Page 62 Daily Mail, Wednesday, March 4, 2020
questions
TASTIER than a
Freighting the takeaway. Serves 4.good freight!
Compiled by Charles LeggeCompiled by James Blacktoday’s recipe:
prawn tikka masala
MethodQUESTION
Why are freight
trains on the
electrified West Coast Main Line
pulled by diesel locomotives?
The simple answer is that a diesel loco is
a go-anywhere machine, while electric
locos are limited to electrified lines.
In the early days of overhead line
electrification, many sidings and loops
were electrified along a route, but today
most of these little-used tracks have been
de-wired or even removed as a cost-
saving exercise. The electrified routes
serve only passenger trains.
So while the main line is electrified, the
departing and arriving destinations of
freight trains are not. Conventionally, a
wired reception road might have been
provided in a terminal, and a second
shunting loco would have been used to
take the freight vehicles to the unloading
facilities, but this is an unnecessary cost
if a train loco could do the job.
Container traffic presents the difficulty
of requiring the containers to be lifted by
a crane or heavy duty forklift truck. This
can’t easily be done safely where there
are high-voltage overhead wires.
h yb r i d p a s s e n g e r u n i t s c a n u s e
on-board batteries or a diesel engine when
not all of the route is electrified, but I am
not aware of any such freight locos.
From the operational perspective,
nothing is as flexible as a go-anywhere
traction unit, and freight services
generally operate terminal to terminal.
If things go wrong and trains have to be
diverted, a freight loco will still be able to
complete its journey. But if the wires are
down or the diversion route is not wired,
the electric loco will stop dead.
C. E. Sayers-Leavy, retired rail
industry engineer, Broadstairs, Kent.
QUESTION
U.S. Democratic
presidential
candidate Joe Biden accused
someone of being ‘a lying, dog-faced
pony soldier’. Is this a film quote?
F o l l o wI n g J o e B i d e n’ s p o o r
performance in the Iowa caucus, Madison
Moore, a 21-year-old economics student,
asked the former vice-president: ‘how do
you explain the performance in Iowa and
why should the voters believe that you
can win the national election?’
‘It’s a good question,’ Biden replied.
‘number one — Iowa is a Democratic
caucus. You ever been to a caucus?’
when she nodded, he surprisingly said:
‘no, you haven’t. You’re a lying, dog-faced
pony soldier.’ The crowd responded with
nervous laughs.
Biden attributes the phrase to a John
wayne movie. At a 2018 election event for
north Dakota Democratic senator heidi
heitkamp, he used the phrase to refer to
her Republican opponent, Kevin Cramer.
Biden said: ‘There’s a line in a movie where
an Indian chief turns to John wayne and
says: “This is a lying, dog-faced pony
soldier.” ’ Cramer won.
This had wayne aficionados scouring
his 180 or so movies for the quote. The
closest is in John Ford’s 1949 classic She
wore A Yellow Ribbon, which grandly
announces: ‘So here they are, the dog-
f a c e d s o l d i e r s , t h e r e g u l a r s , t h e
50-cents-a-day professionals, riding the
outposts of the nation from Fort Reno to
Fort Apache, from Sheridan to Starke.’
Biden may be conflating this with Pony
Soldier, a 1952 western starring Tyrone
Power as a member of the Royal Canadian
Mounted Police. Pony soldier was a native
American nickname for these officers.
The term ‘dog-faced’ does not feature,
but Chief Standing Bear says: ‘The pony
soldier speaks with a tongue of the snake
that rattles.’
Simon Burrows, Truro, Cornwall.QUESTION
Some Dukes of
Clarence have
been famous, others infamous. Is
there a current Duke?
The title derives from the town of Clare
in Suffolk. william the Conqueror
gave it to Richard Fitzgilbert, whose
descendants, the de Clare family, became
earls of Clare, hertford and gloucester.
The title has become associated with
bad luck. The 10th and last earl, gilbert
de Clare, was killed at the Battle of
Bannockburn in 1314.
hi s l a n ds were i n h eri t ed by h i s
grandniece, elizabeth de Burgh. She
married lionel of Antwerp, third son of
edward III, who was nearly 7ft tall. he
was elevated to 1st Duke of Clarence.
After elizabeth died in 1363, lionel wed
Violante Visconti in May 1368. The
marriage was short-lived. lionel died in
Alba in Italy on october 17, and was
rumoured to have been poisoned.
The dukedom was recreated for Thomas
of lancaster, second son of henry IV and
brother to henry V. Thomas led the
english to a disastrous defeat to the
French and Scottish at the Battle of
Bauge in 1421, where he was surrounded
and killed in a rash charge. he left no
legitimate issue.
The title was recreated for george
Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence, the
younger brother of edward IV. he helped
his brother take the Crown from henry VI
in the wars of the Roses, but their
relationship soured. he was sent to the
Tower of london, where he was reputedly
drowned in a butt of Malmsey wine.
wi l l i a m I V w a s t h e t h i r d s o n o f
george III. In 1789, he was created Duke
of Clarence and St Andrews. he suc-
ceeded his elder brother, george IV, in
1830, becoming the penultimate monarch
of the house of hanover. he left no issue
and was succeeded by his niece, Victoria.
Prince Albert Victor was the eldest son
of Albert edward, Prince of wales, the
future edward VII. he was made Duke of
Clarence and Avondale on May 24, 1890
— Queen Victoria’s 71st birthday. Two
years later, he died from flu.
This was the last use of the title. There
was speculation that Prince harry might
be made Duke of Clarence on his
marriage, but the unfortunate title was
eschewed by the Queen.
Caroline Langham, Swaffham, Norfolk.: How were Dalek voices created in
early Doctor Who episodes?
Nick Fletcher, Malton, N. Yorks.
: Which Royal Navy ship was the
last to ‘hoist the battle flags and
engage the enemy’?
John Mason, Southsea, Hants.
: What film are Rodney and
Grandad watching in the opening
scene of the Only Fools And Horses
episode Thicker Than Water?
Paul Leclercq, Portsmouth, Hants.QQQingredientsPicture: ALAMYSparking controversy: A diesel train
under the main-line wires in Cumbria1 large onion, chopped
1 tsp grated ginger
2 large garlic cloves
1 tbsp rapeseed oil
2-3 tbsp tikka paste
400g can tomatoes
2 tbsp tomato puree
½ tbsp brown sugar
3 cardamom pods200g basmati rice
3 tbsp ground
almonds
300g king prawns
1 tbsp double cream
½ bunch of coriander1 Put onion, ginger and garlic in a food
processor and blitz to a paste. Heat oil in a
large pan, add onion paste and fry until lightly
golden. Stir in tikka paste and fry for one
minute more. Add tomatoes, tomato puree,
sugar and bashed cardamom. Bring to a
simmer and cook, covered, for ten minutes.
2 Cook rice following pack instructions.
3 Discard cardamom, then blitz curry with a
hand blender. Return to pan, add almonds and
prawns, and cook for five minutes. Stir
through cream and coriander. Serve with rice.
n RECIPE of the Day brought to you in association
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