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I find it interesting that, particularly with selective door opening available, that presumably it has been deemed more 'economic' to have a mix of 3- and 4-car units, rather than a standard go-anywhere fleet. Inevitably there will be a 3-car unit rostered on a service where a 4-car unit would normally be used.

If the line is going to be "ripped up" what are the plans for that corridor?

Yes, many of the Mk2[abcd] FKs (13nnn) were declassified to SKs (19nnn) in the early, mid, and possibly late 1980s. As far as I know, only the above mentioned group became CKs. Not sure when the CKs were done, but were certainly in this state by 1984/1985, when I remember them from the Platform 5 LHCS book that I had... [i forget, or don't remember, all sorts of important stuff but I can recall things like this, and post #604, off the top of my head!]

Any chance the single pole leaning in the opposite direction is some kind of strainer post, i.e. the lean is intentional?

Yes, there were five or six partially downgraded FKs, as mentioned above, all allocated to IS. Numbers were - from memory - something like 7550, 7551, 7553, 7558, and 7561. (Add 6000 for the previous FK number). Don't ask how I manage to remember these things ... :-)

Perhaps a premonition, but despite recording it at the time I had forgotten that the Russian GP was on so only watched it (C4 coverage) today. As others have said, not exactly the most exciting event. Shame the Red Bulls had to start at the back, one wonders what they could have done from the second or third rows. Three engines for an ever-lengthening season is clearly too few. I would have said five would be the right number. [Actually I would say that "as many as are necessary" is the ideal number, but then I'm a throwback. So much for the pinnacle of motorsport - no prototyping allowed, it would seem.] I do feel for Bottas - he is literally in a no-win situation. I can only hope that his paycheck is suitable compensation for playing second-fiddle. I hope they don't do something gratuitous in Abu Dhabi (or somewhere like that) with Hamilton dropping back and allowing Bottas through for a token victory. [i'm reminded of another Finn, Mikka Salo. When Schumacher broke his leg in 1999, Salo substituted for him for (some of) the races that Schumi missed. Salo, who had never won a GP at that point, was leading Eddie Irvine at Germany and Ferrari told him to swap positions as with Schumacher out, Irvine was the title hope. He did so and retired at the end of that season, having never won a F1 race.] Think the podium ceremony said it all, none of the three drivers looked particularly thrilled to be there. With the prospect of an ever-lengthening season (21 races, 23 races, 25 races?) something must be done to make the racing more interesting or competitive. Who is going to tune in to watch round 22 when one driver (or team) seems to dominate and the season appears to be a done deal after round 12? (for example). Not a pop at Hamilton, the same could be said about other drivers that have dominated (Vettel, Schumacher, Prost (93), Mansell (92), etc.)

Max was asked about this after the race (C4 coverage). He said that the ultras, or hypersofts, were only going to be good for about 3 laps flat out and as he had 13 laps to do, he didn't want to ruin them after 3 laps not knowing how big the subsequent drop-off might be. I do wonder if the racing would be better with tyres that could conceivably last the entire race, punctures aside, so the drivers could drive hard for the duration without having to think about saving tyres (or fuel for that matter).

It would appear that these people who have more than 12 points on their licence have at some point reached 12 points and been able to convince a court / magistrate that they need to keep their licence for exceptional circumstances. They have then continued to accumulate points on their licence. I would have thought that if you had accumulated 12 points and convinced the court / magistrate not to take your licence away, that any further infringement - particularly if for the same sort of offence that had accrued the initial 12 points - would have meant an instant ban, with no redress, as they clearly are not capable of obeying the rules/laws of the road. Retaining your licence through exceptional circumstances should be an absolute last chance to remain on the road until at least some of your existing points expire.

J6791 - what would the cluster of gas bottles be doing at the lineside?

Before looking at this I would have guessed Holden but looks more like a Statesman than a Commodore. The lack of control and veering across lanes directly in front of other traffic is just beyond stupid.

Thought 37425 had a nameplate with two lines, rather than two different nameplates. A number of diesels also had Welsh and English names, but again I thought they were on a single nameplate. Not sure about the steam engine though.

Re: DAS00761 The wagon prefix is unlikely to be DH. DM or perhaps DW? The second letter tended to be the region, so Midland or Western in this case.

Where was the picture with 66770 taken in post #5174? The track on the right seems to meet the line with the train at a fairly sharp angle. Is it part of a Y, or triangle, for turning stock or is it something else?

Something that stood out for me in the Austrian unit (post #19) is the depth of the seat cushions. Admittedly there is more to comfort than the depth of the cushion, but the seats in some of the other units looks rather thin in comparison.

Yes, always looked forward to the new Alright on the Night each year, often premièred around Christmas. The Griff Rhys Jones presented programmes were a pale imitation unfortunately. He also did a similar show, Denis Nordens Laughter File. I think the distinction was that "Alright on the Night" was outtakes from recorded shows, where you could always cut and try again, whereas "Laughter File" was for things going wrong on live shows, where the 'cut' option was not available. [Yes, he did so much more than those two shows, but that is what I remember him for.] Sad news, but seems like he lived to a good age and was working until relatively recently. RIP.

