Coryton

And it was actually in focus, which is more than some people manage.

It works with Hornby train set controllers when you short circuit them...

From a quick glance at the Railway Modeller article, it started out using a programmable home brew computer (with a massive 32 bytes of RAM), but it suffered from electrical interference and the need to reprogram it every time the power was turned off and back on again. So it was replaced with a "motor driven multiple cam switch" which implemented a fixed program in a less interesting but more reliable manner than the computer.

Maybe I'm stating the obvious, but I would think that the electronics in a DCC layout are much, much more complex than that, but the "wiring" is mostly hidden away in teeny tiny bits of silicon. If you printed out a circuit diagram for this system, and then for the electronics in a DCC controller, and in just one DCC chip, I think you'd need a lot more paper for DCC. And how long would it take to make sense of how all the chips in DCC work, plus the program running on the controller (and on the DCC chip?)....? There's a big difference in simplicity from the user's point of view, and from the point of view of actually implementing something these days.

Supposedly it's illegal to burn coal in the grounds of a nuclear power station because it would exceed the permitted radioactivity levels. That's what they used to say on tours round Sellafield/Calder Hall, anyway.

I can beat that. I was involved in a physics experiment which has taken low-radioactivity lead from a Roman ship wrecked over 2000 years ago and cooled it to ridiculously low temperatures under a mountain in Italy. http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100415/full/news.2010.186.html

Perhaps the scratches are also in excellent condition?

You don't have to buy it now. You can bid for it too, with a low, low, starting price of £199.99. Obviously setting it as high as £200 would have been ridiculous...

I think at least some of the strange Amazon/Abe Books pricing is due to sellers running algorithms that automatically calculate prices based on what their competitors are offering. You then get two (or more) companies locked in loops where seller A responds to seller B's price, who responds to sellers A's price, who responds to seller B's price, which can drive prices up to silly values. Or down. You can follow the wild fluctuations in price on uk.camelcamelcamel.com. For example, the lowest price for the Colin Marsden Diesel and Electric Loco Recognition Guide (new) hit a high of £47.99 in June last year, then dropped to 1p just before Christmas (a very convenient time for a bargain), before shooting up to £20, where it seems to have stayed this year. But you can choose to pay £179.93, or £999.00 if you want. And if you prefer 2nd hand, you can have a 2nd hand one for £999.00 too. Sometimes buying from Amazon feels like playing the stock market.

I think you can get them in boxes of 100 from all good stationary shops...

Interesting. So the website default is to assume that when they have sold the last one of something there will be no more coming, and somebody has to manually override it if in fact they are expecting another batch in? You live and learn. Don't know what happened though with the Hornby web site briefly showing the blue ones as "Stock notification" rather than being order-able. (Edited because I can't spell)

The red ones are back on the Hattons site now. "(Next batch due 11th March)" "Due into stock on or after Monday 24th February 2014" Both on the same page...

I see. Well, they've now got more than 10 Tarmac ones, the NCB blue ones are on pre-order, and the red ones have vanished completely. If you search for it on Ehattons via Google the page is there, with "This item has sold out and we are unfortunately unable to obtain any additional stock of this particular product." They are still available on the Horby web site...but the blue one is now out of stock....for good until/if they make another batch?

Ah. Didn't think of that. Hattons it is then....

Ah but the seller is offering free delivery. So you'd only save £6.50 if you had it posted from Hattons. Unless you bought something else at the same time, of course...

The "Satrosphere" (sic) is a hands-on science centre in Aberdeen, housed in an old tram shed - see http://www.satrosphere.net/. There are (or at least were a few years ago) some tracks still evident outside. The coffee shop is called the "Tramsheds Coffee House".

I think "Limited stocks, but available for immediate order" is just what the system says when the number in stock is very small. I don't think I've ever seen them report 1 left in stock, and all the 2nd hand stuff (where there is usually presumably just one in stock) read "Limited stocks" etc.

Apologies if this has already come up, but a quick search didn't find anything... Can anyone explain what's going on with the wheels on the train in the cover photo on Issue 1? Somehow the wheels of the first tender seem to have ended up under the rear of the locomotive, and the leading bogie of the first coach under the 2nd tender. I'm have difficulty seeing how this could be a trick of perspective, as opposed to dodgy photo-shopping but maybe I'm missing something? Doesn't affect the model which is of course what I bought it for...but I'm still curious.

I forgot... NOT Hornby, Lima, Bachmann

Would suit Hornby, Bachmann

Hattons are still saying they are expected on the 24th, so I think the answer to what might happen on the 24th is not a lot. And yes, they do say 2014!

At the moment the Sentinels on Amazon appear to be at full price (insofar as there is such a thing these days) but I'm pretty sure I saw one of them (the Tarmac one?) at £45 at one point. Of course Amazon being what it is, there's no knowing if tomorrow some or all will drop to £45 or less, only to go up again apparently at random.

Anyone have an idea as to why/how Amazon seems to be getting these before the regular model shops? Isn't Hornby supposed to be supporting "bricks and mortar" shops?

The Hornby web site now seems to be showing the Tarmac one as in stock - it lets you put it in your basket anyway. It's showing as *New* unlike the other Sentinels.