KingEdwardII

Yes, but way too many of them - too hard on the brain to work out the odds of them being alive or dead...

My approach (only one amongst many, to be sure) is to connect from my controller (a DR5000) to a computer running JMRI and then drive most things via the computer and attached devices. There are alternative software packages to JMRI that you could use - but JMRI is open source and free. Which software is best for you depends on what you are trying to do. I have a large touch screen with a diagram of the layout, which can be used to control locos, turnouts & signals. I can drive trains from my Android phone (note: my phone has a large screen, which makes this easier) - and this is "free" in the sense that I already have the phone and I use the free EngineDriver app. If you want to go down this kind of path, then they key is to have a DCC controller with a good computer interface. The computer you use can be quite cheap (e.g. Raspberry Pi) - but large touch screens can be expensive, by contrast. You will also need to make your turnouts and signals controllable from the computer - I use DCC for this, although there are other possibilities. Yours, Mike.

e.g. electrifying from Didcot to Oxford, one of items shorn from the debacle of the GWML electrification. But I suppose this will be well behind the electrification through Bath to Bristol, where the need is clearly greater. Frankly the whole electrification story makes the government look like a prize set of mutts. NetZero? More like NetMess. Yours, Mike.

I note that they used the original Pi Camera Module for this project, which is large and clumsy for the intended use. There is now a ZeroCam, designed for use with the PI Zero, that is much smaller and would be far better for on-train use; https://thepihut.com/collections/raspberry-pi-camera/products/zerocam-camera-for-raspberry-pi-zero Yours, Mike.

I am sure that one of the significant markets for Elizabeth Line is Thames Valley commuters to Canary Wharf. Yes, for those starting further out, a change at either Ealing or Paddington from a GWR service is necessary for the shortest journey times, but it makes for a practical commute where previously it would have taken too long. One look at a place like Didcot, which now has vast new estates doubling the size of the town on the west, shows the potential for this traffic. For me, getting to the east side of London using Elizabeth line now looks a better bet than using the South West trains from Richmond. However, you do make a good point that the Elizabeth line does not have great connections to places not in the centre or east of London. Yours, Mike.

Merehead, also known as Torr Works now, is served by the remaining section of the Yatton to Witham branch via Wells and Cheddar. The section of track from the quarry to the mainline at Witham remains to this day and still carries many a stone train. The Wells and Cheddar branch was a wonderful branch line, sadly mostly closed. By the late 1960s it was a shadow of its former self. The book "The East Somerset and Cheddar Valley Railways" by Richard Harman is a comprehensive account of the line. A section of the branch is preserved as the East Somerset Railway. Yours, Mike.

I use metal cam dowels - widely used in flat-pack style furniture. 2 of these on each end of the lift out assure the horizontal alignment. I never have to realign my tracks. For vertical alignment, I use carefully aligned solid sections of quality CLS timber on both the static and lift out sections. The weight of the lift-out helps ensure that these are tight together when the lift-out is in place. The cam dowels can also help here too, since they can be used to apply some force in the vertical direction to squeeze the sections together. Being DCC, in my case the electrical connections are very simple - two wires. I have no accessories on my lift-out by design, but if they were necessary, that would simply add 2 more wires. Yours, Mike.

I think that my simple answer to the original question is: "Not enough" Yours, Mike.

Fastest morning Oxford - Paddington services are about 50 mins, stopping @ Reading only.

Yes, reproducing the sheer decrepitude of those sidings full of hopeless wrecks is very tough, even if you do possess some suitable basket-case models as a starting point! Some of the line-ups at the Swanage Railway come to mind for these... Yours, Mike.

Indeed so. That is one of the challenges of modelling a preserved line. The mix of old and new. e.g. period trains and stations but ultra modern sheds and workshops (see Severn Valley Railway and their carriage shed @ Kidderminster). Similarly, it is common for a preserved line to have different stations representing different eras - e.g 1900s on one station, 1930s on another. One of the other challenges that I have not yet attempted is the representation of the "wrecks" that are usually present somewhere on a preserved line. The stuff that has not (yet) been restored, which can include major components lying around on their own, like loco boilers. Yours, Mike.

I think the most memorable thing of that kind for me was waking up to find a snowdrift on the inside windowsill of my bedroom. This was during the harsh winter of 1962/1963 and the sash window of my bedroom had been left open at the top a fraction. The fine powdery snow had quietly blown in during the night. And not melted... Yours, Mike.

Coal burning for domestic heating is a very distant memory for me. The last house I remember having coal heating was my grandparents' place - in South Wales, during the 1970s and 1980s. The only source of heat in the house were coal fires - an open grate in the front parlour and a stove in the main living room. Powered by concessionary coal, which explained why it lasted so long, well after most folk had gone over to gas heating. The contrast between to tropical heat in the living room and the chill of the bedrooms was extreme. I don't shed any tears for the demise of coal for domestic heating - messy and awkward to use. On the other hand, I now have an addiction to a wood burning stove, but only as an addition to the central heating. Every piece of wood is examined for its suitability to feed the stove and no tree is safe... Yours, Mike.

