DK123GWR

To give the definitive answer to how Riley met John: I would also like to add that I'm very glad the programme seems committed to showing the full diversity of the hobby, and yesterday's episode really demonstrated that. I also like that they've mixed this into programmes which, on the Hornby side, are focussing on the other brands. I probably wouldn't watch an episode if I knew it was all going to be about Airfix or Corgi, but because I've been watching primarily for the railway bits in between I've also seen the other segments, which have often been interesting in their own right.

Haulage is pretty good. It's better than any of my Caley pug chassis at low speeds, but nowhere near the sort of performance you would get from Pecketts, etc.). I'm definitely talking about Hornby. I have Toby, and have done since I was a young child, several years before Bachmann's Thomas came to the UK. The chassis shown in that picture is the same one.

The Bill and Ben chassis is essentially the same as the Toby chassis. There are four axle slots. If I remember rightly 1,2,and 4 are used for Toby and 1 and 3 for the twins. It's a nice heavy lump of metal, but the horizontally mounted motor (and the unneccesarilly chunky mountings) are far too big for most locos. It wouldn't really be viable for anything other than a large side tank if the model was to be anywhere near scale.

Not quite, but I have on a few occaisions seen people (apparently sober) getting off of busses on Oxford's High Street, trying to stay close to the road because of how busy the pavements are, and quickly hitting their head on the wing mirror (usually then stumbling into the path of all of the people they were trying to stay out of the way of). I've managed to catch my shoulder on one too whilst walking past a bus stop without paying much attention. I feel sorry for the drivers who must get tired of readjusting them.

Further to this, I would suggest that track (especially modern Nickel Silver stuff, which I've found much harder to solder than steel) is not the best place to learn to solder. It's very easy to melt the sleepers if you get it wrong (and if you're doing it for the first time, you probably will) and any problems not spotted at the time will (as mentioned above) become a nightmare later on. When I relearned to solder (I had previously done it once at school the best part of five years beforehand) I practised on an old Hornby Hymek (the clips that connect the wires from the pickups to the motor had expired). This is the sort of thing that I would encourage a newcomer to start on - it's unlikely you'll melt anything, and if you do it will probably be hidden once you put the body back on. Plus, if you don't make a good connection on your first attempt, it's far easier to recitfy the issue than it would be if something went wrong with the track. And if things really go wrong, you lose* one loco, and don't have to rip up all the track and start again. *When I say lose I, remember that if the damage is mechanical or electrical you can just disconnect the motor from the pickups (if the damage is electrical, that last point may be redundant), remover the gears, and run the loco in double-headers, and if the damage is cosmetic, you can use the motor etc. for spares and the body for painting practise, if that sort of thing takes your fancy.

A bit rough around the edges, but very charming: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/393684526046?hash=item5ba96d23de:g:4y4AAOSw98Bhh7uT

'Can it be converted?' is a different question to 'should it be converted?' Pickup is often the Achilles' heel of Lima locomotives. On DC this isn't usually an issue, but I seem to spend more time cleaning DCC fitted Lima locos than running them. I very much doubt that they are DCC ready (based on experience of other Lima diesels, though not the 59 specifically) though they are very easy to convert if you do decide it's worth it.

It certainly looks magnificent, but you might struggle to fit the ashpan for the wide firebox in the same place as the rear wheels (which also look like they might intrude into the cab).

Seconded. I have a Hornby Hagley Hall which I believe is from the early 1980s (it's much older than me at any rate). A bit later than Albert Hall but it seems to be the same basic formula: mazak chassis, X0-something motor, flangeless centre driving wheels, very crude in just about every respect. I cleaned the motor and contacts up in the summer and it now runs like new again. Watching it run around with a rake of maroon Mk1s behind is great fun, and it does run at reasonable freight speeds as well now that it's received a little attention. Plus, they're so simple that any idiot can maintain them. What's not to like?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/363564858053?epid=1671151757&hash=item54a6277ac5:g:V1AAAOSw9gRhWZz1 Am I missing something?

