Derekl

Yes, that was my understanding which I didn't make clear - they were much more interested in making plutonium than electricity, although that wasn't mentioned in the PR activity surrounding the opening of Calder Hall for reasons that are obvious. Wandering yet more off topic, my late father was a journalist in Barrow in the early 1950s. He covered sheep dog trials as he was the only one in the office who could drive to the rural locations. Through those contacts he found and reported on widespread destruction of sheep in the Windscale area following a radiation leak. The story was canned under the "D Notice" procedure as a breach of national security. Back to topic....

I used a diesel-trains.co.uk kit for the Lima 37. Easy to do and far improved performance. It is an idea to check that there is no flash on the gear wheels in the drive train. I used Ultrascale replacement wheels - this was a long time ago and I am not sure whether they are still around.

Where are Heljan made?

You kind of miss my point - I suspect in the overall scale of things, it isn't much, as I suggested. I doubt that the operation is covering costs for the many reasons given in this thread. When Serco was appointed to run the service, there was reference to franchise payments to Serco, so it does appear that the Scottish government is subsidising Serco to run the service, thus contributing to Serco overall profitability. Although they had problems a few years back, Serco is now profitable and pays dividends and doubtless bonuses. I can see how there might be a view in some Scottish governmental circles that subsidising Serco is unattractive. Although the cessation of the franchise has been announced, the announcement specifically says that future plans for the operation are still under consideration.

Of course, if the franchise is removed from Serco and operated in-house, there is an immediate saving of the contribution to Serco dividends and directors pay and bonuses. Whether that is enough of a saving to justify the move I wouldn't know, but I can see how the argument is attractive.

I can't say I have noticed this and I walk regularly around this area. If anything, I find most people are considerate and reasonably careful. Obviously there are a few less so, and schoolkids can be a little thoughtless on occasion. It is possible that the population density on streets and paths is lower than areas like London, which may help.

I fitted one of these in a Lima 37 - mine came from "Diesel trains" - at the time Strathpepper had no stock. Very easy to fit (even for a ham-fisted operator like me) and the running is transformed. Recommended.

Not sure about that, but most of CEGB electricity generation was on plants (mostly coal) which were slow to ramp up and down, which is something to do with the enthusiasm for Economy 7.

I am not sure what that is, but it is definitely not a South African EMU. The SA version of an EMU is cruder, with sharp boxy corners and no buffers.

It was made at the opening ceremony of Calder Hall, although I cannot remember who said it. Although Calder Hall was the first commercially sized nuclear power station, it turned out the prime aim was less to generate cheap electricity than to develop weapons grade material for less peaceful use - like bombs.

I rode in an ex-LMS porthole stock open second in a relief train from Dundee to Kings Cross on Easter Monday 1976, obviously in blue and grey. I didn't get the number, but I did check the builder's plate, because I was a bit surprised to see it.

I have just bought two pre-owned locos from Hattons - Bachmann BR Std 2-6-4T and an ex-LMS 3F 0-6-0. Both were listed as pristine condition, good box and roughly £100 each. The BR Std had never been out of its box - there are usually slight marks on the plastic container where it has to be slid out to get at the model and there were not. It is in pristine condition (well, so far - let's see what it looks like after I have managed to open it up to fit a decoder). The 3F had been out of its box as the front vacuum pipe and screw coupling (separate items) had been fitted, but it had not been run, as far as I could see. it is decoder fitted, the decoder still being set to address 3, suggesting it had not been run. (Runs very well now, though). Intrigued to look up the actual loco and find that it was built in 1899 and withdrawn in 1962. Mostly based at Saltley, nowhere near where my layout is supposed to be, but there we are. Both were in my trunk - delivery requested Tuesday, arrived Wednesday - superb service, which is all I have had from Hattons. Impressive.

