Tim Green 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️💨☀️⚡️💡💻
@otherprofgreen.bsky.social
Professor of Electrical Power Engineering at Imperial College researching control of zero-carbon grids.
Known to get distracted by old trains and industrial heritage.
Drivel that follows comprises personal views.
He/Him
orcid.org/0000-0003-3893-2439
Known to get distracted by old trains and industrial heritage.
Drivel that follows comprises personal views.
He/Him
orcid.org/0000-0003-3893-2439
I treated myself to a late breakfast in the Regency Cafe this morning so tonight I’m watching layer cake.
November 21, 2025 at 7:18 PM
I treated myself to a late breakfast in the Regency Cafe this morning so tonight I’m watching layer cake.
Another early start to the day after a restless night. But what’s this? The signaller has marked the down fast line at East Croydon as “no go”. That can’t be good even for those of us hoping to travel on the up fast line. The slow lines have up, down and reversible options but no rev for the fast.
November 11, 2025 at 6:25 AM
Another early start to the day after a restless night. But what’s this? The signaller has marked the down fast line at East Croydon as “no go”. That can’t be good even for those of us hoping to travel on the up fast line. The slow lines have up, down and reversible options but no rev for the fast.
I’ve been awake much of the early hours so I’ve just got up to go into work early and try to do something with the day (night!). Balcombe station rather quiet at 05:50.
November 7, 2025 at 5:57 AM
I’ve been awake much of the early hours so I’ve just got up to go into work early and try to do something with the day (night!). Balcombe station rather quiet at 05:50.
I’ve made it to Trimley. Not a whole lot here expect a lovely running-in board and the branch line into Felixstowe port. Hope a train to Ipswich in about half and hour and maybe a freight train first.
November 1, 2025 at 1:14 PM
I’ve made it to Trimley. Not a whole lot here expect a lovely running-in board and the branch line into Felixstowe port. Hope a train to Ipswich in about half and hour and maybe a freight train first.
I’ve summitted, at a little over 20 m. Total elevation gain for the whole 13.8 km walk will have been 30 m. What a work out!
November 1, 2025 at 12:22 PM
I’ve summitted, at a little over 20 m. Total elevation gain for the whole 13.8 km walk will have been 30 m. What a work out!
Hips and berries and lanes.
November 1, 2025 at 12:06 PM
Hips and berries and lanes.
Quite a stretch of this walk is below sea level. How very Dutch.
November 1, 2025 at 11:03 AM
Quite a stretch of this walk is below sea level. How very Dutch.
Mussel shells, mermaid’s purse and a good walk spoiled
November 1, 2025 at 10:20 AM
Mussel shells, mermaid’s purse and a good walk spoiled
Beach huts; reflected sun; kite-surfers and Martello Towers (tricky bloke the Napoleon, can’t be too careful even after all these years)
November 1, 2025 at 10:18 AM
Beach huts; reflected sun; kite-surfers and Martello Towers (tricky bloke the Napoleon, can’t be too careful even after all these years)
I’m having a day out Felixstowe and walking Felixstowe Marshes. No really; @diamondgeezer.bsky.social blogged it. Gawped at ships and cranes last night. Real The Wire Season 2 vibes. There’s. Be more nature today.
November 1, 2025 at 8:17 AM
I’m having a day out Felixstowe and walking Felixstowe Marshes. No really; @diamondgeezer.bsky.social blogged it. Gawped at ships and cranes last night. Real The Wire Season 2 vibes. There’s. Be more nature today.
Lovely people in the coffee shop drew a heart in the foam. Trouble is, I’m left-handed so it looks more like an arse.
October 14, 2025 at 10:43 AM
Lovely people in the coffee shop drew a heart in the foam. Trouble is, I’m left-handed so it looks more like an arse.
I’m not the only one I know but I quite often buy a book because I’m sure I’ll enjoy reading it and then some neglect to actually read it. So, as this is #BlsckHistoryMonth, I’m going to do my best to read one item a day from this excellent book.
October 1, 2025 at 6:04 AM
I’m not the only one I know but I quite often buy a book because I’m sure I’ll enjoy reading it and then some neglect to actually read it. So, as this is #BlsckHistoryMonth, I’m going to do my best to read one item a day from this excellent book.
Now on the second ICE train of the day to Brussels. I don’t want to jinks it, but DB so far keeping to time better than their reputation. Their lentil curry and bottle of beer are doing a fine job as Sunday lunch.
September 28, 2025 at 12:07 PM
Now on the second ICE train of the day to Brussels. I don’t want to jinks it, but DB so far keeping to time better than their reputation. Their lentil curry and bottle of beer are doing a fine job as Sunday lunch.
I’m leaving Berlin this morning. Come on now DB, see if you can get one of your trains to run to time; I’ve got connections to make in Köln and Brussels.
