Trains, Planes & Automobiles

[CanaBull]

Red Arrows and Snowbirds over Ottawa/Gatineau earlier this month.  Might not have the kit of the Yanks, but they still amaze with their displays.

Red Arrows over Niagara Falls cockpit view

 

Edited September 15, 2024 by CanaBull

[Fly-By-TheWire]

On 15/09/2024 at 02:50, CanaBull said:

 Might not have the kit of the Yanks, but they still amaze with their displays.

I miss seeing the meaty Cold War kit from the 80s/90s.   A schoolboys dream.   Doesn't get much better than this (just a shame they don't fully 'arm' them with blank missiles):

 

[The Hallucinating Goose]

When I left work this evening an airforce Globemaster came over Hull less that 2,000ft off the ground! It was circling the city, waiting to land at Kirmington.

I have a video and pics of it but unfortunately the files are too big to post here.

Edited September 17, 2024 by The Hallucinating Goose

[Fly-By-TheWire]

On 17/09/2024 at 17:49, The Hallucinating Goose said:

When I left work this evening an airforce Globemaster came over Hull less that 2,000ft off the ground! It was circling the city, waiting to land at Kirmington.

I have a video and pics of it but unfortunately the files are too big to post here.

I can beat that.   A BAe 146 (an airliner) belonging to defence contractor Qinetiq flew down way too low over Cheshire the other day, seemingly infringing mandated overflight margins over populated areas at 250 knots.   Local residents thought it was crashing.   Even after correcting the FlightRadar24 altitude data for local pressure, that's below 500 feet over two towns.   May be some follow-up on this one! :

 

Edited September 21, 2024 by Fly-By-TheWire

[Futtocks]

5 hours ago, Fly-By-TheWire said:

I can beat that.   A BAe 146 (an airliner) belonging to defence contractor Qinetiq flew down way too low over Cheshire the other day, seemingly infringing mandated overflight margins over populated areas at 250 knots.   Local residents thought it was crashing.   Even after correcting the FlightRadar24 altitude data for local pressure, that's below 500 feet over two towns.   May be some follow-up on this one! :

 

I have been buzzed at a far lower level than you'd think was safe by the Lancaster bomber they use for fly-bys. It (plus a Spitfire & Hurricane) often passes within sight of my kitchen window because I'm near the RAF Museum in Colindale and they usually fly-by that too, before veering West to land at Northolt or wherever it is.

That time, however, it was low enough to make the house shudder and was one of the loudest things I've ever heard. There must have been something wrong (or a nutter at the joystick). It would have been in the very late Eighties/early Nineties.

Edited September 21, 2024 by Futtocks

[Fly-By-TheWire]

19 hours ago, Futtocks said:

I have been buzzed at a far lower level than you'd think was safe by the Lancaster bomber they use for fly-bys. It (plus a Spitfire & Hurricane) often passes within sight of my kitchen window because I'm near the RAF Museum in Colindale and they usually fly-by that too, before veering West to land at Northolt or wherever it is.

That time, however, it was low enough to make the house shudder and was one of the loudest things I've ever heard. There must have been something wrong (or a nutter at the joystick). It would have been in the very late Eighties/early Nineties.

Things were definitely a bit more relaxed in the 80s/90s.   Mandatory separation was considered more of a guideline with a slap on the wrist for the odd 'naughty' aviator.

More recently, the litigation culture has put a stop to 'liberal interpretation' of the rules, and incidents such as the Shoreham Airshow disaster have given the CAA and AAIB (investigators) a bit of a kick up the backside.   I suspect any flouting of the rules these days will have a pretty heavy follow-up.   In the world of social media and viral videos, it's very difficult to cover things up.

Edited September 22, 2024 by Fly-By-TheWire

[Gerrumonside ref]

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/sep/28/flying-vs-and-longer-wings-how-the-familiar-shape-of-passenger-planes-is-about-to-change
 

Interesting article on change that might be coming to passenger aircraft design.

[Fly-By-TheWire]

3 hours ago, Gerrumonside ref said:

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/sep/28/flying-vs-and-longer-wings-how-the-familiar-shape-of-passenger-planes-is-about-to-change
 

Interesting article on change that might be coming to passenger aircraft design.

