Crossrail tunnelling to start shortly
 

On Fri, 16 Mar 2012 04:56:28 -0700 (PDT)
Colin Williams wrote:
On Mar 16, 10:59=A0am, wrote:

387BC? Thats pretty impressive given france as a nation didn't even exist=
until
the middle ages.

B2003


Perhaps it should have said France and its predecessors.

"387 B.C. Battle of Allia. The outnumbered Gauls, led by Brennus,
defeat the army of the Roman Republic led by Quintus Sulpicius and
ultimately go on to sack Rome itself. "

Brennus? Asterix must have been having a day off.

B2003

Crossrail tunnelling to start shortly
 

In article , (Mizter T) wrote:

On 16/03/2012 00:17, wrote:

In ,
(Mizter T) wrote:

Tunnel boring to begin from the Royal Oak portal heading eastwards
under central London.

Pictorial:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17365934

"The scheme is currently the largest civil engineering project in
Europe." Really? Bigger than the Gotthard Base Tunnel?

I see no-one answered this.

Video:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-17356912

So, it's finally really happening.

I thought they were starting on the 21st? I noted the date some time
back as it's my younger daughter's birthday.

Could be, I haven't come across the 21st date before bit nor have I
looked for it either.

Crossrail press release from Tuesday (13th March):


http://www.crossrail.co.uk/news/pres...ring-machines-
ready-to-start-crossrail-dig

Excerpt:
---quote---
Today, the first of eight enormous machines, each 150 metres long and
weighing 1,000 tonnes, will begin their journey to the Royal Oak
Portal in west London from where, next week, they will start
tunnelling 6.4 km (four miles) east to Farringdon via Bond Street and
Tottenham Court Road. [...]
---/quote---

We shall see next week, then.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

Crossrail tunnelling to start shortly
 

On Fri, 16 Mar 2012 05:05:17 -0700 (PDT)
77002 wrote:
France is one of the Western European countries today that has an
effective military. The UK is under defended.

The french military have always had all the gear but no idea. I'm sure
the Maginot line looked great in the sales brochure.

B2003

Crossrail tunnelling to start shortly
 

On Mar 16, 12:23*pm, wrote:
On Fri, 16 Mar 2012 04:56:28 -0700 (PDT)

Colin Williams wrote:
On Mar 16, 10:59=A0am, wrote:

387BC? Thats pretty impressive given france as a nation didn't even exist=
until
the middle ages.

B2003

Perhaps it should have said France and its predecessors.

"387 B.C. Battle of Allia. *The outnumbered Gauls, led by Brennus,
defeat the army of the Roman Republic led by Quintus Sulpicius and
ultimately go on to sack Rome itself. "

Brennus? Asterix must have been having a day off.

B2003#


Must admit, Asterix was the first thing that came to mind when I
looked that up.

----
Colin Williams.

Crossrail tunnelling to start shortly
 

On Fri, 16 Mar 2012 07:37:37 -0500, wrote:
In article , (Mizter T) wrote:

On 16/03/2012 00:17, wrote:

In ,
(Mizter T) wrote:

Tunnel boring to begin from the Royal Oak portal heading eastwards
under central London.

Pictorial:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17365934

"The scheme is currently the largest civil engineering project in
Europe." Really? Bigger than the Gotthard Base Tunnel?

I see no-one answered this.

The Gotthard Base Tunnel claims to employ 2,600 people[1] while Crossrail
claims 14,000[2] so it is bigger by that measure. On the other hand the
Gotthard Base Tunnel is only part of a bigger project for which I can't
find total numbers.

[1] http://www.alptransit.ch/fileadmin/d...hbau_GBT_e.pdf
[2] http://www.crossrail.co.uk/railway/benefits

Crossrail tunnelling to start shortly
 

In article
,
(77002) wrote:

On Mar 16, 7:49*am, furnessvale wrote:
On Thursday, March 15, 2012 10:53:04 AM UTC, Mizter T wrote:
Tunnel boring to begin from the Royal Oak portal heading eastwards
under central London.
So, it's finally really happening.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed and mouth shut. *How many false starts
did the Channel Tunnel have that actually involved tunnelling underway?

