GoingUnderground

Enlarging the lugs on the cast chassis makes sense, as cast lugs of the same dimensions as on the plate frame would not have been as strong as those on the plate frame.

The0-6-0 electric chassis was designed for the "Jinty" R.52, but Triang used it for other models as it allowed them to expand the range without the expense of tooling up for a another new chassis. In addition to R.152 the "Diesel Shunter" as mentioned above, it was also used on R.153, the "Saddle Tank", and R.251 the "Deeley 3F". It is important to remember that these locos were intended as toys not scale models, and to be low cost to produce to allow a low selling price. But this electric 0-6-0 chassis as described by Ruffnut wasn't the only Triang 0-6-0 chassis. In the mid-1950s Rovex also developed an 0-6-0 clockwork chassis as they saw clockwork as a lower cost way to attract customers. Clockwork wasn't new to Triang, they had acquired the Trackmaster tooling back at the start which included R.51 the clockwork 0-6-2T, which was never sold with an electric motor. They saw clockwork as a way to attract new customers who could not afford the higher priced electric range. The clockwork locos ran on the usual Triang track of the period, and had the same couplings which let the buyers (or their parents and relatives) buy items from the Triang range in the knowledge that they would work with the clockwork locos with no problems. And there was the hope that the clockwork loco would eventually be supplemented with electric locos from the rest of the range. The new clockwork 0-6-0 chassis and mechanism was used on R.151 the "Saddle Tank" and R.154 the "Diesel Shunter". These two clockwork locos also appeared, with different liveries in the Primary Series range as R.255 and R.256 respectively. The same tools were used to produce the body shells of the clockwork/electric versions of the two locos R.151/R.153 and R.154/R.152 respectively, but with a pin inserted into the moulds to create the opening for the key. The shape of the bodies of the "Saddle Tank" and the "Diesel Shunter" were particularly suitable for the space needed for the clockwork motor, so, arguably, the electric versions of the two locos are almost a by-product of the decision to produce clockwork locos to replace the original R.51 0-6-2 Trackmaster clockwork tank. The consecutive sequence of the R numbers 151-154 tells us that they were all planned at the same time. The existence of Triang clockwork locos is easy to forget, but it explains why, when you look at the catalogues up to the 6th edition for 1960, the descriptions below the pictures of the locos in the main range include "Electric" or "Clockwork" of 12/15 volts DC. The "Electric" or "12/15 volts DC" used in the 6th edition was dropped from the descriptions of the locos in the main range in the 7th edition of 1961, but continued to be used in for the Primary Series locos and sets as the Primary series included the clockwork versions of the Saddle Tank and the Diesel shunter as well as the electrically powered maroon liveried R.252 Steeple Cab and the electrically powered R.359 0-4-0T both these locos sharing the same 0-4-0 electric chassis first used in 1959 for the Steeple Cab, which itself has almost as long a lifespan as the 0-6-0 electric chassis. The 0-4-0 chassis, or rather its descendants after the X.04 motor was replaced with a can motor, still forms the basis of Hornby's cheapest 0-4-0 locos.

Same as the models in either 3.5mm or 4mm of Irish CIE/NIR rolling stock. Irish track gauge is 5' 3", but the models run on standard H0 (OO) track.

If your friend is after German outline models he should have no problem finding them in Paris, but Portugese ones may be a bit too specialised for model shops outside Portugal. Portugal doesn't use standard gauge but Iberian gauge 5' 5 21/32", and the Spanish standard gauge high speed lines don't yet reach into Portugal. So the only cross border running of CP (Comboios de Portugal) rolling stock will be into Spain, and possibly across the Spanish/French border to Hendaye in SW France as the track between Irun and Hendaye is dual gauge. We did come back by train from Lisbon once and the overnight sleeper from Lisbon did terminate at Hendaye, but that was some years ago. As I recall, there was one EWS liveried Class 66 in the yard at Hendaye, much to my surprise.

According to the La Vie du Rail website https://www.boutiquedelaviedurail.com/ its current address is: 29 rue de Clichy 75009 Paris Telephone: 01 49 70 12 16 That does assume that the website is up to date. Also, looking at the website, it seems to specialise in books etc, not models. The address for Citerne (search for "Maurice-Victor Citerne") looks to be correct, but apparently it doesn't have a website. The french website "Mappy" kerbside view shows a shop apparently with models in the window. https://fr.mappy.com/poi/4d6c4d33fc69250785c20ed7 It's open Tuesday - Saturday 9:30-12:30, closes for lunch and reopens 14:15-19:00.

