#class 323

[mjalford98]

Marking the withdrawal of the class 323 electric multiple unit trains from service around the West Midlands, seeing as I couldn't be bothered to brave the rail replacement bus service between Gloucester & Birmingham yesterday to see the farewell railtour, I thought I'd share these two snaps from shortly after the announcement of the intended replacement of the 323s by the new class 720s, taken just seconds apart, as a pair of unidentified class 323s cross paths departing from and arriving into Birmingham New Street on Saturday 12 August 2022 while on my way to the Blists Hill Victorian Town Steam Weekend. I love getting these shots showing such a change of scene in such a short space of time.

[emilytakesphoto]

train station (with a train in)

[uomminecraftsociety]

BR Class 323, you slut. You are with Northern now but you are still wearing clothes from West Midland's depot.

[national-rail]

See pinned for more info!

[terribletrainphotos]

Something old, something new, something yellow, something blue. Locomotor and various EMUs at depot in Karlsruhe.

[the-time-lord-oracle]

Trains at Birmingham New Street, 26/11/2023

[carbone14]

USS Caiman (SS 323) au large du chantier naval de Mare Island – Vallejo – Californie – États-Unis – Printemps 1951

©United States Navy

[irisbleufic]

Passing this info along from Bluesky at the request of a tumblr mutual who’d like to reblog it since a bunch of us found out today via some reporting in The Atlantic (which included a search link to the LibGen database) that we had at least one novel or other book stolen:

IF YOU FOUND YOUR NOVEL IN THE LIBGEN DATABASE, YOU MAY BE A CLASS MEMBER FOR THE KADREY ET AL V. META CLASS ACTION

Law firms you can contact if you're a potential class member:

Joseph Saveri Law Firm, LLP

(415) 500-6800

jsaveri@saverilawfirm.com

Mathew Butterick

(323) 968-2632

mb@buttericklaw.com

[soul-punk]

so coming back to this now i guess... knowing what i know i can say i have the PRIVILEGE to think this way about marriage. for others, sometimes the power is out of their hands and i loathe arranged marriages that are against the bride's consent. but if the bride doesn't gaf and the family is happy and she's happy then that's the best and i am not angry at those types of arrangements. But I am very much lucky to be able to regard marriage as a personal choice made out of love because of my circumstances of life. and some people will not be allowed that luxury and we should work to change that for good.

one thing i learned about myself while doing some stuff for this one class is that i plan on marrying out of love when a lot of (some very specific) research shows that ppl tend to marry for strategic reasons (economic or like for religious/racial reasons and whatever else)😅😅😅 Am I late to the party. is this something ppl agree with me on or is everyone really thinking about relationships like a business move😅

[bakuhatsufallinlove]

here’s the OTHER leaker translation I would explode out of existence

listen.

I know, okay?

I know everyone loves this. I know everyone lost their shit for it. But I hate it.

I will admit honestly that it is 70% abject fury over the misuse of one word. Another 20% is frustration over how the fandom reacted to the official translation with such vitriol and how the leaker fueled it with their smug comments. That final 10% amounts to what some might consider pedantic or nitpicky. But I don't care.

This translation sucks. It doesn't sound cool, it doesn't sound threatening, and the leaker's rookie mistakes ruin what makes this moment great for me.

Allow me to elaborate.

The emphasis is on the wrong part

I’ve talked about some of the pronoun differences in this line before, but did you know Katsuki also changes the particles every time?

‘Cause I sure don’t think the leaker noticed. Grammar particles are what determine the relationship between words in a sentence. They pack a lot of punch, denoting subject, object, indirect object, purpose, location, time, origin point, direction of movement, means or method—and a bunch more shit that can be hard to describe.

Word order and particles work together to direct our attention to specific parts of a sentence, emphasizing the importance of what is being said. They are some of the most difficult parts of Japanese for learners to grasp and use with the same ease that native speakers do. I’m acutely aware of this weakness, so I often pay particular attention to them. Let’s break down how each iteration shifts the meaning and emphasis of the base sentence.

