🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <3351ccaf.53957990@news.easynet.co.uk> Chris J Dixon,
chris.dixon@easynet.co.uk writes:
>OTOH I haven't quite worked out why the new EWS livery includes a
>reflective orange strip at solebar level.  Who is likely to be
>coming unexpectedly upon a locomotive from the side?  They don't
>usually park on ungated level crossings.

But they may break down on one.

GB

Dr. Graham Berry
Dept of Applied Physics and Electronic and Mechanical Engineering
University of Dundee
Scotland, UK

"Why do I think my Mac is better than Windows95? You can put sideburns
and sunglasses on a 50-year-old guy . . . but that don't make Elvis."

In article <5ift36$vq$1@dux.dundee.ac.uk>,
  Graham Berry <g.j.berry@dundee.ac.uk> wrote:
>
> >OTOH I haven't quite worked out why the new EWS livery includes a
> >reflective orange strip at solebar level.  Who is likely to be
> >coming unexpectedly upon a locomotive from the side?  They don't
> >usually park on ungated level crossings.
>
> But they may break down on one.
>
> GB
I recall that the number plates in the UK are of reflective material.
Black on reflective amber at the rear and black on white in the front.
I don't think if it is true of the rest of Europe and/or USA. Does
someone know , or care to comment.
In the UK, is it the requirement of the law of the land to have
reflective number plates on vehicles. Please state which Act covers it.
Mazhar Loan

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mazharh@paknet1.ptc.pk wrote:

> I recall that the number plates in the UK are of reflective material.
> Black on reflective amber at the rear and black on white in the front.
> I don't think if it is true of the rest of Europe and/or USA. Does
> someone know , or care to comment.
> In the UK, is it the requirement of the law of the land to have
> reflective number plates on vehicles. Please state which Act covers it.

That is quite correct. UK plates are black on yellow rear and black on
white front, apart from older vehicles from before this became  practice
which have both plates black on white, or sometimes a dark silver on
white. The size of the plates in Europe is much larger than in the US
too. If you look a German car (for example), say a VW Golf in the US
you'll see how small the plate is compared to the size of the space left
for the plate by the manufacturer.

You can also tell the age of the vehicle from the plate, the first
letter (last letter on older vehicles, in any case the one next to the
number) is linked to a particular year of registration. Can't remember
what they're up to now, must be around P. An example from one car that I
remember we had D522 ORO, the D was the year (1987 I think). I've heard
that the ORO depicts the area that the car was first sold.

In france they use black on white for both plates from what I remember
and also in Germany too. The Germans also put their tax discs on the
plates too, whether this a good or bad thing.

Vince

Vince Young <fsaec@SPAMBLOCK.wmin.ac.uk> wrote in article
<335E6F2B.13FC@SPAMBLOCK.wmin.ac.uk>...
> mazharh@paknet1.ptc.pk wrote:
> 
> > I recall that the number plates in the UK are of reflective material.
> > Black on reflective amber at the rear and black on white in the front.
> > I don't think if it is true of the rest of Europe and/or USA. Does
> > someone know , or care to comment.
> > In the UK, is it the requirement of the law of the land to have
> > reflective number plates on vehicles. Please state which Act covers it.
> 
> That is quite correct. UK plates are black on yellow rear and black on
> white front, apart from older vehicles from before this became  practice
> which have both plates black on white, or sometimes a dark silver on
> white. 

< pedantry on >
White on black, actually
< pedantry off >

> The size of the plates in Europe is much larger than in the US
> too. If you look a German car (for example), say a VW Golf in the US
> you'll see how small the plate is compared to the size of the space left
> for the plate by the manufacturer.

Not quite true.  Most European countries' plates are longer than US ones
but the US ones are generally taller.  Overall area is about the same as
UK and German plates (and vastly greater than those microscopic
Italian jobs).

