Titan

Looks like a real pain.

How do you distinguish between a male ant and a female ant? Put it in a glass of water. If it sinks it is a girl ant, and if it floats it is a buoyant...

I would imagine that is an insulation test using a megga or similar which is completely different from feeding across the coils with 500V - i.e nothing to do with it's current handling ability!

Resistance on High.

Actually it does make a difference, because it is 150psi above atmospheric pressure. To take my example if the safety valve lifts at 150psi above atmospheric pressure, it will still lift at 150psi above atmospheric pressure at high altitude. Since the atmospheric pressure is less, the pressure inside the boiler will be less too. And since pressure gauges also work with respect to atmospheric pressure, the pressure gauge would still show 150psi at altitude despite the absolute pressure in the boiler being less.

Not only that, but as steam is under high pressure in the boiler, the boiling point is much, much higher than under atmospheric pressure. I don't know what pressure these locos ran at, but even at a relatively modest 150psi the boiling point of water is 181oC, and if the loss due to higher altitude means that it boils instead at 179oC you would not notice the difference. The fire burning less brightly due to less oxygen is going to have a far more significant effect!

I am curious, why no splodges of grease on the buffers? The only way they would appear like that is if they had been running around light engine for weeks! I know it is easy to add if I wanted to, but then again that should mean it would be easy to do at the factory too... But apart from that they look superb!

Model Engineering show at Doncaster today:

Bystander: "There's a train coming!" Idiot: "I don't F---ing care!"

I don't have much of an interest in 71's, but I find this thread fascinating! Both models are superb, and yet both models have errors, some being different errors on the same part! A few examples - the rain gutter on the DJM model is a bit too pronounced, but on the Hornby model is almost non-existent! The beading around the cab windows is a little heavy on the DJM model, but again almost non-existent on the Hornby model. The buffer beam detail is far superior on the DJM model, except the draw hook is too high - should be on the centre line of the buffers like the Hornby model. The bogie detail on the DJM model is breathtaking - yet it is missing the body to bogie brackets that the Hornby model has. I am sure there will be many other differences apart from those already mentioned that will come to light as the locos are inevitably compared. Now the above is hopefully my unbiased opinion, others will no doubt differ. In short there is enough differences on both models such that I expect there will be strong advocates of either and the arguments over which is best could be never ending!

Not sure, I guess they wanted a range of diesel types, shunter, small, medium, and large. When the small is a Bo-Bo, and the large is a Co-Co, They may have decided a Co-Bo was a more obvious half way between the two than anything else. They would almost certainly be unaware of it's reliability issues when they made the choice.

Why not go for a Duette? They have a separate winding on the transformer for each controller so that the circuits are completely independent. They do have resistance mats, but seeing as they were designed to run with the motors of the time and have high/low resistance switches to address the slow speed control so should do the job just fine.They are not far off being in period too!

It's a Troll. Well a Trestrol at least!

Unless it was one of these under the bridge?

Ironically in the third paragraph after the first photo it states: 'the X-class was fitted with a marine-type diesel engine, this one being a Crossley eight-cylinder HSTVee-type used in submarines." before going on to strongly refute it later in the article! I suspect it was edited to correct the myth and someone forgot about that bit. Lesson - always proof read the whole thing, not just the bit you are changing!

Even if they had done that they would have completely dissolved within weeks!

A neutral section is a short earthed section of wire used to separate OLE sections fed from different sub stations - usually from different phases so any connection or arc between them would be pretty catastrophic if the breakers did not trip. Here is an example: There is a glass fibre rod insulator with arcing horns, followed by a short earthed section, then another insulator. Unusually the cantilever supporting the earthed section has insulators. Normally these would be omitted as there is no need for them. APC or Automatic Power Control magnets are there to ensure that the circuit breaker on the roof is opened automatically prior to entering a neutral section, as a big damaging arc would be drawn across the insulators if the loco was still drawing power. You can see the yelllow APC magnets either side of the track here: The reason they are staggered is due to direction of traffic. When travelling at speed there must be enough time for the breaker to be properly opened, so the magnets must be placed far enough away from the neutral section for this to happen. The higher the line speed the further away the magnets are placed. However when leaving the neutral section the breaker can be commanded to close as soon as it has cleared the insulator, so the second set of magnets can be much closer . There is a receiver mounted on each side of the train as close to the centre line of the pantograph as possible, which usually means on the bogie under the pan. All the magnets are the same, and just flip the breaker on the train from on to off or off to on depending on its state. If a magnet is not detected and the breaker remains open the driver can close it by pressing the 'pan up' button, even if the pan is already up. Their is an advance warning of a neutral section to remind the drivers to close the power handle before the breaker trips so that it is not under load: You can see it here: Further information here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overhead_line http://railsimroutes.net/blog/ https://www.railelectrica.com/traction-distribution/over-head-equipment-neutral-section/

Did someone mention 00 ? Well I am a hoopy frood who is not throwing his towel anywhere.

I have had enough of railway modelling and am taking up Cockfighting. I am throwing in the fowl.

Unless the one on the right has just raided the fridge, then it is full of delicious bacon. Grrr!

Lets face it, a class 40 running "light" engine is still moving a heavy load!

In case you had not noticed, Derby is an indigenous train builder. Why oh why do people keep associating the nationality of the owners with the nationality of the works? I live in a 1930's built typical 3 bedroom semi detached house in Derby - about as typically British a house as you can get. If I sold it to a German does it suddenly become a German house? No it does not. It is still a British house in a British city. Similarly the Derby Works is still an indigenous British train Builder in a British City with British Workers still using the same British buildings that it has done for the last 100 years or so. Like it or not, it it is still British with all that British history that comes with it irrespective of who owns it.

1. The pantographs will be lowered automatically when in service. They will be operated by on track transmitters at the appropriate locations. Of course these won't cater for test trains like this one. 2. It is not the number of available staff that restricts the capacity. Besides hardly any of those unemployed graduates have degrees in Engineering anyway.

To be fair our native rolling stock manufacturer is running pretty much flat out.

Except that this picture was taken well after introduction to service!