Author: homealonesimon

Interested in Transport and Currency (UK)

Arosa Linie

In this week’s Roadmap, the RhB Anniversary collection moves into Next Arrival, along with the Arosa Linie timetable updates, including improved physics for the Ge 4/4. The Arosa Linie core route is all you will need to activate the update when it becomes available, and owning the Anniversary pack is not a requirement for those of you looking forward to these timetable updates.
We have a new addition to In Planning on the Roadmap, with an expansion pack coming for Train Sim World 2. This expansion will add new content to the original routes of Sand Patch Grade, Bakerloo Line and Schnellfahrstrecke Köln – Aachen. You can look forward to enjoying additional liveries, services, and scenarios for these routes as part of the pack. This pack will also include access to a new tool, the Creators Club, that will allow sharing and downloads of Livery Designer and Scenario Planner creations made by the community.
We are pleased to share that we are working towards an update for the red signal deadlocks which have been appearing more frequently for players across all routes recently.
There has been plenty of movement for the Preserved Collection updates as ongoing work moves from In Production to Upcoming, this signifies that the work Adam’s team has been doing has concluded and is now starting the process of being tested by our QA team.
We have also added a significant number of new additions from the Preservation Crew this week. We will be talking with Adam in detail on the stream about these new additions.
In case you missed it, Amtrak are celebrating their 50th anniversary this year, and to celebrate, they have wrapped an ACS-64 locomotive in a very special Train Sim World 2 livery. This particular Livery will also be available in the game and goes straight into Next Arrival. As a festive gift from us, you can get it entirely for free when you own Boston Sprinter.
Finally, we are pleased to share that our annual Year in Review Q&A will be going ahead on the 29th December. Get your questions in here beforehand and we will aim to answer as many as we can.

By Simon Schofield

Christmas

christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year, it is preceded by the season of Advent or the Nativity Fast and initiates the season of Christmastide, which historically in the West lasts twelve days and culminates on Twelfth Night. Christmas Day is a public holiday in many countries,is celebrated religiously by a majority of Christians, as well as culturally by many non-Christians,and forms an integral part of the holiday season organized around it.

The traditional Christmas narrative, the Nativity of Jesus, delineated in the New Testament says that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, in accordance with messianic prophecies.When Joseph and Mary arrived in the city, the inn had no room and so they were offered a stable where the Christ Child was soon born, with angels proclaiming this news to shepherds who then spread the word.

Although the month and date of Jesus’ birth are unknown, the church in the early fourth century fixed the date as December 25. This corresponds to the date of the winter solstice on the Roman calendar. It is exactly nine months after Annunciation on March 25, also the date of the spring equinox. Most Christians celebrate on December 25 in the Gregorian calendar, which has been adopted almost universally in the civil calendars used in countries throughout the world. However, part of the Eastern Christian Churches celebrate Christmas on December 25 of the older Julian calendar, which currently corresponds to January 7 in the Gregorian calendar. For Christians, believing that God came into the world in the form of man to atone for the sins of humanity, rather than knowing Jesus’ exact birth date, is considered to be the primary purpose in celebrating Christmas.

The celebratory customs associated in various countries with Christmas have a mix of pre-Christian, Christian, and secular themes and origins. Popular modern customs of the holiday include gift giving; completing an Advent calendar or Advent wreath; Christmas music and caroling; viewing a Nativity play; an exchange of Christmas cards; church services; a special meal; and the display of various Christmas decorations, including Christmas trees, Christmas lights, nativity scenes, garlands, wreaths, mistletoe, and holly. In addition, several closely related and often interchangeable figures, known as Santa Claus, Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, and Christkind, are associated with bringing gifts to children during the Christmas season and have their own body of traditions and lore. Because gift-giving and many other aspects of the Christmas festival involve heightened economic activity, the holiday has become a significant event and a key sales period for retailers and businesses. Over the past few centuries, Christmas has had a steadily growing economic effect in many regions of the world.

This blog was made by Simon Schofield

monster munch flaming hot

Flavours
Alongside the returning Pickled Onion and Flamin’ Hot (Mega Monster Munch only), two new flavours, Beef Burger and Spaghetti Sauce, were introduced. A wide range of Tazos, featuring images of the monsters, was produced, with one Tazo included in each bag.

