The Mayflower line is a railway branch line in the east of England that links Manningtree, on the Great Eastern Main Line, to Harwich Town. During peak times, many services connect to or from the main line and its London terminus at Liverpool Street; the Mayflower line has six stations, including the two termini, is situated within the county of Essex. The route is 11 miles 16 chains in length from where it branches off the main line west of the town of Manningtree to its eastern terminus in Harwich, it is part of Network Rail Strategic Route 7, SRS 07.07, is classified as a London and South East commuter line. The Engineer's Line Reference for the line is MAH; as of December 2016 passenger services on the Mayflower line are operated by Greater Anglia, which manages all of the stations. The typical service frequency is one train per hour in each direction; the timetabled journey time between Manningtree and Harwich Town is 22 minutes. The Eastern Counties Railway had proposed plans to extend what is now the Great Eastern Main Line from Colchester to Harwich, although this was a cause for concern to the town of Ipswich, a rival port.

In 1846 a railway line from Manningtree to Harwich proposed by the Eastern Union Railway was approved by the Railway Commissioners. In 1853 an agreement was reached between the companies, with the ECR taking over the working of the EUR from 1 January 1854; the single-line branch opened on 15 August 1854. In 1862 the ECR and the EUR merged to form the Great Eastern Railway; the track was doubled in 1882 by the GER, the Manningtree North Curve which allows direct running between Ipswich and Harwich was added at that time. In addition to the closed station at Bradfield, there was a halt stop called Priory Halt between Wrabness and Bradfield which serviced the adjacent War Department facility. There was a extensive system of sidings fed from a spur on the "down" side, controlled by a signal box, in use from 1918 until 1966. Use of the halt was confined to Admiralty employees only during various periods; the War Department had a munitions dump in Copperas Woods between Wrabness and Parkeston served by a spur, situated on the north side of the line just west of the point where the original alignment of the track to Dovercourt and Harwich Town had been changed when Parkeston was built.

This spur was controlled by a signal box, named Primrose Box, reflecting the profusion of primroses which grew lineside in the area. In 1948 following nationalisation the line became part of British Railways Eastern Region. By the late 1970s the costs of running the dated mechanical signalling systems north of Colchester was recognised and in 1978 a scheme for track rationalisation and re-signalling was duly submitted to the Department of Transport; this was followed by a proposal to electrify the Great Eastern Main Line and branch to Harwich in 1980. Electrification work was undertaken in the early – mid 1980s. In 1982 British Railways sectorised their operations and the branch fell under the London & South East. On 14 April 1985 the first electric train consisting of two Class 308 electric multiple units worked the line although the previous year another member of the class had been dragged from Ipswich to Parkeston and used for crew training; the following day a Class 86 locomotive visited the branch to test various sidings and crossings on the line.

The full electric service was introduced on 12 May 1985 with Class 86s working the Liverpool Street boat trains and EMUs working local services. The line diverges from the Great Eastern Main Line at Manningtree and is double-track for passenger services as far as Harwich International, where connecting ferry services are available to Hoek van Holland on Stena Line; until 2014, Esbjerg was connected by DFDS, now closed. Beyond Harwich International, the original second track remains in place as a through-siding, but only the "up" line was electrified and that section to the eastern terminus Harwich Town is bi-directional. East of Manningtree there is a triangular junction that enables trains operating to the port to reach the branch from both the north and south; the line is electrified at 25 kV AC using overhead wires and has a loading gauge of W10. The shortest platform is the "down" platform at Wrabness, 90 yards in length, meaning most services are limited to four carriages; the following table summarises the line's six stations, their distance measured from London Liverpool Street, estimated number of passenger entries/exits in 2018/19: In 2015 a trial of an electric overhead wire/battery train was undertaken on the line.

