it didn't take the opportunity to fix the GWML, no it spent the money on roads in the South East instead leaving Wales with a mess that it probably wants the Welsh assembly to pick up but it's not actually it's job in this case.

    • Like 2
    • Agree 1
  5. 39 minutes ago, SR71 said:

    Have to say I presumed the speculation to be nonsense but Newey moving on is a surprise.

     

    Could he be going to Mercedes? I can't see him wanting to move to Italy. Toto has just been throwing everyone off with the Max stuff. Although with how rude and ungrateful Max is on the radio I can understand Adrian not wanting to provide him with a car.

    Don't think it's Verstappen junior that he takes issue with, he is wanting out of the political side of the business with the infighting between all those non technical, non driving elements and their vested interests.

     

    Newey is so highly regarded and highly sought after that clearly he was able to command his own terms when employed by Red Bull and equally when he chooses to leave he gets to choose the manner and the timing and how long a sabattical (sounds like zero).  There cannot be many people in such a technically driven sport that have that sort of power.  The question is when did other teams begin earnestly courting him, did for example Hamilton have an idea when he jumped ship.  Would be most ironic if he went to Mercedes, but Ferrari, Aston or McLaren would love to have him.   Curveball - he goes back to Williams and  Albon is leading the F1 tables in 2026!

    • Like 5
  6. So think I can take from the replies that there is nothing beyond a CAD that will be at x level of completion against prototype drawings.

     

    The digital interface is the digital interface, I'll leave RevolutioN to decide what the best one is for the 'price'.

     

    But given the time it takes to develop a tooling, go through EPs and get a production slot and I am going to assume it will be sometime in 2026 when these might land in the UK shores.

     

    Whilst it's great we know there is a model being developed, perhaps announcing it 18 months ago with a promise of delivery early 2024 was not the correct one, the progress is glacial and maybe waiting until you had an EP would have generated lots of excitement without then disappointing us with a lack of progress because it was in CAD in late 2022, it's now the 2nd quarter of 2024.

    image.png.59eea27e42f9038248170f3dbbb6b879.png

    There's not someone else doing this model is there and that's why it's not progressing.....

    • Like 1
  7. My spidey senses are tingling and I've a real hunch that this quarter we will see:

    1. An OO gauge Palvan
    2. An N gauge tanker
    3. A new scale for Bachmann linked to 7mm, maybe building on their 009 developments
    4. More buildings

    I'll go out on a limb maybe some more N gauge 47s Tops era or earlier.

  8. On 22/04/2024 at 23:13, The Stationmaster said:

    A 47 was not exactly the ideal loco for working an unfitted freight - no sanders for a start was something which made them less than ideal for a lot of freight working in difficult areas.   Plus they were always  in demand for working fitted freights and passenger etc trains.

     

    On 23/04/2024 at 08:49, Hal Nail said:

    If a picture is worth 1000 words, presumably the fact we haven't come up with any is equally true!

    In the timeframe the OP is referring to BR had a lot of other traction it could use for the last of any unfitted duties.

     

    The northwest had ample class 25s and 40s.  Yorkshire had 40s and 37s, the Northeast had plenty of 37s, South Wales was a 37 stronghold and the southwest had 25s, 31s or the last 52s, the midlands was full of class 20s.

     

    No doubt there will have been times to put a 47 on when there was nothing more suitable available. 

     

    I used to live by a railway line, the freight workings between Trafford Park and Dewsnap or Ashburys would see all kinds of wagons in a consist plus there were regular Freightliners heading out to Holyhead or the North East.  It wasn't until the mid 1980s that I would regularly see 47s on the liners, it was 40s, Peaks or 37s with 25s or 40s doing the trip workings.  With an abundance of suitable locos BR would keep the 47s for passenger, some liner services, petro chemicals or MGR workings.  It was only as the 25s, 40s and Peaks were scrapped that I began to see 47s on lesser duties.

    • Like 2
  9. 27 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

    I checked my usual oat milk (Alpro) and it is not gluten free, not that I have a problem with gluten. They do make a coconut drink and the unsweetened version has zero carbohydrates or sugar.

    It's a real problem for peope with gluten intolerance/allergies because they used to be able to enjoy a coffee with almond, soya or coconut at a coffee shop but now that oat has become popular you can no longer be safe in knowing your non dairy choice is not contaminated.

     

    And the likes of Costa, Starbucks, Nero, Pret etc don't care.  I would imagine most independent coffee shops are the same, but some might make the effort to source gluten free oats, there aren't enough gluten free cafes sadly.

