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Post by ducatisti on Mar 28, 2019 19:56:26 GMT
when you have a small child family means "will keep the little people occupied for long enough for you to recover your sanity" if it serves booze, won't completely skin you in the gift shop and is vaguely interesting then it's a bonus...
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Post by ducatisti on Mar 28, 2019 14:34:53 GMT
I saw them out and about yesterday.
unfortunately I had to be at mailrail for 10, so I couldn't have caught one.
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Post by ducatisti on Mar 28, 2019 14:32:33 GMT
How about Kings Cross St Pancras? Here the subsurface platforms are fully subterranean and look like they are for real tube trains (ie: not subsurface trains). I experienced this with some tourists who obviously had just arrived on a Eurostar train; they heard a short whistle as the Underground train entered the platform, picked their suitcases up from the floor and stepped towards the platform edge in eager anticipation ... only to see that the arriving train comprised a fire-breathing kettle on wheels hauling antique passenger carriages that had real passengers in them - and for good measure it was slowing down as if intending to stop!!!
In a way it was a shame that I was filming the train, as the look on their faces of utter astonishment and sheer disbelief was a joy to behold.
This is always the best bit. xD That was where I watched one of the runs on the met 150 (also did Farringdon, I meant to do one at Baker Street, but didn't as I ran out of time)
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Post by ducatisti on Mar 28, 2019 14:20:17 GMT
It's interesting. Before I had a child, my view was the Covent Garden museum was a total disaster zone. To some extent I still hold that view in terms of explaining artefacts in a way that rewards structural quasi-scholastic study. I really can't stand all the "imagine what it was like" stuff. And I do think it's emphasis on exceptions (eg women workers during the war) is unhelpful.
On the other hand, it's one of my son's favourite destinations in London, and most of his friends love it too. They are all about 4. If the enthusiasm for matters transport continues, then it's time well-spent. Whether it still satisfies when he's aged 10 is another question.
Something I do like about it (even though I am not interested in it) is the wider questions it seeks to ask about transport. It is a museum of transport, not a museum of trains, busses and trams.
I love the museum depot and hope they never change that, it's like wandering into someone's shed...
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Post by ducatisti on Mar 25, 2019 9:21:26 GMT
It was a £150 for the met 150 specials. So in real terms it's gone down a bit...
You aren't paying £150 for steam haulage, you are paying £150 for travelling behind an unreliable collection of fire water and rivets over one of the busiest railway lines in the world filled with bits of kit that dislike fire water (and possibly rivets). It's the unlikeliness of that being repeated and the risk of it sitting down that you are paying for.
I did the met 150. I'd do it once, but I'd not worry about doing it again. If you've not done it before, do it. Possibly as good just to be on platform. Ideally an underground refurbished on for max incongruity
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Post by ducatisti on Feb 27, 2019 12:24:03 GMT
I'm not sure a few gentle trundles round the network followed by a long snooze in a warm shed counts as "sweating" any assets. I'd think most preserved stock gets used as much if not more.
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Post by ducatisti on Feb 27, 2019 10:49:30 GMT
I think the Germans have got a steam engine compatible with ERTMs (some kind of override on the regulator and presumably brake)
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Post by ducatisti on Feb 27, 2019 10:48:04 GMT
there's a time gap on the 710 too.
I think overall the dwell time will still come down as people can load faster onto them. (especially compared to 313s when people cluster in the vestibules and won't move down).
With regard to the 313s, there is one service path every day for a 3-car unit, which is an absolute pain when end up catching it at 7ish out of Finsbury park - I assume that means they don't have enough of them, not just that they like to keep commuters on their toes...
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Post by ducatisti on Feb 21, 2019 13:30:02 GMT
Hooray!
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Post by ducatisti on Feb 20, 2019 10:34:09 GMT
Ahh, I didn't know such a thing existed. I've not noticed one at any other stations - are they widespread, or is Stockwell particularly favoured? (which would make sense as it will be affected by any Kennington carryings-on.