In major projects such as HS2, the cost of the plant and equipment will be included in the bid price no matter how it is powered if it can't be used for anything else. It would be financial suicide for the contractor otherwise. TBMs are a good example and are rarely removed but just used to cut a blind tunnel and then abandoned because it costs too much to disassemble and remove them, replace the worn components, and then keep them in usable codition in store until they can be used again. And TBMs tend to be electrically powered. So electrical power isn't something new on big construction projects.

More comprehensive, but I'd argue not more correct. I cited Cornwall as there have been various reports in the media about locals including fishermen & women (sorry i hate the genderless name "fishers") recently being priced out not only of housing but also waterside business premises as these are being bought and redeveloped into waterside "des res" with a correspondingly high selling price. Low and uncertain/unpredictable wages in the gig economy makes it impossible for some to buy anywhere, desirable or not. But I won't say more as this is bordering on the political.

It must be a cost effective way to teach the trainees or they wouldn't do it. And it avoids any nasty and expensive accidents during training, and keeping a expensive digger tied up whilst the guy learns. Besides it will be a transferable skill for the next construction project, so laying all the cost at HS2's door as this implies, is, IMHO, just plain wrong..

I think that I'd reword that slightly to "It's the obsession of owners over the value of their property and having an uninterrupted view." Those who have to rent might have a rather different opinion. Just asks the local folk in Cornwall who can't afford to buy because the second home buyers are jacking up the prices to levels that they can't afford, and turning some places into near ghost towns out of season in the process.

The damage was done when the A303 was revived as a major route in the 1930s and a trunk route in the 1950s. The latest plans for the Stonehenge tunnel are for a 1.8 mile stretch, which is significantly less than the "environmental" tunnelling for HS2, and many would prefer that the A303 was diverted away from the Stonehenge area completely.

The cost will have been raised quite substantially just by the need to put so much in tunnel. You wouldn't get motorways being put in tunnels even in the age of electric cars just for the sake of keeping the countryside unsullied. Having lived next to the London end of the West Coast main line for many years, the noise and aesthetic arguments for burying HS2 just doesn't hold water IMHO. and a double track railway line, even with OHLE portals is far less visually intrusive than a 6 lane motorway.

I haven't been to them for several years now, but I have been to both Transmondia and Le Train Bleu, and they were very good. IIRC there were a couple of other shops very close to Transmondia which seemed to specialise in secondhand items. Au Pullman and Citerne are new to me and if I do go back to Paris I'll try to visit them. When looking for model shops outside the UK, try searching in the local language. Using Microsoft Bing (I don't use Google) and "magasins trains miniatures paris" for my search I found this website https://letraindejules.fr/fr_fr/paris-magasins-trains-miniatures/ which lists several retailers in Paris, or try "modélisme ferroviaire paris" which seems to find a few more. I don't know how familiar you and your friend are with the Continental modelling scene, but it is worth remembering that in H0, 3 rail AC is very common as that is still the system used by Maerklin today, and Maerklin are the market leaders in many countries and big players in others. Hence most, if not all, of the other manufacturers have both 2 rail DC and 3 rail AC versions of their models. Maerklin 3 rail AC locos are very difficult to convert to 2 rail DC. If your friend sees a loco that he wants but it is a Maerklin one, the same loco may be available in the Trix range as Maerklin have owned Trix since 1997 and sell the 2 rail DC versions of their locos under the Trix brand. Also the digital scene is a bit different as well. Maerklin have their own digital systems one called MM which was superseded by their current one called mfx. MM and mfx decoders are not compatible with DCC. Maerklin have added DCC compatibility to their newer mfx decoders, but they are incompatible with Railcom. IF your friend is looking for TT or N gauge models, the old Trix digital protocol Selectrix is still used in these gauges although I believe that the modern Selectrix decoders are DCC compatible. And, in my experience, which I'll admit is now some years out of date, you'll find that in Continental model shops British outline and British makes are notable by their total absence other than some Hornby and Peco track, which is H0 anyway. Our OO gauge and total lack of cross-Channel trains other than Eurostar makes us too irrelevant to Continental modellers. But you might find the odd secondhand Hornby tinplate 0 gauge item or some Class 66 models in H0 as they are used in the rest of Europe, along with a version of the "66" called a "Class 77" (nothing to do the Woodhead Class 77 EM2s) which I think has an air conditioned cab, I believe that the air conditioning unit puts it out of gauge for use in the UK.

