jamespetts

I don't use sound, and have never tried ESU - but I use only Zimo and find them very satisfactory.

Very O-classy.

I approve of invalid saloons.

I find that a stay alive helps greatly with the running characteristics of the Farish class 47s.

Note that the layout is still substantially incomplete, so a great deal is not in its final state.

Here is the file as requested.

Here is another video on the same topic, this time the un-narrated, single take version of the fuel tank shunting video, showing the more complex sequence for this operation.

I approve of feeling ready to play with some trains again.

Your photographs are splendidly atmospheric. Incidentally, as to the HST lights not working; you might try replacing the diodes on the PCBs - these can fail sometimes.

May being well be a thing again very soon...

A new video has just been uploaded to Youtube with some good records of announcements at Oxford station in 1991: At the very beginning of the video, we get, "The train just arrived at platform number 1 is the 10.25 Intercity service to Brighton, calling at Reading, Slough, Kensington Olympia, Clapham Junction, East Croydon, Gatwick Airport, Haywards Heath and Brighton. Change at Reading for Swindon, Bristol Parkway, Newport, Cardiff Central, Bridgend.... [inaudible]". At 2:08, we get: "The train just arrived at platform number 2 will be the 9.50 from London Paddington [inaudible] ...for Oxford only. All change please, all change, the service will be terminating here." This is interesting, as it shows the variation from some of the earlier patterns of late 20th century announcements that I posted a few months ago. These announcements are more similar to the modern pattern of automated announcements in that they follow the destination > intermediate stations model (i.e., "...is for Brighton, calling at Reading, Slough...") rather than just listing all the stations "...is for Reading, Slough... and Brighton"). It also confirms the use of train times in announcements of this period (early 1990s), and the use of sector names "Intercity service to..." rather than "train for" as we we hear in announcements from just a year or two earlier. It also confirms the use of the time hallowed phrase "all change" in announcements of terminating trains of the period.

Farewell Oak Hill Mark 1 - and let Oak Hill Mark 2 come soon!

I approve of you feeling better.

I approve of things sorting themselves with reasonable speed.

Gosh, poor chap: I hope that things get better soon.

I approve of enlarged staging yards. They make for so much more variety!

Much of this has been covered in two earlier videos, "Wires under the Baseboards" and "Timetabled Working".

Here is another video, using footage captured from the first, showing the whole sequence of the carriage shunting uninterrupted from beginning to end.

Thank you! TrainController is quite well known, albeit these days quite expensive, automation software, dating originally from the 1990s, I believe, although it has been updated many times since, the most recent version being from either 2017 or 2018. One does not need to write scripts to get this to work; it is relatively simple in principle, but there is still a non-trivial amount of work to do to get everything set up for this to work, especially on a larger layout. The layout in question is not a real location, but it is based on a portmanteau of two real locations, Oxford and Didcot, and set in 1989.

I have just uploaded a video to PeerTube documenting how I have set up my under construction N gauge layout, using TrainController, to automate coupling and uncoupling operations. This is a 16 minute edited and narrated video describing in some detail how the coupling and uncoupling has been set up.

Gosh - that's a lot of time to be surrounded by models for sale...

Presumably, one would only have the one station, and thus need only the one speaker?

Surely Bluetooth speakers would also work at a range of up to 10m from the computer?

A joy! I shall look forward to the SR 6 wheel full brake carriage.

The London Underground version of the "Sands" announcement is in the following terms, "Would Inspector Sands please report to the booking office immediately". See here for an example of one at Euston in 2018.