I think that is a big disservice to the many volunteers who put in many hours getting things "right" on preserved railways. The GWSR from Cheltenham Racecourse to Broadway is one of my favourites and their efforts to re-create the 1904 station at Broadway are exemplary - and let us not forget that the original station had been obliterated - not a stone remained. The preserved railways are just as much part of the contemporary railway scene as the current mainlines and are perfectly worthy of modelling. They may not satisfy you, but that does not make them invalid in any way. Yours, Mike.

That's ma boy!! KE II running tender first... Actually, the 4 coaches would likely not be realistic - 7 or 8 is more the norm, with some form of Restaurant car. The other thing about preservation is that the schedule is likely quite packed, and limited by the facilities available on what are typically single lines (GCR at Loughborough a notable exception). Of course, goods trains on preserved lines are showpieces and no old-style shunting is going to take place, except in one regard. Usually, preserved lines are stuffed with stock (in various states of repair!) and so sidings are typically occupied. Shunting moves to get at specific items of rolling stock can be complex and long-lasting. Some of the GWSR shunting moves are epic. Yours, Mike.

Probably not, on its own - but there are plenty of other coal consumers in the UK. I do blame environmentalism for a) recent closures and b) recent refusals to grant new licences. The proposed new mine in Cumbria is the poster child here, but less well known and publicised are the actions of the Welsh government in refusing licences for mines, notably open cast mines. "climate change" was one of the grounds for refusal. This is in one sense beyond insane since there is nothing to stop coal imports, so the refusal simply kills employment in this country. Who needs volunteers? In recent years, there have been proposals for commercial mines, with real paid jobs associated with them. Given the current high prices for all forms of energy, coal included, it is certain that these proposals would be even more viable and profitable today. There were open cast pits in South Wales that were accessing some of the same seams that produced the fabled steam coal. These could be viable today, if given permits to operate, and have the potential to produce coal at a lower price point than deep mines. Yours, Mike.

12 GWR 28xx 2-8-0s were adapted to oil burning just after the second world war, due to a shortage of South Wales coal. This was extended to 5 Castle 4-6-0s and beyond until some 36 GWR locos had been adapted (93 in total across the whole of the UK). It was not a success due to high costs and the venture was abandoned in 1948 and the locos reverted to coal burning. Yours, Mike.

What struck me about Liverpool Street on my Elizabeth Line journey is just how subterranean the platforms feel - very dark and enclosed. A big contrast to places like Paddington, Waterloo, St Pancras where all is light and air, especially where diesel has been replaced by electric. Yours, Mike.

I think that one or more UK coalmines should be opened to supply heritage railways and other coal users who have no practical alternative to the use of coal. Yours, Mike.

I have one SLE99 on my layout. My King Edward II and my 2-8-2-T get across it fine. No problem with frog wiring. I use 2 x MTB MP1 motors and the built in switches take care of the Frogs. The one thing to remember with the 2 point motors is that there are 4 possible combinations for the positions of the motors but only 3 are permissible - one easy way to handle this is to use "routes" with one each for each of the 3 exits. Yours, Mike.

That indeed is how reports commissioned by politicians work - they carefully choose the people who are going to write the report and make sure that those people understand what is expected of them. Yours, Mike.

Your mounting for the wire needs to have a means of vertical adjustment - it's as simple as that. As @RobinofLoxley mentions above, the MTB MP1 motors have a very simple clamp for the wire which allows for very straightforward adjustment - my approach it to slack off the clamp just enough to allow me to mount the motor with the wire deliberately set too high and then push the wire down from above until the top of the wire is flush with the top of the switch centre hole. The clamp can then be tightened to prevent any further vertical movement. Other brands of motor have similar forms of adjustment available. I don't know how you are mounting your servos, but you need to provide for some kind of adjustment mechanism for the vertical position of the wire. When servos are used in model aircraft, they often face the same problem of wires needing adjustment and you can buy fixings for the servos which provide this. Yours, Mike.

Indeed it was - I have a book with a 1903 plan of the station layout and it is clearly shown as a loop there. The loop also had a spur at the Bristol end to enable very long goods trains to be accommodated. Yours, Mike.

Why are you asking? Yours, Mike

The more I look at Old Oak Common HS2 station, the more it seems like a major lost opportunity. The site of the station is literally surrounded by rail and tube lines, yet makes connection with only one of them - the GWR main line, including the Elizabeth line. I suspect that the major connection here is the Elizabeth line to Heathrow, although the connection to the City and Canary Wharf is also better than that available at Euston. The other lines, which seem to be ignored in the current plans are: - Line from Clapham Junction to Willesden Junction - Line from Richmond to Willesden Junction - Central Line tube Of these 3, probably the most significant is the Clapham Junction to Willesden Junction line. A connection to this line would provide easy access to trains to the south west and south suburbs of London, plus the North London line and the line through Wembley to Watford. Claims are being made that the Oad Oak Station will be a major transport hub - the current connections planned seem very limited for such a claim, but could be made so much better. Yours, Mike.