DK123GWR

Cascading would seem to make sense, at least to the casual observer (i.e. me). If you cascade the newer bi-modes to XC you build a new set of straight electrics for the MML. If you don't, you have to build more bi-modes or diesels, either new for XC services or to use elsewhere to allow cascades. It's often mentioned on here that the Pendolinos will be reaching their expiry date when HS2 is complete, but the Voyagers used on XC services and the EMR 222s which Wikipedia suggests could be cascaded when the 810s come in are of a similar vintage. The HSTs are of course even older. Surely at some point there will need to be a major fleet replacement on XC services, and as there is no sign that their routes will be fully electrified in the immediate future, this will almost certainly require bi-modes. Why would you pay to build a set of bi-modes and pay to convert a set of bi-modes to electrics when you could just pay for a new set of electrics and use the bi-modes where they're needed? The only reason I can think of is that the 33 810s would cover only a small part of the XC fleet, so you would still have to build or cascade, at which point you end up with heterogenous units on XC services, which is probably a pain for maintenance, pathing, etc.

I've posted this before somewhere, but I have a 1970s book (I think part of a Children's Brittanica series) which suggests that about now we'll be producing coal-fired mechanincally-stoked steam turbine condensing locomotives in a streamlined casing in response to the depletion of oil reserves. I suppose they were right that there would be some effort to phase out oil, they were just a bit completely wrong about the reasons and the solution.

I didn't know where else I could put this. In case you wanted to know the answer:

I bought an Airfix autocoach in a joblot with a few wagons. At £10 including postage, it would probably be difficult to get one individually for the same money. It does have this unusual addition though. It's stuck on rather well and there are prominent glue marks both around here and where the previous owner has reattached the hand rails by the doors, so generous helpings were used. I think I'm probably better off leaving it as it is and saying that Oakhampstead wanted to run longer push-pull trains than the Swindon system allowed, and so experimentally rebuilt a few autocoaches with a different type of control system (no idea what) and gangways on one end, with some standard coaches converted to transmit the controls to the loco.

For those wondering what path the thread has taken, I believe is as follows: HS2>Current planning laws>Historic planning laws>Life in the mid-20th Century>Pensions>Rather bizarre claims that one cross-dresser not being killed is evidence that there was no problem with racial or sexual discrimination (with some climate change denial, ill-informed debates on migration, and a discussion of advances in healthcare technology along the way). Now when we were discussing current planning regualtions, I think we still had a clear and obvious link to HS2 - it's clear that the way planning works now will have an impact on future transport demands. I struggle to see how ignorant claims about discrimination in the mid-20th Century feed into the discussion though. If those involved are unable to enlighten us about this mysterious link, perhaps they ought to consider whether this is the right forum for their discussion. Suggestions for more suitable fora available on request. They might also consider reading a book, or talking to people beaten up by the National Front about their experiences of discrimination. In the mean time, there appears to be some speculation that Leeds City Council are seeking to develop the land safeguarded for HS2. Surely they aren't that short-sighted? https://www.constructionnews.co.uk/hs2/hs2-urgent-call-for-review-of-development-on-axed-route-25-11-2021/

I have here a couple of questions which seem interesting, but I don't really have the knowlege to answer. If we had managed to break out of 4 wheel unbraked wagons much earlier (let's say the 1920s or 1930s) what would have pulled them? The GWR built the 47xx (rated 7F by BR) for fast overnight freight - would that have been their go-to or perhaps something completely new? Could more garratts have been produced in the UK, or would the railways keep to conventional designs? Another thought, entirely unrelated. The largest passenger tanks that I am aware of were class 4s such as the GWR Large Praries, BR's Standard 4MT and its LMS ancestors. What conditions might have made a larger passenger or mixed traffic tank loco useful? If there were a world where they were useful, could they be practically built?

Just in case you've mis-read my post (or I've been unclear) I know most of this from some of the positions I held before going to university (particularly on my town's Youth Council) and my criticism was directed at Westminster gov - I just didn't want to accelerate the tangent on planning policy given that it is the HS2 thread.

Which is a strange policy, given that there are more empty long-term homes than homeless people. One might think that selectively building in areas where there is a shortage and redistributing some of those empty homes might be a more sustainable solution. One might also imagine, on issues such as choice of transport or diet, that the Behavioural Insights Team could investigate ways to persuade people to eat less meat and use public or active transport instead of private vehicles, at the same time as fiscal policy and re-regulation is used to facilitate these changes. Instead, we get ministers waffling on about how much hard-working people deserve a steak when they get home from work and a PM telling business leaders that a Tesla can get away from traffic lights faster than a Ferrari. A little bit of really straightforward inside-the-box thinking would go a long way sometimes, and transport policy is no exception.

Think about cashflow - you need to be able to buy the new stock at the new prices, and depending upon the size of the price rise that may not be possible.

That sounds like its taken from this video from Feb 2020:

On a related note, there is a model shop within a toy shop near me. All of its items are priced, but with tiny handwritten (probably in pencil) stickers, and they are kept on a shelving unit behind the desk. I am young with good eyesight, and I found attempting to read the prices futile. I asked if I could get closer because the labels and was told that I should just ask them. I found looking past the person stood behind the desk trying to look at the prices uncomfortable, but if I have to ask about every single item that I'm even thinking of buying I'm not going to bother hanging around. I can't work out what on earth they hope to gain from this policy. Older people (who are more likely to have sub-optimal eyesight) and autistic people (who may be less comfortable engaging with the worker) are both likely to be over-represented in the pool of potential customers, yet are both more likely to be put off by this policy. Perhaps they just didn't like the look of the teenager in slightly scruffy clothing carrying a rucksack - but I can't change my age more than anyone else and I'm not likely to be cycling the 10 miles or so to their shop in a suit and tie while carrying a briefcase (and even if matters were different, why should I have to change myself or my behaviour in order to avoid ageist or classist prejudice). Either way, I've never bought from them and I won't in future. I can find more facilitating suppliers than them, both bricks-and-mortar and online. I assume that they likewise believe they can find more willing customers than me.

