Lumo’s Seats Are OK
I went down to King’s Cross to see the 1348 Lumo arrival from Edinburgh arrive (At 1343 incidentally!)
The seats seemed to be a big topic with passengers I talked to, who’d just spent four-and-a-half hours sitting on them!
I will replace these pictures with better ones, when I use the trains. But they do show the basic design.
But all felt positive about them and said they were better than LNER.
One guy showed me a video of pushing his hand into the seat cushion. It appeared they would make bad ironing boards.
Track Monitoring System To Be Tested On Chiltern Line
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Railway Gazette.
This is the first paragraph.
Network Rail is to undertake in-service trials with DB Systemtechnik’s CTM2·0 continuous track monitoring system on a Chiltern Railways MkIII driving van trailer operating in passenger service between London Marylebone and Birmingham.
This seems to me to be a good idea.
- The German system appears to be comprehensive and has been in service for seven years.
- There is a lot of space in the back of a driving van trailer.
- It probably can do much of the work of the New Measurement Train, but more often.
It could surely be applied to other routes.
The picture shows the driving van trailers on the London-ends of a pair of InterCity 225s at King’s Cross.
Some Open Access Operators are also looking at the possibility of running short InterCity 225 sets.
It would also be possible to create extra Measurement Trains, by coupling an instrumented driving van trailer to an appropriate locomotive and a couple of coaches.
As a Control Engineer, who has analysed a lot of data in his working life, it could improve rail safety by testing rail lines more often.
The Diamond Light Source And PETase
When I was writing Diamond Synchrotron Sparkles And Shows Its Value To UK Economy, I came across a reference to PETase, in an article in Chemistry World, where this was said about the Diamond Light Source.
‘It is the facilities in the UK that really make the difference and make us a world leader,’ comments John McGeehan, professor of structural biology at the University of Portsmouth.
His team has used Diamond to study the bacterial enzyme PETase, which digests plastic. ‘Diamond’s I23 [long-wave macromolecular crystallography] beamline is unique in the world. It allowed us to solve the 3D structure of the PET-degrading enzyme, first found in plastic dumps in Japan in 2016. Three years ago it was the highest resolution image of the enzyme measured and remains so today. Having this information allows us to understand how the enzyme works, and how to make it work faster and better.’
As a result, the team has been able to visualise the active site of the enzyme and how it consumes plastic. The researchers discovered that the active site was slightly wider than cutinase, a similar enzyme that bacteria use to break down natural plant polyesters. ‘The technology leading from this research means plastic waste can be broken down and put back together into bottles (infinite recycling), or can be made into higher value products such as resins for wind turbine blades,’ says McGeehan. Patents are pending.
Note, that PET is polyethylene terephthalate, which is a very common plastic used to make fabric (Terylene/Dacron) and packaging.
Now that is what I call recycling!
Diamond Synchrotron Sparkles And Shows Its Value To UK Economy
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Chemistry World, which is a monthly chemistry news magazine published by the Royal Society of Chemistry.
This is the first paragraph.
Diamond Light Source, the UK’s synchrotron, has generated a ‘fantastic return on investment’ since it became operational in 2007. That’s according to a new study that values its socio-economic impacts at around £1.8 billion with each taxpayer contributing £2.45 a year towards it.
If you read the article about the Diamond Light Source, you will find example applications where the synchroton has been used.
- Non-destructive testing of materials and structures. Some have been over a metre in size and a tonne in weight.
- Drug discovery and development.
- A team from the University of Portsmouth has used Diamond to study the bacterial enzyme PETase, which digests plastic.
- Rolls-Royce has used Diamond to examine the stresses in fan-blades.
The article also states that it has hosted 14,000 users.
With an energy of only 3 GeV, Diamond is not the most powerful synchrotron, but it is certainly one of the most sophisticated.
Related Posts
I have written about the Diamond Light Source in these posts.
- Moonshot Is The Spanner In The Covid-19 Works The Country Needs
- The Diamond Light Source And COVID-19
- The Diamond Light Source And Ebola
- The Diamond Light Source And Malaria
- The Diamond Light Source And PETase
The Diamond Light Source is a serious scientific tool, that ranks with the best in the world.
A Satisfied Lumo Customer In Marks & Spencer
I got talking to an assistant in Marks today and noticed she had a Scottish accent, which isn’t that common in my part of London amongst the young. So I remarked on it.
