jcredfer

Thank you Adrian, that is a lovely set of etched parts, a small contribution to RT Models may soon be on it's way. I had a reply on Facebook, apparently the plastic bit which came with the LMR 0-6-0, is meant to be fitted under the boiler, to represent valve gear. Looking at it, it will need some research and a bit of modification before it reaches the parts beneath. Best wishes Julian

I bought one of these, Austerity 0-6-0ST LMR livery. In the box, is one of these and there is no relevant paperwork to answer what it might be. I don't suppose anyone might know where it is supposed to fit? I looked under it, but can't see any blank spaces asking to be filled. Is it possibly a representation of the Coal Bunker shutter? Regards Julian

Does your camera have different setting for various light conditions? I have a few on mine and it quite surprising how much difference it makes. Regards Julian

Some while back [Ok nearly 20 years] we used to do Saturday open classes, on various interests, in our School. While teaching some Photoshop tools, I showed the attendees the clone tool, intending it to be much as the above tweezers, removing blemishes, telegraph poles etc. Having given them a young lady portrait, I was, initially appalled to see a young lad cloning one of her eyes onto her nose. Before I could find a polite way of telling the youngster that wasn't the purpose, it had also been noticed by some of the others. What then resulted was a hilarious half hour, with all sorts of items being transfered around lots of different pictures. They had great fun with the Clone Tool well and truely learned, I was reminded of a very useful teaching tool, too. Regards Julian

1 hour ago, Hitchin Junction said: An interesting irony is that the prevailing trend to use inexpensive servos to save money over stall motors, would appear from the postings earlier to be truly successful only if you use the higher price quality servos. Tim Tim, The inference of previous posts was not that higher priced servos must be used to be truly successful, but "IN GENERAL" more reliable. JiLo has illustrated that more expensive items don't always fit the "reliable" bill. If anyone wants reliable servos, I mentioned the local reputable r/c model aeroplane shops, to get good recommendations for those, as they get the failed ones back in the face. Of course lots of the "really cheap" fake copies will work, they are copies of successful item, after all. However, the fail rate is proportionately higher, too and for good, obvious reasons. In contrast to JiLo, the moderately [ie. not really cheapo] priced servos my model aeroplane friends and myself have used have not had any failures, other than high speed flying errors into items which resulted in external applied damage [hit anything hard enough - and it will break!!]. I suppose the big message is to get advice if you are placing a servo [or any other appliance] in a place where you don't want to be replacing it and replace any other ones, having made sure they are accessible to do so. Perhaps a little more care where reliability may be an issue. Regards Julian

That certainly indicates a position sensor playing up, as already advised. I asked because the jitters are often mentioned by people as a nuisance at the end points and they claim faulty servos, that type of jitter can also cause overheating and eventual servo failure. In truth the Peco advice for setting up the servo arms is quite likely to make that happen, which is a little awkward. They advise placing the connecting/push-rod to the outer hole on the servo arm, ie the longest possible length of lever and most control rod movement for least arc of rotation. Given points, or signals require very small movements, it would be better to use the inner hole on the servo arm, giving most rotation for the desired distance moved by the control rods and greatest mechanical advantage to the servo motor. Even better would be a simple linear movement reduction lever between the servo and accessory, together with a 180deg throw of the servo arm, so as to be in-line with the thrust/tension at each end of the throw, ensuring nil jitter. One of the spare servo arms in the kits can be used, screwed to pivot on the baseboard, with the inner arm hole used to drive the points etc and the connecting rod from the servo to one of the outer lever arm arm holes, such that the desired movement is produced at the accessory. If desired a right angle servo arm can be used in the same fashion to give a bell crank effect, too. For crossing gates a 180deg servo arm swing should be possible connected at the other end to suitably spaced holes on the arms connected to the gates. NB. I have a picture, if it makes it easier. Regards Julian

Hi Barry, I see you mentioned jittering with your servo, would that be at one of the end points, or even both? Regards Julian