Several of the Crossrail stations have been under construction for
some time. The ramps down to the portals at Paddington are substantial.

Moreover, IIRC, the cost of Crossrail has reduced slightly.

But how does it compare to the Gotthard Base Tunnel where the only planned
station (at Sedrun) was abandoned.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

Crossrail tunnelling to start shortly
 

In message , at 07:37:37
on Fri, 16 Mar 2012, remarked:
"The scheme is currently the largest civil engineering project in
Europe." Really? Bigger than the Gotthard Base Tunnel?

I see no-one answered this.

I had a go. Here's an additional comment: the Crossrail budget is about
twice the Gotthard one. How do you define "large"?
--
Roland Perry

Crossrail tunnelling to start shortly
 

On 16/03/2012 12:42, d wrote:
On Fri, 16 Mar 2012 05:05:17 -0700 (PDT)
wrote:
France is one of the Western European countries today that has an
effective military. The UK is under defended.

The french military have always had all the gear but no idea. I'm sure
the Maginot line looked great in the sales brochure.


Generals all tend to fight the last war...

I'm intrigued by the concept of the UK being /under/ defended. Against
what military threat?

Currently we have nuclear missile submarines with no one to aim them at,
high performance fighters with no one to fight, an aircraft carrier with
no aircraft and carrier escort destroyers with no carriers to escort.

--
Graeme Wall
This account not read, substitute trains for rail.
Railway Miscellany at http://www.greywall.demon.co.uk/rail

Crossrail tunnelling to start shortly
 

On 16/03/2012 13:13, Colin Williams wrote:
On Mar 16, 12:23 pm, wrote:
On Fri, 16 Mar 2012 04:56:28 -0700 (PDT)

Colin wrote:
On Mar 16, 10:59=A0am, wrote:

387BC? Thats pretty impressive given france as a nation didn't even exist=
until
the middle ages.

B2003

Perhaps it should have said France and its predecessors.

"387 B.C. Battle of Allia. The outnumbered Gauls, led by Brennus,
defeat the army of the Roman Republic led by Quintus Sulpicius and
ultimately go on to sack Rome itself. "

Brennus? Asterix must have been having a day off.

B2003#


Must admit, Asterix was the first thing that came to mind when I
looked that up.


Asterix is set about 300 years later IIRC

--
Graeme Wall
This account not read, substitute trains for rail.
Railway Miscellany at http://www.greywall.demon.co.uk/rail

Crossrail tunnelling to start shortly
 

On Fri, 16 Mar 2012 14:03:40 +0000, Graeme Wall
wrote:

On 16/03/2012 12:42, d wrote:
On Fri, 16 Mar 2012 05:05:17 -0700 (PDT)
wrote:
France is one of the Western European countries today that has an
effective military. The UK is under defended.

The french military have always had all the gear but no idea. I'm sure
the Maginot line looked great in the sales brochure.


Generals all tend to fight the last war...

I'm intrigued by the concept of the UK being /under/ defended. Against
what military threat?

Currently we have nuclear missile submarines with no one to aim them at,
high performance fighters with no one to fight, an aircraft carrier with
no aircraft and carrier escort destroyers with no carriers to escort.

I thought we didn't have any in-service fixed-wing aircraft carriers,
with or without aircraft? Of course, we do have two under
construction for delivery in a few years. The only conceivable
current threat would seem to be to the Falklands, and this analysis
suggests that we're adequately defended the
http://www.rusi.org/analysis/comment...C4F6324444BE2E

Crossrail tunnelling to start shortly
 

On Fri, 16 Mar 2012 14:03:40 +0000
Graeme Wall wrote:
Generals all tend to fight the last war...

I'm intrigued by the concept of the UK being /under/ defended. Against
what military threat?

