alastairq

The trebuchet idea would be cheaper, and all-weather too. It may take some effort to find the effective range, etc, however. The idea that people with disabilities will stay away during foul weather is bound to be proved incorrect.....the very first time the helicopter is grounded. Maybe local children could be employed to operate a sedan-chair service? Got to be more appealing than sending them up chimneys?

Such a pity for me as a singly of pensionable means [not a lot]...I doubt I spend much more than 50 or 60 pension-quids a month in Lidl...usually around the 50 quids region. I don't actually 'shop' in any other soopahmarket...but I do use a local farm-type butcher...

I've had a set of these for a few years now. The frame round the perimeter is thin ally, and not too deep. The surface is very thin MDF, so not at all rigid as a building surface. hey could do with thicker ply tops really, but the perimeter ally isn't thick enough to trap ply. But, as supports for a layout baseboard they have their uses...just don't sit on them.

Would there be a market for a grapnel, and rocket line thrower, with electric winch? Maybe Stannah could be prevailed upon to come up with a public-safe device to electrically haul wheelchairs, etc, up & over? Continuous belt maybe, on one side? Decades ago, I had nearly a year dealing with crutches. I found ramps to be more tiresome to negotiate than stairs, to be honest....But I was a lot fitter then. Thus far, nobody has mentioned the option of tunnels?

Not forgetting restrictions to flying due to weather issues?

Certainly normal for the era [of the 40 mph max speed limit for a goods vehicle]....I have posted before concerning my sighting of a Met Police Sunbeam Tiger, containing two officers...even in the early 1970's, Police Officers were built like tree trunks... Mind, I was stopped at around 0230 one morning, in my Bedford CA workobus [minus seats..all except mine]...by one of the Met's SPG minibuses...[I was a very late shift bus driver, who then went off to see a movie a an all-night cinema just behind Marble Arch..the only way I could get to see the film in a week of very lates... Not reassuring to be stopped & surrounded by Police toting SMGs, either...My tax was in the post as well.....Harumph! On the speed limit for goods vehicles, I should point out tha 40 mph was a really good top speed for many normal goods vehicles & buses...of the time. Something we are wont to forget in the age of 100 mph white vans and lorries? I drove for a firm who had a Ford D series 7.5 tonner freezer...whose top speed was 45 mph, unless out of cog downhill. Their bigger D series could manage 48 mph under power. The famous Routemaster bus, in single headlight form at least, was out of puff at 40 mph[it didn't need to go faster than 30 in central London anyway]....The RT bus was all in at 35 mph...as was the DAimler Fleetline bus. London Country Routemasters could go faster, as could the British Hariways 'front entrance' Routemasters, which i drove for a few weeks on loan to west London air terminal. AEC Renowns and Bridgemasters could manage a decent 45 mph after a good run up. I once drove a Bedford [petrol] Green Goddess, with only a third of a tank of water...at a constant 50 mph....but that was only after many many miles of uninterrupted speed build-up. Being able to get beyond 45 mph, or even 50 mph, never mind 35 mph was a normal occurance right up into the 1980's with a lot of goods vehicles & buses....so the 40 mph limit was in fact probably quite reasonable really? All relative really,which is something today's drivers simply fail to comprehend.

I've always liked those FIAT 850 coupes. Not bad performers either! Especially the Abarth versions! What always amazed me was how BMC-or-whatever-one called it, really did miss the bus when it came to making improvements to their existing [sporty] designs? I don't know the FIAT coupé's style designer [ I knew Bert One designed the spidder]...but somehow FIAT seemed to produce far prettier sports cars than BMC? I can only imagine how nice it would have been for Austin Healey to have got an Italian designer to produce a coupe on its running gear? I know about the Innocenti Spider[better looking than the Midget] and the coupe[somehow not so good looking as the spidder?} But the FIAT coupe seems to me to be so well balanced-looking? [Mind, I often wonder what might have happened had BMC taken the minivan, and produced a more useable van as Suzuki did, later with the Supercarry? I once owned a Supercarry...it had the one litre engine, 5 speed gearbox, and even had a lorry-like chassis, with RWD.... stout, useful load carrying capacity, everything the minivan wasn't! Except for the fuel consumption...I rarely got much over 30 mpgs.. Whereas a minivan competed well against most motorcycle combinations of the day [at close to 50 mpgs]...... a category of vehicle the minivan more or less sank into oblivion....especially without purchase tax!

