Weekend Variety (Sunday)

 Two Men In Their Mid Sixties

Julien (above) and Peter (in drag, below) ...

... were keen members of the fbb's Crusader Bible group (in Sheffield) from about 55 years ago to their departure to further education. There has been contact with Peter spasmodically over the years but Julien had dropped off the radar. 

They arrived at fbb mansions at 1245 yesterday and left at 1700.

It would be fair to say that both have strayed from the path of Faith, but the spooky thing was how quickly the chat restored the friendship and mutual respect of those long years past.

It was a joy to hear how much they had appreciated those long-off days.

The fbb's will pray that, somewhere in the free-flowing nostalgia, a spark of memory may re-ignite their Christian interest.

As Rene Descartes ...

... (1596 to 1659) once said, "Inside every human is a God shaped hole that only God can fill."

Weather Getting Cooler, So ...

... just as temperatures were dropping, South Yorkshire PTE withdrew all Supertram services on Friday afternoon.

How Much?

You could do a lot of Public Transport improvements for £73 Million.

fbb reckons that the good folk of West Yorkshire could advise Tracy the Mayor ...

... entirely free of charge.

First Bus Faring Better?

When fbb worked for Southern Vectis, it used to be said that the Managing Director would decide how much profit to show in the year-end accounts. Then it was the job of the Finance Director to produce a set of accounts to show that desired result.

Corporate accounts can often involve a dose of financial necromancy!

Please understand, this is not an accusation of dishonesty, merely a reminder that accountancy is a skilled art more than an exact science!

So how fares First Bus?

Hmmm?

It is not that long ago that bus companies were getting rid if their coach businesses like they were a toxic disease. Now all the bigger groups seem to be snaffling up coach firms like they were a huge money spinner.

Really?

Aren't Computers Wonderful?

Apparently not in Germany!

As the song says ...

Every nation in creation has its favourite train

France is famous for Ouigo, in Germany it's ICE.

Turkey has a luxury train 

that crosses many a Turkish plain

Russians go for distance. They all love their IT.

German expresses may be roaring

With a boomalacka zoomalacka whee

But there isn't any thrill

when the the trains stand still

Everything stops with IT.

A driver out in the country

So bereft of his usual glee

Has to stop his train and simply wait

Making every passenger late

Everything stops with IT.

Should there have been a back-up?

Keine Vorsprung Durch Technik

There Will Be A Back-Up!

For Lovers Of Tank Wagons ...

Would you buy either of these?

If not, what's wrong with them?

Would this one be more acceptable?

This is a real one, NOT a model.

More tomorrow.

 Next Variety blog : Monday 29th June 

Convalescent Cartography (2)

 Did fbb Say 'Easy'?

Remember this? It is a 'public artwork' dominating Central Square at Optics Valley, Wuhan (China). Below is what it looks like in Google Earth!

And that is Google Earth set to '3D'! The further east you travel on the map, the less helpful it becomes.

This purports to be a main road and the site of a Monorail station ...

... which it very much isn't.

After many a long scroll, your determined blogger has found both the Dangle car station and the tram stop at which a theoretical connection can be made.

The huge Monorail station is upper right, the tram stop is lower left. In theory this is what the 'interconnection' of the two modes looks like ...

... which hardly matches the Google Earth view.

Clearly Google is either of very poor quality or, maybe, just hopelessly out of date. It was not much help to fbb.

Despite these challenges, fbb was able to add tram stops on Line 2 (RED) at least as far as the non-interchange with the Monorail.

Progress!

But the rest of the red tram seemed impossible. 

The tram diagram notes the interchange ...

... but gives no name to the Metro Line 11 stop. So we cannot know exactly where the interchange happens.

Whilst waiting for inspiration, fbb started on some cosmetic work, Firstly, lines need to be at the right angle (using a right angle or 45 degrees), assisted by fbb's patent angle adjuster ...

... so much simpler than using facilities within the drawing software. You just drag the lines a smidgen to match the grid.

Seemples!

Then the corners need to be rounded. So fbb makes a set of rounded corners ...

... then splits the join at the 90 degree bend ...

... drops a 'corner' in and rejoins the lines.

He also has 135 degree corners!

Again, seemples! You don't need sophisticated and over-engineered software to draw a passable map.

Then your aged blogger remembered that Wikipedia has separate articles on each Metro Line. That for Line 11 gives is the other half of the Tram and Metro connection.

fbb can now complete the map.

Then he found out about Metro Line 9!

It fitted in qute nicely, albeit with a tweak of geography - it should be a straight line.

But your cunning cartographer had got it wrong. Metro Line 9 will pass through the Optics Valley Square interchange, NOT as shown above.

Things needed  stretching a bit to make it all work ...

