German Lawyers Prove They Have A Sense Of Humour
There has been a YouTube video entitled Für Laura, which shows a German getting his own back on his wife, by cutting everything they own in half.
It now turns out that it was all a hoax by the German Bar Association in their on-line magazine .
Who said lawyers don’t have a sense of humour?
And who said Germans don’t have a sense of hunour?
Big Belly Bins In Islington
I have a thing about street litter. My road isn’t particularly bad for rubbish, as we have a guy with a barrow, who patrols the area sweeping up anything that gets drops.
But it doesn’t deter people from piling waste around the litter bins in the road, as this picture shows.
Rubbish By A Bin In Hackney
I think a lot of what gets dumped is from people who have opted out of Hackney’s rcycling scheme, as bags often seem to be full of fast food packaging and disposable nappies. But some is definitely from commercial premises, as at times, I’ve seen people unloading rubbish by the bins from the back of pick-ups or vans.
I’ve passed the bin shown below at the Angel a couple of times, but today I had a good look.
An Islington Big Belly
It does appear to be in a better state than Hackney’s traditional bin. Perhaps those who think they will pile litter by bins, think that it’s got a camera inside.
The Big Belly web site, isn’t the easiest to navigate, but for a good explanation go to this page on the Islington web site. This is an extract.
The Big Belly units use solar power to compact litter so can hold up to eight times more litter than a normal bin, and email council staff when they need emptying.
Now under a pilot scheme 30 of the bins – which are also used in Times Square, New York – are being placed at busy recycling and litter hotspots in Islington, where street bins fill quickly.
I don’t know for sure, but I suspect as the bins are solar powered, they probably don’t need to be connected to any services. I did read on their web site, that they use SMS messaging to call for emptying.
I like the concept and suspect that it will get developed in the future to be even better and provide other services.
Suffering From Short-And-Alone Syndrome
It is amazing how many jobs around the house are difficult for someone living alone, who is short in stature.
My new bathroom, has a problem. I suspect that the electrician who installed the six spot-lights in the ceiling, bought a dodgy batch of LED bulbs, as one-by-one over the last few months, they have died. Having a bath in the dark or lit by candles may be fun for couples, but this sixty-seven-year-old doesn’t find it the tiny bit interesting at all.
So I bought some new bulbs and got my step-ladder out, but found that the builder had gummed up the holders with paint, so working with my head about twenty centimetres below the fitting and my arms at full stretch, I can’t get the dmn things out of the ceiling, as I don’t have a third hand to hold the torch.
So now, I’ll have to get someone in at great expense and time, to do a job that if I was ten centimetres taller and had a third hand handy, I’d have done myself.
I think there’s a moral in this story for everyone. If you’re going to have these ridiculous spot-lights, make sure that they are fittings like I have elsewhere in the house, that have lugs so you can easily turn them to change the bulb.
In fact, I could design a light and a special tool, that would enable the bulb to be changed by a person of very limited height standing on the floor.
Racing Trains To Scotland
As a child, I was never a great reader of books, except for encyclopaedias and other factual books. In an effort to get me to read more, my mother got me a book from the library about how the various train companies in the late 1800s tried to outperform each other to Edinburgh in 1888 and Aberdeen in 1895.
All of this has come back to me, as this month’s edition of Modern Railways is talking about developments in the services to Scotland, that could happen over the next few years.
The Press of the time, dubbed this Victorian rivalry as the Race To The North and in the section in the Wikipedia entry about the rivalry to Aberdeen in 1895, this is said.
In his 1958 book about the series of races, Oswald Nock wrote of the 22/23 August journey, “And at that astonishing average speed of 63.3 mph made sixty-three years ago the London–Aberdeen record still stands today”
The time was even more astounding, when you consider it wasn’t beaten until the 1970s by an InterCity125, which still work the route today.
The time on the night of the 22nd/23rd of August 1895 was eight hours forty-two minutes with Victorian steam locomotives and today the 200 kph diesel train takes just a few minutes over seven hours. But the modern train takes the shorter East Coast route!
The East and West Coast routes obviously don’t race each other these days, but according to Modern Railways, it looks like travel between London and Edinburgh is going to get faster and more interesting, as Virgin are aiming for quite a few four-hour trains throughout the day and two new companies are applying to run direct services between the two capitals.
If I understand the article correctly, by 2020 Virgin will be running three trains an hour between London and Edinburgh. The train from London on the hour will stop at Newcastle with York in alternate hours. The one stoppers will do the journey in four hours with the others just a few minutes slower.. Hopefully by 2020, the new Class 800 and Class 801 trains will be running the semi-fast services in four hours twenty-three minutes. The fastest trains now take four hours and twenty minutes.
Two new operators are applying to run trains on the route.
