Once again, my website is unavailable, but this time it is thanks to facebook. I don't fully understand this but facebook is indexing my website over and over again (it's a known thing) and has consumed all of my bandwidth for March (and it's only the 13th!) The hosting company wants me to go to a dedicated server which is like using a sledgehammer to crack a walnut. The cost of running it would triple from $18 to $48 per month (and that's just the starter offer). I can't afford that and I can't
I have noticed several discussions where members have been trying to determine what tender type was attached to members of a class at a particular time so that it would be possible to get an accurate snapshot of the configuration of a loco for a realistic depiction on a model layout. I looked at the existing snapshot page on BRDatabase and determined that it would be fairly straightforward to add this functionality where this information was already on the database. So, for instance, the tender
I've recently been adding lots of info regarding the modifications made to diesel locomotives, such as dual braking, boiler status, livery etc... If you remember the spotting books back in the day used to publish a code indicating the current status of a loco, such as xo (dual braked, no heating) or vb (vacuum braked, working boiler). This is what I am aiming for. So, it is currently a work in practise (practice?) but will hopefully give modellers a clue as to what was what and when. Class snaps
Hi,
I thought I would just put a blog entry for people to highlight any problems they find with www.BRDatabase.info
If you see an error, an omission or have ideas for how the data could better be presented, please leave a message below and I will see what I can do. I really want the resource to be as accurate and understandable as possible and I cannot do that without help - I regularly see messages saying "don't trust BRDatabase" etc... but I cannot fix everything by mys
One thing I need to put to bed once and for all: on my site, www.brdatabase.info, two GWR 0-6-0PT's, nos 9700 & 9701 are listed as having been allocated to Stratford (ER/LNER) in the 1940's. This is a parsing error. Both of these engines, at the time of allocation, had an GER/LNER equivalent, and it is these engines that should be listed as allocated to Stratford. It's the kind of mistake anyone can make after having consumed an eclectic array of real ales!
As others have surmise
The BRDatabase website has had connection issues recently and this is a quick headsup.
The hosting company, who have been less than helpful, have denied access to parts of the database because of high cpu and high RAM hits. I fixed some errors recently and this has meant a refresh of the cache files which is putting a heavy load on the server. I am in the process of removing some of the worst queries and replacing them with 'data warehouse' tables which essentially means that the server will
Hi all,
I have had a few enquiries about the state of BRDatabase recently. I haven't updated the site for several years and there are known problems with it. My enthusiasm for the project has been low in recent times - this has been primarily due to my youngest daughter being seriously ill throughout 2015, and I have been unwell myself this year.
I mentioned in an earlier post that I had done lots of work behind the scenes, including better quality data - since then I have spent a lot of
Hi, just wanted to give a heads up on BRDatabase.
At the moment, part of the site is disabled (the sites data) because of the heavy workload inflicted on the servers (my inefficient code to blame). I have two options:
Re-write the code to be more efficient (using pre-prepared data, in the style of a data warehouse)
Leave it alone pending new website
I am in the process of improving the data immeasurably, by redoing the data using SLS, Railway Observer, Trans Illustrated and other
I have spent some time entering locomotives into BRDatabase.info and I thought I would share with you the reasoning and procedure, so you can see what goes on in the background.
I was entering data for 1949 allocations and withdrawals etc from a copy of the Stephenson Locomotive Society journal. I came across an engine that didn't appear in the database - the reason being that I had it's proposed BR number but not it's LMS (ex L&Y) one, and it was withdrawn still carrying the LMS one. So
Hi,
I am the author and webmaster of the website BRDatabase.info and as it gets mentioned fairly frequently on RMWeb, I thought I would try and give you all a better understanding of what it contains, how it has been built, the problems you may encounter and the plans for the future. I'm not going to do all that in this first post but I will try and keep you up to date with developments.
Firstly, despite there being no major updates since spring, I am working on it all the time on my own
