antrobuscp

I am disappointed to see MREmag bow out in the way that it has. Whatever comes back sounds as if it will be radically different. I missed the daily updates when they dropped to thrice weekly, and felt that reduction to twice and then once per week would end people checking the page regularly. I wish the site well, but fear that the proposed changes are unlikely to generate the necessary response - more's the pity. I hope I'm wrong, but don't believe I am. Good luck and thanks to all those involved in the past operation and production of MREmag. Colin

I've upgraded one win10 installation to the anniversary edition. It took a few goes, but the process fell over and gave an error code which led me to a fix. The next try also fell over with 2 error codes, but I decided to reboot and try again. It appears to have worked. I had to update Classic Shell. It's all not as smooth as it should be and I can see why so many hanker after the days of Win XP, or now Win 7. It may not have been perfect, but it worked for most people most of the time, and once you changed something, in my experience it mostly stayed changed. It rather feels as though Win 10 was rush released in order to kill W 8.1 quickly and also avoid people retaining Win 7 in the way they did Win XP. I feel MS need to up their game. Colin

I have machines running Win versions 7, 8, and 10. Up to version 7 and to date, the MS update system seems to work pretty solidly - as it did with XP before that. My Win 8 machine is a slow tablet pc and I think it is the machine rather than the MS update software which occasionally causes problems. Win 10, though, feels far from solid. Updates are notified but do not seem to consistently install automatically or not. Reboots as part of the process seem to be more frequent than previously and, more frequently than in the past, the machine takes off on its own with disk activity, and hangs or black screens for no obvious reason. I think I have less confidence in Win 10 keeping working reliably than most earlier versions and I'm really relieved that as I've retired, I don't have to rely on this version for my living. As an aside, if MS do start to charge in some way for "Windows as a service", I will definitely be seeking an alternative. Colin

I was surprised my laptop had not upgraded to the Anniversary issue of Win 10. I specifically requested it and it attempted to install. It would not complete due to one of the "ox????????" error messages. Found the reason by Googling, corrected the issue, and the install seems to have gone well. Colin

I've upgraded 2 machines to W10, but will continue to use W7 on my main machines for the foreseeable future. Why? Well I prefer the interface W7 presents, although there is not a lot of difference. Also, I find W10 slightly slower and more prone to deciding it wants to do something I don't want it to do, and at an inconvenient moment. Because of that, I "feel" it is less stable. With all that has been written about W10, I rather feel that it needed at least another 12-24 months development before release, but I think MS felt it could not afford to wait that long otherwise another XP situation would have developed.

My response would be that accountants deal in facts as they see them, spin-doctors then try to have those facts presented as they would like them to be seen. You could say that accounting standards which include the presentational rules are the accounting profession's attempt to limit accountants ability to be their own spin-doctors. Colin

Accountancy is regarded by many as a science whereas it is very much an art. Give 25(you substitute any number you choose) accountants the same set of figures from which to prepare accounts, and you will get that number of different answers. Accounting standards in theory codify the rules but there are often differing opinions about when and in what circumstances they apply, and then in applying them. There are also now, 3 sets of new standards which apply to businesses of different sizes. These changes are one reason for the timing of my decision to retire. Colin

I use H & M Walkabout controllers which are, I believe a feedback type. They are, by a mile, the best DC controllers I have ever come across. After using one of these units, I find that a knob style controller is simply uncomfortable in use, and the inertia facility in the Walkabout is the most controllable unless you skip to DCC. It is not so simple as to go out and buy a different type of controller because there are none that match up to the Walkabout for me. I did buy a DJM O2, and the loco works well with the Walkabout but it is slightly more noisy than when used on a Gaugemaster controller or an old H & M Powermaster. This suggests to me that there might be an issue with long term feedback use. If there is no alternative I would/will consider a DJM product, but I buy models to use, not to sit and look pretty, so it is a simple choice for me to choose a "normal" motor over a coreless one even if the detail on the coreless version is better/more accurate. Colin

I don't yet know if I'll buy a 71. If I do it's much more likely to be the Hornby version because the other is to use a coreless motor. I use DC feedback controllers.