Since then, various packaging changes and new flavours have been introduced. Monster Munch was later part of Walkers’ short lived “Snackshack” lineup during 1997–1998. A New Cheesy flavour replaced the Spaghetti Sauce Flavour at this time, and the Blue Monster was recoloured Yellow. Flamin’ Hot was later introduced in the multipacks at this time, replacing Beef Burger.

In April 1998, when Walkers changed their logo, Monster Munch changed their packaging. A Spicy flavour was released in August 2000, replacing Cheesy (with the Yellow Monster being retired in the process) and a new Purple Monster (which looked like the Pink Monster from the first era) was the main monster for that flavour.

In August 2001, Walkers announced a special Halloween variant of the Pickled Onion flavour that could turn the consumer’s tongue blue, and was promoted with The Beano and The Dandy comics and three ten-second spots that would air on Boomerang.[7]

On October 17, 2002, Walkers announced that the Roast Beef flavour would be reintroduced after a seven-year hiatus, replacing the Spicy flavour.[8] The packaging said “NEW” on the top and in front of the pack, as it was not the same flavouring as the Roast Beef that was previously sold. In October 2004, the Tongue variant of Pickled Onion returned for Halloween as a variant where the consumers tongue could either be blue or green.

A “Baked Bean” flavour was made available in February 2003 for Comic Relief, alongside Quavers, Wotsits and French Fries and standard Walkers Crisps. In April of that year, a “Vanilla Ice Cream” flavour was released to mostly negative reaction. This type of Monster Munch was non-savoury, and it contained sugar instead of salt.[9] The Tongue variant returned again that year with new Halloween-themed packaging, although it reverted to the 2001 version where it could only turn blue. This version returned for one more year in 2005.

In February 2007, Walkers changed the packaging for all their snack products, which were Quavers, Wotsits, Squares, French Fries and Monster Munch. This packaging reflected the usage of Sunseed Oil, which was used in all products. The Multipack bags were in a different layout, being in Landscape style. For Monster Munch, the logo was changed, but the monsters and flavours didn’t. However, for Monster Munch, This packaging style was short lived, as huge changes happened to the brand in September 2008. This packaging remained for the short lived Baked Monster Munch.

This are my favourite crips and like to have them.

This blog was made by simon schofield

Gary Lineker

Gary Winston Lineker OBE (/ˈlɪnəkər/; born 30 November 1960) is an English former professional footballer and current sports broadcaster. He is regarded as one of the greatest English strikers. His media career began with the BBC, where he has presented the flagship football programme Match of the Day since the late 1990s, the longest tenure of any MOTD presenter. Lineker is also the BBC’s lead presenter for live football matches, including its coverage of international tournaments. He has also previously worked for Al Jazeera Sports, Eredivisie Live, NBC Sports Network, and BT Sport‘s coverage of the UEFA Champions League.

Lineker began his football career at Leicester City in 1978, and finished as the First Division‘s joint top goalscorer in 1984–85. He then moved to league champions Everton where he won both the PFA Players’ Player of the Year and FWA Footballer of the Year awards in his debut season, before moving to Spanish giants Barcelona. With Barcelona, he won the 1987-1988 Copa del Rey and the 1989 European Cup Winners’ Cup. He joined Tottenham Hotspur in 1989, and won his second FWA Footballer of the Year and won the FA Cup, his first and only major trophy in English football. Lineker’s final club was Nagoya Grampus Eight; he retired in 1994 after two seasons at the Japanese side.

Lineker made his England debut in 1984, earning 80 caps and scoring 48 goals over an eight-year international career. He is England’s joint third-highest scorer, behind Wayne Rooney and Bobby Charlton, level with Harry Kane, and his international goals-to-games ratio remains one of the best for the country. [2] His six goals in the 1986 FIFA World Cup made him the tournament’s top scorer, receiving the Golden Boot, the only time an Englishman achieved this until Harry Kane in the 2018 World Cup. Lineker was again integral to England’s progress to the semi-finals of the 1990 World Cup, scoring another four goals. He still holds England’s record for goals in the FIFA World Cup.

