cunningduck

17 minutes ago, rab said:

I know I'm going to get flack for this, and I'm sure others who are

more in the know will come up with valid counter arguments, but

it seems to me that the flexibility of modes of transport reduces

as the number of people carried per unit increases.

 

if a car breaks down, another one can be borrowed or hired and

with a few minutes of becoming familiar with the new vehicle,

the driver can continue their journey.

 

if a bus or coach breaks down, it may take a bit longer to obtain

a replacement, but provided it is the same class of vehicle, the

journey can be continued by the original driver.

 

I'm not very informed with how the airline industry works, but

I guess a few more restrictions start to come in; pilots only trained

on certain types of aircraft, certain aircraft not able to land at

certain airports due to runway length etc.

 

When we come to railways, the restrictions become worse.

Drivers, and other crew have to be trained up on each type of train.

They have to have refresher training if they haven't been on that type

after a certain period. (This may of course apply to aircraft too).

Drivers have to be familiar with routes, and again need regular

route refresher training.

Trains are restricted to certain routes for all sorts of reasons.

 

Tin hat on, searching for a deep trench

Is this why trains (and those damned flying machines) are so much safer than road transport?

Well done for the weight loss Jim!

What are the locker doors/clam shell doors on the Mk1 that is marshalled next to the loco? They look like some kind of access/unloading idea?

16 hours ago, caradoc said:

 

One of the many roles of NR Controls is arranging the management of pollution incidents, ie sending staff to site, arranging specialist clean-up if required, and advising the relevant environmental authority (in our case in Scotland, SEPA) and if necessary facilitating their attendance. I have to say that by far the majority of such incidents involved hydraulic fluid from OTMs..... We always made sure to advise them when the fluid was bio-degradable, although I do recall one of their officials not being particularly impressed by that !

 

Don’t tell them you’ve used washing up liquid to disperse the oil either, SEPA were never too pleased with that!!

10 hours ago, Engineer said:

Today, HS2 work site north of West Hyde, near Rickmansworth.  View from footpath, looking roughly north.  Several road and footpath closures in the area.

Is this what you can see from the m25?

13 hours ago, Joe MCMLXI said:

Yes, that's the sort of train I saw, fascinating.... 

Very similar to train shown at 11min .35s on Ianmacc's video above. So it was a Cl90 in the middle. 

Thanks for sharing your knowledge 

 

I only stopped to eat my sandwich on way home, when it crept past, didn't get time to phone camera it.... Shame. 

Cheers

Joe

It came north on the ECML from Grantham, having come from Nottingham. This is it just south of Newark. 

3 hours ago, Jeff Smith said:

Large companies like Boeing are usually made up of several divisions, ie Boeing Commercial, Boeing Military, etc. and can be separated and sold off or disolved.  Boeing Military is obviously critical to the US defence industry and is, I understand, doing well.

They are intrinsically linked though, the new anti-Submarine planes the RAF has procured to do Navy work are built on 737 airframes, so there would be a significant effect on the military company of the civilian company ceasing to exist.  

20 hours ago, MarkC said:

My present office - with yours truly on the bridge wing, I see, watching the Rescue Boat being exercised! Margate Roads today. A simple semi-pressurised, -48 Deg.C minimum cargo temperature  LPG carrier, for a change.

 

We're heading off to Sines, Portugal, tomorrow (29th), so will be at sea for New Year's Eve. We will, all being well, be ringing out the Old & ringing in the New in the traditional manner - 8 bells rung by the oldest person on board (ahem...), then 8 bells rung by the youngest member of the ship's company - my Engineer Cadet.

 

Mark

Is that some damage to your bulbous bow? Or just paintwork?

On 04/12/2020 at 00:53, Ozexpatriate said:

It was the first. Clearly design of the Nimitz Class learned from mistakes made on Big E.

Rumour has it that the number of reactors was because Rickover refused to allow a carrier specific (bigger) reactor to be designed. 

Llangennech diesel train catches fire after derailing https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-west-wales-53927802

Tyne and Wear metro cars!

