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My experience is it is a minority, but unfortunately it doesn't matter if it is a minority if you encounter that minority. I am a white male so may be dismissed as not being qualified to comment but having been married to a lady who is ethnically Chinese for 22 years and with two mixed race teenagers and having a cleft palate I do think I have a heightened sensitivity to such things. The problem with such experiences (other than the obvious that they're wrong on every level) is they leave a disproportionate impact and can become the enduring memory of some events even if most people are perfectly nice. I changed my views in recent years. I had thought that the UK had become a predominantly tolerant and welcoming place, but Mrs JJB experienced a number of quite unpleasant comments along the lines of 'now we can send them back' after a certain political event in 2016 and during the pandemic she and the kids experienced some terrible prejudice as some held anyone they considered to be Chinese responsible for it all. In that context it's worth highlighting that there's a difference between being ethnically Chinese and a Chinese national, many 'Chinese' have never been to and have zero links with the country and many Chinese nationals are central Asian or other groups we might not recognize as Chinese. My conclusion was that there is still a significant number of people who hold unpleasant views who are either polite or intelligent enough to hide in most circumstances but which can surface in times of stress or exceptional circumstances. I work in shipping, and some of the views which the migrant crisis in the Mediterranean uncovered are appalling. I was at a meeting in Brussels the day after the Notre Dame fire in which people were distraught about that fire, during the meeting the same individuals advocated leaving people to drown in the sea and were taking views which went off the scale in terms of callous inhumanity and unpleasantness. In the years I had to take an interest in that crisis I became really quite cynical about my fellow humans and attitudes to people suffering. All rather troubling and a sad reflection on humanity.

I saw this parked up on the side of the Melbourne to Sydney freeway on the way to the shops earlier today. It consisted of 3 pulling trucks, and 2 behind to push. Internetting just now shows its the third of three transformers that form part of the Waratah Super Battery facility being built on the Central coast, north of Sydney. The component and traction units all up are 125m long and weigh 477 tonnes. Built in Victoria, its a 1000km trip to its destination, travelling at nighttime at 40km/hr.

Serious thigh rubbing moment there 😜

I have a Romford screwdriver but prefer a flat blade with a slot cut in to it. The Romford screwdriver is almost essential for the extended axles used for OUTSIDE CRANKS and can be used for the crank pins though I don't bother with them due to excess wear and breakages preferring Triang screw in crank pins which are a direct fit in pre tapped Romfords. The pre tapped wheels are easiest to fit but some pre pre tapped still lurk in model shops despite being around 40 years old now. Un drilled ones are good but are fine scale, under scale width for GWR 6" treads, but the un drilled can be drilled for GWR 15" throw 30" stroke as used on 28/29/49/68/78/51/52/72XX classes. To be honest I find Romfords a bit crude with that big ugly centre nut. 1950s Hornby Dublo and 2000 era Hornby wheels are a lot less ugly, and more prototypical IMHO I have bored Romford wheels out to suit Hornby bushes especially centre wheels to fit the Hornby drive axles. often keeping Romfords as leading and trailing wheelsets as they quarter so nicely

I’m guessing that’s Ramsbottom in the mid/late eighties? You think it’s not that long ago but it’s getting on for nearly 40 years.

I has always envisaged getting one of the the V200s as an 'easy way' to an SBB liveried loco, but decided it would be cheaper to repaint an age-old Minitrix DB V200. They certainly work as the innards of the old models (whilst basic ) were robust! However I have never got round to doing it as the need for such a loco to be represented a Swiss layout fades into history. Despite frequent visits to my now departed family in Switzerland in the period they were working I never saw one in action, which says something! .

Mode 1 or Mode 2? Hang on, Dan, I don't think I've got to that page of the instructions yet! It maintained altitude and attitude, but moved sideways and was difficult to correct (at least for someone of my level of inexperience). By the time I was able to bring it back down there were things in the way. This was in a patio area sheltered on all 4 sides by walls and buildings, and was flat calm earlier this evening, so it wasn't a wind problem. The turning worked but set off the other motion, the a/c drifting in the direction of the turn, and rapidly running out of fresh air; I definitely need more space next time... I got the impression that the trim deteriorated throughout the session, and next time I'll forget about practicing up/down takeoff/hover/land aren't I clever look what I can do, and once I'm up will try to stay up, and learn how to steer and control the thing. This will enable me to test the 'return home' feature.