Lineker is also the only player to have been the top scorer in England with three clubs: Leicester City, Everton and Tottenham Hotspur. Notably, he never received a yellow or red card during his 16-year career. As a result, he was honoured in 1990 with the FIFA Fair Play Award. In a senior career which spanned 16 years and 567 competitive games, Lineker scored a total of 330 goals, including 282 goals at club level. After his retirement from football he was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame. A keen supporter of Leicester City, he led a consortium that invested in his old club, saving it from bankruptcy, and was appointed honorary vice-president.

Early life

Lineker was born in Leicester, the son of Margaret P. (Abbs) and Barry Lineker. He was given his middle name in honour of Winston Churchill, with whom he shares a birthday.[5] He has one brother, Wayne, who is two years his junior. Lineker grew up with his family in the city, playing football with Wayne. Their father was a greengrocer, as was their grandfather William and great-grandfather George,[7] in Leicester. Barry Lineker ran Lineker’s fruit and veg stall in Leicester Market, and as a child and a young player Gary regularly helped out on the stall.

Lineker first attended Caldecote Road School[9] (Caldecote Juniors), Braunstone in Leicester (east of the Meridian Centre). He then went to the City of Leicester Boys’ Grammar School (now City of Leicester College) on Downing Drive in Evington, owing to his preference for football rather than rugby, which was the main sport of most schools near his home. Lineker was equally talented at both football and cricket. From the ages of 11 to 16 he captained the Leicestershire Schools cricket team, and had felt that he had a higher chance of succeeding at it rather than football.[ He later stated on They Think It’s All Over that as a teenager he idolised former England captain David Gower, who was playing for Leicestershire at the time. During his youth he played for Aylestone Park Youth, later becoming the club’s president.

Lineker left school with four O Levels. One of his teachers wrote on his report card that he “concentrates too much on football” and that he would “never make a living at that”. He then joined the youth academy at Leicester City in 1976.

This blog was made by Simon schofield

Walkers

Walkers is a British snack food manufacturer mainly operating in the UK and Ireland. The company is best known for manufacturing potato crisps and other (non-potato-based) snack foods. In 2013, it held 56% of the British crisp market.[4] Walkers was founded in 1948 in Leicester, England, by Henry Walker. In 1989, Walkers was acquired by Lay’s owner, Frito-Lay, a division of PepsiCo.

The Walkers factory in Leicester produces over 11 million bags of crisps per day, using about 800 tons of potatoes. According to the BBC television programme Inside the Factory, production of a bag of crisps takes approximately 35 minutes from the moment the raw potatoes are delivered to the factory, to the point at which finished product leaves the dispatch bay for delivery to customers.[7] The company produces a variety of flavours for its crisps. The three main varieties are: Cheese and Onion (introduced in 1954), Salt and Vinegar (introduced in 1967) and Ready Salted.[8] Other varieties include: Worcester Sauce, Roast Chicken, Prawn Cocktail, Smoky Bacon, Tomato Ketchup, and Pickled Onion.

The Leicester-born former England international footballer Gary Lineker has been the face of the brand since 1995, featuring in most of its popular commercials and successful advertising campaigns. For the 2011 Comic Relief, four celebrities each represented four new flavours. The Walkers brand (under PepsiCo) sponsors the UEFA Champions League for the UK and Ireland markets. In 2019, Walkers reunited with the Spice Girls, with the 1990s girl band featuring in a campaign.

Since 2008, Walkers has run its “Do Us a Flavour” campaign, challenging the British public to think up unique flavours for its crisps. Six flavours were chosen from among the entries and released as special editions. Consumers could vote on their favourite, and the winner would become a permanent flavour. In 2018, Walkers launched six new flavours to celebrate the brand’s seventieth birthday, with each flavour representing a different decade.

In the 1880s, Walker moved from Mansfield to Leicester (43 miles south) to take over an established butcher’s shop in the high street. Meat rationing in the UK after World War II saw the factory output drop dramatically, and so in 1948 the company starting looking at alternative products. Potato crisps were becoming increasingly popular with the public; this led managing director R.E. Gerrard to shift the company focus and begin hand-slicing and frying potatoes.