I did an upgrade on another laptop, and have re-installed DiskCryptor and PGP encryption. All seems to be ok except that the virtual machines in VMLite won't recognise a network adapter to bridge into my network. Colin

I thought the coaches might provoke someone's interest. Colin

Our Vauxhall Chevette on a carflat at St Austell. Scanned slide from1979/80 or thereabouts.

Correct. We used the Crewe-St Austell train for a short period. You could book a sleeper or 1st class compartment per car. It was a long train(from memory). 10/12 car flats(2 for Newton Abbott), Buffet+Open, 6xFK, and 2 sleepers. Not sure about this, though. Colin

I think I can make up a slimmed down version of the Crewe-St Austell Motorail we used at the end of the '70s. 5 car flats, an RMB and 2 sleepers would be close enough for me. Bachmann take note to have the coaches available early next year. Colin

I re-ran the upgrade to Win 10 over the last 24 hours. The upgrade and subsequent updates seem to have largely gone smoothly and quick tests of the main programs I had concerns about seem to suggest they will work ok. I will have to check the remaining hardware/software over the next week or two. The one thing I haven't yet done is to re-install DiskCryptor, which is the program that caused me to have problems the first time I upgraded - not because of problems directly with the software but because I did not uninstall the program before upgrading. I will get everything else settled before installing DiskCryptor, but I'll take a clone of the HD before doing so. I don't like the update process - as others have mentioned - it seems singularly uninformative. The way it is being done now seems potentially more risky for users than the old system. Colin

Well, that went well!! I went ahead with the upgrade to Win 10 last weekend. The upgrade actually went smoothly and Win 10 seemed fine. Unfortunately, I hadn't done my preparatory homework properly. DiskCryptor, which I use to encrypt portable drives was not removed before the upgrade and it needed updating to a new version after the upgrade. After the required re-boot, the machine failed to start and I could not see how to correct the error which related to a DiskCryptor system file. I tried a couple of repair options but could not climb back on and decided to try to re-install Win7 from my installation media - would not run. At this point I discovered that I had made a clone of the HDD several weeks ago - before an extended holiday, which is why I had forgotten it - as a precaution against problems. Today I swapped the drives and the machine is up and running Win7. I'll re-run system and hardware updates before trying the upgrade again. Sadly, despite trying to re-initialise the swapped out drive, it is not recognised and won't reformat - cyclic redundancy error. A couple of lessons learned along the way, and I'll do the upgrade again in a week or two. Colin

This would normally have been my policy, particularly as I used some very old software in my business. Having retired, owning two young laptops which Dell approve as candidates for upgrade, and not wishing to purchase new machines in the foreseeable future(historically my laptops have lasted around 10 years), it seems sensible to at least consider the "free" upgrade. There are such mixed comments about the efficacy of the upgrade, and I don't like the new updating methodology, so it's not a clear cut decision for me. The alternative is to sit with W7 until support ends and then see what is on offer from MS or switch to, probably, Linux. I'm probably going to upgrade one machine and, if it goes ok, do the second. Colin

I've sometimes thought about Linux as an alternative as I've not been afraid of going my own way - I wrote a suite of formats which enabled us to eventually drop paid support on one program and also avoided disruptive updates. I linked it to 2 other programs to effectively create an "Office" style suite. In theory Linux could be an alternative to Win 10 when Win 7 support ends, but I'd rather avoid the undoubted hassle of learning a complete new system when I've followed Windows in all it's flavours since Win 3.1 - and I'd rather model railways than re-model a computer system. I think relevant drivers are available in Win10 for most(all?) of my kit. I suspect one or two programs might cause issues, but I hope not. Colin

I can understand Microsoft's view surrounding updates even if I don't like it. Apart from anything else the different model reduces the future risk of the situation they faced at the end of XP support. However, unless they modify their stance - which I doubt they will - they may well face an XP style "last stand" retention of the old system by Win 7 users. I've noticed the comments on here about automatic updating to unsuitable hardware drivers, and that you can't stop it seems a significant downside. Colin

