peach james

me too. I have contemplated the relative success of certain other models recently released (& produced through) DJM...if only I had the $$ $$$ to put down, I think there may be a market for them.

Oh, bloom'n heck, you just made my day with that line. Being "the young one" for so long in Model Engineering, I've been to way more funerals than weddings. Its sad, but true. I think back on such individuals as Eric Clark (the Nome), who had served in the forestry commission in the UK during WW2 (I think he was found out as underaged), and John Crook. The Johnny story that always gets me is about 1988, we were at Ontario Agricultural Museum (Milton, Ont), and they laid on a 2 man crosscut saw demo. John and someone else his age (at the time, late 70's), stepped up and proceeded through the wood like they had worked together for years, and like it was a chainsaw...zip, zip. The young whippersnappers all tied the saws into bows, and generally had NO chance against these two. At the end of the day, he turns to Dad and myself, and says- if you mention this to Jean (his wife), I'll kill you both !. He'd had quadruple bypass surgery when he was ~65. (& heart problems finally got him about 10 years later). At least I got to his 50th wedding anniversary, and his funeral. & he is remembered... James

As some of you know, I am a serving member of the Royal Canadian Navy. So, I have my own medals, thanks... I hold a CD (for 12 years undetected crime), and a SWACM (with bar) for the ship's tour in 2002 (Op Apollo, Roto 3). http://www.cmp-cpm.forces.gc.ca/dhr-ddhr/chc-tdh/chart-tableau-eng.asp?ref=SWASM In terms of other medals kicking around the house, the highest award I have here is a MBE, which belonged to Harold "Pop" Collins, my great grandfather. There's stories to go with it- it was probably mostly awarded for long service, as it was awarded in 1942, during the middle of his 3rd war. He'd served in South Africa (Boar War), then sailed through the first world war, during which his ship was torpedoed (at least, that's what his record of continuous discharge says), and allegedly mined as well... (I _think_ I know which ship that is, but the timings don't line up all that well...mind, his record of discharge doesn't have a lot of detail for the WW1 trips), then he continued at sea through the 2nd lot of difficulty, including sailing to Norway in 1940. I have some of his cheer up cards from TORCH as well. He was Chief Steward onboard MV Reina Del Pacifico and SS Orduna (mostly Orduna) during the war. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MV_Reina_del_Pacifico Granddad (on dad's side) was a schoolteacher/headmaster, and is also a bit of a Enigma. Dad says that he was teaching/headmaster of one of the schools at Bletchley Park, which wouldn't surprise me. Grandmum on dad's side stayed in the Mold area during the war, she too was a teacher. Her father had been killed in the first war, or at least, the man we presume was her father...there was some interesting shananagans played with children in that timeframe in her family anyway. (Dad was told not to date any girls from Buckley, as he was related to some he didn't know he was...). On my mum's side, Granddad and mum were married in 1940, after meeting in Liverpool. Prior to that, grandmum had worked for Captain (N) Doust, of the Salvage Association as his secretary. I have a lovely letter from Captain Doust to her congratulating her on the occasion of her marriage. I understood from Grandmum that Captain Doust had proposed to her, now if that was lighthearted or not, I don't know...certainly the letter gives the feel of it having been somewhat serious. I also have a copy of Captain Doust's book (The Ocean on a Plank) which details his work both prior to the war and during it. It was published in the early 1980's, and clearly there are still stories that weren't told then. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Thetis_(N25) must have happened literally right in front of them, I would suspect that Capt. Doust was one of the individuals who offered advice and was ignored by the RN as being a bloody civvie...). Granddad was a Chemist, and as such, that was a protected occupation. He also had heart issues from being born premature. He served in the Birkenhead Police Force as an auxiliary bobby through the war, apparently he had one bomb land close enough that he and his partner were in the doughnut of the blast- right where you want to be if one does go off near you. Grandmum's 2nd husband, Hugh (Taffy) Evans fought in Burma in the 2nd World War, I have his shadow box & medals as well. Gone, but not forgotten. We will remember them. James

I am a monarchist, but it needs taking a look at- what we need is a system that seperates the head of the government from the head of state. Having one of those with a very long term outlook is important, and logic says it should be the head of state who is the long term part of it. The US republican style (note, governance not party!) of seperation seemed to work, but it needs changes. Some old fat guy said it best- democracy is the worst type of government, except for every other type... James

