woodenhead

The redesign is something along these lines:

Top  four lines are basically Chester Northgate, the bottom four I've added.  I see it operating something like this from top to botton:

1. Main platform for mainline services
2. Siding for parcels
3. Siding for parcels
4. Parcels and occasional passenger
5. Parcels
6. Local services
7. Local services
8. Local services

The fiddleyard if a traverser would hold 11/12 parcels and mainline trains plus some using some points to store my dmus allowing also for a class 120 when RevolutioN get around to it.  I also hope to be able to put some loco stubs on the main baseboard to store locos (off scene) via the traverser.  A traverser also allows electrical continuity easier that having to plug cassettes to something when shunting of some elements of the existing layout, great when I am using sound.

But before I head off rebuilding I actually want to construct the roof and the station building as I will then build the platforms and track within it.  I've got the trusses so I know how each span impacts each platform etc and it will be in the style of Chester Northgate albeit double the width as more platforms.  I've got enough images of the station to create a pastiche of it as well.

I like the reduction in points, it has a more flowing feel than the present layout that is too cramped for the size of station and I especially dislike how trains currently leave the top line across a complex throat with a lot of points that I really liked in the design stage but didn't seem right once built.

The extra platforms are not to create a busy station, in fact the opposite, I want trains to be able to arrive and dwell for ages and more platforms allows for that as I don't need to have one train exit for another to enter - though to be fair I can do that now too lol.  I sort of want a 1970s Manchester Victoria vibe - a lot of station but not always busy.

@Wickham Green too Blackburn has received some TLC in recent years though

https://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~owend/interests/rail/stnpages/blackburn.html

6 minutes ago, andytrains said:

Gosh.

Went to Skeggie once and we turned around and went back to Mablethorpe! 🤣

Were you at the caravan park?

Mablethorpe was very nice

Still in the doldrums.

Do I rebuild?

Do I go 2mm fs?

Do I drop cassettes for a traverser?

The urge to rebuild is strong.  Two reasons, I feel I’ve crammed in the throat to make it all fit in the scenic space, which in turn has crammed the station. I’ve designed a slightly different version with less points, I will accept there are more points in the world beyond the break. I’ve also added three platform faces in the design whilst retaining the original Northgate design as well.  The reasoning is I want the local services to have their own platforms in my world.  It’s still up in the air how I will proceed but I have now purchased roof trusses to build a roof to cover the platforms at the station end.  In my version the station building will be turned and placed at the end of the platforms as well.  Plasticard has been purchased and I will build the station first and lay the track around it.

The 2mm and N gauge track building urge is still here and @Izzy’s latest mini project and foam board base is interesting.  But I am tangenting when I should be sticking to one project.

Then there is the fiddleyard, if I swap to a traverser I gain a second spare board for whatever other project I fancy, I might also be more inclined to play trains if I don’t have to manoeuvre a four foot stick every train movement.

So little progress but some green shoots and despite me writing this on the internet, I am actually spending less time online and more time reading and doing other stuff than vegetating on a machine.

Back to the Iain Rice plastic structure book…..

1 hour ago, Jeremy Cumberland said:

An early use of a mobile phone, I see.

He’s ordering breakfast from the restaurant car.

Went this morning, Coppell and Barton Rd are the standouts for me but a good mix of scales and eras.

Parking was a bit of a mare despite there being a lot of area to park in, but I guess that’s what comes of going on the Saturday morning.

One thing I would say and it’s not limited to this show: don’t put trade on the stage as it loses passing traffic, the chap did not look too busy unlike the other trade.

3 minutes ago, Ozexpatriate said:

Yes - that's the most weirdly "human" thing about it. Very "lifelike".

I also love that CoPilot loves to reference Stack Overflow in preference to MS Learn, typically it's early example code and referencing is Stack Overflow and then somewhere down the list it refers you to the Microsoft pages.

17 minutes ago, Ozexpatriate said:

No - it's not "sentient".

 

And LLM generative AI is much more capable than "guessing the next word". Generative AI programs have passed the bar exam.

