The Night Mail

[SM42]

1 hour ago, iL Dottore said:

 

, nature intended that apex predators would do the job of keeping herds “under control”, but humans got rid of those…)

 

Many seem to forget that as humans, we have eyes front, not one facing each way, to provide stereo vision. 

 

Thus we are one of those predators. 

 

Now some choose not to be, fine,, their choice,  but if they also want to talk about the natural balance of nature, don’t go taking a predator ( humans)  out of the system 

 

Granted we have become very efficient at it and some do it purely for fun (how odd)) but to remove all human activity means things go out of balance. 

 

OK,  have some control over the situation so this particular industrialised predator doesn't go too far, but to stop entirely is a mistake.

 

Class 2 sinners I think they are called  

 

Those who think they are doing good when in fact they are causing harm. 

 

 

Andy

[iL Dottore]

I would partly disagree with @SM42, certainly we are very successful predators, but apex predators, probably not. Without tools (which includes things like rocks, guns and bows and spears) and fire, we'd be fairly poor predators - there are a lot of of animals out there which are faster, stronger and better armed than we are.

 

However, thanks to opposable thumbs and a big brain - which gave use tools and fire - we pitiful monkey-boys managed to clamber to the top of the animal kingdom.

 

I entirely agree that humans should continue to hunt for food, for a number of reasons - not only because of how it helps keep prey species in check, but also it drives home what it really means to eat meat.

 

I've always like the approach of some tribes in North America, in that they:

• offer up prayers to their deities for a successful hunt
• offer up prayers to their deities for the spirit of the animal they have hunted and killed - to thank it for giving up its life so that the hunters can live
• show respect for that sacrifice by ensuring that not a single bit of the animal is wasted.

I also agree entirely that, far too often, people do stupid or terrible things in the name of "doing good". It's as though they don't think things through....

[SM42]

I agree, not apex, but a predator nonethelessl and like most predators, the easy kill is certainly within our means. 

 

Granted we'd probably have to strangle it or beat it to death with a rock, but we are not alone in the natural world in our use of "tools" to get a meal. 

 

We just have developed some very good tools over time and have tamed our main prey species to make it easy.  

 

Andy

[New Haven Neil]

1 hour ago, Happy Hippo said:

In the UK, anyone who goes trackside on the national rail network must wear orange, as yellow is a colour used in signalling.  One would have thought that being trackside in a yellow jacket would be an advantage as it does highlight that the driver might like to exercise some caution🤣.  However, I assume that orange does show up better than yellow in certain light conditions.

 

I queried this on Fraggle-Rail (with the Mrs!) as orange is the only colour allowed in hi-vis here too - it is because the 'yellow' can disappear in sun/dappled shade in summer - I was shown a photo in which it really did camouflage the wearer in a heavily wooded cutting with bright, low sunlight shining through.  Personally, seeing what the horsey folk wear here, the pink is even better, but try to get the PW crew to wear pink...mmm.

[monkeysarefun]

13 minutes ago, New Haven Neil said:

 

The pink is even better, but try to get the PW crew to wear pink...mmm.

 

 

The miners in the Pilbara are up for it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 22 by monkeysarefun

[SM42]

Wasn't pink used as desert camouflage?

 

Ok so not many railways on beaches but in fading light it may be a good idea to see one of those trucks coming. 

 

Andy

[jjb1970]

A few years ago the USCG did research which suggested pink would be the optimum colour for life boats, life jackets, immersion suits etc as it was the most visible to SAR crews but it never went anywhere.

[New Haven Neil]

12 minutes ago, monkeysarefun said:

The miners in the Pilbara are up for it.

 

Believe me, there's slight less chance than FA to get the PW here to wear it!  The police mechanics were just about on strike because they are being made to wear the orange and not blue with reflective strips.  There's little to get upset about here, minor matters get blown up out of all proportion because there's nothing else to complain about.  Plus faceache punters of course - re the ferry nudging the quayside two days ago, delivered as nothing short of a national disaster and the whole design of the ship called into doubt by the naval architect 'experts' on FB.  It's a dent...it was very, read VERY, windy. 

[Winslow Boy]

4 hours ago, New Haven Neil said:

 

Believe me, there's slight less chance than FA to get the PW here to wear it!  The police mechanics were just about on strike because they are being made to wear the orange and not blue with reflective strips.  There's little to get upset about here, minor matters get blown up out of all proportion because there's nothing else to complain about.  Plus faceache punters of course - re the ferry nudging the quayside two days ago, delivered as nothing short of a national disaster and the whole design of the ship called into doubt by the naval architect 'experts' on FB.  It's a dent...it was very, read VERY, windy. 