As one with a bit of skin in the game (admittedly, a long way away)... Putting your money where your mouth is is important. I don't really care much about what political stripe you wear, at least you have most definitely DONE something...that's far better than being a mouthpiece for nothing... I admire everyone who is involved in politics, at any level. There are people who I detest for their viewpoint, but they undeniably have a right to express such opinions. I'm all for Speakers Corner, the best way to disinfect crappy ideas is to expose them to sunlight where they wilt away. Hidden in the dark corners they fester as a bad mold on the process... James

Just remember, we get a _little_ more snow than the UK does...so the "wrong kind of snow" is a far more likely thing for us rather than the UK. tilt- the LRC Masterclass goes through a lot on the development of the LRC concept and train. The coaches have tilting, but it failed more often than desireable, and I think in modes similar to APT, which resulted in cars developing a list...which would be definitely uncomfortable. (like the flood tank at work). I've seen -40 near Toronto, and those kinds of temperatures affect how the trains are operated...there is no way around it at those sorts of temperatures, the trains need to be operated different than when it is +20C. I understand most of the reason behind the demise of the LRC's is age and useage related. They lasted ~20 years, which isn't that bad for a high speed high output diesel powerplant. Especially given that MLW went broke in (1986?), and the 251F's are quite highly stressed beasts. We're replacing similar aged diesel engines (1990-1996) because of similar problems. James

Over-engineering is the right answer. Overweight= lack of engineering. Remember, Nevil Shute Norway's first job was removing weight from bridges...it involved LOTS of engineering to figure out where to put the holes. Indeed, the eventual plan for our club layout was to make a 4 track, independent loop layout. I have about 1/6th of it right now...it works much better than the previous layout did. James

I'm a bit far, but I think you will find there is someone closer to Calgary to go knocking on doors...I do visit there on occasion, but I have no idea when the next time will be. (last time was 2 years ago). James

Hi...Pot here ! (well, actually, http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/13244-long-marton-sc/page-1 ) So, yes it is fairly near possible to Plonk & Play the S&C. That being said, there is a lot of time of mine spent in what _I_ want the railway to model. I`m not frankly, that interested in having a dead scale model in P4. What I am interested in doing is having a close scale model of the whole railway, and with operational signaling. If I want to be an engine driver, I have a 3 1/2" Britannia I can go get steam up with, and _drive_. I enjoy making the scenery, and enjoyed what I have done of making card buildings for Long Marton. I have built a couple of kits (DJH starter kits) when I was quite young (14 or so), and I have built some coaches more recently. (oh, and a steam railway engine, and some other machining projects). There is still a huge amount of different skillsets required to build a model such as Long Marton, ranging from the woodworking, wiring, electrics, electronics, computer programming, mechanical hand skills, modelmaking, lighting, casting, plastercasting, foam work... so, plonk and play it might be, but it still needs some skills ! James

So, the lego has been taken apart (the above, not the main lego !), and the bits borrowed from LM have been returned. All in order to run my new LRC around...pulling a train of Mk 1's, because that's about all I have. I think I have one boxcar, and some unopened Tri-ang North American stock, but I don't have much NA stuff at all. There are coaches on order to go with the LRC, but they haven't been made yet Anyway, it sounds quite nice running around Long Marton. I'm not going to order the APT though, because it is not something that I need. By the time they come out, I am going to be down to counting days of employment, and I don't need large model purchases hovering over my head at that point. Next step is continued work on the Arduino's that are going to be used for lighting controllers on the Lego. I may get some train running done while I play though. James

Under DCC: https://flic.kr/p/rFCdNj 3 trains running. I had an incident, I think I know why, and I can't do anything about it with the # of sections I had on the test layout. So, more Digitrax bits have been ordered, and there will be testing done & setup done at the show. James

Good to see your MoJo has been found Mike I've been playing with Lego trains, the program sort of works, but I think I may have overstepped what is really possible with "only" 8 track sections. (2 at grade crossings, and 3 operating trains really is excessive). So, I think I need more bits in order to make the plan work for the train show, we will see... Long Marton continues to slumber, with stuff all askew, in part because one of the DCC power supplies is used right now for the Lego test layout. James

