LIRR

Thanks for sharing. Nile Rogers and Bernard Edwards at their prime.

Thank you Richard for your reply and welcoming words. Sorry for being so late to respond, but it is a very busy time of year at work. The simplified chassis sounds like a good idea. Andy

Good morning all, I'm just wondering whether anybody had taken a look at the Sparkshot h0 Flying Scotsman? Is there any chassis that could work with it? Andy

The new Penn Station should be a massive improvement once the reconstruction is finished. It's going to be in the old post office building across the road. Strangely I don't dislike the current one as much as most people as it reminds me of New Street late 1980s. Andy

If you get the chance to visit New York, then try Myers of Keswick for marmite. Andy

For what it's worth, I enjoyed a couple of glasses if armangac today. I save it for only rare occasions as it is quite hard to find these days. I forgot how much I like it. Andy.

Paul Sherwin and Phil Liggett still provide their regular insights into all aspects of the tour, and this year has been very enjoyable for their knowledge of French ecclesiastical architecture. Andy

Hi Ray, These may not be the best examples, but should illustrate what I meant by angled flights. Andy

Hi Ray, That is excellent work on the buildings. I am very impressed. If I may make a small observation, the fire escapes don't quite look right. usually the vertical descent ladder is only on the final flight from the 2nd (1st in UK) Floor to the 1st (Ground floor in UK) floor. Between the other floors the flights are angled. I don't have any photos to show you, but I see if I can take a couple today before it gets too dark. Andy

Reminds me of KTM racing colours. Andy

Hi Andy, Is it still possible to get a chainmaker's? For those not familiar, it is quite a large breakfast ideal for for the heavy manual work that was common in the industries long ago, such as a puddler. Andy

Is 'planking' on layouts considered acceptable behavior these days? Andy

Thanks for the clarification Edwin. I am still not sure why a high speed train with a small capacity for moving people would be the best option. If the requirement is for a passenger line, the different widths of the trains is not an insurmountable problem. As there would not be many stops/stations on the line, then the simple solution would be to have adjustable platforms that expand laterally and vertically to adjust to the different loading gauges. In fact my local line has a manual system on Sundays whereby a small walkway is extended to trains stopping on the innermost tracks that are not served by a platform. If you want to make maximum use of the line, then run the largest gauge trains, that way you don't have to run as many of them to move the same number of people. I believe a similar approach was used in the 1970s by the airlines when they opted for capacity of B747s rather than the small fast Concordes. Andy

I might have missed some previous discussions on this subject, and my apologies if this has already been discussed ad nauseum, but when there is such a huge problem of congestion on Britain's roads and a lack of capacity on the railways, why was a high capacity freight line along the old GCR, linked to the Channel tunnel, with an extension to Birmingham not proposed? A high capacity line built to US loading gauge would enable double decked container traffic to be moved rapidly from Kent to Transfer sites close to the final destinations. It might also be possible to run double decker trains from Marylebone to Snow Hill along the same lines albeit at a slower rate. Andy

(Who's afraid of?) - The Art of Noise Andy