On the same sub-topic, I read of someone [on YouTube, as it happens] who saved money on a purpose-built vehicle roller/tilt frame [to access the undersides of a bodyshell], he used a couple of the much much cheaper engine supports, that can support an engine, and rotate it for ease of access. He fabricated a framework to bolt to the engine cradle/support stand...one at each end, attached to the car's bodyshell, and it apparently worked very well indeed....for the fraction of the cost of a purpose built body tilter. It stands to reason this arrangement will have some limitations when compared to a purpose-made jobbie, but, all the same, it allows access underneath with a welder! It might be recommended to remove all heavy running gear, axles, etc first....which might well be the case, whatever method is used to access the underside of the bodyshell or chassis? There will also be weight limitations, as with purpose built tilters. The fella in question used it to tilt a VW beetle chassis/shell successfully...so for a small car it might prove worthwhile? I believe the cheapest [and most lightweight] tilters are available in the 400-800 pension quid mark? However, by using a couple of engine stands, one can use them for their original purpose again quite easily? Whereas a purpose built car tilter is limited in other uses.? I paid around 60 of my pensionquids for my engine stands....chosen specifically for it's broad range of adjustment, owing to it having to support a Ford sidevalve engine, which has a quite wide set of bolt holes on the bell housing. Some stands do not allow the mounting bolts to stretch far enough apart. I would also consider a bit of fabrication to make the stands a bit more stable as well....a bit of steel, and some supporting feet of some sort, if used as a body tilter? Not suitable for Jagwars or other types of lorry!

Feasible , yes! Whether it would be worth it? Not so sure? The problem with ramps in the main [and what is being suggested here?] is the lack of easy access to the underside of the vehicle, from the sides? It can be a loooong way underneath, even on a trolley, to slide under to most bits, from the ends? Plus, what if a wheel needs to be lifted or supported independently, for suspension or brake purposes? There is a see-saw vehicle lift which looks like a set of car ramps to start with, available....somewhere...Ingenious, but needs a fair length of decent solid driveway to operate. http://www.carstages.com/ https://www.restorationramps.co.uk/ Any use?

A chum of mine got one of these a few years ago, when they were 1100 pensionquids..I drove him down there with my trailer to pick it up...it was bloomin' heavy! https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/334214557064?hash=item4dd0bd6d88:g:VtYAAOSw-sVb~VIQ Actually, for an older person, a very useful bit of motor kit? It can be stored more or less flat [underneath one of one's old vehicles??] and is controllable. He found it most comfortable to work at, allowing him, for the most part, to sit on a chair whilst working on the 4 corners, and allowed him to do most jobs needed to a series LandRover! He recommended getting some of those tall adjustable jacking posts too, for extra peace of mind when working or hammering away underneath. [Like builders use?} However, 1500 pensionsmackers may be beyond some of us more pernicious impecunious pensioners these days? If I were looking for a tool to assist me as I get more ancient and infirm, the above is perhaps one of the things I'd be looking at? Especially as I currently have nowhere flat to erect a twin post lift? If used with a Reliant Kitten, it may be wise to avoid windy days? Oh, and maybe one of those electric jockey wheel tugs, to move the above around as needed....? Better than heaving and shoving?

This is what happens when one parks ones Dodge Powerwagon next to a lamp post?