The answer to value is "it depends". We've (as a club) disposed of one of our members assets after his death- and the value of RTR UK outline stock in Canada is...limited by what we were willing to offer, for the most part. I don't NEED PO waggons, or G&SW stock...so, the value is rather limited. That being said, having been involved in the sale of various models, unless a model is truly exceptional, then its value is probably far less than what its "insurance" value is, because anything scratchbuilt, or kit built, is going to attract pence on the pound for the hours of work involved. I spent about what the market value is for my 4" traction engine, and I paid, by my figuring, WELL less than minimum wage for the work that had been put into it. I couldn't afford the time at the price that I paid for it, and that was being sold by the owner/builder. (and no, he wasn't 93 years old either...he'd had a bad day on a race track and needed to "downsize" because his wife insisted he pick one of his hobbies and get rid of it...he chose cars & planes to keep...). James

Ba! Bite your tounge, Jeff...they are _definitely_ touring in more than America. It's an easy hop from UK-Toronto, should be about 6 hrs in the air, or 9 to Vancouver (it's all about that circle). To see them in Vancouver would set you back about $1800 (say about 1400 quid) to fly to and from Vancouver, plus hotel & concert ticket. (& that was a fairly cursory search, I am quite sure you could get the airfare for less...that was using air canada) But Rush is definitely touring more than just America (& if you came out to the west coast of NA, there is both me and Sasqatch who are out here...) James

They were the prestige when we rented a duplex right near Main Street Station. I don't remember what we traveled to Kingston on in 1981, I am assuming something conventional, I can remember some of the ride back, but none going. Anyway, they were a big part of my misspent youth in terms of what was cool & new for VIA in the early 80's, with the FP4's and similar being slagged out leftovers. (& the Turbo was just a fleeting glimpse, I know I saw it in service, but it didn't create the memory like Jason has for it). I remember the fire at Ted Reeve Arena (it was a chip truck) , and the area behind the arena being the CN car yards...it's all town houses now. When I say the house backed onto the tracks, I mean it does... https://www.google.ca/maps/@43.684705,-79.303247,3a,75y,331.22h,78.56t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1scYqtiZAjgvQbfcbSDTzAGw!2e0

So, the test of the track plan is up at https://www.flickr.com/photos/47105471@N05/16351642824/ Next is to get the whole lot to work under DCC, which may be this evenings project, then to try it with the PR3 & RR&Co on the win 8 computer... James

I would find it hard to believe that the ideas contained would be patentable, ""Replacement of previous wired RS-232 serial communications in test equipment, GPS receivers, medical equipment, bar code scanners, and traffic control devices."" one of the listed uses of Bluetooth technology on Wiki. Since the Marklin DCC spec was based on using RS-232 (in 1985), I think any company would be hard pressed to claim that this use of Bluetooth is not immediately apparent as an extension of an existing technology. Of course, the only winner in a case like that would be a lawyer...just like with JMRI, which was sued by a company in an attempt to SLAPP them out of existence...they won, but at quite a large expense to the individuals who were named as the developers of JMRI. Clearly, the same sort of information would be apparent to anyone who tried to claim that "wireless control of a model railway engine" is innovative, the HOW might be innovative, but the idea is certainly not new, as I have one downstairs that is botched together from various bits, and that really draws from other peoples work...the innovators were the model engineers in the 1930's who built RC ships (because you could fit enough radio gear into KGV at 12' long to actually be "remote" control in the late 30's). James

Oh my goodness, the amount of stuff crap that I have accumulated is staggering. I bought a set of shelves from Target (think Wal-Mart, but a little better) during their bankruptcy sale here in Canada. It's heavy duty commercial stuff, so rather stouter than the normal run of the mill stuff I had in the sea containers out back. This was to allow me to move stuff around in the sea cans, so that I get (at the end of all of this) some more room in the house. I've so far moved about 5 boxes of stuff out of the house, and everything that was in the sea cans has moved at least 2 times. The only good thing is that I have managed to get enough of the lego put away from the last set of shows to be able to put up 4 tables for the mock up layout of the train show, in order to ensure that the RR&Co program will work beforehand. In a first for me, I have decided NOT to leave it to the last second and chance ! No real progress on Long Marton since Christmas time. The large lego bridge is currently sitting on it, and 3 of the DB150's are currently removed. The only thing of any neatness is that I have a "funny", in the form of a LRC engine from Rapido coupled onto one of the trains of Mk 1 coaches. The LRC needs running in, before I use it for train haulage, but it will be a "funny". The good news is that because it is a HO model of a small train, it all fits in the OO loading gauge. James James

