Ron Ron Ron

.....A tale of 2 penalties? West Ham, not given, same offence, handball, Man U. given.....

Rob, handling the ball involves a deliberate act of a player making contact with the ball with his hand or arm.

In the first case (Man Utd's Rafael), the ball ricochet off his leg up onto his arm, which was by his side and not raised. There was no deliberate intention to handle the ball and the ref had a very clear view of it.

In the West Ham case, the ball had been crossed inside the penalty area and hit the retreating West Ham player's outstretched hand, palming it down.

A marginal call as the players arm naturally swung forward while running, but the replay clearly shows he extended his arm and faced his palm to the ball.

The ref didn't have the benefit of the view shown in the TV replay, but somehow he got it right.

As somebody embarking on a new layout and considering Tilligs Elite points, can anybody explain one thing to me.....

some of their turnouts have plastic ends to the frog wing rails - some are continuous nickel silver (see Mighty Ducks photo above in post #14 as it clearly shows both types).

 

Now is one version like the Peco insulfrog and the all metal version is Tilligs version of an electrofrog or are they both electro?

 

The 289mm long straight points seem to have the plastic wings yet the preferred longer still 361mm and 389mm long straight turnouts look to have the all metal frogs.

 

Anyone able to clear this up? Maybe its just that those in the photo above feature a mix of old and new Tillig Elite and that maybe all newly stocked Tillig points are now all metal?

Does this help?

Tillig Elite turnouts have all-metal frogs. there is no Insulfrog equivalent.

The ends of the wing rails were previously plastic on some turnouts, but I believe all of them are now all-metal.

Check rails have gone to all-metal too, according to the blurb.

Metal rail running throughout, no plastic rail in contact with the wheels.

The frogs are insulated from the one piece blades.

So what - £119 or at least £89 for a Heljan 14 0-6-0 - relevance ???

Maybe that for £57 you aren't going to get much for your money?

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On the one hand, great news that Hornby are setting to work on an industrial diesel shunter.

On the other hand, this will be a product of the much discussed, "Design Clever" approach that Hornby intend to apply to most of their new product.

The question is, what compromises will this value engineering produce?

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There were two stands demonstrating the Z21 at Warley this last weekend.

Both Gaugemaster and A&H had dedicated demonstration areas with personnel to describe the systems capabilities.

Control devices seen in use included an iPad, iPhone, Google Nexus 7 tablet (Android) and an Android phone.

Very impressive it was too. Thanks to all the gentlemen involved for being very clear and informative about this interesting new DCC system.

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I would have thought that with the large order Roco must have placed with TP-Link, for thousands of wireless routers, they would have asked for them to be packaged in casework to match the Z21, rather than the rather cheap looking budget casework of the supplied router.



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Although announced at the beginning of this year, if I'm correct the Z21 only started shipping a couple of months ago and supplies have been slow coming through.

The user base here in the UK must still be quite small, however as several UK dealers are selling this system, it's only a matter of time before someone will be able to report their experiences with it.

Note that the typical German discount price is approximately £290 inc VAT.

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Never mind the sending off, Torres should have had a straight Red card for his first booking, in the first half; but I disagree with the view that he was hard done by for his second offence.

The TV pundits are wrong again when they make comments like "if there's any contact, then the player has a right to go down" That's absolute rubbish.

They are effectively condoning diving with statements like that.

There is no carte blanche to go to ground and get a free kick just because there is any slight contact. A fowl has to be committed for it to be a free kick.

In this instance there was the merest of contact, following which Torres doubled himself up and rolled himself forward. No foul occurred.

The pundits both on TV and radio acknowledged that the slight physical contact was not enough to bring the player down and in the replay's they concentrated on that, rather than studied Torres clear controlled tumble.

The contact did not cause him to go down and he was rightly booked for "simulation".

It's not as if this player is unpractised in the "art" of diving. He's a regular at it and is almost, if not as bad as, Suarez.

He gets caught out from time to time, but often get's away with it. You might say he's more proficient at diving than certain others.

The "offside goal," was a given by the linesman's judgement, not the referee. The ref can only go by his assistants flag.

Hernandez was level with the keeper and offside as the ball was being played in to him, but the next defender on the far side was running back towards goal. As soon as the ball was released forward, within a split second Hernandez was back onside as that defender got behind him.

So yes it was offside by a split second, but how can you guarantee that the linesman can react that fast to such split second timing, bearing in mind that the goalkeeper was also blocking the linesman's view of Hernandez's position.

In a split second it is very difficult to make that call. We had the benefit of multiple replays and viewing angles; the officials have to react to what they see, or think they see, there and then.

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Will they stop off at a Halfords to get a bottle of T-Cut? Seem to be a lot of scratches on it.

Well it is a "used" loco and not brand new.

One careful owner, sold as seen.

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70099 landed this morning freightliner green sans vinyls details and tonights ? times wnxx

I may be wrong, but I believe that green livery is the one this loco originally left the factory with as a demonstrator, back in February 2011.

