DavidB-AU

An option could be something based on the Medway Valley line. That doesn't need 8-car EMUs and could justify a small cement/aggregates terminal or paper mill tucked into one of the corners.

Deadly eastern brown snake interrupts Dominic Thiem match at Brisbane International https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-12-30/deadly-brown-snake-dominic-thiem-tennis-brisbane-international/103274956

The No.1 end of the XPT power cars could be fitted with a temporary knuckle coupler for this purpose. But the No.2 end and the trailers had knuckle couplers as standard. The trailers were designed to be loco-hauled if required, although only locos without buffers or buffing plate could couple to them. This never happened in revenue service and only happened on a few occasions for empty stock movements.

Extending the line from Croydon to Georgetown was actually approved by Parliament twice, in 1893 and 1929. Both times it was thwarted by depressions. Georgetown is only 40km from Forsayth so the connection would probably have been made in the 1930s if the second one had gone ahead.

NSW mainly opted for big American saloons/vans in the 1930s. First pic is (I think) a Dodge D8 and a Buick, late 1930s. Second one is probably a c1934 Dodge DR series.

It did not occur to me until this popped up on Youtube that the CPHs are now 100 years old. CPH3 entered service on 17 December 1923. CPH7, also preserved and main line accredited, was built in 1924. Despite being numbered CPH1, the third unit was built in 1926.

I would strongly suggest looking at the construction of the Heart of Georgia layout. https://hogrr.blogspot.com/ Although HO American outline, the construction method is not difficult and it breaks down into 4 easy to transport/store sections. When you consider that a 5x4 layout need 2' of access space around all sides, the actual amount of floor space it requires is more like 9x8'. An 8x4 needs 12x8' of floor space. Using that floor space and putting the access space inside allows a much longer run of main line, gentler curves and realistic operation.

The silly thing is BR could have bought a tried and tested loco off the shelf. The class 60 only happened because BR simply wanted to buy class 59s (which in turn happened because Foster Yeoman was so annoyed with the class 56) but was too scared of union reactions. Even then, EMD and GEC were invited to respond to the class 60 competitive tender and essentially proposed the same thing. EMD proposed building class 59s at Crewe with fabrication subcontracted to GEC. GEC proposed building their own body shell at Crewe with the same engine and traction equipment as the 59 built under licence. The evaluation of the tenders was completely bizarre with Metro-Cammell's vapourware of mix and match components rated higher than GEC and union pressure to find reasons to reject EMD. The end result of going with Brush was initially 250 and ultimately 480 class 66s being built imported anyway. Had the EMD or GEC bid been accepted, the Crewe-based production line could have made the 66s too. Including the 170+ built for elsewhere in Europe.

Maybe some Americans were that backward in the 50s... Hannah Glasse published the first known English language recipe for curry in 1747. The first curry house opened in London in 1810. Pasta was well known in the UK by the late 17th century, made popular by those who had been on the Grand Tour and developed a taste for Italian food. It became something of a craze in the 1770s with the Macaroni subculture which was obsessed with all things Italian, particularly food and fashion, as the height of sophistication. In fact it was even used to insult Americans at the time. British surgeon Richard Shuckburgh wrote some song lyrics about how the colonials were unsophisticated in thinking they could imitate such fashion: "stuck a feather in his hat and called it macaroni".

The size didn't change much from Roman to Victorian times. A collection of lead ingots from the clipper ship Loch Ard wrecked off Victoria, Australia in June 1878. All 872 ingots listed on the ship's manifest were recovered from the wreck in 1969 and about 800 are on display in a replica bond store at the Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum in Warrnambool. They are 2' x 6" x 2" and each weighs 130 lb (59 kg).

Unprocessed lead ore was carried by rail to Aberystwyth harbour for processing in Swansea or Deeside. There were some private standard gauge lines, for example the Van Railway ran from Llanidloes to the Cambrian at Caersws. Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be much freely available information about the Blaen Ceulan mine (which was here). J.B. Balcombe did own the Llywernog mine near Devil's Bridge. Now I'm wondering if he had these built in anticipation of the Manchester and Milford Railway line to Aberystwyth via Devil's Bridge which never went ahead.

Since 2018, ÖBB has ordered 230 new sleeping and couchette cars to expand the Nightjet network and they are hiring some from other countries as a stopgap. They obviously see a future in overnight trains and they are investing serious money into it.

37401 at Nethertown in 2016. Zoomed in on the 4K version.

Because they saw a business opportunity and because they can.

The first night train between Berlin and Paris will depart on Monday evening after a nine-year hiatus, plugging a significant gap in Europe’s increasingly comprehensive overnight rail timetable and giving a boost to travellers looking for a realistic alternative to flying. ÖBB, the Austrian national railway operator, will run the service three times a week to begin with. From autumn next year, the service is expected to run daily. https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2023/dec/09/europes-geography-kind-of-reshaped-as-paris-berlin-night-train-returns

Not forgetting the New Zealand DJ class built by Mitsubishi in Japan. The fuel tank is up in the body.

First one of the season, unusually early!

A relaxing way to spend a few hours.

Sadly accurate given the image used. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Australian_Railways_S_class

I always thought the best person to play Lady Penelope in a live action version would have been Joanna Lumley.

The charter train on Sunday.

Even people born long after decimal currency was introduced know this date! Government advertising is usually quite lame but the jingle is embedded in the national psyche. What a lot of people didn't know until the original film was restored by the National Film and Sound Archive is it was made in colour.