These things have varying accuracy. in my last house I had an old style thermostat in a corner of the lounge which was part of a larger open area including dining and kitchen (much better than it sounds). I had it set to 16 Celsius, but the area generally, measured by a weather station more centrally situated, was usually 20 Celsius. I suspect the thermostat may have been defective, although it was fairly new or, more likely, it was located in a naturally cold spot, so the low setting reflected its area, not the totality of the room.

I have heard a lot about this, butg I wonder. I have a few devices on at present - not least this laptop with a separate second screen, the WI-fi router, an answering machine a phone on charge, and one or two other devices on standby (a microwave, for one). Current consumption now according to the smart meter is 81w. I am sure there are devices which are juicy if left on standby, but it also seems there are plenty that are pretty much neither here nor there. I do generally agree that unnecessary things should probably be switched off, but some really does not seem to matter. If I have missed something, delighted to be corrected.

I have traveled a fair amount in South Africa. Generally speaking in terms of road space you would not have a problem, but I do wonder at the idea of grinding through the Karroo on a hot day at maybe 60 km/h with a nice strong easterly breeze pushing you sideways. The idea is not totally appealing. I also would be concerned at the low speed given the generally quite high speeds on national roads. My experience is that speeds for cars are around 120 km/h, the trucks a little less (despite the "90km/h" stickers on the rear). A 60 km/h or thereabouts is a hazard, although I suppose there are plenty of hazards on SA roads in any event, so perhaps make little difference.

Sorry, but no, this isn't right - I drove BUTs (early ones similar to those used in London, and later larger vehicles), Sunbeams and Regent Mk5s in Johannesburg, South Africa. I missed out on the Guy Arab. There was simply no relation between either BUT and the Regent Mk5. The Mk5 had a diesel engine in front, driving (in our case) through a semi-automatic gearbox and a propeller shaft to a diff on a single rear axle. The BUTs had no engine in front, a full width cab with various electrical control gubbins in cabinets on the rear wall and a circuit breaker above the driver's seat. Below the floor were first the resistance mats to shunt current on start and acceleration, followed by the motor driving a prop shaft a short distance to the diff on the first axle. A second axle hung on behind. These buses were noticeable heavier than the Mk5s (by some way) and I cannot see that any of the Mk5 chassis could be used, although I expect there were some common parts. Note the capacity of both BUTs was well in excess of a Mk5, although I cannot remember the numbers at this distance. As I said, I had not driven a Guy Arab, but I have seen pictures, and it bears no relation to the Sunbeams I drove - these were big powerful buses (also twin rear axle) with delightful power steering and a passenger capacity of 106 (including standing). We also had Guy diesel buses with 6 wheel chassis and a Rolls Royce engine. They were close to the Sunbeams in size and I have no doubt there were common components, but the underfloor layout is so far different and the weight substantially so that I cannot see that there would be more than that.

I grew up in South Africa from the mid-50's until I left in 1976. While the iniquities of apartheid were not readily apparent to a 5 year old, as one got older the realisation started to dawn that all was not well with this society and by the time I left I regarded it as thoroughly rotten and corrupt. The SAR would make an attractive model - impressive and distinctive locomotives and rolling stock running in often spectacular scenery. It would have to be against the background of the racism - separate station entrances for whites and blacks - while separate entrances may not apply on the sort of smaller stations we would model, the rest of the facilities were be thoroughly segregated (including ticket office) and there were distinctive differences between the facilities for whites and blacks, the latter usually being to pretty awful standard, if existent at all. I could not bring myself to make a model of that, indeed, I feel slightly sick at the thought of erecting the signs..... On the other hand, I suppose, the picture of a Garratt passing through the Magaliesberg (or thereabouts) on the Johannesburg - Bulawayo "express", then via Mafeking and Botswana, with the white fireman and driver sitting on the cab roof in the wind, while the black man who was employed for a pittance to shovel coal forward on the coal bunker, drove and fired in what must have been a hot and sweaty cab. (Well, I couldn't see him, but I could see the two on the cab roof, so made the presumption). Bear in mind too, that the two whites had a career path ahead (well, assuming no one found out about this practice - although perhaps it was common in remote areas), but the black man had reached about as far as he could go.