 

Now of course passing the bar exam requires a lot of rote learning and somewhat formulaic responses based on learning precedent. LLM-based generative AI is good at that sort of thing.

 

"Artificial Intelligence" does not have to be sentient. That may be your definition, but it is not how the term is used.

 

The "Turing Test" aka Imitation Game (essentially the "duck" test*) was the "standard" for Artificial Intelligence. I would suggest the state of the technology is pretty close to that.

 

* If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's a duck.

 

The company I work for develops applications that use Generative AI, I see what it does and I am impressed.

It's very clever and clearly it is a massive leap forwards that will make big changes in how we interact but it still makes mistakes and when a guru advises you to check everything it does carefully because it lies / hallucinates, making up it's own references at times to justify it's answer, then you know it's got some way to go.  There are lots of applications for the technology and it will replace jobs in significant numbers when the truly good applications come to full fruition.

7 minutes ago, montyburns56 said:

 Bold Colliery, on the Friday before the Rocket 150 cavalcades. 23 May 1980 by Nigel Menzies

 

 

I bet the NCB shunter driver at Bold couldn't believe his luck when he came on shift and was presented with all kinds of steam traction to do his HAA marshalling with 😄

2 minutes ago, Ozexpatriate said:

No - Large Language Models are one branch of Artificial Intelligence. The terms are not equivalent.

 

I didn't call LLM AI, I made a statement and followed it up with why an LLM is not AI.

They are a sophisticated guess the next word model, that is very good at what it does, but it is not sentient.

So the Jacobite is running (or is it)

https://westcoastrailways.co.uk/news/jacobite-seats-available-to-book

Cash only, pay the guard on the platform if there are seats available.

So if you are not in Fort William and the train happens to be in the platform and is allowing passengers to enter then you're not getting a trip.

Has it actually run since Monday?

Edit: it did run today, it arrived back 18 minutes early from Mallaig and went off to the coach sidings 25 minutes early

Some analysis of the service that failed?

Has the train actually run since Monday?

12 minutes ago, jamie92208 said:

What pray is LLM

 

Confused of Saleignes. 

 

 

Large Language Model - what AI is apparently. 

Actually it's not, it just a bloody clever guess the next word in the sequence model.

They call it AI so lay people think it is, but it isn't.  The LLM cannot think for itself, cannot decide for itself, it's all built on rules.  But what it does do is learn, it does guess the next word well and it can draw things, it can also find a needle in a haystack.

True AI is a self thinking machine that makes it's own decisions, so far we haven't been presented with any true AI, or at least we don't think we have.

1 hour ago, Gwiwer said:

Absolutely.

 

Dr. SWMBO had been in an AI workshop yesterday and demonstrated some of the capabilities to me last night.  She could not get the Pi app to recognise her voice nor to speak to her but it did respond to text and produced some credible output in response to her input.  Then there was another which "writes" music; she asked it for a "1980s power ballad theme song" including several key words.  Almost instantly out came something which sounded a lot like a Starship track and included not only the key words she asked for but key phrases she uses at work that were not included in the request.  

 

So who is spying on whom and why?  "They" already know a great deal about us but that does not mean they have our consent to hold nor to use that information.  In the UK GDPR provisions apply.  You can bet these apps are not UK-based though they can in some circumstances be governed by UK law.  

 

Humans are not being made redundant by AI.  

 

I am very wary of it.  I haven't knowingly given any information away specifically to any AI platform.  I feel AI sits firmly in the camp of "Just because we can doesn't always make it right".  

 

 

 

 

Most companies are fully aware of the dangers of AI LLM using personal or sensitive data for training the models so take steps to obtain locked copies of the LLM that sit within firewalls so the main source LLM cannot train of it.  Companies who want to consume AI products want to be sure their data is safe and those selling reputable AI products who know that security of data is paramount and have to invest in locked LLM models that will not be training other LLMs using someone else's data.

In terms of redundancy, the scary bit is that most CEO and senior people think they can dispose of developers as the LLM will be able to do that job instead and make no bones about it, which is great for me listening to senior leaders in my company talking about this in front of me.  The talk is all about enriching everyone else's work experience not redundancy, but really it comes down to doing more with less people, they just don't talk about 'automation' in the same language anymore but it's still the same.

