Castle Aching

[Shadow]

A good site here if you want to visualise what's going on.

 

https://earth.nullschool.net/#current/wind/surface/level/orthographic=-67.15,17.17,1355/loc=-64.050,18.235

[Edwardian]

A good site here if you want to visualise what's going on.

 

https://earth.nullschool.net/#current/wind/surface/level/orthographic=-67.15,17.17,1355/loc=-64.050,18.235

 

That is, well, graphic!  Very scary.

 

The eye of Irma will cross/is probably crossing, my old home, so, they will get blattered by the severest wind going one way, then, after a period of calm, blattered by the severest wind going the other way. 

 

I am dreading seeing the aftermath.

[Shadow]

Click on the word "earth" in the bottom left gives a list of settings that can be altered.

 

If you select a point on the map, it gives values for that location.

 

Amazing graphics!

[Edwardian]

Just seen some pictures, so some comms with the island.  I understand that they were taken in the eye, so everything is still.  

 

Actually, from the news reports, I had expected worse.  In the shots I've seen, most of the buildings still have a roof.  Storm surge means much flooding and I have seen a lot of stripped and broken trees.  Just see a picture of a whole load of yachts piled on top of each other like toys in a toy box!

 

I hope I am not underestimating the impact - I only have a few pictures to go on - but it didn't seem as bad as I feared it might be.  Mind you, I'm not on the ground!

 

No people in any of the pictures! 

 

EDIT: Just seen a video filmed 2 hours ago; quite frightening seeing a big sea coming in fast from a great expanse of opaque white just offshore, blocking off your view of the world!

Edited September 6, 2017 by Edwardian

[Nearholmer]

One of the guys who corresponds on the old-fashioned toy trains forum cut short a visit to the UK a few days ago, to fly back to his family in Haiti. His account of the preparations being made for the onset of Irma are only made more sobering by his report that they have suffered a 'warning of worse to come' earthquake in the last few days too.

 

If I had a grain of religiosity, I'd pray for everyone in the region.

 

Kevin

[Caley Jim]

If I had a grain of religiosity, I'd pray for everyone in the region.

I do, and I am.

 

Jim

[Edwardian]

I suspect some of the pictures I have seen of the damage to the town belie the extent of the devastation.  They were typically seen from a distance, and showed the buildings still there, mostly still roofed and cars still the right way up!

 

But one school has gone, and close-ups reveal what a battering the place has had.  Some of the pictures of neighbouring islands look even worse.  On St Martin/Sint Maartin the lovely French town of Marigot looks trashed, as does the airport on the Dutch side.  St Barts has storm surge running through the streets and Antigua and Barbuda have reportedly been hard hit. 

 

Anguilla is low lying, in contrast to most of the Lesser Antilles chain, and I think will have suffered accordingly, as Grand Cayman (basically a sand bar) did from Ivan in 2004, which trashed the place and inundated a large part of the island. 

 

In Road Town, Tortola, apart from one of the local schools being pretty much razed to the ground, the mainly modern, sturdy concrete building are still there, but I think that belies the damage done at ground level.  Low lying parts on the coast, e.g. Prospect Reef, where we lived for a brief time, are submerged.  

 

What the rest of the island looks like, I have not seen, but a picture of nearby Jost Van Dyke showed everything pretty much flattened, which might be more representative of the impact on the islands generally. 

 

We have yet to hear from anyone there with whom we keep in touch via the Memsahib's Facebook account.

[Edwardian]

We are now starting to hear from our friends out there.  So, far, the news is that everyone is OK.

 

Rebuilding will take some time, I daresay. 

[Edwardian]

I understand that the Royal Navy has arrived; 2 helicopters touched down 17 minutes ago in the BVI.

[Nearholmer]

This makes sense.

 

Those 'on high' seem to be taking a whacking for 'too little, too late' in terms of aid, but it had struck me that the best strategy would be to have a big boat on station behind the storm (safer that way!), then to recce asap and call forward more substantial help, once it was clear what specifically was needed. That seems to be exactly what is happening, with big fat planes due to start leaving bride norton this afternoon.

 

Hope to goodness it is enough, soon enough.

[Edwardian]

This makes sense.

 

Those 'on high' seem to be taking a whacking for 'too little, too late' in terms of aid, but it had struck me that the best strategy would be to have a big boat on station behind the storm (safer that way!), then to recce asap and call forward more substantial help, once it was clear what specifically was needed. That seems to be exactly what is happening, with big fat planes due to start leaving bride norton this afternoon.

 

Hope to goodness it is enough, soon enough.

 

Yes, for instance, you see St Martin is part of France.  French troops arrived there ahead of the trouble. The French colonial model was to have colonies directly represented in the assemblée nationale, so the colonies are departments, like the departments of Metropolitan France.  IIRC in the Caribbean these will be Guadeloupe and Martinique, with smaller islands part of one or t'other. 

 

So, St Martin is effectively part of France, under direct rule.  To send troops there is like sending them anywhere in Metropolitan France.  I daresay there is a measure of local autonomy in the French West Indies, but, then again, there is in Wales, which I believe is still under the jurisdiction of COBRA!

