Hobby

They are in a Catch 22 at the moment, they want to encourage EVs but can't afford the massive black hole of lost tax revenue EVs will generate, whilst EVs are in the minority then they'll be fairly safe as the tax from ic vehicles will compensate, but when they reach parity then expect to see EVs hit hard. Make the most of it while the sun shines! 

6 minutes ago, Pete the Elaner said:

I have said this since I first saw him drive for Toro Rosso: Verstappen has been forcing others to decide to crash or back off. Most now choose to back off, which makes it easier for him to pass. He said after the last race that he doesn't really care where he finishes because it does not matter to him. Others will be wanting to score points & will accept falling a place back rather than be shoved out of the race.

Except that if Merc's progress continues he's going to find that some drivers won't back off, Lewis has already shown that last season and this and I expect George will do the same. I'm glad that some drivers are willing to take on the bully.

2 hours ago, britishcolumbian said:

I suppose I could get a metal file and do it by hand

I had to do that recently to get a Bemo H0m chassis to fit into a smaller Bulgarian Class 75 H0e body and the same to get a Russian Tu2 body onto a Liliput 2095 chassis... All good fun!

32 minutes ago, 30801 said:

 

My Smart is £0 VED because the offical fuel economy figures are lies.

I pay more tax because the offical fuel economy figures are lies.

The VED is based on emissions, not mpg, and always has been inaccurate as they compare all cars under laboratory conditions so we can compare like with like. I don't know anyone who actually believes that they are the truth! Nice to see EVs carrying on that tradition.

33 minutes ago, woodenhead said:

  What would be the point of racing if you were happy playing second fiddle.

You could ask Bottas?! ;)

17 minutes ago, Reorte said:

Looks like VED is coming in for electrics. I've not seen any details, but it would be bonkers if you can still have a diesel paying zero, so I assume (perhaps I shoudn't!) that that'll change too.

Yes and no, that diesel and petrol (which should also have been mentioned!) owner pays far more in fuel taxes than the EV owner, the low tax bands have reduced Gov income considerably over recent years with the push for more economical cars and it looks like the move to EVs isn't going to reduce the number of cars on the road so they have to get that lost revenue back somehow. It's been predicted for ages that EVs will have to start paying some sort of tax, though I was expecting road pricing rather than VED.

56 minutes ago, Hroth said:

There may well be, but they're in those nebulous Phases  that lurk in the distance!  🤪

There is a mention of an "electric" Pullman in one of the early phases, as they aren't doing any electric locos could that be a Southern three rail version?

17 minutes ago, boxbrownie said:

Sorry, on who’s doors?

XC Voyagers and HSTs.

Wow! Even my welding was better than that!!

1 hour ago, Hroth said:

Somewhere back in the thread, it was reported that SK mentioned a phase 9, god knows what phase the planners are up to now....

There was a list somewhere on social media, I remember seeing it, though I've not been able to find it since, it had a lot of interesting stuff... Perhaps one of the Hornby TT-ers (SK?) put it up early on then was told to delete it quick or just someone made up to look like it was official!! 😄

17 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

Complaints have been made by some of these people that the toilet compartments are not big enough. 

 

Even I find it frustrating and confusing to have to wait for a curved door to roll right back, enter, locate and operate the "close" button and then to remember there is a separate "Lock" button which must also be operated to avoid embarrassment.  But there is no "Unlock" button so one only has to press "Open" to escape.  can we please have faster door motors on them, and for units with three or more carriages can we please also have a standard cubicle which around 99% of passengers can readily use?

 

And can we, somehow, address the issue of oversize and possibly over-weight mobility scooters aboard public transport?

As you say the compartments are big enough for the size of scooters that are allowed on board. The majority of genuinely disabled people who use an electric wheelchair or scooter are well aware of the restrictions and their devices are within the size limitations which are well publicised on the various TOC websites. I feel you are confusing those people with the much larger group of people who use "mobility" scooters and are not registered disabled. I agree that many of those scooters are extremely large and shouldn't be allowed on pavements, let alone trains or buses! Luckily we don't have to pander to their needs and they can be turned away without us breaking the disability laws which as always with these things are a sensible compromise.