So, my LRC engine has arrived here. I haven't had a chance to run it yet, but I will soon (I hope...). It looks small coupled to a train of Mk 1's, because I don't have any LRC coaches for it yet...probably one of very few North American diesels that would look small even though it is HO not OO... James

What, Andy, you mean you don't think something like: https://www.flickr.com/photos/47105471@N05/14936990071/ would work for spray painting? It's a good roller...and the last time we ran it inside and forgot to stuff something down the chimney, it did a number on the paint in the kitchen. (I seem to think there ended up being about 10 coats of paint needed to keep the @!#$@# steam oil from bleeding back through...and dad caught quite a bit of flack from his wife over it !). Unfortunately, as regards paint colours, the only choice is kind of a grungy black colour. It does have the advantage of smelling right though... James

Jason, if you look at category 8 (http://www.bronx-terminal.com/?cat=8 ), about the middle of the photos show the real solution to it. There is a pair of removable bits of rail that go OVER the middle of another point...so yes, it does work, even if it "shouldn't". It's as close to a UK shunting layout as you will see in North America, I haven't had the chance to see it in person, unfortunately. Tim has had some...real life...problems which has resulted in a huge gap between expectations of progress and actual progress. James

While I am unsure about the five way turnout, I do know that PW can get plenty strange... http://www.bronx-terminal.com/?cat=9

38x days for me Andy...and I'm not near 60 yet ! (not even near 55 like our fearless leader). I will still have to get a job, but it's form will change, as I won't have to work as much to have a decent income, and I want the time more than the money. At the least, I will be working a much less stressful job, as I won't be working as a shipboard engineer. I have an offer from the local café to be the dish guy (they are about 3 km from here by back road, so it would be nice and close, and hours would be fairly well what I am after, and it would be a people job, not a mechanical job). There are other options that I would like to investigate, but some of them I am being quiet about until I am done with the RCN. James

The answer is, I think, it depends. It all depends on what one is setting out to model. For example, our club layout has no signals, and it should. It has curves which start on the scenic part (but are scenic'd all the way around to the fiddle yard, which is a black plywood expanse). The 8 operational switches are all individually operated, even where in real life they would be paired (two crossovers), but it does have trap points at least. Signaling is something I'd like to do, but it is quite likely to be non operational, as other club members couldn't figure out how to make the sidings run as it is, so we are stuck with the Lowest Common Denominator for the club. It's a 4 track roundy round, with each loop independent of one another, designed to be as simple as possible from an electrical and mechanical prospective, which it achieves. Consider that we are the only game in town for non North American railways, it's not bad. Yes, we do have HST's running alongside G&SW locos, but that again, is a LCD problem within the club. At home, I'm not faced with those restrictions- the turnouts are run as pairs in the crossover (trailing), the signals work (well, when the laws of mechanical cussidness don't affect them), and I'm not a great fan of derailing trains. (that takes good skills at trackwork to eliminate, and that I have struggled with, up to though, removing 12 ft of track and relaying it to make it right, which is the approach to take, if it isn't right, fix it) I can't tolerate finger poking to make trains run at home, because otherwise the whole lot grinds to a halt. Cleaning track is important prior to operating. (or at least, cleaning track when operating in a circle mode, then cleaning wheels, then cleaning track again...) I _know_ I am missing large chunks of the "how" to operate properly. But I also know that asking closed questions on here will get good answers- not "how do I operate a train", but "how would the goods train have dropped wagons for the goods yard" type questions. I find that the internet has raised my expectations of what is acceptable, even though I knew from a long time ago that a class 47 wasn't the right loco for a train of PO coal wagons when I was 12 !. It's not a question to me where you should lower your expectations of what people put on show, but that those of us in the know need to act as the guidance for those who just don't know, and then not waste time on those that just don't want to know. If you are in a position to get rid of layouts by the later from a show, I'd recommend it, unless they do fall in the toy train category rather than the model train category. I make NO claims of any sort of accuracy with the Lego, which is unashamedly a toy train layout. (the same for the absolutely amazing Brio layout that was at the last Victoria (BC) train show). It's not supposed to be accurate, it's supposed to be a bit of light entertainment, and the amount of work I put into it is related to that. If I was trying to model the S&C in lego, then I would expect to get a pasting for it from you over the problems you have outlined, not for ones of "scale" related reasons, but if it didn't have working signals now, and if it required excessive finger poking, then you would be right in frying it. If it's problems are fundamental to the choice of modeling medium, then I don't expect complaints about them. If the problems are related to the operator making a mistake, well, it happens in real life too. If the problem is one where the owner should have applied themselves, they deserve the pasting for presenting something that is less than what it should be. VicLUG at West Shore Train Show 2014 by ZipbIock, on Flickr James Powell