These past couple of years, I have seen the old 'crack an egg into the radiator' stunt tried by a skilled diesel fitter! Simply to see if it stopped a cooling system losing coolant. It worked....But it was essentially purely an 'experiment'....mainly to try to isolate & identify a 'cause'...Ford Cross flow, i think it was...or maybe a Series Land Rover? Was it TopGear who promoted the description, ''Bush Mechanic?'' Indeed, I think there used to be millions of 'bush mechanics' floating around the UK in times past? I also think it is an epithet which has long since died out in the motoring world, where one calls the Oi OI to change a punctured wheel? I am saddened to lose sight of the basics, hidden behind great walls of perhaps unnecessary technology...applied only to keep the masses happy, and from killin' themselves, or chokin' to deaath? Personally, my future ideal car would be, one that can easily & simply be repaired should something brak, or cease to function...repaired with basic mechanic's tools, with little in the way of plastic boxes inside which some tiny bit of a chip has gone wonky. I don't need these supah-bright fancy-pansy headlights to see with....or aircon, since I'm not driving through arid deserts....[I can open windows..I do, anyway, as I prefer fresh air to doctored air when breathing]...I don't need to be 'taken care of' should summat hit me....[Likely down to me allowing it to do so, for the purposes of screwing their insurance for a 'new' banger to play with?}...I like seat belts, but airbags get in the way of simple maintenance..... I would prefer something that I don't have to fold myself double to get into or out of..This is an age-related thing, and didn't apply until I was well into my 50's....20-odd years ago, too....! I don't want expensive, or hard-to-obtain tyres..I don't want silly things like DPFs , or those stupid, anti-motoring things like dual mass flywheels....or multiple clutches..[one is good enough for me]...or gearboxes that purport to be 'automatic', yet contrive to have so much in the way of obscure technology as to be unaffordable when they do actually fail. The Ford C4 auto is really about my limit.....affordable to service and repair, easy enough to repair as well.....not like those things that have emanated fromteh likes of VW or other modernistic trash? If a car [or vehicle..our Queen, [bless her] referred to her Land Rover series as her 'car', so why could not do so?], cannot survive crossing Africa, or the wilds of Chile, without having to be rescued by expensive recovery for what may be a simple fault, then I'm not interested! Oh, to be reet, I can't get behind the steering wheel of a series Land Rover, for physical reasons....at least, not without sacrificing the comfort of a driving seat! I cannot even get in or out of a civilian version of a Defender Land Rover with any real dignity..and certainly cannot sit in the rear seats of a Land Rover Defender 4 door 'station wagon' in the approved manner,sitting at right angles to the seat itself....there is insufficient room for someone of my stature... I mention 'civilian' version, as they are encumbered with all sorts of plaggy trim that simply gets in my way....I got used to inserting myself into the Military versions [which all had stout roll cages which meant, a size 11 work boot could not slide past when getting in or out the doors, without twisting one's foot....Size 10s just about managed a straight exit, with care.....but once in, the total lack of door trim,or wheel arch trim, meant at least I could wriggle about to find a comfy spot. I had a technique with the driver's seat adjustment which allowed my XXXL frame to sit reasonably comfortably behind the steering wheel too....not in the Land Rover manuals, I hasten to add...but it was a useful technique to advise the taller service personnel on how to cope with what they saw as ''kwapp''... Thankfully, the military embraced the Toyota HiLux [Taliban specials?]....and Toyota Land Cruisers [armoured, they weighed over 4 1/2 tonnes]...for our furrin station personnel.... Although if three of us civvies had to sit in the back seats, along with me, a window had to be opened so at least part of my body mass could hang outside...arm, shoulder, etc....Great in the wintertime! [For the others, that is] So, what to chose..or rather, aim my sights for? I have a 4trak.....useful as it's easy for a stiff old OAP to get in or out of. Seat the right height...a Defender [military] being just an inch or so too high for my backside to float in horizontally]...Manages around 30 mpgs on diesel or similar.....engine lasts for a quarter million miles before overhaul might be needed...Mine is at around 195000 currently...Always starts, if the regime is followed...won't otherwise!! Tyres are big, but can be had for around 50 quid a throw,but, if tracking corrected, will last my lifetime..[the rears have, thus far...the fronts, not quite so]..spares are cheap and available from the likes of Milner Off Road in Durbisheer... Mine is pretty much all welded up now...just found a bit more to do to keep MoT tester happy,however..... Then there's my current 02 suzuki Vitara [Grand.... what's that all about?]....It's sills are quite frilly, on the outside..but the=is is hidden behind plastic covers, so the MoT man cannot see it, so it keeps passing the test. A 2 litre petrol, it is a bit more sprightly than the 4trak [or, most other traffic I come across...but maybe that's just the drivers?].....but it's comfy enough to get in or out of, a bit of a pain on my left foot though..it has a foot rest, which I have unbolted...but the mounts still get in the way of my left foot. It has some nice mod cons, plenty of inside lights [to flatten the battery if I leave a door ajar]....has 4wd and a chassis should I happen to need it [as does the 4Trak!]....It has needed ongoing maintenance...usually to meet the moT standards.....brake ppes, sus[pension arms, links, brake pads, and I[ve had to go round re-threading all the wheel studs and nuts since some clown with a windy gun was allowed to put the wheels on & off, shaggin' the threads up.....5 quid for a tap & die set has started to cure those. Tyres can be had for under 40 quid a throw.... However, the tax costs me 30 quid a month....which is almost a tenner a month more than the 4trak! Which has an engine of 2.8 litres or more cpaapcity! 100 plus bhp for the 4rtak [4500 rpm limit!]....125 bhp-plus on the suzuki..[screemin'jeezazz rpm limit] Both can tow [which is a good reason for me] the 4trak limited to 3500 tonnes behind the two bar, the suzuki quite a bit less. Both have taken me reliably from one end of this country to the other and back again.....both cost less than a grand [the suzuki around 500 notes] Both also doing so, towing my small car trailer..... I am looking at a Reliant Kitten, however, as I now prefer small engined, very light cars to work on.....my ability to lift engine blocks single handed having long since dissipated. I also need a motor that can be worked on outside in the cold & damp, as I don't have a garage [as such] to do anything other than keep my motors 'covered'... So that pretty much rules out anything made in the last 15 years or so, I suspect? Currently my Mustang, despite being a '67, is proving to be the cheapest & most reliable car to date, ticking most of my 'boxes'....Spares not an issue, thanks to Rock Auto....[just had a flyer, they're floggin' off dealers-going-bust stock...a set of disc pads for my car less than 7 quid a box, reputable maker too!] Easy enough to work on...but unfortunately I feel compelled [by others?] to keep it looking 'pretty'... Needs lots of 'small jobs' doing to satisfy my high standards.....but unfortunately for it, it still keeps on starting when required....stops well too, corners better than any BMW, 20-od mpgs, tax free, MoT exempt, tyres can be cheap as well [from Camskill]... Unfortunately it has acquired a 'value' like southern haouse prices...silly beyond my belief. Plus, it attract too much attention for my liking...I have to continually be ''nice & polite'' to interested people for my liking. I have to make an effort to stop myself scowling at the world outside..... In the Daihatsu I can scowl away merrily, and nobody seems to worry....It is a rather decent ''eff-off'' sort of vehicle... Interestingly, they all have a half decent heater....which I find these days is 'nice'... Now, if I could find a cheap enough post WW2 Dodge Powerwagon, civilian version...I'd be quite happy I think? Might annoy the rest of Tesco's car park, perhaps, though? https://www.dodgepowerwagon.com/ For those who don;t understand the meaning of 'butt-ugly?''