GNER which is ultimately a subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn is planning to use 12×9-car Pendelinos to provide an hourly ‘fast’ service in three hours forty-three minutes from December 2018. They have said, that they are aiming to tempt passengers to switch from plane to train.
The article quotes that rail has a 30% share of the London-Edinburgh market, where there are 42 flights a day. They want to push rail’s share up to 50%.
In Edinburgh – Train or Plane? I compared a journey up by easyJet from Stansted with a return in First on East Coast. Both journeys cost and took about the same time from Hackney to the centre of Edinburgh.
FirstGroup is aiming to run five trains each way between London and Edinburgh in four hours from December 2018, using new Hitachi AT300 electric trains with three stops en route at Morpeth, Newcastle and Stevenage. First has said it will be targeting passengers from the low-cost airlines.
I’ve only talked about Edinburgh in this piece, but a lot of the analysis will also apply to the West Coast Main Line, which has already hsad a dose of a competing service, in the share of First TransPennine to Manchester.
If these plans come to fruition, it would look like the slowest trains on the Edinburgh route will be the Virgin semi-fasts, which will take just a few minutes longer than the fastest trains today.
Out of curiosity, I looked at trains and flights for tomorrow (today is a Monday). I could get the 08:00 out of Kings Cross, which gets me into Edinburgh at 12:20, just in time for lunch, for a Second Class cost of £33.95 and a First Class cost of £65.95 (both costs third-off with Railcard), whereas the easyJet flight from Gatwick or Stansted costs around £60, but would probably mean leaving home well before five in the morning.
This leads me to think, that if all these train services to Edinburgh come to fruition, that the only losers will be the airlines, especially if the large increase in capacity on the route brings down train fares.
What Are We Going To Do With The Palace Of Westminster?
The Palace of Westminster has an iconic status, in addition to its function as home to the two houses of the British Parliament.
It’s well-document problems, as detailed here with their solution in the Guardian are pretty serious, so something drastic needs to be done to either preserve or replace the building. The article suggests complete modernisation of the way we are governed with electronic voting, modern offices and the like. This is a typical paragraph.
Yet the buildings cannot be considered in isolation. The deterioration of the estate is an opportunity as well as a crisis. There can be no question of expensively retrofitting the palace to recreate outmoded working practices, traditions and habits. Parliament must become a workplace, instead of a Victorian club. Few modern offices do or should have bars, let alone subsidised ones. A rethink of the institutions, organisation and culture is well overdue, and it must be reflected in the renovations chosen.
I agree with the first part of it, but in some ways too much change in the way it works could destroy British democracy for ever.
I feel so strongly, that I wrote this letter to The Times.
I spent most of my working life, writing software to support the project management of large enterprises.
This has led me to the conclusion, that often what gets created is often very different in concept to the original proposals, once engineers and architects apply some innovative thinking.
I have heard so many arguments in all different directions on the rebuilding of the Palace of Westminster, that I despair anything will ever be agreed. So let’s think laterally!
If you go a couple of bridges upstream, you come to the home of MI6. On the river frontage of this building, one of several large junctions for the new Super Sewer is being dug deep into the river.
The most pressing problems in the cramped Palace are space, services and vehicle access and parking.
We could use the techniques of the Super Sewer, to create a building for these urgent needs alongside, but a respectful distance away from the Palace, deep under the river.
The two buildings would be connected by tunnels and if an island garden could be created on top of the new building, by footbridges. Vehicles would enter through tunnels at either end to and from the Embankment. Parking would be solely in the new building, thus releasing space in front of the Palace and freeing up the parking underneath for more important uses.
I believe that creating this second invisible building, would allow the current Lords and Commons to function as normal during the rebuilding. Modern lighting, would even allow the creation of world class offices and perhaps a third chamber under the Thames.
It wasn’t published, as I suspect they filed it under madmen!
But is it so unfeasible and just silly?
Look at this Google Map of the River Thames between Westminster and Lambeth Bridges.
The Palace Of Westminster And The Thames
The only construction in the river, will be the Super Sewer, that goes underneath it somewhere in the middle. This picture shows the River looking from Victoria Tower Gardens towards Westminster Bridge.
Westminster Bridge
It is a view that must be protected. On the other hand the view on the other side of the Palace, is just a jumble of security blocks and car parking.
In Front Of The Palace Of Westminster
The whole area is a World Heritage Site and it is not treated with the respect it deserves. In fact, it is a complete disgrace.
This Google Map shows the area of the World Heritage Site.
Westminster World Heritage Site
It needs to be improved by banning all traffic except bicycles and buses from the whole area around Parliament Square, the Palace of Westminster and Westminster Abbey.
Extending my plan to do this would put an immersed tunnel in the river from say Whitehall Gardens opposite the London Eye to Lambeth Bridge.
Whitehall Gardens To Lambeth Bridge
It would run through or alongside the new building under the river, that I proposed in the letter to The Times.
