ejstubbs

It was FISA. Alfa Romeo was also a member. FOCA was the Formula One Constructor's Association i.e. the 'union' for the non-factory teams which Enzo Ferrari dismissed as "garagisti" rather than proper "costruttori". The two organisations were continually at each other's throats until the first Concorde Agreement was signed in January 1981. That didn't stop the nonsense completely, though, by any means. I remember at the 1981 British GP - for which Lotus had had to cobble together two 'legal' cars to run instead of the banned twin-chassis cars, or else face expulsion from the championship - someone had draped a banner reading "FISA + FOCA = FIASCO" over one of the trackside advertising hoardings. The friction between FISA and FOCA (now both operating under different names I believe) has rumbled on for years, with the Concorde Agreement currently in its eight iteration to the best of my knowledge.

IME of fitting Kadees across my fleet, I reckon your options are: 1) Fit Kadee 'whisker' couplings (the #14x series). The trouble is, it's difficult to know which ones will be the right length and height (underset, centreset or overset) - there are nine options altogether, (product numbers #141-149). So you might have to buy a selection - unless someone has already done the mod and can advise. The length will be partly determined by the minimum radius of the curves on your layout - they need to be long enough to avoid buffer lock on your tightest curves. You may also find that the standard whisker coupling pocket (#242) is too long or wide, which would mean experimenting with the narrow (#262) or short (#252) pockets. All in all, it could end up costing you a fair bit to get the right couplings fitted to just one loco, and thus would be difficult to justify unless you are expecting to modify a lot more non-NEM fitted stock in future. Bear in mind also that this solution will likely involve drilling and/or otherwise modifying the chassis to fit the whisker coupling pocket, which could affect the second-hand value of the model (see also option 5 below). 2) Fit NEM pockets using either the Parkside NEM pocket mounts (which will then require some fishtail NEM pockets, most easily obtained by buying a pack of Bachmann NEM TLCs), or the Dapol NEM pockets. Again, this will likely mean glueing or screwing to the loco, and very possibly other 'surgery'. 3) Have a look at the Hornby service sheets for later versions of the same model to see if there are spare parts available (e.g. tender chassis bottom, front pony truck) for a version that does have NEM pockets. You may still have to source the actual NEM pockets separately, the likelihood being that the Hornby spare parts will only have the socket for the Hornby/Bachmann NEM pocket's fishtail to plug in to, not the pocket itself. 4) Some other solution of your own or some someone else's devising, possibly involving screwing a #5 Kadee coupling directly to the chassis (which I wouldn't actually recommend because you lose the lateral swing in the coupling, although it can work OK). 5) Sell the model you've got and buy a newer version which does have NEM pockets. In all cases, remember that getting the height of the Kadee coupling is critical for correct operation, for which the Kadee height gauge (#206) is invaluable. Also, have a good read through the various existing threads on RMWeb about Kadee couplings. There's lots of good information and experience in there.

When I saw the title of this thread I initially thought that the OP was looking for something akin to the products of Boddery Household Noises Inc: (From a paper by Paul Jennings* in the March 1970 edition of the Journal of the Royal Society of Arts, no less.) I'm rather disappointed to discover that the enquiry was only about lighting a model. * This Paul Jennings https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Jennings_(British_author), not that Paul Jennings https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Jennings_(Australian_author).

Says the man who has chosen to standardise on a single manufacturer's tension lock couplings because of the incompatibilities found between different manufacturers' RTR tension lock couplings. As you yourself have found, "RTR tension lock couplings," as in the ones that a model comes with, are by no means a universal panacea. If one intends to standardise on a specific supplier's couplings (which I think is a good idea, BTW) then other types of non-scale/non-prototypical couplings, e.g. Kadee, and the Hunt magnetic couplings, can be just as good in terms of reliable interoperability (within the chosen coupling range) and just as effective at avoiding buffer lock issues on small radius curves. And stock fitted with close coupling mechanisms really needs one of the rigid coupling types such as the Hunt or Hornby/Roco ones. Fortunately, on modern stock with (correctly located) NEM pockets it's generally a lot easier to standardise on one or two coupling types and equip your fleet accordingly. Retro-fitting more modern coupling types to older stock with couplings moulded or screwed to the chassis can be trickier. Either way, you're generally going to end up spending a bit extra to replace the as-supplied couplings, but for the sake of reliability it is IMO well worth it.

