bbishop

Mike, I'm sure you are correct about the validity of Eurostar tickets to Centraal. I was staying in Ste. Catherine so the Pre Metro made sense. Tony, every northbound "domestic" train will stop at Centraal - but not for long! Bill

Tony, Brussel Zuid (Midi) isn't near the city centre, so you probably need public transport to your hotel. Thereafter, the city centre can be traversed by foot. There is an information kiosk on the main station concourse for maps, ticketing information, etc. I doubt if you will use the Metro, more likely is the Pre Metro (underground trams) from Zuid along Anspach Laan slightly to the west of the city centre. The Pre Metro platforms are slightly lower than and parallel to the concourse. Remember, Brussel Zuid is a high crime area so keep small possessions (and small Aditis) under close watch. Bill

Tony, You keep your luggage with you. It is a very great train (biblical reference 1 Kings 10:2), so make sure you are in the correct part of the platform. Have fun, Bill

I haven't. B

Correct, it originated from the Harris stable. Be aware the coupled wheelbase is wrong, so you can't replace the coupling rods. I ended up replacing my model with the DJB one - too many fried chips. Bill

Yes Pete, but British O Gauge came first. My calculation is that the exact scale is 1 : 43.543. The British have adopted 1 : 43.5, the Germans 1 : 45 (probably a true relationship between scale and finescale trackwork), the Americans 1 : 48. Bill

Just back from a purple - ho hum. I've done my paperwork and turned on the cricket. Bill

Home after a 12½ hour day at Lords. That was my fourth and final day and had a casualty well after close of play. You will all realise that I can't provide any information, but being part of the medical team is very enjoyable and very, very tiring. I have to be up at 6am for my CFR shift. No peace for the wicked. Bill

Home from a very long and very tiring day at Lords. I didn't see much cricket, there were a lot of unwell people to look after. Vague idea that England have messed it up today. As a wicket keeper, I took a couple of balls in the face. The worst was a ricochet from the bails standing up to a fast bowler. Broke my glasses and split my cheek open. Off for a wipe down, a plaster and a change of glasses. Exactly the same thing happened next over but this one was merely medium pace, so I got the gloves up and tipped the ball "over the top". Day three tomorrow. It might be cooler. Bill

So guys, I spend 90 minutes this morning watching the cricket before being sent to lunch. Back in seats for an hour until 3pm, then all hell was let loose and we were rushed off our feet for three hours. Home, bushed so it's bath and bed. Just three days to go. Bill

Phil, No distance from me - between Lee and Grove Park stations. Bill

So tomorrow starts four consecutive days at Lords. And the weather forecast implies we will be very, very busy indeed. Finish at 7pm Sunday and my CFR duty starts at 7am Monday! Bill

Guys, I have been migrated onto the new BT Mail. I won't describe my experiences yet; I'm seeing Andrew C tonight and will acquire the relevant adjectives from him. But I may be asking for help; actually I know I will be, just unsure of the length of the list. Bill

The beer festival is taking place in The London Theatre. The exhibition is 200 yards down the road in the Zion Chapel, so maybe alcohol won't be allowed. However, there will be a beer garden in the exhibition, albeit at a scale of 1:45. Come and say hello to the Höchstädt team, at least two of us are on RM Web. Bill

Join the club, Flavio. Most of me scores a 1, but my right shoulder gets a 3. That's the result of being a hooker in my youth. (Americans, not what you think). I manage my arthritis by exercise, for which purpose I have a walking stick and two coloured bands. By the way, I'm not the only hooker on ER; will the other one own up? Mick, I'm required to practice resuscitation at least once a month. The best way to become completely knackered - 20 minutes of continuous CPR. Bill

Couldn't resist logging in again. Apparently Andrew Strauss agrees with me! Bill

For those who were confused by last night's post ..... I'm part of the first aid team at Lord's. My role is part of a foot patrol, so I spend the day walking round the ground and sitting in the stands. The up side is that I do lots of walking; the down side is that I get to see lots of cricket. So today that included Yuvraj Singh, Collingwood, Tendulkar, Lara, Chandarpaul and an Aussie called Finch who is very, very good indeed. And that's just the batsmen. Oh and Pietersen proved that he is a total idiot. And chatted to Mike Gatting, not for the first time, who is a most charming gentleman. Oops, a bit of a slip of the pen in the paragraph above. Anyway, home, tired, footsore, off to bed. Bill

