Andy Hayter

11 hours ago, Compound2632 said:

 

By no means. LQ was well nigh universal up until well into the grouping period. The perception of GW exceptionalism in this respect is a classic example of looking back through a BR steam lens - always bound to fog the picture.

 

Which is perhaps a bit surprising given the Abbots Ripton disaster of 1876.  

Snow on signal arms (several in succession) set at danger,  weighted the arms so that they were forced down into a quasi open position.

Upper quadrant would be fail safe in the event of such a failure but it seems such a warning was ignored for many years.  

I wonder why the obvious lessons were not taken into account for 50 odd years.

It is a rather technical term relating to these very large vat-like barrels.

Dictionaries will give you several translations of a barrel but foudre is often not among them - tonneau, fut barrique etc..

Plus the typical translation of foudre is lightning 

Bi-foudres are the wagons you have with 2 (bi-) barrels (foudres) used for moving wine in bulk from principally the South of France towards the agglomerations to the North.

1 hour ago, polybear said:

 

 

Very true, however....(and I realise this is absolutely no consolation whatsoever towards the innocent, their families and friends).....

 

Would the implementation of the death penalty result in a much lower rate of very serious/violent crime, loss of innocent life due to murder by re-offenders, rape, death due to drug overdose cos' the dealers continue their trade etc. that the overall net effect (i.e. a far lower loss of life, lower serious crime etc.) is actually of much greater benefit to society as a whole?

 

 

VSBT's;  It sounds to me like the Ward Sister should tell those concerned that "No Earphones then no telly - or it has to be on mute"

The American experience suggests no, it would not have any serious effect on violent crimes.

Unless of course they have already done that.

There will be much going on that we will never be party to.

The problem  with UPF is how to define it.

Many in the UK use the basis of anything that you don't keep in the kitchen that is used in food or it's preparation makes that food UPF.

So I don't have a stock of rennet or its vegan equivalent so cheese is UPF -

I don't keep saltpetre, so most cured meats from bacon and ham, though salami, chorizo and mortadella are equally UPF. 

Both are processes used for ages to preserve produce - which in itself does not make them fully safe to consume.

3 hours ago, Dave Hunt said:

 

Acid rain, diesel particulates, dog piddle........ etc.

 

Dave

😄

All of which are external and can be washed off.

Acid rain - a bit old hat and almost no industry downwind this side of the Atlantic

Diesel particulates - lots of diesel cars and vans in our area of 300 souls with no agglomerations anywhere near.   For sure they will be there but this is rural France not semi-urban England.

Dog Piddle - more likely to be cat.  We have 19 just now.  So we take suitable precautions.

As to rat and mouse piddle - yes possible but more likely to be vole and shrew.  If you want to live in a sterile environment then I think NASA may be looking for victims volunteers for their moon base.  

4 hours ago, pete_mcfarlane said:

 

I suspect that's less likely given the production runs involved in model railways. Injection moulding tools should last for years if looked after - witness all those Airfix 'classics' reruns of 1960s kits or Hornby churning out stuff from the 1980s and earlier. 

 

Maybe this is part of the problem, as Chinese factories are sitting on large quantities of no longer used (by their Western owners) but perfectly serviceable injection tools. 

 

 

That depends very much on the expectations when the design is made.

For long runs (over a long time) then you are correct.  The moulds will be cut in high quality steel.

However, if the manufacturer thinks the total sales will be limited ( for example when producing a one-off limited edition model) then he may chose to use aluminium for the moulds which should be good for 5000 shots and might just last 10000.

3 hours ago, polybear said:

 

Nothing like some nice & healthy, freshly sprayed with chemicals & gassed fruit and veg; far healthier than all that UPF......

(And that's without even considering what chemicals they've been treated with whilst growing.)

 

 

And that is why we spend a lot of time growing a lot of our own.  I know exactly what they have been treated with.  Usually nothing, sometimes very dilute washing up liquid and very occasionally tincture of stinging nettle.

Ah!  I assumed you would still get those freebees pushed into the letterbox.

In that case use toilet paper - much the same thing in many respects.  (Kitchen paper is probably more suitable.)

Always take carrots out of the plastic bag as soon as you get home.  Wrap them in newspaper in small batches and place the the fridge.

21 minutes ago, Captain Kernow said:

Here's a question for all of you who have cats - do any of your cats eat vegetables?

 

We've discovered that one of ours loves eating cooked courgette (cooled off, of course). He loves eating and we now use this to bulk up his food, as it has next to no calories, thus helping us keep his weight under control. The other one, however, can't stand the stuff...

 

 

We had one that loved Cantaloupe melon, to the extent that if we were eating one, Smudge would sit back on his hind legs sit right up and wave his front paws while meowing to catch our attention that he had not had his portion.

Roneo?

I have to agree totally with @iL Dottore's view on downsizing.  This is the biggest property we have ever owned and we could probably do with a few extra  square metres.  I miss not having a proper library.  

2 buildings;

Building one:  Ground floor and cellar (sloping ground means one side is at ground level while the other is below ground) - wine  and preserves cellar/tool shed plus laundry/pantry/plant room and oil store.  First floor - kitchen diner plus living room (OH hates "lounge" which she thinks belong only in airports).  Second floor bedroom and en-suite bathroom.  Third floor bedroom and shower/WC.

Building two:  Ground floor - open plan kitchen, diner, living room plus 2 bedrooms (one used more as storage) plus shower and WC.  Second floor open muddling area plus railway library and document archive.  

5 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

Hmm. Receptions Rooms -----> house plans....

 

I'd say you need (ground floor) a living room (aka reception room), dining room, library/study. a snug (like a living room but smaller with comfy well worn [and worn-in] furniture), a decent sized entrance hall plus downstairs "guest" toilet (WC). The kitchen should be of a reasonable size with a "proper" walk in larder. If budget (and building footprint) permits - then a music room and/or a billiard/smoking room are very nice nice-to-haves. A proper "boot room" leading out into the garden/side entrance is a big must if you have dogs and/or a Percy Thrower in the family.

 

It goes without saying that an adjacent garage and a decent sized shed should be mandatory outside fixtures.

 

Upstairs: an appropriate number of bedrooms - preferably all en-suite. To keep SWMBO contended (as far as they can ever be) at least one bedroom should have an adjacent walk-in wardrobe/small dressing room.

 

The attic can be converted into a "man cave" for when it's too cold for shedding.

What, no utility room/ plant room - or is that in the basement?

2 hours ago, Tony_S said:

Coming the other way, down the hill. The chevron signs are individually mounted on poles. They used to be attached to the railings. The workmen in the photo were replacing gas mains not straightening out the  railings on that occasion. 

The exception to the rule Tony.  Single chevrons are used where the space at the side of the road does not permit the placement of a sign with the correct number of chevrons for the bend and still allow a good sightline for the approaching motorist.   In this case you do indeed add up the chevrons.   We have a hairpin bend nearby with 5 single chevrons.  If well placed on the initial approach, the individual chevrons might well look like a continuous set of chevrons rather than individual ones as you first approach.  Geometry does not always permit that though.  

1 hour ago, Compound2632 said:

 

Surely it's bends that warrant chevrons, not mere curves. Or have things changed since use of the steering wheel was abolished?

So if I have understood your semantic point, while I swerve on the curve, you are quietly going round the bend.  😄

1 hour ago, Mike Bellamy said:

 

 

Not always the case as the following two links show.

 

This is on a roundabout near home which was installed to serve the new houses on the right. I lost count of the number of times the single chevron sign was demolished by cars going straight over the kerb, across the grass and rejoining the carriageway on the other side. This is in a 70mph zone.

 

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.9007669,-1.5563601,3a,75y,266.57h,85.15t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s-Y0hBFpeGpvc1JNkb2foBA!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?hl=en&entry=ttu

 

Compare that with the second view showing another (larger) roundabout in an area that I regularly drive through - here the dual carriageway limit has been reduced to 40mph from 70mph (sign just behind the camera) and there are nine chevron signs - but even then I have seen evidence of drivers crashing into them !

 

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.8966026,-1.198558,3a,75y,58.55h,80.97t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sP45ZQr_to0TEY_BO8aLdBA!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?hl=en&entry=ttu

 

.

The first is a small roundabout with by definition lots of =4 chevrons.

The second is a much larger roundabout and the signs are 2 chevrons - albeit that there 9 x 2 chevron signs.    But 9 x 2 chevrons is not the same as 18 chevrons.

The rule still stands but it has to be understood that it applies to a single sign not to the totality of the signs.

6 hours ago, Tony_S said:

The corner in this photo could do with bigger chevrons. For some reason motorists leave the road and demolish the railing and bump up against the fence round  the cemetery. 

 

Er No.

Not often appreciated is that the number of chevrons indicate the severity of the curve, and that curve does not look overly sharp.  The more chevrons, the tighter the curve.

They do however look to me to be badly sighted and would be better placed on the railings.

Ditto.  To the extent that I loaded the site in parallel and opened the page from there, which triggered the original page to open.

1 hour ago, AY Mod said:

 

I've only had one other report in 48 hours and not seen it at this end.

Not had the unavailable message but it has just taken 3 minutes or more to load this page from the previous one.  Sorry I am sure this is spoiling the holiday weekend.

3 hours ago, polybear said:

Let’s see now……

Lemon HCB

Treacle HCB

Salted Caramel HCB

That’ll do for starters

 

p.s. Next -day delivery to Bear Towers should do just fine 🤪

Lucky you with that choice.

When asked, our patissier (bun and cake maker) replied:

Qu'est que c'est un ot crows bone 

2 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

Nope.

Still wrong.

Not Noodles!

I beg to differ, as does Wiki

Spätzle ([ˈʃpɛtslə] ⓘ), or nokedli in Hungarian, are a type of Central European egg noodles typically served as a side for meat dishes with sauce. Commonly associated with Swabia and Alsace,[1] it is also found in the cuisines of southern Germany and Austria, Switzerland, Hungary, Vojvodina, Slovenia, Lorraine, Moselle and South Tyrol.

Many of the editions earlier than N°. 80 came with English translation sheets* but undoubtedly the full print English language version is a big step forward for non-French speaking modellers.  

*on request IIRC