PatB

Although my current Huawei phone is brilliant (I daresay the Chinese government are very disappointed in how boring my life is, however), the couple of ZTEs I've had in the past have been utter rubbish. Probably more due to their being cheap rather than anything inherent in their Chinese origins.

I'd be quite surprised if it did "work perfect" given the position of the LH coupling rod. I assumed it was 0, given the starting price.

Dividing 5280 by 9.42 gives you the wheel RPM at 60 mph (60 mph is one mile per minute), which works out to be 560.5. This will also be the model's wheel RPM at a scale 60 mph (assuming 12 mm dia wheels rather than the undersized ones fitted to many older r-t-r diesel models). Wheel RPM for other speeds can then be worked out quite easily pro-rata. I get 9.34 RPM per mph (560.5/60).

Frankly, I've no idea why the bloke is wearing hi-viz, but then I'll happily confess to being in complete ignorance of the reasons for the "fashion" choices of much of the population. What I don't do as a result is assume that they're engaged in some form of deception. As for being beyond the sign? Well, technically yes, but he's still on a part of the platform that appears indistinguishable from the bit 2 metres away, and he's certainly still on this side of the obvious boundary represented by the fence and the top of the platform ramp. I'd concur that the sign is sited where it is because the post presented a convenient mount for it. That what the subject of the OP is doing truly constitutes intentional trespass is seriously stretching it IMHO.

This thread is very informative, but not in the way that many of its contributors probably think..........

My still very small Dublo collection comprises a BR black 0-6-2T (restored from a very sad example with the help of self adhesive livery labels off Ebay), a BR green Duchess (which I must get round to cleaning up), a Silver King (mechanically sorted but cosmetically a little worn), three maroon suburban coaches (transparent window variety) and a box of assorted track. The locos and stock are intended for a far distant, possibly fantastic, outdoor 3-rail project. One day they'll be joined by a Castle, an 8F and a 2-6-4T, along with examples of the diesels. I don't think a 3-rail West Country will ever be within my price range, and the 08 also seems to go for daft money, although I know the whereabouts of a sensibly priced 2-rail (maybe Wrenn) example. Obviously I'll be needing suitable stock for them to haul as well. Proper Dublo 3-rail stock has the advantage of being all metal, so the entire train forms the current return path, which is handy if you're too lazy to clean track .

As a (former) Engineer, I've never really been bothered about the misappropriation of the term. I know what I am, and the people whose opinion/judgment actually matters know the difference, so I don't really care what others may call themselves. Public opinion? If you care about that you maybe should have availed yourself of career opportunities in professional sport or vacuous TV celebrity 'cos if you do anything actually useful in the English speaking world you're on a major hiding to nothing in that regard.

IIRC there was a bit of a fuss here in Oz a year or two back. Some faulty tempered glass, as used for balustrades and pool fences and such, started going bang all over the place in expensive new apartment buildings.

I'll defer to those of greater Mini knowledge, but wouldn't the alleged date of 1968 be a bit early for a Pubman? I thought all the Tigers were the Mk1 shell with the hockey-stick tail lights. Again, i don't consider myself qualified on Rootes/Chrysler/Talbot history though.

I'd concur with the opinion that the glass contained internal stresses from the manufacturing process which eventually brought about failure. I've not personally seen a delayed action effect (though I'm aware that it does happen) but I've seen pieces go bang while cooling in a glassworker's studio a few times. As a potter, though, I'm very much aware of the possibility of glazes, which are closely related to glass in many cases, developing crazingvor beginning to spall after an indeterminate period. Such faults can show up days, weeks, months after firing and regardless of whether the piece has been used or not.

Might be a Mini van, possibly with windows fitted. It's got the roof vent and the fuel filler behind the wheel arch. It also looks to be of a size with the Traveller/Countryman in front of it.

You could always propel freights in. I doubt if it would be ideal practice but there's a prototype for everything.

Postage charge is excessive within Oz too at $20. Nearer $10 would be closer to the mark. Interesting selection of CandC pickups though. There's one at an ice-cream shop near me, which I really wouldn't have figured as a parcel handling facility.

Whilst I daresay they appeared elsewhere in the country, those look like Bridgwater pantiles on the buildings to me, so somewhere in North or West Somerset maybe?

That last Brighton shot isn't the Maybach Metallurgique is it? The quoted performance suggests as much. I thought Brighton was 1/2 mile though.

Ford Transits are made in Turkey. For the Oz market at least.

I always thought it was PWM rather than feedback that coreless motors didn't like. Or is it both?

Whilst I'm not really qualified to offer an actual opinion, as I haven't worked in the rail industry, I have worked in areas where the widespread adoption of hi-viz (both personnel and equipment) has coincided with substantial reductions in accident rates. Whether that change was causal or coincidental may be open to question. However, I suspect better visibility made some contribution, but as part of a much broader suite of changes that were adopted in response to some truly appalling figures which came to light a couple of decades ago. TBH I can't think of a truly compelling reason why you wouldn't put a hi-viz colour on the front of a train. It's probably worth bearing in mind, though, that yellow warning panels were introduced at a time when PW working practices were more akin to those of the Victorian era, with many more workers on live lines, less easy communication between those on the ground and operating staff, and often margins of safety that would be considered wholly intolerable today. The YWP is really a last line of defence. I would hope that modern working practices have improved to make the need for that last line of defence less frequent than it was 50 years ago.

Both Brazil and Mexico have significant motor manufacturing industries. The general standard of domestically run manufacture seems comparable with China (based on the VW stuff I've seen from both). They also contain factories for some major European brands. OK, putting cars together isd not, perhaps, directly transferable to model trains, but it still indicates a local ability to deal with complex, technical assembly tasks.

I'm not saying that "Something must be done" exactly. I am saying that those arguing that the motorist brought it on themself by driving too fast and, by implication, that the railway is being unfairly blamed and put upon seem to be wilfully ignoring many decades of legal precedent that indicate, fairly clearly, that obstructing roads with big, unlit things is something one shouldn't do.

They're great when it's dry, and very cheap to run compared to refrigerated AC, but not much use in high humidity. My memory of UK hot weather is that it tends towards the sticky.

And yet the law recognises that large, unlit objects on roads are dangerously hard to see at night, hence the longstanding legal requirement to light at least some of them, regardless of whether road users are driving within the limit of their headlamps or not. Sorry folks, but it's not just hooligans like me who think it's unreasonable to lay this one on the motorist.

Unusually for a West Australian these days I live without AC, which can get a bit uncomfortable in summer, but there you go. I'd offer the thought that, if you go for it, considerinstalling rooftop PV at the same time. When you need the AC you are also likely to be getting maximum solar output so it should offset a decent proportion of your summer running costs.

Everyone's a clueless git in their teenage years. Anyone who claims not to have been is deluded. Fortunately most of us actually learn a bit from the experience which is helpful when we grow up. Don't sweat it. All will be well.

"Try to hold your breath as much as you can" I suspect.