First time

Chapter 322 おまえが拭えねぇもんは俺たちが拭う omae ga nuguenee mon wa oretachi ga nuguu

Katsuki uses ga with both the second person pronoun for Izuku and the first person plural pronoun for himself and Class 1-A. Ga emphasizes the word that comes directly before it, so this focuses not on the verb itself, but the persons doing the verb. Katsuki's first person plural pronoun oretachi of course means "we," but if you wanted to highlight his literal meaning, he's saying: "the things you cannot handle, me and the people with me will handle."

Second time

Chapter 323 てめーが拭えねーもんはこっちで拭う temee ga nuguenee mon wa kocchi de nuguu

Here, Katsuki retains ga for Izuku’s second person pronoun, but changes both his first person pronoun and its particle, giving us kocchi de. This shifts the implication of who is doing the act—the first time, Katsuki's "we" pronoun highlighted the classmates who accompanied him and acted with him to help save Izuku. But by the time he says this line again, a number of people outside their class have stepped forward to defend Izuku’s return to UA.

Unlike distinctly singular pronouns like ore, kocchi both refers to oneself and something greater than oneself. By switching to this, Katsuki expands that narrow “me and the people with me” into “our side,” presenting the people who support Izuku as a unified force.

You see, kocchi de subtly shifts the verb to being executed by subject(s) defined by a specific characteristic or condition.

Explanations of particle de from Mainichi Nonbiri. The heading and explanation read, "Subject: 'De' is used to denote the subject who deals with or engages in the action expressed by the predicate."

The first example uses jibun de (by oneself) to describe the conditions under which the listener is asked to execute the verb. The third uses gikai de (in the parliament or by the parliament, as a governing body representing many people) to explain the plurality and nature of the subject executing the verb.

The second example uses socchi de, which is the second person "you" version of kocchi, meaning your side. With this, you can see the purpose is to highlight division: "you did that over there on your side of things without any input from me."

Kocchi de as Katsuki uses it likewise creates "sides" by highlighting connection.

These details emphasize Izuku as the person who cannot handle these things and the relationship he has with the people supporting him, a collective Katsuki aligns himself with.

If we maintain this emphasis and the conditions in a literal way, we have: "The things you cannot handle, our side will handle for you."

Third time

Chapter 405 OFA(あいつ)に拭えねーもんはこっちで拭うってなあぁああ！！！ OFA (aitsu) ni nuguenee mon wa kocchi de nuguutte naaaa!!!

I want you to look really close at the particle ni.

Then look at the way the first word balloon ends with the particle wa.

And hear me when I say that this does not emphasize Izuku.

Ni is not a particle for emphasis. If Izuku's personal inability to handle AFO were being highlighted, Katsuki could have used には, which I talk about briefly in this post:

The combination of the two particles ni and wa are used to emphasize, compare, and contrast. This is extremely telling just on its own. Izuku is emphasizing the fact that, compared to everyone he could possibly tell, he cannot tell Katsuki this. He might be able to tell other people, but when it comes to Katsuki, he cannot. Ienai does not specify where the limitation stems from, but ni wa sure implies it.

If Katsuki wanted to disparage Izuku in comparison to himself, like "that guy obviously can't handle you, so I'll do it," he would have said something like this. He even could have slapped his own singular pronoun and ga in there (俺が拭う) to emphasize himself as an individual actor. But that's not what he did.

The particle wa tells us what the topic is. Neither Katsuki nor Izuku are the topic in any iteration of this line; they are subjects engaging with the verbs. The topic is "the things OFA (that guy) can't handle."

Now, because every other time Katsuki said this line had ga in it too, wa wasn't quite as strong as it is this third time. If ga emphasizes what comes before it, then wa emphasizes what comes after. It tells us, "this is the topic, now hold onto your seats."

Katsuki is emphasizing the predicate and the verb. What's gonna happen and how it's gonna happen.

He's saying, "our side is gonna fucking crush you."

The wa particle and the separate balloons build tension, suspense, and excitement—which the leaker instantly deflates. By front-loading Katsuki as both topic and subject ("I'm the guy"), the emphasis is no longer on the promise of destruction he will deliver on.