Yup, you're right, all-up weight is 340g, needs registering and so do I irrespective of it's weight since it's got a camera, if I've read the regs right. I'd assumed it was less than 250g, but thanks to your comment have checked the specs to fine I'm wrong, or as I call it, 'differently right'. Insurance is clearly a sensible precaution in any case; though I don't think it could cause any more than minor damage it would be just my luck to encounter some a/hole looking to claim because they can. Clearance of structures and third parties is the reason I'm assuming flying over water is a good idea. It make obvious sense to stay clear of large groups of people, roads, railways, trees, and masts/cables/power lines of any sort, and clearly flying anywhere where you might interferew with other a/c, even other drones, is a major no-no. Another thing to take account of here in Wales is that many areas are used for miitary training, some of it for fast jets at low level; drone incidents on the Mach Loop have been in the news this week! But it's not just the Air Force, there are Army ranges where helicopters are frequently used and there may well be lumps of ordnance flying about. Bannau Brycheiniog is much used by the military even outside their ranges. I can't see me wanting to fly much higher than about 60 or 70 feet, the thing is small and will be difficult to keep properly in sight higher than that, so nowhere near the 400' limit. The good news is that Cardiff is blessed with extensive parklands which are mostly suitable when they are not being used for football/rugby (Saturday mornings), and the Bay Barrage, which offer good safe flying conditions, but I need to develop the skillsets needed to fly reliably over them. The foreshore and seawall along the Wentloog Levels should be suitable as well, apart from places like Peterstone Gout where birds gather as the tide rises; in fact this is a superby birding spot in winter and I wouldn't want to spoil the fun of those using it... I'm disappointed with the rotor guards, very flimsy and will come off if you look at them funny, and once they do come loose they are just about guaranteed to foul the rotors and cause a crash. I've already lost two, somewhere on the patio so they'll no doubt turn up but I doubt if I can rely on that outside my own territory. I'm going to try again with them superglued into place. So there will be a lull in activity while I get the legalites sorted and wait for next week's weather to blow over, doesn't look conducive to flying such a small a/c as a novice. I'll use the time to pair the app for the camera and smartphone control.

Don't forget Fyffes bananas. Or, with a head full of Hornby giraffe cars and the like, did I just imagine that? An interesting line, all gone now https://www.warwickshirerailways.com/lms/coventryloopline.htm

Fixing a Dapol Class 58 motor. Photo shows the repaired Dapol 58 back in service after " heavy repairs" I have just posted information on following page about the issues and how it was solved just in case it may help someone who is facing the same problem.

And I have a new workbench !

did you make the washer ?

Just a thought (and without any artistic knowledge whatsoever), but what colour are you using to darken? I might be talking out of my backside here, but from my wargaming miniature painting days, I seem to remember pure greys might appear bluish in certain lights - I used a very pale grey as the base coat (shadows) for white fur and that appeared very pale blue. Perhaps try darkening with brown or a mix of brown and grey?

Investigation into issues with a Dapol class 58 with Super-Creep motor. How it was fixed Background information. DC standard operation ( NOT DCC ) Sometimes loco would not start Sometimes running very slow I started with cleaning wheels and all pick-up contacts. No change in loco performance. Removed bogies, these are just a snap fit on this model. Pull bogies downwards together with small sideways tilt and they will pop-out. Make a note which end of loco bogies fit for later re-assembly. Check bogies for free rolling, any dirt trapped in bogie gears can overload / stall motor. In my case nothing was found bogies were free running. Often on older Graham Farish locos split gears result in tight or jammed transmissions. If any dirt is noted I suggest cleaning. I have never found a failed gear on a Dapol locomotive. Next step. Cleaned bogie / chassis pick up arm connections. I thought any oil film on the surfaces could result in voltage drop and may explain the slow running. Test with multi-meter did not show any issues. I re-mounted the bogies at this stage, test run. No improvements! Removed bogies again, now removed body, it just slides onto the chassis, it is a little tight fit but it will slide upwards and away. Take care small cables for loco lighting connecting the body and chassis, keep body close to chassis then unplug light cables, one at each end of loco. Below is Dapol`s diagram which shows assembly details. Next remove the loco base frame, see Dapol`s diagram below. Note the clips which connect the parts together, I found I needed to lever some of them with a tiny screwdriver slightly sideways such they would disconnect. It is best to start at one end and work along the loco until they are all disconnected. Next I dissembled the chassis. Each half is held together with clips these all just snap into slots in the castings, lever them all out with care. Again see Dapols diagram below. With chassis disassembled it was time to take a closer look at possible cause of issues. I started by testing electrical connections between the bogie pick-up arms and the PCB using a multi-meter. All seemed OK. Close inspection of the connections onto the PCB give impression of poor soldering. See below photo. I also noted several wires looked damaged, outer insulation melted. This locomotive has been running for long periods very slowly pulling a long train of coal hoppers, maybe voltage is leaking to the chassis or resistance of cable increased due to heat damage. See photo. Due to damaged wires, and poor looking solder joins on main PCB, I next checked resistance from pick-ups to loco motor brush terminals. Electrical connection was found to be OK even though cables and connections look poor. To inspect the motor and gain access to the motor brushes I found it necessary to de-solder the cables connected to the motor. I am not sure if the brush holders are a press fit into the motor but I was not able to remove them by levering under the head, thus de-soldered the motor cables and freed the motor. Below photo shows the parts with motor now removed. With the motor cables now disconnected more of the cable damage caused by overheating can be seen. Now remove the small screws which retain the motor brushes. I was expecting maybe very worn brushes no longer making contact with the motor spindle / commutator, however on one side I found a damaged brush spring. This spring was darker than the one on the opposite side and also had mechanical damage, this is clearly an issue and could explain why sometime the loco would not start / run. I think heating may have caused this spring to be darker. Visual inspection of the motor windings found no indication of heat damage, thus concluded motor should still operate. Tested by just hand holding wires pushing brushes in place, motor ran smoothly. Ordered a set of replacement brush springs and brushes which arrived a few days later. Reassembled motor, new brushes and springs, tested again, motor runs OK. Replaced heat damaged cables to ensure no short circuits from the old heat damaged cables. Re-solder wires onto motor terminals. Re-assemble everything and test again. Loco is again running fine, starts every time, no stalling at low speeds. Possible cause of heating and loco damage. I had been using a feedback controller ! Information found on internet suggested that the feedback system can result in this type of motor overheating with feedback control system. Since the repair I now use a DC controller without feedback. After running in the new motor brushes for approx 1 hour in each direction, I ran the loco with around 30 hoppers for a long time quite slowly, the motor was found to be warm but not hot, no cable damage had occurred. So route cause may be the feedback controller resulting in heat damage to a motor brush spring and subsequent jamming of the brush spring in its housing. Anyway this locomotive is back in service, I think it is fixed. I post this information to help others if they face same issues. Vic Chawn Park N Scale

