Barry Ten

That's what I wodered as well, having looked up the same article. Terms like "variable pitch" crop up here and there so I think the text is fairly accurate otherwise.

I'm currently reading Pierre Clostermann's memoir The Big Show (which also touches on the death of Rommel), but one thing that's puzzled me is a reference to a Spitfire fitted with a "plastic propeller". Can anyone shed any light on this, or is it perhaps just an accident of translation from the original French?

He had quite a turn of speed for an 80 year old, too.

I might be of the generation which overlapped between Meccano and Lego. I had both as a child (lucky boy) but despite strong encouragement from my dad, I never quite clicked with Meccano. It was too hard on small fingers, tightening all those nuts and bolts, whereas Lego could be assembled quickly and without sore fingertips. I found Meccano hampered my creativity where Lego allowed it full-flight. Lego was a very different beast back then, too, with relatively few specialised blocks and only a few colours compared the spectrum available now.

Did the Flying Scotman run between Edinburgh and That London?

Thanks for that, Andy. I wonder if the upgrade would work on the Bachmann Dynamis system. That's the one I'm currently using for my 4mm stuff (it would be a bit of a faff to swap over to the NCE Powercab as the latter is very well integrated into my N layout) even though I'm not hugely fond of the Dynamis for various reasons. Perhaps, knowing that others have had the same issue, I can just live with it a bit more easily. My 12 x 11 layout is small enough that I don't really need to run stuff at express speeds, and while it would have been nice to do it now and then, it's not that big a deal compared with the much larger layouts on WW.

Looks like you've come round to my train room and nicked half my tools ... same workmate, same cable reel, same jigsaw, same clamps...

That's looking splendid. Hope I can get down to the SWAG do to see it.

I saw a van yesterday with "television's" on the side. Someone had gone to the trouble of that, you almost had to applaud.

See earlier - it's not anything that can be resolved with altering the CVs, unfortunately and it doesn't seem decoder-specific. I've used a variety of brands, including sound and non-sound, spent a long time tweaking CVs, and found slow running to be a universal characteristic in combination with (in my case) DJH and Comet gearbox/motor combos. By slow, I mean "nowhere near a scale ton" - I'd estimate that 50 - 60 mph would be about the max. Fine for pootling in and out of terminus to fiddleyard layouts, but useless for mainline running at express speed. It doesn't seem to affect RTR to the same degree - I can only conclude that these models are geared for quite a bit faster running generally, even though they also run pretty well at slow speeds. At least I only have the problem half the time, as my pre-nationalisation locos only ever run on DC.😀

I was disappointed in the performance of my NCE Powercab system and it got worse with time, with gradually reducing power, particularly problematic with sound-fitted locos. I can't quite remember the details but I was led to believe that the NCE units sold in the UK had been supplied with an under-specified transformer which wasn't delivering enough track voltage. I swapped mine for a Maplins one with a switchable output (set to 15V) and the results were (and remain) excellent. I use this exclusively on my American N stuff and I've had not had any issues with decoder failure since changing the transformer.

Hi Lez - I should have clarified that I've got all my decoders set to the top voltage.

Speaking of the spawn of Satan, DCC, my experience has been that locos that run at a reasonable top speed on DC tend to be quite a bit slower on DCC at the maximum setting. For my locos fitted with the DJH GB9 motor/gearbox (the ones with the Mashima motor, not the more recent offerings) the top speed of passenger locos ends up being a fair bit slower than I'd like after I've put in a decoder. Has anyone else had this observation with their locos? Without getting into the ins and outs of different DCC systems, I think at least one (NCE) allows the track voltage to be increased just by selecting a different output voltage from the transformer, but I'm not sure if this applies to the Dynamis I'm currently using for my 4mm stuff.

I wouldn't think there's any great danger of that. You only have to watch a few of these light documentaries, on any topic (even ones well outside of your sphere of expertise) to pick up on the element of artifice. At the end of the day they're not presenting themselves as hard-hitting investigations, just a bit of moderately entertaining fly-on-the-wall telly (even if the fly's got a shooting script) giving a pleasant, mildly informative insight into some area of business, sport or hobby etc that might pass half an hour or so's harmless viewing with tea and biscuits of your choice.

