Ron Ron Ron

I can only try my best. One wishes to fit in with the crowd and all that..... . Oh err ???? Don't go there ! .

Mmmm? Oh come on Mike, surely anyone asking will only be treated to latter? Especially if SK has returned in time to attend the show with Hornby. .

One week to go. My last shower before the show, today and a chance to save on soap, shampoo and deodorant. Not to mention giving the washing machine and iron, a well deserved break. Some vigorous car cleaning and garden tidying tomorrow should have me working up a nice sweat too. All that remains is to pop down to the local Go Outdoors superstore on Monday, to get myself tooled up with a decent sized rucksack. Like this one perhaps?

It does look dire. Without this share issue, it appears the doors might be closing pretty soon. It also looks like most of what funds are being raised is going straight out of the door again and the prospects for the coming market conditions don't fill one with much hope. So it is a wonder. One last role of the dice, put everything on Red? .

According to the show guide, it's also the 50th exhibition staged by the Warley MRC - (1967) - and the 25th at the NEC. .

From my observations, I don't think there's much in the way of redundant stock left at the depot these days. Certainly not like it was 5 or 10 years ago. There appears to have been a big clear out. Lots of WIA car carrying rakes are stored there, when not being used. Same at the works next door, almost all of the old wrecks parked at the rear have long gone. . .

An interesting post Mike. Last year and earlier this year, I spent time delving into the ONS and other statistics myself. The population growth rate (net migration plus net birth/deaths) have meant that the UK population has been increasing by approximately, just under half a million people a year, over the last couple of years. With net migration from the EU having reduced more recently, the rate of increase will be reduced, but even with a larger fall in the numbers (EU & non-EU), the total population growth will still mean an extra million people every 3 or 4 years. So yes, those houses will be needed...and some. The recent talk about the "housing crisis" has lead to calls for vast numbers of new homes to be built. To tackle the present shortage and address the need over the next couple of years, they are talking about a million new dwellings. But that only covers the present and very short term need, if all these figures are to be believed. To put this into perspective, by 2030 (a little over 12 years time), the equivalent of 1.5 Birminghams* may have to be built to house everybody and the robots won't know what to do with us all. ( * OK, I'm waiting for the jokes.) .

It's hard to imagine anyone using the term Azuma, but who knows what Joe Public will call them. Probably "a train", or "I went on Virgin to...", because it's all the same to most people. The Kent HS trains are a funny example. When they first went into service, train enthusiasts were calling the Class 395 a "Javelin", even though originally that was not an official name for the train and it had never been labelled such. "Javelin" was the official promotional name for the (then) planned 2012 Olympic shuttle service to/from Stratford International. It's only after the Olympics that the name "Javelin" was adopted by Hitachi and Southeastern as the official name of the trains themselves. However, a lot of Joe Public Kent folk refer to the trains and to the HS service as "The Bullet". In common parlance, "I got the Bullet up to London", or "I was on the Bullet the other day...". Nobody seems to call them "Javelin". .

Do watch them all and particularly the Julian Coles one, which shows how to do exactly what you are after. Also note that acceleration and deceleration rates for starting and stopping, can be adjusted in the decoders. So operation can be a lot smoother than in some of the videos. Cheers Ron .

We can play pedantry bingo all day long, just for fun. Only joking of course. I did see "owing", but ignored it assumed it was just a typo. There's a big difference between calling something an "IEP train" and calling that train an "IEP", a description which is clearly ludicrous. .

You are lucky that you are not too far away from DCC Concepts, who are located right next to the station in Settle. They can provide advice and supply various related DCC products and control systems. My understanding is that they're working on a system that will be able to provide a degree of automation, without the use of computer control software. .

