PatB

Whilst I agree that the removal of lead from petrol has been a good move, is the smog reduction a result of this or a result of less unburned or partially burned hydrocarbons going into the air generally? Improvements in engine efficiency and better vapour entrapment before the petrol even gets to the engine have gone hand in hand with the withdrawal of lead.

It's also often said that "Soandso should not be excessively harshly punished for a single mistake". Often when it's actually fairly obvious to those who care to look that it wasn't a single mistake but an established pattern of behaviour that simply led to a fairly foreseeable conclusion.

I'm intrigued by the apparent narrow to standard gauge arrangement in the foreground of the first photo. Obviously there for a specific purpose, does anyone have any idea what that might have been?

Not serious I did, though, find it interesting that a US website used a (presumably stock) photo of obviously UK origin in the article.

I too thought of wire-in-tube with SPDT slide switches, but then I wondered if the OP meant, by route setting, the simultaneous operation of multiple turnouts in particular combinations to set a complete route through a section of layout. If so, doing it mechanically would probably be theoretically possible but, I suspect, far more complex than doing the same thing electrically. I can see how you could do it for a single route, but the trick would be where one turnout might need to be operated as part of several different routes. I'm not sure how you'd decouple the linkage for one route from that of another, if you see what I mean.

Do our preserved railways need to plan ahead more? https://www.theonion.com/experts-warn-number-of-retirees-will-completely-overwhe-1819578431?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=SocialMarketing&utm_content=Main&utm_campaign=SF

Slightly peripherally, I'm mildly puzzled by the fears of some that the program would be "sneery" with regard to railway modellers or railway enthusiasts in general. Whilst my viewing has been by no means comprehensive, particularly over the last 20 years as I've been out of the UK, I can't recall an occasion when a program specifically about a railway or railway modelling subject has been sneery about the participants or subject matter. Dramas* or general "magazine" type programs are a different teapot full of eels, of course (I too cringed at the Endeavour episode Passenger), but we all knew this wasn't either of those. Anyhow, off to see if I can find an online version I can access from outside the UK. *TBH, I'd rather dramas stayed away from anything vaguely specialist or technical as they generally do it teeth grindingly badly whatever the subject.

Just to tie Lego and toy trains together, I note that most of Lego's TV ads here in Oz, where we're now well into the pre-Christmas marketing season, are concentrating on their train products, both the Cities range and in the Duplo range. Clearly Lego think there's still mileage in the train-set market if approached appropriately. I can certainly see the sense. A lot of children do still seem to like trains but also want play-value and the ability to incorporate the trains into their own stories. And something that's easy to use for the non-technically talented youngster (or parent). A conventional 00 train set from the likes of Hornby is limited in the first two criteria (without buying quite a bit more quite expensive "stuff" and is also quite fiddly when it comes to the third. The Lego products are compatible with stuff that the majority of children who will receive them already have, making world building much easier and (a bit) cheaper. With one of the sets, plus an existing, modest, Lego collection the play value and flexibility already far outstrips an oval of 00 track on which Thomas endlessly circulates with Annie and Clarabel. That's before adding train specific add-ons like extra track and points which appear to be modestly priced in comparison to "proper" 00 stuff. By contrast, Hornby Junior doesn't appear to be compatible with anything else and Hornby's other 00 starter stuff, Thomas or otherwise, sacrifices simplicity and play value to maintain compatibility with 00 standards more appropriate to adult modellers. TBH, I find the Lego Cities idea so intriguing that, were I a bit more affluent, I'd be tempted to have a go myself at building a properly operable Lego layout. Lego Minories anyone ? In short, if the object of the exercise is to get young children interested in world-building with an emphasis on railways (which is, after all, at the fundamental core of layout building, if not railway modelling as a whole), I'd hazard a guess that Lego are currently doing a better job of it than Hornby or, indeed, any of the other specialist model railway manufacturers.

Having once shared the back of a Transit with an unsecured Rayburn I'd dispute this . Seriously though, here in WA wood is still a major heating fuel. I think a lot of the more urban local authorities may have banned woodburners, or at least placed heavy restrictions on them, but outside the cities (and not far outside really) the woodburner is very, very common indeed. I dunno about the PM2.5 emissions but the bigger stuff can make the air a bit thick in country towns on winter evenings. It's not helped by the fact that a lot (the majority?) of WA houses, until recently, had/have no effective insulation. Mine included until I reroofed it in 2006. Regardless of potential pollution issues we still use a woodburner as our primary heating. It's a good one which we were lucky enough to obtain from friends who were going to reverse cycle aircon. There's no way we could have afforded anything as good buying new. Once lit it generates very little visible smoke, even when shut right down, and we burn jarrah wood which creates very little ash. So little that I only have to clean it out at the end of winter. Realistically, it's hard to deny that inhaling carbon based combustion products of any kind is going to be bad for ones health. The question is, just how much do we inhale and how big is the actual risk compared to all the other hazardous things we're all exposed to on a daily basis? As a cynic, I found it noteworthy that anti-woodburner sentiment only really started to ramp up here when there was an explosion in the availability of reverse-cycle aircons and the number of companies selling and installing them. Anyone want to play a game of follow the money?

