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It's some software that you don't need that runs on a device that you don't have.

Visit the Model Electronics Railway Group (MERG). They have some discussions about the use of computers, such as the Arduino and Raspberry Pi, for controlling model railways.

Hornby plc is a public company, owned by its shareholders. Shares are, if you like, a form of crowdfunding. The advantage of shares over crowdfunding is that a public company is controlled by law and shareholders, unlike crowd-funders, have legal rights. Hornby is currently raising money via a new share subscription, so they reckon there remains a market for their shares! This is not a recommendation to buy Hornby shares.

On radio control Forums. Servos have been in use in robots, model aircraft and boats for donkeys years. Visit a model shop, or web site, that deals in planes and boats to see a huge variety of servos ranging from tiny devices for indoor fliers to hefty lumps used to control half-size Spitfires. The sort of servo we need to control a semaphore signal or turnout is fairly modest compared to those that the R/C builders use.

Ian: I've thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it It's great to read your story. Sometimes a business reorganisation leads to unusual opportunities!

If anyone were to want to model an airport, take a look at this one in Miniatur Wunderland in Hamburg. Apart from being enormous, it has moving aircraft and airport vehicles, plus the planes take off and land! Keep watching to see the Millenium Falcon making an unscheduled arrival.

I agree with you that lighting in or on models is often excessively bright. I would look at using LEDs inside your buildings. They are low power, and hence low heat (so are unlikely to ignite wood or card). White LEDs are available in various colour temperatures. If that statement is meaningless goobledegook, visit a lighting showroom and ask about LED white light colours. However, a yellow LED may do just what you want to mimic a gas light or an old incandescent light.

The servo is irrelevant. The attribute of the MERG servo bracket I'm attempting to advertise is the plethora (if four amounts to a plethora) of micro-switches that it can accommodate. If you want interlocking, then there's room on that bracket for an interlock switch that connects elsewhere.

If you mean that literally, then consider replacing your main fuse box with a modern consumer unit. When something goes wrong, a Residual Current Device (RCD) trips. You don't need an electrian to flip the RCD back to normal operation, although you will need a qualified electrician to install the new consumer unit. RCDs have been installed in new builds for a couple of decades, so only older dwellings will have a set of fuses in the main distribution panel.

While I don't want to dissuade you from that decision, I'd like to point out that MERG servos can accommodate up to four micro switches. They bolt onto the MERG servo bracket and are operated by the servo arm. Four switches could be used for any or all of... Supply power to a live frog Provide route indication to a control panel Control a related accessory (e.g. a signal) ? I use an extra switch to control the second point of a crossing, for example. That is, the control panel switches the first point, which in turn switches the second point.

But what are 'Miniature scantlings'?

Yes: the Model Electronic Railway Group (MERG) produce a servo bracket. It's a 3D printed kit, simple to assemble. It has provision for several micro-switches that you can use, for example, to change frog polarity or switch some other accessory. The cost is low, but you must be a member of MERG to be able to purchase. MERG has other brackets and accessories for mounting servos for other uses: signals, crossing gates etc.

The black plastic part with two pins is called a PCB header (where PCB = printed circuit board). They are commonly used in electronic circuits, being simple and effective. The other part is a socket. They are sold in strips of a dozen pins on a 0.1" pitch. The strips are easy to break into smaller sizes, such as the two-pin plug and socket you have. They are available from those who sell electronic components, including probably Maplin and eBay.

I doubt that 'elitism' comes into this. There's also the other magazine's copyright to consider, and I'm equally sure that Railway Modeller would not want to be accused of plagiarism.

If I were a tiny human, I could step forward a couple of metres so that the post is not in view. But in that case I would not be holding a giant camera as big as a 14 ton van. Can't you simply Photoshop it away? Use a clone stamp to fill in the resulting blank?

The lacemaker's pins I bought are exactly that -- brass, but nickel plated. Since a pin already has a head, it's advantageous when you want to form a pivot through something thin, such as a tie-bar or valve gear.

Nonsense. DCC requires a two-wire electrical connection from the track to the input of the decoder. That part of the connection is no different to connecting a motor to the track for DC control. Current collection is made by the pickups from the insulated wheels on one side and the electrical connection from the non-insulated wheels via the chassis. When fitting a DCC decoder, the red & black wires to the decoder are connected to the pickup/chassis, the same way as you had connected a DC motor. The grey/orange wires from the decoder connect to the motor. Some older motors (e.g. the X04) have one insulated connection and one implicit connection through the metal body of the motor. Since the motor is fixed to the chassis it receives current via the uninsulated wheels and live chassis. There is a separate wire from the insulated motor connection to the insulated wheels pickups. That is the arrangement that won't work for DCC: it's not the live loco chassis that's the problem, it's the live motor frame. Most modern motors (e.g. Mashima) have two insulated connections and the motor frame or can is not connected, and are fine for DCC with a live chassis.

Be more explicit: what do you mean by 'early'? I don't suppose that you have the manufacturer's part no.?

Duct tape, as you probably know, is used extensively in electrical installations. It was patented by Sir Michael Faraday shortly after he invented electricity as he foresaw a need for bodging material.

When the original bridge was erected, the only choice would have been rivets. Superglue hadn't been invented, and welding of large-scale structures was in its infancy.

A good quality inkjet or laser printer for home use is likely to be about 300 dots-per-inch (DPI) resolution, which is about 12 dots-per-millimetre. That's not many dots to represent writing on a sign 5mm wide. You can print a draft notice on a home printer, but don't expect it to be legible. If the draft looks right, take your Word or PDF document to your local print shop and ask what resolution can they provide. 600DPI would be usual, 1200DPI would be a good quality commercial printer. 1200DPI would print about 47 dots-per-millimetre on your 5mm notice, which would be legible, albeit with the help of a magnifying glass.

Clunton and Clunbury, Clungunford and Clun, Are the quietest places Under the sun. (A.E. Housman)

In 2016 Hornby's turnover was about £47m and they made a loss of about £9m. There have been losses in years previous to that, and the company has paid no dividend for several years. The company's biggest challenge is to reduce and eliminate those losses.

The sky is excellent: not too bright, not too dull.

On 13-Sep-17, Bachmann announced an update to the 36-557 decoder. The new version has some additional features (e.g. RailCom), is packaged differently to the old one, and has a different colour circuit board (blue vs. green). Unfortunately the part number is the same. If you can't see what you're buying, you won't know until it arrives whether you've purchased a new version or an old one.