I'm sure every general in the world would love the forsight to be able to
see who their next enemy will be 10 or 20 years down the line.

Currently we have nuclear missile submarines with no one to aim them at,
high performance fighters with no one to fight, an aircraft carrier with
no aircraft and carrier escort destroyers with no carriers to escort.

So your solution would be what, start building military equipment after we've
been attacked? Btw , we don't have any carriers right now.

B2003

Crossrail tunnelling to start shortly
 

wrote in message
...

So your solution would be what, start building military equipment after
we've
been attacked? Btw , we don't have any carriers right now.

We have two aircraft [helicopter] carriers. HMS Ocean and HMS Illustrious.

You mean we don't have any fixed wing capability.

Paul

Crossrail tunnelling to start shortly
 

On Fri, 16 Mar 2012 15:01:59 -0000
"Paul Scott" wrote:
wrote in message
...

So your solution would be what, start building military equipment after
we've
been attacked? Btw , we don't have any carriers right now.

We have two aircraft [helicopter] carriers. HMS Ocean and HMS Illustrious.
You mean we don't have any fixed wing capability.

To be fair, when people talk about aircraft carriers its generally a given that
they mean fixed wing. Pretty much anything can carry helicopters.

B2003

Crossrail tunnelling to start shortly
 

On 16/03/2012 14:24, Recliner wrote:
On Fri, 16 Mar 2012 14:03:40 +0000, Graeme Wall
wrote:

On 16/03/2012 12:42, d wrote:
On Fri, 16 Mar 2012 05:05:17 -0700 (PDT)
wrote:
France is one of the Western European countries today that has an
effective military. The UK is under defended.

The french military have always had all the gear but no idea. I'm sure
the Maginot line looked great in the sales brochure.


Generals all tend to fight the last war...

I'm intrigued by the concept of the UK being /under/ defended. Against
what military threat?

Currently we have nuclear missile submarines with no one to aim them at,
high performance fighters with no one to fight, an aircraft carrier with
no aircraft and carrier escort destroyers with no carriers to escort.

I thought we didn't have any in-service fixed-wing aircraft carriers,
with or without aircraft?

We still have HMS Illustrious, though she's not in commission.

Of course, we do have two under
construction for delivery in a few years.

One of which is scheduled to go direct from the slipway to the scrapyard.

The only conceivable
current threat would seem to be to the Falklands, and this analysis
suggests that we're adequately defended the
http://www.rusi.org/analysis/comment...C4F6324444BE2E

The bit that misses is the fact that the Argentine navy effectively
doesn't exist any more, they have no carrier, no operational subs, 3 old
frigates and 2 type 42 destroyers. Debatable whether any of those are
actually serviceable. They certainly don't have any heavy lift and
amphibious capability any more.

There's a presidential election later in the year and the locals are
****ed of with Christina. Also the economy is going down the drain
again so rattle the sabres and wave the Malvinas flags to distract the
peasantry.


--
Graeme Wall
This account not read, substitute trains for rail.
Railway Miscellany at http://www.greywall.demon.co.uk/rail

Crossrail tunnelling to start shortly
 

On 16/03/2012 14:56, d wrote:
On Fri, 16 Mar 2012 14:03:40 +0000
Graeme wrote:
Generals all tend to fight the last war...

I'm intrigued by the concept of the UK being /under/ defended. Against
what military threat?

I'm sure every general in the world would love the forsight to be able to
see who their next enemy will be 10 or 20 years down the line.

Currently we have nuclear missile submarines with no one to aim them at,
high performance fighters with no one to fight, an aircraft carrier with
no aircraft and carrier escort destroyers with no carriers to escort.

So your solution would be what, start building military equipment after we've
been attacked?

Who is going to attack us that we need trident missiles to defend against?

Btw , we don't have any carriers right now.


Actually we do have one.

