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Stormy

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About Stormy

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  • Birthday 20/01/1983
  1. No idea but not enough to justify not having a stop at MAGNA. All over South and West Yorkshire mini Red/Green crossings have been replaced with huge footbridges, why they cant have one at MAGNA is beyond me.
  2. This is quite an interesting scheme. Paragraph 3 makes for good reading, it is more sensible to have this as part of the tram network than National Rail and it makes sense that the order is being amalgamated with the other order for new trams, having 7 will lead to more flexibility and more spare availability for the inevitable teething issues which will arise. It will be interesting to see whether a derogation from Rail Standards will be allowed (for both vehicle equipment and driver training/knowledge) or whether vehicles and staff will have to be built and trained to National Rail standards which will inevitably lead to higher costs. Does anyone know? Also it is incredibly short sighted not having a stop at MAGNA, apart from Parkgate there is nowhere that the new service will serve which the rail service wont also serve but with much lower journey times. If this scheme is to be a real success in terms of pax numbers then a stop at MAGNA is essential. I am aware that Network Rail are twitchy at the moment about crossings after some high profile level crossing fatalities and are replacing most foot crossings at stations with bridges but this is where there is a relatively high linespeed and lots of traffic on the line. The short section of line behind MAGNA has probably one maybe two freight trains a day running on it so is hardly a well used line and it certainly isn't high speed. And all crossings are safe if used correctly. Big waste of an opportunity with regards MAGNA.
  3. I have never seen any Summer Wine Beers in Sheffield unfortunately but have frequently found them on days out to York and Leeds. I would agree they are an excellent brewery, Rouge-hop is a favorite of mine! If anyone sees any SW beers in Sheff be sure to post on here and let me know please!
  4. I Have to agree with DerbyTup about Buxton and Thornbridge, not often you see Buxton around here though but i have had a few of their bottles from time to time. If we're staying regional I would like to nominate Acorn in Barnsley, I particularly like all the recent American hoppy beers they've been making and Barnsley Bitter and Barnsley Gold are two of my favorite regulars.
  5. And also the Cambridge one which came in about two years late and massively overbudget. I cannot see why we are spending this money on yet anothet transport link when we have a perfectly good train, bus and soon to be tram-train network serving the towns.
  6. I won't argue about the bias, maybe I should have mentioned that in my original post, although most blogs are written from one point of view or another. However, that doesn't mean that the authours aren't knowledgable about treaties and EU mechanisms and its the most detailed analysis I've seen so far, most of the stuff on the news is simply politicians parroting various party lines and press releases. There was some thoroughly irritating woman on the news a short while ago (a Lib Dem MEP although I didnt remember her name) who was pontificating about the whole affair, saying she was utterly devestated and was considering moving to Ireland in order to claim Irish citizenship to show solidarity with the EU and the Euro... If that is the level of coverage we get from the MSM then blogs are the only place to go.
  7. If you have 5 minutes, have a read of the link in my post above, written by someone far more intelligent than I, it deals with the veto point in some detail. It deals with the more complex arrangements and reading it it looks like things could get extremely complicated (if they weren't already!)
  8. This is a good initial analysis by someone other than the mainstream media, worth a read: http://eureferendum.blogspot.com/2011/12/huge-coup-de-theatre.html?m=0
  9. Couple of things: are those of you who are clamouring for the Tobin Tax aware that the money wouldn't have gone towards Schools, Hospitals, Deficit reduction etc? It was earmarked for recapitalising French and German banks again. Much like the severe austerity measures in Greece, Ireland, Portugal and soon to be Italy are not to help the citizens of those countries, but to protect the interest of the banks who have lent them money. The Tobin Tax would take a disproportionate amount of money out of the UK, personally I rather like our financial sector paying tax in this country. Also a quick pedant mode note: Cameron hasn't vetoed anything. He has exercised the UKs right to opt-out of protocol and treaty change. He hasn't stopped anything.
  10. Reson why i believe wires will go to Hull is that its a relatively simple add-on to what has already been announced. It will ensure the entire TPE north route can go electric and means that the London trains to and from Hull which currently run under the wires for a good 150 miles or so can switch to electric traction. Network Rail have been asked to do a feasibility study and to cost it. The MML is a whole route in itself and would take far longer. There aren't enough teams and equipment ready in the UK to complete MML at the same time as the Great Western already announced, but once the GW is finished it would seem logical to make a start on the MML. I think GW was chosen initially because of the desire and need to create extra capacity and improve journey times out of Reading and more diesel units will be released than will be from The MML.
  11. I can assure you Neville Hill to York is being included to create an entire Liverpool to Newcastle via Manchester, Leeds and York electrified route. Without Leeds to York it is utterly pointless. There is even talk of Hull being included if the cost/benefit ratio is met and i suspect it will be given economies of scale and London services which could take advantage of electric traction.
  12. Some of the 150's are already in service and can be seen in and around Sheffielx, particularly on the Huddersfield and Leeds via Barnsley services. They are indeed to be based at Newton Heath in Manchester but being "based" somewhere means little in reality, all it means is that is where the unit goes for heavy maintainance. We will be seeing plenty of the new trains as diagrams are changed and altered. Expect some peak Leeds services which sometimes are a pacer to be worked by 150's or double pacers. The capacity boost wont solve all the problems but it will be a big help. As for pacer withdrawl, they must be gone by 2019 when new DDA rules come into force removing the current grandfather rights, however with the recent suprise announcement of York-Liverpool electrification I would expect to see the back of them upon completion thanks to internal cascades of units from both within Northern and from TPE.
  13. Brock Lesnar currently fights in UFC (for real fighting) although he has been beset by illness and injury recently. Next fight is Dec 30th, usually shown on ESPN.
  14. An interesting analysis of the recent developments below, perhaps the decision isn't so suprising after all? http://eureferendum.blogspot.com/2011/11/not-such-surprise.html
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