6 hours ago, kevinlms said:

The driver ought to have been suspicious upon finding others in the cab on his arrival. As a minimum asked if they had done anything while in possession of the loco, but still ought to have checked for himself.

I think that’s very easy to say after the event, but maintaining a strong safety culture where employees question everything to guarantee safety is much harder. 

2 hours ago, Railfreight1998 said:

, unlike the long mooted supermarket container flow for DRS. 

Is there enough populace between Thurso and Wick to justify a train? I’m not a supermarket logistician but can’t imagine there being much more than 2 lorries per town per day?

On 10/06/2020 at 03:58, Siggie in the east said:

In the absence of @beast666065Q42 745104 stanstead Express test train, Liv St - Crown Point with 3 755s in the background forming the 5T01, 5D66 and 2E82.

 

Thanks 

Interesting to see a light under the cab steps, presumably to make driver disembarkation safer away from platforms? Do any other new units have these too?

5 hours ago, spikey said:

OK ... seeing as how we're onto scrambled eggs, allow me to bring up (so to speak) NAAFI scrambled eggs - a mysterious pale yellow substance of variable density and consistency accompanied by a variable amount of liquid of uncertain origin, the whole always served at a  range of temperatures ranging from ambient to never more than warm.

 

I think the Navy now serves those after 8 weeks at sea 

Radio 4 recently featured an interview with a former colleague (Grey Funnel Line) who has transferred to the merchant fleet and is also stuck onboard as a trainee. 
 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000hq2s

1 minute ago, MJI said:

 

A 73 on a branch somewhere

Do 92s count?

6 hours ago, Chris hndrsn said:

 They apparently didn’t factor in everyone using them at watch changeovers

How dare those pesky carrier queens all Let go at the same!

Rannoch Moor and the A82 was particularly dicey yesterday, so I dare say it was snow related!

14 hours ago, big jim said:

When I was with fastline there was a plan to move some coal out of the power station as it was either unsuitable for the plant or there was too much in store.

 

iirc it was due to leave to be used at ratcliffe, we were going to bring loaded trains in then refill them using a digger/grab and then top and tail them out, at the time fastline had just laid their 56s up so I suggested we use those to bank the trains up 

 

it’s a heck of a climb from the bottom of the valley to the top of the line at Madeley Jn, the first bit is the killer as you have the 5mph across the bridge to get over before you can hit the heady heights of 20mph for the rest of the branch 

 

it’s the one line I really miss going along, hopefully if stuff is bought out by train GBRf may be involved and I may get down there again! 

When rowing on the river Severn you could always hear a departing train most of the way up the valley!

6 minutes ago, Mike Storey said:

 

Thin ice, mate, very thin ice.

As thin as this? (From Wikipedia)

8 hours ago, ianwales said:

Any idea what the ship ahead of QE is please?

 

Ian

It’s a type 45, although I’m not sure which one. 

Does the level access include an extendable ramp/step similar to a Pendolino?

1 minute ago, Coryton said:

 

What we need is one of these:

 

 

Might be some loading gauge issues though.

I’ve died and gone to a Lycra clad heaven...

2 minutes ago, Mallard60022 said:

Is there a reason for that? I know that there used to be a 'dedicated train' (or trains?) for bikes on the Brighton line after the London to Brighton bike ride. Probably a VEP?

I'm sure that back in the 60s there were some SR vehicles that were used as bike vans for special trains. 

Bikes and trains don't really mix under most circumstances, I accept that, however the lack of available space for bikes and buggies on long distance 800s is bloody poor planning but then I suspect there are plenty of other things that were not thought out well. I await the first victim of 'Blind Rage'!

P

 

They’re not in service yet and but are intended for Glasgow - Fort William trains as a cycle/large luggage/buffet coach. 

Given the trouble that Serco are having introducing this mk5 stock I think it will be interesting to see if TPX have similar issues. Whilst TPX will only be running fixed formations, and with a less complex interior, might we see these problems (which appear to be related to the running gear, i.e. not showers and beds) recur? 

If the problems dont recur, it’s pretty damning for the Scottish Govt/Serco to have made a mess of introducing something that another company will have managed well?