My New Front Door Lock
I’ve finally got a new front door, replacing the rotting one, that Jery had used.
A new door needed a new lock, so I went to the excellent Franchi on the Holloway Road and bought a Banham.
The lock did cost me £230, but then it does have a few advantages other than the strength and security it offers.
The biggest one is that to be secure, I now need only one normal-sized key.
When I go out, I just pull the handle to open the door and close it behind me to securely activate the lock.
It also means that I don’t have to find the key to let visitors in or open the door to such as postmen and couriers. When a visitor leaves they just open the door and shut it behind them.
So hopefully life will be easier and I won’t be constantly going up and down the stairs. It should be said that for most of the year, I have an upstairs window open and I just put my head out to check who’s there!
These Banham locks must be one of the classic British designs. And the company is still owned by the original family.
The Edinburgh Trams Finally Arrive
One of the reasons to go to Edinburgh was to see the new trams.
The trams themselves are impressive and are the first I’ve seen with leather seats. Incidentally according to this Wikipedia article, the Edinburgh tram is a special design and unlike any others.
The trams, like many Lothian buses are being fitted with wi-fi, which is something I’d like to see on all public transport.
But I think that the design of the system shows a few shortcomings.
Edinburgh is a World Heritage Site, so why didn’t they use battery or catenary-free technology, through the historic centre, as is done in Bordeaux, Nice and Seville. Incidentally the Seville trams were built by the same manufacturer as those in Edinburgh; CAF. It therefore seems even more surprising that Edinburgh doesn’t use the same technology in the city centre, especially as in addition to not using intrusive and ugly catenary, according to some technical articles, I’ve read they are cheaper to install in heritage areas, as no posts or attachments on buildings are needed.
Even the most patriotic of Scots, will admit that it rains in their country. The ticket machines, like they are in many places I’ve been, are out in the open and buying a ticket without an umbrella wasn’t an easy process. All it needed was to make the shelters a little bit longer, as one of the pictures shows.
The ticketing is something that doesn’t take advantage of modern technology. These days, you shouldn’t need to buy a ticket, as you don’t on London’s buses, where if you haven’t got a ticket or an Oyster, you can use a contactless bank or credit card. I hope Edinburgh has plans to allow these cards, as visitors will demand this, as it gets implimemted in more places across the world.
I also felt the ticketing zones weren’t visitor friendly. You can buy one day tickets, but why don’t they do what I found in one European city and offer twenty-four hour tickets. This helps people who might fly into Edinburgh for business or a concert and then fly back out the next day. Charging people for two separate tickets will just upset visitors.
The tram also failed my map and information standards by a long way. Edinburgh has virtually no maps and surely there should be one on every tram stop.
It’s Only A Toilet For A Train
Some of the designs that impress me are ones where something is properly redesigned for the twenty-first or even the twenty-second century, often re-using the current outdated infrastructure.
That is why I like some of the architecture in the UK like the British Museum, the Tate Modern and Kings Cross Station have been extended in a modern style.
The UK Rail Industry has several stations on my list of good improvements, but it is also good at updating rolling stock. The stopgap High Speed Trains are still thundering to the extremes of the UK and who would predict, when the last one is retired from active service? If I live to a hundred, I suspect that some of these trains will outlive me! After all they would become a marketing man’s dream on a long tourist route like down to Cornwall, up to the North of Scotland or perhaps across Australia or Argentina, offering unprecedented comfort in a vintage train. We’ve also got the example of the HST’s humble cousins, the Class 455, which scrubbed up so well, some passengers thought they were new trains.
The UK Rail Industry has an expensive road block coming up in 2020, with the Persons of Reduced Mobility (PRM) legislation coming into force. Many older trains like the Class 156 would have to be scrapped and replaced if they couldn’t be updated to meet the new regulations.
But never underestimate the power of good design and engineering and one of the biggest problems of the refurbishment of the Class 156 described here, namely a fully-accessible toilet has been solved.
The new toilet has been designed and built by PCC.eu and they call it a Comfort Zone. I first saw it described in this month’s Modern Railways.
As I travel occasionally on some of the Greater Anglia trains, that have now been updated, I shall be interested to see how it works in practice.
As the floorspace needed is smaller than the traditional PRM toilet and providing decent on-train facilities is not just a UK problem, it looks to me that this is a classic where-there’s-muck-there’s-money design.
It also shows that one of the best ways to make money is to design or invent something.
Could This Happen In The UK?
This article on the BBC web site is about how the French have ordered 2,000 new trains that are too wide for the platforms.
The French train operator SNCF has discovered that 2,000 new trains it ordered at a cost of 15bn euros ($20.5bn; £12.1bn) are too wide for many regional platforms.
But could it happen here?
The front cover of the February 2014 edition of Modern Railways has a headline of Mind the Gap. Inside it describes how at some London Underground stations there is a problem of large gaps between trains and station platforms with the new S Stock.
