woodenhead

Lewis's interests beyond being sat in the car are growing - once he has the most titles and most wins (next week probably) then he may simply retire and whilst it would be great for us to see LH and MV side by side with the same engines I am not sure it will happen. As he will likely win this season and next season looks another clear opportunity then 2022 then he has nothing left to add to except more of the same. I do think the move by Honda to again leave F1 says they've probably got what they need from the sport again (is it three times now they've done this hokey cokey). Whether or not F1 can attract any new engine manufacturers without a massive tilt towards full electrics now I don't know - it's a ticking clock towards the time that the only new cars will be electric and F1 loses all relevance for pushing boundaries of engine manufacturing if it remains with a combustion engine unless someone comes up with a technique to make hydrogen combustion better than hydrogen fuel cells. So that means three engine manufacturers and Ferrari will have a new engine for 2022 so all is not lost to RB or they can make up with Renault.

Well I never do, but maybe I should as I never realised this option existed, clearly @OhOh has had a good look around.

RMWeb needs to come with a user guide, nice one, I've just applied that @OhOh

@jools1959 I agree, I thought the only issue was the lack of a plywood version (now resolved) because I don't like MDF. But Hattons have succinctly put together a package of components that let people build their own baseboards. Ok there are other companies out there that can supply and I've purchased my latest boards from one of these, but Hattons are the first retailer to put baseboards into their general products (unlike a bit of sundela that some shops used to sell). It has the look of an Ikea type product so will be attractive to someone who knows flatpacks. The fact I don't have to think about cutting up boards and striving but never quite achieving the straight edges I need takes away all the stress.

It is the parent of all trainsets - it even had the single siding in which to put your train.

@Nearholmer Also a very good example of an early modular layout and use of trestles

I am sure they would be both glad of the opportunity.

On the basis it was Edison's model that received investment and Tesla's didn't because he didn't appreciate that investors want a return then it is Edison because he was a businessman. But in true science Tesla saw the future and designed stuff that now we acknowledge had proper merit whereas businessman Edison invented obsolescence and we all see the impact of that today.

The economics of anything is out of the window at present but people still need to travel and commute so we do need trains to keep running hence nationalisation in all but name at the beginning of lockdown. With regards Boris, he too is just a vehicle I think and at the moment he has a couple of flat tyres and his motor is out of tune. I reckon they will see him out in the New Year, lets face it who is going to want to deal with a no deal Brexit in the next two months when they can take control in January and blame him for the fallout.

Even the PM cannot explain the rules, what chance does some 18-24 year old wanting to live a life have in understanding how they are expected to behave. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-54342688

But thankfully not Sprinterisation which would see off the Peaks.

There may be a bond, but for the TOC it is a known value so they know the cost of walking away - it might be expensive but less expensive than carrying on. I did over simplify but there was no need to complicate either. Franchising has just been a fancy name for outsourcing.

Took ages as well for the 3kg bags to be back, I think even Sainsburys had them before Asda.

Locomotives are not water tight but are designed to be able to operate with water present - drains, seals, paint etc. Of course it all needs looking after otherwise you get:

Or more simply Franchising was a dream but it ended as a smokescreen - there was no freedom for the TOCs outside of the strict terms of the license they had to run the trains on behalf of HMG. ECML failed time and time again because they handed it to the proposer with the highest profit projections and then in standard outsourcing culture the new TOC began to try and find excuses to avoid paying the money it promised and when that did not work they simply handed back the keys and walked away. Why is there micro management, because HMG and DFT have never let go of the railways, they knew they couldn't, they just wanted to be able to blame the TOCs for anything and everything that went wrong. What I have not noticed in all of this curtailment of franchising is the TOCs not speaking out against it, HMG have just de-risked the whole sector, the TOCs can still make a profit but now it is going to be easier for them to predict the return and all the risk has been taken back onto HMG. Juxtapose this with buses in Greater Manchester, the Mayor wants to build a London model and the bus companies do not like it one bit and have been doing PR to keep the status quo.

But never to Sheffield Exchange

About three weeks in a strict lockdown with just supermarkets remaining open with distancing in place or everyone on click and collect would do it. However, despite being an island we don't have control of our borders - the first thing lots of people did when the lockdown eased was fly abroad and it's been quite apparent from the news that there was little or no control on people entering the UK. So any strict lockdown is defeated the moment it is lifted unless people simply stay in the country and we don't let people in (whether legally or by illegal means). So sadly unlike our friends in New Zealand who have an ocean to keep the infected out, then we are doomed to this cycle repeated lockdowns until the rest of the world is clean too.

Amazon appears to be a very distributed network, having a single hub leaves you open to disruption if that hub fails for any reason, the more distributed you are the less risk of disruption. Rail has proven itself to be most effective when it comes to bulk loads and containers from shore to distribution points. Getting the smaller parcel traffic back is going to be difficult as there isn't really anyone with an interest as they are so invested in their current networks. Containerised food has proven itself to be achievable but it's point to point with road distribution thereafter. Whilst there is still growth for the railways I don't think there will be a massive return of freight to rail now because the distribution hubs are not integrated into rail anymore they are road integrated

Most definitely the latter.

There are options for road that does away with fossil fuels and allows them to charge on the road. Think trolley buses and replace the bus with a lorry under wires on a motorway. They put a power line above the first lane of the motorway, the tractor unit carries a pantograph - extends to pick up power , for overtaking it uses a diesel hybrid engine using batteries or diesel

That's just the issue, those of us who are going out less were already doing so, I didn't need a government mandated early closure to stay away from pubs, I only venture out to the shops and very rarely these days go into a coffee shop. The people whose activities they were trying to curtail won't be bothered by a curfew, the only beneficiaries are the local boozers as less people may venture into the city centre. My son is a bar manager, he's in this every day. New statistics are showing that it it schools/colleges (and I guess universities) plus care homes where the infections are coming from - interesting they target the pubs, is that to deflect away and cover for their deficiencies in the two sectors the government should have complete control - education and care.

Good that they have fixed it, but only because they've been found out really isn't it - surely it was staring them in the face the pomposity of them being able to drink when they wanted whilst telling us we have to all go home at 10pm. Of course as I suggested when this early closing was announced, it just means the people will shift their behaviour and all many people are now doing is continuing drinking on the streets or at home with the supermarkets are making a mint from late night alcohol sales (and probably snacks).

Well this is literally becoming a sh*t thread.

I don't disagree and all the teams do this I would imagine, when you are talking such micro variations in car performance you use every angle you can to gain an advantage. In the commentary it was very much about the stewards having a go, when it was more likely someone had questioned the legality of the move with them to spur intervention. But putting two points on his licence when he had clearly been heard asking if he was ok to perform what he did shows he himself was taking steps to ensure he was not foul of any regs.