Coaching Stock. Part-Two.

Mark.1 Improvements.

In 1964 a new improved body stock was introduced, known as the XP64. Many improvements were made with new seat designs, ventilation, corridor partitions and the introduction of aluminium. This class only survives today in preservation, but in 1963 it was the basis for the Mark.2 stock.

The Mark.2 stock had fluorescent lighting and pedal bin toilets with all of what the XP64 had. These were built between 1964-66 and laid the way for the Mark.2A-2C stock, these were similar but they again made improved changes in seating layouts now moving away from the old to the new types that are used today.

Again Mark two coaches were passed on to N-Ireland railways and some sold to CIE-Ireland.

Coaching Stock. Part-One.

British Rail. Mark.1. Stock.

There is a lot more to trains than that of locomotives it is the coaching stock that is the passenger bit, that we travel to enjoy or commute to work. Prior to privatisation the four big railway companies in the United Kingdom, LMS, LNER, GWR and Southern Railways had each designed their own carriages.

But in 1951 the BR Mark one was introduced, being built at Doncaster up to 1963 and it has remain in use to this day being the most successful ever built. Mark 1 coaches remain in service as part of the Royal train as well as Departmental duties and are part of nearly every preservation railway. 

The Mark 1 was also supplied to Northern-Ireland railways and exported to the Republic of Ireland from the early 1960's.

Tugboats. Part-One.

Sea Haulage.

There is quite a lot more to the humble tugboat than meets the eye! Haulage is big business on land, in the air and so it is also at sea. Tugboats have a great expanding history to them from their first introduction, as a ship type in 1830 to the present day.

With the introduction of this seaborne assistant no major changes were made for the first seventy years of service in the British Isles. But over the last 110 years much has changed to the various new classes and their roles, which now include search and rescue, floating fire engines and a few newer type oil rig towing and recovery roles.

Airbus. Part-Two.

The Military Side.

With the ongoing development of the Airbus A400M, there is also the adaption of some earlier models now for in flight refuelling roles and other transport requirements. Airbus is moving into the military market to challenge its U.S. counterparts of Lockheed and Boeing, who have been Kings of transport and a variety of other military aviation roles for well over fifty years. 

Recent orders by N.A.T.O. members of the A400m have been disappointing and many have returned the aircraft and both newer versions of the Lockheed Hercules. Despite a recent accident with an A400M in Spain, Airbus has to push on with it development.

Success in the civil market has been phenomenal, but I wonder will they really do that well in the military. Perhaps the take over of the helicopter construction and market will do them much better with many already well established designs such as the EC-135/45, Tiger,  Cougar/Super Puma family.

Solar Powered Flight.

Not the first to Try.

This solar powered aircraft that is attempting a world flight record is far from the first, in fact there have been longer distance flights made between A and B/Z in the past. These aircraft failed to attract the publicity that this one has got, for various reasons that are not worth going into.

Some commercial airlines have added solar power cells to the roofs of aircraft to charge batteries with some success, but nothing more has happened since. Now that Australia has fashioned the first commercial possibility of a car for mass production I suppose an aircraft is the next target.

Japan was for a time the leader in solar powered said technology on general shipping and perhaps this stop over has really some connection with that factor?