Same situation that has been in Australia for a while - the local race is shown live on free-to-air, everything else is highlights only. Foxtel (Sky) has the live coverage. But then most of the races aren't shown at particularly convenient times here, obviously the local race is OK and some of the Asian races happen to fall during the day time at the weekend, but most are record overnight and watch during the week. Mind you, unless Ricciardo wins (or crashes spectacularly) there isn't much chance of the result being given away on the news broadcasts. Once it was considered the most watched global sport - only the soccer world cup and Olympics having larger figures, but they were only once every four years. Rapidly becoming a minority sport, but then again (for this viewer) the racing isn't what it used to be. Even managed to make the last couple of events at Spa relatively uninteresting (aside from the first lap/corner of course).

Would Crewe A signal box have been a desirable job in the sense that the box is within the station, therefore presumably piped, plumbed and cabled with all the facilities, a straightforward commute, and the box under the overall train shed roof too. Or would a 'real' signal man have preferred something out on the moors, miles from any sort of civilization with minimal comforts?

Drifting slightly off-topic, but perhaps the "running HO and OO models alongside each other" proposition is similar to the "running 1:148 and 1:160 models together on N gauge track". I, like no doubt many others, had Roco and Electrotren bogie ferry vans (in 1:160 scale) running with 1:148 UK outline locos. You could kind of get away with it until the Dapol (1:148) bogie ferry vans showed up. The 1:160 vans were a little smaller in height and a little thinner, but so much shorter in length! In contrast I had a single Arnold bogie ferry van which must have been a broad gauge prototype as even at 1:160 it dwarfed the 1:148 UK stock. I also had a rather nice Minitrix breakdown crane, but again was taller than even the Minitrix 47, which in turn was a little bigger than the Farish 47. All part of the compromises we make, or made, I guess.

This intrigued me too. From the visible number, I reckon it was this - http://www.departmentals.com/photo/975324-1 - which was labelled as a "Catering Training Unit". There were at least two vehicles, the other being http://www.departmentals.com/photo/975323-1 . '323 survives, '324 went to Vic Berrys.

J4220 - an 0-4-0 centre cab diesel (I assume). Wonder how large, both physical dimensions and power output, the engine was?

DAS000578 Preston 26/08/1977 (Friday) 08355 on a parcels vehicle at the North end of Preston station Self-loading parcels, I assume :-) Thank you for the interesting thread.

I don't know when it started (quite possible from the birth of F1 in 1950) but even today there is a cutoff based on having to be within a certain percentage of the pole position lap time (currently 107%). Drivers who fail to meet that target can only race with the permission of the race stewards, so in theory you won't necessarily get a full grid even if there are sufficient entries. (I'm sure I remember times back in the dim and distant when the odd driver failed to meet the target lap time; ISTR at least one occasion when a driver was allowed to race after the other teams had lobbied the stewards on account of some exceptional circumstances which had befallen a popular driver/team. Can't see that happening these days!) Still happens from time to time, if a car fails in Q1 without setting a representative lap time. The team can ask for inclusion on the basis of the drivers (and cars) previous performances that season - or the other cars performance in that session. I didn't think the 107% rule was still in force, or hasn't been invoked for some time. Has been a while since someone has been told that they could not start as they were simply not quick enough.

Not sure if it still applies, but certainly at one time in recent memory the maximum number of cars allowed to start a F1 race was 25. This came up at one time when they were up to 12 teams and was seen as a hindrance to a 13th team showing up, as chances are one of their cars would fail to qualify for the race. Of course, back in the 1970s and 1980s you could have around 30 cars turning up to an event and thus pre-qualifying to determine which of the cars would then compete in the main qualifying event.

The BP&GV was I believe built on a drained canal, which with various overbridges made for the very limited headroom. I have a memory that the 03s were initially used because they were the only locos that BR (still) had with a sufficiently low axle loading for the line. The fact that you had to lash 3 together to move the train was possibly a secondary concern. Wagons used were (at least) 16 tonners and 21 tonne hoppers, with the 03s being vacuum brake only locos, so possibly unfitted / partial fitted / vacuum fitted consists. Later the 03s were replaced with 08s, also with cut-down cabs, not sure what changes to the infrastructure had been made to allow the larger locos to use the line. First 2 08s were vac only with the third being a dual braked example. Later on the rolling stock was changed over to HEA hoppers and the first two 08s were withdrawn and replaced with 2 air brake only examples. There is probably a Wiki page somewhere with this information - and probably correct information - but this is what I can still remember from the 1980s, despite living far far away from the line.

Is it my imagination or are there buried rails on the left of the entrance to the Babcock factory(?) in the first picture of the sequence?