Thanks, Gordon. As far as period accuracy goes, that's well out of the window and always has been! It's more about evoking the memories and atmospheres of French railways as I've encountered them at various intervals between the late 70s and the present, and of course there's a fair bit of steam and diesel to add to the mix.

Pushing on with the catenary... I've now strung it along all 8 ft of the first scenic bit (the original L'Heure Bleue) and, while not quite there yet in terms of total reliability, I feel like we're getting there slowly. It's a question of small gains and not being too put off by early failures! I think this is a pattern I've found in railway modelling whenever I've had a go at something new to me, be it soldering, Spratt & Winkle couplings, DCC and so on. There's an initial rush of excitement followed by frustration and despondency as things don't quite work out tickety-boo first time. However, if you take a step back and work quietly through the problems. the worst of the frustrations often turn out to be not quite as intractable as first feared, and hints of progress appear. Well, that's what I tell myself anyway. Anyway, here's another vid, this time showing a new-ish purchase by way of a rather nice LS Models electric. Some initial observations, after these few weeks of experimenting: The shorter the catenary span, the easier it is to get it aligned and reliable, especially when there's a bit of curvature in the track. The track running through the module might look straight-ish, but it's got a few gentle bends in it so is a good dry-run for the harder bits still to come. After I'd completed most of the catenary, I ended up with a 310 mm gap between two bits. This didn't play well with any of the lengths in the Peco system, so I took a deep breath and decided to try cutting down one of the 380mm spans to fit the gap. This turned out to be pretty straightforward: I had to remove two of the droppers and solder in two new ones, but other than that, it was just a question of cutting wire and remaking the little folded tips which enable the contact wire to hook onto the catenary arms. My new improvised bit doesn't have the droppers at equidistant intervals, but would anyone notice? In any case, having established to myself that it's not too difficult to modify the Peco bits, I feel more confident about moving on with the catenary elsewhere, as there are bound to be some trouble spots where the lengths need adjusting. Moving on, I'm anticipating that I might need to make some adjustments as we move into the warmer months, but only time will tell on that one!

I think I'd be more than a little bamboozled to find a picture of a layout of mine on the cover of the book I didn't even know about.🙄

No idea but I've already bought two of the recently tooled 1/48 P51 kits, they're so good, and I bet I'm not the only one.

Hi Chas, no it's strictly dummy. From what I've read, the advent of DCC meant a decline in interest in running powered catenary, so a lot of newer models aren't wired to work with it anyway (although I imagine they could be modified). I've had enough of a struggle just to get it to work cosmetically ,without collecting power, thank you very much! The Joeuf CC14100 above does appear to have an electrical path from the pantograph, nonetheless.

I acquired the Hattons SE&CR set, Tony. Any reservations I might have had about their "generic-ness" went out the window as soon as I had then on the layout, admiring the exquisite livery work and lining. I feel I've put in the hard miles with etched brass coach building, inc;luding fully lined pre-grouping stock, so I've an appreciation of how long it would take to produce an equivalent rake - even if suitable kits and parts were available. I'm currently stalled on constructing some S&D stock, for instance, because of the non-availability of suitable decals. For me the Hattons coaches are an excellent compromise and deserve to do well.

You can use the gauge itself to check that the model is level, just by running it along the footplate.

I admire your priorities, Mike. Plus, really fantastic Tony Hatch title music. Firmly in the "nearly as good as a Gerry Anderson TV theme" bracket. Ah, back to Hornby. I haven't seen the new episode but I quite fancy a new Buccaneer. I think the last one I built was the Matchbox one sometime in the 70s.

I can't let this lie there unchallenged, Mike. Given that Mastermind, Only Connect and University Challenge run for 90 consecutive minutes, would you kindly explain to us which of these programs you do not consider a quiz?

A short clip showing testing of the catenary.

I placed a telephone order just before Christmas. There was a follow-up call from Markits to query whether I wanted axles as well, and the items arrived within a day or two. The proprietor is certainly knowledgeable. I'd only specified my wheels and the number thereof when he determined that I was working on a 4MT.