AFAIA it wasn't intended to come to the UK originally and is here to replace 70012.

Is it the same shade of green as the Freightliner base colour?

It looks to be a darker colour from all the photos I've seen?

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There's absolutely nothing new in that statement Ed. This has been known for ages.

There's pressure for more of it to be put in cut and cover or behind earth mounds, to lessen the visual and noise impact.

At least it might stop the moaning about seats lining up with windows. There'll be no need !

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The day after the Olympic closing ceremony, i couldn't get Waterloo Sunset out of my head.

Funnily enough, a chap at work was humming it too.

The Kinks Greatest Hits have been on my playlist for the last day or so.

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Will there be enough electrical capacity to support these electrification schemes?

In recent times there's been much talk about the power gap that's said to be looming, as forecast demand is expected to outstrip the supply of electricity by the end of this decade.

With nuclear stations being gradually de-commissioned, renewable supplies struggling to achieve the 15% target share and a delayed decision on future nuclear strategy, major schemes like railway electrification are going to put a huge strain on the system.

I wonder if this topic will get a public airing in light of today's announcement?

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....and the rest......

South Wales Electrification

25 kv AC overhead electrification of

ï‚· Cardiff Central to Cardiff Queen Street,

ï‚· Cardiff Queen Street to Aberdare,

ï‚· Cardiff Queen Street to Cardiff Bay,

ï‚· Cardiff Queen Street to Coryton,

ï‚· Newport to Ebbw Vale,

 Cardiff Central – Pontyclun – Bridgend – Maesteg,

ï‚· Abercynon - Merthyr Tydfil,

ï‚· Grangetown to Penarth,

 Cardiff Central – Danescourt – Radyr (City Line),

ï‚· Cardiff Queen Street to Rhymney,

ï‚· Pontypridd to Treherbert,

 Cardiff Central – Barry – Bridgend (Vale of Glamorgan),

ï‚· Barry to Barry Island, and

ï‚· Bridgend to Swansea.

Thames Valley

 Acton – Willesden 25 kv AC overhead electrification.

 Slough – Windsor 25 kv AC overhead electrification.

 Maidenhead – Marlow 25 kv AC overhead electrification.

 Twyford – Henley-on-Thames 25 kv AC overhead electrification, and

ï‚· Oxford station area capacity and station enlargement.

Midlands

 Walsall – Rugeley 25 kv AC overhead electrification, Water Orton – Tamworth capacity, and Depot and stabling enhancement for extra trains.

Yorkshire

 Micklefield – Selby 25 kv AC overhead electrification,

ï‚· Micklefield turnback,

ï‚· Huddersfield Station capacity enhancement,

ï‚· West Yorkshire platform lengthening including Leeds,

ï‚· South Yorkshire platform lengthening, and

ï‚· Depot and stabling enhancement for extra trains.

Airports and Ports

ï‚· Heathrow Western Access subject to business case and conclusion of an agreement with the aviation industry,

ï‚· Ely area capacity enhancement (freight/passenger crossing flows) and Redhill additional platform

Northern Hub and Manchester

 Liverpool – Manchester track capacity (Huyton – Northern Hub),

ï‚· Manchester Airport fourth platform (Northern Hub ,

ï‚· Castlefield corridor additional capacity and additional through platforms at Manchester Piccadilly (Northern Hub),

ï‚· Rochdale turnback (Northern Hub), and

ï‚· Depot and stabling enhancement for extra trains

South East

ï‚· London Waterloo platform lengthening and station throat expansion,

ï‚· Virginia Water - Reading line platform lengthening for 10-car operation,

ï‚· Gordon Hill turnback,

ï‚· West Anglia Lower Lea Valley capacity enhancement (turnback facilities),

ï‚· Bow Junction capacity enhancement (potentially CP6),

ï‚· East Kent capacity enhancement including relocation of Rochester Station,

ï‚· Uckfield line platform lengthening for 10-car operation,

ï‚· Norwood Junction capacity enhancement (turnback facilities),

ï‚· Paddington station passenger capacity improvements,

ï‚· Victoria station passenger capacity improvements,

ï‚· Clapham Junction station congestion relief,

ï‚· Wimbledon station congestion relief,

 Traction power upgrade – Kent, Sussex, Wessex, Anglia, LNE,

ï‚· South London HV traction power upgrade, and

ï‚· Depot and stabling enhancement for extra trains

West

 Filton – Bristol capacity enhancement (four-track).

ï‚· Bristol Temple Meads station capacity and incorporation of historic Digby Wyatt train shed. Station potentially a focus of wider city regeneration.

ï‚· Route gauge clearance for different DMUs.