A single Class 379 Electrostar, after installation of electric lithium batteries were installed, began a passenger service. The train could travel up to 60 miles on energy stored in the batteries recharging the batteries via the overhead-wires when on electrified sections of the line, at stations, via brake regeneration. Network Rail refer to this prototype model and its possible future descendants as "Independently Powered Electric Multiple Units"

Six-man football is a variant of American football played with six players per team, instead of 11. Six-man football was developed in 1934 by Stephen Epler in Chester, Nebraska, as an alternative means for small high schools to field a football team during the Great Depression; the first game was played on Thursday, September 27, 1934, at the Hebron, Nebraska Athletic Gridiron, under the lights, with a crowd of 1000 watching. This game was played so that coaches all over Kansas and Nebraska could see if they wanted to try this new game of six-man; the two teams playing in the game were the combined team from Hardy-Chester and a combined team from Belvidere-Alexandria. The two teams had two weeks to practice prior to this game. After that night, rules for the game were distributed to about 60,000 coaches in the United States. On October 5, 1940, Windham High School from Windham, Ohio defeated Stamford Collegiate of Niagara Falls, Ontario 39-1 in the first international six-man football game. Jack Pardee began his football career as a teenager in Christoval, where he excelled as a member of the six-man football team.

He was an All-American linebacker at Texas A&M University and a two-time All-Pro with the Los Angeles Rams and the Washington Redskins. He was one of the few six-man players to make it to the NFL, his knowledge of that wide-open game served him well as a coach. Pardee was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a player in 1986. Following his playing career, Pardee went on to coach, becoming the only head coach to helm a team in college football, the National Football League, the United States Football League, the World Football League, the Canadian Football League. Ed Sprinkle played six-man football at Tuscola High School in 1939, became known to many as "The Meanest Man in Pro Football", nicknamed "the Claw". Prior to his NFL career, Sprinkle won three letters in football and two in basketball and earned All-Border Conference while at Hardin–Simmons University in the early 1940s, he earned all-Eastern honors in 1943 while attending the United States Naval Academy. He played for 12 seasons with the Chicago Bears of the National Football League and is credited with calling attention to the NFL's defensive players.

At first, he played on both offense. He caught 32 passes for seven touchdowns during his professional career, his ability to rush opposing quarterbacks, made him a defensive specialist, earning four Pro Bowls. There are two versions of an American version and a Canadian. American six-man is played on an 80-yard-long by 40-yard-wide field in most circumstances. Furthermore, the game specifies a 15-yard distance from the line of scrimmage to gain a first down, instead of the normal 10 yards. Canadian six-man is similar, however the length of the field can be either 100 yards long or 110 yards long by 40 yards wide. End zones can be either 10 yards or up to 20 yards deep. Normal 12-man Canadian fields are 65 yards wide with 20 yard end zones; the Canadian game specifies the standard 10-yard distance to gain a first down, with the offense provided three downs to gain sufficient yardage rather than four downs as in the American game. All six players are eligible to be receivers in the American game, while in the Canadian game the player in the centre of the offensive line is ineligible.

On offense, three linemen are required on the line of scrimmage at the start of the play. The player to whom the ball is snapped cannot advance the ball past the line of scrimmage. All forward passes to the player. Scoring is the same as in 11-man football, with the exceptions being on the point after touchdown attempt and the field goal. A point-after kick is worth two points, while a conversion made by running or passing the ball is worth one point. In addition, a field goal is worth four points instead of three; these rule changes were made because of the difficulty of getting a kick off with so few blockers on the line compared to the number of defenders. In both University Interscholastic League and Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools competition, a 45-point "mercy rule" exists to prevent lopsided scoring deficits; the game is ended under this rule if a team is losing by 45 or more points at halftime or at any point after. The mercy rule is alluded to in the title of the David Morse film about six-man football, The Slaughter Rule.

Scoring tends to be much higher in the six-man game compared to its 11-man counterpart. As of the 2017–2018 alignments from UIL, TAPPS, TAIAO, TCAF, T-CAL, the state of Texas has 262 six-man football teams.

A shakedown is a period of testing or a trial journey undergone by a ship, aircraft or other craft and its crew before being declared operational. Statistically, a proportion of the components will fail after a short period of use, those that survive this period can be expected to last for a much longer, more predictable life-span. For example, if a bolt has a hidden flaw introduced during manufacturing, it will not be as reliable as other bolts of the same type. Most racing cars require a "shakedown" test before being used at a race meeting. For example, on May 3, 2006, Luca Badoer performed shakedowns on all three of Ferrari's Formula One cars at the Fiorano Circuit, in preparation for the European Grand Prix at the Nürburgring. Badoer was the Ferrari F1 team's test driver at the time, while the main drivers were Michael Schumacher and Felipe Massa. Aircraft shakedowns check avionics, flight controls, all systems, the general airframe's airworthiness. In aircraft there are two forms of shakedown testing: shakedown testing of the design as a whole, aka flight-tests, shakedown testing of individual aircraft.

