ejstubbs

Talking Pictures TV on Freeview is moving to a non-HD multiplex (technically, a DVB-T rather than a DVB-T2 multiplex) at some point on Thursday afternoon next week (ie 30th November). That means that it should be available in areas which don't have the extra HD channels, and to people who don't have an HD Freeview box or an HD Freeview tuner in their TV. I understand it will keep its current channel number (81). If you currently receive Talking Pictures TV on the HD multiplex then you may need to re-tune your Freeview box or TV to continue receiving it after it moves. Or it may 'just work'. Unless there's something you're desperate to watch or record at around that time (and bear in mind that Talking Pictures does tend to repeat its programming over time) I'd probably wait to see if the technology works it out on its own, before interfering and potentially breaking something. Looks like I won't have to bother buying that DVB-T2 tuner for my computer after all. More money for trains, hurrah!

You can buy it from Maplin.

Blast, they don't have any left in the Edinburgh store (I did ask). Probably swept aside to make room for a tidal wave of seasonal tat. Bah humbug! Roughly what size are the ones you got? (I don't do N gauge so please don't say "enough for half a dozen wagons"!)

According to Den of Geek: Redshift Research, a London-based market research company has conducted all of the Pointless surveys online since the show began in 2009. They identify people to take part in a range of research surveys using their Crowdology online tool and pay them for the time they spend filling in questionnaires. The key thing, according to host Alexander Armstrong is that the people polled aren’t aware they’re answering Pointless questions. “You can’t ‘apply’ to be one of the 100 people because that would then affect the outcome.”

Nowadays it seems that everyone is responsible for their own safety unless they happen to be staring at a mobile phone, when it becomes everyone else's responsibility to protect them from their own stupidity. Can't see any other reason for roadside clutter like this: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/traffic-lights-pavement-smartphone-users-look-down-dutch-pedestrians-netherlands-a7584081.html to be considered a good idea.

An alternative to the graphite pencil is dry graphite powder eg https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00BTOBHH6 You may want to be careful how you spray it around in the vicinity of things containing electrickery. Also, be careful of the stuff that's sold for locks: that often has the graphite suspended in oil, which is emphatically not what you want for close coupling mechanisms. WD40 do a dry PTFE lubricant: https://www.amazon.co.uk/WD-40-Specialist-Lubricant-PTFE-400ml/dp/B006UCJ4Z4 - much cheaper ml for ml compared to Labelle but I can't swear that it would be precisely as effective (although if it is then 400ml would probably be enough for all the close coupling mechanisms in the UK!)

Seems to work OK in FF57 on my iMac (except for editing the quote, which looks weird - but I've found that can be flakey in every browser I've tried it in, including Chrome on Windows).

Well, I received the MP1 I ordered from DCC Train Automation yesterday, which was quick work, so kudos to them. I've not had time to set it up on a layout with a point yet but I did a quick check on its operation with a 9V battery and some tester cables. It's definitely a lot more compact than the Tortoise or Cobalt below-baseboard motors, and it clearly works in that it moves from side to side and stops at each end of its travel. You have to get the polarity right, at least when powering it with DC: the COM terminal has to be +ve in relation to the two poz terminals. Not a huge surprise, and shouldn't be any kind of problem in use so long as you get it right from the get-go. You could definitely hear it in operation; I wouldn't call it intrusive but it's audible. I wonder if it might be quieter with a higher voltage supply? Conversely, it might resonate a bit on some baseboards - I'll have to see. I did get a small sprue of parts with it that look a lot like what I took to be the pivoting actuating rod in the photo in my post #19. However, there's no indication of how to use it - and you'd need an extra machine screw and nut to assemble it as shown in that photo, which isn't provided. I suspect it's primarily provided because there's a spare eccentric pin on the sprue, which would be nigh on essential if you managed to mislay the original one while trying to adjust the throw (which process is a tad fiddly for fat fingers, but doable). One thing that struck me was that, if you could source the additional machine screw and nut, you might be able to use the 'radial' arm to arrange for the actuator motion to be parallel with the rod, which might offer another way to use it as a surface mount motor, or to drive a semaphore signal, without having to bend the actuating rod itself as described by Mike in post #15. I can't find any instructions online as to how to set up the radial actuation on the MP5. Maybe it's more or less obvious when you have one in your hands. From the documentation that is available the MP5 seems to be more flexible in the wiring options it will support - and of course it has two polarity switches rather then just the one, and a plug-in connector which could presumably make wiring easier, or replacing a motor that's gone u/s. I shall provide further feedback once I've had a chance to get it hooked up to a proper power supply and a working a point.

And trains are driven to the signals - ie the assumption is that if the signal's green, the line should be clear - and signalling systems are designed and implemented according to that principle. Cars, however, are driven "on sight" ie it's the driver's responsibilbility to observe the road and control the vehicle according to what they see happening (at least, that's what they're supposed to do - but see the Driving standards thread). Behind the wheel, you can't rely on a green light meaning that it's safe to go and put your brain in neutral (as just about any road user using whatever form of travel will know - or else likely be dead or seriously injured).