Some of the designs mooted there are two generations away, rather than the next generation.   If I had to put money on it, the next Airbus and Boeing aircraft will be a narrow body with un-ducted fan engines, and a wing not too dissimilar from that of today.   Possibly a wing with folding tips like that of the new 777, which will allow it to park in current narrow body spaces.  If you're an Aerosexual like me, you might find this guy's video quite good to watch:

Next generation Airbus

[M j M]

 

[Futtocks]

Playing charades 'til the train arrives.

 

Edited October 4, 2024 by Futtocks

[Futtocks]

‪@benansell.bsky.social‬
In amazing train news I am stuck on the Chiltern line because a train today hit the corpse of a cow that had been hit by a different train two days ago, left by the side of the track, exploded and rolled back onto the track again. 

And you thought James Cleverly had a bad day.

[M j M]

A  British-organised steam railtour of Greece in 1980.

 

[Padge]

9 hours ago, M j M said:

A  British-organised steam railtour of Greece in 1980.

 

Been on that rail line over the Corinth Canal, took the train from Athens to Corinth and back. That particular rail crossing closed in 2011 and was replaced by a more modern bridge crossing.

The original rail bridge was built in 1890s but destroyed by the Germans when retreating towards the end of the second WW.  The bridge in 1980 would be the replacement for the original which was a metre gauge rail track, the replacemnt was standard gauge which would thus allow the UK loco to cross it.

Edited October 14, 2024 by Padge

[Padge]

This could go on several topics but I'll settle for here.

Widnes station's claim to fame is that Paul Simon wrote homeward bound whilst waiting for a train to London sitting on the station.

Widnes have even placed a plaque on the station stating this claim.

Oh dear.

In a recent interview Paul Simon stated that he wrote the song whilst on a station in England, the station was in Warrington, from his own mouth.

Report from BBC Northwest Tonight evening news.

 

[Futtocks]

Living on trains, for £8,500 per annum.

https://metro.co.uk/2024/10/16/spend-8-500-a-year-live-a-train-3-21806154/

Lasse travels 600 miles a day throughout Germany aboard Deutsche Bahn trains. He travels first class, sleeps on night trains, has breakfast in DB lounges and takes showers in public swimming pools and leisure centres, all using his unlimited annual railcard.

[Wiltshire Warrior Dragon]

5 hours ago, Futtocks said:

Living on trains, for £8,500 per annum.

https://metro.co.uk/2024/10/16/spend-8-500-a-year-live-a-train-3-21806154/

Lasse travels 600 miles a day throughout Germany aboard Deutsche Bahn trains. He travels first class, sleeps on night trains, has breakfast in DB lounges and takes showers in public swimming pools and leisure centres, all using his unlimited annual railcard.

Damn clever, these sheepdogs.....oh, Lasse...sorry!

[The Hallucinating Goose]

What a joke Northern Rail are! I am currently in Chester but what a faff I had getting here today!

My first train of the morning from Beverley to Hull was due to leave at 6.20am, if it hadn't been cancelled anyway... it was just complete chance that I'd checked my ticket on the trainline app before setting off to find out it was cancelled and so left home earlier to get the earlier train (put on by First Hull Trains, not Northern) otherwise I would have got a later one and thus missed my connection.

My second train was a Transpennine train from Hull to Manchester, no issues at all with that.

When I arrived in Manchester, I had 15 minutes to catch my Northern connection to Chester and having not been to Manchester Victoria before I raced to the correct platform only to find out the connection was delayed by 45 minutes! The train did arrive 45 minutes late but then simply sat in the station for 15 minutes while dozens of passengers all stood around getting more and more annoyed that we weren't being let on, while giving the group of Northern staff members who were just stood nattering by the driver's cab foul looks.

In the end the train was just sat there for so long that the following connection to Chester arrived on a different platform and all of us passengers just legged it over the footbridge to jump on that one instead.

I got to Chester over an hour late, just lucky I didn't have anything booked or scheduled to do at a particular time. Still, I've enjoyed my day here but not looking forward to my journey home again on Sunday... Northern Rail, absolute joke!

[Gerrumonside ref]

11 hours ago, The Hallucinating Goose said:

What a joke Northern Rail are! I am currently in Chester but what a faff I had getting here today!

My first train of the morning from Beverley to Hull was due to leave at 6.20am, if it hadn't been cancelled anyway... it was just complete chance that I'd checked my ticket on the trainline app before setting off to find out it was cancelled and so left home earlier to get the earlier train (put on by First Hull Trains, not Northern) otherwise I would have got a later one and thus missed my connection.

My second train was a Transpennine train from Hull to Manchester, no issues at all with that.

