Bon Accord

That is assuming they didn't tool for the different windows in the first place, rather than it being a new endeavour specific to this batch.

Celebrating with a kebab?

No doubt primed for more high end apartment blocks etc. I'm sure it was only about 20 years ago that Pasir Panjang was still the old Keppel cargo wharves complete with the pre war warehouses and to the East the drydocks and shipyard. Sadly long gone are the days for there to always be a "Far East Bay" to be seen, with the lads enjoying a short trip upto Orchard for some presents for her indoors, thence Clarke Quay or Boat Quay for a feed and a drink. Back in BP days the usual haunts were Peoples Park or the Caveman Bar. The latter was owned by BP's preferred ship swindler in Singapore, a fellow by the name of Jimmy Goh. Arthur Daley and Del Trotter had nothing on that bloke, but immensely likeable with it of course; he could get you absolutely anything. After one heated argument due to him supplying lengths of bamboo in place of the ordered telescopic paint roller handles, I flippantly asked him for a case of Irn Bru and he rolled up to the ship a couple of days later (we were in Bukom) with two cases. Charged me the earth but it was worth it! Do you remember that hardback book which was some kind of international ship stores catalogue and which was universally used by agents and chandlers everywhere? I forget the name of it. Jimmy got me out of some hot water once when I missed a flight home after a merry evening with my shipmates - celebrating the end of another long trip - down Orchard Road. Extra night booked in the Orchard Hotel, excuses made to HQ and tickets rebooked via his contact at Changi before I even woke. His sidekick - a bloke called Yogi - collected me in person the following evening to make sure I caught the flight. Our usual agents were always Jardine Matheson, but they all worked in concert of course. Happy days and a time now long gone. It's only when you become an older git yourself that you begin to appreciate just why the old duffers you encountered as a youngster used to wax lyrical about times past. Particularly where one mention or a picture awakens so many daft memories.

Is that a Shark in the background?

My point was rather that he was very much the right man in the right job.

An very good friend of mine went to the Exploration/Production arm of a household name UK oil company upon gaining his MEng and stayed there, company man and all that as was his father before in the same outfit, albeit different branch. My friend's specialisation was/is Rotating Machinery, e.g. everything from Gas Turbines to pumps and he was based in the office ashore as the engineering manager responsible for a few platforms. However in the years just before the 2015 crash when production was everything and they were making money hand over fist, there was all manner of seriously dodgy things being done and shortcuts being made just to keep production going, this in the North Sea. For those final few years he actually kept a typed up resignation letter in his desk drawer at all times - just needing to be signed and dated - for when the day came when they wanted him to really throw away his professional scruples to sign something off as being fit and he finally said "enough". He was generally always able to talk his colleagues and those above out of doing something that would push him to that line. That automatically made him "not a team player". As you'll know you could lay on the oil industry BS with a trowel at that time, it was so thick. I don't know how many times I told him to get out of there - as did others - but he stuck it out as he'd never been anywhere else, e.g. the oil industry version of Stockholm Syndrome. Post price crash there was suddenly little money coming in but with an enormous maintenance backlog and no money set aside from the good days to pay for it. At that point things started going really downhill. Aside from questionable operational decisions, breakdowns etc changed the job into a 7 day a week affair with silly hours and people were simply expected to get on with it or leave. The BS was still so thick waders were required with everyone being constantly told that things were amazing, what a great place to work etc. Cue a round of redundancies and he knew his card would be marked as he was one of those who wasn't afraid to speak up when the need arose. Right enough he got his papers - over a years pay - and I doubt I've seen him happier. A real company man through and through, who for years always went the extra mile out of company loyalty, yet he was destroyed by the toxic working environment so prevalent today. Still, he's happy; started his own little company and does consultant/ad hoc work now for various firms, works when he wants and of course is happy to do extra hours when the need arises; difference these days is that he simply sends them the bill afterwards. His hobby is also engineering, in his case road steam; he owns two traction engines.

As the decades have rolled on I've noticed that with a few of my employers - particularly in the more "corporate culture" orientated outfits - that a real "us and them" has developed between head office and pretty much everyone else despite the best efforts of the propogandists, so both sides do tend to have mostly like minded people around them. I do however see a lot more of the newer/younger mob buying into it more than we do, although that usually evaporates rapidly once they've had their fingers burnt the first time. I am however in the extremely lucky position of being senior enough to not have to put up with their nonsense and if I'd truly had enough I'd just go elsewhere. Like yourself, as it is I do find my job still interesting for the most part, that is the positives still outweigh the negatives, although the gap seems to narrow as every year passes. Plus as long as they keep chucking a huge wedge into my pension pot every month I'll put up with it...

An individuals view of the corporate world is usually directly related to just how many times they've been "round the block" which in turn affects just how much they buy into their employers corporate propoganda. It's far from unknown for modern private companies to act in just the way Johnster suggests; I know some who've been through it in recent years (and escaped it).

