RJS1977

I would like to think that it is the start of the branch (for obvious reasons!), however the inside of the curve should be on an embankment, not in a cutting.

When I was doing GCSE/A Level geography in the 1990s, we were told we had about 25 years' worth of each!

Going back to the car parked on the crossing at Ashland, I notice the following comment has been added under one of the videos of it on YouTube: "Authorities in Ashland said they have identified and charged the driver of a vehicle that was hit by a train early Sunday. Lizzeth Calderon Henriquez was charged with misdemeanor hit and run, operating a vehicle without a driver’s license, and operating a vehicle without insurance. Henriquez was last seen on Sunday exiting her vehicle that was stopped on the tracks near England Street and Railroad Avenue, police said." However it does seem she was somewhat unfortunate in her choice of crossing - there are apparently seven crossings in Ashland, only one of which has cameras....

Different number plates on each end of road vehicles isn't quite so useful - but I know of one situation where it can be used quite effectively. This is the situation where a road disappears off the layout by means of a vertical mirror which extends the road into the distance. What I have seen at some shows is a vehicle parked facing the mirror, with a similar-looking vehicle facing back at it. But the two have different registration plates because the numberplate on the front of the "real" vehicle not only is different to the rear numberplate, but is in mirror writing!

Different loco numbers/name plates/liveries on both sides works quite well for out-and-back operation (i.e. terminus to reversing loop) - at least for diesels/electrics that don't need to use a turntable at the terminus - as the loco that brings the next train in is different to the one that just went out.

Talking of "Jessie"....

Yes, as discussed in another thread recently, by 1973 the Triang group were in financial difficulties and sold the railway range (then known as Triang Hornby) to Dunbee Combex-Marx. However this didn't include the rights to the Triang name, which remained with the Triang group, hence Triang Hornby became Hornby Railways.

And also played Buster Edwards in a film about the Great Train Robbery.

Indeed, that's what kicked off the energy crisis in the first place, long before Putin invaded Ukraine (in summer 2021 we had to use much of the gas we had in storage for winter 2021/22 because of a lack of wind, requiring us to buy in more gas in autumn/winter when it was more expensive). I've also heard it said that as the poles are expected to warm faster than the equator, average wind speeds are likely to drop and days without wind likely to increase over the coming decades. (None of which has anything to do with HS2 of course).

The reason the Heathrow Express service costs so much more is because the Heathrow branch (including electrification from Paddington) was completely funded by BAA with no Government support, and BAA have needed to charge a premium fare in order to recoup their investment. There was also a premium fare on the Hayes-Heathrow part of the old Heathrow Connect service (for non-Heathrow employees) as BAA were charging HC for use of the line. I'm not quite sure how the change has come about that there is no premium fare for Crossrail services to Heathrow (to the point that Travelcards are accepted), unless TfL is subsidising fares on that section

And on appropriate dates, you can put a smartphone underneath it playing "Test Match Special"....

Incidentally Emilia Fox also "guest starred" in one of the recent Royal Institution Christmas Lectures, which were about forensic pathology.

Though even if Wallingford did have an everyday rail link, it would be facing the wrong way and need two changes to get to Oxford. Going on the X39/X40 bus would be quicker (either to Oxford or Reading), but has been suffering from unreliability issues recently owing to driver shortages. Of course, one reason Didcot is unrecognisable is the demolition of Didcot "A" power station.

But many of us are perfectly happy to accept those flaws (many of which are really quite minor) in return for a lower price, particularly if it makes the difference between being able to buy the model or not.

The Holden tank seems to have managed all right (only one ever built, spent most of its life in Swindon Works and the Highworth branch)...

Yes, I watched it having seen a notification about it on the Chinnor & Princes Risborough Railway's website (the only bit the C&PR were involved in was the level crossing where the emergency command centre was set up - all the railway action was filmed on what I immediately recognised as the Nene Valley). Although I didn't watch the whole episode - just the railway scenes - I was somewhat confused by the continued mention of a "train crash" as all we actually saw was a train making an emergency stop in a tunnel (and running over someone with an injured leg in the process). I gather there was some idea of a bomb having gone off in the tunnel, but this wasn't really observed on screen. As the locomotive involved was a Class 46 (pulling Mark 1s), I'm sure there must be some old footage out there that could have been used to portray a more realistic "accident", albeit that the Mark 1s would have been a different livery.....

My father knew two boys who went to Germany on an exchange visit. One boy forgot his hairbrush ("haarburste") and wanted to go into a shop to buy one. "Just be careful what you ask for," his friend replied. The boy went into the shop and came out looking embarrassed. "What happened?" "I've just asked a very large woman if she had a hairy chest." ("haartebrust")

Just thinking about the 56xx body - could it have been converted from the Airfix 61xx kit? There was an article on doing this in RM back in (I think) 1964 and I've built one that way

That's an interesting point - however with the limited production runs these days, how many toolings are getting to the "worn out" point? And in any case, if you're effectively selling two identical vehicles (for a two-car set), is that any different to selling two of anything else (e.g. B-set coaches, or even two locos?). However I could certainly agree with you for sets where intermediate coaches are involved (e.g the traditional "train set" HST with two power cars and one intermediate coach). I remember the proprietor of Roxey Mouldings telling me that when he designed his first etched coach kits, he thought he could save money by putting a brake coach, a composite, and a restaurant car on the same etch, until he started selling the kits....

The point I was making was that with careful design work, you don't necessarily need two different sets of tooling for a multiple unit.

However if both vehicles in the unit are identical (e.g. a Pacer), then the bodywork uses the same tooling and it *may* be possible to design the chassis in such a way that it is the same for both, except that one has a motor fitted to it, and the other doesn't.

One of my teachers had done National Service in Germany. One day, having got lost, he asked a passer-by (in German) the way to the railway station. The passer-by replied "If you'd speak in American, I'd be all right, but I can't understand a word of this crazy language!" and walked off!

Somewhat more complex than that, even. Triang didn't just buy the rights to the Hornby name, they also bought the Hornby Dublo tooling, though most of it was sold on to G&R Wrenn in fairly short order. However I believe some HD items did make it into the combined range for a while, though fitted with Triang mechanisms rather than HD. In 1972, Triang itself got into financial difficulties, and the railway range (and Scalextric) was sold to Dunbee-Combex-Marx. This was the point at which Triang-Hornby became Hornby as DCM had no agreement to use the Triang name. Of course Hornby has had numerous more changes of ownership and management since then.

Not too dissimilar to the one we use as a ticket office at Wallingford, except that that only has the rear window.

Yes, I looked into getting one to model the 2021 "Polar Express" until I saw the price!