Zomboid

I suppose the obvious counter to that is that Gunnislake survived Beeching for a reason and Tavistock didn't. I don't know what that reason was or whether it's still valid, but I do know that road bridges over the rivers around there are few and far between.

It would be a backwards step for the top of the branch in some ways, but a far north style Plymouth - Tav - Gun - Tav - Ply service would solve some of the problem. And provide a direct link between Gunnislake/ Calstock and Tavistock in addition to the other benefits. Whether the running time been Bere Alston and Plymouth could be improved by enough to counter the extra time to run to & from Tavistock, I couldn't say - but I doubt you could get all of it back.

12 hours ago, Northmoor said:

Okehampton to Plymouth & Cornwall

Looks like the current journey time for Okehampton to Plymouth is about 1h45, so not fast. But certainly possible. I guess it won't take much traffic off the roads.

That said, with Okehampton having a population of under 6000 (5922 in 2011), most of whom won't be going to Plymouth on any given day, there's probably not going to be enough traffic to justify a new railway. There's going to have to be a colossal amount of house building in the area to justify a new local railway, which is unlikely to be poplar with the existing locals.

I think I have a decent chance of living to see Tavistock reconnected to Plymouth, but I doubt from there to Okehampton will be a journey I'll be able to make (For context, I'm 40...).

They're all bad losers to some extent. This isn't a family game of Scrabble, the stakes are huge for them and to get anywhere near the top you've got to have a hugely competitive outlook. They're not like the rest of us.

That said, Lewis and MB making such a big fuss is both understandable and not a great look considering the domination they've enjoyed - the first time they're beaten in 8 years and they're threatening to take their ball home.

I saw him doing a talk about EVs and the surrounding issues at the RI. Obviously as a presenter and actor he has a slightly daft persona for doing such things, but he's also genuine and knowledgeable about EVs and renewables.

And Fully Charged is well worth a watch in general.

There's already a halfway decent junction at Thruxton, that's why I mentioned it. Though it's got the same laughable/ dangerous acceleration lanes as the London bound A303 at Bullington Cross.

Though that doesn't really help answer the question of what such a facility would be for.

Or near Thruxton where the branch crosses the A303.

Though quite what would use it I'm not sure.

Where (aside from Abu Dhabi) the title was won and lost last year...

https://the-race.com/formula-1/mark-hughes-where-the-2021-f1-title-was-really-won-and-lost/

49 minutes ago, Andrew P said:

WOW, what a difference over the years.

It's fairly normal to put on weight as one gets older...

I like the lines on these images. Must less fussy aero business going on.

4 minutes ago, Lacathedrale said:

If you're wondering why I'm still planning instead of building the SECR Minories - I'm still waiting on baseboards and in the meantime have found a fondness for building wagons!

It's because you're an incorrigible layout planner.

Like me; I find that the infinite possibilities of what could go into a space are much more exciting than actually filling the space...

A fun car for me it's one where you feel involved in the process of getting around. Power is all but irrelevant, it's all in the steering, ride & handling. The gearbox has to be nice to use too. If you're fully part of the process then there's more fun to be had at 20mph than at 80mph in a less involving vehicle.

I also had a Seat Leon with 200hp and a DSG gearbox. Fast in a straight line, but not much fun, though the paddle shift provided about 30 seconds amusement in the 2 years I owned it. Maybe a better driver than me would have got more out of it.

Though I know people who find that "fun" is synonymous with "acceleration". Which is fine, we're all different...

21 minutes ago, RFS said:

 

No it isn't - there's no separate wiring for off-peak! I know that for sure since a few years ago the meter developed a fault and the boiler was charging during the day. The GEC engineer explained then that the boiler gets a signal from the meter when it's off-peak.  

I used to live in a place with E7, and that had a separate consumer unit for the storage and water heaters, which was only live for 7 hours over night. The switching in that instance would have been somewhere near the meter. I don't know how it worked, but I assume it wasn't connected to anything external as it was on from 2200-0500 for half the year, and 2300-0600 for the other half.