 

Not so with the former British West Indies.  Some, e.g. Antigua and Barbuda, are independent Commonwealth countries, so, we could no more decide to send our forces there than we could to, say, India or Canada.   Others are British Overseas Territories, e.g. BVI and Anguilla. These are to all intents and purposes self-governing, though they were not technically sovereign states. Certainly when I was there, the Queen was represented by a Governor, who lived in Government House, and HMG had responsibility for defence and foreign affairs. 

 

The reality is that these islands pretty much run themselves. I do not know exactly what the legal and constitutional position on disaster aid is, but the BVI controls its own borders and I imagine that our aid would need to be offered and accepted/requested before it could be sent.  Politically this would be essential in order not to cause offence in any case.  I recall a hurricane hitting Bermuda (which is fully independent) during my tenure in the Caribbean.  Its prime minister declared that "proud Bermuda" did not need Britain's emergency aid and forced a Royal Navy vessel that Britain had dispatched to assist Bermuda to turn round and sail away. This illustrates how carefully a post-colonial power must sometimes tread!

[Nearholmer]

I hadn't really thought about the constitutional position, I was thinking more about logistical practicalities.

 

Unless a place is incapable of battening down its own hatches, I can't quite see the point of exposing the aid team to the force of the storm.

 

And, my betting (hope) is that somewhere in central England, there are stacks of containers, loaded with supplies for scenarios A through Z, which can quickly be trucked to the airfield, once it is know exactly which scenario applies.

 

But, thank goodness for lawyers; without them, utilitarian chaps like me would organise a perfectly organised constitutional crisis!

[Edwardian]

Well, as I mentioned might be the case, the pictures of modern concrete buildings in Road Town belied the extent to which properties were destroyed elsewhere in the islands.  Today we have seen more coming out of the BVI, including helicopter shots.  There are shots where all the tree have gone; this is an island mainly forested.  Parts look more like a grouse moor. Also, plenty of houses that look like matchstick models pummelled with a sledge hammer.

 

I am told that one house that we use to live in, in Sea Cows Bay, no longer exists, but I can't confirm that.

[runs as required]

1

There was more about the relief aspects on the Radio4 6pm news (with the Brits trying to justify our normal slow response by claiming it was important to get the right brief)

Apparently our ship load of helicopters is due to arrive in 2 weeks time.

2

In terms of Relief I've recently been wondering about what happens to old Cruise Liners. The ones I see calling into Malta always seem brand new. I imagine they get broken upon some South Asian shore.

De-commissioned ones could be quite useful as Arks moored by vulnerable islands.

3

I've had none too successful experiences in the rebuilding of disaster hit settlements (especially overseas British Territories). The process takes so long that the old destroyed areas get rebuilt 'informally' while the safely re-located new concrete settlements end up as White Elephants (meanwhile the temporary  construction camps mutate into the thriving commercial market/transportation hubs).

4

The Dutch seem to have solved the technology of building new living areas to resist flood water surges..

dh

[Nearholmer]

Well, this is the big boat that was on station behind the storm https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/RFA_Mounts_Bay_(L3008)

 

There is a photo on the BBC news website of one of the big barges that it has put ashore carrying some pretty chunky construction vehicles.

 

I'm thinking that there is dissonance between "the story", as being spun by newspapers, and the actuality.

[Edwardian]

According to PM, R4 this afternoon, the Dutch and French have a large number of troops stationed in the Caribbean who can act in such emergencies.  We don't.  We send the fleet auxiliary vessel out to steam around during each hurricane season.

[mullie]

The 'Mounts Bay' has been big news for a number of days and now HMS Ocean. The good thing about the BBC south west regional news is that we do often hear about the comings and goings of naval ships, and the local regiments, beats the doom and gloom of London news any day in my book.

[Donw]

Personally I no longer believe a lot of what the media say. I have heard them miss-reporting speeches which I have heard. Twisting what has been said.  It is all negative. If we had sent out troops and the Hurricane had not been as bad they would have been castigating the government for wasting money.

That said the forces are probably short of money and people and could have done with more. The media haven't said let us all chip in more taxes to afford more resources to send to disasters etc.

Don

[Edwardian]

Good morning all.

 

Historical evidence of the West Norfolk Railway!

 

Over the past few days I have been happily reading through The Midland & Great Northern Joint Railway and its Locomotives.

 

It is by Bob Essery, though with important contributions from Nigel Digby, David Jenkinson and Alan Wells. It is conceived as a follow-up to the volumes on Midland locomotives.

 

The text includes some interesting information and there are a number of pictures of the line, and rolling stock portraits, that I had not seen before. I have started the locomotive section, and the text and photographs complement Ronald Clark's Illustrated History of M&GNJR Locomotives.  I am fortunate to have both.  One boon of the Essery book is the scale drawings of the Fox Walker that I want to model.

 

Below is a detail from one of the pictures in the book.  It is a fine portrait of the Joint's Johnson 4-4-0 No. 12, at Norwich, c.1896.  Imagine her in colour, wearing "golden gorse"!