September 28, 2025 at 7:02 AM
I’m leaving Berlin this morning. Come on now DB, see if you can get one of your trains to run to time; I’ve got connections to make in Köln and Brussels.
How often do you get so see thrust reversers up close? These two big “scoops” on the back of a BMW Rolls-Royce BR700 almost entirely close up the normal passage of air out of the back of the engine and bounce it all outward and forward.
September 27, 2025 at 11:03 AM
How often do you get so see thrust reversers up close? These two big “scoops” on the back of a BMW Rolls-Royce BR700 almost entirely close up the normal passage of air out of the back of the engine and bounce it all outward and forward.
And now to the Berlin Luftbrücker provided by waves of Douglas C-47 (aka DC3)
September 27, 2025 at 10:37 AM
And now to the Berlin Luftbrücker provided by waves of Douglas C-47 (aka DC3)
Another cut-away! This time an Ar96 fighter aircraft showing the Germans’ penchant for inverted V engines with turbochargers. The Rolls-Royce Merlin engine in Spitfires and Hurricanes was also a V, not inverted and naturally aspirated, which could lead to fuel starvation in some manoeuvres.
September 27, 2025 at 10:29 AM
Another cut-away! This time an Ar96 fighter aircraft showing the Germans’ penchant for inverted V engines with turbochargers. The Rolls-Royce Merlin engine in Spitfires and Hurricanes was also a V, not inverted and naturally aspirated, which could lead to fuel starvation in some manoeuvres.
The Western Region of British Railways was taken with power-to-weight ratio of German diesel-hydraulic locos compared to diesel-electric prototypes in the UK. They licensed engines and hydraulic drives from companies like Maybach and Voith. The resemblance of BR Class 42 to DB v200 is clear.
September 27, 2025 at 10:04 AM
The Western Region of British Railways was taken with power-to-weight ratio of German diesel-hydraulic locos compared to diesel-electric prototypes in the UK. They licensed engines and hydraulic drives from companies like Maybach and Voith. The resemblance of BR Class 42 to DB v200 is clear.
Technology of any era is interesting and one can admire the ingenuity and skill. It is, ahem, all grist to the mill.
September 27, 2025 at 9:19 AM
Technology of any era is interesting and one can admire the ingenuity and skill. It is, ahem, all grist to the mill.
My second favourite cutaway is this Rolls-Royce gas turbine in Bristol. This is where I came to properly understand how the air is already well over 500°C as it leaves the compressor and is pushed into the combustion chamber.
September 27, 2025 at 9:05 AM
My second favourite cutaway is this Rolls-Royce gas turbine in Bristol. This is where I came to properly understand how the air is already well over 500°C as it leaves the compressor and is pushed into the combustion chamber.
Who doesn’t like a cut-away of a machine and of a railway locomotive most of all. All the parts are labelled and so now I know that the German for superheater tube (where steam is passed in pipes inside the fire tubes inside the boiler) is Überhitzerrohre.
September 27, 2025 at 8:48 AM
Who doesn’t like a cut-away of a machine and of a railway locomotive most of all. All the parts are labelled and so now I know that the German for superheater tube (where steam is passed in pipes inside the fire tubes inside the boiler) is Überhitzerrohre.
I’ve heard about attempts to get three-phase power to a railway vehicle. It never got very far and this lovely model of a 1901 railcar shows why three contact wires and three pantographs was going to always look ungainly. Brilliant madness.
September 27, 2025 at 8:38 AM
I’ve heard about attempts to get three-phase power to a railway vehicle. It never got very far and this lovely model of a 1901 railcar shows why three contact wires and three pantographs was going to always look ungainly. Brilliant madness.
My thirst for steam engines, stationary or locomotive knows no limits. Even after a great day at Museum of Water and Steam I’ve still tagged an extra day onto my trip to 50hertz in Berlin to visit the Deutsches Technikmuseum.
September 27, 2025 at 8:26 AM
My thirst for steam engines, stationary or locomotive knows no limits. Even after a great day at Museum of Water and Steam I’ve still tagged an extra day onto my trip to 50hertz in Berlin to visit the Deutsches Technikmuseum.
My thirst for steam engines, stationary or locomotive knows no limits. Even after a great day at Museum of Water and Steam I’ve still tagged an extra day onto my trip to 50hertz in Berlin to visit the Deutsches Technikmuseum.
September 27, 2025 at 8:17 AM
My thirst for steam engines, stationary or locomotive knows no limits. Even after a great day at Museum of Water and Steam I’ve still tagged an extra day onto my trip to 50hertz in Berlin to visit the Deutsches Technikmuseum.
I’d love to get a proper look at Wuppertal’s suspension railway. At least I’ve now caught a glimpse of it.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wuppert...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wuppert...
September 23, 2025 at 2:39 PM
I’d love to get a proper look at Wuppertal’s suspension railway. At least I’ve now caught a glimpse of it.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wuppert...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wuppert...