TurboSnail Posted January 12, 2020 Share Posted January 12, 2020 24 minutes ago, Annie said: With all the cooling fans it's got inside the case it would be hopeless at making toast. Would it? I have an older, now obsolete twin-xeon PC I used to use for gaming, which could still find gainful employment as a fan heater. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Annie Posted January 12, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 12, 2020 I found with my current HP XW8400 dual Xeon computer that I had to remove the cpu heat sinks fairly regularly to clean them since dust would build up between the very fine cooling fins. If I didn't do that it would start to get hot. With everything kept properly clean it stays well inside the normal working temperature for all its components. There was an older series of the Clovertown Xeon processor that my computer uses that did run hotter and then it was modified somehow to run a lot cooler by some 20 degrees or so. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeOxon Posted January 12, 2020 Share Posted January 12, 2020 I have never worried too much about the loss of Microsoft suppport as I have never made use of it. I agree that they do provide patches when vulnerabilities are found but I hope a good firewall and anti-virus software catches things before they can cause havoc. I still use XP for peripherals that have no Win 7 drivers. I'll probably change my e-mail laptop OS to Win 10 but my workhorse tower will stay on Win 7 until it no longer does the job. Second-hand business and technical computers can be very good buys. I use Lenovo portables which are readily available refurbished for very low prices. I think a good tower, like yours, is an even better buy, as the internal components can easily be swapped out if anything fails. My Fujitsu has very little left from its original spec.! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Annie Posted January 12, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 12, 2020 My old Xeon computer has been totally reliable and as you say it's very easy to work on and change components. It was very much showing its age though in that the DDR2 RAM it uses is an early type that is not only slower than later types, but very difficult to find now. I had a RAM module die, but fortunately I had some brand new still in sealed packet modules that I was very lucky to find on sale at a computer recycler/refinisher that I sometimes buy parts from. Finding some other parts for it involved a world wide search on the internet and I finally found what I needed in the Uk. I was intending to keep on using it, but the later model Xeon that I've just purchased was listed at a price that I could not ignore so I decided to go for it. I run seriously good antivirus software so I most probably would have been Ok with continuing to use my older computer, but now I don't have to take the risk of picking up anything bad in the way of malware which is always a concern these days. I have a computer that's a XP x64 machine as well that is useful for running older software and peripherals, but I certainly don't connect it to the internet. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edwardian Posted January 13, 2020 Share Posted January 13, 2020 On 11/01/2020 at 09:30, Annie said: Thanks James. I have some 1850's 3rd class 4 wheel coaches (with roofs) as well, but I thought that might be going a bit far and the good people of Sudden by Sea might have complained. No.23 with a train of GER 6 wheelers leaving Oakmarket. When engines were changed when this passenger train left GER territory and their nice blue 'modern' GER engine departed some of the passengers must've been very surprised when No.23 coupled onto their train shortly afterwards. Of course old hands at making the journey to Great Mulling had seem it all before. One or two enthusiasts on the train quietly readied their stop watches wondering how No.23 would do on the long fast run to Hayward this time. (No.23 is still burning old oil soaked socks for fuel, - another little thing for me to fix) And at the other end of the scale, - the Grimwold branch passenger train. Ever since I set up the passenger schedule for the branch some months ago this train has run its schedule perfectly without any problems. It has never needed me to come and sort it out unlike some other passenger services on my layout. So a small 'Huzzah!' for the Grimwold branch train. The branch has been a bit neglected lately so I need to spend some time fixing one or two things. Lovely trains, Annie, with beautiful carriages illustrating well the difference between the more modern 6-wheel mainline stock (I hope those GER coaches are dual-fitted, by the way!), and older 4-wheel stock relegated to branch lines. On 12/01/2020 at 01:24, Annie said: Hicks 0-6-0 on a empty coal wagon train working on its way to Great Mulling. Again, a great train, and more inspiration for the Norfolk Minerals Railway! 