Shakedown testing of the design involves test flights of the prototypes, a process that starts months or years before first flight with simulator flights and hardware testing nowadays incorporating an'iron bird' test rig in which all the flight control systems are brought together in an engineering lab, while test-articles of the physical structure will be subjected to stress and fatigue loads beyond anything the aircraft is to encounter in service. The aircraft systems will be commissioned on board the prototypes, first on external power once engines are fitted, on internal power, progressing to taxi trials and first flight. Flight-testing proceeds conservatively, demonstrating that each test condition can be safely achieved before proceeding to the next. Prototype aircraft are heavily instrumented in order to support these flight-test objectives by capturing large amounts of data for both live analysis and for analysis post-flight; the ultimate aim of testing is to demonstrate the aircraft can operate safely throughout its flight envelope and that all regulatory requirements of the relevant National Aviation Authorities have been met, allowing the design to receive its Certificate of Airworthiness.

Shakedown testing of production aircraft is a simplified version of prototype testing. The design has been demonstrated to be safe, the object is now to demonstrate that the components on an individual aircraft operate appropriately. Shakedown now comprises the general power-on trials, followed by one or more pre-delivery test flights carried out by the aircraft builder's personnel, culminating in a final acceptance test involving the purchaser's own flight crew and engineering personnel. A shakedown for a ship is referred to as a sea trial; the maiden voyage takes place after a successful shakedown. However, for warships, the shakedown period extends post-commissioning as the new crew familiarise themselves with the ship and with operating together as a single unit, raising their proficiency until the warship can be considered operational. A shakedown hike is when a backpacker, in preparation for a long hike such as the Appalachian Trail, Pacific Crest Trail or the Continental Divide Trail, takes their selection of equipment on a shorter backpacking trip with the intention of testing its trail worthiness.

A related term, the pack shakedown, is when a novice hiker has a more experienced hiker suggest changes to the novice's equipment simply suggesting things to leave out. Bathtub curve, the engineering concept behind shakedowns Demonstration and Shakedown Operation, tests performed by the United States Navy for submarine certification Burn-in

Wayne Simpson is an American professional ice hockey winger, playing for ERC Ingolstadt of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga. Undrafted out of college, Simpson joined the South Carolina Stingrays in the ECHL. During his time with the Stingrays, Simpson set a new ECHL record for most points in a playoff year during the 2015 Kelly Cup playoffs, he was loaned to the Providence Bruins during the 2014–15 season before signing a one-year contract with the Portland Pirates the following season. Simpson re-signed with the Bruins before the 2016–17 season; as a free agent, Simpson secured his first NHL contract in signing a one-year, two-way contract with the Washington Capitals on July 11, 2017. After attending the Capitals training camp, Simpson was reassigned to AHL affiliate, the Hershey Bears for the 2017–18 season. Simpson maintained his offensive game with the Bears, playing on a scoring line and finishing third on the team in points with 42, while appearing in every game, unable to earn a recall to the Capitals.

Un-signed from the Capitals, Simpson as a free agent opted to continue in the AHL joining his fourth club in the Rochester Americans on a one-year contract on August 16, 2018. Simpson continued to be an offensive presence in the AHL during the 2018–19 season, posting 21 goals and 45 points appearing in 72 regular season games. After five seasons in the AHL, Simpson left as a free agent and opted to sign abroad in agreeing to a one-year contract with German club, ERC Ingolstadt of the DEL, on July 9, 2019. Simpson comes from a hockey playing family. Biographical information and career statistics from Eliteprospects.com, or The Internet Hockey Database