Prior to the 1950s crisps were sold without flavour—Smith’s of London sold plain potato crisps which came with a small blue sachet of salt that could be sprinkled over them. The first crisps manufactured by Walkers in 1948 were sprinkled with salt and sold for threepence a bag. After Archer Martin and Richard Synge (while working in Leeds) received a Nobel Prize for the invention of partition chromatography in 1952, food scientists began to develop flavours via a gas chromatograph, a device that allowed scientists to understand chemical compounds behind complex flavours such as cheese. In 1954, the first flavoured crisps were invented by Joe “Spud” Murphy (owner of the Irish company Tayto) who developed a technique to add cheese and onion seasoning during production. Later that year, Walkers introduced Cheese and Onion (inspired by the Ploughman’s lunch), and Salt and Vinegar was launched in 1967 (inspired by the nation’s love of fish and chips). Prawn Cocktail flavour was introduced in the 1970s (inspired by the 1970s popular starter of prawn cocktail) and Roast Chicken (inspired by the nation’s roast dinner).In 1989, the company was acquired by PepsiCo, which placed operations under its Frito-Lay unit.

The Walkers logo, featuring a red ribbon around a yellow sun, is noticeably similar to Lay’s. It derives from the Walkers logo used in 1990. The company is still a significant presence in Leicester. Gary Lineker, the Leicester-born former footballer, is now the face of the company. In 2000, Lineker’s Walkers commercials were ranked ninth in Channel 4’s UK wide poll of the “100 Greatest Adverts“. The official website states that an estimated “11 million people will eat a Walkers product every day”.The company emplys over 4,000 people in 15 locations around the UK.

In June 1999, PepsiCo transferred ownership of its Walkers brands out of Britain and into a Swiss subsidiary, Frito-Lay Trading GmbH.[20] Subsequently, according to The Guardian, the UK tax authorities managed to claw back less than a third of what they might have received had an unchanged structure continued producing the same sort of level of UK profits and tax as Walkers Snack Foods had in 1998. In September 2001, Walkers ran a “Moneybags” promotion where £20, £10 and £5 notes were placed in special winning bags. This was very popular. However, two workers at a crisp factory were sacked after stealing cash prizes from bags on the production line.

In February 2006, Walkers changed its brand label and typeset. It also announced it would reduce the saturated fat in its crisps by 70%. It started frying its crisps in “SunSeed” oil, as claiming the oil is higher in monounsaturated fat content than the standard sunflower oil which it had used previously, establishing its own sunflower farms in Ukraine and Spain to be able to produce sufficient quantities of the oil. Walkers updated its packaging style in June 2007, moving to a brand identity reminiscent of the logo used from 1998–2006.

Many of Walkers brands were formerly branded under the Smiths Crisps name. This comes from the time when Walkers, Smiths and Tudor Crisps were the three main brands of Nabisco’s UK snack division, with Tudor being marketed mainly in the north of England and Smiths in the south. After the takeover by PepsiCo, the Tudor name was dropped, and the Smiths brand has become secondary to Walkers. The only products retaining the Smiths brand are Salt & Vinegar and Ready Salted Chipsticks, Frazzles and the “Savoury Selection”, which includes Bacon Flavour Fries, Scampi Flavour Fries and Cheese Flavoured Moments. To promote the freshness of its products, Walkers began to package them in foil bags from 1993, then from 1996, began filling them with nitrogen instead of air.

In 1997, Walkers became the brand name of Quavers and Monster Munch snacks. In January 1999, Walkers launched Max, a brand with a range of crisps and then a new-look Quavers in March 1999. In April 2000, another of the Max flavours called Red Hot Max was launched and then Naked Max in June 2000. In February 2000, a new-look Cheetos was relaunched, serving as the only cheesy snack in the UK. In July 2000, Quavers were relaunched and then a picture of the multipack. In March 2001, Walkers bought Squares, a range of snacks from Smiths. in. November 2001, more Max flavours were introduced. They included chargrilled steak and chip shop curry.

In May 2002, Walkers launched Sensations. Sensations flavours include Thai Sweet Chilli, Roast Chicken & Thyme, Balsamic Vinegar & Caramelised Onion. Walkers introduced the streaky bacon Quavers flavour to salt & vinegar and prawn cocktail in August 2002.

