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Hello. I'm looking for some advice from the collective knowledge base about some problems that I am having with my car. I'm in Australia so will be mentioning kilometres and summer weather at this time of year. The vehicle is a 2005 Nissan Pulsar (named Almera in Europe) that I bought in 2008 and has been a flawless performer until recently. It has an automatic gearbox. Sometime in November or December last year there was a change in behaviour. Nothing dramatic, more subtle in an "I don't remember it doing that before" fashion from someone who has been driving it for a decade. Difficult to describe, but it seemed to become a little hesitant at times and possibly down on power, particularly on hot days. I did wonder if this was happening simply because the weather was warming up rather than any specific problem with the car. I went to a number of places, starting with the Nissan Service Centre, but all they seemed to do was connect their diagnostics machine to the car and tell me that there was nothing wrong with it. One even told me that because the diagnostics had not shown any problems they didn't want to do any work on the car as I could/would end up paying for something that didn't need to be done. Which I suppose was refreshingly honest in a sense. Last time I had the car 'diagnosed' as healthy was on New Years Eve. On 5th of January I was driving on a dual carriageway at 80kph (50mph) when there was a sudden lurch as if the car had lost power for a few seconds before it recovered and the engine management light had come on. Hazards on, pull off the road and park in a place of safety. Consult the handbook to see what the implications of the warning light was. Turns out I could drive the car, but at no more than 70kph, and proceed directly to your nearest Nissan dealer. That turned out to be a bit of an adventure as at seemingly random times the car would appear to drop out of gear (revs went high, loss of drive) for a second or two before re-engaging. The Nissan Service Centre diagnosed the problem as the camshaft and crankshaft sensors having failed. These were replaced, although nobody could really tell me why they failed, and the car returned. Since then I have been wondering if the sensor failures were an effect of a problem rather than the cause. Perhaps I am being hyper-sensitive, the thought of being stranded in the Australian summer doesn't appeal, but I am feeling every slight 'thing' that happens as I am driving. Something in particular that I have noticed is that while the car starts off normally, later on in the journey once things have warmed up, or sooner on a hot day, there are noticeable changes in behaviour. At the beginning of the journey, the idle speed when sitting at traffic lights, in a queue etc., is around 750rpm, which is what I would expect. However, as the journey progresses (and/or the day warms up) I notice that this speed is decreasing to around 600rpm and in at least one instance was only just above 500rpm, at which point I could feel the car shuddering as if it is thinking about stalling, though admittedly it never has. I've mentioned this previously to the various car maintenance people that I've spoken to and have asked if the idle speed can be reset (this has been done at least once at service in the time I've had the car) but I keep getting the "diagnostics says there is nothing wrong" response. This is definitely a change in behaviour and although the data seemingly says that there is nothing wrong, the gut is saying different. I'm wondering what I need to do or say to these people in order for them to proceed past the diagnostics box results and actually look at something. Perhaps there is a "nuts and bolts" problem going on that an old-fashioned mechanic could diagnose and hopefully fix. Has anyone had a similar experience or able to offer advice on how to proceed? Or instead of spending my Saturdays running around garages looking for a fix, should I be going to a car yard on the basis that if I point at something on Saturday and say "I'll take that" I could possibly be driving something else in a weeks' time and the problem be resolved that way. It isn't a new car, and hasn't been for some time, but it has been a faultless servant until now. Mileage is just past 160K km (100K miles), of which I've done 120K km. The car has been looked after (serviced every six months by Nissan and driven nicely) and is a known quantity so I'm reluctant to change it possibly for the sake of a simple fix, if only someone could be persuaded to look beyond the diagnostics for the problem. Thank you for any forthcoming response.

Presumably this is the train that has been featured before. I believe the C prefix pictures are your fathers and the J's are yours, so as this is the only C picture in the group...

Not unpainted, rather undecorated. Dapol released their N gauge Class 73 in a large logo livery, but unnumbered. A sheet of transfers was included with the loco so that the user could choose one of several numbers. Apparently it wasn't a popular seller so the 'experiment' wasn't repeated.

Just as well you turned up really. Don't forget to remind them of this from time to time :-)

In response to the Lee Child / Jack Reacher series recommendation, I can add that I have read all of the Reacher books, including short stories, up to the most recent title at the time of writing. Like a lot of series, the initial books are very good: the proverbial page turner, just read one more chapter before going to sleep etc, but I've found some of the more recent stories a little less good than those that went before. There are elements of "same situation, different location" creeping in. But all credit to the guy for coming up with the concept and developing it the way that he has thus far. First book of the series I read was "One Shot", long before the film - that I haven't seen - appeared and I was 'in' at that point - Lee Childs name immediately went on my list of authors to look for. There are a couple of spin-offs to Reacher by other authors (apparently approved by Lee Child). Son of Reacher series by Scott Blade. Essentially one of Jack Reachers intimate encounters produced a child. Brought up by his mother, when she dies he sets off in search of the father that he has never known. I've only read the first couple of books in that series and I'm not too sure about them. Seems similar to his fathers adventures except he is 19 and inevitably less mature about things. Search for Reacher series by Diane Capri. About two FBI agents, one male and one female, who are trying to track Reacher down. Not sure if their motives are benign or not. Again, read the first two or three books in the series but not sure about them. Not ringing endorsements but anybody who has liked the Reacher books, and somehow doesn't know about these, might be interested to know of their existence.

