The Night Mail

[Tony_S]

9 minutes ago, Winslow Boy said:

… I wouldn't leave in charge of watering the plants.

I may have watered the wrong plants once or twice…

[Happy Hippo]

45 minutes ago, Winslow Boy said:

But having said that there are quite a few others in positions of power who frankly I wouldn't leave in charge of watering the plants.

 

Sorry I read that as slaughtering plants:

 

Glasses?  Where are they when you need them!

[Oldddudders]

As we know, most railway tunnels have names, typically related to the locale. On Southern, Bo-peep, Hoppity and Popham come to mind, each of the last having a #1 and #2 in quick succession (ooh-er, Missus!). Last night I made a similar discovery on the line from Rouen to Le Havre, where a  local village has given its name to Petit-Pissy-Pôville and Grand-Pissy-Pôville tunnels.  Isn't language wonderful?

[Compound2632]

4 minutes ago, Oldddudders said:

Isn't language wonderful?

 

Driving into London yesterday, i was reminded that the signs giving notice of restricted access to more polluting vehicles are in Old French: lez ulez.

[Northmoor]

2 hours ago, Oldddudders said:

It's not who you are, but the size of your war-chest that decides.

The views of (at least some of) the American public on political funding can be deduced from an interview David Cameron gave to David Letterman, not long after he became party leader.  He said that under UK law, he was limited to spending what amounted to about $100k on his leadership campaign.  The audience applause was notably long and vocal.

[Winslow Boy]

2 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

 

Sorry I read that as slaughtering plants:

 

Glasses?  Where are they when you need them!

Have you put your drops in?

[Winslow Boy]

3 hours ago, Tony_S said:

I may have watered the wrong plants once or twice…

Oh dear were you distracted at the time or was it simply boredom.

[Winslow Boy]

1 hour ago, Northmoor said:

The views of (at least some of) the American public on political funding can be deduced from an interview David Cameron gave to David Letterman, not long after he became party leader.  He said that under UK law, he was limited to spending what amounted to about $100k on his leadership campaign.  The audience applause was notably long and vocal.

A thousand dollars per MP I'm surprised they could be bought so cheaply.

[rockershovel]

51 minutes ago, Winslow Boy said:

A thousand dollars per MP I'm surprised they could be bought so cheaply.

You cannot bribe or twist / thank God, the British journalist / but seeing what the man will do / unbribed, there's no occasion to

 

[newbryford]

6 hours ago, Tony_S said:

I may have watered the wrong plants once or twice…

 

Accidentally, or on purpose?

 

[Happy Hippo]

42 minutes ago, newbryford said:

 

Accidentally, or on purpose?

 

That would depend on the colour of the water he used.

[Happy Hippo]

This is a rant!

 

TfW has stated that they cannot run a Wellington to Shrewsbury shuttle service because there is no way of changing from the up line to the down line at Wellington.

 

What do they think this track formation does then?

 

 

Wellington also has up and down loops and a bay platform. (Although it does face in this direction.)

 

Behind the photographer is a facing crossing that leads into the Donnington freight terminal.

 

Surely a DMU could run past the crossover and reverse, or if TfW are worried about the train running  on up the line and reaching the collapsed embankment, then have the branch as the route set passed the crossover.  It would also remove the train from the main line, whilst the crew change ends, although there's no through traffic to contend with.

 

The station is just out of sight around the bend.

 

I can only presume that this decision and statement was made by a suit and not the railway operations staff, because this was the sort of situation they used to revel in and show a lot of pride in continuing to operate a service under the most trying of circumstances.

 

Now it's close it down and hire in a bus!

 

Crewe on Saturday, by car!

 

Unranted🤣

[Flying Fox 34F]

The crossover is fitted with Clamplock equipment so is fit for use by passenger trains.  
The most plausible reason for not using it, would be that the Driver and Senior Conductor, (Guard), don’t sign the route through the crossover!  
Once upon a time!, train crew signed whole areas, but about 20 years ago, I became aware of situations of drivers stating they didn’t sign this crossover or this loop?  Caused lots of fun!!!!!!!!!

Another reason the TOC will be pulling, as it’s a Landslip, NR have to cover all the costs of the disruption.  Happy days as far as the TOC is concerned.

 

Paul

 

[Northmoor]

45 minutes ago, Flying Fox 34F said:

The crossover is fitted with Clamplock equipment so is fit for use by passenger trains.  
The most plausible reason for not using it, would be that the Driver and Senior Conductor, (Guard), don’t sign the route through the crossover!  
Once upon a time!, train crew signed whole areas, but about 20 years ago, I became aware of situations of drivers stating they didn’t sign this crossover or this loop?  Caused lots of fun!!!!!!!!!

Another reason the TOC will be pulling, as it’s a Landslip, NR have to cover all the costs of the disruption.  Happy days as far as the TOC is concerned.

 

Paul

 

Since the train is turning round without passengers, surely you can employ a pilotman who HAS signed the crossover ("Ooh no, I've never driven that 20 yards!") to supervise the reversal, who once the train returns to the departure platform, crosses back to the arrival platform to await the next service and to repeat the process.

Of course this would require one or more people to take their thumb out of their <ahem>.  So much easier to hide behind process as an excuse to do nothing and yet continue to draw your full salary.

[Winslow Boy]

6 hours ago, rockershovel said:

You cannot bribe or twist / thank God, the British journalist / but seeing what the man will do / unbribed, there's no occasion to

 

Don't need to bribe them as they look on 'solchal media' as more often than not the 'peoples representatives' have either posted themselves or been caught by someone else.

