Oldddudders

I note an informed quote in the CNN report : “It’s absolutely a wake-up call,” said Rick Geddes, a professor and director of Cornell University’s Program in Infrastructure Policy. “The people who were building the Francis Scott Key Bridge never really contemplated ships of this size. It wasn’t their fault – they just didn’t have a crystal ball.”

You Shouldn't-nuf Bit Fish - George Clinton

I think classes 411, 421 and 423 were all cheerfully serving Kent less than 25 years ago, and plenty of kids went to school on them. I am not aware that any had CDL fitted.

Distressing stuff. https://www.bbc.com/news/live/uk-england-london-68888725

Something about that process doesn't augur well....

I was under the impression that having a pilot on board a vessel with a master and crew was to ensure the ship went pretty much where they directed it, in this case through the designated channel between the bridge piers. Since the power failure on board was the sole cause of the vessel failing to behave predictably, that comes down to its fitness to sail, which is the responsibility of the owners, no doubt delegated to the master. After more than 40 years of doing its job to everyone's satisfaction, to suggest that the bridge design was wrong is unlikely to succeed in court. The designers of the WTC did not seem to be pilloried for failing to make the structures proof against a C21 aeroplane. This is much the same.

A 159 at Dawlish? I am sure in 2004 I travelled on exactly that class from Torquay to Waterloo.

I recall reading that on a 4-SUB compartment wall. Underneath a dismissive reader had added "Pseudo-intellectual crap"

That is a most impressive homage to the original, which we are lucky to be able to still enjoy, albeit sadly without rails. I travelled across by train in the early '60s, and by (hired) bike in 1997.

have you seen this? A little late for your interest, but includes a scene or two that might help.

I do wonder whether Usher wagons went to Walworth Road sidings, known for their coal-drops, in LCDR territory. Certainly in my early-70s Croydon Control days, the greeting "Battersea Yard - morning figures" preceded a list of holdings which invariably included Walworth Road.

Re: Person I Knew - Bill Evans

And, in this case unfortunately, a rebuilt spam. Whatever reliability improvements rebuilding procured, they lost the essential Bulleid-ness.

25 years after I adopted DCC, my only bolt-on to running trains is to operate points via DCC, and then only where it really adds convenience. But for those with the interest in doing so, the sky is the limit in terms of what DCC can do. It really can be all things to all modellers - subject only to the budget issue, which is significant in the present climate.

Quali produced a spectacular hero-to-zero.

Most historical figures have some merit as well as any more famous demerits. As my German teacher, Dr Wolff - a Pole who also did work for the BBC Overseas Service - pointed out, even Hitler and the Nazis did one good thing - abolishing the Fraktur script that had been universal in Germany for centuries, while other European nations had long gone to a more 'modern' script.

For those who know a bit about guns, or revere naval capabilities, one to weep over. https://petapixel.com/2024/04/17/us-navy-mocked-for-photo-of-commander-shooting-rifle-with-scope-backwards/

Railway folk typically referred to such facilities as "pickling plants".

Going Up Yonder - Ben Tankard

The aerial pic at 06.35 yesterday shows he may have missed a bit.

I regard disguised white-goods in a kitchen to be analogous to putting the lid down on the loo. Pointless.

Bluesette - Toots Thielemans (He has described this tune as his "Pension Plan'!)

Roof Garden - Al Jarreau

Mark & Penny must be so proud!

ISTR the Tunnel-Motor version cost an extra 20k dollars in those days.