When I arrived in Manchester, I had 15 minutes to catch my Northern connection to Chester and having not been to Manchester Victoria before I raced to the correct platform only to find out the connection was delayed by 45 minutes! The train did arrive 45 minutes late but then simply sat in the station for 15 minutes while dozens of passengers all stood around getting more and more annoyed that we weren't being let on, while giving the group of Northern staff members who were just stood nattering by the driver's cab foul looks.

In the end the train was just sat there for so long that the following connection to Chester arrived on a different platform and all of us passengers just legged it over the footbridge to jump on that one instead.

I got to Chester over an hour late, just lucky I didn't have anything booked or scheduled to do at a particular time. Still, I've enjoyed my day here but not looking forward to my journey home again on Sunday... Northern Rail, absolute joke!

I’m not sure whether you managed to check beforehand but Northern Rail had been warning people not to travel on certain routes including Manchester Victoria and Chester at the weekend for pretty much the whole of the last month due to vital engineering works.  This has been widely reported in the north west but perhaps not nationally.  You might have caught the back end of it unfortunately.

[M j M]

On 09/12/2020 at 15:46, M j M said:

I don't care if it's not in the thread title I'm going to carry on appropriating this place to document stuff that floats.

I drove over to Hull KR territory this afternoon to witness the final sailing from the UK of the Pride of York. Delivered in 1987 this was the very last British-built passenger ship of any note. The last of the line in every sense, covid has finally done for the ship, its Japanese-built sister and the Hull-Zeebrugge route.

 

The post above was from four years ago when the last major British-built passenger ship left Hull for the final time.

The vessel was subsequently sold to GNV in Italy (subsidiary of MSC), becoming GNV Aries but after a year or so of repeated mechanical issues today set sail on a final voyage, reportedly for scrapping presumably in Turkey (via Piraeus in Greece).

 

I really loved this ship and its Dutch-flagged, Japanese-built sister. I remember when they were the big new thing back in 1987 when I was a budding young ship enthusiast. They were built with a relatively narrow beam to fit through the lock into the King George Dock, and were a little bit quirky on board to meet North Sea Ferries' particular requirements. GNV Aries is only 37 years old which isn't that much by ferry standards now when 50 years tends to be the drop dead date.

[Gerrumonside ref]

https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2024/oct/22/northumberland-new-railway-line-newcastle-opening-up-county
 

Interesting article on exploring the north east by train.

[M j M]

Vic Berry's scrap yard in Leicester, 1986.

 

[The Hallucinating Goose]

What a faff on the train last night... my train home from work usually leaves from platform 4 at Hull and it's usually due to leave about a minute after my bus gets into the Interchange. 

So I jump off the bus and leg it to the platform. I'm relieved to see the ticket barriers are open so I don't have to waste time scrabbling round for my ticket in my wallet and waiting for the ridiculously slow barriers to work. I get onto the platform only to find the train is going from platform 3 where there are dozens of people waiting.

I walk up to the end of the platform cos there are two trains here so logical that mine would be the first one given it is due to go. No. The first one is the York train and mine is the one trapped in by said York train. Departure time for mine passes before we're even let on. When I finally get on, the train sits in the station for 12 minutes because the York one is refusing to let us out. Eventually it did finally move and we were allowed to leave. 

The most annoying thing though is that the whole time this was going on, there was a train sat on platform 4, not trapped in, with the destination of my train displayed on its destination board. Why weren't we allowed to just get on that one and leave on time from the platform we usually go from anyway?!

Jesus Christ, Northern Rail are useless and everyone knows this; I texted Mrs Goose about the situation when we were just sat, letting her know to start tea later, and her reply was simply, "sounds about right"!!

Edited November 5, 2024 by The Hallucinating Goose

[M j M]

Fyfe Robertson ponders some relevantly modern questions in 1975.

 

 

[Padge]

Philomena Cunk on transport.

“Trains use up less resources than other forms of transport because they tend to be canceled, which is better for the planet. This means people can get on buses instead, and take up space on the roads, which encourages more people to leave their cars at home and get the train, which they can’t, because there isn’t one.”

[Futtocks]

The Northumberland Line, between Northumberland Park & Ashington, will reopen to National Rail services upon the timetable change on 15th December.

Services will operate out of Newcastle station on existing non-passenger track, towards Benton, joining existing Metro infrastructure between Benton and Northumberland Park, before branching off towards Seaton Delaval and Ashington.

Services will also call at Manors, and will run every 30 minutes.