Nick C

I'd like to introduce Benji. He's a 10-month old rescue, he came to us from a foster home on Thursday. By Saturday afternoon we were getting really worried as he hadn't eaten anything and was cowering behind the spare room wardrobe, but then he started eating voraciously, and last night it was as if someone had thrown a switch - within 2 hours he went from hiding constantly to demanding attention, almost shredding the carpet in his attemtps to dig his way out of the room - so much so that it was then difficult for us to open the door! He was introduced to Bonnie very briefly last night,then again this morning - there was a little hissing, but nothing more, so hopefully there won't be any aggression between them. She seems upset though, and goes out to the garden every time she sees him - where of course he can't follow. Hopefully that will ease as they get to know each other - we're making sure to give her plenty of attention, and will make sure he's shut up at night for the next few days so she can keep her usual bed-time routine.

Yes, fine for the pulleys to be under the rodding if there's space. I think I'd do it like this - please excuse the crappy hand-drawing! Here's another prototype pic that might help:

Here's a couple of photos that might help - I've added some drawings to illustrate: The light blue arrows point to the pulleys - a couple of which iare fiarly well hidden under the rodding! Orange arrows show the direction of the run - the wire that goes out and back in the second photo goes to another signal just behind the camera. The green arrow shows a detector - bascially an extra mechanical lock that makes sure the point is in the correct position before the signal can move. The two horizontal bars go to the point blades, and have a slot in them (there would also be a third if there was a facing point lock) - the bar attached to the signal crosses them, and is also slotted, so that it can only slide back and forth when the other bars are in the correct position. In this case it's attached directly to the signal - if there was more distance there'd be another wire between the detector and the signal.

I don't know about the German rules, but I set up a Polish .pl web domain (and therefore email addresses) a couple of years ago, and they had no problems with me using a UK address and credit card for it.

Very sad news. Like others above, I never met Mick in real life, but greatly enjoyed his sense of humour and excellent craftsmanship shown on this forum. My condolences to all his friends and family. Nick

Thanks Martin - I think I'll order a couple of OO-SF points then and try some of my stock through them, it's mostly fairly recent stuff anyway - I'm hoping to keep minimum radius to 36", but it might have to drop to nearer 30" to get the curve into the fiddle yard in and still have long enough fiddle roads - that'd just be plain track though, so will be 16.5mm. I've not got any HO stock, at least not yet - that might change when the new Piko EN-57 comes out, if they do one in the right livery.

I find I usually disagree with both the Mail and the Guardian, so I guess thtat makes me somewhere in the middle...

16.2 to 16.5 - that's just 0.15mm per rail, I doubt I can lay track that accurately anyway! Am I right in understanding that the vast majority of modern RTR stock should run through OO-SF quite happily with no modification, and that only older stuff might need either rewheeling or back-to-backs adjusting?

Our autumn fruiting raspberries have started to fruit - which is a problem as the summer ones haven't finished yet, so there's a real glut! The freezer is getting full...

Pedestrian safety? Aerodynamics? Nah, we don't need any of those either... it's quite funny how they recess the door-handles to improve airflow, then shape the front like a brick...

You're not the only one - I'm a software engineer, work with computers all day long, but still found I didn't get on with DCC, and reverted back to DC when the secondhand gaugemaster controller I had gave up the ghost - kept the chips as I might give it another go one day.

Are those the original Ratio plastic wheels? If so, it's worth replacing them with metal ones - you get better running, and less dirt on the rails (presumably due to static build-up I wonder?)

Interesting - presumably then you'd also need a facing crossover to allow for arriving trains to get into the second platform?

I really can't understand why some people try to claim that black cats aren't photogenic - this photo certainly proves otherwise! We too have just (literally an hour ago) gained a new apprentice - he's currently hiding somewhere in the spare room, so photos will have to wait!

They did, several times - it's immortalised in the edit history of the page! (funnily enough it's now been protected!) https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Craig_David&direction=prev&oldid=1035599444

Do you actually need to be able to run Chedworth-bound trains through the original platform? Not doing so saves 2FPLs and 2 signals, which is fairly significant. I think bi-directional signalling at small rural stations was quite rare. The crossing would be interlocked - there would be a gate lock controlled by a lever in the frame, possibly also a second locking the pedestrian wickets. I think the starter should be before the crossing, so that the crossing is protected when a Northleach-bound train is in the station. You will need a trap on the siding, I think that was a BoT requirement? In terms of box equipment, above the frame will be a block shelf holding the block instruments, and the diagram will be above that. There will be a desk to hold the train register, usually with storage underneath and a lamp above. There would have been a telephone - at that stage I think a 'code phone' providing an omnibus circuit amongst several boxes. A stove to keep the box warm in winter, and storage - lockers for the signalmen and a cupboard to hold cleaning equipment etc. Often also a bookshelf for rule books, working timetables etc. Regarding token machines, you'll need to decide what the company would have used - I think Tyers key tokens were quite unusual outside of the GWR at that stage, so more likely either a tablet or the more traditional staff-and-ticket (which many lines kept right up until closure)

Modifying and detailing RTR Stock maybe? Another suggestion for a slightly cheating option - have two vans, one with lamps set for an inbound train, one set for outbound - then just make sure the shunt goes beyond the scenic break at some point and swap them over...

Just in case any NKVD agents try to infiltrate the village in order to find out what's inside the crate...

Anything that annoys the art snobs* has to be a good thing! *also wine snobs, film critics...

Thanks - it seems a particularly odd one, as it doesn't seem to be affecting anyone else (ruling out a server issue), but equally happens on different browsers, different devices and even different networks, which seems to rule out a browser/cacheing issue.

I've been gettting an odd one for the past week - I get a timeout on 'Wheeltappers' - but nothing else, all the other fora work correctly, and I can access threads within wheeltappers if I go through another feed (e.g. "content I posted in"). I get the same behaviour in different browsers on different devices too. Anyone else seeing this, or is it just me?

I reckon it's always best to have a few things on the go, so that if you get fed up with something (e.g. ballasting) or run out of materials for something, there's always something else you can be doing.

My wife's grandparents were farmers in territory invaded by the Germans in WW2, and I can assure you that they didn't sell anything to them - it was all taken by force.

I forget the exact numbers (@Graham_Muzmight know), but a fairly substantial proportion of ex-SR stock was still in Malachite in '56, and so went straight to BR green without receiving Crimson & Cream. Stock was generally relettered at the same time as being revarnishes, so there's a lot of photos of stock in Malachite with BR numbering, or with the SR sunshine numbers with the S___S prefix/suffix added in the same typeface.

Yep - when you consider the various permutations of chimneys (Stroudley, Marsh or Drummond), sandboxes (above or below the footplate), bunkers (original or extended, coal rails or not) and brakes (vac only or dual), you find that all the Terriers that survived to BR days were different! Even more so when you add in positions of lamp brackets and toolboxes...