Cheap digital oscilloscopes like this one or this one are more than adequate for this kind of job. Maybe difficult to justify the cost for a one-off task but whoever turned down the opportunity excuse to have more toys tools? (And you might be surprised how useful one can be for other things. I recently used mine to find the "outside foil end" of a cylindrical foil guitar capacitor - and it definitely made a difference installing it with that side connected to ground.) That is how traditional feedback controllers work. I doubt the Compspeed is any different. A key factor is the significantly lower inductance of coreless motors cf cored motors. That means that, at the kind of PCM frequencies used by the type of feedback controller which uses pulses at around or about mains frequency, a coreless motor's impedance can be 20% or less than that of a cored motor. Low impedance means that the current that flows during the pulses is higher - and high current causes overheating. The lack of a heat sink in the form of an iron core just makes the problem worse. The impedance of an inductor is directly proportional to frequency, so at higher frequencies such as the 10-20kHz used by DCC decoders, the impedance of the coreless motor's coils is greater (100 times as much with e.g. 10kHz PCM vs 100Hz PCM) so the current flow - especially the initial peak current during each pulse - is significantly lower and the heating effect is much reduced.

With the contents counting towards this year's cost cap, obviously.

Which seems a bit odd, since "llama beans" are often touted as an excellent organic fertiliser/soil conditioner. They may not be a miracle panacea for all gardening ills (see also the nonsense spouted about "super foods" - aka "food") but they're a perfectly good source of potassium, nitrogen and phosphorous as well as organic material for soil conditioning. Apparently it is best to soak them for a while before adding them to the soil, to help speed up their breakdown. Camelids (which is what llamas are) are similar to ruminants (e.g. cows, sheep & deer) in that they ferment plant fibre in a foregut in order to extract the nutrients they need. They only have three "stomachs", or parts to the gut, unlike ruminants which have four, and they do not chew the cud like ruminants do. Basically, though, the stuff that comes out of a llama's exhaust isn't all that different to what comes out of a cow (on which subject, it seems that camelids aren't quite as bad a ruminants for methane emissions.)

I'm actually going to pick a hole in my own post here: SetTrack* isn't such an obviously straightforward solution if the rest of your layout is Code 75. Although tracks & rail joiners that allow code 76 and code 100 to connect do exist, the use of mixed rail codes might detract somewhat from the effect being sought after. * Thinking here about Peco & Hornby. I know nothing of fixed geometry trackage from other manufacturers e.g. Kato.

Still generally steel, though, aren't they? As Nearholmer said, brass bristles are preferable on good quality precision files, and a suede brush seems to do the job.

Isn't it easier just to buy some, er...2nd radius SetTrack curves? They are available in 45° (double curve), 22.5° (standard curve) & 11.25° (half curve) subtended angles and it's straightforward enough to cut them down to the angle that you need e.g. to fit with Streamline geometry. Probably easier than trying to coax flexi down to such a tight radius.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Control_(fictional_character) I have read all the George Smiley novels and I can't recall Control ever being addressed or referred to in any other way.

ISTR mention of here of a company that will print up photos as backscenes but I'm afraid I cannot remember any details. You'd have to take the photos for them to work from, of course, but it would potentially - if you can find a suitable real-life scene, and get a good enough photo/photos of it - offer the opportunity to get an image as close as possible to what you're after. I like Matt's idea of a linear patch of essentially waste ground between the retaining wall and the backs of the flats. I'd be rather surprised if modern blocks of flats were allowed to be built immediately at the top of a cutting*, though I'm sure someone will be able to come up with at least one example. Buildings dating from the time that the railway was built might be a different matter. * That said, there was some serious piling driven in to the ground directly above the Haymarket tunnels for the new Haymarket development in Edinburgh. It's quite impressive what civil engineers can manage to do sometimes.