You need to remember that unless your multimeter is specifically designed to measure DCC voltages, the chances are that it is not giving you a correct readout of the voltage. This is because DCC is very high frequency, up to 10,000 cycles per second and is a square wave meaning the voltage rise and fall is virtually instantaneous, whereas mains AC is only 50 cycles per second and is a sinusoidal wave form where the voltage rises and falls much more slowly. So unless you have a voltage reading using your multimeter from before the slow running began you don't really know whether the track voltage has fallen or not. As far as I know, and I'm working on the basis that SmartControl will share much of the design philosophy of ESU's ECoS, the SmartControl doesn't include any internal voltage regulation, and relies entirely on the input voltage from the PSU for setting the track voltage. So whilst it is possible that there is a fault in the SmartBox, that may not necessarily be where your problem lies. The SmartControl Handset is unlikely to be the cause of the problem as it is the human/machine interface in the system and plays no part in determining the track voltage. Buying a new system will be expensive, so it is worth doing some tests to see if the fault lies outside of the SmartBox before replacing your SmartControl system. If you have a different PSU that you could use it might be worth trying that. Do make sure if you do try a substitute PSU that you get the polarity correct as I don't know if the SmartBox includes any input rectification to protect it against the output from the PSU being connected incorrectly. As you've been experimenting with ABC braking you will have been making changes to the layout wiring, so it is worth looking for wiring faults around the layout as well. Also look at any changes unconnected to the ABC changes that you may have made around the time that you first noted the locos running slowly. Have you tried removing all locos and carriages with interior lights from the layout and then just putting one loco back on the track and seeing if that still runs slowly? If it runs at its normal speed then that could indicate that you've reached the limit of the SmartControl's capacity to power the layout. If that is the case then you will need to split the layout into two power districts and buy a booster, feeding one district from the SmartBox and the other from the booster. In theory the ESU ECoSBoost should be suitable, but the SmartBox firmware will need to recognise it for it to work and I can't remember whether firmware 4.2.3 was released before or after the latest ECoSBoost. If 4.2.3 predates the latest ECoSBoost (50012) then the ECoSBoost won't work with the SmartBox. But that shouldn't stop you using a stand alone booster from another maker, or the earlier 4 amp ECoSBoost, if you can find one as it was discontinued a few years ago when the 50012 model was released. If the loco still runs slowly when there is nothing else on the layout it would be worth, if you can, setting up a simple circle of track on a tabletop away from the layout, and connecting the SmartControl Box main track out to that and see if the loco still runs slowly. If it runs at its normal pre-problem speed then than that would point to a wiring problem with the layout or a bad connection somewhere in your wiring somewhere between the SmartBox and the layout rails. You also say that you've been adjusting CVs to get ABC braking to work. So it might be worth doing a decoder reset on the loco that you've just tried on your plain circle of track just in case you've inadvertently changed the CVs that limit the top speed of the loco(s). Good luck, I hope that you can find a simple and easy and cheap to fix external fault or issue to save you the cost of a new system.

