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I’ve only got to sort out the pension splitting (ours is going to make much more of a difference than that) and our returns are ready to go.

45519 and 60110 are both supposed to have had their nameplates removed at times by shedmasters who disapproved.

OK, so Terror was responsible (in part) for “the bombs bursting in air”.

Some of which rockets were fired from HMS Terror of Franklin expedition fame: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Terror_(1813) (The bombardment of Fort McHenry took place in the war of 1812, not the war of independence.)

Well, it’s quicker than “You bet your sweet bippy I do!”

This TV commercial has just been screened here. (During broadcast of a hockey game!) https://youtu.be/KnVbUJ7jD1E?si=AtwxKNvZUFDx5ThV

We have a glass pickup once a month. We once put a broken glass vase in the glass bin and had it returned with a note saying whole bottles and jars only - no broken glass. So how do they ‘process’ the items in the glass bin? - tip the bin into the back of a pickup truck, already containing the glass collected from previous houses on the route. Maybe they thought we were trying to take their jobs?

Bachmann’s North American models are not as well-regarded in their target market as their UK ones are in theirs.

One of my grandfathers was a Christian slater. (A foreman one, actually.)

About separation of passing vehicles from cyclists. I worked in Cambridge for some years and a work colleague cycled to work on busy city streets. (Obviously, a common method of commuting in that city.) He had a flag on a springy rod attached horizontally to his bike frame. It was about 18 inches long. However, its ‘effective’ length was greater than that. Motorists gave him a wide berth from fear of getting their nice cars scratched!

That painting is of a North British Railway engine, and I don’t know what tartan that is, or is meant to be. The other illustration I was trying to find, but couldn’t, was of a Great North of Scotland engine. As I remember it, it was used to pull the Royal train from Aberdeen to Ballater and it was painted in Dress Stewart tartan. Yes, Dress Stewart has a generally white background, which is why it was remarkable as a colourscheme for a steam locomotive.

There have been recent changes here in rules for car drivers encountering cyclists on the road: “The changes establish a new minimum distance of one metre that drivers must maintain when passing cyclists and other vulnerable road users. That distance increases to 1.5 metres on highways with a posted speed limit above 50 km/h.” My questions are: - From which point of the cyclist/bicycle combination to which point on the overtaking vehicle are these distances to be calculated? The answer could mean the difference between 1.48 metres and 1.52 metres. - How are these distances to be measured in real time when the overtaking vehicle may legitimately be travelling at 100kph, with a difference in speed between that vehicle and the bicycle of perhaps 80kph? - What’s the point of specifying such precise numbers when there is no reasonable possibility of measuring to the required accuracy?

I was actually looking for a GNoSR engine which I seem to remember had been painted in a tartan to pull the royal train, but didn’t find it. IIRC, it was painted in Dress Stewart 😳!

Not for much longer if they keep doing things like that!

How do you feel about tartan? https://steamindex.com/media/tartancrampton.jpg

Thornton tunnel runs under part of Burnaby, BC: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thornton_Tunnel It was opened in 1969 to give trains off the (now) BNSF/CN line into Vancouver more direct access to the north shore of Burrard Inlet. If you search for “Alaska Street, Burnaby” in Google Maps, you will see the line branching off northwest from the main line, going underground below Dawson Street. Search for “Bates Park, Burnaby” and you will see the line emerging from the tunnel onto a bridge over the CPKC tracks, then onto the Second Narrows rail bridge across Burrard Inlet. There’s a mid-tunnel ventilation shaft in the middle of a residential area of single-family homes: https://www.rmweb.co.uk/forums/topic/156209-the-night-mail/?do=findComment&comment=4684722

Yes, those years seem to have gone by … just like that!

Jamie, I can’t see any reference to a tunnel of that name. What am I missing? The two articles about the attempt by activist investors to take control of Norfolk Southern and the possible effects on the whole US railroad system if they succeed are very interesting.

I bought a copy this morning. Interesting text and pictures. Beware of the map though: - in the inset, BNSF appear to have taken over the Skytrain system and, presumably, would now be running trains on it. - the major yard to the east of Vancouver on the CPKC is in Port Coquitlam, not Coquitlam. They are separate municipalities. - the location on the CPKC just west of Hope is “Odlum”, not “Odium”! It was the junction for the Kettle Valley Railway.

I may just have to buy it, then!

But some do it on overhead electric lines: https://youtu.be/EKO7Lz8Oj-M?feature=shared See from about 1:50

Here's a document that gives the equivalents for the discontinued Floquil line of paints. Not all are single colours - some require mixing of replacement paints. There are both single colours and mixes shown for Conrail blue: https://www.testors.com/~/media/DigitalEncyclopedia/Documents/Testors/ebook/MRH-Acrylic-painting-guide-post-Floquil-Portrait.ashx (Conrail blue appears on the 20th page of the document.)

A dull morning today at CPKCs Port Coquitlam yards. I saw a crew changeover between a CPKC 'heavy' switcher (it's a flat yard, and some of the trains are very long) and a visiting BNSF road engine. Here are the two CPKC engines being used to switch: SD60 #6245 (ex-SOO) GP38-2 #4435 (non-dynamic, ex-SOO) And the BNSF engine: ES44C4 #8364

Railroad - tick. Landscape - tick … and not very much else! https://www.railpictures.net/photo/855284/