A long day at Lord's tomorrow for the MCC v Rest of the World game - so it's off to bed. Bill

Dumb question, but why the variable window spacing on Rosemary and Car 248? Bill

Tony, In reply to post #1563. I've had a 7mm British outline branch line terminus on the exhibition circuit for about seven years. It was built as a DCC layout. Two friends are developing similar DCC layouts, one of them sharing stock with my layout. My 7mm German outline Endstation has been on the circuit for about nine months. It uses Lenz technology, with bells, whistles, lights, talking locomotives, automatic uncoupling. I accept there is an element of gimmickry - but, hey, we're in the entertainment business. So far risk free, but I also operate the points by DCC which I acknowledge has a degree of risk, but no problems yet. It does mean the boards are connected by a pair of DCC wires and a pair of DC wires using banana plugs - simples. Of course every rail is soldered through to the busbar, but surely this is good practice on any exhibition layout because I would never want to rely on a track joiner for electrical continuity. Back to my British layout as an exemplar. Points are manual and the fiddle yard has cassettes and so there are at most two locomotives on the layout at any time, therefore we don't fall into the "Bucks Hill trap". Locomotives are mainly steam outline and built from metal kits. Tender locomotives are usually isolated by the "American" method with the chassis also isolated from the body. Tank locomotives usually pick up current from driving wheels isolated both sides. Chips are bedded onto mastic and protected by a fuse. Working in 7mm there is no problem in getting sufficient weight into a locomotive to perform the requisite duty. I hope you are getting the sense that it is all properly planned. A transient short does not usually kill the layout. Our biggest problem is running into an incorrectly set point. Correction requires the stock to be pulled clear of the insulated joiner (red face time) then about five seconds to reset. Between the three of us we have chipped about a hundred locomotives over a ten year period, with maybe one locomotive having to be disposed of for regularly blowing chips. I am planning a German oval layout and my problem will be managing trains in the fiddle yard. But in my opinion the advantages of DCC in Spur Null outweigh this one problem. But if I were to plan a layout similar to Stoke Summit or Bucks Hill, would I adopt DCC? No, not on my bl**dy nelly. These layouts with large fiddle yards with twenty roads in each direction are totally suited to analogue control. I'm not a proselyte for DCC; but I appreciate not having to trundle a locomotive to an isolation section, or pull stock to an uncoupling position then push it back to where it came from. So I'll repeat, it's horses for courses. Bill

Ye Gods, the thought of The Stationmaster, Grandadbob, Happy Hippo, Tony S etc etc, all in pink flounces. Bill

Well, Tony, I will disagree with you about DCC. There are four advantages having DCC on my exhibition layout. I don't have to move locomotives to "dead" sections; locomotives can be remotely uncoupled without having to wander half a mile to find a magnet; boards are connected with four colour coded banana plugs (simples); and if I don't like the guys on the next layout then I can annoy them with the bells and whistles. Seriously, no I don't, but the kids love it when the locomotives "talk" to them; ok, it's a gimmick. Of course, there are down sides because we don't get shorts, we get dead shorts, with the embarrassment of pushing the stock clear. Then before the exhibition, I have to ensure the numbers are in the same sequence on all the handsets. Not disputing Tony's preference for analogue. It's horses for courses. Bill

Spent the afternoon at Lords, where they replicated the original fixture between MCC and Hertfordshire. Playing for the home team today was a certain Brian Lara. He was rusty at the beginning of his innings then suddenly the ball was travelling to all corners of the ground. The first aid work was interesting as well. Bill

Tony, I have gained the impression that Aditi doesn't give a d*mn about the management but cares for her colleagues, her job and the kids. The aim of management appears to be to cull 80 people by whatever means they can (sickness, lateness, left handedness) so that they can avoid paying proper redundancy; whilst hoping their bully boy tactics will get people to sign up without going to an employment tribunal. What are the unions doing about this? Because I hope they are communicating together, such that at the very least they ensure the college obey employment law in every single instance. Bill