The emphasis is indisputably on the part after the balloon break, so the mention of Izuku ("when that nerd can't handle it all on his own") reads weirdly like an insult. Hell, most of the words the leaker uses are about Izuku's inability to handle the situation, which bloat the second half of the line and effectively kill the momentum.

Fumbling the flow of a line is a common mistake for amateur translators. Sometimes, it's hard to avoid because Japanese grammar is often the inverse of English grammar; maintaining the original order may render it awkward or even unintelligible.

But that is not the case here.

pikahlua's literal translation

There's no reason to reorder the clauses. You can spruce up the wording, but the lines are perfectly understandable and effective in this order even at their most literal.

The leaker chose to reorder the lines this way, and their translation is worse for it.

Viz Comparison

Official translation by Viz

After what I've said about particles, pacing, and emphasis, I think you can plainly see that the official translator understood these details and made his own choices to highlight them.

Any time you get text with furigana (explained here), you have to decide how to incorporate those dual pieces of information into the text. He could have translated this as "that guy couldn't keep you in the ground," but instead he prioritized the reference to OFA.

By doing this, Viz's translation avoids the implication of insult towards Izuku that the leaker falls prey to.

He also made the choice to translate kocchi as "we."

First, I’m bringing this post back around to remind people that kocchi is a pronoun of ambiguous plurality. This means that an interpretation of “we” is just as correct as an interpretation of “I.” Readers may interpret it differently, but on simply linguistic grounds, they are of equal validity. You will often see this kind of ambiguous language used in Japanese, even with characters that are forthright. The reason is one part cultural expectation that the listener will read between the lines, and one part a willingness to accept two things as simultaneously true. This exists and is frequently found in English as well, there just isn’t a direct parallel for kocchi itself.

A number of people were infuriated by this, because they felt some sort of bkdk moment was erased by Katsuki saying "we" rather than "I."

Yet it seemed like these same people were also mad one week prior when the leaker and the official translator worded Katsuki's rallying cry slightly differently.

Chapter 404. Leaker, left. Official, right.

The claim there was apparently that the official translator was ignoring Katsuki's character development.

And like, which is it, guys? Do you want him centering the collective or himself?

The fact is that the official translation's characterization of Katsuki in the final battle is internally consistent with itself, while the leaker's is all over the goddamn place. Let us never forget that the leaker was just straight up WRONG here while the official got it exactly right.

Chapter 408. Leaker, left. Official, right.

People were losing their shit that Viz made Katsuki "insult himself" and "expect failure" as though he's never used temee to refer to himself self-deprecatingly before.

And then the leaker just had to pretend that didn't happen in the next fucking chapter, while the official got to correctly reiterate their interpretation like they were taking a victory lap.

Chapter 409. Leaker, left. Official, right.

All of this makes it unbelievably rich for the leaker to go and say shit like this:

The leaker is an amateur translator. They spent ages stealing an artist's work and releasing it illegally for a profit with shoddy translations and misleading, even outright false "summaries."

Based on the nature of their translation mistakes, it is obvious to me that they are not fluent in Japanese, yet here they are bragging about their inability to understand how kocchi could mean "we."

Right before the line in question, Katsuki emphasizes himself as an individual in declaring himself to be the final boss.

Chapter 405 俺がラスボスだ AFO!! ore ga rasu bosu da AFO!!

And then, by using ってな, Katsuki is basically quoting himself.

"I said we were gonna handle what that guy couldn't, didn't I!?"

This suggests he is repeating the established meaning for emphasis, not changing it. If kocchi was plural when he said it in chapter 323, it's reasonable for it to still be plural here. Katsuki is not ignoring himself as an individual by doing this; he is rubbing it in AFO's face that neither he nor Izuku are solitary actors fighting this battle alone, they both belong to something greater than themselves.

I'm gonna step up on a soapbox for a bit.

I am kinda tired of people calling Japanese vague. I often see it used to imply Japanese is inherently hard to understand or that it doesn't have the capacity for specificity. Like any language, Japanese can be used to express specific, clear, and direct information. While it is true Japanese culture values indirectness as a way to maintain harmony, I would like to challenge the ethnocentricism I feel sometimes goes unaddressed in this topic.

