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  1. M

    The extent to which slippery rails can cause trains to be unable to stop?

    It has happened before. Class 221s are "several coaches long", but one hit the buffers in Chester due to poor adhesion (and a design / engineering issue with the sanders on 22x units): https://www.gov.uk/raib-reports/buffer-stop-collision-at-chester-station A common factor between the 710 in...
  2. M

    Carmont (near Stonehaven) derailment - 12 August 2020

    There's also ongoing research by HSE into oil mist fire and explosion risks, starting somewhere around the turn of the century. It is basically fairly new scientific understanding of the subject, with a particular focus on the offshore industry but applicable anywhere. I've not read the latest...
  3. M

    Carmont (near Stonehaven) derailment - 12 August 2020

    This is speculation, but it's probably the Stonehaven Coastguard Rescue Team (likely with some of Stonehaven RNLI). Many selfless heroic volunteers in those groups. Maritime tradition and culture dictates that they will have immediately offered any assistance they can provide, and they are...
  4. M

    Collision and derailment at Neville Hill Depot (13/11/2019)

    I'm slightly late to the discussion, but have some numbers which might help those saying the damage looks severe for a low speed crash. 400t moving at 15mph has approximately 9 megajoules of kinetic energy. That's equivalent to 9 sticks of Nobel Dynamite or 2.15kg of TNT. Obviously I'm just...
  5. M

    United Airlines forcibly removes passenger from overbooked flight

    Yup, that's an absolutely critical detail in this. There might end up being some angry exchanges, maybe even the odd raised voice, but this sort of thing should never occur after the gate counter and should absolutely never happen to a passenger that has already been allowed to board and is...
  6. M

    Drinking beer at 9am

    Yeah, far too early for beer. Buck's Fizz or G&T are far better breakfast drinks, with G&T being particularly good for cutting the grease of a good fried breakfast. Save the beer for the afternoon.
  7. M

    ScotRail HST Introduction - Updates & Discussion

    That would assume that little details such as facts, journalism, and fairly reflecting reality were in any way important to the people responsible for the drivel. Once those factors are eliminated for convenience, it's obviously better to just use the first photo they can find that shows a good...
  8. M

    Class 175 retarders

    In the case of airliners, the brakes only have to be able to do a full unassisted stop from V1 once, with a resulting fire that remains small enough to tolerate a 5 minute response time from the fire service. They are very much designed around engine and air brakes also being used in normal...
  9. M

    Possible plans for Edinburgh Waverley station?

    Sometimes much longer, many decades, if they get lucky and produce something iconic. E.g. Bullitt was released in 1968, but 50 years later people are still hiring Ford Mustangs in San Francisco, and driving just a little bit fast over those famous hills to feel the +/- G (not suggesting it's a...
  10. M

    Possible plans for Edinburgh Waverley station?

    The Scotsman Steps?
  11. M

    ScotRail HST Introduction - Updates & Discussion

    I really quite like this new livery. It looks modern, classy, and generally not over the top in any way. It reminds me of the BR Pullman InterCity livery (reversed BR blue InterCity). I do also quite like the Saltire livery, but think this is a really good livery that properly creates a...
  12. M

    Man dies charging iPhone while in the bath

    BBC News puts it at approximately 99% of them being dangerous, according to UK Trading Standards. Fake Apple chargers fail safety tests: Yes, that's the second time I've linked that in this thread, but the message is sufficiently important that it's worth it. Ok, that's specific to fake...
  13. M

    Man dies charging iPhone while in the bath

    The way that protections such as voltage isolation/separation inside a good quality charger and protective devices such as a RCD should be viewed is roughly the following, in the context of the bath. Protections have to win every time for you to survive; electricity only has to win once for you...
  14. M

    Man dies charging iPhone while in the bath

    I agree that there's no real blame on Apple here. However, that does not inhibit them from doing their best to highlight risks to customers. Poor quality chargers are an area where the general public's knowledge is probably not so good. With the phones being advertised as splash / water...
  15. M

    Man dies charging iPhone while in the bath

    I agree with you that those statements seem more consistent with it only being the "low voltage" stuff that was in direct close proximity to the water. The precise circumstances are not unambiguously clear to me, at this point. That ambiguity and the implied thought process that it was safe to...
  16. M

    Man dies charging iPhone while in the bath

    It could still have occurred with any length of low voltage cable with either 1) a cheap and nasty or counterfeit mains adaptor, or 2) a faulty, damaged, or splashed genuine adaptor. There is no safe scenario here where one end of the cable is in close proximity to mains. (Unless you are an...
  17. M

    Cursive fonts

    Adobe Typekit has a free plan for limited use (please read the terms and make your own determination for whether your use qualifies). Adobe are a major goto digital type vendor for professional printers and have a massive range. Google Fonts also has a fairly large selection for free use.
  18. M

    Man dies charging iPhone while in the bath

    Yeah, speaking from experience of working on live mains for diagnostic and repair purposes, the normal procedure is to jump back rapidly, land on your arse, and swear a lot while shaking the relevant limb. It's a good way to invent new compound swear words. It stings a lot, I strongly...
  19. M

    Man dies charging iPhone while in the bath

    Yes, relative to UK and EU safety standards, some cheap and nasty adaptors are dangerous anywhere when connected to mains voltage. See the BBC News story I linked above. A good rule of thumb is that if it's not a company that you can easily bring to a UK / EU court, don't risk it. So, genuine...
  20. M

    Man dies charging iPhone while in the bath

    The metal water pipes are legally required to be bonded to the building's electrical earth. With metal fixtures on the bath, they will consequently also be very likely bonded to electrical earth. If the tub itself is metal, that will also be earthed. Connect voltage to the water and the water...

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