Bon Accord

I'm not sure there is a flaw, as those responsible for instigating the state run bid in the first place will be the same people who decide upon which is chosen. To achieve that and to ensure the legal people can't cry foul, you merely make the tender requirements so restrictive that no private enterprise could possibly win in the first place - the same basic thing happened as recently as last year with the ferries tender.

They were apparently very eager to get that in, lest the RAF claim the first aircraft landing onboard. She's also apparently to do a PHOTEX with TIDESPRING soon.

I think you misunderstand the highlighted quote, there is no "ownership" in the commercial or personal sense involved at all. Calmac is merely a company which operates in a semi-commercial fashion whose sole shareholder is Holyrood (i.e. the people), as with many state owned enterprises now and in the past.

Latest from the papers today: http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/15384908.End_of_the_line_for_Scotrail__SNP_plans_radical_shake_up_of_Scottish_railways/ Not full scale nationalisation, as Holyrood doesn't have the power to do that, but the nearest thing to it possible within the current framework: a Calmac style operation owned/operated by the Scottish Government.

They were very nearly right, because we were very, very lucky. We don't have the men, the ships or the aircraft these days - it's that simple. We know that and they know that. Of course UK military policy towards the FI post 1982 readily accepts that state of affairs such that the military focus, presence and posture there is based on the principle of "if we'd don't lose them again in the first instance then the awkward question of recapture need never arise". As far as I'm aware, it is still the case that if the situation requires CBFSAI to press the panic button, then an additional RAF squadron and an infantry battalion can be flown in from the UK within 24 hours or so to augment the duty/permanent ground and aerial forces. Ironically all this talk about flag waving with regards to the FI is somewhat irrelevant because as things stand they have nothing to fear militarily from Argentina; if we think we've had a military decline, theirs has been nothing short of a freefall.

The carriers would be of no value in a Falklands type scenario. This is simply because even if both of them could be scrambled into service and both had full allocations of F35 (no chance of that for perhaps another 10-20 years), the RN/MN fleet required to support and sustain any large overseas military operation of a Falkland scale does not exist, nor has it existed for the best part of 30 years. On top of that, after continuous cutbacks over the past 25 years the physical manpower numbers amongst the RN, Marines and Army no longer exists to be able to contemplate such an operation or it's aftermath. As for the suggestions made in certain segments of the press that we would ever contemplate a serious military operation against the Spanish over Gibraltar, the fact that reasonable and sensible people believe that would or could ever occur astonishes me. Trident is pointless, principally because it doesn't deter anyone (and it's questionable if it ever has) for a whole multitude of reasons, it's existence purely means we keep a seat on the security council and little more. Whether that still has value is also questionable. Any nuclear war that may occur in the future shall occur - or not - regardless of whether or not this small island possesses (a very small amount of) nuclear weapons - we are not major players in the nuclear arena and haven't been for a half century, to the extent that in both strategic and physical terms we are damn near an irrelevance. The UK's big problem in living memory has been our total inability to accept that we have been a continually declining power since 1918 - that decline is going to continue, regardless of how many "big ticket" military items we procure. Quite simply we do not have the money to provide or support the military capability dreamed of here and elsewhere, and there is absolutely no chance of that changing. Hence we need a collective dose of realism to take stock of our place in the world and adjust our spending priorities accordingly.

The RN/RFA has faced a shortage of CIWS for years, such that as soon as a ship goes into layup/reserve it's normally the first thing that's robbed - this is all down to budget of course. All this in stark contrast to the US where you'll find most of their reserve fleet warships (which will probably never sail again and number the many dozens) still have theirs fitted, rusting away. The same can be said about anti-ship capability, all the type 45 had in that area was the main gun, as they were "fitted for, but not with" Harpoon anti ship missiles. Once the T22 batch 3 were decommissioned, their Harpoon launchers were cannibalised and are at last being fitted to 4 out of the 6 type 45 destroyers. After the gaping AAW/close in protection shortcomings shown up during the Falklands, that in this day and age any of our very small fleet of large RN/RFA units go to sea without CIWS is nothing short of scandalous. What makes it worse is that the money to pay for this to be put right on our existing fleet (and which we're constantly told isn't available) will cost less than the partial loyalty of a couple of DUP MPs.

CIWS is of course last gasp/last line of defence along with lines of matelots out on deck armed with SA80s trying to hit incoming missiles. At the moment we don't normally have a spare 23/45 available outwith normal commitments, so unless those commitments change or we add more hulls (neither of which are likely at least in the short term) then from I what hear it'll just be a single RN escort (probably T45) with some "help from our friends". That being something I'd first heard mooted as long ago as 2006, and we had more ships then. Personally, I tend to believe that unless we invest in enough ships so that we can at least mount and adequately protect a carrier/amphibious group without slashing all other activities to the bone then to me the QE class are really just an expensive white elephant whose main purpose in life is political willy waving.

