Open House – Is Mine Bigger Than Yours?
This picture was taken at TUCA yesterday.
Is Mine Bigger Than Yours?
The tunnel boring machine is not one of the largest. But it is probably, the biggest one, where you can have your photo taken.
Open House – Crossrail’s Bond Street Station Presentation
This was a presentation, that I wanted to see yesterday. But as you can see it was very popular. At least from the numbers who turned up.
Crossrail’s Bond Street Station Presentation
At least it probably shows, that CrossRail is going to be a success.
Lingerie Adverts On The Tube
It was always said in the 1960s and before, that lingerie adverts were put on the Underground escalators, as because people were passing them at speed, they couldn’t write anything on them.
Then a few years later, certain women, thought the adverts were degrading and started putting stickers on them.
And then, yesterday I was ascending in Bond Street station, where a large number of copies of the same woman on video screens, was showing off her Marks & Spencer’s bra.
I suppose because the video lasted only a few seconds before changing to something else, this stopped them being defaced.
The Designers of the New Bus for London Missed a Trick Here
This picture shows the roof detail downstairs on the New Bus for London.
Roof Detail on a New Bus for London
The strip is just a moulding and design detail, but on some buses in the sixties and seventies, this strip was soft and if you pressed it the bell rang to stop the bus.
London Uses The Train Model For 600 New Buses for London
London has just ordered 600 New Buses for London from Wrightbus, according to this article on the BBC website.
Boris’s political opponents say he is wrong, but they would anyway, wouldn’t they?
On the other hand, what Transport for London (TfL) are using is exactly the same purchase model, as that used for trains in this country.
The trains are ordered by the Department of Transport, owned by leasing companies or ROSCOs and then hired by the train companies like Virgin. In many cases, the maintenance is arranged by the manufacturer or ROSCO and they guarantee to provide so many trains each day.
When applied to London’s buses, this must give similar advantages.
- Although, TfL are buying 600 buses, I suspect that this package includes maintenance and guarantees a specific number of operational buses. In fact, on the 38 route, there are nine in service, but usually one is kept as a spare, in case of failure.
- Are TfL selling the leases on to a third party? How many of those, who are against the deal, have never bought something on hire purchase or a lease?
- The buses can be used, where and when they are needed. Most routes need about 20-30 buses, so batches of the New Buses can be moved around, according to need. For instance, the passenger pattern may be very different according to the seasons, so buses might run on one route in summer and another in the winter.
- These buses will change as time goes on and owning them outright, gives TfL the opportunity to update the older ones to the new specification.
- I think too, that the single ownership, should mean that the buses will have a longer service lifetime, just like the old Routemasters and the Inter City 125 trains.
- It will also give TfL time to do a full analysis of bus design, operation patterns and costs.
So all things being well, I think this could be a good decision, that saves money in the long term.
Waiting For A New Bus for London
I was waiting for a 38 or 56 bus at the Angel, this afternoon and as I had a couple of moderately-heavy bags from Waitrose and the stop was busy, I waited about twenty metres away from the stop, in case a New Bus for London arrived. I wasn’t the only one and when a bus did arrive, we all formed a secondary queue and got on at the back door, when the conductor beckoned. If one hadn’t have arrived, we’d have all waited until the main queue had shortened and then joined the first bus.
I think we’re just going along with the designer’s plans, as the New Bus was quickly on its way. It will be interesting to see how much New Buses for London save on journey times.
A Stray Airliner?
In my exploration of the Gospel Oak to Barking line, I decided to follow the line on Google Maps. All went well and I was able to see where the electrification stopped and kicked in around South Tottenham. And then I found this image, as the railway passes south of Seven Sisters station.
I wonder how many stray planes are available to view on Google Maps?
Can anybody identify the tail to determine the airline? Judging by the silhouette, it looks like it’s some variant of Boeing 737.
If you want to find it, type “Seven Sisters station” into Google and then select maps. The plane is just south of the station.
As someone, who has over a thousand hours in command of an aircraft, you are taught under Visual Flight Rules to fly with the line feature on your left. So it could be they’ve taken off from Stansted and they’re following the railway. But then, they wouldn’t be under these rules over London, except in very special circumstances.
Identifying the airline would help solve the puzzle!
Wires At Woodgrange Park
Woodgrange Park station is the first station, as you come along the Gospel Oak to Barking line from it’s eastern end.
Note .
The station is wired for electric trains to pick up current from overhead wires.
The c2c Class 357 electrical multiple unit passing through. It was probably going somewhere for something like maintenance or modification.
The wires petered out soon after we left the station and crossed the Great Eastern Main Line.
But why?
If it was fully wired like the North London line, then they could use the same type of train.
Is This London’s Ugliest Tube Station?
I went to West Ham station today and took a few pictures.
It really is truly awful, unless you like piles of bricks. It isn’t correctly named either, as it’s nowhere near the Boleyn Ground and I suspect on match days, staff are for ever rounding up lost away fans. Crystal Palace station is another badly named one, as that is nowhere near Selhurst Park.
Whoosh At Langdon Park
I stopped yesterday at Langdon Park DLR station to take pictures of the so-called Whoosh sculpture.
I couldn’t find any details of who designed and made it, at the station. I shall go back for a look. I found nothing on return, but there is a bit here.
I aways think that works of art should be acknowledged. When I went to see England play in Belarus, Minsk was full of unattributed modern statues. But that’s communism for you! Someone who is very good, might get some credit for it, when it should all go to the leader.
The Anonymous Widower 