SamThomas

Yes, that was great news showing the Highways people that they cannot ride toughshod over people. Well done the local council ! Please correct me if I'm wrong but if the structure is weak then surely a steel "cages" could be fabricated to support the structure as a tempory solution until the funds/willingness are available to do a decent restoration ?

In all fairness on a couple of single track roads round here most cyclists do pull over into the passing places.

Personally I think it does need to be proven beyound reasonable doubt otherwise we will have different standards accros the country. If you go to a Magistrates Court you will be in a more formal setting than a County Court. In a Magistrates Court you will be withing the Criminal Justice System - in a County Court you will be within the Civil Law System.

I seem to recall that when leaded petrol was being phased ot there was an outcry from classis car owners, especially those who owned cars that ran on 5*. Does not seem to have created too much of a problem in the longer term.

Well said that man.

More than agree about horses - in my part of the world (unless the road is very wide) I rarely even think about overtaking a horse, then again the riders round here tend go break into a trot & find a gateway or similar to pull intro & you waves exchanged.

Whilst agreeing that it can be diffecult to overtake cyclist safely on many road (especially with an HGV) if a cyslist feels unpleasant with a queue of traffic then they have the option to pull over & let the traffic pass. I believe that it is also in the Highjway Code that slower moving vehicles (does that include pushbikes ?) should pull over where & when safe to allow a queue of tailing traffic to pass. Works both ways - drivers & cyclists have to share the roads & a bit more give & take would not go amiss. I would love to see a clip from the cyclists GoPro to see how bad (or otherwise) the quoted incident actually was.

I did re-read the artical & you are of course correct about the estimated (by the car driver) gap of 1.2m. Still no speed data though or distance of the syclist & the kerb/verge or was this another case of the median distorting the news by omission ? Now, thinking about it how did the prosecution prove without a shadow of doubt to the Magistrates what the gap actually was - this could set a very dangerous precedent. Surely, a compenant solicitor would have had the case thrown out as "not proven" ?

I'd like to form an opinion about this but details are lacking such as the speed of the car & pushbike as well as the estimated clearance left between the car & the pushbike , also how far from the curb the pushbike was. Dashcam images from the car may very well have made the whole incident look very different - does that mean that dilligent drivers need to keep downloading their images & store them for at lead 14 days ? I always reconed that up to 30mph 1m was sufficient, 30 > 50mph 2m & over 50 3m. If driving an HGV double that & of course increased clearnace if it's windy. I would also increase "HGV" clearance on a wet road.

Not too sure if this applies in this section ;

I am yet to be convinced that we have to eleminate fossil fueled vehicles completely. Both EV & fossil fueled vehicles have their places & can co-exist side by side. As the take up of EV's rises, older vehicles being used less will result in a huge decrease of pollution from road transport over very little time. Then we have a similar issue with rail - some routes are not viable cost wise for conversion to electric & possibly too great distances covered for battery. Lets not forget the "carbob footprints" of replacing pefectly servicable fossil fueled vehicles (road & rail) with EV's - that seems to get little mention................ Yes, I care about the planet too & the ST household were "doing their bit" long before it became fashionable/compulsory with such things as recycling paper/cardboard, tins & bottles. Mrs T would have an electric car if it were not for the cost as her normal motoring would be ideal for the models around at the moment. Me, I'm too set in my ways in as much as I like to actually driver a car with roadfeel & charector, something EV's*** are somewhat lacking with. *** &, to be fair most current fossil fuels cars are too.

Opticians do vary - a friend of mine recently had an eye test for his vocational licence renewal. Optician A (national chain) passed him (but only just) for distance. This optician said that despite him thinking reading glasses would benefit him said he did not need them & issued a prescription for distance glasses. Optician B (local independant) passed him (only just) for distance but agreed he would benefit having reading glasses. This optician issued prescriptions for both distance & reading glassed which were supplied. Both opticians test results sent to DVLA who subsequently sent him for an eye test at their approved opticians. Optician C failed him (but only just) & DVLA pulled his vocational licence. Now, he queried the test results with Opticians A, B & C & asked for copies of the calibration certerficates & the optomiterists qualifications. A & B have complied, C are dragging their feet - read into this what you may but in the meantime my friend is unemployed. He agrees his eyesight is not what it was & is looking into laser/lens replacement. He has been for a consultation (Optician D) & during their tests he was "just in" but of course after treatment he will have no issues. Optician D asked his GP for agreement to go-ahead & part of that process was yet another eye test (they have their own eye clinic) so that was optician E & again he was just in. Looks like an interesting case will ensue.

Exactly, re-inforces my comments regarding passive/active policing & this time from someone who has some inside knowledge.

Actually, we don't. However, the chances of getting a quick response thesedays are not too good. My money is on a Police Officer just being in the right place at the right time.

Don't forget harbor ! & when my bluetooth headset needs recharging the female voice tells me my "baddery is low" - I thought it had a battery.

& that case simply re-inforces my point about active or passive policing - all the technology we have to monitor us would not detect that. However, a Police/Traffic Officers mkI eyball would (as in this case.

If you must use bubble wrap make sure that the "bubbles" face away from the item to be wrapped, but still only for short term. Even good quality foam can deteriorate in time - white felt as a "next to skin" is probably the best & then you can use other material as cushioning. Just as important for medium/long term storage is probably the environment - cool, dry & with some ventilation.

Most of the scenic companies do a version as well as Woodland. Noch, Busch & Heki are worth a look. However, if you want to mak your own dye some spomge foam, freeze it & then experiment with an old (not the prestine one from the kitchen) liquidiser.

Not a question I would answer on a public forum or to a stranger. However, I do wonder about the amount of modellers who hide their collection (or cost of) from "the wife" - in my eyes that just stopping short of infidelity. Or maybe, just maybe I'm extra lucky with Mrs T - I just own up.

That would be quite funny if not for the possible horrendous consequences.

It's probably just a matter of time, the Traffice Officers already have the power to stop & prosecute for vehicle defects but not (ATM) moving traffic offenses (there may be one or two). They already have sirens & Red Warning beacons so it's part way to getting Blue Beacons. The problem is (in this target driven society we live in) that they will target "easy busts" & not go after the offenses that require a bit more paperwork & time in court.

Certainly in the days of steam there would have been. AFAIK the Aswan Dam stops a lot of silt progressing downstream which is causing problems for farmers. (So I was told when last in Egypt a decade or so ago).

I can understand people clammouring to get their 55's ASAP, especially as it is almost certainly going to be a superb model. Surely Accurascale should be commended for carrying out some quality control rather than simply turning the boxes round ? They could quite easily have kept quiet about the containers being delivered to them, carried out their QC checks & then re-shipped them out, thus saving all those emails & posts. Instead, they kept everyone informed of the progress - they can't win in this respect. I really do hope that the models live up to expectations & the new owners will be happy with their new aquisitions.

If they did then they missed out the overbright headlamp & knurled wheels for traction.

Two reasons - ease of access & drivers prefer the look. They are probably a little more areodynamic as well (athough not by much). &, as everything in the states is bigger they don't have to concern themselves so much with length of the unit & usually have area the size of the Isle of Whight to turn round in.