Thanks Royaloak, Another satisfied XP user here. My Win7/8 machines have been made to look as like XP as possible and, for all my practical purposes, they might as well be XP. The only thing I have had to do is set up some old DOS programs to run in a virtual machine. That need has gone, except in a very limited way, with my retirement, and the old XP machines I've got will cover that base for as long as I need. My tablet running W8 is, apparently, even a "dodgy" upgrade to Win8.1, so I'll leave that alone. Colin

In a way, Keith, your last post answered this question, but I'll ask it anyway. I would like to ask those who have upgraded to Windows 10 if they are happy with it. There seem to have been a number of problems with the upgrade - even if they have been capable of resolution - and I wonder if the hassle that has been created has been justified in terms of the end product being a better operating system. I have 2 laptops which Dell recommend for upgrade and provide the necessary drivers. I have other systems for which they do not and which I will not upgrade. The logical attraction for me to upgrade is that Win10 will be supported for a much longer period, the 2 upgradeable systems are young, 64 bit machines which should, on past performance of my laptops, last into the 2020s and satisfy my relatively simple requirements in retirement. There appear to be available, W10 drivers for my printers and scanners and other bits of kit. At the moment, I am unhappy with the more or less forced updating policy - I know you can defer updates for a modest period(Pro version), but not permanently(as I have had to do on isolated occasions). In practice, I normally allow installation of updates as they are issued, and only roll them back if problems become apparent. From the comments here, it does appear that the updates continue to create unnecessary issues due to the changed methodology being used by Microsoft. I'm at the point of decision for me, and would appreciate any comments, or advice based on the upgrade experience. Thanks, Colin

I can't remember and I don't have access to my reference books, but was the only difference the style of windows or also their positioning? If just the style, could this be dealt with by a different glazing insert, meaning both versions could be produced at relatively little additional cost? Colin Colin

I'm sure you're correct, that some kids would want to create a "proper" train, after all 50+ years ago I was one of them. However, I'm equally sure that many would buy one brake coach to stick on the end of a train of other types. On pricing, it is not that long ago the Hornby were being criticised for being too expensive. The "dash for cash" has hit their pricing, but I suspect that when sanity returns the pricing of the 2 largest manufacturers will not be too far apart. Most people have/will, I suspect, become much more choosy about what they buy. Personally, I am not averse to a simplification of the detail on models - design clever as in a sensible thought process about what should be included and what is separately moulded or part of the main body components should be a reasonable response to increasing costs. As the idea was applied by Hornby a short while ago, it resulted in detail where it was not obvious, and poor compromises when the detail was obvious. Sensible compromise needs to be designed in from the concept stage - i.e. good planning and consistent policy, both of which appear in the recent past to have been lacking at Hornby. I rather suspect that when asked if we want detail on a model we say "yes", but then when the cost is known too many will back track and not buy. In that situation the manufacturers will eventually decide for us and make compromises - or go out of business. For example, I'm perfectly happy with the Oxford Rail Adams Radial irrespective of any extra detail that might appear on the Hornby version. I will certainly not pay the likely (even discounted) asking prices for the forthcoming Heljan GWR tanks - even if I never get one. That's my personal value judgement but I suspect many others will do likewise. If it's a choice between the manufacturers closing the doors or producing models, somewhat less detailed, but at prices the majority feel they can/want to pay, then I'd rather see the latter. Colin

I have to agree that the question of how many coaches of differing types - 2nd/3rd, compo, brake compo/2nd/3rd, etc - to produce is far from straight forward. We may know how to make up a set or train, but many will not. How each of us tackles the restricted space induced compression of train lengths will vary, and I (think I) remember seeing many suburban trains that did not conform to the brakes at the ends rule. The only real answer to the question would be historical buying patterns, but these would have to be amended to some extent with the change to a more discerning market(the kids market would not really worry too much about train formation), or to types materially affected by the make up of fixed train sets - as on the SR. Here again, feedback from the retail sector has the potential to be invaluable if the historical sales info is not available in house.

Derrr - don't Hornby know what they've sold through their own individual outlets and tailor their stock distribution accordingly? Or maybe they don't - which should be another nail in management's coffin. Or maybe they didn't and their new systems will tell them. So much we don't know. Colin