Note that there is another building in London, that is built deep down into the water connected to everywhere else by tunnels. It is the massive Lord Foster-designed Canary Wharf station for Crossrail.
The construction of the new building and the tunnels, should be well within the compass of those that designed and built the station. Incidentally that station was built in six years at a cost of five hundred million pounds., without interfering with the daily life, going on all around. You could even bring in construction materials and take out the large amount of spoil on the river.
Once the building, with its car parks and tunnels is complete and connected to the Palace of Westminster, you could start to refurbish the historic palace.
I think that it is totally feasible,
I would also incorporate the following into the design.
1. Pedestrianise as much of the area as possible, whilst allowing buses and cyclists.
2. Build a modern semi-circular third chamber in the new building, to act appropriately as the Commons or Lords during refurbishment. And why not build it big enough for joint sessions of both houses with all the modern features that most parliaments around the world possess?
3. Put all services, car parking and vehicle access into the new building.
4. The new building would of course contain the extra much needed offices.
5. Perhaps more radically, the top of the building could be covered by a floating island, which could be a viewing garden for the Palace, with access by walkways from Westminster Bridge and Victoria Tower Gardens. It can’t be fixed, as the river is tidal.
I think if we think radically, architects and engineers can come up with a scheme that is workable and turns the Palace into a modern Parliament without any loss of history, and the area into a World Heritage Site worthy of the name.
It won’t happen and in thirty or forty years time, they’ll be another crisis concerning the state of the Palace of Westminster.
The Tragedy In Tunisia
For the second time in my life terrorism has got personal with my memories.
Two weeks after I stayed in the Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai, it was attacked.
It must be nearly twenty years ago, that C and myself, stayed in Sousse and had a wonderful holiday.
But, it is nothing to all of those directly affected, whose lives will be changed forever by the pointless actions of the terrorists.
My heart goes out to everyone who has suffered loss!
When will it all end?
I sometimes think, that the time has come to send in the troops to cleanse the world of the scourge that is Islamic State, Boko Harum and all of the others, who just like killing people and destroying things and the lives of others for fun!
These groups are no more Muslim than I am!
But we would reap the whirlwind, as things would just get worse!
A Lazy Man’s Supper
This was my supper sourced from the De Beauvoir Deli.
I wouldn’t normally be so lazy, but I had a lot to do and as I was buying some paint from the DIY store opposite, by buying supper, it saved me another trip later in the day. The steak came from Downland Produce and the potato dauphinoise from Ginger’s Kitchen.
I enjoyed it immensely!
A Two Hundred Million Pound Railway Project Of Which You’ve Probably Not Heard
The West Coast Main Line doesn’t have the capacity it needs to speed passengers between London and Liverpool, Manchester, Lancaster and Glasgow.
A few miles north of Stafford is Norton Bridge Junction, which has been likened in the July issue of Modern Railways as a set of traffic lights on the M6.
So a £200 million pound project has been commenced to remodel the junction. This map from Network Rail shows the lines through the area.
Norton Bridge Junction
Note the proposed new lines shown in orange. This Google Map shows the junction in detail.
Norton Bridge Junction
It would appear that construction has started, which the images in Modern Railways confirm. There is also a Youtube video, which shows a simulation of the junction.
One of the most interesting things about this project is that it is being implemented by the Staffordshire Alliance, which is an alliance of four major consultancies and construction companies. The structure has been borrowed from Australia, where it is called the Pure Alliance Model. This page on the Laing O’Rourke web site gives more details on how it works.
A detailed explanation is given in this article in Rail Engineer.
Let’s hope it works, as Network Rail needs all the good news it can get.
The outcome, when the project is finished in 2017 are stated in Modern Railways as being.
- Two additional fast services per hour between London and the North West; one to Liverpool and one to Lancaster and Glasgow.
- An additional Birmingham to Manchester service.
- An additional freight service.
These unpublicised projects are opening up new paths on Britain’s railways.
For me, it will mean that there will be more train services from London to Liverpool, Preston and Glasgow.
Thoughts On Double Deck Trains
On my Home Run from Krakow, I travelled on quite a few double-deck trains.
But you don’t travel on a train to look at the outside! When I travel on a double-deck train, I usually try and travel on the top deck, as it’s all about the view.
The quality of the view is very much the same as you get out of a Chiltern Railways Mark 3 coach, set up as the designer intended with four seats around a table by each window
Most uninformed comments about double-deck trains seem to come from politicians and journalists, whose only knowledge of engineering, is that it starts with an E. The comments are probably based on a trip on holiday on the top deck of a French, Dutch or German train and the view has told them, that this is the way to travel.
We also have masses of increasingly well-designed buses in this country, so people ask why if we can do it for buses we can’t do it for trains?
