PatB

I like to think that I'd at least be honest about my motivation.

Newcastle Central, the main bridges, Gateshead, a decent length of each radiating line, and the surrounding quayside lines, along with Dunston and Redheugh Staithes (and any others within range). Probably mid-60s so as to encompass interesting steam, transition diesel, Tyneside Electrics, DMUs (I assume), lots of freight and shunting, a variety of liveries and plenty of northern grit. I'm not particularly social so a high degree of automation would be required. If I start today and live to be 100 I can probably just about get the Eastern diamonds built .

Agreed, although a requirement for some basic fact-checking, and/or prominence of retractions of inaccurate pieces might be arguable. At least in the case of things presented as news rather than op-ed.

Probably less than would the removal of unsuccessful bank-robbers a la The Ladykillers .

True, but at least it doesn't short either .

My standard response (when I can be bothered) to those who demand that it be made easier to find guilty/lock up those responsible for crimes of xyz nature is to ask what percentage of innocent people they are prepared to send to prison as a result of their desired changes. Because, like it or not, most of the safeguards in the Justice System which may be seen as obstacles to conviction/incarceration have been put in place as a result of the exposure of miscarriages of justice. IMHO it should be bl**#y difficult for the State to lock someone up, because, when you think about it carefully, the alternative is rather terrifying. That said, whilst I don't support any reduction in things like burden of proof, and I'm certainly concerned about anything which puts at a potential disadvantage victims of miscarriages of justice, I do believe that those responsible for obtaining convictions should be given adequate resources in order to do so where appropriate. They should also be subject to such checks and audits as may be necessary to ensure that they exhibit the highest levels of integrity and competence. I'm not sure how things stand in the UK, but I can think of a number of high-profile cases in WA over the last 20 years or so where what probably should have been a slam-dunk has fallen over because of gross incompetence or misconduct on the part of the authorities.* I can also think of at least one which almost certainly fell out as it did because the defendant knew/could afford better lawyers than the State could. Which is probably not particularly unusual I'll admit. *All the ones that spring immediately to mind have been murders, which raises the rather unsettling prospect that either the authorities, by a combination of incompetence, under resourcing and, at worst, corruption, failed to gain a conviction against a guilty murderer, or, for the same reasons, subjected an innocent person to the stress, humiliation and, generally negative, life-changing effect of a trial for something they didn't do, whilst allowing whoever did to get away scot free.. Either way, there are people free in WA who really shouldn't be, and I don't think that reflects well on our Justice System. I'm fully aware that such things are not unique to WA, but, for a state with a population of ~2m we seem to punch well above our weight for such errors.

Having spent a while in government departments, I can attest that, at least in the area of my experience, what is actually happening, what the media tells the public is happening and what the public actually believe (or are aware) is happening are often three distinct and sometimes mutually contradictory things . I see no reason to believe that this is not the case in fields where I don't have direct experience. Certainly, the tenor of reporting is often strongly influenced by who brought the story to the attention of the news outlet. In the case of the story in the OP it's fairly clear that the naysayers were the ones who went to the paper(s) to spruik their case. I guess that's why the Malcolm Tuckers of the world exist. First to the press gets to set the agenda.

I presume those engines prohibited in spite of their compatible RA classification were unsuitable for reasons other than axle loads, eg. dimensional/clearance problems?

A while ago (it was before I left the UK so 20+ years now), I saw some figures for complaints upheld by (IIRC) the Press Complaints Commission against the various UK newspapers. At the top was The Sun, followed fairly closely by the Mail, with daylight third and a fairly compact peloton consisting of everyone else some way behind. Make of that what you will.

When I first saw one I assumed Triang must be attempting a comeback ;}.

Looks to be a white metal body kit on a solid wheel jinty chassis. J52 perhaps. I rather like it but the postage rules it out for me.

It's OK, he's got his hazards on .

I think the idea is less that the beat bobby apprehends huge numbers of miscreants and more that they provide a human and approachable face to what is becoming easier to perceive as some remote, slightly sinister, almost paramilitary organisation. If the Police come to be seen as "The Enemy" rather than an ally of the public, or even irrelevant to a sufficiently large fraction of the population, Dog help civil society.

The trick in Oz is to get the speed limiter calibrated with the truck wearing tyres worn to the legal limit, then put on a set with more tread. The difference in rolling radius gets you an extra couple of km/h without actually tampering with the limiter (which is, of course, illegal but does still happen on occasion). On the requirements for driving test cars, the only requirement I recall in WA is that the handbrake must be between the front seats. Presumably so that the examiner has some emergency means of slowing the vehicle if the candidate proves not to have a clue (which does happen). As a substantial number of vehicles here still have under-dash umbrella type handbrakes this does preclude quite a few vehicle models. I'd assume that the UK requirement for seat belts and head restraints is an OH&S/workplace safety issue for the DoT and its employees.

Must be a Victorian thing, as this certainly wasn't the arrangement when my daughter got her Ps 18 months ago in WA.

I wasn't aware I was getting stick, nor have I said anywhere that others shouldn't either read or agree with the piece. I have expressed my opinion, based upon the writer's own admissions - nay, boasts - that the writer is an idiot and that I don't think much of their opinion. If others wish to read the piece and form their own opinion of its merit, I have no problem with that. Indeed, given my preference for people to think for themselves, I would encourage them to do so.

I've no problem with the author airing his opinion, or the Grauniad providing a platform for it. I do, however, reserve the right to apply my own critical thinking skills in assessing whether said opinion is worth the wear and tear on my eyeballs.

Read it backwards.

One thing that I'm fairly sure isn't going to work is contracting out more and more policing functions to private operators. It's another country I know, but a decade or more ago an aspect of my job brought me into contact with elements of the private security industry here in WA. That experience led me to have pretty much zero confidence in the idea of allowing any of them anywhere near anything resembling real authority. I haven't seen anything in the intervening years that has changed my opinion one iota.

I recognise that this wasn't your point. However, the Grauniad article was labelled as an opinion piece, and since it was penned by someone who clearly believed that a patently idiotic act of environmental vandalism (ie, releasing 2000 efficient little predators into an ecosystem almost certainly incapable of coping with them) was a good idea, I decided their opinion on pretty much anything was likely to be worthless. For the record, I too am concerned by the not so creeping influence of the corporate world on civil society. I just think there might be better poster-children to make entirely valid points than someone so outstandingly stupid and irresponsible. And no, I wasn't particularly chuffed about what the French did to the Rainbow Warrior either.

Wasn't there a street circuit race in Brum c1986. IIRC it was a washout because it coincided with the UK getting a flick from the tail end of a hurricane. Not much wind but a day or so of torrential downpour.

As usual, America has the answer. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/05/05/british-parents-murdered-youngsters-condemn-trumps-speech-knife/amp/ Of course Donald is probably right. Just not in a way you'd want...

That's kind of the point.

I dunno about terrorism, but, IMHO, releasing 2000 mink into the wild is a staggeringly stupid thing to do, and likely to result in the local extinction of an awful lot of species.

We get quite a bit of after dark helicopter activity. I think it's mainly when there's an absconder from the local min security prison who doesn't head for the nearest licensed premises, where most get picked up . If it's the thermal camera boys I'm surprised we haven't had a visit, given that our shed, when the kiln' s running would practically blow the sensors .