1 hour ago, Dunsignalling said:

TBH, I think I'd find any "supercar" bloody frustrating for road use. There's only so much fun to be had going from 0-60 in under 5 seconds and knowing all that untapped power was under my right foot would drive me nuts.

 

In my motor club days I was once referred to as a "three quarters driver", the eventually extracted explanation being that I tended to use three quarters of the available power, three quarters of the time, irrespective of what I was driving. No surprise that my mate hasn't let me behind the wheel of his 400bhp electric Jag, then.

 

I've mellowed somewhat over the years but, if I'm honest, the 170bhp of my present chariot is probably "sufficient"....

 

John

I've never had more than 200 horses, and that was in a GT86, which is a lot of things, but a drag racer isn't one of them.

It's a toss up between that and a 130hp Suzuki Swift Sport for the most fun car I've had. Both of them were great fun for just going about my business in.

1 hour ago, Pete the Elaner said:

would not be at all surprised by your top 4, but I can't see Gasly out-scoring Verstappen. He would have to be promoted to the main RB team very quickly & then be given equal status with Verstappen

And then be faster than him.

Which isn't going to happen.

1 minute ago, 30801 said:

 

It certainly is right now! This December's bill was £120 more than last year's for about the same use. 

We're not feeling the full pain of it right now either. Which is the worrying bit.

I think the days of "cheap" energy are behind us.

I don't think the concept that energy will be cheaper at certain times will ever vanish, though. It might not be that over night is when it's cheapest though, that'll depend on the generation methods etc.

3 hours ago, mozzer models said:

MB did not spend any tokens in 2021 to upgrade there car so more time for the 2022 car

All being equal I'd expect MB to have been able to work more on 2022 than RB, because they were still winning almost every week just about unopposed in 2020. But actually having a fight on their hands in 2021 will have taken resources which could otherwise have been used for 2022.

2 minutes ago, johnarcher said:

Perhaps more that it's not musically very interesting, repetitive accompaniment and rather limited vocal line?

Repetition is a key component of music; how many popular songs go verse-chorus-verse-chorus. And rapping is a highly skillful activity when done well. (It's not for me, I'm an Iron Maiden fan, but it's no less skillful than more traditional vocal styles, especially when improvised as it often is at the fundamental level).

Just now, jcm@gwr said:

 

No, I don't like opera, but they can sing, and to music, even though I don't enjoy it

(c) Rap is not singing, the closest might be described as chanting.

I don't like all kinds of music and/or singing, but I know whether it is musical or not.

I'm not trying to impose my 'standard' of music on anyone, just using a normal

definition of music, as against noise

What defines "music" then?

You cite Rap, which maybe isn't the most melodic thing you food listen to, but what about it means it's not musical?

Coldplay bore me senseless, but they've brought an awful lot of pleasure to an awful lot of people, and that's undoubtedly a good thing.

I wish I liked everything that I don't, because not liking certain music doesn't do anything to make my life better.

I wouldn't be shocked if both MB and RB were slightly off the front, after their battle last year.

Ferrari really should be good, they've been working on their car for a long time, and Leclerc is a championship calibre driver. Sainz is at least good enough to win a few races every year in a race winning car, and might also be up capable of the championship.

I really don't know where the rest of the mid field will shake out. Personally I'm hoping for a few Norris & Riccardo 1-2s, but not expecting it!

Haas might be off the back too. They say that they did no development on their 2021 car in favour of 2022, so if they've nothing to show for it then that'll be a huge disappointment.

What are the odds that the bridge ends up single carriageway with lights? Worst of all worlds for everyone, and only a couple of years after an opportunity to get central government (via NR) to install a nice new one.

I don't know, the "whining" is just the mind games associated with a tight battle.

I hope we have plenty more of it because 2022 is another great year.

Hopefully direct linking is possible; here's Halwill signal box

https://www.s-r-s.org.uk/html/srq/S3591.htm

Okehampton to the left, off to the top right is Padstow, Middle right is Bude and bottom right is Torrington

Reminds me a bit of Halwill Junction (minus the Torrington line). There, the main line was towards Bude, and the access to/from the North Cornwall (Padstow) line bay didn't conflict with it.

If you just add a direct line from the bay platform to the branch you can provide that functionality.