This blog was made by Simon Schofield

Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by The Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton and was bought out by businessman Asa Griggs Candler, whose marketing tactics led Coca-Cola to its dominance of the world soft-drink market throughout the 20th century.[1] The drink’s name refers to two of its original ingredients: coca leaves, and kola nuts (a source of caffeine). The current formula of Coca-Cola remains a trade secret; however, a variety of reported recipes and experimental recreations have been published. The drink has inspired imitators and created a whole classification of soft drink: colas.

The Coca-Cola Company produces concentrate, which is then sold to licensed Coca-Cola bottlers throughout the world. The bottlers, who hold exclusive territory contracts with the company, produce the finished product in cans and bottles from the concentrate, in combination with filtered water and sweeteners. A typical 12-US-fluid-ounce (350 ml) can contains 38 grams (1.3 oz) of sugar (usually in the form of high-fructose corn syrup). The bottlers then sell, distribute, and merchandise Coca-Cola to retail stores, restaurants, and vending machines throughout the world. The Coca-Cola Company also sells concentrate for soda fountains of major restaurants and foodservice distributors.

The Coca-Cola Company has on occasion introduced other cola drinks under the Coke name. The most common of these is Diet Coke, along with others including Caffeine-Free Coca-Cola, Diet Coke Caffeine-Free, Coca-Cola Zero Sugar, Coca-Cola Cherry, Coca-Cola Vanilla, and special versions with lemon, lime, and coffee. Coca-Cola was called Coca-Cola Classic from July 1985 to 2009, to distinguish it from “New Coke“. Based on Interbrand’s “best global brand” study of 2020, Coca-Cola was the world’s sixth most valuable brand.[2] In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings each day.[3] Coca-Cola ranked No. 87 in the 2018 Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations by total revenue

New Coke

Main article: New CokeThe Las Vegas StripWorld of Coca-Cola museum in 2003

On April 23, 1985, Coca-Cola, amid much publicity, attempted to change the formula of the drink with “New Coke”. Follow-up taste tests revealed most consumers preferred the taste of New Coke to both Coke and Pepsi[44] but Coca-Cola management was unprepared for the public’s nostalgia for the old drink, leading to a backlash. The company gave in to protests and returned to the old formula under the name Coca-Cola Classic, on July 10, 1985. “New Coke” remained available and was renamed Coke II in 1992; it was discontinued in 2002.

21st century

On July 5, 2005, it was revealed that Coca-Cola would resume operations in Iraq for the first time since the Arab League boycotted the company in 1968.

In April 2007, in Canada, the name “Coca-Cola Classic” was changed back to “Coca-Cola”. The word “Classic” was removed because “New Coke” was no longer in production, eliminating the need to differentiate between the two. The formula remained unchanged. In January 2009, Coca-Cola stopped printing the word “Classic” on the labels of 16-US-fluid-ounce (470 ml) bottles sold in parts of the southeastern United States.The change was part of a larger strategy to rejuvenate the product’s image. The word “Classic” was removed from all Coca-Cola products by 2011.

In November 2009, due to a dispute over wholesale prices of Coca-Cola products, Costco stopped restocking its shelves with Coke and Diet Coke for two months; a separate pouring rights deal in 2013 saw Coke products removed from Costco food courts in favor of Pepsi.Some Costco locations (such as the ones in Tucson, Arizona) additionally sell imported Coca-Cola from Mexico with cane sugar instead of corn syrup from separate distributors. Coca-Cola introduced the 7.5-ounce mini-can in 2009, and on September 22, 2011, the company announced price reductions, asking retailers to sell eight-packs for $2.99. That same day, Coca-Cola announced the 12.5-ounce bottle, to sell for 89 cents. A 16-ounce bottle has sold well at 99 cents since being re-introduced, but the price was going up to $1.19.

In 2012, Coca-Cola resumed business in Myanmar after 60 years of absence due to U.S.-imposed investment sanctions against the country. Coca-Cola’s bottling plant will be located in Yangon and is part of the company’s five-year plan and $200 million investment in Myanmar. Coca-Cola with its partners is to invest US$5 billion in its operations in India by 2020.

In February 2021, as a plan to combat the plastic waste, Coca-Cola said that it would start selling its sodas in bottles made from 100% recycled plastic material in the United States, and by 2030 planned to recycle one bottle or can for each one it sold. Coca-Cola started by selling 2000 paper bottles to see if they held up due to the risk of safety and of changing the taste of the drink

This Simon Schofield