Recent content by Old Timer

CrossRail was always intended only as an East / West link across London, rather than as an interchange route.

Even as late as the mid to late 80s, services through Lincolnshire on the GN/GE Joint line would be running late as a result of fog, as very few distant signals had AWS. Remember that AWS on secondary routes is a relatively recent occurrence - I am talking about the last 20 years or so. I...

The frontal doors were intended to allow train crews to transfer from the train to the locomotive whilst running on long fast non-stop runs, as in the Gresley A4s for example - The BTC film The Elizabethan refers. They were not intended to be used between locomotives as originally locomotives...

The Norden bombsight was yet another fallacy put out by the Company and the USAAF, especially after their involvement in Dresden (in which USAAF a/c actually went down to low level and strafed civilians - something the US hypocritical correspondent saw fit not to mention when he accused the RAF...

I am afraid you are wrong on both scores. I do not have the time to elaborate right now, but the British bombing campaign was about attacks on the means of production - The Ruhr valley for example, known as Happy Valley, for obvious reasons. As housing must inevitably exist near to factories and...

Your CPCS certificates will be acceptable within the Railway, as providing basic machine operator competence. You will however need to undergo further training and certification as working road/rail plant is considerably more hazardous than what you will have been used to. You will need to...

I have had the benefit of listening to the original communications between the Driver and Control, which have come into the public domain and from my interpretation it appears that the Driver reported that he was "maybe running fast" and had rectified a fault (with the brake ?) at Moron station...

I would post two links and make two comment. Here is a link to the Commentator which points out the failings in the "study" http://www.thecommentator.com/article/885/loony_left_another_seven_days_of_left_wing_madness This is supported by...

Gadaffi was more of a personal fiefdom dressed up in Political clothes. There is a debate still ongoing that suggests Fascism is neither left nor ring wing focussed but takes on the extremist views of each wing. If you look at the Wickipedia article on Fascism, it pretty much describes...

I dont have a clue as I do not subscribe to extremist views nor do I follow any of those groups. I would have to take your comment on face value. By the way it is a fallacy that Mussolini made the trains run on time ! :D http://www.snopes.com/history/govern/trains.asp

What have they got to do with the NF and the EDL ??? I do not understand your point at all. I have pointed out that there were both Left and Right Wing dictatorships. There aren't any other forms.

We were discussing Right Wing dictatorships.

Their management of the economy though is not, being more Social democrat than Labour. Right-wing parties have a long tradition in northern countries. In the past few years, under the collective label of “right-wing populism,” they’ve also made an increasing rise on the political scene. The...

I lament the days when the two good Sunday newspapers were the Sunday Times and the Observer. They always had some very well informed and high quality articles and exposees. Sadly the "freedom" from obvious Political pressure has now long gone and you can only be certain that any story will...

As it was for the GW loco that exceeded 100 mph but I remember the first 100 mph sign going up on the GN main Line well after steam was on its way out. There was no high speed running at or above 100 mph in the UK on a regular and sustained fleet operation. Whilst some trains may well have...