--
Graeme Wall
This account not read, substitute trains for rail.
Railway Miscellany at http://www.greywall.demon.co.uk/rail

Crossrail tunnelling to start shortly
 

On 16/03/2012 15:01, Paul Scott wrote:
wrote in message
...

So your solution would be what, start building military equipment
after we've
been attacked? Btw , we don't have any carriers right now.

We have two aircraft [helicopter] carriers. HMS Ocean and HMS Illustrious.

You mean we don't have any fixed wing capability.


Because we don't have any fixed wing aircraft. Assuming the ski-jump
has been removed (wasn't the last time I saw her), it would be easy to
refit to HMS Illustrious if we had any Harriers left.


--
Graeme Wall
This account not read, substitute trains for rail.
Railway Miscellany at http://www.greywall.demon.co.uk/rail

Crossrail tunnelling to start shortly
 

"Graeme Wall" wrote in message
...

We still have HMS Illustrious, though she's not in commission.

Yes she is.

Illustrious remains in service until some time in 2014, when Ocean will
become the only operational carrier.

Paul

Crossrail tunnelling to start shortly
 

"Graeme Wall" wrote in message
...
On 16/03/2012 15:01, Paul Scott wrote:

We have two aircraft [helicopter] carriers. HMS Ocean and HMS
Illustrious.

You mean we don't have any fixed wing capability.

Because we don't have any fixed wing aircraft. Assuming the ski-jump has
been removed (wasn't the last time I saw her), it would be easy to refit
to HMS Illustrious if we had any Harriers left.

Wrong assumption however. The ski jump is definitely still there. It would
have cost a huge amount to remove it, as modifications since the 1982
version led to it being enlarged and fully utilised internally for
accomodation, storerooms etc.

Paul

Crossrail tunnelling to start shortly
 

On Mar 16, 2:56*pm, wrote:
On Fri, 16 Mar 2012 14:03:40 +0000

Graeme Wall wrote:
Generals all tend to fight the last war...

I'm intrigued by the concept of the UK being /under/ defended. *Against
what military threat?

I'm sure every general in the world would love the forsight to be able to
see who their next enemy will be 10 or 20 years down the line.

Currently we have nuclear missile submarines with no one to aim them at,
high performance fighters with no one to fight, an aircraft carrier with
no aircraft and carrier escort destroyers with no carriers to escort.

So your solution would be what, start building military equipment after we've
been attacked? Btw , we don't have any carriers right now.

B2003

Britain scraped by at the start of WWII because of the "phoney war".
That gave the UK time to manufacture aircraft, etc.

Had the battle of Britain happened earlier we may not have done so
well.

Crossrail tunnelling to start shortly
 

On Fri, 16 Mar 2012 17:03:32 +0000, Graeme Wall
wrote:

On 16/03/2012 14:56, d wrote:
On Fri, 16 Mar 2012 14:03:40 +0000
Graeme wrote:
Generals all tend to fight the last war...

I'm intrigued by the concept of the UK being /under/ defended. Against
what military threat?

I'm sure every general in the world would love the forsight to be able to
see who their next enemy will be 10 or 20 years down the line.

Currently we have nuclear missile submarines with no one to aim them at,
high performance fighters with no one to fight, an aircraft carrier with
no aircraft and carrier escort destroyers with no carriers to escort.

So your solution would be what, start building military equipment after we've
been attacked?

Who is going to attack us that we need trident missiles to defend against?

The world is not short of loony leaders. Those who invent technologies
always run the risk of losing out to others who copy it.

Btw , we don't have any carriers right now.


Actually we do have one.

Crossrail tunnelling to start shortly
 

In article , (Roland Perry)
wrote:

In message , at
07:37:37 on Fri, 16 Mar 2012, remarked:
"The scheme is currently the largest civil engineering project in
Europe." Really? Bigger than the Gotthard Base Tunnel?

I see no-one answered this.

I had a go. Here's an additional comment: the Crossrail budget is
about twice the Gotthard one. How do you define "large"?

Yes, I saw that later. However, most of the difference is explained by
stations and works off the tunnel route, isn't it?

