The Night Mail

[pH]

5 minutes ago, AndyID said:

Sort of depends on which one.

I was actually looking for a GNoSR engine which I seem to remember had been painted in a tartan to pull the royal train, but didn’t find it. IIRC, it was painted in Dress Stewart 😳!

[AndyID]

4 minutes ago, pH said:

I was actually looking for a GNoSR engine which I seem to remember had been painted in a tartan to pull the royal train, but didn’t find it. IIRC, it was painted in Dress Stewart 😳!

 

The great thing about tartan is there are so many to choose from and you can double that number if you include both the dress and hunting versions. 😁

[pH]

There have been recent changes here in rules for car drivers encountering cyclists on the road:
 

“The changes establish a new minimum distance of one metre that drivers must maintain when passing cyclists and other vulnerable road users. That distance increases to 1.5 metres on highways with a posted speed limit above 50 km/h.”

 

My questions are:

 

- From which point of the cyclist/bicycle combination to which point on the overtaking vehicle are these distances to be calculated? The answer could mean the difference between 1.48 metres and 1.52 metres.

- How are these distances to be measured in real time when the overtaking vehicle may legitimately be travelling at 100kph, with a difference in speed between that vehicle and the bicycle of perhaps 80kph?

- What’s the point of specifying such precise numbers when there is no reasonable possibility of measuring to the required accuracy?

[polybear]

53 minutes ago, pH said:

There have been recent changes here in rules for car drivers encountering cyclists on the road:
 

“The changes establish a new minimum distance of one metre that drivers must maintain when passing cyclists and other vulnerable road users. That distance increases to 1.5 metres on highways with a posted speed limit above 50 km/h.”

 

My questions are:

 

- From which point of the cyclist/bicycle combination to which point on the overtaking vehicle are these distances to be calculated? The answer could mean the difference between 1.48 metres and 1.52 metres.

- How are these distances to be measured in real time when the overtaking vehicle may legitimately be travelling at 100kph, with a difference in speed between that vehicle and the bicycle of perhaps 80kph?

- What’s the point of specifying such precise numbers when there is no reasonable possibility of measuring to the required accuracy?

 

We've got the same/similar rule in the UK.  I'd have a lot more sympathy for the cyclist's plight if they made a bit more effort to abide by the law (and had compulsory 3rd party insurance)

[iL Dottore]

14 hours ago, polybear said:

 

WHOOAA....

Far too much information......

 

 

 

Perhaps it’s just as well we haven’t discussed faecal transplants…..

[polybear]

9 hours ago, PupCam said:

 

Green, blue or black* is the correct colour for locomotives but each colour MUST be of the correct shade and red (of the correct "Indian" shade) should of course be reserved for the wheels of blue locomotives 😀

 

* Three contrasting shades of grey (emulating "silver") are of course eminently suitably alternatives for certain locomotives.

 

Simple really .....

 

 

 

And definitely not monstrosities such as this.....

 

[iL Dottore]

7 hours ago, Dave Hunt said:

But don’t think that because of the above that I’m going soft on panniers 😊

 

Dave

Now, now.
 

Provocative statements like that could see you back in hospital, Dave - probably to get a scale 57XX removed from an orifice…

 

I have it on good authority that the Swindon types can get really nasty if provoked….

[iL Dottore]

Returning to the matter of locomotive colours…. Remembering the steam locomotive of my childhood (late 50s/60s) it is clear that the ONLY colour schemes for steam locomotives were:

1. Dirt
2. Rust
3. Dirt AND Rust

All this nonsense about GWR green, Midland red* etc., is clearly the product of the fevered imaginations of those who indulge - perhaps a bit too often - in things like waccy-baccy, strong likker and builder’s tea…

 

* they claim to have “photographic evidence” of said colours, but as we know how unreliable colour dyes were in primitive colour film, it would be easy to confuse rust for red, etc….

[polybear]

5 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

* they claim to have “photographic evidence” of said colours, but as we know how unreliable colour dyes were in primitive colour film, it would be easy to confuse rust for red, etc….

 

Even more of a joke when they come out with something like "I saw it go thru' Retford on the Express in 1956 and it definitely wasn't that shade....."