Yes, indeed, the original Tower SG90, was a good quality servo, which at ~ £5 was particularly good value and was, therefore, a very popular buy. That resulted in the market being pretty well soaked in cheaper, inferior, look-alikes, trying to climb on the back of Tower reputation. Suzie has listed most of the problem areas of the various fake ones and I can add, poorly meshed gears which run unevenly [normally accompanied by resultant noise and jerky motion], gear teeth which break off and jam the rest of the gears and internal circuit failures, amongst them. I watched a friend's 16ft span competiton model glider hurtle from 500ft and spear into the ground, from gears simply jambing because of a loose broken gear-tooth jambing the rest. Over £1,000 worth reduced to bits in just a few seconds. It was only very close inspection of the servo case that revealed that although all other markings were very close to identical, the "TM" mark was missing. I have noticed slight case differences in other ones, too. Most, good, trade outlets, on the High Street make sure they obtain the genuine article, as they have to deal with customers returning to complain. [comversations can get quite heated, given the sums of money which are sometimes involved] Once a genuine one is obtained it can be used to check that other purchases match. Having said all that, I should go back to saying that many of these faults are less serious problems on items likely to be operated by cheaper servos and most [faulty ones] will only require simple replacement and little other damage. The financial factor is quite a strong one and could well be a deciding one, too. Particularly so, as the lesser strain on servos for rail use involves far less stress than most aeroplane models, which get banged about quite a lot. I wouldn't like my comments to be taken as "banging a drum", quite the opposite, more an observation on caution when purchasing, what might look like a genuine product. Regards Julian

My point about better quality, vs price and reliability is a matter of choice, explained in my post. The point about cheaper Quote - there are many cheap, "inferior", china made look-alikes _ Unquote, was about "cheap look-alike fakes produced in china" and sold at prices which betray their manufacturer origin. It is well known that there are some china products that are cheap attempts to give the impression that they are quality products from genuine quality makers [including those quality china produced products]. To be clear, the comment was about the "origin of the fakes" and not about the origin of the quality items the fakes are based on. Regards Julian

Servos are mostly value for what you paid, as there are many cheap, "inferior", china made look-alikes of the better brands. I have model r/c aeroplanes, where that does matter, as one going wrong can cost anything from a couple of hundred to over a thousand pounds, given what it is attached to. It doesn't matter quite as much on rail projects and is unlikely to cost more than a replacement servo, time replacing it and maybe a fried decoder or bits of a loco to fix. I prefer to pay for the better ones, with the smoother, quieter, running and reliability, but can certainly understand why others might want to count the pennies, for what is only slightly less performance and little risk. The Peco and several other kits cost very little more than clack machines, with their add-on items, when all is added in, as their kits come complete to fit, point control, with LED indicators/LED signals/alternate choice of control etc. Peco types can operate several servos from one output, for crossovers, or several items from a single servo, sidings, run-arounds. signals, gates and the like, at which point they become cheaper than clackers. They are also labelled plug and play items, which makes them simple to use. Peco and some others can operate from switches, or decoder from either the controller accessory buttons, mimic switches, or both, no additional wiring, just plug in and play. Like most items, if you want the functions included in the various servo kits, it will end up similarly priced, by the time you have done it all. If you don't want all those functions, then Peco "et al" are simply not the thing to buy, but there are simpler ones. Regards Julian

Apparently a little known Northern Ecclesiastical Sect, which has always followed the N-S option since one of the original leaders mis-read the compass and claimed it as a Sect tradition, as an excuse - which, of course, has had to be followed ever since. Regards Julian

I very much like the sky effect. I can't remember whether it is intentional or not, but grey skies were [are still] a familiar sight in the UK and so many try to get the nice Summer day effect. It's all looking very natural, one part blending into the others, very clever. Regards J

Looks like the May Bugs, which we have here. They look horrendous, but are absolutely harmless - unless you are riding a bike and meet one going the other way, at head height!! Regards Julian PS. A coat of varnish and it would, indeed, make a great carnival entry, or sign for one of those "Eat All You Can" burger outlets - with a red LED to light up the inside. Regards Julian

I thought this was supposed to be pictures of your layout, unless you identify the picture as one of the full size origin. Regards Julian

Dennis Skinner would vote against opening his anal sphincter to evacuate his bowel, if he thought it might in some way obstruct anyone else, in any possible way at all. This gives him a conflict of interests, as he uses the same vent to express his thoughts opinions. That may, in some small way, explain the disconnected, logic lacking, aggressive effluent which exudes from an otherwise charming candidate for the Queen's Royal Reception presenter. Regards Julian