It turned out she was a student from Fife at University in London, so out of curiosity, I asked her, if she’d heard about Lumo?
She said yes and indicated she was going home on Friday and very much liked the price.
Is Lumo’s message getting through? I think it is!
An American Take On Lumo
One of my Google Alerts picked up this article on an American site called Travel + Leisure, which is entitled A Brand-New Train Launched In The UK Today — Linking Cities Like Edinburgh And London For As Little As $20.
As I have sat next to American and Canadian couples and families on Anglo-Scottish trains, I hope that Lumo’s website is friendly to those living outside the UK.
Will The Lumo Concept Take Off In The United States?
I’m no expert, but on the right route, I don’t see why not!
After all, easyJet, Go and Ryanair took on the concept of the low-cost airline, which was pioneered by Pacific Southwest Airlines in California.
Street Burger – Islington
Regularly in pre-pandemic times, I would go to Carluccio’s at The Angel in Islington for a quick lunch after doing my shopping on a Saturday.
But unfortunately, Carluccio’s is no more!
Now there is a Street Burger by Gordon Ramsay between Marks and Spencer and one of the bus stops, from where I can get a bus home.
Before I continue, I should say I have form with Gordon Ramsay, as I once talked to him on Radio 5 about gluten-free food in a restaurant.
He said that if you book at least 24 hours before and say you want a gluten-free meal, the restaurant has no excuse for not giving you what you need.
He also said that if they think they’re a good restaurant and can’t offer gluten-free food, then they’re not a good restaurant.
Since then, I’ve eaten a couple of times in his upmarket restaurants and he’s not broken his own rules.
Today, I broke his rule, by just turning up. But I did know, they did gluten-free options.
Note.
- I forgot to take a picture of the burger before I started to eat it.
- The decor is simple and practical.
- What car did the seats come from?
- You can have as much soft drink as you like.
The pictures don’t do the meal justice, which was upmarket for a burger.
I shall use the restaurant more often, as it’s so conveniently placed, close to Angel tube station, which is one of my routes home.
Moonshot Is The Spanner In The Covid-19 Works The Country Needs
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on The Times.
This is the sub-title of the article.
Antivirals like molnupiravir are the third line in our long-term fight against coronavirus.
The article describes how scientists in Oxfordshire looked for an antiviral that could be Covid-19’s nemesis, which Tom Whipple called molecular kryptonite.
The American pharmaceutical[ molnupiravir has been the first antiviral to be licenced for Covid-19, but it is pricey.
But helped by the Diamond Light Source, it appears that, progress has been made in Oxfordshire.
Tom Whipple says this.
After 18 months of study they last week gained funding from the Wellcome Trust to narrow the options to one, in a project called Covid Moonshot.
And this.
The goal of Moonshot is a generic drug that is cheap, plentiful and, a stipulation of the project, off-patent from the beginning.
Has the Diamond Light Source has struck again?
- The Diamond Light Source And COVID-19
- The Diamond Light Source And Ebola
- The Diamond Light Source And Malaria
The Diamond Light Source might have cost £ 400 million and needs a budget of £ 40 million a year to run, but it is certainly starting to pay back the investment.
Chancellor To Fund £710m Merseyrail Expansion
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Liverpool Business News.
This is the first sentence.
In his Budget on October 27 Chancellor Rishi Sunak will hand Liverpool city region £710m to extend the Merseyrail network using battery-operated trains.
I wrote about Merseyrail’s plans in Liverpool’s Vision For Rail.
This is a map of how the network might look.
Battery trains might serve Preston, Skelmersdale, Warrington, Widnes, Wigan and Wrexham.
There is also this tailpiece to the Liverpool Business News article.
In August LBN also revealed Mr Rotheram was in talks with senior Government officials about taking full control of the Merseyrail network, including the physical infrastructure, Full devolution of the network would give the CA direct control over significant areas of land, opening up the opportunity for new development.
That seems very sensible.
Planning Permission Granted For The First New Railway Station On The Northumberland Line
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on ITV.
This map from ITV shows the Northumberland Line.
Ashington station has been given planning permission.
Facilities include.
- A hundred metre platform and all the gubbins. The platform length would accommodate a five-car train.
- A 270 space car park with facilities for the disabled and electric cars.
It is due to open by 2024.
It looks like it’s just five new stations to go.
The Anonymous Widower 