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Post by ducatisti on Jan 29, 2021 17:31:21 GMT
I think the Thameslink shows the problem - unbroken straight lines imply direct/fastest route. There is no way that the Thameslink is the slowest route, so the central shape of the circle will have to be changed, which is a pretty major step as it is the central reference in the map.
On a detailed level, I am trying to work out why the Thameslink comes back to the left south of City Thameslink. You could also probably make it less wiggly-woggly by moving KX/StP closer to the elbow in the subsurface lines.
Until we all have hologram devices that allow multiple levels to work intuitively, it's always going to be a compromise, but they are stretching the basic concept quite hard now
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Post by ducatisti on Jan 28, 2021 13:40:56 GMT
The 92 stock is quite a special case I believe? Built to a cost much more heavily than most LU stuff, so lots of weaknesses have shown early The control technology was new at the time and replacement parts are not easily obtained as the technology has moved on The automated train system gives them a very hard life They were bought at the time LU ridership started to rise, and they have had much more use than might have been envisaged
For the 72 stock, how much can be robbed off the Piccadilly line 73 stock? If there is a big pool of free spares on the horizon that might influence decisions.
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Post by ducatisti on Jan 28, 2021 11:24:09 GMT
with a horse and cart, your limit is more the output of the horse than anything else. To maximise your equine output, the best thing to do is fashion some kind of low-friction route for the wheels (such as metal girders) with a crushed stone path down the middle. But tat will never catch on...
Fuel consumption maximisation is in opposition to service frequency (acceleration costs energy),so it goes to part of the complex balancing act. the optimal service from a power consumption point of view would be packed trains, with a low frequency to allow minimal stop/start.
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Post by ducatisti on Jan 28, 2021 10:57:01 GMT
so the irony is, from a fuel consumption point of view, it should be cheaper to travel on-peak (I reckon one should see tenths, if not fifths of a penny off one's oystercard...)
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Post by ducatisti on Jan 20, 2021 10:44:14 GMT
I wonder how they are getting on?
Whilst Cov-19 is obviously a problem, the (hopefully) temporary drop in ridership would seem to be a good time to have closures etc.
IIRC, the Battersea extension can't/won't open until Bank is complete - or has that now changed?
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Post by ducatisti on Jan 11, 2021 9:28:20 GMT
I suspect Elephant usership would be on the up if not for Covid, there has been a fair bit of development round there. That's not to say it would be super-busy, but it would be good to get the building works done before the developments fill up (assuming the world hasn't completely changed post-covid)
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Post by ducatisti on Nov 30, 2020 11:29:56 GMT
How do they decide when to run it?
Does someone go out and rub the rails? Do drivers report slitheriness? Is it more scientific?
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Post by ducatisti on Aug 3, 2020 11:01:10 GMT
Does this mean that they're reaching a quarter of their passenger user life spans....* ?? * a little less than the younger S7 units #TimePassesSoQuickly Depends - will they fit through the Ryde tunnel? The big imponderable is the electronics. The class 91s are apparently having serious problems with getting the hard-wired bits replaced which is one of the reasons for replacement. If the more programmable nature of the new stuff means it can be updated/replaced as needed, then it could last. More careful optimisation on fatigue cycles etc will also be an imponderable when it comes to pushing it past it's design life. Overall, I don't mind them, they are efficient people-movers, just a bit of a shame they look the same on all sub-surface lines.
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Post by ducatisti on Apr 16, 2020 13:14:03 GMT
Do you know when they went in?
Two options; could be first practice or is it for training/testing ideas out?
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Post by ducatisti on Jan 28, 2020 9:19:45 GMT
Thanks!
No Ducatisti Express for me then...
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Post by ducatisti on Jan 27, 2020 9:42:11 GMT
Are there any such rare beasties in the current timetable during the morning peak?
(Tube is a nicer, but slower, commute for me)
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Post by ducatisti on Jan 13, 2020 9:41:15 GMT
speculation, but do people tend to buy tickets on the way home? I would think the busy time for ticket offices are morning peak (commuters) and at some point in the day when leisure travellers hit max.
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Post by ducatisti on Jan 8, 2020 9:33:38 GMT
A map to issue with you second annual travel card "you've had a year to learn it, sir..." Love the first-posted map. Totally get the reason you've not put the others on, I wonder what Harry Beck would have done for the cable-car? And you could have a nice 1930s aeroplane icon at Heathrow aerodrome too...
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Post by ducatisti on Jan 8, 2020 9:29:31 GMT
+1 for Highgate (which is probably proof that it is actually Mill Hill or suchlike...)
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Post by ducatisti on Oct 29, 2019 16:25:45 GMT
fingers crossed...
thanks
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Post by ducatisti on Oct 29, 2019 9:36:33 GMT
hello
does anybody know how long the current escalator problems are due to last?
I'm guessing it's still a bit unknown as they have changed the arrangements (Monday am - saying exit only am peak, entry only pm peak, Monday pm it's exit only)
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Post by ducatisti on Aug 3, 2019 20:59:41 GMT
"Costumed characters" - personally, i am not a fan. Not sure others are either. One 38 stock run had the stewards really having to persuade anyone to come and take pictures of the be-costumed. What are they felt to add?
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Post by ducatisti on Jul 30, 2019 12:56:31 GMT
Interestingly, after a spate of things being a bit rubbish on the Finsbury Pk - Welwyn trains (several days on the bounce of cancellations), there has been a determined effort on the part of someone to try to assuage passenger annoyance - apologetic ticket inspectors, trains making additional stops, and revenue protection fence gates being left open by staff rather than make a train of delayed passengers scrum through a two-gate gateline.
