Early Risers.

[Compound2632]

14 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

I once went to an early Microsoft Windows preview. I said it was going to do well and was told by everyone else at work I was talking rubbish and it would never sell 

 

> Agree.

> There's no way it can compete with that green caret prompt. 

Edited July 5, 2021 by Compound2632

[tigerburnie]

4 hours ago, TheQ said:

I assume Tigerburnie did his apprenticeship at the AEI buildings in Leicester, I went  there once for a job interview, Not enough money and the place was very depressing. I also felt like a foreigner in the area..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Correct, Blackbird Road in the town and Golf Course Lane in New Parks, that's 5 years I shalln't forget in a hurry for a variety of reasons, Blackbird Road is now a housing estate. I started on £2 and 18 shillings for a 40 hour week in 1965, my first wage as a skilled man in 1970 was £22.00

Edited July 5, 2021 by tigerburnie

[simontaylor484]

My spare parts have now arrived its tinkering time

[leopardml2341]

1 minute ago, simontaylor484 said:

My spare parts have now arrived its tinkering time

Ooo Err Missus!

[Pacific231G]

11 hours ago, JohnDMJ said:

 

 

With respect, you, as an employee tied up in the 30 second farce, seem to have missed my point.

 

Simply, the time published in any form of timetable represents the time at which the doors close. The train departs up to 30 seconds after this event.

 

European countries such as Germany, France, Netherlands, Switzerland have mastered this concept. It seems that this is beyond comprehension in the UK!

Unless it's changed since, my experience of German railways while Interailing etc. was that they began to move precisely as the sweep second hand passed he 12.  The joke on this Germanic precision was that long distance expresses were often half an hour or so late by the time they'd gone a few hundred miles.

I've never been aware of the departure time in any railway timetable anywhere being anything other than the time the train is scheduled to depart not the last time that passengers can board it. Making the published departure time earlier than the actual departure time would mean using different timings in public and working timetables leading to endless work and endless confusion. The same goes for airline timings and even theatres. If the play is due to start at 7PM then that's the time the audience expect to be in their seats ready for the off, not the time they shoould think about entering the auditorium.

There is by the way nothing new in this.

 

Note the "Quarter before Seven o'Clock precisely!" From all accounts the Royal Mail coaches were even stricter about timings and their guards really did log their times to the minute. Whether you really could set your clock by the time of the London mail coach's passing is less certain.

Edited July 5, 2021 by Pacific231G

[southern42]

5 hours ago, leopardml2341 said:

Sorry, but I just couldn't resist - there's a certain 'Toy Story' feel to that pic

 

 

 

5 hours ago, southern42 said:

Snip...

Just found out they do a black snood....

Snip...

Just found out we have one!

You just wait 'til I get it on...

[Pacific231G]

8 minutes ago, southern42 said:

 

Just found out we have one!

You just wait 'til I get it on...

Just showing my ignorance and I'm sure you've referred to it in more detail earlier but which railway is the CVR?

[southern42]

39 minutes ago, Pacific231G said:

Just showing my ignorance and I'm sure you've referred to it in more detail earlier but which railway is the CVR?

 

Conwy Valley Railway, adjacent to and over the bridge from Betws-y-coed Station (Conwy Valley Line from Llandudno Junction to Blaenau Ffestiniog, connecting with the Ffestiniog Railway, narrow gauge) with its Class 150.

 

 

Hope this helps.

 

Edited July 5, 2021 by southern42

[simontaylor484]

My Uncle Michael used to work for GNER as a train manager this was a second career he was a commercial artist designing print ads and packaging doing hand drawings until computers really impacted the business making it unviable. GNER issued certain staff members radio controlled watches to try and ensure punctuality.

 

Sorry for the digression in this post

[JohnDMJ]

Good Evening awl, although there remains doubt over the opening word! A light snack and an early night are envisaged.

 

Elsewhere, the logic employed by train schedulers does vary from country to country and depends, to a large extent, on the type of service offered. The UK tends to be very much point-to-point whilst Switzerland, for example, relies on changing trains. In the latter case, the preference is to bunch trains together at the connection stations with timings based on how many platforms need to be traversed to reach the target train; on this basis, the distinction between 'door closure' time and 'departure' time can be significant as you will not always arrive 10 or more minutes ahead of your departure!

 

10 hours ago, grandadbob said:

Whenever I get a train (very rarely these days and not at all since the beginning of Covid) I always try to get to the station at least 10-15 minutes before the due time so 30 seconds here or there doesn't bother me in the slightest.