But the London Underground problem is for a different reason. As the lines get upgraded and new trains are delivered, London Underground is endeavouring to get the platform-train interface to help passengers and especially those with accessibility problems. And they have some curved platforms that make this difficult and will need rebuilding.
Regularly on the Overground, I see a wheelchair-bound passenger push themselves effortlessly into and out of the Class 378 trains, where the interface is easy. As the Overground platforms are lengthened for the new trains, any small gap problems are probably being addressed.
On the Continent except on Metros, there is usually a step-up into the train, which with heavy cases or a baby in a buggy is a slower process.
I wonder how long it is before some anti-Europe and anti-metrication politician or dinosaur, blames the EU and/or metrication for this French problem.
After all, the French are only probably doing what London Underground are and adjusting the platforms to their shiny new trains.
But are the new French trains solving the problem of access?
I can’t find any detailed descriptions of the trains or even their class, so I can’t answer that one.
This train-platform problem will happen more in the future, as many train platforms in the developed world were designed in the steam era and have been updated over the years. I suspect we’ll probably find some newish stations may have to be rebuilt for the next generation.
So we will see more of approach taken by the French and London of ordering a train, that you want for passenger needs and then adjusting those stations that don’t fit the new trains.
After all you would prefer to have the same type of train for all your lines like London Overground has done with the Class 378 rather than have a special version for some stations. If you look at the Class 378 as a go-anywhere train on the Overground, it has a dual-voltage and selective door opening capabilities to cope with lines without overhead electrification and short platforms.
I suspect that the French problems are worse as it’s a much larger number of trains and stations and there are politicians with axes to grind.
London’s Express Buses
Many cities in the UK and elsewhere have express buses to speed you on your way.
With the introduction of a substantial number of New Buses for London on route 38, it seems that London now has express buses, as they are faster than the traditional buses.
Today, I arrived at Dalston Junction station and as I do caught the first bus along the Balls Pond Road. It was an elderly 56 and before it got to the first stop, it had been passed by a following New Bus for London on route 38. The 38 had been able to make a faster getaway at the lights, as their hybrid drive train seems to give better acceleration.
But by the time I got to my stop at Southgate Road, the new bus was on its way to Islington. This is probably because with three doors the cargo gets on and off a lot quicker.
It also helps that only about a third of the passengers need to go past the driver to check in.
As I can get both 38s and 56s to the Angel, it’ll be interesting to see if the 56s get less crowded when route 38 has its full compliment of new buses.
It would also appear than the traditional buses are having their route displays updated for the introduction of cashless buses in July, with nudge messages suggesting you go cashless. They are also saying you can go in and out through either door.
So will the two door buses be fitted with a touch pad at the rear door, just as the new buses do?
It would certainly speed loading and unloading of buses.
All of this shows that good design can make something as mundane as a bus better!
Is This The House Of The Future?
All over the world we have a problem of affordable, quality housing.
So when I saw this £30,000 house for one on the BBC web site, called a Y-Cube I had to investigate.
It has a good pedigree in being designed by Rogers Stirk Harbour and backed by the YMCA. There’s a lot more about the concept here.
This design may not succeed, but others will!
We are all too ambitious (or is it greedy?) about the type of property we want to live in.
And the tax system encourages well-off single people like myself to live by ourselves in larger houses. Why should I get a Council Tax rebate because I live alone?
Sometimes, I think I’d prefer a minimalist luxury two-bedroom flat high in a tower block with spectacular views of the river. One of the reasons, I don’t move, is that I’d probably be the only person, actually living in a flat they owned.
Perhaps, Councils should publish the occupancy statistics for every street and block in their area. Possible incomers would then see the areas with the right mix of population for their choice of dwelling.
A Double Handrail At London Bridge
I’ve been up these steps many times in the past and don’t remember the double handrail in the middle.
A Double Handrail At London Bridge
They seem to be springing up in a lot of places in London. They certainly makes the steps a lot safer. Especially for me, as my left hand isn’t the best.
The Other Side Of The New Bus For London
My Internet trawl picked up this story from the BBC in Northern Ireland, which talks about the jobs being created by Wrightbus in Ballymena. This is second paragraph.
The company is making a total investment of £14m – more than £10m of which will be for research and development projects.
So will the rest of the world be seeing their own New Buses?
All of this shows the value of good design and engineering.
Incidentally, now that the route 38 is now mainly New Buses for London, everybody seems to be very pleased and talks about it on the buses.
So good design and more space puts a smile on peoples’ faces too!
Most of our trains, even the older refurbished ones, are some of the best in the world for passenger comfort, so why shouldn’t we have similar standards on buses everywhere?
Please Stand On The Right
I’ve not seen this before on the Underground.
Please Stand On The Right
But it probably is a good simple idea.
Unless it was someone who forgot to clean their boots!
What The Heck Is This?
I like properly engineered or crafted products.
What The Heck Is This?
As a clue, it is cast in solid brass!
Can anybody tell me, what to use it for?
The Anonymous Widower 