I take that to mean "there's no point changing supplier to get a better tariff because they're all on the cap". Switching supplier in the hope of getting better customer service would be another matter. I've read good things about Octopus and I am considering approaching them (though their web site seems to try to discourage people from switching to them, for some reason - looks like I'll have to call them up if I'm to make any kind of progress). Mind you, I was switched to Shell Energy when my previous supplier (Pure Planet) went bust and they've been pretty good to date, after an initial rather worrying lack of communication following the enforced switch. They e-mailed me the other day to remind me to take meter readings on 30th September, but assured me that I've got 30 days to submit them. (One might be tempted to defer taking the readings for 30 days...though I'm told that technically that would be fraud.) We had our usual plumbing & heating contractors round a few months back, just to get the pipe to the hob capped as we were switching to an induction hob. I asked the guy who did the job whether they'd had any interest in, or were looking at getting involved in, air source heat pumps. He said that they don't work very in Scotland (which I've heard said elsewhere) and followed up by saying that he expected hydrogen to replace natural gas "so no need to go changing your central heating system". Then I saw this: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/sep/27/hydrogen-is-unsuitable-for-home-heating-review-concludes last week... I'd be interested to know whether you, as a professional working in the field, have any views on this.

You're right, bad choice of words on my part. Perhaps "modern times" would be more appropriate. Mind you, given that the NFL was founded in 1922 (so is 100 years old this year 🎂🍾🥳) one might be able to justify saying "only in the last forty years". If one felt so inclined...

Never mind a pushbike, I suspect most electric scooter journeys are within straightforward walking range. (Personally, I don't think I'd much fancy using a scooter for any distance that I would regard as being better cycled.) Which requires decent, segregated cycle lanes which go where people want to go. Denmark generally has these, at least in Copenhagen. A lot of other countries unfortunately don't. Again, journeys that could easily be accomplished on foot by the vast majority of scooter users. (I'd suggest that anyone who is physically incapable of walking a mile is also likely to be unable to stand upright on an electric scooter - and control it safely - for such a distance.) We were on holiday in Portugal earlier this year, in Porto and Lisbon which both have what seemed to be a thriving electric scooter rental culture. Every single rental scooter has a large-ish sign on it stating that it is illegal to ride the scooter on the footway. Every single electric scooter user blithely ignored it. Some did so in a vaguely responsible fashion. Others much less so: slamoming at unsafe speeds between pedestrians, and giving no kind of warning when approaching pedestrians from behind more or less silently.

https://www.nfuonline.com/updates-and-information/driving-licence-requirements-for-agricultural-vehicles/ EDIT: jcredfer beat me to it! Note that the above applies to driving on the public road. AFAIK you can drive what the heck you like on private land without any legal requirement to be licensed or insured (although on farmland other legislation such as HASAWA will apply). However - AIUI since IANAL - RTA (Road Traffic Act) legislation applies on private ground that the public have access to e.g. supermarket car parks, as well as to public roads. So licensing issues might become relevant in the event of an instance of suspected careless or dangerous driving on some parts of a farm to which the public have access e.g. if the tractor driver managed to collide with a walker or rider using a public right of way through the farmland. As well as potential fines/imprisonment, a driver in such a situation who doesn't hold a licence of any kind could end up with deferred points, or even a ban, to be enforced if and when they do eventually get a licence.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2022/sep/30/tua-tagovailoa-miami-dolphins-concussion-head-injury I'm not convinced about that. These days, with the NFL having become predominantly a "passing league", QBs - especially classic "pocket passers" - are increasingly dependent on their O line for protection. And some of those O lines - or their coaches - demonstrably aren't up to the job against an aggressive pass rushing defence. That might also be a factor in the prominence in recent years of more mobile QBs like Jackson, Murray, Russell, Mahomes (dare I say even Rodgers?) etc.

As spamcan61 pointed out above, the power ratings shown on the cases of such devices will be the maximum they will draw. What they actually use will depend on the needs of the device drawing the power from/through them. In the case of the four-way USB charger I have plugged in by my desk, for example, it is rated as being able to deliver 4200mA at 5V. It then says "21W" which is, surprise, surprise, what you get when you multiply 5V by 4.2A. However, with nothing plugged in to charge, my plug-in mains power meter struggles to detect any kind of meaningful power draw. Sit my phone on the wireless charging pad plugged in to one of the USB sockets and it shows 9W, which is close enough to being right for a "fast charge" USB port rated at a maximum of 2A on its own. Of course, that's with the phone's battery depleted. When it's fully charged it goes in to "trickle" mode and the consumption drops accordingly. In days of old there was a deal of truth in the advice not to leave things on standby, but since the EU regulations on standby power consumption came in to force it's steadily become much less of an issue as people have replaced their "legacy" equipment over time. They pale into insignificance in comparison to things like tumble dryers (don't get me started on them - the Energy Saving Trust says that a a tumble dryer uses roughly 4.5kWh per cycle, that's more than an EU-compliant device would consume sitting on standby for a whole year). There are certain things in my house that don't get turned off in the normal course of things. These include fridges (2 of), my NAS and other networking equipment, and my computer. That latter needs to stay on to do the 'out of hours' jobs that run on it on a regular basis, such as network backups, though it is quite good at powering down bits of itself, such as the screen and the HDD, that don't need to be on power while I'm not actively using it and it's basically just waiting for the next background task to become due.