But exactly the experience of several friends of mine, particularly the higher up the food chain you go. The oil industry is dreadful for it, particularly for the operational people who work in the head offices. Overtime and compensatory leave are rare birds these days and getting ever rarer.

A BG is a rather obvious omission too, particularly seeing as it was included in the previous generation. The BGs and the Thompson Buffet cars were the longest lived of them all.

On the subject of passenger ship troubles, today marks 55 years since the loss of WAHINE in Wellington harbour, probably the most significant event in NZ maritime history in living memory. A modern ship - only two years old - complying with or exceeding the very latest regulations of the time and with a hugely experienced and able crew, yet she foundered only a couple of hundred yards from the Wellington shore in Hurricane force winds and with the loss of 53 lives. She ripped her bottom out on Barrett Reef and then slowly capsized, rendering half of her lifeboats unusable. This site has a number of pictures of the ship and her sinking: https://www.museumswellington.org.nz/tev-wahine-2/?fbclid=IwAR3SB9lKStMERYhasqx1zfyHbfA9aHeQukJ7EevuqJ1AJ-7rAlkVR_xT-HA Quite a number of passengers had their cameras with them and took pictures onboard prior to and during her abandonment (middle of the page), whilst the press were present when the survivors came ashore. It's an excellent historical record of a tragic event.

What saved the day with Costa Concordia was that she rested on a ledge in a shallow bay for some time before capsizing, that only happening after she fortuitously drifted inshore (it wasn't intended, nor controlled). She grounded about an hour and a half after the initial grounding with a constantly increasing list as she continued to flood. Due to the chaotic abandonment it took nearly 5 hours to get everyone ashore despite the close proximity of land and the participation of shore based rescue services. Most consider that had she drifted offshore into deeper water, the rate of capsize would have been more rapid with likely severe loss of life. They were exceptionally lucky to have only had 33 fatalities. As per the SOLAS regulations every passenger vessel is supposed to be capable of being safely abandoned - with a full complement of passengers and crew - within 30 minutes and with every person onboard checked and counted. To put that into context, here is a list of the more recent passenger ship incidents/abandonments: 2007: Explorer, 154 passengers and crew, no fatalities, 3 hours to abandonship. 2010: Lisco Gloria, 235 passengers and crew, no fatalities, 90 minutes to abandonship. 2012: Costa Concordia, 4252 passengers and crew, 33 fatalities, 5 hours to abandonship. 2014: Norman Atlantic, 478 passengers and crew, 20 fatalities, a full day to abandonship.

I'm afraid I'm not at "home" at the moment so don't have a Bachmann Mk1 to hand. These are the first new generation Thompson coaches I've bought and I'm impressed with the finish and detail, decent weight as well. Enclosed are a couple of snaps of the SK and CK from my half dozen. I ordered mine from Peter's Spares.

Both are E1435E. The box labels are correctly marked 34-387/34-387A, therefore no fault of the shop in that sense, but obviously either a packing or manufacturing error at Bachmann's end.

Received my set of 6 today. Both 34-387 and 34-387A have the same running number rather than different as advertised. No drama to me, but I wonder if anyone else has found this?

Aren't they the wrong way around? The nearside lamp looks to be displaying a red aspect.

That's not a problem that's specific to the railway. It was only after I had to work with the great British public that I rapidly began to realise that a huge number of them are intrinsically selfish, ignorant and quite frankly thick. You do see the occasional glimmer of light and humanity, but it rarely lasts long before the next oxygen thief arrives on scene.

The decades may pass but that pay off day feeling is unchanged as it was when I was a first tripper. Although they're now far more sober affairs than in times past!

I've seen pictures taken in the yard itself of the ship on her side. Petrel has an interesting hull form with a very rounded bilge and has little full body underwater, almost fisbellied/yacht like where the bulk of the vessel is supported on the keel with little scope for any bilge blocks of any number, if at all. Hull shores were in use but there were 60mph gusts in Leith yesterday and the orientation of the dock would have put that wind right on the port beam. High windage vessel too: a lot of top hamper. Going by the paintwork and hull she can't have been too far away from flooding up as everything looks immaculate. It looks as if it had been a deeper dock or a floating dock then the vessel would may not only have been more sheltered from the wind but the side shores could have been placed higher. A very unusual and unfortunte accident and having done a lot of dockings with Dales Marine I've always found their Dockmasters etc to be first rate.

Not forgetting the other alternative considering the current state of the place: "Strong winds catamaran tries to berth at Ardrossan, nudges berth and pier wall collapses into harbour..."

When Pentalina did trials there a few years back the Master in question was horrified at the condition and layout of Ardrossan and stated unequivocally that he wouldn't be taking her in there with a windspeed of more than 20 knots from any direction. Can't blame him really as it's a desperate place and being a stern loader she'd have to enter the harbour, stop, turn through 90 degrees and then back into the berth. Catmarans can be quite flighty at low speeds and are lightly built, so the usual "controlled collision" carried out by the heavier built monohulls in poor weather isn't an option.