Japanese is less tolerant of repetition and verbal excess than English is; information that has been established should only be repeated for a purpose. Japanese speakers expect their conversation partners to maintain awareness of context, social expectations, and specific interpersonal information to grasp the intended meaning of their words. Specificity is doled out when it is warranted or desired.

Specificity divides one thing from another, drawing lines in the sand and saying "this is this, and that is that." English often requires repetitive specificity to even be grammatically comprehensible. And while this might not be directly related, many English-speaking countries tend to have a more individualistic outlook on society than collectivist countries like Japan.

To me, "vague" often smacks of a value judgment: "there should be division here, and there isn't."

I said earlier that kocchi creates division by highlighting sides, us vs. them, but when people press on and ask, "but did he say we or I? which did he REALLY mean?" I just want to say that really? truly? he meant both. all of the above.

I think it is unproductive to think of Japanese as vague just because it doesn't exclude possibilities as often or as strongly as English does. I think it is a lot more useful and interesting to think of Japanese as expansive.

Why should there be division between Katsuki and the people fighting by his side? Why should he separate himself from the people who saved his life and risked their own in relentless pursuit of their common, heroic goal?

Why is it unacceptable to imagine an "I" belonging so sincerely and wholly to a "we" that their voices are one?

Katsuki's words reflect the fact that this fight being fought by a collective, a team.

In this context, OFA is a weapon in their arsenal, just as Katsuki himself is.

He is a force of nature, an agent of their willpower.

Chapter 404

He rode upon the winds of their prayers, ushered on by Izuku's hopes

and his own regrets,

to change the course of fate itself.

For much of the series, Katsuki is our beacon of individualism, of defiant refusal to bend to the will and expectations of others.

But Katsuki is also our image of victory. He shows us how to face our failures and change our hearts. He is our proof that rejecting others only hurts us in the end—his love for Izuku and Izuku's love for him is the story's greatest proof that as human beings, we are not better alone, we are better with each other. Other people change us, inspire us, and we do the same for them.

We need each other. We belong to each other.

It is in this final battle where Katsuki becomes his truest self, overcoming every obstacle in his path, making up for every painful regret in his heart, and utilizing every single thing in his grasp to save and win.

If Katsuki ever truly belonged to something bigger than himself, it is in this moment right here.

English divides the one from the many, and while that has its benefits, I think there is real, honest beauty to be found in a word that smooths those lines in the sand until there is no distinction at all.

That's who the fucking "we" is, rukasu.

Now onto my next gripe.

Katsuki is supposed to sound badass here

Frankly, the fan fury surrounding Viz's use of "we" completely overshadowed the fact that the phrase "One For All couldn't keep you in the ground" is fucking metal.

It rules. I'm fucking jealous I didn't write those words. It is such a good translation and it packs so much punch and I wouldn't have thought of it in a thousand years.

The official translator focuses his efforts on genre-specific tone translation, and sometimes he really nails it. I will freely admit that I find his style grating or overwrought at times, and indeed, one of his key weaknesses is that the flavor of comic-book dialogue he pulls from can sound one generation too old to be cool.

One of the most damning examples of this is him having Katsuki utter the word "bub"—

Chapter 406

—which I think no English-speaker under the age of 30 had actually heard before Deadpool & Wolverine came out.

Honestly, if you just read Wolverine comics from the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s, you can see the character archetype he leans into for Katsuki's dialogue. 405's tagged-on "—and then some!!" is straight out of American action movies.

But the main point here is that Katsuki is taunting AFO and threatening him. He blows up AFO's face, announces himself as the final boss, then vows to kick his ass to death on behalf of everyone. It's amazing.

The line sounds cool as fuck in Japanese. The "naaaa" flourish at the end is nearly untranslatable in any direct way that still captures the appeal and impact of it.

I tend to think of sentence enders like this as flavor text or tone tags. To properly convey them in English, you may have to add a bunch of words, and you have to choose them carefully.

All of this is to say, the official translation tries pretty hard to make Katsuki sound cool. Do they succeed? I think to an extent, they do.

I actually think it's possible the translator did recognize the callback, but wasn't satisfied with the effect of repeating it. You can see that "finish the job" is supposed to link Izuku's actions to theirs, while also sounding grandiose and final.