I find it mildly ironic that an otherwise fairly authoritative post should be the first one on this thread to make the mistake of muddling watts and watt-hours, including the brain-fryingly annoying "kW per year". Arrgghhh! Mind you, I do often think it would be easier if domestic energy consumption were measured in Joules. At least that way people would be less likely to get confused between energy, and the rate at which it is consumed. I won't mention the incorrect usage of the SI unit abbreviations in two separate instances. Oops, I just did... (For clarity: any unit whose name derives from a person's name has an upper-case abbreviation* e.g. W, N, F, H, J, T and K for Watt, Newton, Farad(ay), Henry, Joule, Tesla and Kelvin respectively*. The abbreviations for all prefixes representing negative powers of ten are lower case - including µ which, although not a character found in the Latin alphabet, is the lower case form of the Greek letter mu. The abbreviations for prefixes representing positive powers of ten are lower case for the first three i.e. deca, hecto and kilo, and upper case for the rest. Using a lower case abbreviation for hecto and kilo I can understand, since it avoids confusion with the abbreviations for the actual units henry and kelvin. I assume that deca gets a lower case abbreviation so that it doesn't stand out from its neighbours; it helps to avoid making the rule even more complicated than it already is.) * Although the full name of the unit doesn't, just to confuse things. * Actually that last one was his title, 1st Baron Kelvin, rather than his actual name: William Thomson. But having been ennobled (the first British scientists to have achieved such recognition) he adopted the usual practice of signing himself simply "Kelvin", and he would have been referred to as such.

If you run that YouTube video to the end, there a lot of other videos covering the same basic issue: some of them recommend a flame torch of some kind, others an electric heat gun - the sort of thing that I use to shrink heat-shrinkable tubing, but I believe they can also be used for stripping paint (not something I have ever done, or intend to do). The electric ones usually have two settings, the lower one of which might be less scary than an actual flame for a first attempt.

Which is pretty much precisely the point I was making. You confidently stated "you will be given a rebooking option if a strike is announced for that day". I provided evidence that that isn't always the case. If you had said "you will be given a rebooking option if a strike is announced for that day and the TOC knows in advance that the service you are booked on won't run" then I wouldn't have disagreed. Your use of the phrase "In addition" after stating (correctly) that you would be due a refund if your booked train is cancelled seems to suggest that you would get both a refund and a re-booked trip, which isn't the case with any TOC. (Though of course you could spend your refund on a new booking.) I didn't say they aren't. But in the case of my trip, their train did run.

The TOCs don't charge fees - AFAIK they're not allowed to. Trainline often/usually does (but doesn't always). When I point this out to people who sing the praises of Trainline, their usual response is to say, "Oh, but the Trainline booking system is so easy to use, it's worth the booking fee for that". My response to that (which I don't always make out loud, depending on whether the person concerned is a friend or not) is that if you really can't navigate the NRE web page/app then you deserve to get charged extra for your stupidity. An underlying irony is that a number of the TOCs actually use Trainline's booking "engine" - but don't charge a booking fee.

I'd be careful with that statement. I was booked to travel Edinburgh-London on 18th August, which was then announced as being a strike day. That was an RMT strike, not ASLEF, so the drivers weren't striking that day, but there were still warnings of possible disruption that day on the National Rail Enquiries web site. We were not given the option to rebook (this was with Lumo). As it turned out, the service ran as scheduled on the strike day, however we had already decided to amend our plans and travel the day before instead (partly in order to avoid the tube strike on the 19th), so we had to make and pay for another booking. As it turned out, that train was over an hour late so we got a 100% refund, so overall we were no worse off than if we had travelled on the day we originally planned, which service ran on time. But that was pure chance.

Strictly speaking, those buffers aren't trapezoidal, since they have five sides. A trapezium or trapezoid is a quadrilateral (confusingly, the two words mean slightly different things according to which side of the Atlantic you are on - but they both mean a four-sided figure, regardless of where you are).