The Anonymous Widower

Buried Utilities Threaten To Delay TfL’s Barking Riverside Extension

The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on New Civil Engineer.

This seems to be the curse of so many rail and I suspect road and other projects in the UK.

  • As it’s a new rail line, this one is not down to British Rail or their predecessors.
  • It appears, that it is Thames Water and BT.
  • Nothing in the article gives any details of when the utilies were installed.

At least the contractors and the utility owners seem to be getting on with sorting out the problems.

I’ve always felt that in the past, when large projects were undertaken, the builders felt that there was no need to properly document everything, as the team, who did the work, would still be around twenty years in the future, if the project have to be revisited.

Unfortunately, this time, there will be a need for an accurate survey and a redesign.

But at least it is a site with plenty of space.

December 12, 2019 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , | 1 Comment

Welcome To The LNER Stadium… Train Operator Sponsors Lincoln City Football Club Stadium

The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Rail Advent.

Sincil Bank willnow be the LNER Stadium.

In LNER To Put Lincoln On The Rail Map, I detailed LNER’s plans to run five trains per day in each direction and also to increase weekend services.

I also speculated that LNER might extend the service to Grimsby and Cleethorpes.

Conclusion

It does appear that the extra services between London and Lincoln and the sponsorship of the stadium are part of a larger plan.

This might fit in with an extension of the service to Grimsby and Cleethorpes.

December 12, 2019 Posted by | Sport, Transport/Travel | , , , , , | 2 Comments

A Curious Election

I voted early this morning about 09:30

Because, the usual Polling Station in a school was unavailable, two stations had been combined in a local community hall.

Usually, Labour Party supporters are busy outside making sure that they maximise the vote for Meg Hillier.

But today there was no-one outside and the only greeting was from the Poll Clerk.

There didn’t seem to be too many people voting either. I don’t think it was as busy as 2017. And I always vote early!

Was it the weather, was I too early or was it some other reason?

All very curious.

The betting odds seem carious too! Both Tories and Labour seem to be dropping, with the others steady.

Does this say that the LibDems and others are getting squeezed?

 

December 12, 2019 Posted by | World | , | 2 Comments

Boeing: US Regulator Admits ‘Mistake’ Over Aircraft Crashes

The title of this post is the same as that of this article on the BBC.

This is the first three paragraphs.

US aviation regulators allowed Boeing’s 737 Max aircraft to continue flying despite knowing there was a risk of further crashes.

Analysis after the first crash last year predicted there could be up to 15 disasters over the lifetime of the aircraft without design changes.

Despite this, the Federal Aviation Administration did not ground the Max until a second crash five months later.

The FAA chief said it was a mistake.

I would class it as a very big mistake.

When are Boeing going to come to the conclusion, that they can’t stretch the fifty-year-old design of the Boeing 737 and they need a new modern design?

 

 

December 12, 2019 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , , | 3 Comments

Advertising With Electric Cars

I took this picture in Islington of cars used by Chestertons; the estate agents.

If I was thinking of selling my house, I might pop-in to their office round the corner.

December 12, 2019 Posted by | World | , , | Leave a comment

Class 755 Train Details

These pictures are a collection of some of the details of Class 755 trains.

I shall add to this collection of pictures.

If you give me a credit, feel free to use them in anything you write.

December 12, 2019 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , | Leave a comment

An Interloper At West Ealing Station

These pictures show a Chiltern Railway‘s Class 165 train in West Ealing station.

Has the train just been borrowed by Great Western Railway or is there another reason?

It looks like as I passed, that I saw a Parliamentary Train, which uses the Greenford Branch to travel to High Wycombe

December 11, 2019 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , , , | Leave a comment

Gates, Bezos Bet On Flow Battery Technology, A Potential Rival To Big Bets On Lithium-Ion

The title of this post is the same as that of this article on CNBC.

This is the first paragraph.

The U.S. energy storage market is expected to grow by a factor of 12 in the next five years, from 430MW deployed in 2019 to more than 5GW and a value of more than $5 billion by 2024, says Wood Mackenzie Energy Storage Service.

Those are big numbers and it makes me ask the question of whether Planet Earth has enough lithium.

The title of the article says that Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos are looking at flow battery technology, as a possibly alternative to lithium-ion batteries.

What Is Flow Battery Technology?

This is the first sentence of the Wikipedia entry for flow battery.

A flow battery, or redox flow battery (after reduction–oxidation), is a type of electrochemical cell where chemical energy is provided by two chemical components dissolved in liquids contained within the system and separated by a membrane.

Wikipedia’s explanation is comprehensive.

  • There are seven different types.
  • There are around twenty different chemistries.
  • They have various advantages and disadvantages.
  • They seem to be less efficient than lithium-ion batteries.

Applications include; load balancing, uninterruptible power supplies, power conversion, electric vehicles and standalone power supplies.

It looks like they are a lithium-ion replacement.

Conclusion

This technology is one to watch.

With all those types and chemistries someone could strike extremely lucky!

 

December 11, 2019 Posted by | Energy Storage | , , , | Leave a comment

The First Flight Of A Commercial Electric Passenger Plane

This video has just been published.

Electricity is the future of aviation!

Initially, it will be smaller planes up to nine seats, like this DHC-2 Beaver and the Eviation Alice.

But I believe that we’ll be seeing Airbus A318-sized electric airliners by 2030.

December 11, 2019 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , , , | 2 Comments

Action This Day!

This was Churchill’s famous phrase and you can read all about it here.

I am getting sick of the indecision of Brexit and I suspect many in this country feel the same.

As I’m retired, it doesn’t make any difference to my business and those that I employ, as there is no business and no employees.

To my mind, Brexit must be sorted by the end of January at the latest, so that we can all move on.

  • If we vote in Boris Johnson with a large majority, we might leave, although I suspect there will be challenges in Parliament, the Courts and on the streets.
  • If we vote in Jo Swinson with a large majority, she will revoke article 50 and that could be the end of Brexit for at least a few years and hopefully for ever.
  • If we vote in Jeremy Corbyn with a large majority, he will dither and prevaricate for a few years years, before we get another close referendum, which gives us more of what we’ve had for the last few years.

As someone, who voted Remain and now quite frankly doesn’t care, I believe the only way to get us out of this mess made by David Cameron, is to hope that Johnson or Swinson get a majority large enough to carry out their stated policies on Brexit.

As for Corbyn, who has a Push-Me-Pull-You policy on Brexit, everybody should make sure, that whoever they vote for, consigns Corbyn, his apparatchiks and their crack-pot policies to the dustbin of history.

December 11, 2019 Posted by | World | , , , , , | 1 Comment