martin_wynne

Somewhere in England, yesterday afternoon.

Hi John, SMP/Marcway are listing both in 1.2mm, and only glassfibre in 1.6mm. See: http://www.marcway.net/list3.php?start=0&col=head&name=PCB It's not clear whether it is single or double-sided. Nor whether it is actually in stock. Any idea what strip is included in the current SMP kits? CCS4 00/EM 4mm Wide PCB Sleeper Strip 18 X 12" 1.2mm -- SRBP CCS4-GF 00/EM 4mm Wide PCB Glass Fibre Strip 18 X 12" 1.2mm -- glassfibre FG4 4mm Wide X 1.6mm 1/16" Thick 18' Pack For myself I would still go for traditional SRBP (paxolin), and single-sided. It worked fine years ago and would still do so. Glassfibre is only needed for outdoor use, it is much rougher on cutting tools and fingers. Martin.

Hi Gordon, I think you have used them -- didn't you say that you originally started trackbuilding with SMP turnout kits? As a one-time supplier of copper-clad strip in the 1970s I can add a few thoughts. The copper price is largely irrelevant, as the foil is so thin. It is the laminate which costs money to make, especially expoxy/glassfibre (FR4 grade). I don't believe there ever was a supply of 1.06mm copper laminate -- it is not made to such a close tolerance (less than half a thou) because for electronics purposes it is not necessary. Like many electronics products, dimensioning is still in inches because the products were originally developed in the USA where metric is still a foreign language. The 3 traditional sizes for copper laminate were and probably still are, 1/32" , 3/64" , 1/16" thickness, with quite a wide tolerance on that. When I was buying SRBP sheets I could measure quite a big thickness difference across the corners. By far the commonest size is 1/16" for electronics use. That's 0.8mm , 1.2mm , 1.6mm in metric equivalents. My guess (I'm happy to be shot down) is that someone at C&L (Brian Lewis?) had a supply of nominally 3/64" sheet, measured it, found it to be actually 1.06mm, and listed it as that in the price list. I'm not sure where that leaves you. SMP copper-clad kits traditionally used 3/64" (1.2mm) strip, and when the Scaleway flexible was introduced (and the plastic turnout kits) it was made to match that copper-clad thickness. It's a long time ago now, but I doubt the tooling has changed. If SMP are still supplying 3/64" strip (1.2mm) I'm sure the intention is that it matches their Scaleway track. Their strip was traditionally sheared (guillotined) and probably still is. It would be interesting to know where they get their 3/64" sheet because it is the least common of the three sizes. When I was producing both sizes of strip (sawn SRBP) it was sometimes necessary to put 1/16" strip through the thicknesser to take it down to 3/64" on the back, because I couldn't get enough 3/64" sheets. regards, Martin.

Same here.

A fellow victim of the sticky shoes did point out that some quite acceptable wines were on sale in the next aisle, and that it was seldom necessary to tread your own in Cakes & Biscuits.

Good grief Mike! This is RMweb not the Greengrocer's Gazette. I made a light-hearted post on the theme of "Martin Goes To The Supermarket". I wasn't writing an in-depth report on soft fruit packaging practice and marketing philosophy. Or a column in Good Housekeeping magazine. But for the record, I don't believe it makes the slightest difference whether a plastic bag of grapes is sealed or not -- if some oaf runs over it with a heavy supermarket trolley and then treads in the result. But just to put your mind at rest I will repeat the experiment in both Tesco and Waitrose and report the results. Martin.

They always have difficulty getting blood out of my arm. I tell them it is much easier if they first whack it with a rolled-up newspaper. They say that they are not allowed to do that, so I do it for them. It's a topsy-turvy world. It is ok for them to stick something into my arm, which could in some circumstances be fatal -- but not to hit it with a rolled-up newspaper, which could hardly ever cause any lasting harm. Well, only if it was the Daily Mail. When they finally get some blood out, I ask them if it's red, as that's always a hopeful sign. Martin.

Hi Mike, They were in a plastic bag. But as you will know if you have bought any grapes recently, such bags are open, not sealed. Likewise for cauliflowers. No doubt the grocery trade has an explanation for this. With an election looming, maybe we shall get a chance to vote on the sealing of cauliflower bags. It would be a vote-winner for the Greens party. Martin.

It wasn't possible to find out. My shoes were still sticky when I got home, and the company's market share was further reduced by having an aisle roped off while they cleaned it up. In the interests of scientific research, ERs may wish to conduct the following experiment: 1. drop a grape on the kitchen floor. 2. stamp on it. 3. repeat the process 99 times. 4. measure how long it takes for someone else to clean it all up. 5. ask them to mark their opinion of you from 1 to 10. Martin.

No whimsey on this page today? it's a shame "Early Risers" isn't what it used to be. I wish to pass on the following good advice -- if a bag of grapes falls off your trolley in the supermarket, do not run over it with the trolley. Martin.

Wonderful track building. But don't forget the C chair.

