Broithe

It would be interesting to have a ball-park figure for the relative costs per kilometre for tram-lines and underground railways. Tram stops are fairly cheap to provide - an underground station is a whole other scenario. Whether people like it or not, it's all about cost/benefit in the end. Even in the UK with its horrendous urban traffic conditions, there are only underground systems in three places outside London. Newcastle, Glasgow and Liverpool. I note that Enniscorthy has an underground railway, but I've never been able to find the entrance to the station escalator...

No stopping the Japanese... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sapporo_Dome#Retractable_surface

Most days the wind blows straight up the track - it may be almost self-cleaning?

The scene at Hazlehatch today...

The parking situation is reaching crisis levels - this was the scene at 3pm yesterday, both sides of the access road almost out to the main road. There were two spots in the 'official' car park, due to people returning from a morning visit to Dublin, presumably. The Orange Army, or at least part of an orange platoon, were renovating the platform edges.

Looks good - do the brakes work?

Does this mean that we have cylindrical bearings rather than pinpoint ones? I take it there's not a huge increase in drag - it's noticeable with things like the Hornby lighted Pullmans where the axle contacts add a bit of extra resistance - maybe something to consider if you have slopes, etc?

There's axles and there's axels...

Rotating axels are more of a skating game... Another major step forward - I wonder how long before I have to stop complaining that the brakes don't work?

I have noted that the Bos(s) is not likeable...?

A great chap, I have a £1,000,000 note that he signed for me.

Sorry, just concerned that you might have your wallet in your back pocket and choke the poor chap..

Is his mouth big enough?

Other types of crock are available - choose wisely.

Motorway planning in these islands is often 'entertaining' for the motorist. I live next to the M6, which is currently being turned into a "Smart Motorway"* - going from three lanes to four, by having people drive on the hard shoulder. Cars do break down a lot less these days, but it's a most unpleasant and dangerous experience when they do in those circumstances. If there is a big incident, the entire motorway is blocked, with no 'free lane' for emergency use. And there was the spur for the M54, which was only used by bin lorries going to the tip for the first ten years. And anybody who used the M5 in the '70s and '80s, when they spent a decade turning it from two lanes into three, may, like me, still have the habit of using the 'old road' as a preference. And the continuous widening of the M25. And using the M2 as a lorry park. Etc... * The official terminology, not what I would call it.

There are underground stations in London where it is possible to get off the train, run up the stairs, along the street to the next station, down the stairs and get back into the same train.

I dislike the unnatural distance between the rails, otherwise it seems OK.

I've always felt that the once ubiquitous Hino would find a place on a few layouts.

Probably DCC - they definitely have sound chips..

Dangerous tactics - managers in Lidl stores are going to be issued with their own diggers, so they can fight back.

This is the I-35 crash in Iowa a few weeks ago - it's being widely circulated as the M62 crash yesterday, but it's clearly not that.

Dangerously political! Most people favour just 'station', as I do, this may be down to never living anywhere big enough to have any other sort of station - it does seem to be the urban types who use 'train station', as they usually have a bus station, and even a coach station, to contend with. Where I live now is around 70,000 and is held in widespread contempt for not having a bus station.

Interestingly (perhaps), my localised survey on the subject is currently running at 4/3 in favour of 'train station'. http://www.staffordforum.com/xf/index.php?threads/railway-station-or-train-station.19120/#post-366147

Some thoughts on the subject - https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2011/oct/18/railway-station-or-train-station On the Big Island, there are often sharply bordered areas where one of the two forms is preferred, in speech, that is - it is still RS in most 'official' terminology. RS is still by far the general term, but TS is definitely gaining traction. My general usage would just be 'station', if I was talking about some other sort of station, then I would add 'bus' etc., as a prefix. That may be partly due to hardly ever having any other sort of station available locally, wherever I've lived. In this area, you will hear TS used mostly in the older Victorian urban areas, possibly because they did once have a variety of local station types?