olivegreen

Good grief - it's only a model engine not a major disaster, however irritating the delays might be!

Your point taken, Hesperus. My comment was a bit tongue-in-cheek, of course, but for me (as I said earlier) the system is a non-starter for many decades, not least from the financial and commercial points of view: I was never suggesting it would be more or less dangerous than any other. I don't know anyone from Wolverhampton, so will refrain from comment!

!!!!! … starting from around the speed of sound (the I Mech E article refers to 700mph….if, of course, that is ever achieved!)…? I hae me doots ! (Edit - for completeness, the speed of sound at sea level is about 760mph… but you'll get my point!)

I'm not, jjb. Frankly, however exciting the technology, with the current state of finances globally, the public aversion to risk (mentioned in the driverless TGV thread recently), the NIMBY attitude to the infrastructure that would be needed according to the article, the power consumption (in an era in which we are trying to reduce it) and a host of other things mentioned above and not, I think it is a non-starter commercially for another 50 years at least - which, of course, gives it time to be developed perhaps into a more realistic proposition. Investors will need to be convinced of a need for such a system (yes, I admit I do go on rather about need!) and its advantages over air and high-speed rail as currently understood - technical hype is not enough by itself to convince. We should bear in mind also that its vision is for a vast country like the USA (or perhaps China or Russia), with huge distances - Europe hardly fits the same profile. (Minor edit)

I absolutely agree with you and Dunsignalling - hence my comment in post 7 (above) regarding the stupidity of the sentence as written in the article quoted in the OP!

At the risk of sounding like a Luddite, I fail to see the need for autonomous ships, driverless (even unmanned) trains - or buses, or cars and so on. As many have said, we live in a human-dominated world and humans need employment in the broadest sense of the term. I am an Engineer and am acutely aware of the wonders of technology, but pointless application of it 'just because it can do it' gives way to commercialism. The fact that I could, if I wished, use a smartphone in Penzance to control the oven in my kitchen in Inverness demonstrates an outstanding combination of technologies but how does that actually improve my life - or that of anyone else? What much of the world needs is water to drink, sanitation and decent food to eat. I think I'm getting old…. (Minor edit)

Interesting concept, but what an appallingly written snippet of an article (by someone who hasn't a clue about railways, I'd suggest). For example, I quote: 'The new TGV train would be equipped with sensors that would allow it to detect obstacles and automatically brake, if necessary.' This would lead the less-informed reader to presume that a TGV travelling at its high speed (the article says 'nearly 200mph') could detect, say, a cow on the line a few yards - even hundreds of yards - in front of it (quite possible) and brake (quite possible) so as not to hit it (quite impossible). That is not to say that the technology should not be investigated… but I admit that I do have a 'thing' about atrocious journalism ! Rant over.

I have just spent a happy 20 minutes-or-so looking through this thread. very many thanks for posting all the photos and comments. Mike

Thanks for the reference - I have Mike King's drawings of the SR vans in fact, but it is drawings of the French ones (ex- Nord railway) that seem impossible to find!

LS Models do (did? I bought some about 3 years ago) F type CIWL sleeping cars, but in HO, of course. I was thinking of scratch building some ex-Nord fourgons to some scale between 3.5 and 4 mm to the foot to make a gentle transition between the HA and the sleeping cars, to disguise the difference in scale. Not sure whether it would work visually, though. Also I have sought plans for those fourgons that are suitable for building a model, but have yet to find any. I'd reckon that RTR F-type CIWL cars in 4mm/foot are probably as likely as finding a duff bottle of Hirondelle. Mike

It's a play on words on 'inouïe', which means unheard of or extraordinary. The French I work with feel that the only thing extraordinary is why SNCF considered this change a good use of public money. What will probably remain unheard of is the amount of that money it has so far cost and will continue to cost to implement this ludicrous change in title.

Or just Maine ######. Edit - the spelling nanny will not accept Maine C o o n - which is a perfectly good breed of very large, though not necessarily fat, cat !