The debate over sticking to the same manufacturer is not a simple as the two opposing views described above. The NMRA standards cover the interaction between command station or booster and loco and accessory decoders. There are no other formal manufacturer independent standards that I know of. When it comes to using additional throttles, occupancy detection modules and anything else that exchanges data with the command station then you need to make sure that the throttle or module uses the same data communication protocol as the command station. There are two proprietary communication standards that have wide acceptance, Xpressnet from Lenz, and Loconet from Digitrax. Other manufacturers have adopted one or other or sometimes both of these standards, sometimes in parallel with their own communications standard. One example of less widely adopted comms standards is ESU's ECoSLink which is used only by ESU and equipment that they have designed for other manufacturers. Another is MERG's CBUS, and I think that Maerklin's is now diverged so much from ESU's ECoSLink that it is now another independent standard. In theory if a command station from one manufacturer and a module from another manufacturer both use the same comms standard then they should work together, but that depends on how closely each of them have implemented the standard. Thus, Xpressnet from A should work with Xpressnet from B, and Loconet from C should work with Loconet from D. In the case of Loconet, it is slightly more complicated as there is a Loconet-T standard that works only with throttles and occupancy detection but not boosters, whilst the Loconet-B works with all peripherals including boosters. But remember it all depends on how closely each manufacturer has stuck to the respective standard whether kit from different manufacturers will work together satisfactorily. However, many bits of DCC kit do not rely on communicating with the command station, and this often applies to reversing modules. Many of these simply sense the short and reverse the polarity and so should work with any command station, subject to the need for the module to react faster than the command station's own short-circuit detection. The same applies to power district circuit breakers and frog juicers which do not have any command station interface and so should work irrespective of the command station. For example, the Lenz LK200, referred to earlier, works without problems with ESU's ECoS and CabControl systems. Some modules do require an interface with a command station and will not work without it. So it always pays to make sure that you understand the requirements of your command station and of any module you are thinking of buying before you buy the module to avoid disappointment.

In respect of reversing modules that work by detecting the short when the loco crosses the boundary between the loop and the rest of the layout, the reversing module must work faster that the short detection on your command station or booster feeding the loop and entry/exit. If the module is too slow then your command station and/or boosters will cut the power before the module has removed the short by switching the polarity. This holds true for all reversing modules and all command stations. Modules that simply use a traditional electromechanical relay triggered by the short to reverse the polarity will be too slow to stop command stations and boosters that use solid state electronics detecting the short and cutting the track power. This is something with which many DCC users will be familiar. Many older designs of command station and or booster use relays themselves may well work without problems with relay based reversing modules. But if you have a command station or booster that itself uses solid state electronics to detect and cut the track power when it detects a short, then you either have to use a reversing module that also use solid state electronics or a composite design as Crosland has described above, or one that uses a trigger other than the short to change the polarity of the loop.

You know, I admire your dedication to HD 3 rail in converting 2 rail locos to 3 rail. I'm afraid that HD never impressed me, and the only HD models that I have are the 2 rail versions of the EMU, the Co-Bo, and the AL1 which I had specific reasons for buying. Clearly you love HD as much as I love Triang, and I take my hat off to you.

I only posted my comments in case anyone reading your comment who was not familiar with Rovex products before the change to "Hornby Track" thought that you meant all Clip Fit accessories. But it did provide an opportunity to highlight the fact that the necessary System 6 Clip Fit parts for the Command Car did exist, but it was never sold with them. And it was an interesting diversion into what happened to Clip Fit when System 6 was introduced.

You think so? I beg to differ. All that has happened is that the medium has changed from print to screen: film, television and online/computer, and the images have become violent, graphic, and explicit because of the transition and the move towards less censorship and the "need" to make the next production even more attention grabbing than the last. It is also much more accessible and available in greater quantities as smartphones are so common, even with very young children. I also think that we've become more acclimatised to it and take it for granted. So I wouldn't say that it has left any of us unscathed, as evidenced by the way we all seem to be far more protective of our children and grandchildren than our parents and grandparents generations. But let's not debate societal changes, life's too short and the subject to divisive, but get back on topic debating Triang models.

That's true for the BattleSpace Clip Fit items on Page 25 of the 1970 catalogue. My guess is that the necessary Clip Fit parts for System 6 for some of them were not made because Rovex had no intention of rerunning them once the existing stock had sold through and the quantities on hand didn't justify the expense of new tooling for the Clip Fit base. System 6 did get Clip Fit as shown below. Many Clip Fit accessories were modified for both Super 4 and System 6 and got a U suffix such as the catenary masts and gantries. Others got an M suffix such as the two colour light signals R.405 (once RT.405) became R.405M and R.573 became R.573M and were only for use with System 6 track. The BR Operating Mail Coach Set also got an M suffix, so, in theory the BattleSpace Comand Car R.725 could have been used with System 6 track as the mechanism in the former Transcontinental coach was same as that used in the BR Mail Coach. But the quantities in the warehouse of the Command Car probably didn't justify the cost of replacing the Super 4 items with their System 6 equivalents.

Some of these wagons could be up to 65 years old, the first ones going on sale in 1956. The steel axle ran unlubricated both in the diecast bogie for the Transcontinental versions and in the diecast chassis for the UK/BR wagons. So some degree of wear to the chassis or bogie where the axle sits must be inevitable in wagons of this age.