The whinging has already started in earnest: "It's not got a cafe onboard" "I'll have to reverse park my car etc as it only has one ramp" "There's no quiet lounge" "The accommodation is very basic" "It's outrageous that Orkney is going to be stuck with a smaller vessel whilst Calmac gets our new big one" Etc. They haven't even figured out what ports it'll actually fit at yet and what modifications will be required for operation; that's still to come. Calmac have already said that port turnaround times will have to be increased as she's stern load/discharge only. On the flip side it should make for an entertaining summer: a lot of Calmac staff are keen to see such a vessel in use, particularly on the poor days (she doesn't have any stabilisers).

It all depends on what standard the ships are built to and equipped/maintained for. A dispensation is possible for some vessels to reposition between ports for things like drydocking, but this requires a safety case to be submitted to MCA and passengers are generally prohibited from being onboard. The newest ferry on the Solent is "Victoria of Wight" and she had to be towed from the builders yard in Turkey to the UK as she's not certificated to operate in open waters, even on a delivery voyage. The Humber is likely classed as internal waters much the same as the Solent so it'd just be a matter of getting the Freshwater there . The greatest obstacle to many of these vessels operating outwith their home waters is usually their construction i.e. are they double hulled and can meet the relevant stability criteria both with regard to normal operation and damage stability (i.e. basically how much can they absorb). Each coastal area of the UK is categorised by MCA and this generally relates to the prevailing weather conditions in that locality (i.e. how exposed) and the proximity to a port of refuge. With regard to ferries, one of the more important criteria is significant wave height encountered in the area. An example of categorisation is that the Firth of Clyde/River Clyde is split into four distinct categorised areas encompassing the upper river, lower river, upper and lower firth. Another aspect of categorisation of waters is the life saving appliances required to be fitted. For example those operating in inshore waters operate under a more relaxed regime compared to those in open waters. As an example you can have two vessels that are certificated to carry the same number of passengers but one operates in a river like the Upper Thames or Clyde and the other running from Dover to Calais. The former vessel may only be required to have lifejackets for all and a mixture of buoyant aids (buoyant seats etc) and some liferafts plus rudimentary radio equipment. Those in open waters are required to carry lifejackets for all, liferafts/lifeboats for all (plus 25% additional capacity - jjb will know these regs better than me) usually a Marine Evacuation System and be fitted with two rescue boats of which one has to be a fast rescue craft, plus various additional toys e.g. radio/satellite emergency beacons etc. In terms of UK passenger vessels there were six basic classes plus some other subclasses: Class 1: Foreign going passenger vessels on voyage of (IIRC) more than three days duration. Class 2: Foreign going passenger vessels on shorter voyages, e.g. ferries to Europe. Class 2A: Seagoing passenger vessels which operate in domestic waters, e.g. all around the coast. Class 3 to 6: Domestic passenger vessels operating within categorised areas. Certain vessels could hold class 3, 4, 5 and 6 certification but with certain restrictions on their operation. For example the Paddle Steamer Waverley can carry nearly 1000 passengers (class 5 or 6, I can't remember) in the Upper River Clyde but when operating in the more exposed lower firth that was reduced to something like 400 passengers (class 3). She also has restrictions on her operation, e.g. designated operating areas, maximum speed permitted, weather/wave height restrictions, maximum distance permitted from a port of refuge etc. Some of these restrictions have been in force for many decades, others are much more recent as regulations have evolved whilst still being applied to a very old ship, particularly since she's not easy to modify to a point to remove those restrictions. Calmac and Northlink (Mainland-Orkney/Shetland ferries) vessels are Class 2A and generally have a restriction of "operating on the North and West Coast of Scotland only". Some Calmac vessels have a restriction on length of voyage, for example one ship has the sole restriction of "Not to be used on voyages of more than 10 hours duration". Cruise ships are Class 1 passengerships and as well as an additional range of safety regulations if they carry more than 150 people they must carry a Doctor onboard; in comparison there are quite a few ferries running around Europe with many times that number (1000 plus in some cases) and they aren't required to carry any medical staff because of the short duration of the voyage. It's all a bit of a minefield really, particularly when you have vessels of varying age in the mix plus different flag states all of whom have a different take on SOLAS. What a vessel can and can't do ultimately comes down to how much money the owner is willing to spend at build and beyond.

Well it is Saint Patricks day, so perhaps the GWR version.

Political red tape apparently - this was a news story here about a month ago. As the yard is owned by the Scottish Government the accounts have to be scrutinised and passed by the Scottish Parliament first, this isn't scheduled to happen until next week (I think) as per the parliamentary timetable, whereupon they'll be filed with companies house by the end of the month.