Nobody's yet mentioned the West Somerset's DMUs in the 1970s, which wore a rather fetching crimson and cream variant.

Bit of a find, that. Just a pity the Prelude wasn't a rather more exciting car. I think the reserve might be a little high, too, although, I guess, if you want what is effectively a near new 40 year old car, your choices are rather limited.

A direct hit on the passenger compartment will still kill the occupants, but a train sideswiping the bonnet or boot is now a potentially survivable event, as the subsequent roll and tumble of the rest of the vehicle will no longer turn anyone inside to pulp. Not usually, anyway.

That's be my guess too. Mind you, given the quality and prototype fidelity of Lima's N offerings, for all I know it might be the 31 or the Deltic .

Thing is, unless there is some single choke point in the draughting system, improving any one area probably won't help a great deal as all that will happen is that you'll run into a limitation elsewhere. Engines, whether internal combustion or steam are systems, and any attempt at improvement needs to view them as such, rather than as a collection of individual components. No point adding extra blastpipe/chimney area if the grate's the size of a postage stamp.

Is that Cortina pre or post-facelift? I can't get it big/clear enough on my screen to see if the grille extends out around the sidelights or not.

Not just 9Fs of course. Given the rarity of mechanical stokers in the UK, and a general lack of enthusiasm for oil firing, the ultimate limit to British steam locomotive performance has always been how much coal can be shifted by one man (maybe 2 if there's room in the cab) with a shovel on a sustained basis.

I think Mary Shelley might have been active again. https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Boxed-Ratio-Kit-Built-GWR-Brake-Coach-J662/192672608350?hash=item2cdc2eb05e:g:9loAAOSwFJBZTwOz

Pretty much. It does mean that the layout needs to be long enough to hide the rake of wagons offstage and it also raises the issue of how to deal with making loaded wagons disappear and empties reappear. Various approaches exist, ranging from suspension of disbelief (ie ignoring the issue) to actually loading and unloading real coal, with myriad intermediate solutions. On a roundy-roundy it's easy, of course. Just have a loaded train circulating clockwise and empties going anticlockwise . End to end requires a bit more fiddling.

Certainly, as an engineer I'm quite familiar with the theory of deflection under load, and, of course, I've seen it in aircraft wings and bridge decks and suchlike. I just wasn't really expecting it to be visible to the naked eye over the relatively short length of an aircraft cabin.

Deleted duplicate post.

I used to like Bristol, not as a passenger but as an often very cold motorcyclist passing on the A38, pre-diversion. If I was lucky, something would be running up its engines at the end of the runway. That blast of hot, jet-A laden air was glorious on a winter evening . As for unsettling aircraft motion, the most disturbing I've experienced is probably the odd, corkscrew like action that a lot of small, twin turboprop planes on WA regional flights seem to be good at. That and one rather hairy descent into Dubai (IIRC) when, sitting at the back of economy, I swear I could detect visible twisting of the fuselage. Maybe it wasn't that bad in reality but it did manage to pop half the overhead lockers before it eased off.

I have a mental picture of the funeral service being conducted by Zippy and George, strategically positioned behind the coffin.

Interesting that Virgin in the northern hemisphere is so poor. I spent 18 months air commuting between Perth and Canberra using Virgin Australia and found them to be pretty OK. Efficient check in, helpful staff, newish (or newly refitted) planes for the most part, adequate space and comfort for domestic flights and decent food (again, for the most part). Mind you, choice is limited. It's Beardie or Quantas and Quantas was more expensive and their flight timings didn't suit. Neither of the budget carriers (Jetstar and Tiger) fly to Canberra so they were out without a lot of faff with connections at Sydney or Melbourne. The pain was eased a bit when I'd amassed enough loyalty points to gain access to the lounge with its rather good free food and drink, and I was also able to get the occasional upgrade to business, which was very comfy although I wouldn't have bothered if I'd been paying with my own money.

Not impossible. Older Statesmans (elder statesmen?) are pretty cheap these days, and the majority come with the big V8, which (at least here in the West) is less common in cheap Commodores. A touch of bogan luxury for the same price as a Pov-Pak Executive would be hard to pass up, even for a 24 year old.

I would willingly sell my house and all its contents to help the BBC. With due acknowledgement to Not the Nine O'Clock News .