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Post by ducatisti on Feb 20, 2019 9:28:55 GMT
I was at Stockwell Northern Northbound yesterday (as the vic was part-suspended). On the headwall there is a bright white light that seemed to come on as a train drew to a halt and went out when the last car passed it. So far, so signal-like, but it is right out of the driver's eyeline, being over the pedestrian egress tunnel (runs out parallel to the running tunnel), and with a mesh cage of misc equipment between the two tunnels. Can anybody say what it is? trip-cock tester? Kennington tea-point indicator? Thanks
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Post by ducatisti on Feb 14, 2019 10:58:32 GMT
Gauge,power-rail layout (apart from D L R ) and minimum tunnel size is nothing to do with"T0day's management" my point exactly - the management of yesteryear gave us differing things for all these. Which precise slice of management meets your approval?
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Post by ducatisti on Feb 13, 2019 10:31:28 GMT
fingers crossed. If they can make it work, I can see a real niche for them as gap-filling stock "2 diesel trains by next weekend sir? no problem, which signalling gubbins module would you like with that?"
perhaps TfL/Bombardier should be on the phone to them to lessen their problem.
a kind of A-team-train if you will...
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Post by ducatisti on Feb 13, 2019 10:28:34 GMT
would you prefer they are all on the lowest common denominator? The vic line is an incredibly successful passenger-moving device, and makes use of every inch that it can find (and as someone 6'2" that few inches makes a big difference when stuck at the edges). What would you gain by compatibility of passenger stock? Those trains will trundle up and down the vic until they wear out. The issue referred to is common to lots of stock.
Like a lot of successful things, you only notice when it goes wrong (he says having had to trundle on the picc and the northern this morning when the vic decided it wasn't going south of the river).
As for it being a "today's management" - at least we have the same gauge, power rail lay-out/height, minimum tunnel size
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Post by ducatisti on Feb 8, 2019 10:19:16 GMT
Is OLÉ (as opposed to OLE) a guide to pronunciation, and if so shall I throw my hat in the air? I'd not throw my hat in the air near overhead powerlines... I'm torn on the VivaRail I like the concept, but they do seem to be taking a long time to get to operate, especially given that it is supposed to be using a lot of proven technologies. I hope it succeeds. I suspect the stripping out of surplus stock from the network exposes their teething troubles and made them more critical
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Post by ducatisti on Jan 2, 2019 14:46:23 GMT
how are they going to rescue stranded people halfway down? (the old, the knackered of knees, the too many bags in hands etc).
also, there will be one tourist who changes their mind halfway down and tries to walk up...
I'm not sure this will be a successful idea, I think at the very least, they should be a bit clearer about why you might want to use the lift access. 96 stairs doesn't sound like a lot and I can see a lot of people overestimating their ability to walk all the way down them. (couldn't they say "which is [x-many] floors" (or "[x] times the height of Nelson's column"))
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Post by ducatisti on Dec 20, 2018 9:06:03 GMT
is C platform 2/3 at Finchley Central?
Total punt - are they the stations before big bridges /viaducts on LU (Finchley Central - Dollis Brook viaduct, Wembley Part - the big blue bridges on the Met),
So, even bigger punt - is D Arnos Grove (and so the blue brick viaduct at the top end of the Picc)
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Post by ducatisti on Dec 19, 2018 15:58:39 GMT
Doesn't sound like there are problems on the extension "“In isolation the Northern Line Extension project is still on time and working towards a December 2020 finish,” the source said. “However, instead of doing a big bells and whistles unveiling then it will be realigned with the completion of works at Bank station." Eh? I don't see how the NLE is "on time" given the developer of Battersea Power Station (BPS) forced a redesign of BPS tube station. We know from past LU reports that this forced a redesign causing a delay while that work was done. It has also caused an increase in cost. LU was signed up to a fixed "in service" date for the full extension which it couldn't meet. If nothing was wrong why did a plethora of decisions need sorting in a NLE paper at the last Programmes and Investment meeting?. I was quoting the report in the NCE - Whether that is right or wrong I don't know, but the article itself didn't support the idea that there are problems. On the subject of usage, I'd say that there is a *lot* of building work going up now round there. A lot of which is coming too completion, and most of that will have been forward-sold, so I think a lot of it will be occupied in the next 12-18months, even if not at the rates that were expected.
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Post by ducatisti on Dec 19, 2018 9:06:06 GMT
And how is that "white"? Most of the renters are "white" Many of those moving out are not "white"
I grew up in Surrey and my family are from the north west, my wife is from the west country. You don't have a monopoly on "understanding" the regions.
