Phil Himsworth

An aerial picture of the Telford / Oakengates landslip; https://www.shropshirestar.com/news/local-hubs/telford/oakengates/2024/03/12/in-pictures-workers-tackle-telford-landslip-thats-caused-travel-chaos-on-shropshires-rail-network/ I don't think it's anything to do with the nearby development, it's a pretty big embankment, that bit isn't particularly near to anything new and it has been extremely wet recently. There have been quite a few trees fall around here recently just because the ground has become so soft it won't hold them up any more.

Mine is a super runner but has developed a bit of a squeak! There's plenty of grease on the axles, and the drivetrain (from what I can see under the keeper plate), so I don't really know where it's coming from. Before I just start poking oil all over everything that moves does anyone know of any likely culprits?

Me neither! Luckily my "stop" is above where it starts getting steep. That said, I think the old line down to Coalport where the Silkin Way is now is even steeper; that's a slog on a bike, I've no idea how trains got up there at all... Taking a modern train along the SVR must be fun, it must all be very different!

My journey to work runs near the old Ironbridge branch for quite a way; I've often wondered whether something like one of these might make it a bit more interesting 🙂

Octopus have a few funny tariffs to suit different kinds of systems. Intelligent Go or Intelligent Flux have higher export than import costs at certain times; if you can run from a battery then on Intelligent Go you can import at 7.5p and export at 16p, so it is more lucrative to use night time import and export as much of your own generation as possible. I don't think I've ever heard anybody say they wish they got a smaller battery. We have a 9.5kwh one but I'm tempted to get more. The PV system earns the money in summer, but the battery probably saves more in winter from running on cheap rate electricity all day at a fraction of the cost.

These tests do seem to be cancelled a lot. Do you know if they are booked on a "we might not need to do a run but we'll book everything just in case" or are they runs that should have gone ahead but don't because something has gone wrong somewhere?

I used flexitrack with a join on a bend; in hindsight I wish I had used settrack as the slight kink is the only problematic bit of track on the whole layout. I did wonder whether a compromise might be to use flexitrack, but instead of joining one length of flexi to another, have a very short cut down length of settrack in between; you could still use flexi to get the curve you want, but the little bit of settrack would hold the rails in the right place at the join. Would this work? Some gratuitous rail bending with pliers seems to have sorted mine out, but I have wondered about retrofitting the above as a backup option,,,

Mine is an absolutely superb slow runner. It starts slowly and smoothly; even on DC it really oozes the feeling that it's working really hard to get a train moving, I love it. (It doesn't like going downhill much for some reason mind, I guess it's got a worm drive maybe?, but I can live with that)

The target was 95% until something happened recently. A 75% increase by 2050 - over 26 years away - is a very low bar to clear.

That's great to hear, we're going to see it next year :-) A recording of the Broadway version is on Disney Plus if you have it and want to relive it again. I've watched and listened to it many times so I'm very excited about it...

Do you know what is going on over there? According to Traksy the line is still out of use, even though it's been days! Is it the train or the track?

My layout has a bit of road and a field at the front of the board that is almost like a sacrificial area that can be tampered with; there are a couple of cars, farm animals and odds and ends that the daughter likes fiddling with. This seems to satisfy so the rest of the layout seems safe...

Still is, I was swearing in frustration at one only today 🙂

I have; it didn't go very well, it seemed to go through a cycle of running away a bit, slowing itself down, then repeating this to the bottom. That said, that one was one with a bit of a wobble and I think not perfect quartering or something so I'm not sure much should be read into it. I'll try again when it returns.

One thing to remember is that while energy is cheaper this year, we aren't getting the monthly £66 (or whatever it was) we were given last winter. I haven't worked out whether the reduced unit cost is wiped out by not getting that...