With regard to buttons vs sliding/opening doors as someone who has to use disabled loos when taking my wife who is wheelchair bound outdoors let me give you two scenarios. First is the manual door, first we have to position the wheelchair where we can open the door and not get it in the way when opening the door, not easy in corridors where many disabled loos are placed, once the door is open and we've got in we have to close it behind us, usually easy enough for me (if a little cramped as there's not much room in there) but just think if the wheelchair user was solo and had to turn or stretch to reach the door handle and pull it shut. Second scenario, we push a button, the door slides open, we go in, push another button and the door slides shut and press a third and it locks. Think which is best for the wheelchair user!

As for the time for it to close, it's a matter of seconds, if you are really that desperate to go perhaps go a little earlier! ;)

I would agree with you about having "ordinary" loos on trains where there is no disabled space, from what I can gather when the Voyagers were designed someone misread the disability laws and thought they had to have a disabled loo in every coach that had a loo in it, note that the slightly later Pendos don't have the same, lesson learned although I've never been on an IET so can't comment on them?

I hope the above helps to see it from the disabled perspective, whilst I'm not disabled having a disabled wife has opened up just how poor facilities are for such people and allows me to try to see things from both angles. 

I apologies to the OP for going so far OT.

Coincidence I'm sure, he'd have been planning and writing it before Hugh first showed it, though I'm sure Hugh would be honoured to think he might have inspired it!!

42 minutes ago, 009 micro modeller said:

Though interestingly, Hugh’s layout pre-dates Raising Steam.

It's also narrow gauge, though I've always had the impression that the book's railway was more based on standard gauge rather than 2ft 3ins because its mirroring the start of railway steam haulage. I don't think he says so we'll probably never know!

1 hour ago, boxbrownie said:

Well both my late Mother and my wife would argue about that, both had/have chronic arthritis/rheumatoid arthritis  and pushing any button is excruciating painful, if it is a “mushroom type” it is often fine as you can use the palm of the hand but using the buttons in the electronic doors in the modern trains is extremely difficult and painful, I have often stood guard outside 😄

 

The old type mechanical locks with the long levers is much easier and without effort usually.

The buttons on all our doors are the mushroom type and are more suitable for disabled people than old style door handles seen on outer doors on old BR stock or the swivel handles on the toilets in those trains.

Just out of interest can someone enlighten me which disabled groups are campaigning for a return to the old style stuff as someone has claimed?

55 minutes ago, Steamport Southport said:

 

A girl I know tried to convince me the films were good. Lasted about half an hour whilst pointing out it's just a poor quality rip-off of Terry Pratchett....

 

I'm pretty sure I've seen a TT or 009 layout based on the Discworld books.

I don't see any resemblance between TP's works and JK's other than they both have wizards and witches! The two are poles apart and aimed at very different audiences, though some of us like both!

Hugh Norwood has made an 009 model based on Ankh-Morpork which still appears at exhibitions.

21 minutes ago, Robin Brasher said:

I think that the 'Scotsman' set is a fair representation of the 'Queen of Scots' and it would have been better if Hornby had marketed the train with that name.  Although the set is not called the 'Flying Scotsman' I think some people will be disappointed when they see the locomotive is 'Blink Bonny', they may also be disappointed if the Pullman coaches do not have lights. I think substituting another locomotive for 'Flying Scotsman'  and the possibility of omitting the lights are spoiling a ship for a halfpenny worth of tar.

There may be a small number that notice the name change, though I suspect its name will also appeal to many! I wonder if it is to do with a combination of licence fees and the fact that they'll get another sale for the real FS! All in all most of the intended audience won't notice that, or the lack of lights, both of which if included would probably have increased the cost of the set, another point to note?