And as soon as you get to that point, you might as well have stayed with DCC at this point in time...because, real engineers, doing real engineering, have decided that RFID, or optical (AEI), or axle counters...are not reliable enough. So that leaves wheel-rail contact, and that might as well leave you with a DCC solution. (or CMRI, if you want...which is what the end solution is), and then, you have the computer (fixed, really) communicating to the layout. The computer will need to communicate to the locos, and again, assuming here that it has a Bluetooth output and a USB output, it then doesn't matter if you are talking to a DCC system or direct to Bluetooth for how it controls the engine, just that it does. I am a Controls Technician, even if my experience is totally irrelevant to an electronic environment. (analog, and pneumatic...), but I do the dance both professionally and for fun. You will have different opinions than others on here as to what are the key features for your railway. For me, at this point, any system that doesn't substantially work better than DCC run with a computer interfaced, the ability to use wireless throttles (both proprietary and iOS/Android based), and with robust train location capability would offer me a net negative, not to mention requiring a substantial amount of work to adjust what I already have. Even if I was starting a brand new layout, based on somewhere other than Long Marton, those capabilities are what I would be looking for...a computer, interfaced both to control the mobile decoders and stationary decoders, with at least 300 I/O ports available, preferably with an open source to allow for the possibility of the manufacturer stopping making that product. Some of these points look to be in the "future wish list" for the BlueRail trains design, but I'm not counting on vaporware for a design. I am using Digitrax, and all the elements are available from more than one manufacturer, even on the proprietary side of the system. (I did look at a relay based system when I started this version of Long Marton, and quickly realized that DC, with relay based controls, would mean I would have more computing using relays than work...by at least an order of magnitude...and that I probably wouldn't be up to the job of designing, installing & testing it before my brain melted...) To me, if a "new" chip design is contemplated, it should be able to take a DCC track signal and use it to operate the loco, and it should be able to take whatever way it wants to (be it WiFi, Bluetooth, or IR) and run them as well. The preferred mode would likely be set the same way that it is now- that it is selectable internal to the chip as to the priority. (that's basic computer stuff straight out of my time well wasted in the mid 1980's, when eeprom started, that the boot start order was first adjustable- so, I would hope that any "new" system would look at that...). After all, we keep hearing from the advocates that a Bluetooth/WiFi/IR/DeltaTang system is so much better than DCC that those of us who have invested in DCC will want to run out and junk it all... (especially if one has been victimized by a piece of vaporware by any company with either red or blue boxes...I'll get right on that...when YOUR new kit arrives at my house and I've tried it to make sure that it does what the package says it does...). It's the same thing as advocates for DCC who don't state where it is the wrong technology...simple DC works best of all for a one layout in steam inglenook, the more you overdo the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the drain, so said a Canadian arty officer... In an ideal world, the mobile decoder would be about as expensive as a DCC decoder (currently about $14 USD), would have DCC and **** (alternate wireless comm's), would allow for DC, DCC and the **** system, with the choice being controlled by a CV, with the CV's all stored on the mobile decoder. The decoder would take +- 20VDC, DCC (to the full 27VAC), and would have a LiPo battery connection as well, giving it a robust run-through capability. The expectation over here now is that a $14 decoder will have 4 function outputs & the motor. The wireless communications should not require any additional eternal connections (so IR is mostly out for me...). The interface protocol should be open source, with the motor control software and the "driving" app being protected however the designer wants. In other words, I think that BlueRail may work for a new layout, but that it doesn't seem to offer up much advantages to me for either of my present layouts. Even in the case of the Lego, where it should be almost a shoe-in, it isn't, quite, yet. (& that is a children's layout...where I use the DCC so that I CAN crash trains together !). I certainly would be interested in easing the problems I am faced with when operating multi lego trains, and I have followed the (non DCC, battery operated) threads out of interest to see what looks to be converging, but the offered solutions to date do not appear to be substantially easier than the current ones, based on where I am at with the Lego trains. I have approximately 60 mobile decoders installed in the Lego... and usually no computer interface, although I have done some interesting lash ups of DCC & Lego Mindstorms & relay sections... James Powell