hollywoodfoundry

There has been a simialr system running at Orlando Airport in the US for getting on towards 30 years, the only difference being larger vehicles.

Most video cameras have remote control ability these days, so at the very least he could have waited in a safer position and controlled the camera from some distance away.

Yes, I would agree. Any of the rheostat type controllers may be a problem with newer style models using low current comsumption motors. They made an assumption that the motor in the model would have a current consumption of somewhere between 1 and 2 Ampere, and the value of the wire-wound rheostat control element was selected for that current range.

But using modern motors that may consume as little as 1/10 of that current will result in placing quite a high voltage on the track when the knob is moved just off the stop position. Even the auto-transformer types have a similar problem. I have a Fleischman one that begins at about 4.5 volts.

A modern electronic controller is a better option.

I would suggest that as red light cameras have to take at least two photos for the interpreter to reach a conclusion, your slow speed will be revealed, and if the interpreter is fair minded, he/she will conclude you were caught in an unusual situation.

A good squirt of WD40 in each ear works wonders. Brain goes like the clappers. Mind you, I can't hear a thing anymore

Anybody remember Tony Blair's statement 'all children must be above average'?

Does anybody remember Tony Blair ?

Realistically, I don't think that those statistics prove much at all. There would be zillions of people out there who buy a computer with Windows Whatever pre-installed, therefore with IE already in place, and they would not know how to install another browser. They might also be a bit dumb too, I can think of a few.....

I would imagine a good squirt of WD40 would do the job, but keep it away from the motor. If you can, remove the motor from the gearbox first. Leave it for a day or two and see if the gearbox frees up. If so, then run it for a while with the just the WD40 as a lubricant.

I must say I cannot agree with the instruction 'lubricated for life', it just is not true.

Pretty much anything you can afford with the Sony name on it is likely to be the best. They are also the only brand out there manufacturing broadcast cameras these days, so they know the game.

If I say something rude, will you chuck a custard pie over my way? Please?

I just luurve custard pies, our village bakery claims they make the best one in the state.

We have a 'High Street Road' in Melbourne, Australia. I guess they were trying to cover all bases.

Where there is a big difference is in ambulance transport. Transport by ambulance is not charged to the user in the UK. In Australia you pay the full costs of the service unless you are a member of the Ambulance Service (which many people are - it's a cross between paying a membership fee and an insurance policy) so for UK visitors it is essential to know your NI number to avoid being asked to pay potentially several thousand Dollars. The cost is billed back to the NHS. It's a different way of doing things and one which can catch out the unwary.

True, but no where near as dangerous as becoming ill while in the USA. My passport contains a statement "If sick while visiting USA, please shoot me"

As with any international travel, you should take out travel insurance that covers you for medical emergencies.

Yes Mike, that's the one I was thinking of.

These days it is most likely that the bogie side frames have been moulded in Acetal, the generic name for Delrin (a DuPont product). Alledgedly there is a Loktite adhesive that they claim will bond Acetal, and there is also an American glue whose makers claim will bond Delrin, but I cannot remember the name. Try Googling 'bonding delrin', it produces quite a lot of results.

Exhibit A

 

 

Flat car on left is a new US Model Power offering; Flat on the right is an older Freightline product. I have noticed that particularly with low end freight cars that the Australian version is often a "rebadged' (half the price) US product. Lima even went so far as to slap a V/Line sign on a SNCF bogie curtain car. I have examples of both cars.

 

Yes, as I said. The Freightline model on the right is a Powerline product. The also have Modellersline, made in India and by their own admission on their web site, not good quality. Then there is Linkline, strictly for beginners, again by their own admission. Serious modellers do not usually take any of these offerings seriously.

My point is that other than Powerline and their multitude of el-cheapo products, most Australian models are not simple re-badging, but specially commissioned models.

You could go back to Lima and some of the Hornby products sold in Australia, but that was a long time ago and the Hornby products are generally seen as an insult that Hornby would try to pass off that rubbish on us.