That's assuming she actually has insurance...

Hang on a minute: don't insulfrog points rely on the contact between the end of the point blade and the stock rail just the same as (unmodified) electrofrog points do? That's how they do the automatic power switching between the selected routes. Having the frog unpowered means that there is no electrical connection to the rail coming out of the frog on the non-selected route, cf electrofrog where both rails on the non-selected route are powered, but at the same polarity.

Thanks, that makes sense. I thought you might have been referring to the pivoting actuating rod which is referred to on that US retailer's site: As far as I can tell that's only provided with the MP5. There doesn't seem to be much further info about it, though. I have an MP1 on order. I plan to give it an initial tryout on my test layout, if I can make the time. If I manage to do that reasonably soon then I'll provide some feedback here.

I don't see anything in the instructions that explains how that can be done. Could you elaborate?

I note that they have made collect in person transactions ineligible for buyer protection on the grounds of non-delivery. That should close a loophole that some unscrupulous buyers used (and all sellers should ideally have been aware of) to pay with PayPal but collect in person, then claim non-delivery. Since PayPal will only accept a carrier's delivery confirmation, not a personal receipt for collection, that meant that buyers could get their money back from PayPal on the grounds of non-delivery and the seller could do nothing about it. It doesn't seem to stop buyers raising a "not as described" complaint, though. So I will probably still, if offering collect in person (eg for large items), always insist on cash on collection.

Which boxes?

I've just worked out that I'm one point motor short for the layout that is under construction at the moment. I might get an MP1 just to satisfy my own curiosity... Would it be necessary to remove the spring from a Streamline point to use one of these motors with it?

At the bottom of the article is the following note: NB: Video is in mirrored view so car is RHD not LHD (Front facing selfie camera was used)

Scantlings that are smaller than life-size ones. Obviously. Or we could consult the OED: scantling NOUN 1 A timber beam of small cross section. Synonyms joist, purlin, girder, spar, support, strut, stay, brace, batten, transom, lintel, stringer, baulk, board, timber, plank, lath, rafter 1.1 The size to which a piece of timber or stone is measured and cut. 2 (often scantlings) A set of standard dimensions for parts of a structure, especially in shipbuilding. Example sentences 3 (archaic) A specimen, sample, or small amount of something. If you mash together meanings 1.1 and 2 above then "miniature scantlings" could be read as meaning "small dimensions" - which seems to be a reasonable assertion in comparison to Tortoise and Cobalt point motors. (If you put "scantlings" in to Google Translate, you get "výřezy" as the Czech equivalent. Reverse the process and it translates "výřezy" as "cutouts". But Google Translate is far from 100% reliable.)

These folks have the MP1 listed: http://www.dcctrainautomation.co.uk/mp1-point-switch.html - I know nothing more about them than that web page, though. You could probably buy them from one of their German dealers easily enough, I'd have thought. This US retailer has a bit more info: http://www.modelrailroadcontrolsystems.com/mp1-switch-motor/ One thing that would appeal to me about the MTB motors is that they are only 1/2" deep, so shouldn't protrude below baseboards braced with 2x1. I note that they use an end-of-travel switch - and the US retailer states specifically that they don't use a stall motor. I wonder if they're based on a similar idea to the "servo hack" point motors that have been discussed on RMWeb a few times recently? Here and here, for example. That would make them rather more complicated than the Tortoise and Cobalt offerings which don't need the end-of-travel switch, so potentially more prone to failure simply as a result of having more moving parts. I suspect only real-life experience could really give a clear indication on that front, though. Regarding the adjustable throw: this seems to be achieved purely mechanically, and there doesn't appear to be any speed control on the motor. I suspect, therefore, that the 9mm throw setting would move three times as fast as the 3mm throw setting (ie it would cover three times the distance in the same time - all other things like resistance to movement, mechanical advantage etc being equal). So the longer throw setting might not be suitable for folks who want things to move reeaallllyyy slloowwwlllyyyy. Mind you, I've no idea how slow or fast the 3mm setting is, so the point might turn out to be be moot anyway. (Might it also be a function of the applied voltage?) Talking of applied voltage: I think the wiring is fairly clear from the information in the MP1 instruction leaflet - less so for the MP5 because it's only in Czech! I have to say, the Cobalt SS point motors are a heck of a price...

I've noticed that some recent repeat showings of series of both Great British Railway Journeys and Great Continental Railway Journeys seem to have been missing the odd episode. This was on the BBC, not Yesterday. Examples I've noticed are: In the recent re-run of series 7 of GBRJ, episode 13 "Stroud to Bath" was not broadcast In the current re-run of series 3 of GCRJ, the second part of the "Tula to Saint Petersburg" episode was not broadcast (they seem to split the original hour long episodes of this series into half hour chunks for rebroadcasting) Anyone know why this might be? Pure carelessness? Licensing issues with some of the material in the programme? It seems especially odd because each programme that is broadcast still has the "in the next leg of my journey I will be..." segment at the end, even if the 'next leg' isn't broadcast. I have tried contacting the Beeb about it but have received no reply.

