Broithe

When your world is falling apart around you, in an accelerating manner, it can be easy to lose track of all that is going on. I'm really glad that this part of it has been resolved in the end.

For me, the Golden Age of Irish Railways was from 1995 to when the Mk 4s arrived. 95% of my experience was four journeys annually from Heuston to Ballybrophy and return. Clearly, this is not a huge sample of what was available, but the relief of getting on a train which, for me, was 100% reliable, clean, pleasant and comfortable, was a massive step up from the Stafford-Holyhead journey on the Big Island. that was never the same twice - utter chaos and unreliability. I don't think the Mk 4s were a great step down, but they didn't seem to be a great improvement either. In the orange days everything was just so pleasant and civilised, it was a shock every time after the struggles on the Big Island.

It's nearly ten minutes since you made this announcement about the future announcements - has there been any progress since?

There is not universal support for a fixed link - https://solentfreedomtunnel.co.uk/results-independent-fixed-link-study-survey/ - some islanders like the separation. There have even been calls to become an independent tax-haven, along the lines of the Channel Islands and Isle of Man. You could have trains with bullion vans and wagons full of washing powder...

For a good 150 years there has almost always been a campaign running for a fixed link to the Big Island, be it a tunnel or a bridge. The remains of a few abortive attempts can still be seen on the ground. You could pretend one had succeeded and expand your possibilities?

It's a long way from China in a Transit. Are you driving in shifts?

Facebook has just suggested that I might be interested in this picture, so I thought it might be worth mentioning here. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1390742637606844?multi_permalinks=4895466017134471&hoisted_section_header_type=recently_seen © Ian Krause.

Well, it's not always railway bridges.

The skip appears to have "Berring" on it - I had hoped this might close down on a location, but I've come up with nothing. The logo on the Wickham doors means nothing to me, either. eBay has suggested this item to me today, with an indication that it is British. The 'style' of the site looks South Wales or North East England to me - possibly.

Ideal for those modelling German railways.

I do hope you manage to make it squeak as well as before.

Was this badge the right way up?

A Class packaging has been tested for the contents to survive an air drop?

The other day, I ventured along the Nenagh branch, to record the accessible crossings. Bridge No 1. Looking north, to Bridge No 2 and the M7 motorway. And the structure itself - this would be Grange Beg Bridge, locally. Then onto Bridge No 2, which I expected to be a 'modern' replacement for a crossing, but the abutments appear to be original in style, although the span seems to have been replaced, but some time ago. This is over a farm access road, just south of the motorway. Looking back to Bridge No 1. And north to the M7. And some general views. This block was attached to the northern parapet and, from the lichen around it, seemed to have been there for some time. And onto Bridge No 3 - the motorway presumably being No 2A. Again a beam structure, rather than an arch, and with quite a recent replacement, by the look of things. This could be the previous structure's remains? Looking south. And north, to the crossing just north of the bridge. At this point, I became overwhelmed by the excitement of swooping down off the bridge and failed to investigate the crossing more closely. Then onto Bridge No 4 or (probably?) 5 (I thought I had included the sign in one of the pictures), at the western end of Borris in Ossory. And looking west, towards the bridge on the new motorway link road. And the link road bridge itself - a really substantial structure, similar to the actual motorway bridges. Bridge 5A, I think. And looking west. And east. From there, to the Quakers' Bridge Level Crossing - a name I've never really though as odd until typing it now... Also, on another trip out later, I spotted this gate-post, just south of the main line, a few miles away.

People may have noticed that 'the system' has taken to issuing badges recently, to mark certain stages of people's activities on here. It has just decided to issue me with one for "Reacting Well". Mmm, I imagine that this is some sort of joke in very poor taste, based on the state I was in after my second vaccination. After no reaction the first time, and no history of any similar issues in the past, I was shot through the head ten hours later and 'lost' two days, where my main activity was shivering and sweating. I await my Shivering and Sweating badge.

Is there an application form for that job?

Yeah, I wouldn't fancy making a reasonable job by hand under 1mm. I have a few genuine brass drills - but never the right size, of course. For occasional small sizes, there could be a case for having just a few sizes prepared, then drilling small, opening up to size carefully with a pentagonal broach, especially in thin sheet. You can 'ease' the size to suit and the surface finish should be better, too - with the penalty of additional time being required, of course.

Also, a lot of people will be drilling brass and the "standard" angles on most HSS drills are not ideal for that, there can be a tendency to pull into the material, with subsequent snapping problems, particularly on small drill. There are "actual brass drills" around, but they will be very hard to find and unlikely to be cheap, especially in small sizes. On 'manageable' sizes, people often just remove the positive rake at the actual cutting edge, but that will be a difficult task on a 0.5mm drill... And you would need to keep modified drills separately.

Yes, the carbide ones are really intended to cope with the glass fibres in printed circuit boards, etc., and they can often be 'used' and a little dull, too - but they have their uses in softer materials - HSS is definitely better for all-round use and, particularly, use in metal materials. The smaller carbide drills are very prone to mishandling when hand-held, and the potential for small, sharp pieces to fly about does need to be taken seriously.

If by 'hand drill', you mean this sort of thing, then a 0.5mm drill bit will struggle with the side-loads from the handle, however short it is mounted. The Archimedean drills are much safer, with fine bits, the driving force is along the drill axis, rather than across it. These may have their uses, but they require care when using fine bits. You can pick up sets of carbide drills at reasonable prices - sometimes. http://www.fortex.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/2.jpg If you're using collets, rather than a chuck, they do have the advantage of a common shank size - but, that also stops you 'hanging' the bit very short. Swings and roundabouts...

A vectis would be a lever or bar-shaped tool of some sort - there are scoops for hoicking wax out of your ear that that would be the technical name for now, but I think it was just a word that the Romans used as a name for the island, possibly a similar-sounding corruption of whatever the Britons there at the time called it themselves - as they would do themselves all around the world a bit later on... I presume Wight is a further transformation of the name over later years. although possibly originating in a word meaning 'separate' or 'isolated' and just passing through the Vectis-phase whilst the Romans were around. As for the hovercraft - there have been several attempts at tunnels and there was a referendum about having a bridge a while back - the residents voted against it, despite the crossing being on the high side, in terms of price per mile travelled, they seem to value the separation. Mr Vectis is quite a dour character, but he does know what it's all about... As for having stuff under my belt, I got my second jab this morning and the jabber told me "My mother would make you eat a sack of spuds!"

I've 'assisted' at a few fairs where Mr Vectis has had a stall and we've had the odd chat - particularly about the origin of the name. Having lived in Hampshire for a couple of years in the late 60s and done a bit of Latin, it seemed odd to me that an organisation based in Teesside should be named after the Roman name for the Isle of Wight. He explained about the origins, as in the 'About Us' on the website. Naming a company after a place can have its drawbacks, if a move happens, but using a 'defunct' version of the name can hide it from most people. In the 80's I bought a few electronic items from East Cornwall Components, who were, by that time, actually in Wem, in Shropshire. And Wilmslow Audio is now somewhere around Leicester or Coventry...

The terrain in the background at Ballybrophy would be rather less of a 'parkland' aspect.

A potential 'problem' with that might be the portrayal of the swastika on the smoke deflector. There might be some ways round the restrictions in Germany, but it might just be felt easier to not do it there? It might also be felt that, for international audiences, the use of the symbol may be more important to the narrative than the use of the right locomotive?