I also received my copy of the show magazine the other day. Very nice, but if I may make two adverse comments....? Regarding the pull out floor plan - the font used to annotate the stands on the chart is awful. Some are easily readable, but others are hard if not impossible to work out. It's even worst on the online version, where it doesn't scale very well at all. No simple decode list. Decoding who is on what stand from the diagram has to be ascertained from the magazine guide itself, which covers some 43 pages or so. The list on the back of the pull out floor plan, is only useful in finding a particular exhibitor from their name. Apart from that minor moan, I have a question. I missed the last two Warley exhibitions. Is this the first time the Bachmann sales stand has been positioned separately, on the opposite side of the hall from their main stand? .

A further video and one that might answer Nutford's question. A gentleman named Julian Coles, reporting quite literally, from his man cave.........

It's not simply a matter of "looking good" and I think you may have missed Nigel's point that DCC should not be run in this manner. DCC is designed to drive the trains (and operate accessories) and to paraphrase that old cliche again, not to drive the track. This is not a trivial distinction, either in terms of how the control system works, nor in the conceptual way we play with our toy trains. When it comes to routinely switching power on and off, it doesn't matter if it's hidden or in full view. It could be argued that this is effectively a misuse of the DCC system. There are also potential implications from the repeated application off sudden inrush currents for the health of some decoders, with the possibility (it may be remote or not) that some may start misbehaving. There's the added possibly one or two of the less "robust' variety, may eventually tire of life and pack up. Mixing DCC and aspects of DC is a perfectly valid approach, but trying to get a DCC system to behave like a DC system is not the best way to go about it IMHO. May I suggest that you look at some of the practical alternatives instead? For example, I'm pretty certain that asymmetric braking such as used in the Lenz ABC method, could do exactly what you want in the "changeover" sidings. The ABC switching could be activated by inputs from detectors or switches. All that remains is to find a way of automatically switching the points. It might also be worth considering alternative block signalling products, that will work with a form of DCC block control. Unfortunately this is a subject I'm yet to get to grips with (although it's somewhere on my bucket list) and others will be better placed to advise. I don't know if it helps, but here are a few videos (note that track power is not cut at any time)....... In these videos from A&H models, you can see the Lenz ABC modules in action (note since these were made, all Lenz decoders now have ABC)....

No TOC "owns" stations. They only get to operate and manage them. Pedant hat off...... .

http://www.schiit.com/home

Nutford, my bold on the quote from your last post. "...loco on route 2 now has power, so starts..." Just to assess your understanding of how DCC works (it might help here), may I ask, how does that loco start? .

Reported in June this year (2017)..... http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/15330037.Plans_to_build_reservoir_the_size_of_Heathrow_back_on_the_table/ Earlier, in March this year..... http://www.oxfordshireguardian.co.uk/abingdon-reservoir-plans-could-still-go-ahead-after-10-year-battle/ .

You've got your numbers a bit wrong, but your point about more transits is correct. In fact it's quite a lot more trains, than those being replaced. The total number of GWR IEP trains, i.e. trains supplied under the IEP, is..... 57 trains, consisting of 36x 5-car and 21x 9-car. So assuming the 5-cars will operate in pairs for the bulk of their peak time operation, that will make it.... 39 trains, consisting of 18x 10-car and 21x 9-car. Add to that the GWR non-IEP trains, i.e. the Class 802's ordered separately and not as part of the IEP, which is.... 36 trains, consisting of 22x 5-car and 14x 9-car. Again assuming 5+5 pairings as one train, that equals.... 25 trains, consisting of 11x 10-car and 14x 9-car. Added together (both IEP and Eversholt supplied) that gives us... 93 trains consisting of 58x 5-car and 35x 9-car. Again assuming 5+5 pairings as one train, that gives us... 64 trains consisting of 29x 10-car and 35x 9-car. [note: There is no such train called an "IEP"] .

That wouldn't have been much use, as the French didn't anticipate the larger Berne Gauge either; having to upgrade the whole of their standard gauge network to the wider and taller Berne Gauge (after WW1).