What you are also missing is that rentals are on the rise in all these regional places - in fact the smart money in BTL is now all about the regions, and houses being built for ownership are still happening in London.
You are confusing a macro trend for a London-specific trend, and then putting what frankly looks like a racist veneer on it. It's not "seeing what is going on"
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Post by ducatisti on Dec 18, 2018 11:14:00 GMT
define distinction between "political" and "art"
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Post by ducatisti on Dec 18, 2018 10:59:13 GMT
ohh, I'd forgotten/never knew that...
that's going to annoy a lot of developers and yuppies in potentia[1]…
Unless they can quadruple the W&C, that's really going to be a lot less use that I thought. Potential future Aldwych...?
[1]current values of yupp for purchasers/tenants unknown, but assuming they will want to be yuppies when they move in regardless of current status.
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Post by ducatisti on Dec 18, 2018 10:21:37 GMT
the only problem with that is that *if* London continues to increase in population, and *if* people continue to make journeys, then if they aren't on TfL they are going by some other means, which are *probably* less environmentally desirable (private car or taxi)
There are a bunch of assumptions in there, but I'd say it's only number of journeys/head that is actually likely to have potential to be wrong (ie population is incredibly unlikely to be going down, and any journey over more than a few bus stops will be with some kind of powered assistance).
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Post by ducatisti on Dec 18, 2018 10:14:06 GMT
Its a map, used for getting around the tube network. Does it matter what is on the front? I say it matters because it's used for getting around (1) it's a thing in everybody's hands therefore (IMO) it should be as nice as possible - any decoration is "art" in it's widest sense (2) it's in everybody's hands therefore any message on it matters - if someone tried to put a Nazi message on there, there would not be appropriate. I personally think it appropriate for challenging art to be on there.
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Post by ducatisti on Dec 18, 2018 10:06:44 GMT
If it dropped hard and came back up more slowly, it's quite possible to have more this year than last, and still be on a lower number.
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Post by ducatisti on Dec 18, 2018 9:24:57 GMT
Doesn't sound like there are problems on the extension "“In isolation the Northern Line Extension project is still on time and working towards a December 2020 finish,” the source said. “However, instead of doing a big bells and whistles unveiling then it will be realigned with the completion of works at Bank station."
A couple of points Any programme starts off with 0 delay (by default). Some float will be added, but the more float you add, the less control you have over programme. Any risk that is an employer risk will not be on the construction programme as that measures contractor's activities. If such a risk occurs, it is instructed as a Change. From a pure construction point of view, *every* job should finish "late" as otherwise your programme is padded and you are paying the contractor for longer than he should be there (ie his programmes says unless any of the (small number of) Employer Risks occur that is the shortest time he can do it in for the quality and pricing level you have asked for). You then have the forecasting question of how long you tell the end-user it will take - again, the more padding you put in there, the more time you have an asset standing idle. An extension of time doesn't automatically lead to further cost - don't forget in construction there is cost/speed/quality - you can have any two of the three. Slow the job down and thin out the prelims and you can make a saving, especially if you can avoid using complicated methodology.
If anyone thinks this is new by the way, how long was the Brunel Tunnel delayed by...?
Also, delaying opening until Bank is up to capacity makes a lot of sense - the whole area around new covent garden is full of flats marketed as aspirational, I'd say the majority of the traffic on the extension is going to be going in to bank not the other way. To add load in when there is reduced capacity wouldn't be clever.
Thinking about it, I'd guess an amount of traffic from Vauxhall (vic and national rail) will probably bleed over if it's a quicker route to the city.
Does anybody know what the projected journey time would be from Clapham junction (ie train to Vauxhall, then walk to NLE, NLE to bank vs Clapham Junction to Waterloo, queue for the Drain[1], Drain to Bank)
[1] Does any journey calc at peak hours include this
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Post by ducatisti on Dec 13, 2018 13:33:03 GMT
I think the flip-side of that is greater transparency as to what things cost - the other end of the scale to some of eg the (UK) Southern Railway's creative accounting to pay for electrification. We now know much more what things cost because someone is sending a bill for them.
If you think of all the projects that have overrun in the past, how much of the cost of eg prelims (ie site costs) were just absorbed by departmental budgets/governments (a lot of big UK infrastructure projects in the thirties were funded by government loans/grants for unemployment relief). And don't forget how many projects just plain went bust.
