'Endo's Version 2
Remember Rails of Sheffield's commissioned goods van turned out in the distinctive orange livery of Henderson's Relish, Sheffield's superior version of Worcestershire sauce. The wagon still appears on Rails' web site, but click on the link and you find ...
No matter, the van is sold out! But it is all on line!
If you weep copiously at your failure to secure this utterly unrealistic wagon for your utterly realistric layout, weep no more, Endo's enthusiast. You can now order a bright orange tank wagon.
It is a six-wheel milk tanker, suggesting that the dark brown nectar is thick and heavy. It isn't! A four wheel tanker would have been more appropriate. Fortunately, fbb does not collect livery variations as part of his world famous tank wagon assemblage.
But the avid collector does have a philosophical problem creeping towards him. The old bloke collects cylindrical tank wagons, not the sloping jobbies used for powders, e.g. cement.
But what about a cylindrical non fuel tank?
Above is a TUA tank wagon. It carries, amongst other things, caustic soda.
A company called Rainbow Railways, based in Linlithgow, has announced that it will be "producing" (i.e. getting someone to produce) a TUA. The August edition of Railway Modeller has a CAD drawing of what to expect.
At £35 plus postage, should fbb make the purchase?
Hextra To Hexham?
Go Ahead North East has announced improvements to their service between Newcastle and Hexham.
It is good to see service improvements despite the uncertainty about when (if?) passengers will return to pre-Covid levels.
It would be good to be able to SEE this new and exciting timetable. The web site shows the existing schedule ...
... but wait! Maybe we must change the date on the search facility?
Nope. Still the current timetable which will not apply on 27th July. We are even reminded that there is no Sunday service ...
...which there will be from 25th July!
All together, now; "It's all on line!"
A Historic Bus or Coach?
These pictures show varieties of Plaxton Paramount 4000 coach bodies on a Scania chassis.
Sadly, fbb never rode in such a beast, but the top deck front must have been very special. Now PPH Coaches of St Albans thinks they have the very last one alive.
They would like it to go to a good home. Presumably this means in exchange for a big big wodge of fivers?
Sadly, fbb's car parking allocation at his Seaton pied a terre is accessed by a low archway; and it is just possible that the neighbours might be unwilling to sacrifice their precious parking space for a huge yellow coach!
... allowing for the fact that the phone camera tends to exaggerate the brightness. You can probably twidddle something on the phone to make this better, but fbb has tried entirely unsuccessfully so far! There is also light bleeding through the wall around the left hand bedroom widow which is where the LED dangles. Black paint on the inside of the wall will solve that.
You Thought It Had Gone Away
Contravision, whereby an advertisement made up of very noticeable dots was plastered over the windows of a bus, was roundly condemned by bus passengers.
They do not like dots before the eyes. Even partial covering is enormously irritating.
One of the bonuses of travelling by coach, especially today's big windowed high floor motors, is the excellent view of whatever is happening outside.
Not so, apparently, with Westway coaches!
This flash vehicle is more concerned with its "green" credentials that giving its customers the best possible travel experience.
Crackpot!
And Talking of Livery
What might this bus be promoting?
Herd Immunity for Covid?
There is a tiny panel between the decks, and the presence of a giant panda as driver might help.
It is from Lothian Buses and is, apparently, promoting Edinburgh Zoo.
New Classic Livery
Midland Classic of Burton upon Trent.
The red and yellow is powerful, distinctive and always looks smart, There is a slight modification for the X12 ...
... and recently buses have become more classic than midland!
The latest version has appeared, pictured outside a Volvo depot..
Question 1 : Why bother to change?
Question 2 : Will the passengers notice?
Let There Be Lights (2)
The lights in the cafe and marquee look fine ...
But the effect in the line of buildings on Station Street is simply not acceptable.
Light is splurging all over the place. See above the Great Fire of Peterville!
More bodge needed!
Confused.com?
But the Government always wants it all ways. There has been very little evidence to support the wearing of face coverings except the rather woolly "together with other protective measures", masks can help with protection..
Certainly a simple face mask (the sort that most of us wear) will have almost no effect on the virus itself which is so small that the material is effectively non-existent. Ditto visors where germs simply flow round the edge! The filtering will keep OUT most viri glued to water droplets (so-called aerosols) but will keep IN many nasties that your body wants to get rid of e.g. via a sneeze!
Set against the effectiveness of vaccination, there really is no need to keep these restrictions.
But if anyone feels happier dressed like a gangster, let them be so attired; but please do not apply misleading medical considerations to those that are very well protected.
Well said CPT.
Next Variety blog : Sunday 11th July
Changing the date on the GNE Website does show the new timetables in the grid. So that is a bit disenengenous to suggest otherwise.
ReplyDeleteThe problem is that the GNE X84/85 PDF timetable is undated, and this certainly does show the message that there are no buses on Sundays, as per FBB's screenshot.
ReplyDeleteThe HTML version oF GNE's X84/85 timetable is not a model of clarity. On the map, the line showing the route taken obscures significant parts of the place names (at least, in my browser); and the presentation of the timing points in Hexham and Corbridge seems rather confusing. I think that I understand what they are trying to achieve - whether other people will, is another matter.