Inoffapost

It is a great thing that TV and film, like books are still being made and written that provoke thought and reaction. That gives me some hope because I have serious doubts about even the future of these mediums. I haven't seen the programme you are commenting on (yet). Your synopsis does sound quite compelling. Sheen is a fine actor, writer, director and producer so I imagine he knew exactly how to deliver the role with absolute conviction. The location and source material for the story would have been manna from heaven for him. I'm English, with Irish roots now living in Germany and although I keep abreast of 'stuff' happening 'back home', with todays media it's hard to really sort out wheat from the chaff, and when it comes to the truth, well trying to get to that..........I could find Nemo quicker! That notwithstanding I did spend 14 years working in the rail industry from 1988 to 2002. During those years I spent many many hours through my job in the LLanwern, Port Talbot, and Ebbw Vale Works. It was still British Steel then (or was it really?). The tie ups and 'tie ins' had already started with Arcelor, and Hoogevens, so the rationalisation was already underway in the mid 90's. Way back then, everyone I dealt with at those plants knew that the slow death of the steel making business in the UK had long since begun and that the industry was doomed. Senior and junior managers and plant staff that I knew ALL knew that anyone starting at the plants back then would lose their job at some point, probably sooner rather than later. The older ones were just pleased to get out with a pension (wonder if that is still going?). I'm amazed that in 2024 Port Talbot is still there because the writing on the wall(s) has been there for 2 decades or more. That TATA took it all on in the UK, and across the whole of Europe as well was and still is mind boggling. The financial chicanery that must have been involved to get them to do it must have been monumental. So it is difficult to accept that the current generation of workers there have been lied to. Oh, they may have swallowed the hope of the dream, and the party line, but any of the former generation of workers and family members in South Wales could have and would told them that there was no future. The trust that you mention was gone 30 years ago. I can't honestly believe that anyone actually thought TATA could be 'trusted' or were going to be a saviour of the industry. Surely, all it meant was that the job or a job was still there....for now. Globalisation, that 'catch all' for all our current ills is to blame, of course, energy and production costs and then all the other reasons. Fact is, it is cheaper to rape other parts of the developing world and exploit other peoples than accept the moral responsibility to look after our own. If there is one thing the human race does better than any other it is to screw over it brothers and sisters, wherever they may be. It doesn't change the scenario though, we are where we are. But with a bit of hindsight has the 'bandaiding' of the industry actually helped? 30 or more years have been lost when planning and developing the exit strategy might have been time well spent although I guess we should ask the folks in Ravenscraig and Corby how that all went. As far as jobs in the south east go, as far as I know there is a lot of them, but maybe not 5 million. But there's nowhere to live, and even if there was, the job you could get, even a fair paying one, wouldn't cover the cost of living there. So the grass isn't greener or even affordable, anywhere in the UK, as far as I can see. And just to depress you further it doesn't get any better here! Germany has turned into the sick man of Europe. Yes that old moniker. Farmers blocking the roads and towns, trains on strikes for a week at a time. Planes and airports on strike this week (again). The most unpopular government since, well ever, I think......and it is a socialist/green coalition! Conspiracy theories abound all over as huge chunks of the populace move to the right in their thinking...well, 2.5 million refugees will do that to you won't it? So maybe that is where Sheen's film goes completely out of whack. I can't see anyone fleeing to mainland Europe now or in the near future because it really won't be any better, or have any point. Well, not unless it is a 28 days later situation. Maybe that is what we need, a pandemic or a war, to reduce the unemployed and mouths to be fed. Oh, hang on, we've got the latter on our doorstep already and the with the former we had a 'dry run' a couple of years ago. There is the rub in all this. I don't know about the UK, but during Covid the German government passed new laws that drove a horse and cart through the German constitution. New laws regarding emergency powers against public gatherings, the media and so on. If, a situation like Sheen's started to occur here the government here have some fairly swingeing powers to stamp it out - sharpish. Lets call it the 'Chinese Solution'. Those laws were never revoked after the covid 'crisis'. There's long term planning for you! For all the drama of the film, your synopsis paints a fairly hopeless picture, which I'm sad to say is pretty accurate. Humanity just now seems to be picking at the edges. Stumbling by, fumbling along. The old systems just don't work anymore. We can't help all the people.There is no job for life (unless you are French or German civil servant, maybe a British one too), no right to a home, perhaps soon no right to even hope. I'm 66 and looking to eke out an acceptable existence for some years, but there is no guarantee of that. One day at a time then...sad but true.