Mere words are not adequate to express ones astonishment and despair at such rampant idiocy: https://swd.media/news/lothian/edinburgh-eastern/mum-live-streams-her-shocking-driving-on-facebook-earning-60-points-in-12-minutes-1-11974/ Despite the 'totting up' in the article I reckon that the likelihood of any action being taken is approximately nil: "evidence not sufficient to secure a conviction" and all that.

They are real places. As has already been mentioned in this very thread, you can do your own research by looking them up on old-maps.co.uk (also on maps.nls.uk) and - if the station no longer exists, like Sandgate - on the Disused Stations web site. And there's always Google - including the image search function, which can be useful for dredging up old photos of a location you're interested in, which can in turn be useful to verify/correct the information on OS maps which isn't always 100% accurate from a railway point of view. I'd not previously seen the layout design special interest group web site that Pacific231G linked to, but having taken a quick squiz I reckon you could do a lot worse than have a browse through the whole of the primer section of that site.

I would suggest that we have a separate "bargain twitchers*" thread, for those who want to leech off other people's helpfulness without any extraneous distractions. * From the birdwatching term: "Twitchers are only interested in adding to the list of rare birds which they have seen. With their intelligence network, the are ready to set out at the drop of a hat at any time of the day or night to travel large distances for the prospect of seeing a migrant lesser spotted scrub warbler, or whatever. This poor bird, not normally a visitor to the UK...finds itself...surrounded and harried at every turn by hundreds of anoraks sporting high-powered telescopes; like a horde of press photographers fighting for a better view...twitchers are highly stressed, nervous individuals. The very mention of some exotic avian delight...sends them into paroxisms." I think this is a reasonable analogue to the behaviour of those who lurk waiting for an update to the bargain hunters thread in the hope of being able to satisfy both the acquisitive and the miserly urges which are forever in conflict within them. (I'm convinced that there must be some kind of psychological explanation for their lack of tolerance for perfectly normal forum behaviour.)

This photo of Biggar from 1964 seems to show the same crane adjacent to the siding: https://www.railscot.co.uk/img/38/700/ The crane jib and counterweight look right. You can only see one big gear wheel in the Transport Treasury photo but that could just be due to the angle it was taken from (see below for more about this). Looking at the aerial photo posted by Ian Smeeton, I'm convinced that the OS map has the crane between the signal box and the signal post too close to the signal box - it should be roughly half way along the narrow triangular area backing on to the sheep pens. (It helps if you download the photo from the Canmore web site and zoom in a bit using Windows Photo Viewer or similar.) The aerial photo also shows the railings behind the crane in the Transport Treasury photo, which are there to fence off the sheep pens from the siding next to the main line. I think the aerial photo also shows how the perspective in the Transport Treasury photo is a little bit confusing. The crane is mounted on a fairly low bank next to the siding adjacent to the main line. You can see in the aerial photo that behind the crane is some level ground, and beyond that is a higher bank on top of which are the sheep pens. I didn't realise until I tried to work out how everything fits together that you can actually see the underside of the container in the Transport Treasury photo, and there's room beneath it for a flatbed vehicle to stand. There's an OS air photo mosaic on the NLS web site which shows a similar view from vertically above: http://maps.nls.uk/view/75221464 (it seems to be from around the same date as the oblique view on the Canmore web site). This also helps to clarify the layout of that part of the goods yard: you can see the crane as a dark blob, surrounded by some lighter ground (tarmac/gravel/hardcore?) then a narrow strip of ground which is lighter still (the grass bank - perhaps catching the sun?) and then the line of the railings, and the sheep pens. The Biggar station building, signal box and goods shed appear to be still standing within Biggar Business Park - although the station building is currently listed on the Buildings at Risk register for Scotland: https://www.buildingsatrisk.org.uk/details/900977

Really? For Setrack maybe - hence the rail joiners being tack-welded to the rails, and the rolled-over ends on some Setrack rail joiners. But for Streamline? I would have thought that that is designed to be pretty much laid and left. I know people do recycle Streamline between layouts but it's not really designed to be laid and lifted for every operating session. IMO the primary purpose of rail joiners is...to join rails (it's in the name). Not a function to be treated lightly, either: the first time I laid the track for my previous layout, I found a couple of joints where one rail hadn't actually gone in to the rail joiner, but was just sitting on top of it (this mistake is much easier to make when joining together sections of non-flexi track eg points). Easy enough to spot by running a wagon over the newly-laid track, so you can correct it before committing to ballasting etc, but if not caught then it can be a bit of a mare to fix later. That's not to say that they can't be problematic, and need treating with due respect if they're to fulfil both their primary (mechanical connection) and secondary (electrical continuity) functions reliably.