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On the Woodhead line Worsborough incline from Wath to Penistone they would have 4 locomotives on a train with two at the front and two pushing. Initially with steam they were normally 8 driving wheel heavy freight locos such as O4s, later on they tried replacing the two pushers by a monster...

I have always thought the point of a hybrid is to get the best of both electric and petrol engines. Petrol engines are very inefficient at low power outputs and use considerable quantities of fuel when idling. In contrast an electric drive is very good at low outputs such as urban congestion...

I agree inertial guidance can achieve this although they are prone to drift. Most use other inputs such as axle probes and GPS signals to constantly compensate for drift.

I made the point earlier that speed limiters should have some intelligence built into them and if it has established that you are on motorway you can not suddenly jump to a urban side road with a 20MPH limit. While GPS can give a very accurate speed measurement over a long distance and time, in...

I do wonder on weather the electricity supply network can cope. One of my neighbors has decided to an electric car charger fitted and it was found out that the supply cable to his house was inadequate. What was done on the estate (built in the 70s) is that a single cable was used to supply two...

I agree that we have to consider the posibility that the GPS signal is lost. As well as jammers and possibly terrorist action there is also the possibility of natural events. For example the earth being hit by a coronal mass ejection from the sun This has happened in the past for example the...

I would expect the software in system to have some intelligence. For example if it established that you were on a motorway then it would know that you could not suddenly jump to nearby side street with a 20 mph limit. Also it might default to the highest local speed limit within the range of...

One of the problems with automated systems is coping with the unexpected. For example on more than 1 occasion over the I have had to preform normally illegal moves (under the command of traffic police) such as doing a U turn on a motorway and driving the wrong way back to an exit as there has...

I could well see that in a few years after their introduction that insurance companies give a discount for driving one if they prove to be safer and make it almost impossible to get insurance on on none fitted car unless they have a long NCD and a clean license or have a GPS tachograph fitted.

Speed limits do not mean that it is safe to drive at that speed. For example I know of roads with a 50 limit where there are bends that can not be taken at speeds over 30MPH. And situations can develop on a road where it becomes unsafe to go at the road speed. No doubt some idiots will drive on...

Many insurance companies are now requiring cars to be fitted with an electronic GPS tachograph. So there will be increasingly more requirements for cars to avoid exceeding speed limits and getting warning letters from insurance companies. I personally would like a manual limiter so to help keep...

With a railway electrification system one of the limiting factors is return voltage drop. If this exceeds a few volts then you run a real heath and safety issue of electric shocks and stray currents. The much lower currents with high voltage AC systems make it less of a problem and there are...

I do not watch football and never have. As a keen rambler I often go walking and on many days when there is a big match on I have not noticed any difference in the number of walkers out (particularity on the hard high sections)

When the decision to go for third rail electrification was originally made in the 1920s the situation was different to the present day requirements. Trains were mostly shorter, made of lighter weight stock, did not include air con and worked to much slower timetables. Therefore the power...

Outside my house in Altrincham are some 90+ year old OLE posts that date back to the original MSJ&A electrification. While the electrification system has changed twice (and the wires and insulators replaced) the basic metalwork is original. Most of the OLE structures used on the Metrolink...

The present arrangement through Navigation road is probably the best arrangement that can done short of putting in 4 tracks. If you had a common pair of tracks you would end up with lots of delays as trains and trams kept crossing each others paths. There is a considerable amount of freight...

There are plenty of decent footpaths on both sides which include many viewpoints that overlook the Rhine. I went for a holiday a few years ago to Bopard and as part of the holiday I walked a section of the Rhein Burgen weg...

There will always be some need for self powered or none electric locos. This will include working none wired sidings, engineering operations and rescue in event of a power failure. However a most of this demand will probably be met by Bi mode locos, a powerful electric locomotive with a small...

Depends on the person asking the question and how much local knowledge they have. i/ If local and very familiar with the area I would say which part of the town I live in - eg North Altrincham + more details 2/ reasonably local I would say the local town eg Altrincham 3/ If unfamiliar with the...

On the other side of Hartshead pike is the Medlock Valley which is well worth looking at. There is Park Bridge heritage site and Daisy Nook country Park. A linear walk I did a 2 years ago was an 11mile linear walk along the Medlock Valley. Catch a tram to Shaw and Crompton, climb up to Bishop...