[jamie92208]

3 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

Returning to the matter of locomotive colours…. Remembering the steam locomotive of my childhood (late 50s/60s) it is clear that the ONLY colour schemes for steam locomotives were:

1. Dirt
2. Rust
3. Dirt AND Rust

All this nonsense about GWR green, Midland red* etc., is clearly the product of the fevered imaginations of those who indulge - perhaps a bit too often - in things like waccy-baccy, strong likker and builder’s tea…

 

* they claim to have “photographic evidence” of said colours, but as we know how unreliable colour dyes were in primitive colour film, it would be easy to confuse rust for red, etc….

Is that why the best selling colours for rail match paints are reputed to be, dirty black and Sleeper Grime. 

 

Anyway there is news from the Charente.  A Fatwah has been issued by SWMBO Mk 3.  I'm married to Mk 1.  Young Emily made two polite requests yesterday morning.  The first was for Nana to make some raspberry jam and the second was for Grandpa to have a train that she can play with in August.  I have inspected some items in the shed and it should be renamed the house of horrors.  I discovered a 00  Flying Scotsman in Apple Green then worst of all, a  Brunswick Green Pannier.  There was also some track.  My soul was restored when I found a Joueff Nez Cass 15000 in Silver Maroon and Orange.  Grandpa has some work to do.  

 

As to the jam,that will have to be made in the next 12 days whilst Nana has two usable arms. I was tasked with buying two packs of frozen framboise. 

 

Jamieé

Edited April 14 by jamie92208

[Happy Hippo]

7 hours ago, pH said:

How do you feel about tartan?

 

https://steamindex.com/media/tartancrampton.jpg

That reminds me of the Scotsman discussing his forthcoming wedding with a friend.

 

To cut a long story short, the wedding was going to be very Scottish.

 

The friend asks: 'What's the tartan?'

 

The punch line is: 'Oh, she'll be in white.'

[monkeysarefun]

1 hour ago, pH said:

 

- What’s the point of specifying such precise numbers when there is no reasonable possibility of measuring to the required accuracy?

 

 

 

Something similar to this would work , its adjustable depending on what speed you are doing.

 

Edited April 14 by monkeysarefun

[TheQ]

7 hours ago, pH said:

I was actually looking for a GNoSR engine which I seem to remember had been painted in a tartan to pull the royal train, but didn’t find it. IIRC, it was painted in Dress Stewart 😳!

Hmm that painting isn't a very good imitation of dress Stewart Tartan. Should be a lot more white in it.

Royal Stewart, Tartan with red Background,

Dress Stewart, Tartan with white back ground,

Hunting Stewart, Tartan with green back ground,

Black Stewart, Tartan with black background.

The above have the same royal tartan lines but a different background colour, there are more.

 

Then there are different branches of the family with different tartan lines and their own range of backgrounds.

There are 32 different Stewart Tartans, last time I counted...

Manufacturers of Tartans have muddied the waters by bringing out ancient / weathered and modern versions of Tartans. Ancient being of faded colours, modern being over bright versions only obtainable due to modern eyes. Often this is to get round license clauses by the owners of the tartan .

So the RAF tartan can only be produced by one company so other manufacturers brought out something similar but not quite the same.

 

 

 

[polybear]

44 minutes ago, monkeysarefun said:

Something similar to this would work , its adjustable depending on what speed you are doing.

 

 

Oh look, let's resurrect Jousting.....

[Winslow Boy]

28 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

Oh look, let's resurrect Jousting.....

What do you mean resurrect. That's normal for Manutopea.

[Hroth]

1 hour ago, monkeysarefun said:

 

 

 

Something similar to this would work , its adjustable depending on what speed you are doing.

 

 

I see the plod took exception to the jousting pole!

 

[Happy Hippo]

2 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

 

 

 

Something similar to this would work , its adjustable depending on what speed you are doing.

 

I notice the vehicle behind the 17/21st Lancers staff car, is a roads policing vehicle, so it is likely he's been pulled over on the double yellow lines as the protruding load is somewhat dangerous.

[Happy Hippo]

Back onto clearances for passing cyclists.

 

Before the revised UK highway code and it's inclusion of the Hierarchy of Responsibility, I went to a meeting of driving instructors where safe passing distances were brought up.

