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I think BR did a single lot of these unfitted, so in BR grey, photograph in Larkin's BR Wagons tome

Remember that it is seemingly still an offence to sound your horn while stationary. I have heard of motorists being prosecuted; but hey, they must really have peed the arresting officer off.

Might I remind anyone reading this thread that today is the 37th anniversary of the loss of the Penlee lifeboat, Solomon Browne, with all hands, as they attempted to rescue the crew of the Union Star?

Had one of those a couple of weeks ago, taking SWMBO for her pre-op at The Alexandra in Cheadle. Leaving the M60 at the A34 junction, doing about 55-60 in the A34 filter, when a car, might have been of a certain German manufacture, drove across my front from the outside lane of the M60, and exited up the sliproad.

Stop it!

Trained by Idi Amin and Lord Lucan?

At the entrance roundabout to a business park just south of Cheadle/Gatley on the A34

Huddersfield tunnel was a quoted problem as well; there is apparently either a water or sewage main running close to one or other of the tunnel entrances. Suspect the through lines in the station, or at least one, would have to be reinstated, to increase capacity.

More likely our unelected bureaucrats, no? There has been a pro-road bias in the DafT and its predecessors for a very long time

As I recall, We were supposed to have an electrified line from Manchester Victoria to Stalybridge by the start of the new timetable this month. I'm not sure but some Northern stoppers started running through from Stalybridge to Wigan from the start of the last timetable. The upgrade to Stalybridge Station was to allow an increase in capacity.

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Would "Jobsworth" be more appropriate?

Is it an ex-LNER standard?

I'm not sure that naming a ship Prince of Wales is a great idea, given the unfortunate record of the only other one given that name. Royal Sovereign is however another good name for a major warship. There was once one (a turn of the 20th century) destroyer called Zubian.

That's not automation by itself; it looks more like what your farmer in a "Weaving Hamlet" would have in his loom loft. Which museum is that in?

My, weren't you the lucky one! Your daughter also! You cannot use anecdotal evidence to support a general case. The DWP lost more with their own mistakes than was lost through benefit fraud in 2016-17. The benefit fraud amounted to 1% of the DWP budget. It's worth pointing out, for the umpteenth time, that most of those on benefits are working, but need the top-ups to have a chance of keeping a roof over their heads. You will recall that the government reduced Tax Credits by £30 per week in 2014. That's a lot of money when you don't have much. Don't get me started on the hostile environment against the disabled

Sounds like you do want to write off those less fortunate than yourself, Ray; I'm being blunt because sometimes you need to be. I generally find that those who bleat about "free handouts" and you're "entitled" to nothing are those that have never really experienced life at the bottom of the pile, especially given the outright hostility in government, in the media, and on the streets (I've experienced the latter personally). I would say that a contract exists between a state, its citizens and the organisations which operate within it. I would also say that, at the moment, the last two aren't keeping to their side of the contract, at the expense of the general welfare of the first group. All their actions, particularly over the last forty years, have been to smash any form of cohesive society like a hammer on a pane of glass; they appear to be succeeding.

That Was The Week That Was

What if the outfit you work your socks off for doesn't pay you enough for that? More and more, we see companies employing two people for twenty hours, rather then one for forty, because it's cheaper for them to do so; or for no guaranteed hours at all. Remember, the majority of those claiming social security benefits are working.

Weren't there plans a few years ago, with the building of Port Salford (is that still happening?) to run the freights in the opposite direction, towards the WCML?

C1760, at High Dyke: interesting-looking bracket signal

I thought the original plan included quadrupling between Ox. Road and Piccadilly, a grade-separated junction at Ardwick. and reopening one of the single-line Standedge Tunnels; the last two were de-scoped. The 4-tracking was scuppered, as you say, by Manchester City Council refusing planning permission for the demolition of The Star and Garter pub on Fairfield Street. Certainly adding all the extra passenger traffic to the existing overcrowded infrastructure has done nothing for punctuality.

Been there; done that, in some of the same places, IIRC (Guide Bridge East Junction)

Interesting, and brings back a few memories of what things were like. If the train was heading to Partington, why did it not travel Guide Bridge Station Junction - Denton Junction instead of taking the route it did? Would have saved time/fuel, etc., or was it bound up in pre-nationalisation ways of doing things?

You may have something there; I can well remember what were called the "Brushfire" wars in the 60s and especially the 70s, when one superpower or the other was attempting to prevent the other from taking over a country; the ones I remember most were Vietnam, of course, Angola and Mozambique. Isn't what's going on in Yemen now a sub-regional proxy war between Saudi and Iran, with the Western "powers" backing Saudi? Something similar could be said about Syria, where the USA in particular is attempting regime change, and the Russians are backing the government, due to their naval base. Although they are on opposite sides, as it were, the superpowers seem to be taking every precaution to avoid a direct contact, since no-one in their right minds wants to start World War 3 - do they? Given the way the Great War escalated from a minor sub-regional incident, they must be treading a very precarious path indeed.