It could be coincidence, but maybe there is a realisation that taking a more conciliatory approach to passengers pays dividends (although it's probably the staff not wanting the abuse than anyone further up the tree making the change)
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Post by ducatisti on Jul 20, 2019 16:55:05 GMT
National rail enquiries said there was a suspected broken rail too...
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Post by ducatisti on Jul 9, 2019 8:34:27 GMT
I wonder if it's related to the new construction? (if you disturb things, there's always a risk it will cause faults)
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Post by ducatisti on Jun 4, 2019 9:22:02 GMT
background of B is Whitby, is C St Mary thingy in Southwark?, my guess for background of D is the temple of Mithras in the city
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Post by ducatisti on May 31, 2019 14:27:04 GMT
Thanks.
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Post by ducatisti on May 31, 2019 8:39:30 GMT
(couldn't find the original thread, please move etc as appropriate) Now these are getting more common, I've started to notice little things about them.
On a super high-tec train, I have just noticed they have a lamp bracket on the right hand side of the front about half-way up to the side of the evacuation door.
It looks like it may be a retro-fit? Is it a requirement of the underground section?
I wonder if they still carry a lamp to put on there (presumably a rear lamp, and battery-powered I assume, not oil...)?
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Post by ducatisti on May 30, 2019 11:00:34 GMT
I like the northern end of the northern, not least because I live on it. I do like the fact it's an "underground" up in the air (a long way up in the air if you think of Dollis Hill).
I love the Frank Pick stations - esp Cockfosters and Arnos Grove
I love the stuff that has been built since I've known it, I like the Jubilee Line Extension, the revised Kings Cross station etc, partly for the engineering challenges, partly for the fact it wasn't there when I first used it, and partly as evidence of change.
I think overall, my favourite thing about the underground (apart from it's ability to get me home when I've had a skinfull) is the fact that you go through layers of history and change as you go. It's never quite the same thing twice...
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Post by ducatisti on May 22, 2019 10:46:47 GMT
Recreating it as far as possible is as good as you are going to get. You aren't going to get a petrol railcar passed for passenger service. Why not? Petrol-powered road vehicles are still quite common. But unless one of the original engines still exists (I understand the railcar had several during its working life) it was always going to be a restoration rather than conservation. Preserved steam locomotives have to have their boilers modified to meet modern safety requirements, so are no longer authentic. Where do you draw the line? Would replacing rotten woodwork be acceptable to the preservationists? Petrol vehicles are common on the road, as are barely-qualified drivers, highly-used unsignalled sections, ungated pedestrian crossings etc. Like it or loathe it road vehicles are not held to the same safety standards as railways
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Post by ducatisti on May 22, 2019 8:28:17 GMT
I don't follow your logic. there is nothing of what makes it historically-important left to restore/conserve.
Recreating it as far as possible is as good as you are going to get. You aren't going to get a petrol railcar passed for passenger service.
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Post by ducatisti on May 20, 2019 16:31:23 GMT
in what way is it converted to a "ride"?
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Post by ducatisti on May 20, 2019 15:08:14 GMT
Dieselisation has reached the 'heritage' world now. The difference between a historic artefact and an amusement park ride is narrowing. Visitors to Beamish Museum in my native Co. Durham will already be sadly familiar with this process. If a 1903-vintage vehicle isn't "heritage" I'd be quite curious to know what is... Anyway, what about vintage steam-powered amusement park rides?
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Post by ducatisti on Apr 15, 2019 14:55:31 GMT
I went back to the museum on Saturday. It's still our "go-to" museum to entertain the little one in spite of it's flaws. But I put my finger on what I think it's problem is.
It's not sure what it is. Is interactive education space for children, place of material exhibits, art and design gallery? None of these are impossible to put together, but the cues don't work. eg the B Bus which is apparently the only one left, is in the middle of the floor with "do not touch" signs round it. Next to a bus you can go upstairs on. The access to vehicles is inconsistent too - some you can get in bits of, some you cant, some are perspexed off round the important bits, some aren't.
Then you've got the inside café... it's clearly a bodge job into the space with lines of tables and chairs not fitting the non-rectangular space, it's got no clear boundary to know where you can and can't take your ice-cream. And the service is so slow! One thing you want with a small child is food quickly. Is the upstairs café still there? I'll never make it there with offspring as it's just one step too far to hustle him past all the toys again...
Then there's the funny little gallery on the mezzanine - is it public space? isn't it? (it's always empty), it doesn't seem to be working hard enough for the space.
Also, having nearly lost the little hooligan in there, a hidden exit that can be approached in lots of directions is not great for stopping small children...
One thing I did notice this time was they had a volunteer checking if anyone in the queue didn't need to buy a ticket. Given how slow-moving the ticket queue is (and you have to queue outside in the rain), that was an improvement, so I hope they keep that up.
By contrast, we went to the national portrait gallery that was much less child-focussed (sinks in the bathroom were too high for small person, and no step was about)
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Post by ducatisti on Apr 1, 2019 9:06:39 GMT
yes, it's a new trick museums seem to do now, have a high fee, but allow a year's membership/access. Great if you live nearby, not so good if you don't.
There again, I have friendship of the museum (even though I'm not convinced the museum is worth it), and we go pretty regularly, and have got a couple of non-tube friends going regularly, so that's more money through the till for them from non-enthusiasts.
The science museum is interesting, I found the ground-floor heavily aimed at children, then wandered into a gallery of models of marine compound steam engines with labels that I found incomprehensible...
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