The Viz translator might've simply prioritized showcasing the cool-guy threat while maintaining the collectivist angle, rather than matching the callback word for word. I don't really think that's the best choice, but I can see why it might be made.

The leaker's translation doesn't make any real effort to up the ante. Maybe this line is cool to somebody, but it ain't me.

In fact, are we ever gonna acknowledge that the leaker's translation just scoops up most of its wording from the official release of chapters 322 and 323?

"I'm the guy who steps in when that nerd can't handle it all on his own!!"

The leaker was not responsible for these translations, but just look at how other people tried to grapple with Katsuki's metaphor.

In fact, the only person whose choice of words prophetically matched Viz was pikahlua, four days before the official release:

And even then, you can see that "step in when" is unique to Viz.

I'm not saying that similarities in translation are unacceptable or that directly referencing the official release is bad, but I do find it truly incredible they had the gall to shit-talk the official translator after cheating off his damn homework.

The leaker basically contributed six words: "I'm the guy who" and "that nerd." I personally disagree with "the guy who" as a translation addition, just because I think it too strongly isolates him in a way that using "I" and "I'm" by themselves do not, but it wouldn't have been terrible if they had also maintained the original clause order: "One For All couldn't handle you... but I'm the guy who—", something like that.

This brings us to my final gripe.

Katsuki did not say “that nerd.”

The leaker made that shit up, they inserted it for no reason and ignored the two pronouns the original text actually provides, OFA and aitsu (that guy).

In the manga, Katsuki has never called Izuku a nerd to villains, not once. It is rare for him to use it while speaking to someone other than Izuku, period. It’s an insulting pet name he uses towards Izuku or while muttering angrily to himself about Izuku.

To be clear, the narrator who uses "shitty nerd" is not Katsuki, they merely validate the accuracy of his nickname for Izuku. Yes, I just linked to my tag for the whole damn 348 chapter, because I've argued against this theory a lot, just read 'em all, it's a good time.

By my count, he only uses it once while talking to Todoroki in chapter 42 and once to Ochako in a 5-page bonus chapter for the first character guide, set shortly after chapter 65. Both take place very early in the series and both are examples of his intense grudge against Izuku.

Did you know that the last time Katsuki uses "nerd" towards Izuku directly is in chapter 320?

Who's ignoring Katsuki's character development again?

The fact is the word doesn't exist in 405's text, and there just isn't precedent for him to say it to All For One.

Trash-talk doesn’t work if your opponent has no clue what the hell you’re talking about. AFO would have no idea who “that nerd” is even supposed to be, because they were not already discussing Izuku, unlike both canon instances of Katsuki using it in conversation with others. The audibly-pronounced aitsu just means "that guy over there (physically near neither you nor me)" and you could argue that is unclear, too, but it's relatively neutral and context clues everyone in to the fact that he means Izuku, with whom he just did an explosive, flying duo move.

I think some bkdk fans were keen to see him use the tsundere insult we all love so much, but it just doesn't read right to me. Writing an insult towards Izuku into this kind of line, even an affectionate one, misdirects the aggression and fails to highlight how Katsuki makes a mockery of AFO during their fight.

I really do think it undercuts how, in his big moment of taunting the greatest villain in history, Katsuki brings up making good on a vow he made to Izuku.

And let's not forget that there is a definitive moment where Katsuki references his relationship with Izuku while taunting AFO:

Chapter 406

To roast the villain for his stupidity in misidentifying him, Katsuki loudly announces himself to be Bakugou no Kacchan.

Katsuki proudly identifies himself with the cutesy nickname his childhood friend has used for him their whole damn lives. That's a far cry from somebody who'd insult Izuku just to hype himself up.

So, no, I don't accept "that nerd." I think the leaker just added it to make their translation sound cooler, but they did so at the expense of Katsuki's character. It's tacky, cheap, and not based in any honest reading of the text.

Put the nickname in your fanworks however brings you joy. Really, go for it, I know I sure do!

But let's not pretend Katsuki said it here.