I believe 3 weeks of sea trials in the North Sea (basic machinery trials etc), then back to Rosyth for a 2 week drydocking and paintjob, then out again for a further 3 months of trials (machinery, combat systems etc).

A lot of the ex RN men I know wanted at least one of these ships to be named EAGLE, which is something of a thoroughbred carrier name and incidentally sister to the Ark which appeared in the TV series (plus she was the much better ship of the two). ARK ROYAL is a well known name, but in reality carried by two ships in recent times which did very little operationally in contrast to their contemporaries. HERMES was another name much missed.

An AC electric made it to Inverness circa 1985 for an open day.

Appearances sake; an engine with a lit fire and making even light steam is a much different visual and sensual spectacle for the punters than a cold engine with some paraffin soaked rags in the smokebox.

The "national collection" is I believe by definition everything to do with the NRM. There are of course locomotives that are officially preserved and those that are in the national collection.

Ditto, I've always thought the Brits would have been low hanging fruit for some double chimney experimentation and am surprised it wasn't attempted.

East platform at Kyle.

It's a hungry beast alright, although I didn't think it as bad as the Pacific. I did two Poznan runs in one day on that thing and ended up firing on the way back to Wolsztyn on the second run and it damn near finished me. Between the volume of coal shifted and the near two-step between tender and firebox door it needs some amount of stamina.

Have they got rid of remnants of the mechanical stoker on the Pt yet? First time I was on it I kept clattering the top of the thing with the shovel when firing - cost me a lot of beer!

What he means is that compared to the UK version, Poland is much more involved and you get to do a LOT more for a lot longer and at much higher speeds. During my first trip out there my first turn was an 0530 departure from Wolsztyn in the dark. Howard (the main man there) took me to the loco, introduced me to the crew (who spoke basic English but not much more) sat me in the Drivers seat and basically pointed out the items of interest, gauges etc followed by "have fun!". I sat there for a moment or two taking it all in right until the quiet was broken by the Polish driver shouting "Odjaz" across the cab at me. "Sorry?" (loudly and more forcefully) "GO, GO!". "Are you sure?" "GO, GO, odjaz, odjaz!" (pointing at the regulator even more excitedly) I gave the big red lever a heave and off we went, that was it - no induction, no instruction etc, just get on with it and very much learn on the job. The crew will keep an eye out for signals etc and will tell you when to shut off steam if you don't know the road, however the rest of it is up to you. The more often you go and the better the crews know you the more you get to do, e.g. running round/coupling up etc which can be somewhat nerve wracking because the Poles don't wait until you're buffered up before going in between, they still walk in front of the engine and drop the coupling on as you clatter into the coach. Also, you work to a strict timetable and the Polish crews receive bonus payments for being on time, therefore being late is severely frowned upon and invariably results in much spirited running to make up time. Once you've visited a few times on the "branch" passenger service and have a bit of experience, you can then book the more long distance trains which are much heavier and usually involve a lot more high speed main line running, however the days can be long. The last time I was there I did the Blues Express (jazz festival) excursion which involved a 400 mile round trip and over 30 hours on the footplate in one hit save for a couple of hours in the middle snoozing in an empty compartment. The largest locomotives I've driven/fired there are a PT47 2-8-2 as well as Poland's only surviving pacific, with the smallest being a handful of tank engines as well as some Polish narrow gauge steam - the latter is a whole different adventure entirely! I've posted a few photos etc of some of my visits on the "Magic of Poland" thread here: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/79855-the-magic-of-poland/page-5

Indeed. The only Polish Driver in Wolsztyn who used to get very upset if he had to do the firing for you (the infamous "Bum") has now retired!

John, Don't misunderstand me. My personal opinion is that it should never have left NRM ownership or York/Shildon in the first place.

That locomotive has been in near constant use for nearly a century and was heavily rebuilt during it's working life. From what I've read, restoration to running order of the T3 would probably mean renewing damn near all of it, which to me seems like wanton vandalism inflicted on a locomotive that is otherwise intact and has been untouched in 70 years. I say leave it be, if the Swanage (or anyone else) want a working T3 then build a real replica, rather than doing it by default with the current machine. N.B. As I recall the only substantial parts from pre-overhaul of Welsh Pony will be the wheel centres, everything else will be new.

Remind us again how much of the restored Welsh Pony will be the same as the engine which went into the works?

An abiding memory is of him ascending the mast at HMS GANGES. No risk assessments, no PPE, no harness, no net etc, just grim determination and strength! Not only that but he was doing something that was traditionally the prerogative of young teenage lads attending the shore establishment there. He did something similar when he climbed Nelson's Column some years later. You'll never, ever see a TV presenter do this again: