200 years of the railway

Today marks 200 years since the opening of the Stockton & Darlington Railway, the first modern railway. The impact of that line was truly world-changing for good - and also ill. It made global commerce truly possible - and also imperialism. It also allowed people greater mobility and sped up communication, making political organisation far easier.

Appropriately enough, I am writing this on a train, travelling on Brunel's Great Western Railway from Paddington to Reading.

While standing in the vestibule. With the catering not open because the train is full. A 5-car IET is no replacement for a HST in terms of capacity. 

Great British Railways is heading down the tracks; Greater Anglia transfers over on 12 October.

Whether that will actually improve services remains to be seen. One problem with public railways is that they tend to be rather dependent on the whim of government and its political interest.

This is not a full defence of privatisation; the British franchise version was far too fragmented. At least it gave variety in terms of paint jobs. Or rather vinyls.

Anyway, here's to another 200 years. Perhaps I will live to see railways on Mars. Dust on the line anyone?

She's having Stake (Review: 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' 1.12, "Prophecy Girl")

So, I've decided to do some reviews of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the show I didn't watch as a teenager and am now watching for the first time. Probably one a season.

Anyway, let's set the scene. For one thing, I've not covered this in previous post. Second, not everyone will have heard of this show. Thirdly, I'm neurodivergent and I find this sort of stuff amusing.

Jimmy Kimmel

Slowly but surely, the United States is turning into Hungary or Turkey.

I found precisely one thing wrong with Kimmel's comments. It has not been established either way that the alleged murderer of Charlie Kirk is MAGA or not. It might not be a simple answer

That could have been dealt with by an apology.

The rest is valid.

However, when with someone like Trump, he cannot brook any criticism or dissent. He is willing to use the levers of state to silence his critics.

Thus ABC finds itself in a very difficult position. Sacrifice Kimmel or risk the entire company.

Trump often chickens out, but only if you have big enough guns to make him think twice about the political cost.

Does ABC have the guns? I don't think it does. Money has always been the biggest talker in the United States.

The dark truth is that in this world, acquiescence is often the less risky option to your life and that of others. At the cost of a lot of guilt. A clear conscience can cost you everything as many have learned over the centuries. 

I would be willing to be martyred for my beliefs, but what if others would suffer for my decisions?

Many will have to make some tough choices in the years ahead. 

Israel, Gaza and genocide

The UN Commission report on Israel's actions in Gaza makes for troubling reading.

Ultimately, the legal definition of genocide involves an intent to destroy a group in whole or part. It does not define 'destroy' and it does not limit that action to physically killing those members.

The clear intent of Israel's government, shared by much of the opposition is to prevent the creation of any Palestinian state. There is also a clear desire by many to encourage or force the emigration of the Palestinian population. Rendering Gaza uninhabitable is a means to that end.

The ICC has not brought a charge of extermination as it can not prove the intent to destroy beyond a reasonable doubt. Nor has the ICJ yet ruled on the matter. 

Genocide is an emotive word, especially for Israel, founded after a clear act of genocide.

Also, if Gaza is genocide, then we have to conclude that the framers of the Convention are hypocrites on a grand scale.

For we committed acts of genocide against Germany in 1945 and 1946 on this definition. Namely the expulsion of Germans east of the Oder-Neisse line.

Anyway, it is time for serious sanctions.

Freaky Friday Finale (Review: 'Star Trek' 3.24, "Turnabout Intruder")

It's taken me over 11 years, but I have watched all 79 episodes of the original Star Trek, not counting "The Cage". I note that my original post in 2015 had me planning to watch "The Cage" after finishing Season 1, but I managed to completely forget about that, probably due to some changes with on-demand video service.

I am going to come back to that after I've done The Animated Series and so close out the TOS era on TV, which will, along with the rest of the Star Trek reviews going forward, be done via a single combined review for each season with a paragraph dedicated to each episode. These things do take a while to write.

So, we've seen strange studio worlds, sought out odd life and unusual civilisations and boldly gone where no costume designer has gone before. 

(I'm not even done with William Ware Theiss either, as he did the first season of The Next Generation.)

So, it's the end, but the moment has been prepared... sorry, wrong show. It is time to lower the curtain.

It is time for "Turnabout Intruder".

80 years since VJ Day

Today marks 80 years since the announcement by Emperor Hirohito, in the first time a Japanese monarch had ever broadcast on the radio, of his country's surrender to the Allies, although the formal signing of the surrender did not take place until 2 September.

The Pacific War was just as ugly and brutal as the European one. Japanese war crimes are not as well known as German ones in the West, mainly because they happened to non-white people. The Allies may have been the good guys, but there was a strong strain of racism in their propaganda - not to mention their treatment of Japanese Americans.

It says a lot that Japan is a changed country, a cultural and technological powerhouse, viewed much more positively than 80 years ago. Because there is such a thing as magnamity in victory and we applied it to Japan - not to mention Germany and Italy.

At the end of the day, after a war is over, you have to live with these people again unless you destroy them completely - at massive cost to your own souls for one thing. Something that many people would do well to remember.

Unfortunately, with rising militarism around the world, I fear we might see another massive war in my lifetime.

I hope and pray this is not the case.

The Greatest Gathering - or that's a lot of trains

As you may already know, 2025 marks the 200th anniversary of the opening of the Stockton and Darlington Railway, the first public railway that used steam engines. As a result, a large number of events are taking place around the country to mark what is called "Railway 200".

One of the highlights of this anniversary year, clearly marked as such from when it was first advertised, was The Greatest Gathering, taking place at the Alstom train works in Derby from 1 to 3 August.

The coat of arms of the city of Derby

It most definitely lived up to the name, with the number of items of rolling stock going into three figures. I was there from around 11.30am to just before closing time and I still didn't get to see anything.

Many others will have covered this in their own articles, so I will just show some of my pictures with some of my own comments.

There was a heritage bus service running to the station with vintage vehicles from around the country, but I didn't get this.

These two were from The Cab Yard, a museum under development near Swansea. The 442 cab in the left is a cab simulator, but this required booking and was full up for the day.

Locomotive present ranged from 1825's Locomotion No.1 to...

The brand new Class 93 from Stadler, a tri-mode locomotive (25kV overhead, diesel engine, battery)

Making its "debut" here - the Watercress Line's recently acquired Class 150, in a Regional Railways vinyl livery. This is the first of the "Sprinter" family to enter preservation and probably not the last.

HST power cars were rather prevalent - the yard near Derby station also had a bunch of them.

There's a lot more that I could share. It was definitely a highly memorable day and a testament to the skill of everyone involved that it came off.