KingEdwardII

I write down all kinds of things about my model railway in documents, just to be able to remember what I did and why at a later point. I simply can't keep all the information in my head. I include pictures and diagrams. Anything that can help at some later point. I know that if I don't do this, then I will have a painful relearning process eventually. Yours, Mike.

Classic quotes from various NIMBY groups along the proposed route in that report.

It is noticeable how large the tunnels are on the high speed lines in Korea - and there are a lot of them, since Korea is a mountainous country and they simply sliced through the mountains rather than curve around them. There is no noticeable pressure effect within the trains as you enter and emerge from the tunnels. Yours, Mike.

Those services are now operated with Class 165/166 DMUs - typically either 3 car or 5 car configurations. The 5 car sets are a real boost compared with the previous 3 car trains, which used to get ridiculously overcrowded on some journeys. Frankly, this is a route that ought to be considered for Cross-Country type of services with proper long distance stock. As you rightly point out, it connects a lot of cities with substantial populations - and with a lot of university and college students along the way too. Yours, Mike.

They have obviously been paying too much attention to the model train industry....

West Somerset Railway has two Winterlights trains runing on those days - after dark, of course. First is 17:00. Yours, Mike.

I think that this is the general story for anywhere within about 1 hour's journey of London. This is prime commuter territory. The astronomic prices in London are the pressure that forces folk to look ever further afield. Looked at from a railway perspective, these commuters are the dependable customers of the future. It's why London has such an extensive railway network still. Yours, Mike.

For a regular crossover, you don't reverse the wires. The reason is that you want both turnouts to be in the same position at the same time - i.e. both "open" or both "closed". So the motion is identical for both point motors, assuming they are fitted the same way round relative to the turnout they operate. If one motor is flipped around compared with the other then you would need reversed connections. For other combinations of turnout pairs, the situation could be different - it all depends on the relative orientation of the motors relative to the turnouts. Yours, Mike.

Borth has one of the most wonderful sandy beaches on the whole west coast of Britain! Miles long, stretching from the built-up bit next the village at the south end to the wilds of the dunes at the north end at Ynyslas. Yours, Mike.

That actually depends on the license concerned. The Apache 2.0 license isn't like that and permits commercial products (closed source) to be based on the open source code. The MIT license is similar in nature. The bigger point relating to your previous post is that under open source licenses they can't unlicense the software or force a change on you. Unlike commercial software. Yours, Mike.

One thought: you might like to try out JMRI connecting the DR5000 from your machine. It's pretty straightforward and it will at least verify that you can communicate properly between the computer and the DR5000. Yours, Mike

While not denying that poor design and lack of testing does occur, the need for upgrades has little to do with that. Even carefully designed and well tested code will have bugs and there are always requests for extra functionality. There is also the need to fit in with hardware changes and changes in other software that your code depends on or connects to. Yours, Mike.

Unless you use open source, like JMRI. But they too have upgrades - they don't force them on you, but you have to beware of other changes like operating system updates that might mean an old version of the open source no longer works properly if at all. Yours, Mike.

Sounds like your average trip from Wales to a rugby international in Edinburgh... Yours, Mike.

I was thinking of the crowds of irate Essex folk, carrying pitchforks and other implements of ire, demanding their direct Heathrow services... Yours, Mike.

What Pi are you using? I run JMRI on a Pi 400 with 4Gb RAM and it runs just fine. With older Pi models, the lack of RAM can be a major issue and will slow things down considerably. Yours, Mike.

Regarding the pointwork. DCC does not require that the points are motorized, but if you are considering automation, then motorized points are necessary for that. DCC control of the pointwork is a good approach for that. Most DCC controllers support the control of accessories like point motors, although you need to consider how best to provide that control (e.g. via a handset, via a control panel, etc). There is a wide range of point motors available. There are two basic approaches to DCC control of them. Some motors have DCC decoders built into them and you feed the DCC signal straight to them. Others are essentially analog devices and require a separate decoder device to receive the DCC signal and drive the motors. There is also a decision to make regarding whether to select "slow action" motors or fast switching solenoid motors. You can find discussions of these choices here on the rmweb forums. Yours, Mike.

I think that some of those locos are going to have minimum radius requirements that are too large for some of that trackwork - expect derailments! I assume that the layout's not finished, since a few of those sidings at the top are not yet connected up. Yours, Mike.

Aberystwyth was a 5 platform terminus, but was the terminus of two separate single track lines. Yours, Mike.

True, but the decision not to repair them was made by the local authorities. I also remember the destruction of the electric trolley bus system in Cardiff - and that was in 1970 having been first established during WWII. Yours, Mike.

One item that stands out for me is that trains will *not* be running from Shenfield to Heathrow, according to your description. Now that was one of the items originally promised to the good folk of Essex, I believe. Is there a plan to commence such services at a later date, like next spring? This affects me personally, since my approach to using EL is to drive to Hayes and get on there. Heathrow -> Shenfield services would mean no changes required to get to Stratford and points Essex. Yours, Mike.

Well, town/city authorities in the UK massacred their tram systems from the 30s to the 60s, without much outside intervention. Only for some to start re-creating them at great expense in the 21st century. Yours, Mike.

"All I want for Xmas is a new fast train, a new fast train..."

The route from Bedford to Cambridge has to deal with the realities of the 21st century and cannot and should not follow the route of the old line. Cambourne must be part of the plan - and the new line ideally needs to serve the future growth of Cambridge as well. I know they favour a southern route, although to my eyes a northern one looks more in tune with Cambridge development. You are right that there is always a tradeoff between fast services between major centres and serving comunities all along the line. The ideal is to allow for both but this requires siginificant infrastructure at the smaller stations to provide passing capability. No simple answer there. Yours, Mike.

Yes, British inability to plan - plus myopic London-centricity. It is quite clear that the arc Oxford - Milton Keynes - Bedford - Cambridge is one of major development and economic success outside London. Good transport across that arc is essential and will boost economic activity. For me, that includes both rail and road. How is it so hard for both government and for the locals on the ground to grasp this. Everyone seems to be myopic and parochial beyond belief. Let's hope Bletchley to Oxford opens ASAP - that can only help boost things. Just a real shame that it will not be electrified. Yours, Mike.