SamThomas

Excellent clips & thanks for posting them. IIRC at one time the RHDR held the record for the longest continuos steam run buffer to buffer (Hythe to Hythe) in the country which was arouind 28 miles - do they still hold it I wonder ?

Many of them are limited to around 70mph for motorways but that does not stop them exceeding the limit on dual carriageways. AFAIR these lower limits were introduced because of "restricted vision" & poor braking performance of fully loaded commercial vehicles.

Brilliant film, about time it was re-run on one of the Freeview channels. Back on topic yes & another railway connection looking at the front bumper of the truck.

based on using HO which are basically the same design. The throw (tie ?) bar is moved by the black "whisker" to the right of the mechanism exposed on the underneath. This acts as a very weak spring which may not be helping with the mechanical issue you have. Also, you could look at making the blades live with some very fine wire. As suggested you could consider making them "live" as the switches can often give issues. Hope this helps.

You could use self adhesive aluminium foil & then overpaint it with the original interior colour. Blackboard paint is another possibility, again overpainted with original interior colour. For tiny cracks & gaps a bit of plasicine will often do the job, especially if the crack is a join between two sections that may have to be split later.

A very fine tooth razor saw.

Oh dear, I am so, so sorry to have made a typo.

The batteries on our system don't discharge to the grid at any time, they will just wait until we require them. Incidently, NP wanted us to allow them to charge the batteries up overnight to release the power back onto the grid during peak morning demand. We said we would agree subject to effective monitering but at the time (a few years ago now) they did not have the ability to effectivly moniotor what power went where & when - not even "smart" meters were that smart.

Generally, I am well aware that speeding is "an absolute offence". However, it is probably the easiest offence to detect & prove. 3mph over the limit @ 04:00H is not as serious as higher speeds at busier times of the day. 3mph is just over a needles width on an analogue speedo. Digital speedo's take a while to settle as speed varies. What is wrong with a bit of common sense in these cases ? If I go even a second over my tacho time it is also "an absolute offence", but it is classed as an infringement. IMHO there is far too much emphasis on on automatic speed detection & not enough effort put inor other offenses - something additional police patrols would go some way to address. The extra costs could be funded by the revenue they generate. I am also of the opinion that the authorities look at the revenue created by automatically generated scameras as a useful cash cow. To reiterate, I'm not condoning speeding, just think that competant police officers would do a better job. On the flip side there are a number of schools that do not have lower speed limits (24h or timed) - I would be all for a police patrols taking drivers to task (educationally) for driving past a school at the "normal" 320 or 40 mph - something even the best technology cannot get even close to. Have a pleasant evening everyone.

Manually checking the images would show a vehicle exceeding the speed limit (in this case) by 3mph at 4:00H - that's right 3mph over the limit @ 04:00H. Yes, lets have more police patrols on the road - a higher profile will go a long way into improving driving standards & detection vehicles &/or drivers that should not be on the roads. If there were more police patrols there would be far less high speed chases & less need for the amount of very high performance police cars which are not cheap to run, but lets not go down that road. The extra costs will be offset by the long term savings of dealing with "accidents", not only the direct causes but the after effects. We know exactly wjy the member in question was travelling at 33mph. &, FYI PCN's &/or NIP's must be posted to the registered keeper of the vehicle within 14 days of the alleged offence***. Of course having empathy I realise that the member in question may have had more important things on his mind than a plain brown paper envelope on his doormat. As you showed little or no empathy for the circumstances of the member in question then I stand by my remarks. In future please feel free to ignore my posts if you don't like the fact that I do sometimes bite back. *** ejstubbs beat me to that.

It's human nature, especially when it concerns a loved one. Seems like you are a very caring person.

There are indeed Alastair, but the point (& the only point) I am trying to put over is that there is a vast different between being over the speed linit by 3mph at 04:00H & say 09:00H. I am not condoning speeding & lets face it many, many of our speed limits realisticly could do with being revised - some up & some down. & I bet not many of us here could put there hand on their hearts & say they have never driven when being distracted by (insert favourite pet hate distraction here). I can't & I have far better driving qualifications than passing a basic car driving test. Luck of the game - sometimes you "get away" with minor transgressions, sometimes you don't, but thios is where the brain & common sense come back into play.

If indeed they are I sand by my comment about brains & common sense.

Clearly you did not read my post - where did I say anything about a "massive increase in traffic police " (your words) ? To refresh your memory what I said was "Seriously ? - someone with a brain & a bit of common sense should manually check these PCN's." So, please read posts correctly before commenting. & of course show a little empathy please, but then again you are probably squeky clean. As for your remark about lmsforever appealing maybe with his wife in hospital he had more important things to concern himself with.

I did indeed ask for evidence - evidence that the utilities could pass on the savings of customers using the DD system as opposed to the system I use where I am in complete control & is also automated. I'm also aware that paying by DD is cheaper, but 1). I don't trust it (based on experience) & 2). I'm OK with paying a little more to remain in control. Time to move on please.

Fair enough, sometimes I go into RMW mode".

& that is the perfect example of why there should be more manual intervention & not to rely on the "scamera cash cows". Seriously ? - someone with a brain & a bit of common sense should manually check these PCN's. The again, its Thames Valley (I think) so I'm not surprised.

All I can say regarding your DD's Andrew is that's fair enough. My experience is the opposite so even when it costs me a little more I avoid them - remaining in control is far more important to me than saving a littlr money. You see having a choice is important - you choose your way & I'll choose mine. Oh, & BTW I do live within my means & resent any inference that I do not.

I really don't understand people banging on about the saving of not having meter readers being a real benefit of having a "smart" meter, especially as so many on here have reported their virual extintion. The only times many of us without "smart" meters see a meter reader is when the meters have to be manually read by law which is, AFAIK every 2-years & that applies to "smart" meters too. Another so called "benefit" is the DD/budget system - you hear too many horror stories of people trying to get their money returned when changing suppliers or having their usage revised.

It is indeed their hard luck if the supply cable runs warm. ATM I have raised the issue regarding voltage fluctuations with E*** who tell me to contact NG. NG tell me I don't have a contract with them & to contact E. I've referred E to the fact that I pay my standing charge to them (& previously to SEEBoard who were the supplier of electricity & owned the grid in my area) & therefore as they choose to sub-contract the grid to NG therefore they are responsible under contract law. E insist that I have a contract with NG - I am still awaiting documentry evidence. E will not accept my evidence data from my solar panels software so I am still awaiting a response for monitoring equipment. *** My electricity supplier.

Thanks for that additional information about the various version of the z21 Ron.

Couple of years ago I attended a speed awareness course & the instructors made quite a big issue about car & light van speedo's consistantly reading high when compared to LGV & PCV's having calibrated speedo's.

Not trying to make anybody feel guilty at all - can't see where I even suggested that.

I have too many concerns with "smart" meters that have yet to be adressed/confirmed - I have raised these points with my electricity supplier & they remain unanswered. However, the main reason is personal choice. I am getting increasing tired of experts/environmentalists telling me I must ; No longer buy a new fossil fueled vehicle (after a certain date). Fill my cavity walls with something that will prevent ventilation. Increase my loft insulation with an irratant. Replace my gas boiler with something far less effecient (such as a heat pump or electric). Fit expensive technology to my heating system for a minimal return. & so on.

Interesting that those of us who stayed with the bigger suppliers are now having to effectively subsidise those that saved money by switching to smaller suppliers.