SamThomas

Oh yes, the days when uniformed people were smart & wore peaked caps, not those bl***** awful US incarnations the baseball caps - Posties, meter readers (an extinct species), counil dog catchers (another extinct species) & so on. IIRC the only alternative parcels carriers in those days was BRS (Bl**dy Rotten Service) or BR.

Indeed, but when I use Muckydogs if it is wrong &/or cold then back it goes - if more people did that they would not keep trying it on. Oh, & never, ever use the drivethrough.

I see where you are coming from John & I did say "collectivly" in my post. RM are generally pretty good thesedays but not the cheapest for larger stuff. You are realistic in using a decent carrier & packing your items well, as I do, but I fear we are not in the majority. As for the large unstoppable river goes I will not use them as a matter of principle - IMHO they are a deeply unethical company, but that's another subject & a container full of worms. I agree, there is no such thing as "free" delivery - it's in the price somewhere - I have a friend who insists on "free" delivery - she will not buy an item that is say, £50 + £8 shipping but will happily buy the same item somewher else for £60 as long as the shipping is "free".....

The blame does not really lie with the couriers - the blame lies collectivly with us - we want our goods delivered without charge/cheaply/quickly. Collectivly we don't really care that the final delivery driver is paid far less than we would get out of bed for, collectivly, we don't care if he/she works a long day driving a borderline MOT pass vehicle & having to carry out 80+ deliveries a day. The logistics industry is very cut throut - any company that ups its game to alleviate the problems we collectivly complain about will lose business. So, until we collectivly are prepared to pay a little more for our parcels deliveries then we need to "put up & shut up".

i agree with Hobby regarding the difference between smaller operations not having a yard & the Royal Mail type of operation with yards that have charging points & drivers swapping their exhausted vehicle for a fresh one - these companies usually have the space for yards & the finacial clout to install the infrastructure & buy the vehciels at prices that small comanies can only dream about. The bigger fleets that don't go far from their base are ideal for EV's, not every operation (including the service one I used to run) is suitable.

Looks like there are two separate camps here - those of us (including myself) that want to keep their data on their own device(s) for their personal reasons & those that are quite happy to have their data elsewhere & are happy with the encryption/security. I have made arrangements for my backups to be reasonably secure from fire/theft/tempest/putin & so on, sufficient to say that they are not in the same location but not with any third party.

I've changed CV29 in the past to "reverse" the "normal" direction of a locomotive with nos issues. Probably 50% of my diesel & OHE fleet are reversed so that the "normal forwards" is from the #2 cab end as per real life.

Indeed - that's how I look at it.

Motability prices are also determined by what they calculate they will get for the car when they sell it. That's one of the reasons the advance payment for comparable cars can differ greatly, something like a Hyundai (apologies if the spelling is wrong) could attrract a higher advance payment than a Ford - there will probably be less depreciation on the Ford than the Hyundai. When Mrs T changed her last Mobility car she did consider an electric one*** (which would have suited 95% of her motoring needs) but the advance payment would not have been offset enough by the petrol/diesl savings. *** As it happened the only demonstrater available was an electric one - we both test drove it determined to hate it but came back well impressed.

Not much of a solution if the locomotive has directional lights............... If you are concerned with what effect changing any CV is all you have to do is note what it is prior to changing it then, if anything else is effected you can easily revert to the original CV setting.

Maybe I'm far too wary of my important data being anywhere but on my system - the most important being on two external drives that are unplugged from the main PC when not. Quite simply I do not trust any third parties to that extent - at the end of the day no external system is hack proof & neither is my main PC. However, I'm pretty sure that my external HDD's are pretty secure when not connected to anything.

TBH I've never found it much good for it's intended use anyway. Far better products for moving contacts thesedays such as Track Magic which I have had good results with.

Gaugemaster still list GM100 Mod-Roc @ £6.25 & GM119 Plaster of Paris @ £5.50. If you google the product codes & descriptions you will find plenty of on-line small independants*** with stocks & often less than GM prices. *** I'm sure will will find one or two who do not come into the "internet shopping billionaire" bracket. 👍

IMHO PECO Electrolube should be left in Devon - ghastly stuff. I use a tiny, tiny amount of light oil (such as Gaugemaster GM619) on my pin point bearings (& if you have Bachput rolling stock they will wear out the plastic axelboxes if you don't). Graphite is probably better & that's what the RHDR use on their OO/HO layout - some of the stock on there is over 40 years only & coveres impressive real miles. Whatever you use then a good clean & re-lube occasionally will be beneficial.

Easy Peasy solution - simply remove the springs & let the weight of the pad do it's job - that way it can be run with regular trains. Same applies to the Piko one & the Gaugemaster branded "BR" & "NWR" versions. The pads will last longer & be kinder to your track. Hope this helps.

If I'm that interested/bothered/sad enough I can access that information with a couple of mouse clicks & that information is live & to the second without the benefit of a so called "smart" meter. If you like a good read I recomment a book called "Black Out" by Marc Elsberg - a work of fiction but it puts a whole new light (excuse the pun) on not only "smart" meters but the way we foolishly depend & trust I.T.

I too remember WordPerfect, & DOS, & 5.25" FDD's & when a 20mB HDD was considered excessive.

I think the councils are missing a lucrative financial trick here ; Remove the physical width restriction & keep the signage. Instal a CCTV camera with ANPR to issue the PCN's. Rake in the money.

Not in the summer is you live accross the channel from our French friends. We have a "smart" TV & it's used simply as a monitor so hopefully not too much spying on us.

Been available on diesel Range Rovers for the past 20 years. Not cheap to run but doable with the money your "smart" meter will save you - nothing beats wafting down the road looking down on the plebs in their elcectric mice & sticking a finger up towards Geta. To clarify for those devoid of a GSOH - this comment is TIC & not to be taken seiously.) ps. I don't like Elon Musk either.

Looks like "smart" meters have at least one advantage.

With respect, you have a commendable faith in the technology being 100% correct. I can (if I want to) access as much information and probably more with a few mouse clicks regarding my utilities.

Indeed, nothing high tec here, let alone "smart".

We have a non"smart" meter for the main house & solar panels have a non "smart" meter to measure the power generated. Once a quarter we provide a reading from the solar panels meter on line & in less than 7 days the FIT payment in in our nominated bank account. Currently recieving 22.5p/kwh for what we generate if we use it or not. So, "old meters" can in fact work perfectly well with solar panels.

Exactly how I run my gas & electricity accounts - nothing "smart" about it, just common sense & the benefits are ; Accurate bills. Paymeny by BACS (from whatever account I wish to use). No allowing anyone to help themselves to any amount of my money whenever they feel like it. & the best part of it is the fact that I am in complete control.