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According to the latest polls, less than 25%.

Most of the local leaders and MPs in Manchester were pressing for a low - level solution to the Manchester HS2 station, but DafT ruled it out on cost grounds. Their preferred ground - level station would have severed the Metrolink line to Ashton - under - Lyne for two or three years (we can't quadruple the Oxford Road corridor because it would sever London Road for three years?) Termini are a faff because you have trains occupying platform space for fairly long times, yes? If you are trying to run frequent services, that can be a bit of a bind. Dare I say that what is needed is for the train to be discharged and then run to a separate facility to be serviced, and a replacement train run in to be loaded fairly quickly afterwards. Am I being a dreamer? Surely if something is worth doing, it's worth doing properly!

There was a railway bridge a bit like that in Golborne earlier this year, but Wigan MBC seemed to be on the ball and had the road closed notices out pdq.

Jvol 2223; why are there two tank wagons immediately behind the loco?

Sounds plausible. Gateshead usually supplied the locos for these trains then.

Guy I know found a job in Sweden; he was given six months training learning Swedish

Had a pair of "Ripple" trainers for the school cross - country team in 1968, by Adidas

I'd put a 'Y' point on the lower of the LD & EC lines and make that the running line. The upper line could be used to store the tamper. It would be an interesting movement to get it onto the main line. Modern practice might have a crossover in the ECML to gain access to the second (Up?) line. Gets rid of two diamond crossings.

Isn't the government just guaranteeing loans raised by the consortium building the line?

The London Extension was part of Sir Edward Watkin's dream of a railway, under his chairmanship, from Manchester to Paris, no? He was also chairman of the Met. and the South Eastern at that time. In that sense, it was the original "Vanity Project". In direct competition with the LNWR from London to Rugby, and from London to and between all destinations north of there with the Midland; both of these had been established 50 years before the London Extension was built.

When you have trains in the UK running at 200mile/hour already, why not design it for 240 mile/hour? This is part of the fiasco of the last big WCML upgrade; the Pendolinos were designed to run at 140 m.p.h., and indeed, we were told originally that this would be the maximum operating speed, but because of the problems getting the cab signalling to work correctly, they're restricted to 125. HS2 as an idea was originally developed by a private consultancy, and the Labour government, after a lot of lobbying, took it up. It had general parliamentary approval. It took out several places where there are level junctions (around Rugby, Colwich, Stafford, Crewe, etc.,). The point was that once on it, the trains would all be running at the same speeds at the same points, and you could plan timetables to maximise capacity on the line. This has been explained on this thread multiple times

Am I correct in thinking that TPE have gone from 4 trains/hour to 3 over the Manchester - York section of the route? In which case all the upgrades over the last 15 years have been a partial waste of money, in that (My understanding is) the line now has a capacity of 6 passenger and 1 freight/hour. I know that's not all the fault of TPE themselves, because they don't have the resources to run the trains, but, hey......

ACC - 9? Cadets duty to administer it, of course!

Oh, no, he isn't!

Love. It!

My beefs with Classic FM, are the narrow playlist, and the "Bitsa" format. The playlist is of course forced by the Hall of Fame, which dictates the same 300 pieces of music being played ad infinitum, ad nauseam. There's far more to, for instance, RVW than The Lark Ascending, or Dives and Lazarus, to name but one.

Was going to say!

One year, no? I wasn't a consultant.

Not really. When I worked, I was by no means wealthy or high enough up the corporate food chain, but I managed to get tax relief (at a set rate per mile) for travel to work using my own vehicle because I set myself up as a one - man limited company, as did everyone else in my job

They haven't, that's why. Do TPE have any 2 - cars anyway? The two I saw at Stalybridge on Saturday evening were 5 - car 802s, on the more long - distance trains admittedly, but there you go

Ex - LMS and LNER wagon types would dominate, simply because they had far more than either of the other two companies. As for the A2s, I have: The six P2 rebuilds from 1943 (A2/2) 501 - 6 Those that were substituted for the last four V2s (A2/1) introduced 1944: 507 - 10 The 15 Thompson production series locos introduced 1946 (A2/3): 500, 511 - 524 The 15 Peppercorn locos, introduced 1947 (A2): 525 - 39. I have 526/9/32/3/8 with double blastpipe, the rest not. From my copy of the 1955 Ian Allen combined volume

That sounds a bit like the tank cleaning machines we used at sea, which were water - driven and could clean an entire cargo tank in a few hours. Two nozzles which spun in a vertical circle, the housing rotating horizontally. They used heated sea water

Or a cuddly toy

If you join one of the national cycle organisations, they will provide 3rd party insurance as part of the membership package. Quite a few other cyclists have it as part of their home insurance. The motor of my pedal assisit trike cuts out at 15.5 mph. Any electric bike or trike capable of travelling at a speed greater than that is classed as a "Mechanically propelled vehicle", and must indeed carry a registration plate, and the rider be insured. The problem is, as someone mentioned, enforcement; the same as it is with motorists ignoring red traffic signals, speeding, using their phones while driving, etc.