--
Colin Rosenstiel

Crossrail tunnelling to start shortly
 

On 16/03/2012 17:18, Paul Scott wrote:
"Graeme Wall" wrote in message
...

We still have HMS Illustrious, though she's not in commission.

Yes she is.

Illustrious remains in service until some time in 2014, when Ocean will
become the only operational carrier.


I thought she was still under refit, must have completed it.

--
Graeme Wall
This account not read, substitute trains for rail.
Railway Miscellany at http://www.greywall.demon.co.uk/rail

Crossrail tunnelling to start shortly
 

On 16/03/2012 17:47, Paul Scott wrote:
"Graeme Wall" wrote in message
...
On 16/03/2012 15:01, Paul Scott wrote:

We have two aircraft [helicopter] carriers. HMS Ocean and HMS
Illustrious.

You mean we don't have any fixed wing capability.

Because we don't have any fixed wing aircraft. Assuming the ski-jump
has been removed (wasn't the last time I saw her), it would be easy to
refit to HMS Illustrious if we had any Harriers left.

Wrong assumption however. The ski jump is definitely still there. It
would have cost a huge amount to remove it, as modifications since the
1982 version led to it being enlarged and fully utilised internally for
accomodation, storerooms etc.


Still haven't got any Harriers though, which are the only aircraft that
are cleared for using the ski-jump.


--
Graeme Wall
This account not read, substitute trains for rail.
Railway Miscellany at http://www.greywall.demon.co.uk/rail

Crossrail tunnelling to start shortly
 

On 16/03/2012 17:57, 77002 wrote:
On Mar 16, 2:56 pm, wrote:
On Fri, 16 Mar 2012 14:03:40 +0000

Graeme wrote:
Generals all tend to fight the last war...

I'm intrigued by the concept of the UK being /under/ defended. Against
what military threat?

I'm sure every general in the world would love the forsight to be able to
see who their next enemy will be 10 or 20 years down the line.

Currently we have nuclear missile submarines with no one to aim them at,
high performance fighters with no one to fight, an aircraft carrier with
no aircraft and carrier escort destroyers with no carriers to escort.

So your solution would be what, start building military equipment after we've
been attacked? Btw , we don't have any carriers right now.

B2003

Britain scraped by at the start of WWII because of the "phoney war".
That gave the UK time to manufacture aircraft, etc.

Had the battle of Britain happened earlier we may not have done so
well.

You think we are in serious danger of going to war with Germany again
sometime soon?

--
Graeme Wall
This account not read, substitute trains for rail.
Railway Miscellany at http://www.greywall.demon.co.uk/rail

Crossrail tunnelling to start shortly
 

On 16/03/2012 18:41, Charles Ellson wrote:
On Fri, 16 Mar 2012 17:03:32 +0000, Graeme Wall
wrote:

On 16/03/2012 14:56, d wrote:
On Fri, 16 Mar 2012 14:03:40 +0000
Graeme wrote:
Generals all tend to fight the last war...

I'm intrigued by the concept of the UK being /under/ defended. Against
what military threat?

I'm sure every general in the world would love the forsight to be able to
see who their next enemy will be 10 or 20 years down the line.

Currently we have nuclear missile submarines with no one to aim them at,
high performance fighters with no one to fight, an aircraft carrier with
no aircraft and carrier escort destroyers with no carriers to escort.

So your solution would be what, start building military equipment after we've
been attacked?

Who is going to attack us that we need trident missiles to defend against?

The world is not short of loony leaders. Those who invent technologies
always run the risk of losing out to others who copy it.


That doesn't answer the question.

--
Graeme Wall
This account not read, substitute trains for rail.
Railway Miscellany at http://www.greywall.demon.co.uk/rail

Crossrail tunnelling to start shortly
 

On 16/03/2012 20:15, Graeme Wall wrote:
On 16/03/2012 18:41, Charles Ellson wrote:
On Fri, 16 Mar 2012 17:03:32 +0000, Graeme Wall
wrote:

On 16/03/2012 14:56, d wrote:
On Fri, 16 Mar 2012 14:03:40 +0000
Graeme wrote:
Generals all tend to fight the last war...

