SHMD

That's a great find. There are more and more of these "useful little critters" showing more of the time now. Kev.

Are you sure that is not 5" gauge? Kev.

That's quite some work there! I (involuntarily) moved my head to the side to see if the reflected light, on the locos' body side, would also move. Stunning work, you should be proud sir. Kev.

Precisely. The benefits of two way communications can not be overestimated, or indeed, quantified. The use of two way comms allows many varied, interesting and unimaginable new ideas to be implemented – some of which you have already alluded to already. (This is the main area that interests me.) Another useful readback would be current consumption as this would be a direct indication of “how hard” the engine is currently working. This would be useful for battery consumption, loco condition or even track condition. All useful for diagnostics, trouble shooting or just plain old curiosity! Temperature (battery, ambient, motor, etcetera), could also be useful. Then with the aid of a simple strain gauge, you can start to measure draw bar force which, combined with speed and instantaneous current consumption, could be the beginnings of a tractive effort calcs. (The strain gauge(s) and speed sensors would probably be better in a specially designated coach – lets call it a “Dynamometor”! Video would be even more useful/fun but its implementation would be severely limited by the bandwidth available. AWS (magnets), indicating signal states, would be easy to send back to the controller/operator. In short, many more aspects of real railways could be brought to life in model form – if only you so chose to use/buy/implement/beg/borrow/steal the required equipment... Kev.

Members wishing that BPRC will be (somehow) DCC compatible stems from the natural modellers instinct of not wanting to waste anything! (Commercially the “cheap-skate skin-flint modellers”, especially in the UK, must (MUST) be factored into the business plan.) There is also the 'depth of knowledge' and familiarity (confidence!) of DCC that must also not be underestimated. It maybe the wish that the DCC decoders could be used. Or even, more sensibly, that the Controllers be still used. Both with the extra electronics in-between. This is possible BUT it WOULD be more expensive than having totally new standard that was not backwards compatible, and thus, less 'buggy' and much quicker/cheaper to development! On a different recent note, I like the phrase “it just works”. But lets be careful. Look what the phrase “Just 2 wires” did for DCC... Kev. (PS. BPRC does need to be retrofit-able – it just does!)

A hand powered Shunter!!! What ever next! (I thought it was a machine for making the rail tops shiny.) Kev.

You two stop it! You're not helping the “cause”. What Robin has done (or purported to have done) is not Rocket science and is well proven – no offence meant – so it is easily believable. Size/space/material removal being the major considerations. Posting a video, whilst nice proves nothing but it can easily be done to “settle things”. Robin, have you done any pricing up/investigating of bespoke moulded batteries? I have found that even “rich” (mass market) areas of consumer electronics shy away from this solution – mobile phones, Cameras, mobile computing, etcetera. I will be in Shanghai soon so I will visit the electronics market (it's HUGE) along Beijing Rd and will be paying particular attention to battery stalls/suppliers, Speakers, PICs, comms solutions…...... All at dirt cheap prices with no warranty and numerous fakes/copies/duds/miss sells/lost in translations – all the fun of the fair! :) (Many stalls offer full project reverse engineering - openly!) Kev.

Hmm... I think I had better check that 31 270 I bought ages ago and never used! Kev.

^ With the over-exposed rail tops, and the lost detail in the grain, that last photo looks like a model!

I love the "Beware of Trains" sign with a bite out of it! Kev.

I would have thought coal for the foundry would have been more likely. Iron would have been pretty locally sourced and they only other raw material needed, besides labour, would have been wood. Just guessing though. Kev.

^ I like how it says "Supermarket" and is about the size of a ginnel! Kev.

I suspect quite a few prayers have been answered tonight! :) Kev.