pH

In Scotland (West of Scotland at least) the term ‘pug’ could be applied to any tank engine. Hence ‘big pug’: https://flic.kr/p/cPnwr1 and ‘Wemyss Bay pug’: https://images.app.goo.gl/9qF75zM7n55Futyd9 which obviously had rear bunkers.

One of the reasons we would not have a cat. There are regularly “Have you seen this cat?” notices on utility poles around here.

What is ‘largest’? - heaviest engine - heaviest engine + tender - longest engine - longest engine + tender - widest engine (see the Virginian engine) - highest tractive effort etc.

Going by the title, you were expecting a production to rival “Gone With The Wind”?

They appear to have made a movie about that: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snakes_on_a_Train (Reasonable representation of an F40PH on the poster.)

That makes a change from “sleeps”.

There's a fire has started in Washington State and has crossed the border into BC, just west of the town of Grand Forks. From maps, it looks as if it’s probably going to miss the town on the west, and advance north along the line of BC highway 3, but there’s no guarantee of that. The highway (the only west-east route in southern BC) has been closed. 150+ homes have been issued evacuation orders and over 100 others are on evacuation alert. Edit - reports are now saying over 550 residences are on evacuation alert.

Not all makes of double deckers are the same height. There are, obviously, ‘highbridge’ and ‘lowbridge’ ones. But even within those groupings, heights can vary. I heard of an occasion, many years ago, where the first of a batch of new double deckers was being delivered to one garage of a bus company. It was carefully routed to avoid a known low bridge. These buses were to be used only for local services and they wouldn’t be required to go under that bridge in service. However, on the delivery trip, immediately after it had rejoined the route which had passed through the low bridge, it had its roof taken off on another bridge. All the company’s existing double deckers could get under this bridge safely - but this new bus was several inches higher. The remaining buses of this new type had to be delivered by a roundabout route, adding about 50 miles to the delivery trip. And a local route had to be split into two different shorter routes to keep the new buses away from that bridge.

See post fourth from bottom on previous page (with picture).

A salesman in Ontario is told by his manager that he is being re-assigned to a new territory which includes Sudbury. (Sudbury is a big mining town, not known for its outstanding beauty). He objects to this, and his manager asks him why. He replies “It’s a dump! The only things it’s famous for are hookers and hockey players.” “I’ll have you know my wife comes from Sudbury!”says the manager. “Oh” says the salesman “What position does she play?”

Yay! Hockey season is here! First preseason game on just now.

As did the aforementioned Mr. Coleman!

Here’s a website for a group building sims. There’s some discussion about cab side windows in WDs. It says they were fitted before the engines were put into UK service after being bought from the War Department, but doesn’t give any reference for that. It also says it appears that, from photographs, the engines were always run with the windows open. http://victoryworksts.blogspot.com/2019/08/wd-austerity-2-8-0-work-in-progress.html Is that glass in the window in this Mike Morant photo? https://mikemorant.smugmug.com/Trains-Railways-British-Isles/WD-and-Standard-locomotives/ST-Austerity/i-7LD65j9/A Or here? https://preservedbritishsteamlocomotives.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/90610-wakefield-may-1966.jpg?w=1024&h=768

Three more on the ex-NBR lines on the north side of the Clyde west of Glasgow: - Hyndland - Dumbarton East - the six-track ‘private’ terminus for the Singer works in Clydebank