 

The 1.5 metres clearance minimum for passing cyclists at up to 30 mph is specified as 1.5 metres which we concluded is the average length of a car door.

 

This should be the minimum distance you should pass a parked vehicle, in the event that it is opened into the path of your vehicle, so you have a greater chance of avoiding a collision.*

 

Would you overtake a slower moving car or a horse and rider with only 1.5 metres clearance?

 

Anyone who has ridden a push bike can vouch for the force of displaced air when a vehicle passes you at speed,  so the more speed the overtaking vehicle is doing, the more distance should  be allowed.  I have related before how I was blown over into a ditch whilst at the end of a cycle track.  I was moving very slowly and unclipping from the pedals, whilst parallel to the road, when a 44 tonner passed at about 50 mph.  The distance between the cycle lane where I was and the road was about 2 metres.

 

When I'm passing cyclists, I work on the principle that I will wait until I have enough space to move onto the other side of the carriageway to pass safely.

 

As for insurance and registration of cycles, I've cycled in Belgium where adults are required to have a registration plate on their bicycle, and you have to have 3rd party insurance.

 

I would suspect the government of whichever shade of yellow, would just say it is too difficult to set up and administer:  Ditto the compulsory use of Cycle helmets.

 

As for insurance, most serious cyclists are members of clubs and national associations who provide automatic 3rd party insurance for their members.

 

The other way to easily put 3rd party cycling insurance into place would be to make cyclists who are also motorists declare this on an insurance application.  this would then extend your vehicle insurance to cover you when riding a cycle.  (The insurance company would probably charge an admin fee, but in all honesty, you can't ride a cycle and drive a car at the same time, so the one policy ought to cover you at no extra cost.)

 

 

*There are plenty of Youtube clips, where cyclists have been passed by vehicles which are travelling very quickly and the passing distances are far too close.  In some cases the video footage has been passed to the police and prosecutions have followed.

 

 

[pH]

2 hours ago, TheQ said:

Hmm that painting isn't a very good imitation of dress Stewart Tartan. Should be a lot more white in it.

That painting is of a North British Railway engine, and I don’t know what tartan that is, or is meant to be.

 

The other illustration I was trying to find, but couldn’t, was of a Great North of Scotland engine. As I remember it, it was used to pull the Royal train from Aberdeen to Ballater and it was painted in Dress Stewart tartan.

 

Yes, Dress Stewart has a generally white background, which is why it was remarkable as a colourscheme for a steam locomotive.

[pH]

About separation of passing vehicles from cyclists.

 

I worked in Cambridge for some years and a work colleague cycled to work on busy city streets. (Obviously, a common method of commuting in that city.) He had a flag on a springy rod attached horizontally to his bike frame. It was about 18 inches long. However, its ‘effective’ length was greater than that. Motorists gave him a wide berth from fear of getting their nice cars scratched! 

[PhilJ W]

4 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

 

 

 

Something similar to this would work , its adjustable depending on what speed you are doing.

 

I wouldn't want to have that surgically removed if I was a cyclist.

[PhilJ W]

5 hours ago, polybear said:

 

And definitely not monstrosities such as this.....

 

At the time of Queen Victoria's diamond jubilee one railway company turned a locomotive out in a similar colour only lighter. Another company painted a locomotive white, as it was a steam locomotive it didn't stay white for long.

[PhilJ W]

Hippo vs. lion at 05:26.

 

[monkeysarefun]

1 hour ago, Happy Hippo said:

I notice the vehicle behind the 17/21st Lancers staff car, is a roads policing vehicle, so it is likely he's been pulled over on the double yellow lines as the protruding load is somewhat dangerous.

 

 

 

Probably pulled over and admonished for the feeble attempt, look what we can fit into a Ford Fairmont.

 

 

Edited April 14 by monkeysarefun

[polybear]

1 hour ago, pH said:

About separation of passing vehicles from cyclists.

 

I worked in Cambridge for some years and a work colleague cycled to work on busy city streets. (Obviously, a common method of commuting in that city.) He had a flag on a springy rod attached horizontally to his bike frame. It was about 18 inches long. However, its ‘effective’ length was greater than that. Motorists gave him a wide berth from fear of getting their nice cars scratched! 

 

Haven't seen one of those gadgets for years - wouldn't be hard to make one though