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hroth Posted January 13, 2020 Share Posted January 13, 2020 Back to post-everything computing for a moment... I hadn't realised that the "death date", as it were, of Windows 7 was actually tomorrow! (20200114) so yesterday I started looking to see what I could get to upgrade my perfectly usable desktop system and while googling, I found an article on ZDNet that seemed to imply that "free" upgrades to Win 10 were still available... Suffice to say, I downloaded the upgrade disk from Microsoft and it promoted the system (after three tries) from Win 7 Pro to Win 10 Pro. With a valid licence. Fingers crossed! So if anyone is getting jittery about their Win 7 system, its worth a try. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Annie Posted January 13, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 13, 2020 17 minutes ago, Hroth said: Back to post-everything computing for a moment... I hadn't realised that the "death date", as it were, of Windows 7 was actually tomorrow! (20200114) so yesterday I started looking to see what I could get to upgrade my perfectly usable desktop system and while googling, I found an article on ZDNet that seemed to imply that "free" upgrades to Win 10 were still available... Suffice to say, I downloaded the upgrade disk from Microsoft and it promoted the system (after three tries) from Win 7 Pro to Win 10 Pro. With a valid licence. Fingers crossed! So if anyone is getting jittery about their Win 7 system, its worth a try. I'm fairly certain that my old Xeon won't run Win 10 due to its ancient architecture and the lack of the necessary Win 10 drivers for various parts of its essential internal components, - which is why I hadn't taken up the free update myself. The risk of ending up with a computer that wouldn't work at all was just too great. All I'll be doing tomorrow is getting my daughter to switch on the bypass she inserted into our home network's configuration which will turn off internet access to my Xeon, but still permit me to do file sharing from my Win 10 notebook. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hroth Posted January 13, 2020 Share Posted January 13, 2020 I agree that there's no point in attempting an "upgrade" if you're going to run isolated once Win 7 has entered Norwegian Blue territory and the hardware is antique! Running the upgrade is fairly safe. I didn't end up with a bricked computer at any stage, when the install fell over on the first two attempts, Windows merely rolled back to Win 7 without a problem. It was just a case of third-time-lucky that the upgrade went through. Why do we have to have built-in obsolescence? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Annie Posted January 13, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 13, 2020 (edited) 1 hour ago, Edwardian said: Lovely trains, Annie, with beautiful carriages illustrating well the difference between the more modern 6-wheel mainline stock (I hope those GER coaches are dual-fitted, by the way!), and older 4-wheel stock relegated to branch lines. Again, a great train, and more inspiration for the Norfolk Minerals Railway! Thanks very much James. I'm fairly certain that the GER coaches are dual fitted, but I'd better check them again to be sure. Fitting brake pipes connections to my coaches was a big project for a while there with some of the 1870's coaches being piped through for the vacuum brake so they could still be used occasionally on the mainline. Most of my 1860's and 1870's engines were also vacuum fitted at the same time. Not difficult to do, just tedious when there's a lot of coaches and engines needing to be done. The E&GR is a vacuum brake line as are the other members of my imaginary railway companies club so it might be a good idea for me to have a another look around at the coaching stock on my layout. It's the contrasts between the various parts of my layout that I really enjoy and now that the E&GR (or as much of it as I want to represent) is fully operational I'm really enjoying the E&GR's touch of faded glory as it does it's best to continue with running what had historically always been a well organised and operated line with ageing locomotives that it can't really afford to replace. The Hicks 0-6-0's are one of my favourite engines on the layout James. Slow and steady, they can be relied on to take loose coupled trains of coal, gravel and minerals wherever they need to go without any fuss. The coal wagons in the train are my own weathered 5 plank wagons with sprung buffers at one end only. I can't remember what the prototype for the mineral brakes is now, but they are very much a part of the E&GR scene since it's mineral traffic that keeps the company afloat. Edited January 13, 2020 by Annie can't spell for toffee Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Annie Posted January 13, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 13, 2020 14 minutes ago, Hroth said: I agree that there's no point in attempting an "upgrade" if you're going to run isolated once Win 7 has entered Norwegian Blue territory and the hardware is antique! Running the upgrade is fairly safe. I didn't end up with a bricked computer at any stage, when the install fell over on the first two attempts, Windows merely rolled back to Win 7 without a problem. It was just a case of third-time-lucky that the upgrade went through. Why do we have to have built-in obsolescence? Yes I know it's a pain. Various clever folk have told me how to chuck all the junk out of Windows 10 as well as replace the desktop with a Win 7 like one so I'll be giving that a go once my new computer arrives. My old computer will do duty as a spare since it has various kinds of useful software that I use with my digital modelling and it will most probably run better too once I strip out everything that needs the internet for it to work. