Quote from: D1042 Western Princess on July 13, 2014, 10:01:46 AM

Quote from: Bealman on July 13, 2014, 09:45:57 AM
Who is the fictional Dr Sheldon Cooper? 

You ARE joking, aren't you?

Just to back up George on this I also have never heard of Dr Sheldon Cooper and I DO live in the UK - but then I've never felt the need to watch "The Big Bang Theory", the advertising trailers for it just didn't appeal to my sense of humour.

You can never assume that everyone sees, does, or is interested in something because you are, despite the amazing number of sweeping statements assuming the same that we get bombarded with on TV and radio, ie,everyone likes a party, we all look forward to the summer, who doesn't like chocolate?, etc


Paul

Quote from: Tom U on July 13, 2014, 02:49:22 PM
To amplify a little bit...but probably more detail than this thread warrants - Sheldon is the central character in a group of extremely nerdy scientists/astrophysicists.  Sheldon is borderline autistic savant in that he is brilliantly clever but has the social graces of a sledge hammer.  My son is a computer science graduate, and says Big Bang Theory is about as real as it gets!!  The first time you watch it you will think it is really silly - then you get addicted.

It has to be reasonably accurate from a science point of view or real top scientists and astronauts would not be appearing in it.
Also it is not widely known that Amy is a real life Dr and started as an advisor to the show.
Sorry, going a bit "off topic" there.

Quote from: Sprintex on July 13, 2014, 03:53:30 PM

Just to back up George on this I also have never heard of Dr Sheldon Cooper and I DO live in the UK - but then I've never felt the need to watch "The Big Bang Theory", the advertising trailers for it just didn't appeal to my sense of humour.


Paul

Same here, Paul...

Quote from: trainsdownunder on July 10, 2014, 11:42:53 PM
Again a pic from Adelaide Rail Museum (hopefully Chris will post a link to his pics soon, so much better than my efforts)

Here you go...

https://www.flickr.com/photos/chriseve1979/sets/72157645485298692/

Just one final note about that Sheldon Cooper thingy... yes we do get that programme here and I have actually seen the odd episode, however I still had no idea who it was.

As a retired teacher of physics, I found myself looking at the formulae in the background to see if they were authentic!

I guess the show makes physics look good to young people, but I never noted any significant increase in the number of kids signing up to do physics. In fact it's a problem at high school and tertiary level here - physics is viewed as 'too hard'

Anyway, off topic. 

Getting back on topic (sort of) yes, Pete Waterman is a model railway enthusiast and his layout is superb, no doubt, but I wish he'd sort out his diesel loco headcodes. I've yet to see a picture of a train on his layout where the headcode comes close to matching the working! I have even seen pictures of a Class 9 goods train worked by a loco displaying the ROYAL train headcode on his layout!

May be they were travelling incognito that day 

Quote from: newportnobby on July 12, 2014, 12:25:08 PM
Surprised Patrick Stewart wasn't on the list. After all, as Captain Jean Luc Picard he keeps saying "Engage"

Is that just before he works on the captains log...

Ahead factor 3, Mr Zulo! 

The engines cannae take it Captain!

Yer can't break the laws of Physics, Captain!

He said, on his phone.. 

Quote from: Bealman on July 30, 2014, 10:22:53 AM
Ahead factor 3, Mr Zulo! 

Questions - "Who is Mr Zulo"?
"What is 'Factor 3'?

What does this have to do with famous people who owned model railways?

Quote from: Agrippa on July 30, 2014, 10:58:13 AM
The engines cannae take it Captain!

That's why you should put a Swindon built Diesel Hydraulic on it - those engines could take anything.

Except the skin off a rice pudding apparently

QuoteHowever, when it came to drawbar horsepower the Westerns were less capable than the equivalent diesel electric locos. O.S.Nock states "whilst the Westerns took their rightful place as fast and powerful locomotives it became evident that they were showing the same deficiency in actual power put forth at the drawbar as the [diesel hydraulic] Warships had done. The highest output that came to my notice was a sustained 85 mph hauling 560 tons descending 1 in 1320, which equates to 1500 edhp (equivalent drawbar horsepower)". This is 56% of power at the flywheel, whereas for a diesel electric one would normally expect a figure of 75 to 80%. A similar result was obtained when Clough & Beckett compared the performance of type 4 diesel locomotives (Classes 45/46/47/50/52) hauling trains up the ascent to Whiteball summit. They deliberately chose data to show each class in their best light and included a Western run which produced 1775 edhp but they still concluded that "without doubt the Westerns get the wooden spoon, certainly not what one would expect from units of 2700 bhp". The best performer was the Class 50, a 2700 hp diesel electric locomotive, on one run this achieved 2115 edhp.

Paul