Mr Calder seems to get the point (just remember that we're not the target audience). https://www.msn.com/en-gb/lifestyle/travel/gambling-over-hs2-s-eastern-arm-will-only-trigger-more-rail-delay-roulette/ar-AAPYyoq

Good people with good intentions do strange things around power. I've seen it do frightening things to people my own age (i.e. other students at pretty normal state secondary schools) over the past few years. Even in the past week I've noticed that the very idea of it seems to cause a disconnect between what people think* and what they do. Then people who couldn't care less about power just get swept by a culture that does and taken along for the ride - sometimes wondering why but not really being able to come up with an alternative. Remember, I'm talking about kids and young adults who are still to a large degree dependent on their parents. What could some of them become by the time they're 40? *not just what they say but what they think

How common are centre-cab electrics using 1500V built to a British loading gauge?

Doesn't the mobile network create a record of every mast you connect to (literally following you around all the time)?

Rumour has it that RMWeb is broadcast from the same building.

What are all of the stubs in between the turntable and sector plate for?

A boat of some sort? The only other thing I can imagine coming close is a large diesel locomotive - whilst hauling a lot of tank wagons.

If we're doing unusual viaduct graffiti, I present the Twemlow viaduct (my photo). My sister dragged us there while we were on holiday. This was an event. Why was my sister, who often loudly proclaims that 'trains are for babies' (unless she's being allowed to drive one, but apparently that's different) dragging us out to see a Victorian rail bridge. Had she finally been converted? The answer lies to the left of the black cow, on the first pier in shot. All four sides are covered in graffiti as high up as people can reach. What have so many people written there? Was there some great tragedy associated with this bridge, with people coming from around the world to pay their respects? No, they've been leaving fanmail for Harry Styles. Obviously. Why wouldn't you?

I searched for David Davies, and here, in order, are the people I found. I don't think this man's going to be much help: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_T._C._Davies Wrong field of engineering? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Davies_(electrical_engineer) Probably more useful than the first search result: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/david-davies-911603b7 This one would have been best. Unfortunately, he's impossible to find online - and might be dead: https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/welsh-history-month-talerddig-cutting-2047327

Remember to if you need to scale meassurements to scale the length measurements, not the overall volume. For example, if I wanted to know the real life volume of a 00 scale model tank which is 10cm long with a diameter of 2cm (hence a radius of 1cm), my volume would be: (1*76)²π*(10*76) = 13790000cc = 13,790l (rounded to 4 s.f.) If you do this incorrectly, you will most likely end up with something like: 1²π*10*76 = 2388cc = 2.388l A 2.4l bottle obviously wouldn't be 10cm*2cm*2cm in 00 scale! The calculation will still only provide you with a rough estimate (it doesn't take into account the curved ends of some tanks or the thickness of the walls, for example) but it should be more than sufficient for modelling purposes.

The plan only uses standard points, crossings, and single slips, but yes there are a few questionable routes.

A very low effort double minories, because I got bored. Assuming a London terminus, the lines from top to bottom are UM, DM, UR, DR. The Main Lines should be able to access all platforms, and the Relief Lines all platforms except P1 (numbered top to bottom). Originally the slip at the end of the UR was a simple point, however, this meant that all arrivals from the relief line would foul all departures from P2-3. I created an alternative route to avoid this, but on that route arrivals would foul all departures to the DR. This led to a second version. The Main Lines and P1-3 could (and probably would under ordinary circumstances) operate as a standard minories, as could the Relief Lines and P4-6. These could now operate independently as all conflicting movements have been removed. In theory, the Main Lines and P4-6 could also operate as a standard minories if there were no movements on other lines, and I believe the entire station could in principle function (albeit with reduced capacity) using the Main Lines alone. The Relief Lines retain access to P2-3, though using a route which would foul departures from the other platform. This remains a vast improvement on the first design because arrivals into 4-6 no longer conflict with departures from 2-3. This is about as far as I plan to take the design as it was only created to fill a morning, but I thought I would leave it here in case anybody wanted to have some more fun with it.

I do like the look of the plan overall, but I have a couple of questions, one for you and one for the experts. I would ask you what you plan to use the siding adjacent to the top platform for? If the answer is to stable the pilot, that links in to my question for the experts: could the position of the headshunt for the carriage sidings cause problems? Any movement to or from them would block all arrivals, as well as departures from the lower two platforms. How would this be affected if the pilot were stabled on the opposite side of the station, in the siding next to the upper platform? Would it create additional light engine movements across the station throat, or could it, if used correctly, help to reduce them? I would be interested to hear the opinions of some of the layout planning experts on this. So will I with all the A4s!