Microsoft is now promoting a product that will actually replace the developer, manna from heaven for any CEO, but the question then comes what happens when the LLM/AI develops it's own language to do stuff because it's more efficient and the few developers left cannot fathom how it does stuff - i.e. who fixes it when it breaks.

There are some good uses for LLM/AI, not going to deny it, but to make out it is going to do everything and our lives are going to be so enriched is typical bluster.  The one thing I learnt recently and this is from an LLM/AI guru - don't trust the output, you need to check everything, and how do you do that, you have to check that it's references are real because LLM/AI make things up to justify their findings - really it makes stuff up.  We are doomed!!!

5 minutes ago, Dave Hunt said:

 

 

Although the loos on the cruise ship we went on were vacuum operated, I didn't try seeing what would happen if the flush mechanism was operated whilst I was still sitting on it 😫.

 

Dave

Might be helpful if your diet has been lacking in fibre and you need some assistance....

The question is, with Bachmann now offering it's 016.5 models, will you be widening the roster on this layout despite them being different parts of the UK, or will you be doing a little slate mine as your next project?

Just now, Reorte said:

 

I'm never happy with approaches that take the "treat everyone like a potential criminal" direction. It's sometimes unavoidable in order to get anything done in practice, but I don't think it makes for a healthy society.

It's not criminalising, I've not mentioned anything about punishing.

This to me feels more like protecting someone from danger that they might not be able to perceive.

1 minute ago, Reorte said:

Childhood is a constant battle of pushing boundaries to see what we can get away with. It's how the brain finds out where the boundaries lie, often at a subconscious level.

And childhood doesn't end arbitarily at 17 years old, pushing the boundaries in a fast moving vehicle is not a good way to learn where that brick wall, lamp post or other solid obstacle is.

@kevinlms

https://www.brake.org.uk/get-involved/take-action/mybrake/knowledge-centre/young-drivers

https://www.rospa.com/resources/hubs/young-drivers/after-the-test/young-drivers-at-risk

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a80782ded915d74e33fa9b6/young-car-drivers-2013-data.pdf

5 minutes ago, Reorte said:

The best way to develop instincts about dangerous behaviour is to have a few minor mishaps when young (younger than driving age). Trip up and fall when you're small and it hurts but is unlikely to do any damage, but it still hurts, so you start to develop the instincts to avoid tripping up, and a general sense of self-preservation.

 

I have very vague memories of being at a preserved railway when I was quite small and I found the locos quite intimidating in one place (publically-accessable shed IIRC), seeing them looming above me from ground level instead of the platform, especially walking in front or behind them. If it had totally put me off trains I wouldn't be here, but I do think it created a bit of healthy nervousness about the idea of being in the wrong place relative to them, and since that happened when I was small and the brain very much developing it's stuck.

So on that analogy, let young children out in traffic to get a few glancing blows from passing cars so they understand cars are dangerous and to be treated carefully?

We all learn what's good and bad when we are young, we get that from our parents, our peers and educators.  But the teenage brain is a fast developing vessel that unfortunately thinks doing certain risky activities is a great idea regardless of previous experiences and even more so when it is to impress friends and potential companions.

19 minutes ago, kevinlms said:

But the assumption is in such a case that ALL young males will do the same - something clearly not true. Some are downright dangerous, but not all.

 

You could clearly say in that example the curfew combined with the black box, led to the outcome. Some young people don't have spare cash for a taxi.

Driving safely home was a FAR better option, even if it meant a late arrival. That would be my choice. Not that we have curfews in Oz.

I think the issue is that males are not aware of the perceived risk because they have not developed that part of the brain, so they don't know they are being reckless.  Obviously there is a spectrum of those who are sensible and drive carefully right across to those who are extremely reckless and a massive curve between the two where there will be people who unconscious of their lack of awareness.  The black box clearly has an impact as it is an external monitor that they are aware of and if it believes you are being reckless will result in you losing the insurance and ability to drive.