I'm intrigued by the concept of the UK being /under/ defended. Against
what military threat?

I'm sure every general in the world would love the forsight to be
able to
see who their next enemy will be 10 or 20 years down the line.

Currently we have nuclear missile submarines with no one to aim
them at,
high performance fighters with no one to fight, an aircraft carrier
with
no aircraft and carrier escort destroyers with no carriers to escort.

So your solution would be what, start building military equipment
after we've
been attacked?

Who is going to attack us that we need trident missiles to defend
against?

The world is not short of loony leaders. Those who invent technologies
always run the risk of losing out to others who copy it.


That doesn't answer the question.

People don't figure out exactly who is going to nick their stuff before
taking out insurance.

Also the world takes notice of the latest Kim, or Pakistani general, and
Iran gets the world's attention, but no-one cares about their
equivalents in Africa or wherever.

Plus the frogs have got nukes.
--
Arthur Figgis Surrey, UK

Crossrail tunnelling to start shortly
 

On 16/03/2012 20:14, Graeme Wall wrote:
On 16/03/2012 17:57, 77002 wrote:
On Mar 16, 2:56 pm, wrote:
On Fri, 16 Mar 2012 14:03:40 +0000

Graeme wrote:
Generals all tend to fight the last war...

I'm intrigued by the concept of the UK being /under/ defended. Against
what military threat?

I'm sure every general in the world would love the forsight to be
able to
see who their next enemy will be 10 or 20 years down the line.

Currently we have nuclear missile submarines with no one to aim them
at,
high performance fighters with no one to fight, an aircraft carrier
with
no aircraft and carrier escort destroyers with no carriers to escort.

So your solution would be what, start building military equipment
after we've
been attacked? Btw , we don't have any carriers right now.

B2003

Britain scraped by at the start of WWII because of the "phoney war".
That gave the UK time to manufacture aircraft, etc.

Had the battle of Britain happened earlier we may not have done so
well.

You think we are in serious danger of going to war with Germany again
sometime soon?

No - next time we'll have the sense to be on their side...

OTOH, were people expecting war with Germany in the mid-1930s, or the
1900s? It was a possibility, at least for rabble-rousers, but not an
expectation.

--
Arthur Figgis Surrey, UK

Crossrail tunnelling to start shortly
 

"Graeme Wall" wrote

We still have HMS Illustrious, though she's not in commission.

We also have one commissioned battleship - HMS Victory.

Peter

Crossrail tunnelling to start shortly
 

On 16/03/2012 00:17, wrote:

"The scheme is currently the largest civil engineering project in Europe."
Really? Bigger than the Gotthard Base Tunnel?
But that isn't in Europe...
It is in Switzerland

Jim

Crossrail tunnelling to start shortly
 

On 16/03/2012 20:46, Peter Masson wrote:


"Graeme Wall" wrote

We still have HMS Illustrious, though she's not in commission.

We also have one commissioned battleship - HMS Victory.


Currently in refit :-)


--
Graeme Wall
This account not read, substitute trains for rail.
Railway Miscellany at http://www.greywall.demon.co.uk/rail

Crossrail tunnelling to start shortly
 

"Graeme Wall" wrote in message
...
On 16/03/2012 17:18, Paul Scott wrote:
"Graeme Wall" wrote in message
...

We still have HMS Illustrious, though she's not in commission.

Yes she is.

Illustrious remains in service until some time in 2014, when Ocean will
become the only operational carrier.


I thought she was still under refit, must have completed it.

About 6/7 months ago. My son was on it during the refit.

Paul

Crossrail tunnelling to start shortly
 

On 16/03/2012 21:52, Paul Scott wrote:
"Graeme Wall" wrote in message
...
On 16/03/2012 17:18, Paul Scott wrote:
"Graeme Wall" wrote in message
...

