Don’t Live In Islington If You’re A Pedestrian!
On Sunday, I went to lunch with my son in Walthamstow.
To catch the bus, I have to negotiate these these traffic lights at Southgate and Balls Pond Roads.
Note that to operate the lights, you must push the button to cross.
As I reached forward to push the button to cross, a car came racing up from Dalston Junction.
- Seeing me standing there with my hand forward, he thought it would be funny to give me a good splashing, which he did by going through the deep water.
- His girlfriend was laughing as she passed close by me in the nearside seat.
- Unfortunately, I didn’t get to read the car’s registration number.
- But I did see the Tesla logo on the boot.
If I had though, judging by the look of the guy and his girl, he might not have been the sort of guy, you report to the police.
What really annoyed me, was having to walk back to my house to change into dry clothes.
I do hope though, that the Borough of Islington fix the levels of the roads to eliminate the flooding.
But they are not good as street presentation as I wrote about in Islington Socialism At Work!
Windar Taps PORR To Build Wind Tower Factory In Poland
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
Spain’s Windar Renovables has selected PORR to build a new factory in Szczecin, Poland, that will produce towers, masts, and foundations for the next generation of wind turbines.
This Google Map shows the position of Szezecin.
Note.
- The small island to the South of Sweden is the Danish island of Bornholm.
- Szczecin is on an inlet to the South of Bornholm.
- Gdynia and Gdansk are in a bay on the Polish coast to the East.
It looks like there will be several places along the coast, that will be suitable for the building and assembly of wind turbines and their components.
It will surely be easy to transport the turbines and their components up the Kattegat and down the Skagerrak into the North Sea.
This second Google Map shows the Port of Szczecin in more detail.
The location of the port is indicated by the red arrow.l
Conclusion
It looks to me to be an ideal place to build the components for wind turbines like towers, masts and foundations.
Northumberland Rail Campaigners Say East Coast Main Line Timetable ‘Bad For Our Region’
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on MSN.
These three paragraphs explain the campaigners worries and point out some of the expected benefits.
Northumberland rail campaigners remain critical of the new East Coast Main Line timetable which is to be implemented from the end of this year.
LNER revealed the new industry-wide timetable, which has been in the works since 2021, had been given the green light by the Department for Transport on Wednesday, December 18. The timetable sees LNER services increased from two to three trains per hour between Newcastle and London King’s Cross.
It also shaves journey times between the Scottish and English capitals, with predictions that faster journeys could see rail’s share of the travel market between the cities rise to 60%. However, shorter journey times mean that there will be fewer stops at smaller stations, with Northumberland stations Berwick, Alnmouth and Morpeth all losing LNER services.
In My First Trip On The Northumberland Line – 18th December 2024, I made this observation about the long platforms on the Northumberland Line.
I am fairly sure that some of the platforms have been sized to take a five-car Hitachi Class 80x train, which are only 130 metres long.
This must enable the ability to use the Northumberland Line as a diversion for the East Coast Main Line.
Some services could perhaps stop at Blyth for the large factories and/or Northumberland Park for the Metro.
In Scotland To Get New Intercity Fleet, I laid down my views on ScotRail’s new Inter7City fleet.
- Could a few extra new trains for Scotland’s Intercity fleet be used to provide a long-distance service through the Northumberland Line?
- It would call at all the smaller stations between Newcastle and Edninburgh.
- It would take the Northumberland Line on occasions.
- It could stop at Blyth for the large factories.
- It could stop at Northumberland Park for the Metro.
- They would be 125 mph trains, so they kept out of the way of the expresses.
- Digital signalling would ensure safe separation.
A friend of mine in the Borders told me, that Border Scots were looking for well-paid employment at the Britishvolt factory. Britishvolt may have gone, but I’m sure a company will build a factory near Blyth, that needs large amounts of elecxtricity and workers.
Paris – Berlin Direct High Speed Train Service Launched
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the Railway Gazette.
This was the sub-heading.
A daily high speed train service linking Paris Est and Berlin Hbf was launched on December 16.
These four paragraphs outline a few details of the service.
It is operated through the Alleo partnership of SNCF Voyageurs and DB, with both French and German onboard staff and using DB Class 407 Velaro D trainsets built by Siemens Mobility.
The journey time is just over 8 h, using high speed lines from Paris to Strasbourg and from Frankfurt to Berlin, and calling at Strasbourg, Karlsruhe, Frankfurt Süd and Berlin-Spandau.
The service is targeted at both leisure and business travellers, with the operators highlighting the environmental benefits of the rail journey producing 2 kg of CO2, compared to 200 kg when flying.
Fares start at €59·99 in standard class and €69·99 in first.
Those prices seem good value.
I have just looked up going on the direct trains from Paris to Berlin on 19th Feb and coming back on the 21st.
These were the two trains.
- Paris Est – Berlin HBf 19th Feb – 09:55-18:03 – 8:08 – £52:00
- Berlin HBf – Paris Est 21st Feb – 11:54 – 20:00 – 8:06 – £86:50
Note.
- Why is it cheaper to go to the East?
- The Berlin HBf – Paris Est should allow you to catch a late Eurostar to London.
- easyJet could get you fast and affordably between Gatwick and Berlin Brandenburg Airport.
