The Coast Guards. Part-One.

Multi-Role.

Nearly every nation has a rescue service of one kind or another, from being embedded within their police or military. Some are a separate division dedicated to its own provisions of equipment and personnel.

We have mountain rescue, coastguards, Royal Life boat institutions (R.N.L.I.) and many others. Each one plays a specific role on water, in the air and underground. Some fire service units are equipped in this way. There is close cooperation between all the emergency services, during storms, earthquakes, major incidents-accidents and terrorists attacks.

The sea borne operators in the U.S. double up with their vessels to assist narcotics enforcement, apart from search and rescue. This is becoming more so now across the globe with more navies having to deal with people smuggling and ship hijacking.

Narrow Gauge Railways. Part-One.

Easy to Manage.

It was during World-War 1 (1914-18) that the British army discovered that the Narrow Gauge rail system was easy to manage over a conventional railway. This meant that if the lines where bombed, they could quickly be replaced.

It has traditionally been the quarry that narrow gauge is most suited for, but by the 1960's in the UK this was coming to an end. Most of the types of engines used had small weights of between 4-15 tonnes. Narrow gauge railways were designed for mountain workings and they take narrow corners also.

Wales was I suppose the home of these engines and trains, but today narrow gauge engines still work the Board na Mona bog lands across Ireland and also the Preypet marches of southern Belarus and the northern Ukraine.

Buses, Coaches.

Even in the light of the recent coach crash in a Swiss road tunnel, very sad as it is. This is probably one of the most successful of human inventions. Buses are used world-wide and are to be found in all sorts of places cold and hot, wet and dry. Despite the many accidents that occur on mountain roads, they are still the best and cheapest way to travel from A to B. One of the latest inventions for the bus is the sliding side way Volvo coach. Much easier to park in urban environs, but still too expensive for many.  We today still have double decker's and now the bendy bus, love or hate it. but in eastern Europe there remains the trolley buses. What is the future I wonder in this century for the coach, bus?