In terms of fiction, a couple of authors I came across in the last year or so that I think are worthy of mention: Stuart Pawson - has written a series of novels around a Yorkshire DI. Some of the books are branded as "Yorkshires answer to Inspector Morse" which is possibly what drew me in the first place. I'd disagree with that statement but those that I have read, approx half of those written, I've enjoyed. Lawrence Block - written tons of books, but I'm going to highlight the few (3 or 4) he has written featuring a character called Keller. He is a contract killer, although the books rarely feature him doing the deed, more musing on where he is and what he is doing at that moment in time. A little whimsical perhaps, but I thought they made for an interesting character study. He is also a serious stamp collector, so when he is visiting a town / city for work, he invariably stops off for some philately. The comment above re Clive Cussler piqued my interest. I started reading his books in the 1980s, when the early titles were relatively fresh and usually set in the near future (10-20 years hence, i.e. history now). First book of his that I read was Vixen 03, and found the maritime adventure/thriller suitably different from the usual medical / legal / crime subjects. The early books, written solely by himself and featuring Dirk Pitt and Al Giordino, are the best, IMO. In more recent times he has partnered with a number of other authors and written heaps of books in various series, which - IMO - have produced some rather mixed results.

I'll second Randall Munroe's What If? and also point to his website, xkcd.com that has cartoons with normally a technical bent to them. The What If? pages are at whatif.xkcd.com.

As the haulage was an 08 (D3568) presumably a trip working if not a shunt move. Max speed 15mph, or was it 20mph in 1966?

Just how does that happen? Really. And presumably the dragging brake didn't warm the wheels enough to trip a hot box detector en route?

C6303 would be a candidate for the Human Side of the Railway thread, if it hasn't already made its way there.

Would be ironic if the driver was looking at their phone too - https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-northamptonshire-46762571

Looking at the Flickr photostream there is another picture also titled 71019 and 71014 but clearly (well, out of focus) showing 71009. So I suspect 71009 and 71014.

J6842 - the second, currently unidentified, Class 20 will be one of the final hundred as it has a headcode box rather than discs. Also note the bogies - 20 043 has the plain frames variant, which I think were originally fitted to the pilot batch (first 250) - and the second unit has the more common bogies with fluted frames. Edit - pilot batch was 50 units, not 20. So 043 would be normal for plain framed bogies. But they did move around within the fleet over time.

I didn't work Christmas this year. First time in three years, from memory. Not having a family, I never minded working over Christmas (and New Year). Commute was usually quieter and so was work, as only the really essential people were present... Worked on a 1:1 railway, doing test and commissioning work.

The Mainline set with the LNER J72 and a number of wagons. Would have been circa 1977. Long gone from my possession now.

Because when you find it you stop looking, therefore where it was located is the last place that you looked. :-)

Re: C13919. The GUV is in Royal Mail livery, albeit unbranded, has dual brakes (the X in the TOPS code), yet is still sitting on BR1 bogies. Unusual? I would have assumed that by that date anything that was DB and merited a repaint would have been on 100mph bogies, whether Commonwealth or B4/B5. Re: J3421. Never mind the spare boiler, I wonder if the wagon it is sitting on still exists? Forget what they were called, but I think were built for carrying armour plate and were unusual in having three axle bogies and side chains adjacent to the coupling hook.

Hello. This might be a difficult one with the separation of politics from the site, but Paddy Ashdown has died. Although his politics were not my own, I respected him as a man. He seemed to have more dignity, and perhaps gravitas, than some of his contemporaries.

I'm going to have to disagree with you there. If his fathers condition, or death, - I'm not sure of the exact timelime in relation to the bridge strike - was such a factor in his life then he shouldn't have been driving a coach, with or without passengers onboard.Whether he should have been driving any vehicle in that mental/emotional state?

Honking the horn when stopped at traffic lights that have just turned green used to be quite frequent around these parts (Australia) and seemed to be a habit of Asian drivers. Perhaps it is or was a common practice in that part of the world. Caught me out at least once not long after I came here as I was leading the line, the light went green, I started to move off and someone behind me honked. At which point I stopped, as I had read the honk as to mean I'd missed something, such as a pedestrian or a cyclist or perhaps an opposing move. More honking ensued. Don't hear it so much at traffic lights these days - perhaps the habit has petered out in these parts ...

Yes, I was thinking the same. The lack of an external bogie frame still looks odd to me, and some Mk3 style underframe fairing would have made a better look.

Mostly Autumn did an album of Pink Floyd covers in 2004, called Pink Floyd Revisited.

For the last 5 years or so, I've been tracking what I have read via the Goodreads site. In the main the usual selection of contemporary fiction, biographies etc. but there are some books that may be of interest to others :-) This year I re-read a couple of chemistry books: Excuse Me Sir, Would You Like to Buy a Kilo of Isopropyl Bromide? by Max Gergel about his experiences with organic chemistry in the 1950s and Ignition! by John D. Clark on the development of liquid rocket fuels in the late 1940s through to the early 1960s. Both fairly entertaining, you don't need a huge chemistry background to appreciate some of the (hair-raising) things that they did although some knowledge in the area would be useful. A book that may be of interest for the Driving Standards thread - Roadcraft: The Essential Police Driver's Handbook. And one for the music thread - Do Not Sell at Any Price: The Wild, Obsessive Hunt for the World's Rarest 78rpm Records.

On SR EMUs the triangle indicated which end the parcels went. Something similar for a lockable compartment area?

2 well used examples, each bearing the remnants of former decoration. Makes a change from the bright shiny stuff that is often seen (and photographed).