 

Aside from the locomotive, there are a number of interesting features of this plate.  However, as Essery's pre-occupation is the locomotives of the Midland Railway, he takes up the whole of the, fairly lengthy, caption wittering on about lamp irons; Compound of this parish will no doubt confirm what a watershed year 1903 was for the Midland Modeller as a result!

 

So, Essery neglects the opportunity to comment on the un-chaired vignoles rail, the prominent point lever (cropped), or the very interesting example of the pre-1900 MGNJ wagon lettering on the loco coal wagon, and, moreover, he is also oblivious to the West Norfolk Railway's through coach, which is clearly seen between the locomotive and the wagon!   

Edited September 9, 2017 by Edwardian

[Brassey]

You will find that a lot of these "authors" are loco fanatics and nothing else.  Same with Ted Talbot and the LNWR.

[Nearholmer]

Essery, in other contexts is absolutely excellent on operational practices in general, so more than just locos, but I know what you mean about railway authors.

 

I'm quite into stations, the architecture thereof etc, and most railway histories neglect stations very badly, while rambling into great detail about locos.

[Edwardian]

The Essery book is not too bad in that respect, perhaps due to the work of other contributors (the late Alan Wells was the MGNJ buff), and the captions are generally quite informative and cover a number of aspects of the photograph.  The picture in question sits on the threshold of the locomotive section and it is clear that the focus is now purely on the locomotives.

 

But lamp irons, really?  Of all the interesting things you could have said about that locomotive, let alone its setting and the various other railway equipment in shot, you confine yourself to the subject of lamp irons!?!  

 

Anyway, the real point of posting the picture was to highlight the coach that Essery had, inter alia, failed to mention.  Beautiful, elegant, and undoubtedly Midland, though No.12 undoubtedly is, Essery seems to have overlooked the most interesting aspect of the photograph - the coach!

 

Just suppose, and I know the idea may strike some of you as fantastical, but just suppose, for the sake of argument, that this wasn't a West Norfolk Railway coach, who's coach might it have been? 

Edited September 9, 2017 by Edwardian

[Compound2632]

Good morning all.

 

Historical evidence of the West Norfolk Railway!

 

Over the past few days I have been happily reading through The Midland & Great Northern Joint Railway and its Locomotives.

 

It is by Bob Essery, though with important contributions from Nigel Digby, David Jenkinson and Alan Wells. It is conceived as a follow-up to the volumes on Midland locomotives.

 

The text includes some interesting information and there are a number of pictures of the line, and rolling stock portraits, that I had not seen before. I have started the locomotive section, and the text and photographs complement Ronald Clark's Illustrated History of M&GNJR Locomotives.  I am fortunate to have both.  One boon of the Essery book is the scale drawings of the Fox Walker that I want to model.

 

Below is a detail from one of the pictures in the book.  It is a fine portrait of the Joint's Johnson 4-4-0 No. 12, at Norwich, c.1896.  Imagine her in colour, wearing "golden gorse"!

 

Aside from the locomotive, there are a number of interesting features of this plate.  However, as Essery's pre-occupation is the locomotives of the Midland Railway, he takes up the whole of the, fairly lengthy, caption wittering on about lamp irons; Compound of this parish will no doubt confirm what a watershed year 1903 was for the Midland Modeller as a result!

 

So, Essery neglects the opportunity to comment on the un-chaired vignoles rail, the prominent point lever (cropped), or the very interesting example of the pre-1900 MGNJ wagon lettering on the loco coal wagon, and, moreover, he is also oblivious to the West Norfolk Railway's through coach, which is clearly seen between the locomotive and the wagon!   

 

Too damn right. The lamp irons are in the pre-1903 Midland positions. Midland Style gives M&GN headlamp codes, sourced from one of Clark's books but undated. I don't have the Essery book, only the Clark Illustrated History you cite - a very quick scan shows no obvious examples of the same layout, most have the simpler post-1903 RCH arrangement.

 

The engine has been in service for less than a couple of years so presumably has only had routine maintenance and cleaning, so the worn-looking condition of some of the paintwork is interesting.

 

I doubt there is any other photo of a M&GN Loco Coal wagon - have you cropped the RHS of the photo? Is there more to be seen?

 

That coach is a mystery. There are a number of unusual features. I have to go to the parents-in-law's NOW; will give my thoughts this evening if no-one else has stepped up with a solution!

[Compound2632]

Delay - it turns out my teenage sons are not quite as up, showered and dressed as had been supposed...

 

Light upper panels: Caledonian - but not at this date? Furness? Maryport & Carlisle? Not GW!

Peculiar panelling: square-cornered widows (and blank panels at window level) and eves panels with ventilators, but round-cornered eves panels otherwise.

Strange layout. From L to R, looks like - third class compartment, door, first class compartment.

 

Midland Style gives Eastern & Midlands livery as reddish brown, grained to represent mahogany. The Eastern & Midlands was formed by amalgamation in 1881 so it's highly unlikely this is the livery of one of the constituents.

 

Got to go NOW!

[Nearholmer]

Two that sprung to my mind were LNWR and GCR/MSLR, but they are stabs in the dark.