Are you very very VERY sure about that Neil. Wouldn't it be more likely  that the Captain, Pilot, Coxswain, Oarsmen didn't know what they were doing and should be hung, drawn and quartered. That's what I read on Faceache, so it must be true.

Edited August 22 by Winslow Boy

[The White Rabbit]

Amongst older railwaymen in Britain, the orange hi-vis tabards were known as 'yellow vests'. 

[SM42]

2 minutes ago, The White Rabbit said:

Amongst older railwaymen in Britain, the orange hi-vis tabards were known as 'yellow vests'. 

 

Railwaymen of a certain age have an aversion to orange and amber as colours. 

 

Newer staff are quite happy with orange and amber signal aspects

 

 

Andy

[Compound2632]

3 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

I recently read that in one of the North Eastern states activists managed to stop the culling of deer herds. Now it seems that in that state, suburban gardens, farmers’ fields and elsewhere are facing an onslaught of starving and diseased deer that are causing significant disruption and damage.

 

I read of wolves being introduced somewhere in that area. Very little impact on human activity but leading to a significant recovery in the beaver population, among other ecological benefits. 

[GMKAT7]

Good afternoon folks,

 

To back up The White Rabbit, we Derby RTC boys always referred hi-vis vests as 'yellow vests'.

 

Only when working for Network Rail and the mandated orange vests/jackets and trousers when trackside (including the RTC yard) was it referred to as 'all-orange '.

 

Old habits, etc.

 

Cheers, Nigel.

[Happy Hippo]

3 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

I would partly disagree with @SM42, certainly we are very successful predators, but apex predators, probably not. Without tools (which includes things like rocks, guns and bows and spears) and fire, we'd be fairly poor predators - there are a lot of of animals out there which are faster, stronger and better armed than we are.

 

However, thanks to opposable thumbs and a big brain - which gave use tools and fire - we pitiful monkey-boys managed to clamber to the top of the animal kingdom.

 

I entirely agree that humans should continue to hunt for food, for a number of reasons - not only because of how it helps keep prey species in check, but also it drives home what it really means to eat meat.

 

I've always like the approach of some tribes in North America, in that they:

• offer up prayers to their deities for a successful hunt
• offer up prayers to their deities for the spirit of the animal they have hunted and killed - to thank it for giving up its life so that the hunters can live
• show respect for that sacrifice by ensuring that not a single bit of the animal is wasted.

I also agree entirely that, far too often, people do stupid or terrible things in the name of "doing good". It's as though they don't think things through....

I think PB and I are OK in this respect according to our various reputations.

[petethemole]

In the Council archaeology unit we were issued yellow hi-vis but could wear other colours.  When some of our number were working inside the railway boundary they had to get orange.  We were told that it was required for trackside workers so that if a driver saw yellow they should expect emergency workers trackside and brake or proceed with caution.

[Oldddudders]

Early hi-vis vests were a bit minimalist, and p-way blokes sometimes wore them round their backside. I still have one or two from my days on the operational railway in the '70s - Deb used to wear one on horseback! 

[iL Dottore]

1 hour ago, Happy Hippo said:

I think PB and I are OK in this respect according to our various reputations.

Err, technically PB is at the top of his food-chain, only facing competition from other Bears. Adult polar bears have no natural predators, though walruses and wolves can kill them

 

But Hippos? When young, Hippos make for a tasty meal for Nile Crocodiles, Lions and Spotted Hyenas, whilst it is not unknown (but very rare) for a pride of lions to take down an adult Hippo. Very large Nile crocodiles have been observed preying occasionally on calves, "half-grown" hippos, and possibly also adult female hippos. Groups of crocodiles have also been observed finishing off still-living male hippos that were previously injured in mating battles with other males.

 

So, HH, you'd better come out on top (and uninjured) when battling for cake (or females), or you could end up as a crocodile snack....

[Happy Hippo]

Well, I was lineside this morning, with no high viz!

 

Pantmawr North was erected yesterday, and this morning saw the North end cassette table fitted  so the layout is finally operational as a proper through line.

 

There were a couple of little niggles that needed sorting out.