 

Interestingly, the most efficient I have seen my local station operate was during the rail strikes a few years ago. Only two services in each direction were offered: Chichester to London and Bognor to Brighton (via Littlehampton). Due to the track layout, trains heading UP worked and connected well; trains heading DOWN did not always as the guard was often all too keen to keep to the timetable than to provide a service (although some did)!

 

10 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

I watch, on a fairly regular basis, Japan Railway Journal and in one episode they had a feature on Tokyo Subway driver training. After learning the route, the trainee driver - with the instructor in the cab - would have to cover the speedometer and complete the route keeping to the set speed limits (+/- 5 seconds [or less?], if I recall correctly) without reference to the speedometer. I wonder how many drivers in the London Underground, the Paris Metro or the Berlin U-Bahn could do that?

 

JRJ is a fascinating look into the world of Japanese railways. Although privatised, Japanese railways offer a level of comfort and service that few other countries (if any) can match. NHK World, who broadcasts JRJ, have had a number of presenters over the years, unfortunately - for 2021 - the sole episode made and broadcast had a clueless, female, social media “influencer” and the episode was unwatchable - the problem being the underlined items, not that the presenter was female…

 

Why TV feels that it needs to court the social media “influencer” is beyond me. I am certain there are far more people not influenced than influenced by these internet nonentities…

 

Andy Warhol: you were right….

 

iD, Indeed, there has only been one new episode of JRJ this year but, in many respects, it was refreshing. In a parallel universe (in which I note your participation), it has already been observed that the two original presenters were keen to take the limelight; Russell not so much and the guest was allowed to contribute more; Nathan less so.

 

It is commented in this parallel universe that the new presenter was chosen for having an interest in railways but more to bring Ryo into the forefront with conversation rather than set interview.

 

 

[PhilJ W]

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. Nipped down to Tess Coes after lunch only having to take a four mile detour when I got within sight of the store. The reason was a heavy lorry jammed under the railway bridge at Pitsea so I had to retrace my steps and go via the A13. Not sure if the trains were stopped but I did see a van marked up 'Network Rail Response Unit' as I left Tess Coes. All was not lost however as my return route took me past the garage that services my car so I booked it in for a service and MoT which is due by the end of the month. Tea is mashed, be back later.

[simontaylor484]

2 hours ago, leopardml2341 said:

Ooo Err Missus!

Titter ye not 

[J. S. Bach]

11 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

Morning all from Estuary-Land. I stayed up last night to finish reading a novel. So late that dawn was breaking when I finished. Now back to bed for some sleep, be back later.

I recall when I read Janet Auel's "CLAN OF THE CAVE BEAR", I was lying on the sofa with only a small light shining down on the book. The phone rang; I was so into the book that I was sitting around the fire with Aila, the mog-ur and the rest of the clan, that noise was so foreign to my perceived environment that it really scared me!

 

Edit: That book was one of the very few that I literally could not stop reading!

Edited July 5, 2021 by J. S. Bach
To add some information.

[simontaylor484]

1 hour ago, southern42 said:

 

Conwy Valley Railway, adjacent to and over the bridge from Betws-y-coed Station (Conwy Valley Line from Llandudno Junction to Blaenau Ffestiniog, connecting with the Ffestiniog Railway, narrow gauge) with its Class 150.

 

 

Hope this helps.

 

Is this the line that is at the museum at Betws y coed and goes round the lake?

[Coombe Barton]

... We’ve had Pete from the Street, now we have Phil from the Hill ...

 

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2021/07/05/despite-the-data/

[polybear]

7 hours ago, TheQ said:

The first T80 went into service in 1954 (RAF Ventnor) the last left service in 1992. (RAF Buchan)

 There were at least 41 T80s built, but many were withdrawn shortly after introduction and some never made it to their intended sites due to cutbacks, hence there were plenty of spares for training sites.

 

 

 

I wonder how many millions of taxpayers money was blown on that little number.....

 

In other news.....

Bear has finally finished the installation of the dishwasher - door panel fitted, dishwasher aligned and secured to adjacent cabinets, doors each side adjusted to match and a notch cut it the plinth to allow the dishwasher door to open fully.  One coat of paint has been applied to the cut edges of the plinth (they're directly below the dishwasher door, so there is some scope for water dripping down) and a second coat will be applied tomorrow.

 

Bear spotted the ParcelFarce van pull up outside - I was waiting on the doorstep (all excited like) for postie to wander up the garden path with my new vacuum cleaner.  Must get out more...

 

And I've spotted a blemish (about 15mm long) in the surface of the new Granite worktop - it's one of those marks that is difficult to see unless you're in the right place, with the right light.  But once spotted....