    • Interesting/Thought-provoking 6
    • Friendly/supportive 6
  10. 23 hours ago, Ohmisterporter said:

    I just watched the bin men/persons collecting our rubbish. We have a plastic tub for glass and tins, a large polypropylene bag for paper and cardboard, and another bag for plastic bottles etc. The operator emptied the glass and tins into the same half of the bin lorry as the plastic bottles. Left me wondering why we separate them in the first place. 

    We dont, all into one bin of recyclable plastic, metal and glass - guess it all goes onto a conveyor that might be able to pre-sort some of it off weight and whether it is magnetic.

     

    17 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

    Oat milk is the "sustainability" preferred option.

     

    As you point out, almond milk is a sustainability nightmare.

    As long as it is gluten free - Oat milk at coffee shops means Mrs W can no longer enjoy any milk in her coffees - because the gluten in oat milk can contaminate the Almond, cocunut and blend options.  She likes Oat Milk, but it has to be Gluten Free and most are not.

     

     

    17 hours ago, DaveF said:

    I've just looked at an e mail from a bank I use.  They are going to change my credit card from a Visa Gold to a Visa card as they no longer issue Gold cards.  That means they will change the account number so anything that keeps my details will have to have them reentered.  At least the direct debit I use to pay it each month will be redone by the bank to take account of the new number.  However I will check that actually happens.  Also the credit limit, interest rate, PIN number etc is unchanged.  So why change it?  I can't see any savings for them.

     

    Apparently it is to give an "even better customer experience".

     

    David

    Shouldn't need to change the number, those days are long gone or should be where the number range denotes the type of card.  The classification of the service level should be assigned to the account (which has it's own number) not the card number which is assigned to the account.  The only time you should need to change the card number is in the case of a lost card.

    • Like 1
    • Agree 1
    • Interesting/Thought-provoking 13
  11. So another eventful trip but £20 coming my way care of a late arrival home.

     

    At midnight last night I got a message from Avanti - my return train was cancelled, I should get the one before (1853) or the one after (1933).  You can guess what I and most other people who got that message did - we went for the earlier service. What did Avanti turn out for a train they knew was going to be busy, the first off peak to Manchester in the evening knowing the next one had been cancelled, a 9 coach Pendolino!

     

    They played games, said it was platform 14 (and there was a Pendo parked in 14 at 18:30) but decided to swap to the Pendo that had just arrived at platform 1 at 18:40 instead.  So I had arrived at Euston from Euston Square at 18:28, I went to the loo (near platform 1) because I expected the train to be busy, so off to platform one for the loo, then returned to platform 14 for the train and joined a polite queue (barriers open, no Avanti staff manning it).  After 5 minutes standing the platform changed, so back all the way to platform one again so really getting the steps in today. 

     

    Got onto the train on the unreserved coach C and the train filled and filled, people crowding outside trying to get on.  The guard politely suggests those standing might like to catch the 19:33 and when that doesn't work pulls a new stunt - if you don't get off then the train will have to go slowly to Manchester.  Yes the guard actually tried to guilt standing passengers into getting off the train because it would be their fault sitting passengers will be late getting home - unbelievable.  

     

    Me, I spy a partial refund voucher, there was already trouble at Tring, and the train though scheduled to depart at 18:53 actually left 15 minutes late, so I was looking at the positives. 

     

    In the event it arrived 20 minutes late back at Manchester having got stuck behind a stopper I think between Colwich and Stockport, then held at Ardwick.  Certainly I did not notice the train going 'slowly' as threatened by the guard.

     

    One pizza later, it's time for bed.

     

    Night all.

    • Friendly/supportive 19
  12. 45 minutes ago, montyburns56 said:

    86206 "City of Stoke On Trent" Widdrington 1993 by Ajax46

     

    86206 "City of Stoke On Trent" 1438 "Motorail" service from Edinburgh - Euston.  Widdrington. 17th April 1993

     

    All sorts to pick from this image - it's a diversion on the ECML, it's running vans first so it arrives vans last after reversing at Carlisle, it's a Motorail service and the DVT is mid-marshalled due to the vans having to be at the 'wrong' end.

     

    Here's how a normal Motorail operated in the DVT times:

    Motorail, Crewe, 12-04-1995

     

    Edit, of course Northbound they would be hanging off the DVT otherwise how would the driver see!!!

    • Like 6
    • Informative/Useful 1
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