Yes, the more recent Pilbara locomotives were direct imports of US locomotives, so a repaint nails them.

Actually, that el-cheapo locomotive IS a Powerline product - awful.

Another thing to remember is that much Australian equipment was built under license from American manufacturers. In fact a lot of the low cost models of Australian equipment are "rebadged" versions of the model manufacturers American product (made in China, of course!)

Actually, I dont think that is the case? Can you elaborate on that? The only one I have seen is a Powerline 'starter' pack, but no-one takes it seriously. Very little of the Australian prototype locomotives were the same as the US locomotives, and all of them were built in Australia for Australian conditions. As a result, the models were built from those designs and not simply rebadged American models.

Those Austrains r-t-r locos are very expensive 269 UK Pounds for a non-sound DCC steam loco seems a bit pricey to me

Not really, the population of the UK in 2010 was around 61 million, Australia was 21 million, so the market is considerably smaller. In fact only a third. It still costs the same to build a model in China, but when the run size is considerably smaller, the unit price goes up. Basic economics.

This is the very reason I decided not to model any Australian railways. There are not enough steam locomotive kits and certainly no steam locomotives RTR. A few years ago there were quite a few on the market but most seem to have disappeared so I have gone with British OO gauge instead.

Pardon? There are more RTR steam locomotives around of Australian prototype now than ever in the past. And there are more planned and soon to be delivered. And the same applies to steam locomotive kits. There would be around 4 to 5 new ones released every year.

These are RTR products from Eureka Models:

Or these from Austrains:

There is also the range of locomotives from Steam Era Models, catering for the Victorian Railways enthusiasts: http://home.waterfront.net.au/~sem/

The J Class steam locomotive is a particularly good example, one of the best kits produced entriely in Australia. All the other steam locomotives are produced by DJH for Steam Era Models. Take a look around the site, as his other models are of excellent quality and not too expensive. By the way, this is the company who make the famous Black Beetle.

Your opinion, maybe - but I conduct business with no problems whatsoever via a Hotmail account. Yes, some of my Inbox content is spam, but it is easily recognised and simply deleted unopened.

 

Regards,

John Isherwood,

Cambridge Custom Transfers.

http://www.cctrans.freeserve.co.uk/

Sure, that's what happens at your end. The issue with Hotmail is that many ISPs and large companies filter out anything with a Hotmail address and dispose of it. Therefore your emails may not get through to your customers.

I can tell you anything with a Hotmail address goes straight into the SPAM folder on my PC due to the ridiculous quantity of advertising that Hotmail append to the end of users messages.

Just picked up on this thread. Been looking at "reprap" for a while, only looking though

However through their various blogs etc came across a company in Bristol if you're interested in UK supplier http://www.3dcreationlab.co.uk/

No knowledge or association with them.

HP are offering 3d printers in uk circa £15k

Kevin Staddon

Unfortunately, like many others, they do not state the maximum resolution obtained using their process.

No, I have not tried any of the Korean suppliers, but I don't need to. I can get excellent builds from Fineline and I have an excellent local brass caster here in Australia.

But I have had other dealings with Korean suppliers for other projects, and they were generally not satisfactory. The communication is a difficult issue and getting what you want, at the quality you want, is like having teeth extracted.

I certainly would not pass a build straight from the 3D builder on to the casting company, you need to see what comes out first.

When you are casting lost wax brass parts, any material will burn out quite easily, it does not need to be wax.

You would be well advised to get something small done with any company you locate, before you commit to a complex build, as what they advertise and what they end up producing are quite different.

I have tested quite a number of providers from all around the world over the last 5 or 6 years, and that's why I settled on Fineline in the USA. And cost is not a good indicator because you usually are making a pattern from which to cast more items, and you need to have the best pattern you can get.

Just guessing mind you, but as there are VERY few people doing Melbourne suburban trains of any sort, getting one in OO is going to be near impossible. By and large, Australians model in HO, not OO.