So it was duly reported to the supplier (with photos), after first conducting a very  thorough inspection of all other areas to make sure there were no other nasties lurking.  I was dreading them saying "Well, it was fine when we left it etc. etc.";  none of that was forthcoming, however.  Instead they said it was a naturally occurring feature of Granite - this is the point where Bear is then expecting them to say something along the lines of "All in our T's & C's etc. etc. that such things are to be expected blah blah blah".  None of that either - instead they are arranging for a stonemason to come out and correct the blemish, which I suspect will involve re-polishing that area.  Sounds ok - besides, I've not paid the balance yet....

 

And finally...

I see Bozo is letting the clamps off - I just hope it's not premature....

 

[The White Rabbit]

Venturing (with some trepidation) into the discussion on departure/door closing times, I don't know what should have happened, but at Leeds station pre-pestilence, our local services tended to depart within a few seconds of the advertised departure time. I usually caught the 17.15 local service and sat or stood in a carriage where I could see a digital clock on the platform. Now this was Leeds in the rush hour, so plenty of exceptions but maybe about half the time, the guard would close the doors around 17.14.40-50 and give two buzzes about 17.15.00-10. We rarely started moving more than a few seconds before 17.15.00 (despite having a green light for a couple of minutes before) and the mode must have been somewhere between then and 17.15.30. 

 

There was a London KX GNER train which nominally was a 17.14 departure but which usually left after us. Some days it would leave at the same time and parallel us out of the station for some distance. It rarely left on the advertised departure time, despite often having closed doors just after 17.13 (and usually having a green). 

 

 

[New Haven Neil]

9 hours ago, Pacific231G said:

Excellent. For the six months I was there in 1969-1970 I used to see the Harton Electrics almost every morning while walking to college. I never saw its mercury arc rectifiers but....snip<

 

 

At the Tech? Doing tickets?

 

As for the railways - NHN was born and grew up in one of those houses!

 

[Ozexpatriate]

1 hour ago, Coombe Barton said:

... We’ve had Pete from the Street, now we have Phil from the Hill ...

Once team England's run at the UEFA championship is done (irrespective of the results), I wonder if anyone would be able to analyse how many more SARS-CoV-2 infections resulted, than had they lost in the first round.

 

Similarly while the audience at SW19 makes for a much greater experience for the players, I personally find it disconcerting to see people packed in so close together in a relatively enclosed space - truly enclosed when the roof is shut.

 

I note that >50% of Britons are fully vaccinated.

 

Locally (in Oregon) we're at 54.2% fully vaccinated, 59.1% vaccinated with one shot and >70% of adults vaccinated with one shot. Cases are declining. We lifted all restrictions last week and many people* are still wearing masks while shopping, but I expect that behaviour to change fairly quickly.

 

* 50%?

 

Nationally cases are creeping up slightly** - not nearly to the same extent as the present 'bathtub' curve in the UK.

 

** mostly in states with lower vaccination rates

[simontaylor484]

Wonder if this guy is a candidate for Botox in his man bits

Austrian man bitten on the genitals by a python while on the toilet https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9757707/Austrian-man-bitten-genitals-python-sitting-toilet.html?ito=native_share_channel-home-preview

[tigerburnie]

G'night all

[leopardml2341]

Despite my lack of sleep last night I've not been too grumpy today and I've achieved quite a bit.

 

Maybe tomorrow will be the c@ckwomble apocalypse

 

For now, at least,  goodnight folks.

[pH]

Approximately 200 wildfires burning in BC at the moment. Firefighters are coming from New Brunswick and Quebec to help fight them. This is unusual so early in the season.

 

 

[TheSignalEngineer]

Timetabling on BR post-Beeching became a game of seeing how effectively you could discourage the public from using trains. Back around 1967 I was on holiday in Cornwall. I decided to try to do all of the remaining GWR branches in one day whilst there so went to the station to enquire about timetables. I was given a combined bus and rail booklet for the whole of Cornwall. When I asked about tickets and the station man found I worked for BR he said you will need this as well. He handed me a duplicated sheet of  trains which apparently didn't connect in the timetable, which was cunningly arranged to show the branch trains missing main line trains by two or three minutes. He told that there was a whole system of train delaying tactics employed so that these connections could be used for the benefit of staff and the local people.

[PhilJ W]

Evening all from Estuary-Land. I forgot to look at the Dawlish live webcam earlier so if there was any excitement I was too late. Thats one thing on my bucket list in the possible but unlikely category. To ride a train through Dawlish with the waves breaking over the train.