In conclusion

Katsuki's dialogue offers a unique array of challenges to translators. I would never argue that he is easy to translate, and so much of his characterization is expressed in the minutiae of what he says. Much of his dialogue contains layers of meaning, and any translator is going to have to make a call about how to interpret those layers and what to highlight.

I made this post to say my piece about a translation tons of English-speaking fans love. In the process of dissecting what frustrated me about it, I researched and studied and learned so much.

And to be honest with you, I don't know that I have a solution for this line. I thought of a ton of options:

One For All couldn't keep you in the ground... but we're here to step in and finish the job once and for all!!

I promised we'd step in when that guy couldn't handle it on his own... and I fucking meant it!!

After all, what One For All can't handle... he's got us here to handle for him!!

One For All couldn't stop you… so it's a good thing that guy's got us here to step in and finish the job!!

If the guy with One For All can't get it done alone... then we're here to take you down for him!!

Maybe One For All couldn't handle the job alone... but our side is still gonna kick your ass!!

Some of them are very fun, and each highlights a different set of priorities: collectivism, connection, coolness, intimidation, and so on.

But you could pick apart my words the same way I picked apart the leaker's and Viz's.

There will never be a one true translation. There can't be. For as many readers as there are, there are just as many interpretations to what Katsuki's words mean and what is important about them.

In every translation, you face loss—loss of information, loss of specificity, loss of ambiguity, loss of emotionality, loss of cultural meaning. Your job as a translator is to lose as little as possible, and to make sure you can stomach the things you do lose.

You also gain things in translation. New meanings, new layers, new cultural implications. By showing the audience what you see and choosing how you say it to them, you add something of yourself to the work. You can't not.

As a translator, I want to keep learning and trying and going beyond. I want to do right by the things I translate. I want to share the things I love with other people and figure out, as best I can, how to make them see what is beautiful about it.

Unlike Bakugou Katsuki, we translators can never achieve a perfect victory.

But it's always worth trying.

[iron-sparrow]

Associated Press / Jae C. Hong

🧊 has NOT stopped terrorizing Los Angeles and the rest of SoCal. LAist today released a pretty comprehensive list of organizations trying to aid those who may have been affected by the ongoing attacks on the community. I want to share them here for others and encourage everyone to look at other ways you can help, from anywhere and everywhere.

Please also consider, before you continue scrolling, donating to LAist to protect their work. LAist is an affiliate of NPR, another entity under threat by fascism.

Financial Aid

» The 805UndocuFund Emergency Assistance Fund is offering financial aid to those with detained family members in Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties. The emergency fund can be used for rent, utility bills and transportation. (805) 870-8855.  » The L.A. Street Vendor Solidarity Fund was created to provide direct monetary support for street vendors facing economic loss. 

Education

» Los Angeles Unified (LAUSD) expanded its summer class options in response to widespread immigration raids. Here’s a guide by LAist on what the programs are like and how to sign up. 

Food

» The YMCA of Metropolitan Los Angeles is offering to drop off groceries or other essential items. Several locations are also acting as collection sites where people can drop off food and other essentials. Contact socialimpact@ymcala.org or call (323) 244-9077. » No Us Without You LA is a public charity providing food assistance to the immigrant community. They are accepting donations to support their efforts.  » Raices con Voz is a mutual aid group supporting undocumented families by dropping off groceries and other essentials. They may be reached directly through Insta @raicesconvozph. » Aqui Para la Comunidad is also shopping and delivering groceries to people afraid to be out in public. Request assistance through the group’s form here. » The city of El Monte, in collaboration with the El Monte Business Alliance, launched a rapid response initiative, helping families with food distribution, legal aid and case intake. Residents can call (800) 622-4302.

Employment

» UndocuProfessionals is collecting a list of entry-level and remote opportunities for undocumented people who lost their jobs or cannot work due to the ICE raids. Here are the listings. 

Health

» L.A. Care patients can access healthcare remotely through virtual visits, on the phone and on video call appointments. Here is their website.  » For immediate mental health emergencies, call or text the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988 , or visit the 988 website for online chat options.