1 hour ago, SeanTT said:

 

good news that Scotsman sets should arrive on 15th December and then sent out for Christmas (If nothing goes wrong in the meantime)

I've ordered the Easterner set but I don't mind waiting a couple if weeks more!

1 minute ago, jamie92208 said:

IIRCRoger Ford quoted the bit about disability  campaigners  wanting simple mevhanical locks.  Certainly mife wife, who sometimes needs a wheelchair prefers the simple slidi g 9nes. Anything that needs rotating can be difficult if the user has wrist problems.

Hence the use of buttons which can be used by everyone. These seem to be the current regulations, note both manual and power doors/locks, they have to cater for blind/partially sighted people as well:

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2010/432/pdfs/uksi_20100432_en.pdf

I'd agree, Tom, which is why most new disabled toilets tend to have buttons rather than manual locks. I don't know which disabled groups have been campaigning for manual locks, though, none that I know of? Often the buttons for operating the doors can be found near to the toilet itself rather than by the door, it all depends on the design of the toilet space itself. The biggest issue we find with disabled loos is there "secondary use" as storage places, especially in pubs and hotels, and them not being locked allowing non disabled people to use them which invariably results in them being misused, again pubs and hotels being the worst culprits.

11 hours ago, Pete the Elaner said:

How can stewards determine the difference though?

 

Many would claim Hamilton deliberately drove into Verstappen at Silverstone, even to the extent of making the accusation of attempted murder.

They can, and do, by looking at the telemetry information the teams use to check what the car's doing, that tells them what the driver was doing, and it also told them Max was behaving badly and Lewis's wasn't as bad in the two incidents... Think what that Sky reporter did a few pages ago but with even more information than he had about what Max was doing in the car.

As for the second sentence, you know as well as the rest of us that that rumour was spread by that equally nasty piece of work Horner, to try and make Hamilton's penalty as bad as possible, conveniently ignoring that his pet driver has done a lot worse than that and often got away with it!

11 hours ago, Dunsignalling said:

Some Western Region HST rosters involved up to around 800 miles in a day,

Going slightly OT, many years ago I was speaking to one of the fitters and a control bod and it seems that pre covid the Voyagers were knocking up between 800/1000 miles per day and would go in for a "service" every 10 days, that's one heck of a mileage per year! The diagram for the Aberdeen to Penzance was over 960miles. I found that once people realised just how intensively we used them they tended to be a little more tolerant of the odd failure, most were comparing them to their car until they realised that the train could knock up a "car years" mileage in a couple of weeks!

I suspect there's no display because the only stuff they have is the pre-production ones we are seeing at shows!

Re the track, could it just be that they are holding off releasing it until they have something to run on it? That may be a pain for those who want it for other reasons but for those of us who have ordered a set it makes no odds when we actually get the track and there's not much point if we have it and nothing to run on it... Of course there's always Peco or Tillig if you're desperate...

4 hours ago, adb968008 said:

Or 47/37’s, or castles, kings, saints…

 

If design life isnt 40 years, then 66’s are doomed as we speak, and 59’s are almost passed it…. Even pacers made 35 years !

Yes, but that is just the length of time they've been around, modern stock is used far more intensively and clocks up far higher mileages than HSTs and the diesels. They are also expected to work much harder whilst out there than the older stuff was as well. Gawd knows how many miles the Voyagers have clocked up in the twenty years we've been using them, we did used to keep an eye on the Km counter on TMS but CZ kept zero-ing them so we don't know!

Did you ask them?! ;)

On 11/11/2022 at 11:49, kevinlms said:

The trouble is most players for the big teams aren't eligible to play for England anyway.

The two new ones given game time by Pep last week both are!

10 hours ago, Pete the Elaner said:

I think that the car in front as they start to turn should be entitled to the racing line, but that is not the way most usually see it. The drivers & stewards need some clarification to make these decisions more consistent.

The trouble with that is that one driver could deliberately go into the corner too fast knowing that if they are ahead they'd "get the decision" which is just as unfair. Best leave it to the stewards.