East Coast (Ring fenced £240m enhancement fund)

ï‚· Stevenage Down platform addition,

 Huntingdon – Fletton capacity enhancement (four track),

ï‚· Peterborough Down LDHS call time reduction,

ï‚· Peterborough grade separation for access to GE/GN line,

ï‚· Doncaster bay platform and track capacity, and

ï‚· ERTMS signalling system fitted on the south end of the East Coast Main Line (renewals item and not funded as an enhancement).

Enhancement Funds

 £200m Strategic Freight Network

 £300m Passenger Journey Improvement

 £100m Station Infrastructure Improvement

 £100m Station Access for All

 £140m Development and Innovation

 £65m Level Crossing Improvement

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Here are the details (from the DfT website)......

Crossrail, Thameslink, and electrification between London and Cardiff, Manchester to Liverpool and Preston, and across the Pennines, are among £5.2bn of projects already committed to during 2014-2019.

New schemes totalling £4.2bn unveiled today include:

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The Pro Box allows you to read CV's, so you can see the manufacturer ID (e.g. 151 = ESU) and the software version number.

Bring on the 3rd rail to overhead conversion as discussed on here previously! At least for Basingstoke to Southampton it makes a lot of sense for both CrossCountry and freight.

They've just squeezed the extra height out of the tunnels between Basingstoke and Winchester...and lowered the Southampton tunnel... for the 9'6" containers.

Will there be enough room for the knitting as well?

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but the shoe coach will be new build, panto on the roof, shoes on the bogies, sorted

Good point.

However, don't they need pickups on at least a couple of bogies a reasonable distance apart? Would having them on the same vehicle be sufficient?

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Any plans to fit any Voyagers with collector shoes?

221 Super Voyagers maybe, but wouldn't that be quite difficult with 220 Voyagers and 222 Meridians, without anywhere to attach them?

The way the BBC are reporting it suggests that when it is "properly" announced tomorrow then there will be cries that this is a re announcement of schemes that have already been announced.

The BBC have been slow in getting this news out (yesterday-friday) as the Grauniad and one other newspaper have been running this story since last Monday.

By all accounts the announcement will include several schemes that are already going ahead, or previously known about, but there are a few new ones.

We've already had the very welcome news about the Heathrow western link, which did rather come out of the blue, despite being talked about and speculated over for quite some time; so hopefully there will be equally swift action in bringing forward some other projects.

The MML will however be the headline grabber.

Another one is the prospect of an extension of the GWML wires from Cardiff to Swansea.

There has been some speculation that the DfT have been angling for the Welsh budget to foot the bill for that, hence the insistence that the business case for it was too weak as part of the main scheme. Will it be rolled up in the Valley Lines getting the wires?

I'm hoping this will also be the opportunity to throw in the Crossrail extension from Maidenhead to Reading.

This has always needed to come out of a separate budget and through my layman's eyes, the timing couldn't be better with construction at both the Reading and Paddington ends (of the GWML section) now well under way.

In terms of timescales and practicality, it seems to me to be a far higher priority than the East-West link (Varsity line) at the present time.

There hasn't been any mention or speculation about this so far, which is a disappointment, but with a bit of luck this might be one of the surprises?

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Do you like Hendrix?

At Goodwood 2012. Was this at the Festival of Speed ?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgOYu5WvZkw&feature=plcp

You can select HD (if your PC allows it).

11 minutes, but worth sticking with till the end.

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.......I would love to have a good wirelesss system with all the capabilities of DCC but I won't hold my breath...

As you say, standards are the key and it's already going to be available soon, in the form of the Tam Valley Depot solution.

It can be used with any DCC system and uses ordinary DCC decoders, sound and non-sound. All within the NMRA standards.

Rather than trying to re-invent the wheel, they've just added wireless and the battery power option to regular DCC.

In their promo video they're using an NCE system, but it could just as well be used with other makes.

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....I would see the Tam Valley Depot system as being along similar lines to Protocab in as much as the chip or Loco Control Unit is expected to be able to provide features such as sound and lighting as well adjustment to running characteristics...

Not at all. The Tam Valley Depot system isn't a control system, it is simply a wireless link between the DCC Power Bus and a module in the loco.

That module, plus a battery pack, "feeds" a normal DCC decoder with the DCC signal (including power).

All the features such as motor control, function control, lights, sound etc, comes courtesy of the DCC decoder, just as it would when taking the DCC signal and power from the track. The module doesn't do any of that stuff.

The best description I could come up with, is to think of the TVD DRS-1 as a "wireless DCC Power Bus".

I'm not sure it is such a hardship to have locos charged up when you haven't had to do all that wiring and then spend time afterwards keeping all the rails and wheels clean.

I'm not convinced about that David.

I can imagine many people being frustrated at finding their locos have no charge and therefore cannot run them until they've been recharged again.

That could result in no running session, due to lack of time, or not being able to use particular locos because they are "dead".

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Liverpool are considering Ken Dodd as the next manager.

He's liverpool through and through; they'll save money by being able to use the same track suits and jackets with the initials KD on them .........and nobody will laugh at them anymore !