Are you expecting Russian tourists to visit sometime soon, perhaps to St Peter & St Paul, or maybe a new area of interest, such as the Cast Iron Tickford Bridge... Regards Julian [Apologies from a Salisbury resident, having memory cells jogged. ]

I have to agree on the use of Servos. Small- very, very small if required; Mountable under or on top of the board [small enough to go under a platform]; Speed completely adjustable to any of the above requirements; Will apply a small pressure to the points at each end of the throw [NO they don't buzz, if set up correctly!!]; Control rodding can be from any angle, as servo arms can be in line or bell crank; Control rods can be attached to the outer ends of the throw arm, simple z-bend and insert; Can be operated by simple DC switches, contact button, or DCC, or both; Silent; Long lasting, as under no stress; Very simple to install. Agree about Megapoints, but Peco and a few others can be found with different numbers of servo outlets. Personally, I would stick with Magapoints or Peco, there are rumours that they are from the same source. Regards Julian

Add in the fact that new roads don't/can't create additional vehicles, the new roads [other transport] filling up rapidly is simply a factor of the previous imense over-capacity of the original roads [modes]. When politicians and others make illogical statements like [it immediately fills to capacity, without actually solving the original problem], it would be better if they sat on the bit the statements come from. I'm old enough to remember the roads just post WWII, when cars were few in number and traffic jams were restricted to short periods in a few major city rush hours [remember when it was just an hour??]. Now with increased wealth and 15m additional population, almost every town has a rush hour and the major cities seldom have times in the day without conjestion. Back then, in our road, there were 6 cars between 16 houses/families. Those same houses are now likely to have 2 cars per houshold, more than a 5 fold increase - and still not factoring in increased population numbers and distances people travel to work. There doesn't seem to be anything like a comparable increase in miles of road to drive them on. Julian

That 280 is a very large number, compared to the normal polishing of the green leather. Take out the PM's questions and a few other popular items, then look around the chamber, while various expensive blether merchants produce massive amounts of CO2. There may be a dozen places taken, perhaps a couple of dozen, 280 represents a considerable level of interest, particularly in view of those more distant constituencies already identified. Regards Julian

Love Wales, used to take London pupils there to experience real life, one of the best experiences in teaching. I seem to remember that the sheep turned to face away from bad weather and waited for it to go away - incredibly patient, given the climate. I was there one year, {late 80s} when it had rained incessintely for the whole year and the sheep were white! Sheep are never white, anywhere, but they were that year, so much rain that they hadn't got any dirt / dust in the fleece - quite a sight. Regards Julian

Yep, cattle... Regards Julian

The djm statements of the kind outlined above were lacking in factual content or evidence. What seems to have been missing are statements of the level of funding numbers for each of the proposed products. Had sufficient financial income been there, there would have been considerable benefit in reporting the fact and associated confidence levels for those customers. I can't think that any such numbers which might have been successfully been achieved would not have been shouted to the same roof-tops as the vague ideas identified above. I am not talking about actual amounts of "cash" flowing in, but statements that 100% of crowdfunder numbers required have been reached. What is not said, is often more important than that which is said. In fact the few crowdfunding numbers published have generally shown considerable shortfall in required numbers and the lack of information on others strongly suggests that funds were not incoming, in sufficient numbers, as would enable the projects to be properly funded. ..... add to that the wages equation, where a project goes beyond the time planned for and the 20% [?] allocation for 18 months wages becomes 40% for 3 years, even more for longer delays. Given the numbers of new projects and the lack of keeping to the planned times, the crowdfunding number information [lack of] indicates that sufficient funds were not available in the first place and director's expenses were a much bigger drain than planned for. Regards Julian

That's a huge load of flocking work done there! { Sorry, couldn't resist, it's sooo old, too.} I agree about the Church orientation. Firstly there is a more varied and interesting profile, but it also removes the shadow of the tower from the backscene. With a wall round the Church it will look wonderful on the hilltop, dominating the area, just as the Bishop decided it should. Regards Julian

Ahh! The ever present Trump card!! Julian

Yup! However, there is also the other main consideration... THE BAIT!! Regards Julian