MarkC

I'm hearing that the frigate was initially deliberately grounded after the collision, in order to save her, but some enterprising tug skipper decided to tow her off, making things worse. If true, then somebody is probably in the brown and smelly...

Not any more, Alan The old Up line was the only one still in situ south of Whitwell for many years, but all remaining track was lifted in 2012. Some was intended for the Borders line, some was offered to local preservationists, but the rest was simply recovered for recycling. One of the reasons it was lifted was that a fair bit had already been stolen by 'metal fairies', but in truth, although the formation is officially protected, all the track would have to be lifted anyway for remedial work to be carried out on the formation, which has suffered badly in some areas from subsidence and the actions of burrowing animals. The section between the A1(M) bridge and Shincliffe is bad - an area where there was originally a trestle bridge, I believe, which was simply filled in to make an embankment - and in the area of Broomside Junction there is a lot of subsidence too. There's the odd signal post still extant, and a few telegraph poles, but that's about it these days. There's still a stub from Tursdale Junction to just by the old NCD workshops, but that's really where the recovery trains were being loaded at the south end, back in 2012. The points at Tursdale are clipped out of use now. You can see a small amount of track at the north end from Pelaw heading towards Follingsby, but that doesn't go far either. I was at Penshaw in late September; the old junction is a wasteland now. All along the route, trees and bushes are rapidly reclaiming the formation too, even though much of the ballast still remains.

My apologies - I should have been more specific in what I was alluding to. In 2016 there were several occasions where Lewis failed to start to move off the line as quickly as the other cars around him appeared to do. This was commented on by many people at the time. Driver error or something else?

Has it occurred to anyone else that both last season and this, Lewis has had no issues getting away cleanly and promptly at the start, whereas in 2016...

Exactly. It's along the lines of "If you want to finish first, first you have to finish" Points on the board count; points you failed to pick up are gone forever.

It's the Gruiniad - almost as bad as the Cindy...

The tofu-knitters will lap this guff up - the same people who insist that the plastic pollution in the oceans is all from us evil baby-eating scum of the earth seafarers dumping it overboard too...

At the risk of stating the bl***ing obvious, this is now a classic example of why F&F (not the Tossco brand...) is not a good idea unless you are absolutely sure of the trustworthiness of the seller. Is his FB profile still running? If so, get as much detail as possible off it. If he doesn't respond, you might be able to chase via Small Claims. Worth asking PayPal for details too - they can only say no. I fear that njee20 is right though - you're probably screwed

Yes, good point. If you paid by Friends and Family then it muddies the water and you might well lose out. Paying by Goods & Services should mean that a refund is forthcoming though, even if you did pay PayPal by credit card. Hope you get your cash back.

Out of operation until the New Year, according to the A1 Trust's FB page, in order to totally resolve a few items. Sad, but I'm sure the decision wasn't taken lightly.

Indeed. However, a cynic might opine that he's just keeping Mercedes sweet in the hope of getting a seat there before too long...

Regardless of the theory about harder materials being used - and it is almost certain that many <ahem> 'budget' brands will still use the cheapest material possible - it is always good practice to depress the button and hold the ratchet off as you are applying the brake. As was drummed into me from an early age - look after the equipment and it wil look after you.

Totally agree with this. I was always taught to leave the car in gear when parking on a hill, and to have the front wheels turned so that they would come up against the kerb almost immediately if the car did start to roll. I still do this, even today. Many folk disagree, but that's their perogative.

Quite so - and on more than one occasion too, which is why Schumacher's 'legacy' will forever be tainted

Weren't there actually 6 engines? 4 for traction and 2 for ancilleries?

Wow. Just...wow. RB lock out the front row, but it's Danny Ricc on pole. Didn't see that coming. Well done, lad.

Wizard's site seems to be working for me, even via my slow marine satellite link. The wallet is crying - but that's another story...

That picture has caused a bit of a stir amongst a few snowflake groups on the Book of Face

What a deterrent...not

Sadly, as with Hartlepool last week, I'm away this year, so will miss it. If this one is anything like last year's offering, it will be great. Hope itall goes really well. Mark

Ah, but are they cunning linguists?

Not so much a WAFI as a RAFI then - a Radar Assisted F****** Idiot...

Dere's a good reason for that, la! Ringo has a lot to answer for...

My last ship as Cadet was the Table Bay, for the 6 months before she went into the Container Fleets group, as opposed to being run by British & Commonwealth/Cayzer Irvine. She was on the Europe to South Africa trade, and her 2 Masters were the last Masters of the Windsor Castle and the Pendennis Castle. They ran her pretty much like the mail ships - uniform to be worn at all times in Public Rooms, when in Blues then Reefer Jackets, with ALL buttons fastened, for evening meal, and caps were to be worn on the bridge at all times when a Pilot was in attendance... I still have my B&C badge on my cap, which again is only worn, with my dress uniform, at the aforementioned matches, hatches & dispatches...

No major 'shock, horror' headlines though. I suppose because there were no casualties. Well, other than a couple of careers, I suspect...