More than a bit late to this topic but as the JJA's are a bit of a theme with me I couldn't resist it. There was actually 1 JJA that received an all white livery with the 'GE' meatball logo and GE Rail Services signage. Bachmann actually reproduced it as a limited run exclusive model for their club members. I went with the real thing on a european jaunt to a transport expo in Munich and then took part in some live demos with 2 other JJA's in Germany on a new build ICE route, before trials with the SNCF and Swedish Railways. They eventually returned to the UK and became part of the GE/Railtrack contract. I've still got a set of keys to start one up and the handset to operate it. 🤣 Found them in the shed some years ago. Might still work....who knows🤣

You might want to have at a look at Hamburg-Harburg. It might not exactly meet your requirements but the main entrance hall and ticketing areas are all at street level and operational platforms are accessed via staircases/lift. The covered bridge reaches the centre platforms and another large building is constructed there before the covered bridge extends further over the rest of the platforms. Harburg is the last stop before Hamburg main station. It is itself a 'main' station connection as services to Bremen and Cuxhaven branch off from there. The station is serviced by high speed ICE services to and from Hamburg, Inter-City and regional services and S-Bahn. Harburg also sits directly before the Hamburg port and many if not all, container and bulk train freight services run through the station off a direct branch line to the port. If you google 'Harburg Bahnhof' the results will show up an 'images' section. An overhead of the station is shown here.

Standard 'hail and well met!' greeting of North West Germany. I thought I would join the forum after a bit of 'lurking'. There seems to be a bit more activity on here than some other forums I've seen so hopefully that means the hobby is alive and well......on here anyway! I got back into the hobby about 3 years ago, after a 50 year break. Lovely how things have changed. DCC, the quality of the models, you tube, Charlie Bishop etc. Breathtaking. I was tempted by stumbling across models at a modelling exhibition and marketplace of some of the actual rail projects I had worked on in the real railway world. So I decided to recapture my former career in model form. It's been a lot of fun, and expense, so far. The first layout was built without any real thought just to see if I could actually build one and get it working. Having made ALL the mistakes that could have been avoided if I had researched it first I've now got Anyrail on the laptop and am planning 'The Layout'. Oh, and my daughter knows she can't have her old bedroom back! She's 29...deal with it! I look forward to picking all of your brains..........

Interesting to see this small fleet of wagons finding it's way into the RTR market. I worked for Tiphook Rail and GERS in period and had managerial responsibility for the steel carrying wagon fleet. They look excellent models but for actual authenticity I would opt for the weathered versions. The canopied JSA's as I knew them were hopelessly abused by BS/Carters and Boston docks when loading and often the 17 wagons remaining on coil duty were more often out of service than in. Once the Honda Swindon flow ended their days were numbered. As for the Co-Steel conversions, again, the wagon looks splendid in the photos and of course, they did look like that out of the shop, but that was the last time they did look like that. Even though the bodies were robustly built, well, I don't need to tell anyone what a wagon carrying scrap looks like do I? I had forgotten about the yellow bogies. The wagons were statutorily revised prior to the conversion and as the JSA PD bogie had a known design fault the wagons required a detailed and rigorous 'in-service' inspection procedure and this colour was adopted to ensure they were were to be easily seen and identified. Operating as they had at 102T GLW on fairly rubbish track and being abused they way they were during loading and unloading it was no real surprise the bogie flaws became an issue. That said, at the time, there was a dearth of 102t wagons available and the 102t low track force bogie designs were still aways off and unproved and untested. As ever in the rail industry another case of 'make do and mend'............ They'll still look good on my layout though and will no doubt be a damn sight more reliable than the real things. I'll have to get a couple🤣