martin_wynne

Just delete the linefeed off the end of it: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02sbp2y

I know some users like to do it that way. But strictly speaking you need to flare out to 16.5mm only for the last inch or so at each end of a turnout. And not at all if you are hand-building 16.2mm plain track rather than using flexi-track. If you are building a complex formation containing several turnouts, slips, etc., it is much better to stick to 16.2mm all through, and only flare out where needed to join flexi-track. • Note also that when building a diamond-crossing or slip, you must stick to the same gauge all through between the V-crossings, and it must match the gauge for which you printed the template. Otherwise the rails will not align properly. regards, Martin.

Silly to say it is no good. Of course it is some good, because most drivers can read English. If you are looking for a 100% solution you aren't going to find it, short of building a bridge (with crash barriers). It could be repeated underneath in Welsh.

All these rants about the quality of driving nowadays, impatience, are getting a bit tiresome. A solution which requires a change in human nature isn't going to work. Given, 1. a level crossing, and 2. an idiot driver approaching it, what is the best practical way to keep it safe? Or at least, safer. It's a bit late at that stage to tell the driver to stop and read the Highway Code. For example: A big flashing sign saying "THE TRAIN CANNOT STOP" would help to reduce a common area of misunderstanding. If the road beyond the crossing has standing traffic, a sensor in the road could change the lights to red until it clears. Martin.

I'm not one of those. I'm just an ordinary fallible human being. I try my best, but sometimes I make mistakes, have things on my mind, get distracted. Sometimes I do something and wonder afterwards how I could be so stupid. Generally I assume other drivers are in the same boat, and make allowances, try to be helpful. Should people like me be allowed to drive? Or only experienced and skilled professional drivers? Martin.

Make your own chocolate box. The Severn valley in springtime. Bewdley's rooftops can be glimpsed among the green in the middle distance. The camera position was SO 77784, 73789 looking north. Martin.

Hi Peter, Try sticking them down onto a roll of decorator's lining paper. regards, Martin.

I walked over Clee Hill yesterday. Not as clear as recent days, but not such a cold wind either. Cornbrook Corner on the A4117 over Clee: The air traffic control radar station on Titterstone Clee: Clee Hill Quarry: http://www.mqp.co.uk/clee-hill-quarry.htm Martin.

The previous views were taken from Arley footbridge over the Severn, built in 1972. Such a view wasn't possible 3 years earlier when I took this picture in 1969. I remember crossing with my bike. The ferry was attached to a rope across the river, and moved sideways using the rudder against the current. The ferry closed when the footbridge opened. Martin.

I posted this autumn view of Upper Arley last year: Here is the same view in spring, a few days ago: Martin.

This topic may be of interest here: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/99415-os-press-release-paper-maps-now-include-mobile-download/&do=findComment&comment=1895481

http://shpws.me/z1Yh

Arley station engulfed in green -- springtime in the Severn valley:

Here it is. Amazing: https://goo.gl/maps/J1sdJ

That's a bit harsh. Out of millions of images an occasional glitch isn't the end of the world. If you go to the 2010 view you can see that in one direction it is straight into the sun. The camera may shut down automatically when that happens to protect the sensor. Note that on the new Google maps, when positioning the streetview icon over the blue lines, you must wait until a bullet appears in the ring below it. This allows for more precise positioning when zoomed in. Martin.

Change to a different date in the Streetview box, top left. Here's the Streetview from August 2010: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.63618,-0.329667,3a,75y,254.54h,91.31t/data=!3m5!1e1!3m3!1slZZnjDbcnxTX7ZDwTa5Smw!2e0!5s20100801T0000

I'd just like to thank the Returning Officer and all his staff, the Police, the Fire Brigade, the window cleaner, the Coastguard, the Mountain Rescue Team, my dear old Auntie Flo, the Bishop of Bath and Wells, and the bloke down the chip shop who thinks he's Elvis.

All this reforming of society and throwing the book at them isn't going to save a single life before Christmas. A big matrix sign saying "THE TRAIN CANNOT STOP" might. Martin.

But they are on the road. And if I was on the train I would rather try something to help them rather than read them a lecture. Martin.

And where in any of that rant was there any suggestion that it might be a good idea to try to help drivers deal with level crossings? Even the imperfect ones who are ordinary fallible human beings? I don't see why adding a green "it's safe to cross" light would change the meaning of the wig-wags. But it would make the lights more familiar and instantly understandable to drivers. Approaching traffic lights you expect to see a light of some kind, and react accordingly. The absence of any light is unnerving. Martin.

A few days ago I drove across a level crossing which I am very familiar with and have used many times. Two seconds after crossing it I realised that I couldn't remember whether the lights had been flashing, and hastily looked in my mirror to check. They weren't. Should I give up driving? I am firmly convinced that a green light when it is safe to cross, rather than an absence of lights, would be a much safer arrangement and more in keeping with most driver's expectations. Martin.

I think you are being unduly harsh. It is actually "never speak ill of the recently dead". Whatever you think of the person who has died, they will have friends and family who are in distress. As fellow human beings they deserve some support and consideration. The time for an honest appraisal of the dead is when the wound of their death has healed. Martin.

Hi Don, There is a way to design a track plan and then bend the whole thing to a new ruling curve in one go. It involves exporting a hi-resolution image and then using the image wrapping function to wrap it along a curve. But I wouldn't recommend it for anything other than a guide to a new plan, because it inevitably introduces distortions. Plus there may be other considerations -- for example if a radius is reduced the spacing of double-track may need to be increased for running clearance. But generally if you already have a track plan, re-aligning all the templates to a new ruling curve may not take very long. Certainly quicker than rubbing out a lot of lines on the baseboard and drawing them all again. Plus with a computer if you change your mind it's just a couple of clicks to revert back to the original. There is a video from 2008 showing the align functions being used to convert an existing string of templates to a new centre-line. If they are standard templates it is usually easier just to align fresh ones as required. But if the templates have been customized for your design, they can be copied and re-aligned as shown without losing the customizing. (In the video the diamond-crossing is aligned onto a transition curve. To ensure accuracy of the K-crossings it is better to re-create the second half-diamond as shown, rather than copy the first one.) The video was made using an old version of Templot, but the functions in Templot2 work just the same. Download link: align function video (6 minutes, 8MB) regards, Martin.

I'm happy for folks to say they don't like Templot. Can't get on with it. Don't understand a word of it. Hate the sight of it. Threw it out of the window. But not to make misleading statements to others about how it works or what it can or can't do. regards, Martin.

Hi Don, You can easily move and rotate groups of templates in Templot, and align them with other tracks. You can align tracks and see what fits in Templot, and adjust crossing angles. Templot calls its track objects "templates" but they are very different from the usual meaning of printed templates as fixed individual items. In Templot every "template" is infinitely adjustable in length and curving, and can have an infinitely adjustable turnout, or part of one, inserted anywhere within it. If you watch this beginner video, you will see how everything is adjustable: http://www.templot.com/martweb/videos/flash/starter/em_starter.html I know some folks prefer hand drawing to using a computer, and that's fair enough, each to his own. But please don't justify your preference by making misleading statements about Templot. regards, Martin.