- Lumo can get you between London and Edinburgh for under £25:00.
New train services are opening up interesting trips.
Consider.
- I’ve not been to Berlin by train except from the East.
- I’ve not been to the new Brandenburg Airport.
- I’ve not done an eight-hour East-West daytime train trip across Europe.
- I want to look at Karlruhe and Chemnitz, and their new tram-trains.
I might organise my trip like this.
- Eurostar from London to Brussels
- Train from Brussels to Karlsruhe
- Overnight in Karlsruhe
- Train from Karlsruhe to Chemnitz
- Overnight in Chemnitz
- Train from Chemnitz to Berlin
- Overnight in Berlin
- Train from Berlin to Paris
- Walk between Paris Est and Paris Nord
- Eurostar from Paris to London
Note.
- I’ve done London to Karlsruhe in a day via Brussels.
- There will be three nights in hotels.
- It should be possible to do Berlin and London via Paris in a day.
I think I’ll at least plan it.
Ocado: Early In The Morning
Today, I had my shopping delivered at six o’clock in the morning.
I’d booked Ocado for that time and I rose at five, so that the door was ready, when the van arrived dead on the allotted time.
I just unlatched the door and the six grey plastic carrier bags were lined up along the wall inside my hall.
As I always do, I sorted out the beer first, as it is heavy and I keep it downstairs, only bringing what I need upstairs.
But by seven, everything was stored away and I’d had my daily bath, where I give my eyes a good rinsing of the accumulated night’s sleep, of which my eyes collect a lot.
I quite like having the groceries and other shopping delivered early, as it allows me to plan my day properly.
But it has always been thus.
I was usually first out of bed and through most of my teenage years, I marked up newspapers near Oakwood station, before going to school.
I have no recollection of the time I rose at University, but we generally got into the centre of Liverpool by about nine.
So Ocadao at six seems to fit my pattern of life.
Stratford Station – New Gittins Road Entrance
I’ve been meaning to check out this new entrance at Stratford station for some time, as it opened in July 2024.
It is only a simple entrance with a gate-line, ticket machines, information displays and a warm hut for a ticket checker.
Transport for London and other transport operators could do with a few of these entrances, to cut off travelers, who don’t think they should pay.
Silvertown Tunnel Works – 1st January 2025
cklAlthough today was not the best day weather-wise, it has been a long time since I’ve photographed the works on the Northern exit of the Silvertown tunnel.
Note.
- The picture sequence starts as I’m leaving Canning Town station on a Docklands Light Railway train.
- As the weather wasn’t good, I took the train to London City Airport, where I walked across the platform and came home.
- City Hall is the angular building, that is behind the flyover.
- Is that underpass under the flyover to get vehicles to and from City Hall quicker?
The quality of the pictures would have been helped by better weather.
Airport Train Services Hit By £100k Cable Theft
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
This is the sub-heading.
Trains to Manchester Airport have been affected by the theft of more than £100,000 of power cable from a railway line.
These three paragraphs give more details.
The signalling cables were stolen from the railway line between Preston and Bolton over Christmas.
All lines between these stations will be closed “for most of the day” while repair work is carried out, a Network Rail spokesperson said.
Work is due to be completed by around 18:00 GMT, with limited rail replacement buses running to the airport from Blackpool and central Manchester.
In the last century, I was involved in the analysis of cable theft with British Rail.
I discussed it with a judge once, and she said that she felt it would be within sentencing policy to give an extra few months in prison for compromising safety.
Automated Wheel Shape Monitor To Detect Wear
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Railway Gazzette.
These three paragraphs describe the monitor.
Central Japan Railway has developed a device that allows the shape of wheels to be measured while trains are passing over it at up to 80 km/h.
Following a series of field tests, the equipment is being introduced on JR Central’s Tokyo – Shin Osaka Shinkansen route in the 2025 financial year, ending in March 2026. Similar devices will then be installed for JR Central’s electric rolling stock running on 1 067 mm gauge conventional routes.
The Automatic Wheel Shape Measurement Device is intended to ensure that wheels are reprofiled at the optimal time based on the wear condition of the wheels. Until now reprofiling has been used at regular intervals or after a train has run a specified distance.
I like this monitor and I hope it is a success.
In the early 1970s, I was working for a section in ICI, that developed innovative instruments for chemical plants.
One of the instruments that the section developed, measured the size of a plastic-film bubble using a television camera and then used the result to control the size and the pressure of the bubble.
We need more clever instruments to measure the size of moving objects.
Lumo Launches A 0.5% Beer For The New Year In Partnership With A Newcastle Brewing Company
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the Cumberland Gazette.
This is the sub-heading.
Lumo has launches a locally-sourced, low-alcohol beer in partnership with Newcastle’s Donzoko Brewing Company to be available on services between Edinburgh and London.
These two paragraphs add a bit more detail.
Big Nothing 0.5% will be available in time for the new year, aimed towards those taking part in giving up alcohol for Dry January. The addition is part of Lumo’s commitment to providing locally sourced onboard options as part of the catering offer on its services on the East Coast route.
The release of the drink comes after the Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB) reported a 45% increase in alcohol-related incidents during the festive period last year.
I shall be trying some of this beer next time I travel on Lumo.
The Anonymous Widower 