We still have HMS Illustrious, though she's not in commission.

Yes she is.

Illustrious remains in service until some time in 2014, when Ocean will
become the only operational carrier.


I thought she was still under refit, must have completed it.

About 6/7 months ago. My son was on it during the refit.


Looks like she'll be back in refit!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-17407435


--
Graeme Wall
This account not read, substitute trains for rail.
Railway Miscellany at http://www.greywall.demon.co.uk/rail

Crossrail tunnelling to start shortly
 

In article ,
lid (Arthur Figgis) wrote:

OTOH, were people expecting war with Germany in the mid-1930s, or the
1900s? It was a possibility, at least for rabble-rousers, but not an
expectation.

Definitely in the mid-1930s.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

Crossrail tunnelling to start shortly
 

In article , (Jim
Chisholm) wrote:

On 16/03/2012 00:17, wrote:

"The scheme is currently the largest civil engineering project in
Europe."
Really? Bigger than the Gotthard Base Tunnel?
But that isn't in Europe...
It is in Switzerland

Which was in Europe last time I looked. It's even in Schengen.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

Crossrail tunnelling to start shortly
 

On Mar 16, 11:30*pm, wrote:
In article ,

(Arthur Figgis) wrote:
OTOH, were people expecting war with Germany in the mid-1930s, or the
1900s? It was a possibility, at least for rabble-rousers, but not an
expectation.

Definitely in the mid-1930s.

Germany is not an issue.

However, there are several tension points around the globe. The world
is reshaping rapidly.

Crossrail tunnelling to start shortly
 

On Mar 16, 11:30*pm, wrote:
In article ,

(Arthur Figgis) wrote:
OTOH, were people expecting war with Germany in the mid-1930s, or the
1900s? It was a possibility, at least for rabble-rousers, but not an
expectation.

Definitely in the mid-1930s.

Germany is not an issue.

However, there are several tension points around the globe. The
world
is reshaping rapidly.

Crossrail tunnelling to start shortly
 

On 16/03/2012 17:18, Paul Scott wrote:
"Graeme Wall" wrote in message
...

We still have HMS Illustrious, though she's not in commission.

Yes she is.

Illustrious remains in service until some time in 2014, when Ocean will
become the only operational carrier.

Paul



What happens if al-Qaeda invade when she is anchored in the Thames to
police the Olympics?

--
Myth, after all, is what we believe naturally. History is what we must
painfully learn and struggle to remember. -Albert Goldman

Crossrail tunnelling to start shortly
 

On 16/03/2012 20:46, Peter Masson wrote:


"Graeme Wall" wrote

We still have HMS Illustrious, though she's not in commission.

We also have one commissioned battleship - HMS Victory.

Peter

But where can you get salt pork and biscuits today?

--
Myth, after all, is what we believe naturally. History is what we must
painfully learn and struggle to remember. -Albert Goldman

Crossrail tunnelling to start shortly
 

In message , at 14:57:13
on Fri, 16 Mar 2012, remarked:
"The scheme is currently the largest civil engineering project in
Europe." Really? Bigger than the Gotthard Base Tunnel?

I see no-one answered this.

I had a go. Here's an additional comment: the Crossrail budget is
about twice the Gotthard one. How do you define "large"?

Yes, I saw that later. However, most of the difference is explained by
stations and works off the tunnel route, isn't it?

Those are still "civil engineering". The claim isn't for the "biggest/
longest/most expensive tunnel", it's the *project*.
--
Roland Perry

Crossrail tunnelling to start shortly
 

"Graeme Wall" wrote in message
...

Looks like she'll be back in refit!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-17407435

For a few hours or days.

Articles like that really need to get a grip on reality - minor collision
damage, or 'berthing incidents' (often with tugs unfamiliar with the type of
vessel) happens all the time, to both warships and merchant ships.

Much ado about nothing to be honest...

Paul