Rapid response networks / legal aid

» Los Angeles Rapid Response Network: (888) 624-4752 » Long Beach ÓRALE: (562) 245-9575 » Boyle Heights/East Los Angeles: (323) 805-1049

The Orange County Rapid Response Network also offers multiple, downloadable guides, including what to plan for in case a family member is detained or arrested, finding someone through 🧊’s detainee locator system, and a list of free legal resources.

VietRISE has information and resources for Vietnamese community members facing deportation and those supporting them.

Immigrant Defenders Law Center is available to support community members detained by 🧊 and their families. Call (213) 833-8283, Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The Immigration Advocates Network offers a database to find legal services. The database includes nonprofits that offer free or low-cost legal services.

» Source: LAist

[mjalford98]

A year before their planned withdrawal from cross-city line services, a pair of class 323s are seen pausing at Birmingham New Street en route to Litchfield Trent Valley. The class 323s were among the last trains to enter service with British Rail before privatisation, and with the sun setting on their day working commuter services around Birmingham, 323221 is seen repainted in a variation of the livery they first wore under British Rail's Regional Railways sector working for the West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive. What's interesting is that this after something of a hiatus in the early privatisation era when the main operator in the region was London Midland, the current livery used by West Midlands Railway again reflects today's branding of public transport in the West Midlands, as discussions once more circulate of bringing back a degree of local public control, as seen in London and Wales.

Privatisation of railways and other transport services is of course a controversial topic, and one which I hope to cover in my blog/podcast once that's up and running, but suffice to say that while I am very much in favour of creating opportunities for private entrepreneurship in all industrial sectors, public transport should at the very least see strong public involvement, especially at a local level. More will of course be on the way...

[emilytakesphoto]

train stations (with trains in them)

[whencyclopedia]

Diogenes of Sinope

Diogenes of Sinope (l. c. 404-323 BCE) was a Greek Cynic philosopher best known for holding a lantern (or candle) to the faces of the citizens of Athens claiming he was searching for an honest man. He rejected the concept of "manners" as a lie and advocated complete truthfulness at all times and under any circumstance.

He was most likely a student of the philosopher Antisthenes (l. 445-365 BCE, who studied with Socrates) and, in the words of Plato (allegedly), was “A Socrates gone mad.” He was driven into exile from his native city of Sinope for defacing currency (though some sources say it was his father who committed the crime and Diogenes simply followed him into exile). He made a home for himself in Athens in the agora, living in a rain barrel and surviving off gifts from admirers, foraging, and begging.

Diogenes famous "search for an honest man" was his way of exposing the hypocrisy and sham of polite societal conventions. By holding a literal light up to people's faces in broad daylight, he forced them to recognize their participation in practices that prevented them from living truthfully. He inspired others to follow his example, most notably Crates of Thebes (l. c. 360 - 280 BCE) who studied with him. Diogenes is still highly regarded in the present day for his commitment to truth and living according to his beliefs.

Diogenes' Beliefs

Diogenes came to Athens where he met Antisthenes (one of many of Socrates' students who established his own school) who at first refused him as a student but, eventually, was worn down by his persistence and accepted him. Like Antisthenes, Diogenes believed in self-control, the importance of personal excellence in one's behavior (in Greek, arete, usually translated as `virtue'), and the rejection of all which was considered unnecessary in life such as personal possessions and social status.

He was so ardent in his beliefs that he lived them very publicly in the market place of Athens. He took up residence in a large wine cask (some sources claim it was an abandoned bathtub), owned nothing, and seems to have lived off the charity of others. He owned a cup which served also has a bowl for food but threw it away when he saw a boy drinking water from his hands and realized one did not even need a cup to sustain oneself.

This much can be said with more or less assurance but any other details become increasingly uncertain owing to the many fables which grew up around Diogenes and his time in Athens. Even the claim that he was Antisthenes' student has been challenged as a fable. It seems clear, however, that Diogenes believed what people called `manners' were simply lies used to hide the true nature of the individual.

He was known for brutal honesty in conversation, paid no attention to any kind of etiquette regarding social class, and seems to have had no problem urinating or even masturbating in public and, when criticized, pointed out that such activities were normal and that everyone engaged in them but hid in private what he did openly.