[Tony_S]

4 hours ago, newbryford said:

 

Accidentally, or on purpose?

 

Ignorance I suppose, but I learn quickly. I wouldn’t deliberately drown the plants. 

Edited March 18 by Tony_S

[Happy Hippo]

1 hour ago, Flying Fox 34F said:

The crossover is fitted with Clamplock equipment so is fit for use by passenger trains.  

 

There is a bay platform in Wellington that is used for a somewhere in the Black Country to Wellington shuttle.  This is the crossover used by trains returning towards Wolverhampton to regain the up main. (So quite a few of the local passenger drivers will have signed it if required).

 

The loops are used for freight locos to run around their trains when they access the Donnington freight terminal branch.

 

West of Wellington station (beyond Aldi) there is a Limit of Shunt sign on the up side that is the furthest point that any loco can run 'wrong line' when using the up loop to run around.

Edited March 18 by Happy Hippo

[Mike Bellamy]

On 17/03/2024 at 19:23, Happy Hippo said:

There are two sides to Colchester Military Corrective Training Centre.

The first is for those offenders who will remain in the Army, and who are subjected to military training, 

The other side are those who will be discharged after their time at MCTC .

 

As shown in a Channel Five programme last year. Link to Army News and TV below

 

https://www.army.mod.uk/news-and-events/news/2023/08/military-justice-on-the-small-screen/

 

https://www.channel5.com/show/court-martial-soldiers-behind-bars

.

 

 

[J. S. Bach]

Night Owl from the Piedmont.

[AndyID]

7 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

This is a rant!

 

TfW has stated that they cannot run a Wellington to Shrewsbury shuttle service because there is no way of changing from the up line to the down line at Wellington.

 

What do they think this track formation does then?

 

 

Wellington also has up and down loops and a bay platform. (Although it does face in this direction.)

 

Behind the photographer is a facing crossing that leads into the Donnington freight terminal.

 

Surely a DMU could run past the crossover and reverse, or if TfW are worried about the train running  on up the line and reaching the collapsed embankment, then have the branch as the route set passed the crossover.  It would also remove the train from the main line, whilst the crew change ends, although there's no through traffic to contend with.

 

The station is just out of sight around the bend.

 

I can only presume that this decision and statement was made by a suit and not the railway operations staff, because this was the sort of situation they used to revel in and show a lot of pride in continuing to operate a service under the most trying of circumstances.

 

Now it's close it down and hire in a bus!

 

Crewe on Saturday, by car!

 

Unranted🤣

 

 

WBankers

 

[Flying Fox 34F]

3 hours ago, AndyID said:

 

 

WBankers

 

aka Newark!!!

[Flying Fox 34F]

8 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

There is a bay platform in Wellington that is used for a somewhere in the Black Country to Wellington shuttle.  This is the crossover used by trains returning towards Wolverhampton to regain the up main. (So quite a few of the local passenger drivers will have signed it if required).

 

The loops are used for freight locos to run around their trains when they access the Donnington freight terminal branch.

 

West of Wellington station (beyond Aldi) there is a Limit of Shunt sign on the up side that is the furthest point that any loco can run 'wrong line' when using the up loop to run around.

It just shows they are using the opportunity to claim as much lost revenue as possible from NR.

The Government won’t be worried.  It forces more people onto the roads paying fuel duty and road tax.  That’s all it ever seems to be about!

 

Paul

[Hroth]

2 hours ago, Flying Fox 34F said:

 

The Government won’t be worried.  It forces more people onto the roads paying fuel duty and road tax.  That’s all it ever seems to be about!

 

 

I'm awaiting the howls of anguish when electric car drivers finally have to pay road tax and the government works out a way to impose excise duty on electric car charging....

 

[Compound2632]

59 minutes ago, Hroth said:

I'm awaiting the howls of anguish when electric car drivers finally have to pay road tax and the government works out a way to impose excise duty on electric car charging....

 

It would be iniquitous to impose Road Tax on electric vehicles, since it has not been charged on internal combustion vehicles since 1937. Vehicle Excise Duty rates for electric vehicles are to be equalised with those on internal combustion vehicles from 1 April 2025.

 

It would be straightforward to replace fuel duty with an annual mileage tax, at a rate proportionate to the efficiency of the vehicle. This would preserve the current system of taxation on both ownership and use.

[Happy Hippo]

2 minutes ago, Compound2632 said:

 

It would be iniquitous to impose Road Tax on electric vehicles, since it has not been charged on internal combustion vehicles since 1937. Vehicle Excise Duty rates for electric vehicles are to be equalised with those on internal combustion vehicles from 1 April 2025.

 

It would be straightforward to replace fuel duty with an annual mileage tax, at a rate proportionate to the efficiency of the vehicle. This would preserve the current system of taxation on both ownership and use.

I suppose they could take the annual VOSA test mileage readings for older vehicles, but I'm sure a lot of the more unscrupulous would start 'adjusting' the odometer so that it only read 1-200 miles over the previous reading.

 

The easiest way to tax people is to add a proportion to fuel duty (this would be charged at the pump, or at the charging socket (home and commercial charging station). This would ensure that those that drove the most were charged the most.

 

However, this would be immediately complicated by having to give rebates to individuals who do not have ready access to public transport, and have to rely on cars to get around.

 

And would this rebate be given per vehicle or per household?  Under the current regime it is per vehicle, so perhaps I could buy a couple of spares?

 

Whatever plan is eventually thought up by the government of the day, it will be wrong, and the general population will whinge like nobodies business🤣.