Foulounoux

10 hours ago, C126 said:

 

As a hopelessly romantic old softy I hope this service is a success, but I share the previous posters' doubts, and can attest to the sleep-denying qualities of high-speed running on the Cornish Riviera a few years ago.  A trial run before spending a fortune on the V.S.O.E., it put me off sleeper trains for life, alas.

The VSOE is worth it we did it 25 years ago this month going to Innsbruck and onto Vienna

Our Honeymoon and at that time involved a Seacat crossing out of Folkestone ....not to recommended in a force 7/8

It was a world away from any other sleeper service and we were lucky to be offered a trip later that year to Paris as recompense for the crossing 

Sleeping on the VSOE we had the window open and  woke up in  Zurich  it was surprisingly relaxing 

And it certainly wasn't high speed 

Colin 

It's was never going to be broken by a massive amount imho 

APT v Steam massive technology difference

Today v APT much closer race

I'm supposed to be working on a brexit tracking spreadsheet... I'm tracking something. 

Or you can turn a TBM into a Christmas display

This is one of the Channel Tunnel TBM heads on the roundabout near the French terminal

1 hour ago, Edwin_m said:

No real reason why electric plant should be more expensive to hire than diesel, other than that it hasn't yet attained economies of scale in production.  And going by electric cars I imagine it would be cheaper to operate.  There would be some extra cost to provide the power supply, but in a project like this it may be bringing forward part of the electrical work ultimately needed to supply the station.   

There is a lot of work going on 're electricifying such plant

Remember the hard work is done by hydraulics and use of accumulator means that the power source to the main hydraulic pump doesn't have to be that powerful.

A number of our major OEM clients are heading down the green fuel route quite rapidly.   

So in the original 1977 platform 11 was removed

Then later was brought back into use as demand necessitated its  use

So with the diversion to thameslink i guess demand is now at a point where they can take out of use

My concern is that the new layout is less flexible   Any work that takes a pair of tunnel lines oou will render a number of platforms also oou.  

Simplicity v Flexibility 

Great news. 

I can understand the relief as ICU is a scary place often more so for the family than the patient.  My wife recalls none of the 4 days she was in ICU I recall every bit of it.

As the OP amazing how quickly the 4 years have gone and how the project had to adapt to the events of the past 2

Seeing the pictures of thev velo rail i would thoroughly recommend the Pere Noel (and other specials) trains they run.  And after the events of the past year they will need the support 

Like others not sure when we will get to the charente 

https://www.cf-charentelimousine.fr/

Vivarails honesty on various social media platforms in taking responsibility for the issue is to be applauded

Their social media person was very busy yesterday on Twitter not only on their own stream but also deflecting criticism from  those blaming SWR 

So checking my notes

Politicians answer it depends on what fluid is used

Phosphate ester based hydraulic fluids are used in aerospace applications...because they are non flammable e.g. skydrol 

But downside is they are rather nasty so are not used elsewhere

Water based hydraulic fluids are the next step down

Mineral oil hydraulic fluids are the most flammable 

So unless we know what the system used difficult to give a definitive answer 

On 23/04/2021 at 10:11, iands said:

Looks to be a quite an intense fire (to my "non-expert" eyes at least). As well as the engine fuel, quite a lot of hydraulic fluid onboard as well I imagine. Also, I assume that hydraulic fluid is as flammable as diesel/petrol once ignited, although I, thankfully, have no personal experience of this. Hope crew okay. As Trainshed Terry says, probably write off. 

I will check and let you know re hydraulic fluid flammabity

My job is warranty manager for what will soon be the global no 1 or 2  hydraulics manufacturer 

Jouef Playcraft TEE set with  the wonderful casse-nez express loco and TEE coaches

It had directional lighting 

By 630am dad had been instructed by mum to take the transformer away until a more reasonable hour.

