DK123GWR

On 29/10/2021 at 19:36, SamThomas said:

You can just remove the capacitor(s) but as already suggested soldered connectings will be better if you have reasonable soldering skills.

 

However, some people are not very good at soldering (& some will never be) - bad/not very good solder joints will be a future cause for frustration. Thats why pre-soldered wires to fishplates are made & bought.

 

Please lets not discourage the OP with the usual RMW debates that seem to confuse people, never to be seen again.

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.

17 minutes ago, 11ty12 said:

I believe this idea has been done before, but I made a 4-8-0 A4, or a T2. I’m not sure how it would perform, but it looks nice

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).

29 minutes ago, Not Jeremy said:

If all that hopelessly negatory previous poster can remember is "sparks from the wheels" then he must have been doing something wrong, I expect he still is

 

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

21 hours ago, Mark Saunders said:

As Terry Pratchett said, under no circumstances should anyone who wants to have power be allowed to have it!

22 hours ago, corneliuslundie said:

The trouble is that we elected them! Not a party political statement as it applies to all MPs. 

The problem is that no sensible person would ever go into politics.

Jonathan

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

5 hours ago, drmditch said:

 

In what way we're the three designs of NER electric locomotives 'bizarre' ?

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

6 hours ago, Porkscratching said:

Snap!.. I've got an even more basic 3310 I use as a "dead end" for people or bodies i don't want to speak to !

The 3510i though is my normal phone, it's robust and does the two simple things I want, ie phone calls and texts, end of.

No internet, no cameras, or crap that follows you around all the time

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. 

9 hours ago, Ian_H said:

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

5 hours ago, MarkC said:

Amateurs - I filled my present transport up a couple of weeks ago - 325,000 litres of diesel...

 

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?

11 minutes ago, corneliuslundie said:

Not really comparable I know, but I was just musing, while looking at the aerial views of the sites on the video, that one travels from Shrewsbury to Aberystwyth by train without passing through any tunnels whereas the much less demanding Chilterns will be penetrated by miles of tunnelling. They should have hired David Davies!

Jonathan

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.

11 hours ago, RobinofLoxley said:

this might look ok on paper but a lot of the possible routes will be compromised by having to traverse reverse curves across double slips.

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.

4 hours ago, RobinofLoxley said:

I will be surprised if anyone appears saying 'Thats exactly like Bristol Temple Meads' or some such.

So will I with all the A4s!

17 minutes ago, HonestTom said:

There was a blog entry a while back that filled me with foreboding

Here are the highlights:

But remember this:

The above could be described as an anagram of this.

49 minutes ago, rodent279 said:

You know, I dig how they like to paint them up all nice and smart for display, but I'd kind of like to some rolling stock displayed in "as taken out of service" condition, complete with flat flies and rust stains.

These were all taken at Shildon on 16/08/2021 - I've gone through my photos to pick out the scruffy ones. I suspect a number of the items are simply awaiting restoration, but I would imagine that some (such as the EWS hopper in the car park and the Ellington mining loco inside) are reasonably close to the condition you describe.

2 minutes ago, 009 micro modeller said:

Having read through this thread and the rationale behind the new stuff (appealing to a younger audience) I’m wondering why it’s necessary for it to be based on TTTE at all. It just seems to annoy those who like the previous iteration (including apparently some kids, as in the original article) and much of the surrounding world-building stuff probably isn’t really needed.

I would guess because its easier to sell merchandise (in most cases) for an established brand.

On the other hand, I would probably be quite annoyed if I were responsible for marketing Bachman's Thomas products. The appearance is clearly based on TV series locos rather than the prototypes Awdry was writing about, and so is probably aimed at children and their parents rather than, for instance, your typical RMWeb user. However, Mattel seem to be gradually moving the franchise to target younger and younger children - and the proportion of children for whom a 00 gauge railway would be appropriate reduces every time they do this.

6 hours ago, russ p said:

I'm surprised they are still allowed to show climate wrecking coal burning locos and carcinogenic diesels to kids ..... come on wokes your missing a trick!

I would suggest that anything which promotes an appreciation of public transport is probably a good thing - irrespective of the motive power depicted. If you decide to journey from A to B by train, you don't normally choose the motive power, you just get on whatever turns up (which, whether diesel or electric*, will be more environmentally friendly than the equivalent road journey). We might derail the thread if we continue with this discussion though (fortunately, the animators seem to have found a way to return derailed trains to the line by magic).

* I'm not sure how the sums would work out for steam but instinctively I would say they will still favour rail

3 hours ago, John M Upton said:

The prosecution enters the following into evidence:

This has been absolutely torn to shreds on social media.  The nail is well and truly in the coffin.

Did I see a train doing a handbrake turn in there? And how heavy must that wagon be for them to need a banker? Admittedly, the steepness of the hill may have something to do with that. Presumably Thomas is a geared locomotive now as well. I also chuckled at the 'you need to be fast to win the Sodor Cup' line. I think a new E2 should be built and the people responsible for this forced to have a footplate ride on it at high speed.

6 hours ago, Hroth said:

And what's a tank loco running light engine doing with an express passenger headcode?

You might think that they have simply given Thomas 'headlights' which are fixed, yet in the trailer above he can be seen with a mineral headcode. I'm sure I have read on here that they once released a Thomas book which included a sheet on the meanings of lamp headcodes.

Just now, John M Upton said:

The movie trailer for this appalling travesty went online on social media last week.  The fact that positive likes and comments are out numbered  by over a hundred to one or more by negative reaction speaks volumes.

 

No pun intended but in the cinemas, this is going to tank.

Searching for positives, your signature seems very appropriate.