British Steel Llanwern sent steel coil in block trains to Honda in Swindon from 1985 or thereabouts (when the plant opened) and presumably did the same for other destinations. One of the early Honda trains was checked on arrival by Honda quality control. Some of the coils were out of spec. The tails of the coils had not been trimmed so were below spec gauge - a well known problem with coil - as the end passes through the mill it thins out, so the tail is less than specified - it should be checked and cut off. Honda sent the whole train back, to much consternation at Llanwern - they were used to British Leyland's rather more lax approach. Needless to say, outgoing QC at Llanwern got a shot up the backside and coils were properly trimmed thereafter. So you can run full coil trains in both directions!

I disagree - the supplement is a well-balanced presentation. It is useful to know what steam was still running in 1970 (and beyond) and the short section devoted to the preservation movement seemed to me quite appropriate. It certainly suggests that steam by 1970 was but a fraction of what was going on. Intriguing picture on page 11 (middle pic of Stockport) There is a reference to the limited use of hi-vis. The chap I assume to be the lookout is in front, straddling the track and wearing the limited hi-vis used at the time, as are the three railworkers behind him. To the right are what appear to be two men and two women without any hi-vis, apparently strolling along the track. ???

This is the difficulty with Kadees - they have to be at the same height or they don't work properly. I would avoid fiddling with the coupler pins (the surest guide to height problems is when the pin interferes with the base of the height gauge. You need to make a plan to get the heights right - sometimes a shim under or over the coupler in the NEM box works, otherwise you may have to remove and replace the box in a better position, or remove completely and replace with a Kadee No 5 and box

"Through Limestone Hills" - Bill Hudson (OPC) has drawings of most of the stations and ancillary buildings, such as goods sheds, yard buildings, and the like on the Midland main line from Ambergate to Chinley. Obviously only useful if you are modelling the Midland, but a valuable resource if available.

Sorry - I only now notice that there had been more replies. The model no is 32-507. The acceleration and maximum speed are set as recommended by ESU, but I didn't try it on a rolling road on DCC. I haven't measured the actual speed, not having the equipment, but I have been doing this for a while and I appreciate that there is often a perception that speed are low, I think I have probably got a reasonable perception myself.

After my smug comments above to the effect that my track appeared unaffected by the heat (it certainly showed no signs of buckling or similar) I tried running a few trains to day and was surpised to get a few (not many) derailments. I got a little irritated and did no further investigation at the time, but it occurs to me that what has happened is that rail has expanded and contracted in the heat and cool and caused distortion here an there. Full investigation tomorrow (or soon)

My shed reached 32 degrees yesterday. I had a good look for any track problems, but none. There are two windows (smallish) which get full sun during the day winter and summer, clouds permitting. I put a UV filter on the glass, but, of course, that does not inhibit heat, so I fitted blinds (obtained on-line, not very expensive) and have them adjusted so that the full sun cannot shine directly on track or stock. I suspect the blinds help a lot and are worth considering. No, I didn't actually panic, but I did have a good look to check that nothing was going amiss.

As I said above, I think they simply went for what was tried and tested. SA railway standards are based on 3'6" gauge, and would have had to be rewritten to encompass standard gauge (probably not that difficult, but nevertheless requiring skills perhaps not readily available in the consortium that constructed the line. Note that Bombardier was a partner in the consortium which may have something to do with the use of the 375s. It may have made more sense to build using a less restrictive loading gauge, but I think they just wanted to go with what was proved to work. Also a bit more on topic, many of the South African Railways steam locos, obviously to a substantially larger loading gauge than UK, were built in Glasgow by North British Loco and in Manchester by Beyer. Th early electric locos came from AEI in the UK, also to far larger gauge than UK.