IMS

Thanks for the reply, Donw, but I cut to the chase and simply added BRM to my PocketMags subscription at just under £50pa. Works well, I do get back numbers free at least back to 2020 but generally not the special issues or WOR issues. I get it on my Android phone in the same sub as on this iPad too. Railway Modeller on Exact Editions is great on the iPad, right back to the start in the 1940s, well scanned, with comprehensive index based on good OCR. I'll forget WOR and grudgingly put up with the intrusive adverts on RMweb.

How can I subscribe to World of Railways Plus and to ad-free browsing of RM Web, please in one simple statement? I see it is possible, and I've browsed this forum, but I've given up each time I try to do it. The key problems are: 1. It seems impossible to put both the WoR and the ad-free browsing in the basket, doubling the complex process. Some basket that can only hold one item! 2. Although I'm logged in to start with, I have to sign in again to buy one of the subs and it doesn't work. I either get an invalid/ not recognized message or an infinite Please Wait. It doesn't help that I can't display the contents of the password box. 3. I already use both Exact Editions for the Railway Modeller & its archive. And I subscribe to several mags in PocketMags, which is a breeze to use. BUT I understand that with PocketMags I'd lose out on much of the BRM archive and have to subscribe separately for other mags (Narrow Gauge World is in fact the only one in the offer that interests me). Is that right? Advice gratefully received. Realism is great, but replication of the nightmare of online train ticket buying is something I could do without!

Does it need to be a power drill just for drilling into, presumably, plastic sleepers? I used to use a 12v drill wired Expo drill but found a simple “archimedes drill” (aka “pin vice”) much simpler and safer. You just hold the end vertically above the Job and press down the slide to rotate it. I did have a Dremel but never used for anything useful it as it was hard to chose and fit accessories, there was no handbook or guidance for it. I confess to being wary about power tools for anything except masonry drilling and mowing the lawn.

Yep, that's typical. At least we can have our very own 175 in due course! I've chosen the Arriva version for mine, the pinnacle of services on this line - until they were bought by DB who just sweated the assets. Not that you could blame them, there seems to be no longer any financial incentive to improve services.

Many of us who live on the Marches Line between Cardiff and Crewe are more concerned at the number of long distance trains still operated by 2 car 150s and 153s. These are hopelessly inadequate in capacity and, with 75mph max, are often incapable of maintaining schedules leading to trips being terminating before conclusion. The 175s are nice, fast, and comfortable with more seats and toilets than the the new 197s, but they are hardly ever seen now. I actually abandoned a trip this week because the rush hour train was nearly always a 2 car 150.

Order books now open for the 00 Class 175! Placed mine for a 3 car ATW unit. Nice trains, sadly doomed, hope at least one gets preserved. Comfy roomy, fast. Fond memories of my commuting days.

So they are now - thanks!

When do we know when we can place a pre-order, and how do we do it?

I see the CAD is now completed for the 175 in 00, so hopefully we'll soon know the price and be able to place a pre-order?

Thanks for the advice in reply to my query about Exact Editions. I downloaded their app and have had no problems, so far anyway. I particularly like the indexed search facility, in Railway Modeller it goes right back to 1949!

How do people feel about the Exact Editions app? I’ve been wondering about subs too and was glad to see this post, but the reviews for the EE app for iPad are few, mostly poor and mostly ancient so I was thinking of PocketMags which I already use and find generally good and reliable.

Years ago, I contrived a safe and simple continuity tester from the bulb, holders and wires of a broken slide viewer. Talking of testing reminds me of the mains-tester screwdriver that may have saved my life. I'd connected up a fluorescent light fitting (the vendors of the house had taken all the fittings leaving bare wires!). Being cautious, I turned it on and checked the steel chassis before completing the job. The light in the tester illuminated! The #@*! who'd put in the previous one had used green sheathing for the live and red for the earth... Sorry, I've drifted from the previous thread drift...

Thanks a million, Pete. I got most of that excellent posting, but have two queries. I was unsure about the above quoted bit. I take it you are saying disconnect the main track feeds from the controller and join the feeds together temporarily to create a short circuit? The SC would then mean that more than minimal resistance anywhere indicates a problem? Secondly, does the red scroll wheel (Ohms Adjust) enter into this at all?

Thanks for the tips. I've got a multimeter, but no idea how to use it, even for the simplest of tasks, such as electrical continuity. The instructions may as well have been written in its native Korean! Found nothing useful on the internet either. Here's a photo of the jacks and settings. There are 2 probes. Please could you advise me what to do?

Thanks, will try it tomorrow.