Sprintex

You can get "experience days" where you drive an artic round a course on an airfield or similar open space Paul

They should be mandatory yes, although it's still no guard against pedestrian stupidity, especially when it's raining and dark in poor street-lighting as I found out some years ago. Let's just say that the human body doesn't come off well when used as a wheel chock Paul

You've obviously never driven an artic then. You certainly wouldn't see a car down there when you're three feet back from the windscreen. It's surprising how little you can "feel" when driving even a 6-ton tractor unit with no trailer, let alone a fully loaded 44-tonner. A hatchback type car bumping against the front would probably not register above all the bumping going on from an unloaded rear axle. Paul

There's a black F- reg saloon one of these that I see regularly round town, really nice condition too! Paul

Great Central Railway are doing a similar thing Paul

Depends what you've been doing immediately beforehand . . . If you've been tootling around town, or just come off the motorway/dual carriageway braking gently to slow down, then no problem. If however you've been driving "enthusiastically" down some twisty A or B roads then leaving the foot brake on too long will cause excessive localised heat-soak into the discs and warp them, or possibly cook the pad surface to the disc, which when you move away again will degrade the pad surface. It's why when you see rally or race cars left to cool down in the paddock the wheels are usually chocked - handbrake on with hot brakes will cause problems Paul

It's never too soon Paul

Don't see why? Paul

That is EXACTLY what I want - to watch a layout being operated without any interaction with the operator(s). And in some cases having someone "out front" usually means they are in the way of viewing the layout, with all the distraction of dreary conversation going on in your ear while you're trying to watch what's happening. Just my thoughts Paul

Was there today, always a great show - one of the highlights of the exhibition calendar I feel, especially if the extortionate cost and cattle-market feel of Warley put you off Plenty of variety in gauges and locations, but being an N-gauger the vast expanse of James Street had me hooked the most Paul

I have a vivid imagination at the best of times - but I still can't imagine THAT low Paul

Does the book mention the actual antics regarding the model railway? Can't remember who it was I heard being interviewed years ago, but he was a fresh-faced engineer when the Mini was still being developed. Jack Daniels, the chief design engineer (the "perspiration" to Alec's "inspiration" , in his own words) invited him round to a meeting at Alec's house one evening. On arrival he was told "they're up in the attic, just go on up" . When he reached the attic there was Alec, Jack Daniels, Alex Moulton (man behind the rubber-doughnut suspension) and John Cooper all sloshing back the whisky/gin and discussing the Mini while playing with Alec's extensive model railway layout! Paul

I wouldn't even know what a Yahoo Group is or does? Paul

Except he's not great to watch, he's an irritating t****r. Paul

Tesco had many colours of bog paper a while ago, including brown Paul

I disagree . . . Christmas build-up can't start early enough! Paul

Since we started leaving the cellar spiders alone to live peacefully in the corners of rooms we've had almost no other spiders in the house. Any we do get don't last long before the cellar's have them for lunch Paul

You forgot Sheeran . . . Paul

No, it's a tofu Paul

There's an orange BGT V8 in the car park of Sports Club I go to too Paul

No, I used a grinding die to open up the hole where the radius arm pin goes through the outer subframe bracket Paul

Correct. British TV advert in the 1970s for "Fairy Liquid" - washing-up liquid. Paul

Not true. I used trigonometry to correct the camber on the rear of my rally Mini without needing to buy expensive (and possibly more fragile) adjustable brackets Paul

Or when it fails to descend before going into the tunnel section from Drayton Park to Moorgate on an old 313 as happened when my mate was a guard on them Had to go back, pick it up off the trackside, and manhandle it into the carriage. Paul