,,, but that gave a bit more space for the terminal loop of Tram Line 1.  O.K., the corners are to a smaller radius, but you cannot have everything. So here is the revised Line 9, now fine!

Here is the full map in a form which can be downloaded and printed, if you are keen enough.

fbb is not sure whether the southbound extension of Tram Line 1 has happened yet. It does not appear on the video we saw yesterday despite its scope taking us to 2028 plus.

Did you spot the "Japan Railways" logo at their stations?

It should, of course be a Chinese Railways logo! Maybe the heat finally got to fbb?

The national rail services need much more research. Again the one map that comes up on-line is ALL in Chinese text.

Absolutely no chance whatsoever!

Medical Report

It is three weeks since fbb was released from Hospital with a warning from Matron and Doc that recovery would "take time". No actual time scale was quoted. But fbb is very nearly back to his aged and creaky normal. Next week is preparation and delivery for the fbbs' Fellowship Meetings which may be a bit of a challenge.

But the plan is to go ahead as normal but with extra care.

  Next Weekend Variety blog : Sunday 28 June 

Convalescent Cartography (1)

 Take Three Metro Lines, 2 PINK

11 YELLOW

19 GREEN

... and a projected line 9!

Add Two Tram Lines

And a Dangling Monorail

There are National Rail services to the fringes of the area which fbb will consider later.

This is the sum total of the tracked transport at Optics Valley, Wuhan.

But nowhere on-line could fbb find a map or diagram which puts it all together.

Some Metro maps are awful ...

... out of date and thus incomplete, as well as playing fast and loose with geography. 

Thankfully Wikipedia has something better.

The tram's various maps are very diagrammatic ...

... and lacking an English translation of any stop names. One map looks more geographically 'right', but it does not enlarge well and, again is labelled in Chinese.

The Dangle monorail has a geographical map ...

... which does show an interchange with Metro Line 11, although it turns out that this is what London Transport would call an OOS Interchange (Out Of Station); i.e. you leave one mode and get to the next via road, street, alley or footpath.

None of these maps is published with a scale. Now fbb was taught (class 1T, Northampton Grammar School, Mr Lance) that you should always show a scale. Sadly, fbb probably does as badly as Wuhan!

Fortunately there is a video on YouTube which charts the growth of Metro and Tram. But it only goes as far as 2022, which, in Wuhan's Metro building universe, is woefully out if date.

But it does match Metro and Tram in the Optics Valley.

Stopping a video can produce fuzziness, but the broad structure is clear and a second attempt confirms the accurate geographical match. But because of the 2022 finish on the video, the combined map is incomplete.

Despite the limitations, it should be easy peasy to create something which even an aged blogger can understand.

Did fbb say 'easy'?

Anyway, the early stages of the project went smoothly. fbb overlaid his own version of the above, but sticking to straight lines and 45 degree diagonals. That's what Harry Beck did with his London!

If it was good enough for Harry, it will be good enough for fbb!

We can now get rid of the original ...

... and start adding a few stop names. They are in English on the Wikipedia Metro map and fbb remembered he "connection" between Metro 11 (YELLOW) and the Monorail (GREY) so can add the Dangle Tram, at least provisionally.

But what about the tram stops in Mandarin?

Fortunately. the wondrous Wikipedia has a list of tram stops IN ENGLISH.

It takes a bit of sorting out, but the dots tell you which stops belong to which tram service. The list also confirms where Tram and Metro "interchange".

So fbb can begin adding tram stop names.

He also decided to reduce the width of the lines for the tram routes in an attempt to provide a little reminder of the very different type of service on offer. 

Should the Monorail be 'thin' as well?

Some of the stops have long names in English but in Mandarin, just four or five characters long.

The Chinese orthography uses pictograms (better 'ideograms') to express more than just one word; very economical in the use of space on maps and diagrams. fbb has had to shorten some of the stop names in English to squeeze them in to the space available.

Like Beck's Underground, there is no attempt to place stops geographically but tweaks to the diagram will undoubtedly be necessary.

Everything is very squidged near the terminus of Tram Line 1.

Something needs to be done.

This blog will be concluded tomorrow, but, in the meantime, here is a better video that that quoted above. It takes the Metro tale through to 2028 plus. Of course it us barely understandable, but does illustrate the huge growth of Wuhan's magnificent Metro.

As the UK struggles with the Bakerloo Line to Lewisham, Docklands to Thamesmead and Crossrail 2, you can marvel at a transport policy based on an undemocratic authoritarian regime.

As Mr Punch is wont to say ...

... "That's The Way To Do It".

Well, it is if you don't have to worry about voters, The Opposition, a critical media and the need to keep taxation low!

More mapping tomorrow.

  Next Convalescent Cartography blog : Sat 27 June