Nutford, there's a well worn, old DCC cliche that says that DCC can be as simple, or as complicated as you want it to be. Everything from just 2 wires to the track and simply driving trains, to a full blown computer controlled or assisted layout, with all manner of sophisticated and automated features. Plus everything in between. If I'm reading you correctly, some of your requirements may be straying into areas that require a bit more involvement on the complex and sophisticated side. However, do not fear. There's usually more than one way to skin a cat (no animal cruelty intended). What might be called "proper automation", usually involves using a computer (PC, laptop etc,) and a software package, which I guess is not what you're looking for (at least not at this stage of the game). However, certain automated actions can be done without involving a computer and that includes station or signal stops. For this, you'll either need decoders that can respond to a required action, such as Lenz's Automatic Brake Control (ABC) feature, triggered by simple trackside modules; ...or, a trackside electronic module, designed to perform these functions under DCC. Other than the fact that ABC equipped decoders will respond and non-ABC decoders won't, I don't know enough about this to say whether stopping actions can only be automatically applied to specific locos/trains? A computer based software package would be able to do this. Otherwise your options are limited (it is still possible). Detection and block control devices designed for DC will not work on DCC. It's important to remember that DCC is quite different to DC control, in that you are "driving the trains and not the track". i.e. you do not control the track power. I'm not sure of the best way to explain this.... The person driving the train is responsible for obeying signals and/or entering particular sections of track (just like the prototypical railway - apart from examples of automatic train operation ). For block control under DCC, you need some method of instructing the driver of the train, more specifically the decoder inside the loco/train, to obey signals or line side electronic devices that control entry to the next block, or section of track. Lenz sell a set of modules that allow a form of block control, but it relies on using decoders that are compatible with their ABC feature. http://www.lenzusa.com/1newsite1/Asymmetrical.html. - click on the links to modules BM1, BM2 & BM3 from that page. There's at least one or two another producers of similar DCC specific devices. A signal input from a detection device (e.g. like a reed switch) can be used to trigger a control module, which will then initiate a series of actions, such as change a series of points and signals or indicator lights. I'm not sure what sort of ability there is to issue commands to stop and start locos, but a combination of this and something like a Lenz ABC arrangement could achieve what you want. The NCE Mini-Panel is one such device. https://www.dccconcepts.com/manual/nce-owners-manual-mini-panel/ As Oldddudders (Ian) says in post no. 5 above, it will be best to look at what options are available to allow you to perform the tasks you require and then work backwards to find either the DCC system(s) that support them, or if they are not system specific. . .

This bridge was replaced and the approach roads regraded and rebuilt, in less than 3 minutes....

I'm curious to know why it is being said that it would take a year to replace this bridge? Is this NR saying it, or the local councils and local protesters? Bearing in mind, in recent times similar bridges have been replaced, including raising the approach roads, in the space of only a a few days. What is so different in this case?

My bad, as some youngsters say (...boy I hate that turn of phrase!). I'm guilty of repeating something posted on another forum and the Rail Technology magazine web news item. I should have checked myself. Thanks for putting me straight chaps. .

With the proposed increase in the number of passenger services expected to use this stretch of line, notwithstanding the aim to eventually allow 140 mph running, it would be interesting to know how restrictive this will eventually be for vehicle and pedestrian traffic using these level crossings. I see that the Steventon level crossings allow the only road access to a section of the village, south of the railway. Without these crossings, that section of the village would be completely cut off and isolated from any road network. Closing them would be impossible without the construction of a new access road and bridge, or a new road link to the B4017 High St. and the existing bridge crossing. All very expensive, so who pays? Then again, what if increased use of the railway and higher speeds result in restricting road access to something like only 5 or 10 minutes in every daytime hour? On the face of it, this would seem to be a very difficult problem for the future. As for the bridge; there doesn't appear to be any physical reason why it can't be raised or replaced. The issues are the temporary impact on traffic access and the local concern of the effect on the village and many of its businesses, plus the matter of its listing, which is also being used as an excuse to do nothing about the problem. I'm minded to think of peoples reactions (here and elsewhere) to the protests about HS2. .