I've heard punters asking at the booking office for "a return to wherever the little train goes to please"

Very little workbench progress recently due to not having had a workbench since February while we decorated the living room (very slowly). There has been some progress in the shed, albeit of the "fixing things which should have been done properly in the first place" variety. One of these was the baseboard joint at the Dumfries end of the platforms. This was built without dowels as the boards hinged up to allow access to the fiddleyard for maintenance, and therefore had to be able to move past each other without anything catching. An increasingly Heath Robinson-ish arrangement of split hinges and cabinet catches developed, none of which really worked but all contributed to the increasing number of holes in the baseboard top and frames. So earlier this week I made a few more holes to find all the screws holding the frames to the mating edges, removed them and tidied up the edges ready for new frames to be fitted. This time the new bits of framing were prepared on the bench with dowels and bolt holes fitted to be fitted as a single unit. The steel strip mending plates are holding the boards in the correct position using the Up Main as a reference. All screwed back together. The missing bits are the trap points at the ends of the loops on the left, and the horse dock siding and headshunt on the right.

Road marking are all well and good when the road isn't too busy, but when things have got overdeveloped and overcrowded and they're always covered in other vehicles they're not a great deal of help.

That made me cringe. Whilst I've got plenty of issues with various modern attitudes I'm just left shaking my head sadly at the idea that some of those ones still persist.

' night all and nos da.

Hi Late posting sorry, been distracted by northern lights outside! I’m struggling with the ash area the colour has gone very ‘blue’ in tone horrible really, not panicking at this stage, will update when able. No pics as the image wouldn’t be true colour, awful lighting in room! Regards Bob

Top left hand corner of Wales. Mr Suvvern's pic. I left my 'phone indoors. Typical! With street lights and trees in the way, getting a decent view was tricky. Amazing to see nonetheless.

As mentioned previously, I have taken some photos of the fabrication of the second somersault signal. The main components come from MSE (Wizard Models). The etch doesn’t quite manage the holes for the operating linkage so these were drilled out 0.2mm for the linkage and 0.3mm for the pivot. The signal arm bracket requires a bit of work to help locate it on the doll. Working on the principle that it easier to drill a long 0.5mm hole through the doll rather than 0.3mm, the bracket was bushed with a length of Albion Alloys brass tube, OD 0.5mm, ID 0.3mm. This then acts as the pivot for the spectacle and back blind. The far end of the bracket also needed building out with a washer. These components were located in a vermiculite block using pins and soldered together. The pivot bush makes it easy to locate the bracket on the doll. Once in place, the front face of the pivot on the bracket was filed flush, as the spectacle has to work behind the signal arm. The spectacle was soldered to some 0.3mm brass rod and filed flush. It was then linked up with a length of thin phosphor bronze wire through the 0.2mm diameter hole in the actuator arm. The PB linkage was bent forward in the position of the application point on the signal arm. The three components were then chemically blacked to prevent soldering (but scraped off where the collars / back blind needed to be soldered on. Once on the bracket the pivot pins were retained with a collar and the back blind, which was also used to connect the drive rod. This arm doesn’t quite pivot as vertically as the other one: the linkage length and pivot relationship is critical, but it is within the normal range. I am jolly glad that I don’t have any more to make as working arms on this signal bridge as my patience and eyes are pretty well exhausted. Tim

Mansell not Maunsell, in Southern land. On the LMS, I've heard Stan yer and Stain ee er for Sir John Stanier.

Many years ago in my youth I briefly dated a young woman whose mother had worked in hospitality at Granada Studios in the Albert Dock, when the daily magazine programme was broadcast from there. She said some of the "famous" guests could behave very rudely and entitled, "Err, miss, I asked for cream not milk in this coffee...". One stand-out exception was Julian Clary, who on more than one occasion had been unfailingly polite (possibly a little shy), courteous and friendly to everyone, but especially to those working behind the scenes and he always had time for a chat with the ladies in hospitality.

Didnt get an early night.