The nuclear energy policy of the United States developed within two main periods, from 1954–1992 and 2005–2010. The first period saw the ongoing building of nuclear power plants, the enactment of numerous pieces of legislation such as the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974, the implementation of countless policies which have guided the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Department of Energy in the regulation and growth of nuclear energy companies; this includes, but is not limited to, regulations of nuclear facilities, waste storage, decommissioning of weapons-grade materials, uranium mining, funding for nuclear companies, along with an increase in power plant building. Both legislation and bureaucratic regulations of nuclear energy in the United States have been shaped by scientific research, private industries' wishes, public opinion, which has shifted over time and as a result of different nuclear disasters. In the United States, there have been numerous legislative actions and policies implemented on a federal and state level to both regulate atomic energy and promote its expansion.

Growth of nuclear power in the US ended in the 1980s, however the Energy Policy Act of 2005 was passed in 2005 which aimed to jump start the nuclear industry through financial loan-guarantees for expansion and re-outfitting of nuclear plants. The success of this legislation is still undetermined, since all 17 companies that applied for funding are still in the planning phases on their 26 proposed building applications; some of the proposed sites have scrapped their building plans, many think the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster will further dampen the success of expansion of nuclear energy in the United States. In 2008, the Energy Information Administration projected 17 gigawatts of new nuclear power reactors by 2030, but in its 2011 projections, it "scaled back the 2030 projection to just five". Following the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, public support for building nuclear power plants in the U. S. dropped to 43% lower than it was after the Three Mile Island accident in 1979, according to a CBS News poll.

A survey conducted in April 2011 found that 64 percent of Americans opposed the construction of new nuclear reactors. A survey sponsored by the Nuclear Energy Institute, conducted in September 2011, found that "62 percent of respondents said they favor the use of nuclear energy as one of the ways to provide electricity in the United States, with 35 percent opposed". A year after World War II ended, Congress established the United States Atomic Energy Commission to foster and control the peacetime development of atomic science and technology. Reflecting America's postwar optimism, Congress declared that atomic energy should be employed not only in the Nation's defense, but to promote world peace, improve the public welfare, strengthen free competition in private enterprise. Legislation enacted by Congress split the AEC into our current Department of Energy and Nuclear Regulatory Commission. In the United States, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission regulates the nuclear energy industry more than most other industries.

The NRC and the Department of Energy, work together to insure plant safety and operational permits and storage of nuclear waste, management of weapons-grade byproducts of plants, radiation protection, loan guarantees. The United States has more active nuclear power plants than any other country in the world, with 104 plants out of the total 441 active sites and another 62 under construction worldwide; this is nearly twice as many sites as the next two countries and Japan, combined. Construction of U. S. nuclear facilities peaked between the 1970s and 1980s, during which time, these facilities were granted 20–40 year operational permits. In the early days of nuclear energy, the United States government did not allow for any private sector use of nuclear technology. In 1946, President Harry Truman signed the Atomic Energy Act of 1946 into law, which prohibited the dissemination of nuclear technology or information to other entities, both domestic and abroad; this act represented the fear that foreign nations, including allies, would gain the technology and use it against the U.

S. As time went on, this fear subsided and interest from the public sector emerged, in the hope that nuclear power could provide a viable energy alternative to coal; the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 under the administration of Dwight D. Eisenhower, amended the earlier act and ushered in the first nuclear age in the U. S; this amendment allowed the private sector to use certain government information about nuclear technology and establish private energy facilities. However, these facilities would have to abide by government rules and regulations and work with the government regarding the plant safety, storage and the use of weapons-grade byproducts. There were two phases in U. S. nuclear policy. The first phase lasted from 1954 to 1992. By the end of the 1980s, new plants were being built, after 1992, there was a period of 13 years without any substantial nuclear legislation; the United States was not the first nation to create a nuclear power plant. Both Russia and England managed to establish small, limited power plants before the U.

S. Although developments were taking place in the U. S. private sector before the 1954 act, it was not until mid-1956 that the Shippingport Atomic Power Station in Pennsylvania came online. This facility, which generated 50 MW of power per year, up to 200 MW, was the first full-scale nuclear power plant in the U. S. and the world. In the coming years and more plants were built by regulated utility companies state-based; these companies would "put the capital cost into thei