Zomboid

I think the idea of a sprint race is a decent one. What's at stake in it is worth a bit of debate. I think I would have normal qualifying for Sunday with a reverse championship grid for the sprint races, and then a separate sprint championship.

It was a very good drive from Lewis. Getting up to about 10th would be expected given that he's a great driver in a car that's faster than most on the grid, but to get from there to 5th is a real display of his class. In this instance the sprint format has worked in his favour. It's a shame that (1) it was necessary and (2) he's got to go backwards again.

Which is why Max was fined. They've not enforced that rule much up to now, so going in all guns blazing on this occasion (having determined that his touch didn't change the car) would have been disproportionate. It's basically a warning to everyone to say "enough of that now guys", and to expect bigger punishments in future.

Heading off topic a bit, one of the preserved 27s was painted in Brunswick Green rather than Bronze Green. You could definitely tell the difference, it was just ever so slightly wrong.

The nature of weather driven renewables is that there will be peaks and troughs. So some energy storage is going to be needed to balance that out. In which case storing some of it as hydrogen for use in transportation seems like as good as any.

Last loco built by BR I think, not just Donny.

It's not good news for anyone other than Max really. Having the championship finely poised going into the last race is the ideal for F1, and this just makes it less likely.

It's not the FIA or the Stewards fault that MB sent an illegal car out in qualifying. I'm sure this isn't the outcome that they wanted for exactly that reason, but it's black and white whether the car is legal or not.

No, but his qualifying time was achieved in a car which contravenes the regulations, so his times achieved in an illegal car cannot be valid. MB can't seem to get out of their own way lately.

And Lewis is indeed sent to the back. Oh well... Though it being "sprint qualifying" this time gives him a chance to get a bit further forward (before going back again...)

We'll find out soon. Whilst I'm rooting for Max this time, I'd rather Lewis wasn't sent to the back. That would leave Lewis needing snookers, and it would be better if things were closer for the end of the season. Though if MB have indeed sent him out in a non-compliant car then it's hard to argue against him being sent to the back.

You'd expect meaningful penalties in future for touching cars. Probably only a fine because they've let everyone get away with it for ages.

Certainly the trunk routes should be electrified, though having last mile capability with on board energy storage (in whatever form - batteries, hydrogen etc) ought to be viable.

I think the trunk and secondary though routes will be electrified, short branches will be on batteries and long, quieter routes will need something else. Which is where Hydrogen comes in as an option. They're may be some sense on some routes to have short battery gaps for particularly expensive problem areas. If a train can carry about 10km of battery power without too much weight penalty it may make small discontinuities viable. Though probably not suitable for the trunk freight routes, and we'd want a core continuous network.

The thing with energy storage of any kind is that there's a lot of energy in a small volume, that's the whole point. If it is released in an uncontrolled manner then things can get exciting. How you safely handle stored energy varies depending on the type, but the principle that if it's not properly respected then it'll bite doesn't change.

Completely agree on this, but I can't see a reality in which we get sufficient electrification that we don't need some kind of "self propelled" passenger trains. Maybe only for the long, sparsely served routes like Stranraer, Wick, Central Wales etc. Hydrogen fuel cells are worth investigation for those kind of applications at the very least. It would be utter madness to claim it's the solution for East West Rail or something like that, though. That just needs wires.

That's not unique to Hydrogen though. The technology that makes our life easier than in the pre-industrial era has a lot of capacity to kill us if we're not sensible about it. You know all about gas, and electricity has just as much capacity to kill us. There's a tank of highly flammable liquid on most people's drive, and some of us keep some in a plastic box in the shed. Not to downplay it as idiot proof, but if it weren't possible to handle hydrogen safely then the fuel cell tech would either use something else or simply not be proposed.

A bit of a non story really. I'm not ruling out the idea that I might drive for McLaren, but that doesn't make it a remote possibility. And it would be idiotic of Bottas to say that he was ruling it out now.

A template like the bi-mode Flirts could be used for a hydrogen power pack, which could then be made to whatever size is needed. All the electric traction kit is in the passenger vehicles so that lump is purely a generator, and could in theory be anything; diesel, batteries, hydrogen, exercise bikes... These trains are likely to be used away from the major trunk routes where platform length is at such a premium that a locomotive is considered "wasted space", so the fact that to achieve the equivalent accommodation of a 2 car 150, the train needs to be 2.5 carriages long is probably not going to make the whole thing impossible.

But it doesn't necessarily have to, if you've got it under control then it there could be other options. I wonder how significant fizzy drinks and food packaging are when it comes to CO2 emissions. I would imagine they're not a big deal, but I've been wrong many times before.

I doubt 7 going down would be closely spaced enough to power one going up, with Regen on DC is quite localised because the rectifiers are relatively closely spaced. I don't know what the substation spacing on Woodhead was like, but getting 7 trains been a pair which are all moving fast enough to be generating any power was probably beyond the signalling system.

That rather depends what you do with the CO2. If it's just vented to the atmosphere then clearly that's not going to help much, and if there's a massive shift from Petrol & Diesel to Hydrogen then the volume produced may get problematic, but as a part of the solution it has a place.

Will they be worth bringing back by the time there's any work for them to do? I doubt that knackered and smokey 1980s diesels are exactly in fashion at the moment.

Efficiency (either fuel or space for a given output)? Elimination of reciprocating machinery & maintenance requirements? If it's going to have electric transmission (or bi-mode) then a fuel cell doesn't need the generator/ alternator type arrangement as it outputs amps rather than a rotating shaft.

Because Bulleid wanted to inject a frisson of excitement into the crews lives when it needs to be adjusted at 80mph? (Unless it was moved there as part of the rebuild). Presumably that's one control that barely ever needs to be used, and certainly not when the loco is in motion.