 

Some wagons were found not to have magnetic links on the couplings; not really an issue if they are running in the middle of a fixed rake, but if the sequence is wrong you cannot couple up easily unless you have a non ferrous magnetic coupling pole to hand.

 

More annoying was a failure which we initially put down to a crossing nose polarity failure, but was tracked down to a dry solder joint.  The 50W soldering iron sorted that out, although the fumbling around under the baseboard also dislodged the feed from the S&T power pack, which I will resolve when  I dismantle everything later on this afternoon and am able to tip the board on it's side: A far easier way to sort the problem out.

 

All the locos were well behaved as was the rolling stock (couplings excepted) and even with the pause to sort out the errant joint, we still managed to go through  the 45 moves of the operating sequence.   A move being a train or loco move in one direction. 

 

Drizzle meant that before we started, we had to make a 'tent' to protect the cassette table that sticks out onto the drive.  My fleet is definitely of the fair weather variety.

 

 

[PhilJ W]

7 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

Like all deer herds, they have to be 'managed' (culled) on a regular basis to ensure they remain fit and healthy.

Almost invariably, this is carried out with a rifle, but the type of deer will affect the calibre and type of ammunition used, as will where you intend to place your shot.

My prefered Christmas dinner is venison, from a culled herd.

6 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

In the Ultimately Shoot Anything, target acquisition is so poor in the hunting community, that one needs to wear bright orange when out in the woods to avoid getting shot.

6 hours ago, pH said:

It doesn’t always work. One year, after the first day of deer-hunting season in Ontario, a local newspaper had an article titled “Hunters 1, Deer 2”.

When I visited the USA many years ago I stayed with a friend in rural Connecticut. I was awoken the first day by guns going off, it was the hunting season. The few days I was there three hunters were accidently shot, one fatally. There was a store in town catering for hunters and they had camouflage toilet paper. I asked my friend why and he told me the the hunters main target was white tailed deer.

[Happy Hippo]

2 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

Err, technically PB is at the top of his food-chain, only facing competition from other Bears. Adult polar bears have no natural predators, though walruses and wolves can kill them

 

But Hippos? When young, Hippos make for a tasty meal for Nile Crocodiles, Lions and Spotted Hyenas, whilst it is not unknown (but very rare) for a pride of lions to take down an adult Hippo. Very large Nile crocodiles have been observed preying occasionally on calves, "half-grown" hippos, and possibly also adult female hippos. Groups of crocodiles have also been observed finishing off still-living male hippos that were previously injured in mating battles with other males.

 

So, HH, you'd better come out on top (and uninjured) when battling for cake (or females), or you could end up as a crocodile snack....

 

 

All for one and one for all!

 

Don't forget young crocs are also predated by other larger animals

[SM42]

SM42 Towers is as spick and span as it's going to be for the impending arrival of in laws this evening. 

 

Even the patio has been hoovered as a broom was useless in the current breeze. 

 

Meanwhile, the motor is in dock till at least Wednesday awaiting parts to come from Belgium, so we are wafting around in the  courtesy car ( not the smallest thing they have either)  for the next few days. 

 

One bonus is that they will fill mine up. 

I'm glad I took it in almost empty. 

 

 

Andy

[Danemouth]

1 hour ago, Happy Hippo said:

 

 

All for one and one for all!

 

Don't forget young crocs are also predated by other larger animals

 

and especially for @Happy Hippo

 

 

 

Dave

[SM42]

I  have been hanging some flower pots on the  wall which requires some cheese head screws to hang off. 

 

Now I  fished out my battery drill/ driver and put everything back neatly stacked. 

 

It was at this point I realised the box with the screws in I had just buried in the neat pile. 

 

One could easily lose one's temper.

 

I also discovered a driver bit in a neat pocket on my drill. 

I've had it numerous years and never noticed this before. 

 

Andy

[J. S. Bach]

8 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

The miners in the Pilbara are up for it.

I want one, In ¼" scale. The motor, not the vest!!

[TheQ]

Saw several farm workers wearing yellows, including hats in a field recently...

 

No machinery in the field, they were hand hoeing / weeding.

 

Horse riders often wear yellow jackets round here too, sometimes the horse has a yellow backside cover as well.

 

Often heard orange suits called tangos...

 

I have a yellow waistcoat for doing sailing club open day parking duties.  Didn't put it on while playing ganger on Heigham Furlgate today,.