This really is the end.

When a Southend bound train comes into Laindon station, even if it's only four carriages long, it goes right up to the end of the platform. This is rather annoying, as the exit is at the beginning of the platform.

I asked a friend of mine who knows about these things (as he works for a major train company) and he told me why. In order for the driver to ensure all passengers are safely aboard, he looks through a large mirror situated on the station, just by where he stops. At the four carriage stop, the mirror had been smashed by vandals shooting at it from the road bridge.

The railway replaced it (and they are not cheap, I'm assured), only for the same thing to happen again. At which point they gave up, and now the trains run to the end of the station, where the mirror is out of range of the bridge.

I did have a rather radical suggestion, "Why doesn't the driver lean out of his window and look back down the train?" But that was greeted with a sharp intake of breath! To me, sometimes the obvious solutions are not only the cheapest, but also the best!

But, hey, who am I? I'm not a railway manager!

Actually this whole thing reminds me of something I read some time ago. In the days of the USA versus Russia space race, both nations had a problem. A ball point pen would not write properly in zero gravity (try writing with the pen going upwards and you can see the problem).

The Americans put in thousands of dollars of research in order to create a pen that would write in space. The Russians had another idea - they sent their astronauts up with a pencil.

Simple, but effective.

Running repairs

On my cycle journey to work I cross over a railway bridge. One day I noticed a man beside the track with a chequered flag. I asked a friend who knows about these things (as he's something big in railway stations!) and he told me the man waves a chequered flag when a train is coming to notify another man to signal to those working on the line that a train is imminent. This extra man is only needed when there is a curve in the line and the lookout cannot see far enough down the track.

However I have my own suspicions. I think they were racing two trains, one down each track, and the man with the chequered flag was at the finish line. Probably one was driven by Lewis Hamilton and the other by Jensen Button.

Which reminds me, isn't it fantastic the current and previous F1 world champions have both been British? Actually, both are English, which is even better!

I have to admit that I sometimes feel guilty at watching F1 as the sums of money that are spent could probably feed the world and also the carbon footprint - or bootprint - must be incredibly huge! But it's a nice way to relax on a Sunday afternoon (or whenever we watch the recording) and a good opportunity for a nap half way through.