Darius43

Quite right. I have been involved in a lot of work at Heathrow in the past 30 years. The older terminals T1 and T2 had restrictions on the allowable floor loading which made successive refurbishments “interesting”. This shouldn’t be as much of an issue with the new terminals T5 and T2 although the floor structure capacity will still need to be checked. Furthermore you can’t just take out 50% of your search lanes in one go or the passengers will be slightly more vexed than Michael above. Cheers Darius

Some rtr 1:18 GT40s… …and a slightly smaller one. Cheers Darius

Assuming that the photo shows the total number of parts that you have, the side illustration on the printed card gives a useful guide. - The sides go together with the cabs at the outer ends. - The cab fronts go on the front. - The three roof parts go on top: the rightmost roof part in the photo is the central one; the other two are on each end with the sloped edge being the cab end. The plastic bogies shown in the photo are coach bogies (possibly Lima) and will be of no use as the axle centres won’t match those of the cast white metal bogie sides provided with the kit. Does your kit come with a chassis or are those the only parts that you have? Cheers Darius

Just received the email at 20.01. 1/10 - could do better. Darius

Good for you, Phil. Looks like the roof and sides are pressed aluminium sheet and the ends are white metal, which is an MTK construction type. MTK often supplied decals for the door edges. MTK usually made the roof and sides from one continuous sheet rather than three separate parts though. Cheers Darius

Looks like an LMS BG to me Rather than a 4-EPB “centre coach”. Cheers Darius

Meanwhile, somewhere near Baltimore… Cheers Darius

As you may be able to see if you bother to read the thread from the beginning, this thread does interest me. I occasionally comment on aspects of engineering or things I don’t agree with, as so, it would appear, do you. Cheers Darius

Especially the examples of narrowboat handling compared to that of the container ship ‘cause they’re essentially the same, right? Cheers Darius

For some passengers that may not be a positive outcome… Cheers Darius

Tuned in to get the latest thoughts on the bridge and instead get:- - hatred of the BBC - hatred of journalism - a brief history of friendly fire Time for a thread lock I think until the big crane starts its act. Darius

Do they fit inside the tunnels this time? Cheers Darius

Concrete dolphin protection to the piers of the first Forth Road Bridge. They don’t need to absorb all the energy of a ship impact as some of it goes into buckling the ship’s hull and some in deflecting it’s trajectory. Darius

200 tons of TNT detonating does impart the energy a bit faster than a ship impact. The key parameter is the “impulse” which essentially is how quickly the energy is imparted into whatever is receiving it. For example, I could give you a push on the arm or a punch. Both impart the same energy but the push is slower and the punch much faster. The punch hurts… Darius

Actually a stretch of the ramps also collapsed. Graphic courtesy of today’s Guardian. Darius

The concrete pier of the Baltimore bridge was the part struck by the ship and it collapsed causing loss of support to the steel bridge structure and its subsequent progressive collapse. In the still from the NTSB footage below you can see parts of the collapsed reinforced concrete pier structure to one side and actually on top of the bow of the ship. Darius

The Dartford Crossing (QE2) bridge piers look to have substantial protection. They are also close to the river bank so may be in shallower water than the main navigable channel. Cheers Darius

I know you are joking but even RB wouldn’t want a driver that would most likely stuff the car into a wall during practice/quali/the race. Cheers Darius

Easier to do that with a new build than a retrofit. The main protection for the Sunshine Skyway Bridge appears to be a series of massive concrete dolphins marking the main channel. I suspect the replacement for the Francis Scott Key bridge, if and when it is constructed, will have similar protection to the main piers. Darius

Close up of bridge pier showing the treatment at the water level. I doubt that it would be practicable to install fenders (as such barriers are called) that were independent of the bridge piers, so as to stop the impact load being transferred directly to the pier, in 50’ of water that were capable of absorbing the immense kinetic energy of a ship like that striking them. Darius

A ver pleasant day out from Worthing yesterday. Train to Bournemouth and the No.50 bus to Swanage. Superb lunch in the Bankes Arms in Corfe Castle 😀 Cheers Darius

I typed “Tralee and Dingle Decals” into Google and got this:- H&A Old Time Workshop OO9 decals Cheers Darius

Lewis Hamilton: FIA head Mohammed Ben Sulayem has never had my backing Nuff said. Cheers Darius

Especially if you want to put Russian donor friends in the House of Lords… Alas funds need to be sought from different sorts of people now… Cheers Darius

Presumably his Dad and Dad’s money are still banned so no team is likely to give him a drive if no money comes with it. Darius