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edwardian Posted January 13, 2020 Share Posted January 13, 2020 36 minutes ago, Annie said: Thanks very much James. I'm fairly certain that the GER coaches are dual fitted, but I'd better check them again to be sure. Fitting brake pipes connections to my coaches was a big project for a while there with some of the 1870's coaches being piped through for the vacuum brake so they could still be used occasionally on the mainline. Most of my 1860's and 1870's engines were also vacuum fitted at the same time. Not difficult to do, just tedious when there's a lot of coaches and engines needing to be done. The E&GR is a vacuum brake line as are the other members of my imaginary railway companies club so it might be a good idea for me to have a another look around at the coaching stock on my layout. It's the contrasts between the various parts of my layout that I really enjoy and now that the E&GR (or as much of it as I want to represent) is fully operational I'm really enjoying the E&GR's touch of faded glory as it does it's best to continue with running what had historically always been a well organised and operated line with ageing locomotives that it can't really afford to replace. The Hicks 0-6-0's are one of my favourite engines on the layout James. Slow and steady, they can be relied on to take loose coupled trains of coal, gravel and minerals wherever they need to go without any fuss. The coal wagons in the train are my own weathered 5 plank wagons with sprung buffers at one end only. I can't remember what the prototype for the mineral brakes is now, but they are very much a part of the E&GR scene since it's mineral traffic that keeps the company afloat. Very much the same issue the WNR has, being vacuum braked and seeing a fair amount of GER traffic. The MGN is also vacuum braked, though I seem to recall that back in Eastern & Midland days it was air-braked. The West Norfolk Minerals has that odd 1850s LNW brake, but some mineral brakes of the configuration you run may well feature on the WN's coal trains from Wolfringham Staithe. That Hicks truly is a wonderful looking engine, so I'm glad it runs so well. If I can say the same about any of my locos in due course, I'll be very pleased! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Annie Posted January 13, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 13, 2020 After spending time fettling and generally making a pair of Hurst 0-4-2WT's look all nice for working on the E&GR I clean forgot about them. They'd been left in the engine shed at Grimwold and there they had stayed for months. Now that I'm working on passenger services for the E&GR I remembered the two Hurst engines and today I was doing some testing to work out a passenger schedule for them. These are some snaps of No.34 I took while it was busy with a passenger service between Oakmarket and Great Mulling. These are quite lively little engines and like most of the smaller engines on my layout quite capable of good work if they are given a load that's within their capabilities. So far coal and water consumption is looking good, so I'm very pleased that I 'found' these two engines again. 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hroth Posted January 13, 2020 Share Posted January 13, 2020 They look good now the cobwebs have been swept off them! You need to give the shed foreman a thick ear for neglecting them...... 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Annie Posted January 13, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 13, 2020 8 hours ago, Hroth said: They look good now the cobwebs have been swept off them! You need to give the shed foreman a thick ear for neglecting them...... Yes indeed and words have been said about hiding engines away when they might be needed elsewhere. By all accounts these Hurst well tanks were good engines, but their designer had a none too inspiring career with finally having to depart from the NBR under less than salubrious circumstances. I don't know where the E&GR got their ones from unless they went to one of the independent locomotive builders and said, 'Make us two engines like this one.' However they came by them they are nice Victorian era engines and I'm having a lot of fun with them. I'm having to use my small clockwork Dell notebook at the moment since 'Deeper Thought' is now disconnected from the interwebs so posting pictures of my trainset will be out of the question until I can get my new computer up and running and on-line sometime next week all going well, 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Annie Posted January 14, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 14, 2020 17 hours ago, Edwardian said: Very much the same issue the WNR has, being vacuum braked and seeing a fair amount of GER traffic. The MGN is also vacuum braked, though I seem to recall that back in Eastern & Midland days it was air-braked. The West Norfolk Minerals has that odd 1850s LNW brake, but some mineral brakes of the configuration you run may well feature on the WN's coal trains from Wolfringham Staithe. That Hicks truly is a wonderful looking engine, so I'm glad it runs so well. If I can say the same about any of my locos in due course, I'll be very pleased! I am quite envious of your LNWR brake James. Drawings for it do exist so I suppose I could ask someone to make one for me. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Annie Posted January 14, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 14, 2020 Before I removed internet access from my old Xeon computer I did upload some screenshots to Imjur that I'd taken while I was working around the layout. The first is the signal box at Sudden by Sea with some furnishings added to the interior. All fairly basic and the lever frame is the only suitable model available, but it's better than having an empty signal box interior. So far I haven't been able to devise a way to make block instruments unfortunately. I was having a rough day yesterday with wanting to fall asleep all the time so I did some trip workings on the Hopewood Tramway to cheer myself and get my brain working. The goods yards along the Hopewood Tramway are very shunting puzzle like and the G15's are always fun to use for trip workings even if I have trouble telling one end from the other when I'm sleepy. It didn't take too long before I started to feel a little better despite it being a really horrible hot day. Today is nice and cool with rain and grumpy looking clouds so for me it's a perfect Summer's Day. 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hroth Posted January 14, 2020 Share Posted January 14, 2020 10 hours ago, Annie said: I'm having to use my small clockwork Dell notebook at the moment since 'Deeper Thought' is now disconnected from the interwebs Didn't know Dell did a Steampunk edition..... You could call it Babbage! Ithenkyow 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edwardian Posted January 14, 2020 Share Posted January 14, 2020 2 hours ago, Hroth said: Didn't know Dell did a Steampunk edition..... You could call it Babbage! Ithenkyow Babbage & Lowke? 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hroth Posted January 14, 2020 Share Posted January 14, 2020 30 minutes ago, Edwardian said: Babbage & Lowke? Where is a wahh-wahh trombone sound when you need it? At least it doesn't appear to have any glued-on gears, though I don't see how a morse key replaces a mouse... (I've one of those typewriters, they're best left as a typewriter!) 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Annie Posted January 14, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 14, 2020 I'm sure there was another very clever typewriter computer conversion on the internet at one time. The chap who did the conversion had a webpage outlining how he did it with lots of good pictures. Definitely not a fake glue some gears on it job since there was a bit of tricky engineering involved to get it all to work. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CKPR Posted January 14, 2020 Share Posted January 14, 2020 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Victorian_Internet 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeOxon Posted January 14, 2020 Share Posted January 14, 2020 4 hours ago, CKPR said: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Victorian_Internet It always surprises me how long it took for the railways to make use of the telegraph to control train movements safely. For example, in photographs of the Bullo Pill accident in 1868, the telegraph wires can be seen alongside the track but the express train ran into the back of a cattle train because the time interval system was still being used. Even if block working took some time to develop, it should have been simple enough for the next station to let the previous one know when the slow train had arrived. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Annie Posted January 17, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 17, 2020 File transfer test employing our Marconi-Galvanic Ethernet device with an image from 'Deeper Thought' as the test subject. K&ESR in Winter. - a wonderful classic layout from TS2004 now running in my cut down and bare bones version of TS2019. 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Annie Posted January 18, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 18, 2020 Sorry, no more pictures. After doing the test one in the post above my Dell notebook has refused to talk to Deeper Thought ever again (horrid little snob that it is). BUT we are not yet defeated and there are other devious tricks that I might try. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeOxon Posted January 18, 2020 Share Posted January 18, 2020 That winter scene is amazing. I hope you will be able to share more picture soon. Mike 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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