Hmmmm, I noticed that phenomenon with older BMWs as well.... Overheat a Ford or an A series and, after cooling down[and maybe blocking leak?] they were fit and ready to run once more. The BMW engines, once overheated, had to undergo [and the wallet endure] much fettling in engineering terms before they would consider even deigning to spring back to life. I also have found [and preferred] that BHP figures are not the be-all-&-end-all... Especially when considering day-to-day ordinary road usage. When we consider at what sort of rev range our normal, day-to-day driving uses, having several hundreds of BHPeeees under the bonnet [potentially, rather than 'actually'] is all rather pointless, in my view. Especially when one considers the old adage that links horsepower to money? In my 'umble opinion , the optimal power-to-weight ratio for ordinary driving [where one is not racing, in other words, or determinedly breaking the prevailing Law?}, is around the 100 BHP per tonne mark. Thus, a car having a kerb weight of less than half a tonne doesn't need much more than a small, circa 50 bhp engine to provide the whole ensemble with a lively and spirited road performance! What is the point in proudly owning a car with a top speed [estimated, subject to driver skill?] well in excess of 130mph? In the UK? A top speed which is of doubtful use, and certainly risky from a reliability viewpoint, if sustained? I guess, being over 70 years of age [with a mental age of 12?]....I have shed the potential desire to burn rubber simply to 'look good'... Sadly, I am of the opinion that an old technology 6 cylinder engine, of large-ish capacity is a better, more drivable motor than many of the highly strung , electronically controlled current offerings? Whose only disadvantage when compared to modern offering lies solely in the realm of fuel consumption? The current longevity [wear & tear] issues compared to old engines lies [also in my 'umble view] in the improvements in machine tool control during manufacture.