So just to clarify that -- castling consists of moving the king two squares towards a rook on the player's first rank, then moving the rook to the square over which the king crossed. Castling can only be done if the king has never moved, the rook involved has never moved, the squares between the king and the rook involved are unoccupied, the king is not in check, and the king does not cross over or end on a square in which it would be in check. Where does the wicket-keeper stand? Martin.

Which leads to this interesting announcement when boarding at Kidderminster, -- "Welcome to this London Midland service to Whitlock's End". I doubt many Kidderminster folk had ever heard of Whitlock's End or have the faintest idea where it is. And the same goes for Great Malvern, Worcester and Droitwich. They are almost all going to Birmingham, so would it not be better if the welcome announcement actually mentioned this, rather than including the Birmingham stops in a long list of other stops? "Welcome to this London Midland service to Birmingham and Whitlock's End" doesn't sound too difficult to do. Or is the software not capable of changing the welcome part to exclude Birmingham after leaving Snow Hill? In the olden days I can't imagine a porter shouting "Whitlock's End" for the Birmingham trains. Martin.

There still is from Kidderminster. But the difference is it is now a Chiltern service via Snow Hill and Moor Street to Marylebone. It's very popular from Kidderminster. If extended it would no doubt be equally popular from Droitwich. Maybe not so much from Shrub Hill, but that makes a convenient turnback terminal. Not so sure about stopping at Hartlebury. Rebuilding of Kidderminster station has recently been confirmed: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hereford-worcester-31117511 Martin.

Every issue of Meccano Magazine in PDF format: http://www.meccanoindex.co.uk/MMpdfs1.php and http://meccano.magazines.free.fr All your favourite issues are there. Martin.

If no-one wants Shrub Hill maybe Chiltern Railways would be interested in getting Shrub Hill and extending their Kidderminster-Marylebone service to include Droitwich and Shrub Hill? Assuming they get the landslip fixed, of course. Martin.

The video shows the last day of commercially hand made chain at the factory of Noah Bloomer & Sons at Quarry Bank in the Black Country in January 1977.

I found that I got on very well with the Rugby players once I'd threatened to do their maths homework wrong.

It seems that I have been wasting my money frying my Mars bars in expensive olive oil. Where do I apply for a refund?

I have just received this spam email, and I have to say I'm sorely tempted to buy. It was very good of them to let me know. _________________ Bright Sun Publishing announces what will be our most important book this year. This book is described as amazing and inspiring, and takes us on a voyage of discovery that reads like an exciting novel. This is the best book on worms ever written. Now revised and updated with 6 books in one. Worms for Everyone; Worms for Worm Farmers; Worms for for Farmers; Worms for Greenhouse; Worms Gardeners; Worms for Waste Managers. Yours for A$42.00 including delivery, to anywhere in the world, AND, if you don't like it, there's a no nonsense money back guarantee. _____________ Martin.

Hi Colin, After the file has uploaded, click Add to Post to insert it in the current text position. Like so many button and links on IPS software, it is badly worded. It should say "Insert in Post". By the time it appears, the file is already uploaded and added. regards, Martin.

Many thanks for all the advice on Cheese & Tomato on Toast. It's good to see that the Early Risers can turn to serious matters when the need arises. Cheese & Tomato on Toast falls within that fairly small class of meals which can be prepared in less time than it takes to eat them. Some of the suggestions defeat that object entirely. I'm not sure that when hungry I can wait for a loaf of bread to go stale. The prize goes to Duncan who suggested adding the tomato on top half-way through the grilling process. Not only does this work (I've tested it), but it also shortens the preparation time even further, in that you can slice the tomato while cooking is already under way. No marks to whoever it was who referred to "Worcester Sauce", when everyone knows that although made in the fair city of Worcester, it is actually called "Worcestershire Sauce". Some may regard that as pedantry, but for those of us born there (in Worcester, not the sauce factory) such matters run deep. Martin.

What are those blue remembered hills, What spires, what farms are those? That is the land of lost content, I see it shining plain, The happy highways where I went And cannot come again.

Likewise the heat from old-style light bulbs. So changing to "energy-saving" bulbs doesn't actually save any energy. Except in summer when the central heating is off -- when you don't need the lights much either. Martin.

I wish to raise the important matter of Cheese & Tomato on Toast. I have today been taken to task for placing the tomato underneath the cheese. Apparently this is severely frowned on because 1. the toast gets soggy with tomato juice, and 2. there is nothing on top of the cheese to prevent the Worcestershire Sauce from running off. In my defence I can only plead that whenever I have tried the approved method, the tomato rings are burnt beyond recognition before the cheese has properly melted. So naturally I turn to the Early Risers for a ruling on this matter. This leaves aside the question of whether the cheese should be sliced or grated -- a question which has never been satisfactorily answered and probably never will be. I can only add that my own experiments have demonstrated beyond reasonable doubt that the use of grated cheese is an effective mitigation against 2. above. My apologies for distracting the Early Risers from their proper consideration of whimsey, nonsense and utter drivel. Martin.