Double Deck Train Issues
But having travelled extensively on double-deck trains, I’m convinced they’re not a solution for everyone.
1. Getting On And Off
Speedy boarding is important with any train, but especially with commuter services and this is why increasingly our modern trains have wide doors and are walk-through like the Class 378 trains of the Overground.
But double-deck trains are slow to board for various reasons. Just sit near the stairs on say a German double-deck commuter train at a busy time and see the chaos, which ultimately delays the train.
2. Luggage
This is more of a problem on a long distance double-deck like a TGV Duplex. There may be plenty of space, but passengers want it near them, so it gets in the way of getting on and off in a reasonable time.
3. Cramped Seats Downstairs
One of the reasons, that I go upstairs is that often on a double-deck train, the lower deck seats are cramped and claustrophobic.
4. Disabled Issues
Perhaps on the Continent, they don’t have so many disabled as we do or perhaps they’re not as organised, but their trains are not as disabled-friendly as are our trains.
As a dimple example, many of our new trains are just step across and this helps everybody with a mobility difficulty. Few and none of the double-deck trains, I’ve seen feature this important design detail. Often it’s a couple of steps down or up to get on or off the train.
5. Tram-Trains
Tram-trains running under the Karlsruhe model and train-trams under the Chemnitz model are showing a lot of promise in Germany and France. I believe that more cities will embrace these methods of integrating urban transport, but I can’t see double deck trains running as trams through the main square at Kassel.
6. Design Issues
On one German train recently, I was on the upper deck and needed to go to the toilet. I had to go down the stairs and then fiight my way between the wheelchair passengers, babies in buggies and passengers with bicycles crammed into the lobby downstairs. Then after I’d done my business, I had to fight my way upstairs.
This illustrated to me, how difficult it is to design a usable double-deck train for all types of passenger.
UK Issues
In the UK, there are other issues, that affect double-deck trains.
1. Loading Gauge
The big problem is the UK loading gauge, which is smaller than that on the Continent. Double-deck trains in the UK, that will run on our classic lines, are really trying to fit a quart into a pint pot.
It is interesting to note, that the only attempt to introduce double deck trains in the UK was on the Southern Railway, where the loading guage doesn’t have to accommodate an overhead power supply.
2. Step Across Access
Increasingly, step across access will become the norm all over the UK, just as it is rapidly advancing in London. Any new trains coming into service, which do not have step across access will not be liked by passengers, who will have to lift their beloved wheeled cases in to and out of the train.
3. Go Anywhere Trains
We are innovative in this country and new services are always being examined with existing trains. I think it is true to say, that double-deck trains are often built for specific routes and the infrastructure is modified to suit them.
A Double Deck Train For A Double Deck Line
All of these facts and issues lead me to a conclusion – Any double-deck trains introduced on a network, must be designed for a specific route and the track and stations, must be designed to get the most out of the trains. They would have to have these features.
1. A Connected Train
Internet should go lot further than free wi-fi, which should be available to all passengers.
Some really wacky ideas will be successfully applied, providing the right connections are built into the tain.
2. Seating And Windows
This should be at least as good as Standard Class on the top deck of a German regional train or in a Chiltern Railways Mark 3 coach. Both feature four seats around a window. Some sets would have tables.
In Standard 2+2 seating would be a minimum with 2+1 in First.
3. Wide Aisle
The aisle between the seats must be wide and run the full length of the train.
4. Wide Entrance Doors And Step Across Access
Access into the trains must be through wide doors and there should be no steps up or down, whether passengers are going to the top or bottom deck.
5. Wheelchair Access To The Top Deck
Why not? It must be dreadful to be stuck in a wheelchair all the time, so why deny the disabled the pleasure of travelling on the top deck.
A Double Deck Train Design
It does all sound rather fanciful and expensive.
But if we can have double deck trains, why can’t we have double deck stations?
To build double deck stations for a commuter line would be difficult, but imagine how HS2 with its small number of stations could be designed so that passengers entered and left the train directly into the deck, where their seat was reserved.
Perhaps the only drawback is that all stations would need platform edge doors. But by the time HS2 is operational, train and platform design, coupled with sophisticated control systems could align the platform and train for a simple step across. I’ve never flown in an A380, but I think at some airports, you board directly into the deck, where you will be seated. Surely, what’s good enough for Heathrow and Dubai, is good enough for Euston, New Street and Piccadilly?
There Is No Product That Can’t Be Improved With LEDs
In this month’s Modern Railways, there is an article by Iam Walmsley, about the re-engineering of a Class 73 locomotive for Network Rail. This is a the extract which contains the title of this post.
The cab desk is best described as ‘functional’, a flat plate of stainless steel with everything on it, enlivened by cool teal-coloured LED backlighting, further evidence that there is no product that can’t be improved with LEDs.
This is so right.
The Anonymous Widower 