At Least The Second Greatest Driver Of All Time
Sadly,Sir Stirling Moss died today.
Strangely, he is one of the few celebrities, with whom, I have shaken hands. Most of the others were probably jockeys before or after a race.
It was at Olympia, where I went with my family to see the Christmas equestrian event. Sir Stirling was one of the celebrities running round the crowd collecting money for charity in a bucket.
How many of today’s celebrities would do that?
My greatest memory of Sir Stirling was watching on the TV, as he won the 1961 Monaco Grand Prix.
He was driving an underpowered Lotus 18 and throughout the race he fought off three Ferraris to win by a few seconds.
Deep-Sea Divers Move In To Help Hospitals Fight Coronavirus
The unusual title of this post is the same as an article on the Sunday Times.
This is the introductory paragraph.
More than 500 deep-sea divers who have experience of coping with breathing difficulties have been drafted in to help the NHS treat critically ill coronavirus patients.
When you read the article it seems a sensible more.
- The divers are medical technicians.
- They are experts at using masks.
- They normally provide care offshore.
- They are used to working in PPE in uncomfortable positions.
- I suspect, that they are not six stone weaklings.
It is being co-ordinated by a former director-general of the Army Medical Corps.
As a one-time next-door neighbour, who had been a colonel in the British Army once said to me. “In case of war, burn all the rule books!”
Zero Carbon? Not Here! Carbon-Fibre Bogie Frame
When I was at University in the 1960s, the big UK engineering project was the Rolls-Royce RB-211 turbofan engine.
One of the features of the engine was a carbon-fibre fan blade, which saved weight and thus made the engine lighter and more efficient.
However the blades were found to shatter with bird strikes and titanium had to be used instead.
At Liverpool University, we knew something was wrong, as a fellow student on our course was the son of the Manager of Tesco in Derby. What used to happen to Tesco’s out-of-date chickens? They ended up at Rolls-Royce, where they were used to test jet engines for bird-strikes. He told us the story of the failed testing one liquid lunch-time.
That was over fifty years ago and the RB-211 has morphed into the successful Rolls-Royce Trent engine, which first ran in 1990 and is still going strong.
Carbon-fibre has gone its own way and is used in many applications from cars to tennis rackets and golf clubs.
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on Rail Engineer.
The article describes work at Birmingham University to create a carbon-fibre bogie frame.
This paragraph from the article describes the outcome.
A major achievement is that the mass of the frame as built is 350kg, compared to the steel equivalent of 936kg. By the time the metal fittings were installed and paint applied, the mass had increased to 940kg compared with the steel equivalent of 1468kg, a reduction of over half a tonne per bogie.
Lighter bogies mean lower track-access charges.
I will be interesting to see how this project ends, when a prototype has been running in a real train.
The Definitive Hydrogen Train
There is only one hydrogen-powered train in service and that is the Alstom Coradia iLint, which is running in Germany.
I feel it is very much an interim design, as Alstom has taken a diesel-mechanical Lint train and swapped the diesel for a hydrogen-powered electricity generator and an electric motor.
Alstom are converting electric Class 321 trains into a hydrogen-powered version called Breeze.
A typical train would be three cars. The visualisation shows one of the two driver cars, that contain a large hydrogen tank behind the cab.
Between the two driver cars would be a trailer car.
Using Electrification
Nothing has been disclosed yet, but it would surely be easy to allow this hydrogen train to keep its pantograph on the trailer car and be able to use electrification if it is installed.
This would increase the range of the train and might allow a version with a smaller hydrogen tank and a greater passenger capacity.
Charging Batteries
In a definitive hydrogen-powered train, which had been designed from scratch to use hydrogen, I could envisage, that the batteries could also be charged, when the train is connected to either electrification or a charging station.
A Smart Computer
The train would have a very smart computer, which would do the following.
- Manage the various power sources.
- Choose the appropriate source for the route, weather, passenger load, fuel and battery levels.
- Raise and lower the pantograph automatically.
- Control the trains systems to minimise electricity use.
This is little different to many trains, built in the last few years.
Conclusion
The definitive hydrogen-powered train will be a battery-electric-hydrogen hybrid train.
Hardly Any Passengers – But Greater Anglia’s Trains Are More Reliable
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on the Great Yarmouth Mercury.
This is the introductory paragraph.
It may be operating fewer trains and carrying a fraction of the passengers it was – but Greater Anglia’s trains are now much more reliable for essential workers, figures show.
Greater Anglia’s most punctual route was Manningtree to Harwich at almost 99 %.
Automated Vegetation Monitoring Technology Deployed In Train Cabs
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Railway Gazette.
This is the introductory paragraph.
Transport for Wales has worked with technology company One Big Circle Ltd to fit trains with ‘smart’ cameras designed to automatically record, analyse and report lineside vegetation risks.
This is surely, a simple application of technology, that will spot vegetation problems, before they cause serious trouble.
H2-Share Launches First Hydrogen Truck
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on H2-View.
These are the two introductory paragraphs.
H2-Share’s first hydrogen-powered rigid truck has hit the road in the Netherlands.
The European project aims to facilitate the development of a market for low-carbon heavy-duty vehicles that run on hydrogen for logistic application.
It looks a well-thought out project to develop a market for hydrogen trucks.
- Looking at the picture, it appears that the project has taken an off-the-shelf DAF truck and modified it for hydrogen.
- The truck is a two-axle 27 tonne truck.
I shall follow this project.
Coming Or Going?
I took the pictures of this lorry carrying concrete staircases in the Balls Pond Road.
I like a good puzzle. So where were these three staircases going on a truck, that was obviously from Cornwall?
- They look to be very well-made, with a quality finish.
- Had they been made in Cornwall and were being delivered to a skyscraper in the City?
- Had they been made in East London and were being taken to Cornwall?
The truck was facing Highbury Corner, so would the second be the most likely?
On the other hand, Google found a company called Cornish Concrete Products at Bissoe, only a few miles from Redruth.
De Beauvoir Square
This is my local square, which is about fifteen minutes walk.
Note.
- C and I tried to buy one of the Dutch style houses in the square from the screenwriter; Alun Owen in about 1971.
- It would have cost just £7,500. Now a hundred times that, wouldn’t buy it!
- There was a gardener at work.
De Beauvoir Town is not what you’d expect in Hackney.
Queuing For Marks And Spencer In Dalston
I took this picture of the orderly queue waiting to get into Marks and Spencer in Dalston.
It does appear that everybody was obeying the rules and I only took twenty minutes to enter the store.
- The store was well-stocked, although there were very few ready meals with long Best Before dates.
- Gluten-free bread, biscuits and cereals were at near normal levels.
- There were about a dozen bottles of Adnams low-alcohol beer on the shelves, which I reduced by a couple.
- There were no gluten-free cakes. Not that I buy them often.
- Some lines like gluten-free sandwiches seem to have been dropped. Not that I wanted any, as I won’t be travelling.
- The staff were being very professional.
I was able to get enough food in my bag to get me through to the middle of next week.
The Anonymous Widower 