I hate to say it, buy you probably are flogging a dead horse. Piko didn't release their version of the most recent update to the SmartBox firmware when ESU released 4.2.8 last year for CabControl and ECoS. Previously Piko's 4.2.3 update was released at the same time as ESU's own 4.2.3 update for their Cabcontrol ICU and for the ECoS. The two accessories for the SmartControl that used the ECoSLink bus have been discontinued, namely the 4 port loconet adapter and the booster interface. The original SmartControl set and additional handsets for it are no longer part of their product range. and as you say there are no longer any starter sets with the original Smartcontrol, its place being taken by the Uhlenbrock supplied Smartcontrol Light. I don't think there are any stronger signals than those that Piko are no longer supporting the original SmartControl. You could try contacting ESU in Germany, but they'll probably refer you back to Piko. But what are you using to measure the track voltage? I ask as most multimeters are not designed for reading high frequency alternating polarity source voltages and if yu're using one on its AC setting then the readings you're getting very probably won't be accurate. What made you decide to measure the voltage in the first place?

My aircraft kits were the Lines Bros FROG range, and they were all military ones. I remember having a De Havilland Venom, a Hawker Hunter, Gloucester Meteor, all in silver grey plastic, and a Westland Whirlwind helicopter moulded in yellow. I also had diecast or lead soldiers and the Dinky Toy army models, tank, field gun, scout car, lorry, etc. as well as match firing field guns from Brittains field guns. My Airfix kits were all railway based for the layout, footbridge, signal gantry, dockyard crane, L&Y Pug, Schools Harrow, etc.. There was also a diecast cap-firing 6 shooter from Lone Star for playing Cowboys'n'Indians, and a short barrelled US style police handgun than came with a Highway Patrol badge, (Highway Patrol was a US TV cops'n'robbers import starring Broderick Crawford). TV was still a novelty and the kids programmes included Wyatt Earp and the Lone Ranger, all good shootin', fightin' and killin' stuff in a sanitised, stylised version. This exposure to militaria was all seen as quite normal, not too surprising when you realise that our parents had been through 6 years of WW2, and our grandparents through 4 years of WW1. Us baby boomer kids, on reaching 17 in the UK would have been called up for National Service had it not been abolished in 1957 for those born after September 1939. But is it really that different today with the shoot'em'up computer games and so many films trumpeting the courage, strength and determination of the US armed forces in fighting everything from the folks next door, to zombies, viruses, and alien invaders from other planets, not to mention the Marvel and DC Comics trash mag films?

Oh, don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that some improvements weren't needed. No one should be sent to do a job of work in unsafe conditions or using dangerous or inadequately guarded equipment, or be able to buy a product which when used in accordance with the manufacturers' instructions will kill or severely maim the user or those round them. But, in my humble opinion, the pendulum has swung too far towards H&S and too far away from personal responsibility for one's own actions and their consequences. I could say more, but I won't.

Back in Super 4 days, the helicopter car marker was a clipfit accessory comprising a 2 pronged base which slotted between the rails with a hinged square projection about half and inch high. It was hinged through 90 degrees so that when vertical the helicopter was launched by the pin pushing home a spring loaded finger that projected out from one the side of the wagon, or it it could be laid flat parallel to the track so that the wagon could pass without triggering the launch of the helicopter. As regards modelling military trains, I think there might have been such a layout at Warley in 2018 to coincide with 100 years after the end of WW1. But I might be wrong.

Scavenged dropper pipettes from the Lionel sets is a possibility. But looking through the 1963 9th edition catalogue most of the Triang Lionel Science sets would not have contained a dropper pipette. The only ones that might have are the two plastics engineering sets, which look to have various glass vessels and containers. So the number of the Triang Lionel sets with the glass pipettes would be quite small compared to the number of locos with smoke being produced, and the labour cost of opening the box and removing the pipette would probably have been more than the cost of the pipette retrieved. With bits missing the sets wouldn't be particularly sellable. Certainly Synchrosmoke locos did come with plastic funnels later in their lifespan, there's first hand accounts from RMWebbers that they did. No one is arguing that they didn't. However, there is no evidence so far that shows that Seuthe equipped locos ever came with glass funnels, but plenty that the first Synkrosmoke locos did. But let's move on.