david.hill64

There we go: the truth will out!

Grimsby to Great Malvern. Is there a more unlikely journey anywhere else in the timetable?

Wonderful work as usual! The crostie is so ugly it's beautiful. The Gresley fantastic. Well done.

What do you use for the spectacle glasses and how are they retained please?

Unless it was on Ebay, whereupon it would be describde it as 'professionally weathered'....................

I saw one in Bangkok last year - and a Maxi! There are several old Minis still in use here.

Interesting extract from Roger Ford's ezine: "A view from the sharp end on GWEP cost increases came in a message to staff from Mike Gallop, Director Route Asset Management (Western) following the PAC revelations. He highlighted ‘developing the OHLE system from an early stage to final design’. Series 1, intended to remove as many of the failings of the BR Mk3b OHLE equipment as possible, was developed with Swiss manufacturer Furrer+Frey. However because the applications had been limited to Swiss railways ‘considerable work was required to develop the design to a standard usable on our network’. " Now I had believed that NR would have had to use electrification compliant with the TSI. Is this the case? If so, then why on earth did NR select Furrer and Frey if their equipment was not TSI compliant? If the F&F equipment is TSI compliant, then is NR gold plating the requirements? There is also a nice swipe at DaFT's realisation that the laws of physics apply in their universe too.

Wow! That looks like a big load for a 25.

If I were the Operations Director of a TOC, and a member of my staff was successfully prosecuted for following company procedures, then I would have to ask myself could I continue to operate knowing that my procedures were deemed to be so unsafe as to allow the prosecution to succeed. Even the possibility of a successful prosecution would give cause for concern. Assuming I still have a job, I think in case of a successful prosecution I would have no option but to stop all services until new procedures have been developed, approved and staff properly trained. There might also be technical changes required. If I were the Operations Director of another TOC using similar despatch procedures, I too would have to wonder about the viability of continuing my operations. Would I be being over-cautious?

At first glance this seems grossly unfair on the guard, but don't forget that there has been a previous prosecution involving a Merseyrail guard: http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/merseyrail-guard-christopher-mcgee-jailed-3329790 Knowing this, it's possible that the ambulance chasers have seen an opportunity to get some cash and have been pushing for a prosecution. It isn't proper to speculate before a trial, but I cannot help but wonder why RAIB were/are not involved. This incident isn't in the list of current investigations. Also, if an internal enquiry has concluded that it is a system risk and not an individual's fault, why then are the CPS not going after Merseyrail? (Unless of course they are). More to this than we currently understand for sure.

With that, Peter lights the blue touch paper and retires........................

Peter well done! I confess to rarely going to the Blogs section, but will follow this thread with interest. How's the jet lag?

Jeff I am sure it will sell, but as I have found out with Gladiator it takes a long time to conclude.

and the Gold Medal in the Olympic Sprint Kit-building Competition goes to ...............Ken! (Again) I am amazed at how quickly this has gone together, especially as there is obviously no compromise on quality. Well done that man!

At Eversholt in the mod 90's we seriously looked at the possibility of a new class 89 build. The 89 was named 'Avocet'. Bounds Green staff joked that the 91's were named 'Ave-a-reset'.

Just the position of the division plate I think. Just the position of the division plate I think.

I suspect that the reason behind this call is a belief by the franchised operators that open access operators do not pay their fare share of NR costs. If I understand it correctly there has been some High Court judgement that they don't need to. This may well be linked to plan to make changes in NR's funding regime. It seems clear to me that costs for access to the railway infrastructure legitimately fall into two categories: fixed and variable. Fixed costs will include things like station rates and signallers salaries which are essentially independent of the number of trains run. Variable costs will include things like track maintenance and energy. If there were a proper charging regime where operators were charged their true variable costs and a proportion of fixed costs, with refunds of fixed costs available if additional operators joined the route, then perhaps Virgin et al would have less to complain about. I suspect all that misses the point though: competition is primarily with other modes and the industry would be better served by using its available intellect to concentrate on how to drive efficiencies to keep costs down and innovations to get ridership up to maximise revenues.

DJH does give alternate part numbers on the photos where required and for the V1 include some photos of the prototype differences (eg bunker types).

Very nice work.

Building the DJH V1 I can certainly empathise with your comment about the instructions. The photos are very useful but some exploded diagrams as well as more words and a complete parts list would help. I know that for the parts there are the excellent photo identifiers. You can certainly use these to tick-off white metal and brass castings and other fixings as you use them, but for the etched parts I think you have to rely on nothing being left on the etch other than alternative parts and spares to ensure that everything is in place. You run the risk of missing something which subsequently becomes hard to fit.

Wonderful shot of the Clacton set with proper windows and livery. How long were they in lined maroon?

Cna yuo tlel mien two please?

Sounds fishy to me........

Annealing, quenching and tempering. Annealing is done to soften a metal by heating to a temperature and time that allows the crystalline structure of the metal to reform after being deformed for example by cold rolling. You can either air cool or cool in s furnace. In the case of brass you can cool it quickly by quenching in water without having a significant effect on the annealing process. Steel is a different animal. Unlike brass, iron or steel adopts a completely different crystal structure at high temperatures. Annealing and cooling allows an orderly transition between structures with the result being a soft material. Quenching from high temperatures attempts to lock the structure in an unstable state and a hard brittle compound forms. Tempering involves reheating to a temperature below the transition temperature which allows partial restitution of the structure and a strong material - steel. The metallurgy of iron-carbon is complex.

Thank you. The reason I asked is that I was worried that if you made the link from the chassis to the motor too stiff, it would stop the compensation (or springing) doing its job. Having said that I did use scrap etch between the motor and frame on theFinney A4 that I built and that seemed to be OK. I suppose ideally the reaction should go to the axleboxes on the driven axle, but if all works then that is fine by me!