I shall not expand on it here (way off topic!), but in fact regarding your statement, it depends on several things - certain pensions, for example, are taxed in the UK according to the Anglo-French double taxation agreement whether we like it or not, and have to be declared again in the country of residence, (though France does not directly tax them again). To your question, no, I am a permanent and tax resident of France! Edited to add (though still off topic!) that the double taxation agreement is a bilateral entirely unrelated to the EU - it pre-dates UK membership by well over a decade. It should therefore not be affected by Brexit… but then… who knows ?

We have been here before in these threads. Just to be clear I am a supporter in principle of BFI, too, but I am also a UK taxpayer - as are many living outside the UK - so the fairness argument that only the UK taxpayer should get the benefit is hardly valid. I do note, though, that you refer to 'UK-based' taxpayers, but ALL UK taxpayers pay for the service to some degree! I asked BFI some time ago about the logic of this, but honestly cannot remember the reply, beyond that it read rather like the 'standard bug letter'. Time to try again, perhaps...

The postman delivered my HA this morning. I am absolutely delighted with it. I have never before seen such finesse in the mouldings and the general finish, and things like the cab interiors and the much-criticised pantograph are works of art, as are numerous other aspects. Incidentally, it clearly states in DJ's instructions that the pantograph is non-working, which to me, at least, means 'don't fiddle with it because it is so fine it might break'. Those who do have only themselves to blame. Did I raise it just to have a look at the effect? Of course I did - it's wonderful - but I did it very gently. And it didn't break. And it is fit for purpose (sorry, been here before …!) Not run in yet, of course, but slow running out of the box was good - who cares about maximum speed? It will look great trundling down my bit of the LSWR main line pulling a set of green Mk1s and/or CIWL sleeping cars. (Ahem… I know, I know... but Rule 1 rules, OK!) Very many thanks again, Dave, for this project and the business courage it took to set it in motion. Mike

Absolutely agree, and then those of us who get thoroughly irritated by the often silly comments that we have seen recently here can block the comparison thread and just read critique of each model independently then make our own balanced judgement. … Like yours, Roy, only a suggestion ! (Edit for speling mistaks)

Good grief. I take back my earlier comment about French TV. Who actually watches that stuff? (I am excepted, of course, because I merely clicked on the link out of curiosity etc etc …. ! )

We obviously have different versions, but you got my meaning, anyway ! Mike

Indeed, but overall, having read your many posts here, I am reminded of Hamlet, Act III, scene II line 222 (for 'lady', read 'gentleman') !

I have just returned from a couple of weeks away for work (without internet connection…yes, that is really possible, even in 2017 !) and have just been reading the last lot of posts: hilarious, but so true. They may be off-topic, but thanks for posting them. And if anyone should think otherwise (and forgive the generalisation) French TV is just as awful as everyone else's. Mike

Hence th Hence the three dots at the end - but I retain an open mind on such things!

Strange comment. Logically, if 'the new machine is being used', one model or another has to constitute the first production run (the Guinea pig, in your words), so why not this one? For us, the consumers, quality control before sale is what matters, not the use or otherwise of any particular machine! Besides, Dapol has been in the business long enough to know what it is doing...

I like the photo of Frome in particular, and also the Hopper painting, though I confess my (not very) artistic eye doesn't see the connection in the way yours does! …however, entirely off-topic for which, apologies, on googling to find the Hopper painting, I fell upon a collection of parodies of it: highly irreverent of course, but worth a look for a bit of fun.

I sympathise with your experience with Orange, but just try doing the same with SFR - they are quite outrageous in their utter incompetence and contempt for the customer they have already trapped by their disingenuous publicity. I am now with Orange (via telephone/ADSL, not satellite) , and even though I live on the edge of a pretty large village barely 8 km from the conurbation of St Malo, my up and download speeds (on the ping test) never exceed 0.6 Mb/sec. Have complained to Orange, who… surprise ! …blame it on everyone and everything else but themselves and have for over 18 months now done precisely nothing about it except to continue advertising their 'high data rates' with the arrival of cable in the area. Will cable ever get to my lane? Will Orange improve the non-cabled service to bring the data rate nearer to that of cable…? It's about as likely as Mélenchon becoming prime minister tomorrow. Back to topic - despite the above, I have no particular problem with this website other then the usual slowness when loading pages heavy with images. Odd, isn't it, how our different connection methods give such widely varying results? Mike

Agree, but this has already been mentioned - see post 1279 !