For me, about the same as the value I'd place on any form of life I come across. Personally I don't see why human life should be placed higher than any other form of life.... Not when we all have to share the same pathetic planet!

I tried that! Put me in the middle of next week!

The important thing about safety....or rather, where safety is somehow compromised....is to learn from the near-misses, and work out what adjustments can be made to mitigate the circumstances in the future. But people don't want to know about ''lessons learnt''....they only want to see blame. I wonder if the individual concerned in the above instance, hada mobile phone? I would consider, could they not have telephoned a signaller before crossing? I know there is a presumption in the above that everybody has a working mobile phone [and statistics very nearly support that view]....but, all the same...if phoning on a mobile was an option......eh?

Not an issue if intent on staying to US type....but an issue when using the stuff to go further afield in the world...

A big issue I feel with ON30 is that of the scale used? 1:48 rather than 1:43.5 or 1:45? Which makes it barely 6mm/foot... Noticeable when1:48 diecast models placed next to 1:43 similar.

Whilst I agree with the part about the paucity of 2 foot 6 inch gauge railroads in the US proper, Bachmann did model 2 foot 6 inch prototypes. For example, the O/F 4-4-0 is based on a South American prototype. The principle behind the ON30 setup was the use of existing HO gauge trackage. Thus something could be 'up & running' very quickly...unlike On3 or ON2? Given our acceptance of the shortcomings of OO gauge, the 6 inch difference in a narrow gauge arena isn't much of a compromise. Besides, we use 009 to represent anything from 1 foot 11 inches gauge or so, right up to 2 foot 3 inches, without qualm. My biggest bugbear in railway modelling as things stand today is the simple one of price! As has been noted above, it was one thing to price a nicely running locomotive for under 90 quid or so, to producing a 300 quid or so loco which might, or might not, be a good runner, or useable as fodder for a conversions....Electronics apart, nowadays there seems to be, no option. Nowadays all our railway stuff seems to have followed the concept I note in our new cars? One gets fancy electronics and connectivity, whether one likes it [or, wants it?] or not... If not, tough!

A series engines have 5 port heads as standard. As mentioned above, for the split Webers, it's all about having two float chambers, not a shared one.

I still have Vizard's book, but no longer have any A series....

So much better looking than today's rubbish

In my village,there are a few converted large old properties....several of which have be purchased by millionaires. There are also a lot of rented cottages, in which many folk at the opposite end of the financial spectrum live. Quite a mix really. A rather typical rural Yorkshire Wolds village really. But I guess folk have sought to live here due to the 'quality of life''.....certainly when compared to today's urban environments. They still stop & chat when out taking their dogs for the 'walk'....I am but metres away from the hardcore countryside here.. But there's still a good proportion living behind their electric gates...

Not anymore I don't, thankfully..a real pit if ever there was one! But I did live there for 6 or more years [and worked there for longer] 60 years ago! Plus, I've always lived within a reasonable distance, it being counted as one of the towns local to where I live now. Believe me, the moon has nothing to do with Bridlington!

Hahahah To be fair, i suspect most who take a dive after dark, having staggered out of the nearest pub, don't want to be hit over the napper by some clown heaving a 70 year old lifebuoy in the general direction... Anyway, in wintertime, the tide's out in Brid most of the time....More likely to end up with muddy socks. [The newsreel shots of waves crashing over the so-called ''sea wall'' are specially arranged...volunteer firefighters and lots of hoses....] Anyway, as mentioned, the old belts get put back and nobody even notices... Don't get to be millionaires by being PC, for sure!