According to Diogenes, society was an artificial contrivance set up by human beings which did not accord well with truth or virtue and could not in any way make someone a good and decent human being; and so follows the famous story of Diogenes holding the light up to the faces of passers-by in the market place looking for an honest man or a true human being. Everyone, he claimed, was trapped in this make-believe world which they insisted was reality and, because of this, people were living in a kind of dream state.

He was not the first philosopher to make this claim; Heraclitus, Xenophanes, and, most famously, Socrates all pointed out the need for human beings to wake from their dream state to full awareness of themselves and the world. Plato's famous Allegory of the Cave is devoted to this very theme. Diogenes, however, confronted the citizens of Athens daily with their lifelessness and shallow values, emulating his hero Socrates whom he never met but would have learned of from Antisthenes. Although it seems many people thought he was simply mentally ill, Diogenes would have claimed he was living a completely honest life and others should have the courage to do the same.

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[network-rail]

Train pageant judging time! (PART 1)

Well, everyone has submitted their favorite (or least favorite, or something else entirely) trains to be judged, so now it's time to begin:

Best livery:

We had lots of submissions for best livery, from operators past and present. Two of them are FirstGroup liveries, so that says something. Personally, we think they look very turn of the century. The winner is the Class 170 in the new Crosscountry livery, with its nice clean lines, sharp contrast, and the general improvement over the old XC livery. We do also like the heritage liveries, but since I submitted those two (well, someone else also submitted the Intercity Swallow livery but still) it would be a bit biased to give them the win; and we do prefer the brighter colors. However, we did say that we'd give a bonus prize for best heritage livery, and that goes to the Intercity Swallow livery (here seen on the Intercity 225).

Most graceful:

For most graceful, the award has to go to the SECR D Class, as the class 97 is perhaps not very graceful while the Parry People Mover is more cute and precious than graceful.

Strongest:

With a whopping 8200 kW of power (according to wikipedia anyway), the Class 99 (Invicta) easily beats out the competition, with not quite double the power of the Class 91 (Intercity 225). Annoyingly, we couldn't find a source for the power output of the BR Standard Class 9F, but needless to say it's probably less than that.

Hottest:

In this category, we have a very wide range of attractive vehicles, from steam trains, to trams, to trains that aren't even out yet – all shapes and sizes of train one could imagine, and we've got the difficult task of deciding which one is the most attractive. This award goes to the APT, for being an extremely attractive train, although the Class 7 Britannia is a close second (and is certainly literally the hottest). A very attractive selection of trains, though, and very different from each other too, so this wasn't an easy decision. DIVERSITY WIN!

Best singer:

We here at Network Rail are biased against diesels, although in the interest of fairness we decided we would give those three a listen before judging. Also, in the case of the tube trains, even though we know the 2009 stock was submitted for the sound its whistle makes, our main perception of the noises they make is the horrendous screeching noises in the tunnels, so they won't win this one.

Having listened to/watched some videos of the various diesels, we have come to the conclusion that perhaps the class 37 ought to have been submitted to the "most flammable" category instead, since it seems to produce rather a lot of smoke. The 323 also makes a rather interesting sound, not one that I've heard an EMU make before. However, this award has to go to the 1995 tube stock, for its iconic motor noises, various beeping sounds, and lower amounts of screeching compared to the 2009 stock.

Most comfortable:

I haven't actually been on either of these (that I can remember anyway) but knowing that the 315's have the more comfortable version of transverse/longitudinal seats (I can never remember which is which, it's the ones where you sit in the direction of travel), which the new Overground trains don't have; I think I'll give the award to the 315 over the Mk4, although the Mk4 does seem like it would be comfortable too (and also you sit in the direction of travel).

Since only thirty images are allowed per post, that's the end of part one of the judging. Stay tuned for part two, where we iron some clothes, catch fire, and visit Thailand!

[the-time-lord-oracle]

The evolution of West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive liveries on trains. First there was the canary & blue livery applied to a class 312, then the two-tone blue applied to a class 122, then the Midline branding applied to class 310s, then the Centro livery applied to class 150s and 323s, and finally the Network West Midlands livery applied to some class 150s.