Only a circle of track but we played with it for hours on end 

Later a Hornby Jinty set...still have the loco and wagons

Hertford East had the middle line and a very gradual sort of minories approach

So prototype exists

So my thoughts

This is an opportunity

Government can help in a number of ways

Airline support attach conditions similar to how the French government have that all flights under X time be switched to rail

Eurostar support in exchange for a stake. It has been suggested that the government take sets of trains as collateral and offer them to open access operators on routes other than London Paris Brussels (giving access to those routes would damage Eurostar further). Eg London Cologne/Frankfurt

Ok so they will not be competitive on time but might be on price

We should use this as a chance to switch mode from air to rail

1 hour ago, Dungrange said:

 

Does anyone know whether Roco produce templates for these in the way that Peco do?  The website (https://www.roco.cc/en/product/22677-0-0-0-0-0-0-005002003-0/products.html) states that the radius of main track and branch track 826.4 mm (R9), arc angle 30°.  However, the BWI9/10 description would imply that whilst the inner curve may be 826.4 mm, the outer radius may be R10, which seems to be 888 mm (https://www.roco.cc/en/product/22666-0-0-0-0-0-0-005002004-0/products.html).  I'm wondering which is correct?

 

One thing I note is that the check rails seem quite short (ie they don't look as though they extend very far beyond the tip of the common crossing).

 

I'm wondering how easy it would be to combine these to create a curved scissors crossing - I really want one at the entrance to my fiddle yard and don't relish the prospect of hand building one.

Hi

Some (one?) of the French Model Railway magazines often had a pull out section with a manufacturer point work template including Peco and Roco

I can't remember if its RMF or Loco Revue as my recent copies are sans supplement

Colin

One note of caution

After 9-11 all the talk was we will never want need or build skyscrapers again

5 years later and guess what more than ever

What we may see as possible may not be as game changing as we expect

I'll wait for 5 years before drawing any firm conclusion

So from the Reversing Beeching story

Iow proposal

The bid, submitted by the Isle of Wight Council and sponsored by Island MP Bob Seely, proposes two potential schemes:

extension of the existing Island Line service (Ryde-Shanklin) south of Shanklin to reach Ventnor, calling at Wroxall;

integration with, and extension of, the existing Isle of Wight Steam Railway route to provide passenger services through Smallbrook from Ryde to Newport.

Deleted sorry wrong thread

Not according to recent press

https://www.francebleu.fr/infos/transports/ligne-ter-limoges-angouleme-quatre-annees-d-etudes-en-prevision-1581528774

Studies to be made seems that HS2 might be built faster :-0

20 hours ago, johnofwessex said:

 

In such cases, dial 999, ask for The Police & suggest that they bring The Designated Social Worker  (Man in White Coat)

France is better gendarmes arrive with side arms 

Some people though will deny its their fault even when it's blatantly obvious 

Coming home from foulounoux a couple of years ago we reached the toll booth the A28having just overtaken a Range Rover with roof box towing a caravan 

Three things were pertinent 

First we have a Liber-t tag to avoid having to stop at tolls

Second the height limit on the liber-t lanes is typically between 1.85m and 2.00m and is well signed

Third there is protective height barrier before the barrier

We of course passed through without incident 

Then in my rear view mirror I saw that Matey had changed lanes and followed us.......

He didn't exit :-0

We stopped at the services that are 2km after the toll returning to the car and our freind was just pulling in minus the front of his caravan and a scalped roof box

He then drives over to us and starts having a go as to how this was our fault and we should exchange details as he wanted to claim against us for the incident

The Sanef service team who were following him after apparently unlocking barrier to allow him to be released the were as perplexed as us and had to threaten to call the gendarmes before he calmed down

3 hours ago, The Stationmaster said:

I doubt if Boris has the faintest idea.  Far more worrying is whether or not the promoters of this plan know

 

Reminds me of some of the dafter suggested schemes in the contest to design and build the Channel Tunnel.  Apart from the downright lunatic idea of running trains and motor vehicles in the same tunnel - at the same time  - the biggest laugh of all came from the one that proposed the two railway running tunnels would thread under/over each other at about the mid point to convert from left hand running on the English side to right hand running on the French side.  Needless to say with such a brilliant example of careful research by its promoters and planners that one was one of the first to be thrown out.

Which of of course they do on the French side as whilst the loops on the uk side are clock wise on the Calais side they are anti-clockwise 

presumably this is to accommodate the road layout either side 

and slightly unfair to question if boris understands about the gauge issue given the proposal is a road bridge 

On 29 January 2020 at 19:02, ejgray52 said:

New to this thread, but saw Ryde to Yarmouth in 20 mins... I live 4 miles west of Newport and even without the current 'road improvements' it's 30 minutes to Ryde on average. Would that be back in 1971?

How we long for those days :-)

Maybe I was lucky 

The service may get worse before it improves

when we were there for new year there was talk of the replacement bus service being cut as well missing out most of the stops.  Needless to say not going down well with the locals