I know the Terriers weren't heavy, and I have no idea how the weight of the diesel bits would compare to the steam ones, but would the axle loadings still be suitable for a light railway on this design?

Personally, I can't stand tea or coffee. Whatever you do someone'll tell you it's wrong and give you a judgemental stare, and if you do, miraculously, manage to do it 'right' it still tastes awful. Why go to all that trouble to ruin a good drink of tap water? And if you really want something hot, why not have hot chocolate, or soup? They're actually nice. And now that I've offended the whole of Britain, I'll put us back on topic: How does a zebra crossing improve pedestrian safety? (Answer below in white) The car hits the zebra and not the pedestrians.

Unfortunately you get these listings sometimes. Usually they're the product of people attempting to demonstrate they have the right skills to work in government.

Would the eastern leg have fared better if it had been branded as HS3 with the emphasis on improving transport links between Leeds and Birmingham? It seems to me that local politicians are more receptive of HS2 than those in the Chilterns. Branding the eastern leg as HS3 could have insulated it from some of the general broader anti-HS2 sentiment, which mostly seems to originate in the Home Counties. It would also increase the political costs of cancelling the eastern leg/HS3 for a government which wants to be seen 'leveling up', although of course HS2 pre-dates that particular slogan by many years. For clarity, I am only wondering whether it would have been better to separate the branding - operationally the two lines should of course be integrated. There might have been secondary benefits to the separation if Birmingham-Manchester was then seen as part of the 'main line' of HS2, rather than a 'leg' or a 'branch' which might imply that it is of lesser importance than the London-Birmingham route.

In politics exams, essays on communism should all get the same Marx.

Is this part of some memory game you're offering to them? I'm sure we had this last week.

Yes. For example (the blue covers my address and the distance):

This seller has a few locos, wagons, and parts priced by volume (and apparently they're all 10ml). https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/scouse889/m.html?item=165157170515&epid=11039227104&hash=item2674226d53%3Ag%3AjBcAAOSwlApgqAjw&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2562

Very nice! I love the detail under the saddle tank. The Hornby Peckett W4s have detailing in that area and it does so much to bring it up from looking like a 'toy' to a 'proper' model. Do you remember where you got a smokebox door to fit? Whenever I look at doing something to a Hornby Percy this is one of the big stumbling blocks. Thomas of course is easy because the one from the Dowlais 0-4-0 goes on with a bit of filing.

Which is exactly why people are now looking back at history and rexamining it in a way which reflects modern society. The fact that the British Empire was built on the exploitation of huge numbers of people did not, unfortunately, concern many people in previous generations. This has changed (in my view for the better) but this means that the old histories written from a very narrow 'Rule Brittania' mindset no longer satisfy most people. There's no doubt that in another couple of hundred years views will be very different again - there might be increased discussion of the role that the British Empire played in spreading industry and capitalism, and how this contributed to climate change. At the other end of the scale there could be a fascist governent in power in the future, and in that society history would be almost unrecogniseable from what we know today. For another example, consider Shakespeare. Large parts of his histories are complete and utter rubbish written to please the monarch of the day. We know (or perhaps more correctly, have a probable opinion) today that real events did not occur as Shakespeare described them - and yet we still refer to his 'histories' and to those written by medieval monks, which are at least similarly dubious. We might criticise these accounts for lacking 'historical accuracy' but this is a term which takes our history (that is, the current consensus about what happened in the past) to be the closest approximation of the truth available to us, just as these texts were seen in their day. Any wise person who talks about 'historical accuracy' ought to be keenly aware of this limitation - it would be both arrogant and foolish to assume that our current history is infallible, and it is almost certainly quite wrong about some things - we just don't know what yet. This is, always has been, and very probably almost will be the case in every intellectual discipline, from philosophy to physics. The point of research, when conducted in good faith, is to constantly question our beliefs and to re-write our understanding, and this is just one step towards enhancing our understanding of one small, but important, area of history.

Is it? The sign falling down was a humourous moment, especially given the context of the discussion. The producers seem keen to leave in people messing up - hence Sam's lights going out (yes, it's his fault for playing with silly power supplies, but you get the point), the man from Hornby breaking the model he was supposed to be fixing, Waterman's layout not fitting together properly, issues with the water on Heaton Lodge Junction, etc. I think its important to include all of this to show that we all make mistakes, and it's part of the programme's effort to show off as much of the hobby as possible - something which has been widely praised on here. As somebody who's doing trying things for the first time he's bound to have some failures. Leaving them in the programme is important for other new modellers, especially younger ones. Being young he's somebody that they might connect with a little more easily than yet another old man with grey (if any) hair, and he's building very good layouts. But just like them, he's still learning and things don't always go to plan - at which point he doesn't give up but tries something else instead. And ultimately, it all comes together to produce a brilliant result. I'm less than a year older than him, and pretty much every part of that segment I empathised with. Plus, I would be thrilled if I had half the confidence he must do to have put himself out there like this, or could produce a layout half (or even a quarter) as good as his.

Or according to Corbs' measuremments 7mm standard gauge. I've read somewhere on RMWeb that somebody did it once, though I don't recall seeing any pictures.

I don't know how small you mean by small, but if you watch the latest episode of Hornby: A Model World on Yesterday (catch up on UKTV Play) there is a layout which features a small layout with two levels. It looks to be a rather more rural scene than you are imagining but it might still be useful to you. Local news report featuring photos The episode in question