RMweb Gold StuAllen Posted April 27 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 27 How the measurement is taken is explained in this video, it’s based on a clicker, they record the clicks and analyse how many there were in software later. Just arrived, back of the queue is nearly round to hall 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodenhead Posted April 27 Author Share Posted April 27 56 minutes ago, StuAllen said: Just arrived, back of the queue is nearly round to hall 6 Glad I didn't go then, after Milton Keynes last year no thanks. However, well done to Key, big crowds are what they needed to pay for this and big crowds they have got then. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold StuAllen Posted April 27 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 27 Thoroughly enjoyed it, for me favourite layout is Blair Atholl, Beijiao is very good, Making Tracks is really impressive (just a shame they seemed to be having problems with shorting). The new catenary range from West Hill wagon works is very good, bought a few masts to give it a try. 11 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium melmerby Posted April 27 RMweb Premium Share Posted April 27 6 hours ago, John M Upton said: I'm sorry? A model wagon with a rotation counter is more accurate than a proper tape measure? What a load of utter nonsense!!! Better tell Guinness World Records then. That's what they are accepting. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete_mcfarlane Posted April 27 Share Posted April 27 4 hours ago, woodenhead said: Glad I didn't go then, after Milton Keynes last year no thanks. However, well done to Key, big crowds are what they needed to pay for this and big crowds they have got then. Once they let people in the queues rapidly vanished. Only took a couple of minutes to buy tickets and get in at 10am, and the show itself doesn't feel too crowded. 4 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium maq1988 Posted April 27 RMweb Premium Share Posted April 27 Pretty good show, shame Making Tracks seemed to have so many electrical and wifi problems throughout but it was always surrounded by people. There were some crowds around layouts and retailers as one would expect, but it was also nice to see some other forms of modelling with military modelling, sci-fi etc. Was very nearly tempted by a Thunderbird 1 kit. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold ruggedpeak Posted April 27 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 27 (edited) Took a last minute decision to fly in from Switzerland for the show, direct flights into Brum International early morning so ideal. Had to queue for a ticket as I didnt buy in advance but was near the front of the day ticket queue and in at 10am. Queues were not a problem, everyone got in. Very enjoyable show, got busy late morning and lots to see. Good selection of layouts and the non-railway modelling was excellent. A good mixture and planes, trucks and other models probably helped with families and general punters. Good support from the trade, managed to resist only due to cheap easyJet flights with hand baggage only! Good fun to watch PW and the Railnuts get their record. However anyone else attempting a world record, go analogue! DCC is [may] not [always be] suited to huge [portable] layouts [with lots of joins] at a show. Some deals that I couldn't take advantage of but plenty of opportunity to talk to the trade. The more I see of TT120 the more I think it works. Just a shame I have a huge OO collection. Having the 37 and 2 armoured vehicles was good. Also fab to see Models4heroes - please donate as they do great work. I sent them a collection of unopened Airfix kits when I emigrated. Definitely an addition to the show calendar. Edited April 30 by ruggedpeak to avoid upsetting DCC fans.... 5 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium melmerby Posted April 27 RMweb Premium Share Posted April 27 1 minute ago, maq1988 said: shame Making Tracks seemed to have so many electrical and wifi problems They were having problems when the TV crew visited for Midlands Today. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Himsworth Posted April 27 Share Posted April 27 What are the food offerings like? We're wondering what to do for lunch tomorrow... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium melmerby Posted April 27 RMweb Premium Share Posted April 27 (edited) 11 minutes ago, ruggedpeak said: DCC is not suited to huge layouts. A strange comment. It's better suited than DC. Miniatur Wunderland has 16.5km of track and is entirely controlled by DCC with Train Controller using 64 computers, try that with DC. Edited April 27 by melmerby 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold ruggedpeak Posted April 27 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 27 (edited) 6 minutes ago, melmerby said: A strange comment. It's better suited than DC. Miniatur Wunderland has 16.5km of track and is entirely controlled by DCC with Train Controller using 64 computers, try that with DC. Wunderland works, but is not a portable display layout like Making Tracks. I spent quite a bit of time watching it today and trains kept stopping. Glad they got the record though. Edited April 27 by ruggedpeak Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium maq1988 Posted April 27 RMweb Premium Share Posted April 27 Just now, melmerby said: A strange comment. It's better suited than DC. Miniatur Wunderland has 16.5km of track and is entirely controlled by DCC using Train Controller, try that with DC. I think it was a mixture of mains power issues + booster issues + so many devices trying to use home grade wifi equipment for DCC control. A lot of the little tablets used for controlling were dropping out a lot. 200+ feet on a portable layout is bound to throw up things than a layout that's never moved around. Good on them for giving it a try. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold ruggedpeak Posted April 27 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 27 9 minutes ago, Phil Himsworth said: What are the food offerings like? We're wondering what to do for lunch tomorrow... Usual NEC catering plus pulled pork stand and pie and pasty stand. You can leave and re enter if you want a Subway etc 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodenhead Posted April 27 Author Share Posted April 27 15 minutes ago, melmerby said: A strange comment. It's better suited than DC. Miniatur Wunderland has 16.5km of track and is entirely controlled by DCC with Train Controller using 64 computers, try that with DC. Not suited to large mobile layouts I think is more appropriate. Making Tracks had problems at the start of Milton Keynes too, at Model Rail Scotland the massive Eastfield layout was having gremlins all day so much so I hardly saw anything move and never anything within the shed area. I think the airwaves get a little crowded when all the people turn up, later in the day as things thin out I'll bet they have a lot less trouble operating. 1 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodenhead Posted April 27 Author Share Posted April 27 The design of Making Tracks with it's four track mainline theme is quite suitable for a set of 4 DC circuits each with their own controller and just a few section breaks to seperate the trains. But to show off the best of modern railway modelling and have lighting and sound at it's best you need to be running DCC, also due to the length I am going to guess that AC is a much better solution that DC, rather like the real thing really. Maybe it needs it's own discreet wifi solution and channel to block out all the interference. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium melmerby Posted April 27 RMweb Premium Share Posted April 27 1 minute ago, woodenhead said: Not suited to large mobile layouts I think is more appropriate. I think the airwaves get a little crowded when all the people turn up, later in the day as things thin out I'll bet they have a lot less trouble operating. Only a problem if you are using wireless. Shouldn't be a problem with solid wiring. On the Midlands Today piece, the problems were random shorts, nothing system dependent. It is all dependent on the wiring and interboard connectors. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold 97406 Posted April 27 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 27 (edited) 10 hours ago, John M Upton said: I'm sorry? A model wagon with a rotation counter is more accurate than a proper tape measure? What a load of utter nonsense!!! The track has curves so you can’t simply measure from end to t’other in a straight line and get an accurate distance. Also think about trying feeding a tape measure around curved track under model OHLE. Edited April 27 by 97406 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold ruggedpeak Posted April 27 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 27 (edited) 18 minutes ago, melmerby said: Only a problem if you are using wireless. Shouldn't be a problem with solid wiring. On the Midlands Today piece, the problems were random shorts, nothing system dependent. It is all dependent on the wiring and interboard connectors. Yes, and I overheard PW saying (if I heard correctly) they left one board behind! There are a lot of board joints in the layout and some trains were stopping on points at one end as well. The sensitivity of DCC to shorts in a layout full of joins etc is not ideal. I seem to recall the WiFi issues being discussed after Warley due to similar issues. However irrespective of this it remains a very impressive layout to see and excellent work by the team. It certainly attracted a crowd and the scenic work is fab. Pleased to see the whole thing. Edited April 27 by ruggedpeak 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium melmerby Posted April 27 RMweb Premium Share Posted April 27 1 minute ago, ruggedpeak said: it remains a very impressive layout to see and excellent work by the team. I was really looking forward to seeing it. I'm fairly local and can get there on public transport as I always did for the Warley Show. Unfortunately I have done something to my back and standing up looking at layouts would not be possible. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold ruggedpeak Posted April 27 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 27 Just now, melmerby said: I was really looking forward to seeing it. I'm fairly local and can get there on public transport as I always did for the Warley Show. Unfortunately I have done something to my back and standing up looking at layouts would not be possible. Not being funny, can you get assistance at NEC? There were plenty of wheelchair users who got to see it, even during the record attempt. Be a shame to miss it as PW didn't seem inclined to replicate setting the whole thing up again. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium melmerby Posted April 27 RMweb Premium Share Posted April 27 (edited) 5 minutes ago, ruggedpeak said: Not being funny, can you get assistance at NEC? There were plenty of wheelchair users who got to see it, I've never used a wheelchair and would probably be a nuisance to all and I've still got to get there, so unfortunately a miss. I did wonder about finding a lightweight folding chair/seat I could carry but ran out of time. An unfortunate result of getting old☹️ Edited April 27 by melmerby 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Gilbert Posted April 27 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 27 My album is here - uncaptionned and disorganised but some photos all the same. Click on the 37. It was a great shame that the "big" layout had more problems - very frustrating for the team I'm sure.. 9 2 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodenhead Posted April 27 Author Share Posted April 27 @Gilbert What was in this roped off area, it just seems to be an empty space 12 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Gilbert Posted April 27 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 27 2 minutes ago, woodenhead said: @Gilbert What was in this roped off area, it just seems to be an empty space Can't say.... 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete_mcfarlane Posted April 27 Share Posted April 27 2 hours ago, Phil Himsworth said: What are the food offerings like? We're wondering what to do for lunch tomorrow... My £6 sandwich and £4 sausage roll from the catering place in the Hall were very nice, but you'd hope so at double what you'd normally pay. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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