> You can also tell the age of the vehicle from the plate, the first
> letter (last letter on older vehicles, in any case the one next to the
> number) is linked to a particular year of registration. Can't remember
> what they're up to now, must be around P. An example from one car that I
> remember we had D522 ORO, the D was the year (1987 I think). I've heard
> that the ORO depicts the area that the car was first sold.

< pedantry on >
registered, not sold.  It's only the last 2 letters which relate to the
location of
first registration - the first letter of the trio simply increments each
time the
number wraps past 999
< pedantry off >
> 
> In france they use black on white for both plates from what I remember
> and also in Germany too. The Germans also put their tax discs on the
> plates too, whether this a good or bad thing.
> 
> Vince
> 

Huw Francis
San Jose, California
huw@worldnet.att.net

Huw Francis wrote:
> 

> < pedantry on >
> White on black, actually
> < pedantry off >
> 
Yeah, I got it backwards.
White on black or darkish silver on black.



> Not quite true.  Most European countries' plates are longer than US ones
> but the US ones are generally taller.  Overall area is about the same as
> UK and German plates (and vastly greater than those microscopic
> Italian jobs).
> 
Well I wouldn't agree with that. I'd say same height and wider for UK
plates but who cares I'm not gonna start an argument on this one. Not
till I get the two plates together to measure :)

> < pedantry on >
> registered, not sold.  It's only the last 2 letters which relate to the
> location of
> first registration - the first letter of the trio simply increments each
> time the
> number wraps past 999
> < pedantry off >
> >
I knew it was either two or three of the letters. Sold, registered it'll
be the same place except for some odd deal.

Vince

In article <01bc5060$958c1780$f3b193cf@fred> "Huw Francis" <huw@worldnet.att.net> writes:

>> You can also tell the age of the vehicle from the plate, the first
>> letter (last letter on older vehicles, in any case the one next to the
>> number) is linked to a particular year of registration. Can't remember
>> what they're up to now, must be around P. An example from one car that I
>> remember we had D522 ORO, the D was the year (1987 I think). I've heard
>> that the ORO depicts the area that the car was first sold.

>< pedantry on >
>registered, not sold.  It's only the last 2 letters which relate to the
>location of
>first registration - the first letter of the trio simply increments each
>time the
>number wraps past 999
>< pedantry off >

I imported my 1988 VW into Britain in 1991 and was given an
"E" reg plate when I registered it.  So I suppose it really 
relates to when it was manufactured, not registered.  I recall
a place on the form asking the date of manufacture.

Robert

On Mon, 28 Apr 1997, Vince Young wrote:

> Alan J. Flavell wrote:
> 
> > Nope, the UK in fact copied what the French started, white at the
> > front and yellow at the rear (and the French were previously using
> > white on black too).
> >
> This isn't true...

In as much as I said we copied what the French had started
(i.e using white plates at the front and yellow at the rear), I
stand by what I wrote.

If anyone thought I meant that the French had made the reflective
plates mandatory, well, I don't think they did, so in that sense
you are right.

> The British though have had black/yellow rear plates for at least a good
> 15 years if not more.

Somewhere around "H" wasn't it?  I don't see it in the FAQ.

The French had them sooner.  Of that I'm sure. 

And why did you copy the entire residue of my posting when you
apparently had no comment to make on any of it?

Alan J. Flavell <flavell@a5.ph.gla.ac.uk> wrote in article
<Pine.OSF.3.91.970430195615.14301B-100000@a5.ph.gla.ac.uk>...
> 
> 
> On Mon, 28 Apr 1997, Vince Young wrote:

> 
> > The British though have had black/yellow rear plates for at least a
good
> > 15 years if not more.
> 
> Somewhere around "H" wasn't it?  I don't see it in the FAQ.

1968 +/- a year, which would be around suffix 'H'

> 
> The French had them sooner.  Of that I'm sure. 

While I am sure that Britain was the first. I recall that it caused quite a
lot of confusion at Continental border crossings at the time. The front
plate looked similar to a German plate, but with different grouping. Border
Police sometimes took a lot of convincing that the plates were genuine.  

Nightjar