Crossrail is also super-expensive because it's all last man in tunnelling. When the early tubes went in, there was very little for them to hit. I'd be interested to compare the cost/mile for Crossrail vs cost/mile of the last two miles of whatever was the last project to go into Bank
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Post by ducatisti on Dec 13, 2018 10:58:28 GMT
Yes the Ipswich transport museum is despite its large size rather crowded. But well worth a visit, the best time to go is the last saturday in June, when you can visit the Ipswich model railway club and model engineering society all on the same ticket, a free vintage bus service links all the venues. Having Ransomes and Rapier as a local manufacturer must be a double-edged sword for any museum. They have lots of long-lasting products to have as artefacts, but they are bloomin' huge and heavy.
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Post by ducatisti on Dec 13, 2018 10:55:35 GMT
potential reasons that I have seen mentioned 1) recession leading to greater unemployment ?? Employment higher than it has ever been, Unemployment at lows not seen for many years. Which two quarters has growth turned into decline or have you a new definition of recession. Whatever the reasons I think you need to look further than item 1. Last formal recession 2009. but "However, the 2010s saw four separate periods of Quarter on Quarter fall in growth: 2010 Q4 (-0.4); 2011 Q4 (-0.1); 2012 Q2 (-0.5); and 2012 Q4 (-0.2).[20] Effects of this recession have been lasting into the early-mid 2010s. " en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_recessions_in_the_United_KingdomEmployment numbers is another shibboleth - the ONS definition of employed is "The number of people in employment in the UK is measured by the Labour Force Survey (LFS) and consists of people aged 16 and over who did one hour or more of paid work per week (as an employee or self-employed), those who had a job that they were temporarily away from, those on government-supported training and employment programmes, and those doing unpaid family work. Employment levels and rates are published each month in the labour market statistical bulletin" www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/methodologies/aguidetolabourmarketstatisticsWage growth is also massively affected by a decade of non-growth and inflation www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-45875599"The fact that 3.1% is the biggest pay rise since February 2009 says more about how weak pay growth has been in the last decade than how strong it has been in the past year. Strip out the effect of inflation (as measured by the Consumer Prices Index) and you get pay growth of just 0.6%. Then look back at the last decade, the worst decade for living standards in 200 years. If you're a half-full person, well we're up by about £25 per week on average since the squeeze on living standards was at its tightest back in 2014. But if you're half-empty, we're still earning about £20 a week less than we did 10 years ago when the global financial crisis struck." It may not be a formal recession, but wages and growth (and possibly most importantly wage security) have taken an absolute battering when looked at in terms of the money in the pocket of the person who will take public transport. Now look at rental rises link
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Post by ducatisti on Dec 12, 2018 11:27:32 GMT
Has it fallen or just not grown at the rate expected?
potential reasons that I have seen mentioned 1) recession leading to greater unemployment 2) greater levels of flexible/home working 3) drop in tourism 4) increase in use of uber and the like
Other issues - what do borisbikes count as? has the double-bus thing reduced the number of recorded journeys? How is the number of journeys calculated? are there methodology flaws in it? (eg I have a gold card, I'll only tap at some interchanges (within the scope of my zones/modes of transport) if I need to go through a barrier, does that change the number of journeys counted) Overcrowding could, paradoxically, reduce the number of journeys recorded - what happens when they open the gates to allow crush to disperse? Under-staffing - if "honesty readers" at outlying stations are ignored by people when there are no staff there, and staff hours/presence are reduced, will the number of recorded journeys drop?
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Post by ducatisti on Dec 10, 2018 17:08:31 GMT
Was Penderel's oak full of other internet groups? I have been to Christmas drinks there with every internet group I am involved with... Oui. enfer c'est les autres groups internetoise… (To avoid clique-iness, one year ('09?) we had drinks there, and someone joined us. Nobody knew his face, but y'know, internet groups... I sat opposite him and was bemused by his attempts to steer conversations round to France. Eventually he stood up and said "You're not the London French Group are you?" It wouldn't be so bad, but someone sidled up to MRFS the next year and asked if we were some other group (forget which one). I think it just has the right combo of size/un-busy-ness/location to suit large collections of people who don't know each other outside a screen).
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