Sadly it is not possible for people to discriminate between those who will always be sensible, those who don't give a stuff and those who simply don't know, so all come under the same banner and have to accept the black box.  My son recently passed his test and drives his wife's car which used to be ours.  As he was mid twenties when he passed, and married he was not asked to install a black box and neither was his wife for her previous car.

It might feel like a form of big brother but I believe there is sound reasoning behind the need to control the driving of cars for males under a certain age.  I was one of them once, and I can vouch it's easy to stray under peer pressure or the desire to show off.  Luckily I never came to grief and typically after doing something stupid I would not do the same thing again.  And thank goodness I never purchased the original Suzuki Swift GTi pocket rocket I test drove or the Peugeot 205 1.9 GTi, I would have been lethal.

These days I am happy to use the speed limiter on all roads, let my car guide me on efficient foot use and get there when I get there.

7 minutes ago, 30801 said:

 

I can think of at least one fatal accident where the teenage driver was rushing to get home before the black box night time curfew started. Unintended consequences.

That curfew is set because they know the most dangerous time for a teenage male driver to be on the road, from what I have read it is a male thing with the brain not maturing as fast as the female brain leading to more risks being taken.  I think it is the mid twenties when the male brain catches up.

So in some respect we might think the black box is constraining on the person, but perhaps what it is actually doing is acting as a helping hand or aid to stop the person doing some excessive because their mind may not be up to the challenge yet of calculating the true risk.

In the example given, the driver saw it was better to rush home than leave the car somewhere and use a taxi or some other alternative, it's that risk awareness that is lacking because the brain has not developed to full maturity.

Just now, DaveF said:

Changing the subject a bit to speed limits I wonder how many people follow the signs displayed on car screens picked up by the car's built in camera.  

 

Near home mine always displays 20 on one piece of road actually limited to 30 as going round a sharp bend the camera picks up the 20 sign from a side road.

 

Then on a stretch of road recently changed from 40 to 30 it displays 40 as it picks up a sign on the exit before mine as I drive round a roundabout.

 

I wonder how many people have been caught speeding as a result of that.  I simply don't believe what I see on the in car display most of the time.

 

David

Such as 5mph on a motorway because it didn't see any signs before the motorway and didn't notice this time the motorway symbol, but sometimes it does. 

When we first got the car I wondered if it was using something more sophisticated such as a gps/satnav (but we hadn't paid for it so we couldn't see it), but then I realised it was simply a the forward looking camera reading the signs.  Lots of times it does not know the actual speed because it missed the sign that we saw with our mk1 aging eyeballs.

1 minute ago, Reorte said:

Ideally you try to deal with as many as possible before the test (preferably by stopping them from starting to form in the first place), but without checks most people will drift over time. Equipment needs calibration from time to time, and it's not a bad analogy for people.

I'm not sure what the backlogs are like now for new drivers trying to get their test, can you imagine how bad it would be if everyone at licence renewal needed a test to renew and who do you prioritise with a risk of people losing a licence because there is no test available even with an allowance period to get the test done.

Sounds like a rather good little money earner for HM Government though.

14 minutes ago, admiles said:

 

There's no requirement to display a P plate after you pass your test. They're purely optional and have no legal standing.

 

What helps curb the "enthusiasm" of young drivers is an insurance "black box" which many people choose to have to keep insurance costs down to merely "obscene".  They detect speeding, harsh acceleration and braking etc and deduct points. Lose too many points and to get your insurance cancelled.  

Mrs W's car does all that for free and no black box, we get a report of our driving at the end of every journey in the name of driving efficiently which also goes back to Toyota and is accessible from other devices.

You can imagine over time those black boxes will extend to other age groups especially as the younger ones age and are used to being constantly monitored.   It's a slow creeping surveillance, without going down the conspiracy theory blackholes, ANPR detectors all around the country, growing use of average speed zones and more and more motorway cameras monitoring/enforcing the 70 mph limit.

Clearly good at maintaining the law, aids serious incident evidence gathering and lets the police deal with other matters, the genie is out of the bottle.