Suzie

If your Multimaus has the small DC power supply (as shown in the photo above) you should be OK, but if you have the big transformer instead that was supplied previously the voltage is likely to be a bit high (19V+) for some of the poor quality decoders which do not meet NMRA spec. In reality the decoders should work, so send the faulty ones back for a refund and buy Zimo - you just can't go wrong with Zimo decoders and the new entry level range are excellent value at £20 or less.

Here is the other end:- https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Berwick-upon-Tweed/@55.7774925,-2.079286,241a,35y,3.45h/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x488740d23cd5e64f:0x6b49ee50ba9b24cc!8m2!3d55.770242!4d-2.005395

This is interesting. It is a railway feed so I guess it will be at 25KV with each pole carrying one phase at 50KV centre tapped to earth. You can just see the switching eqipment by the railway in the background. https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@55.7981791,-2.0338016,3a,60y,75.65h,96.7t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s3JVNW94j78KUx7btXi25sg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

There is an interesting line just north of Coventry (you can see it from the M6). One side has quad wires suspended on double insulators, while the other side is on single insulators with the lower two wires quad, and the top wire double. Is it some form of experiment? Streetview shows the different insulators, but not the odd double wire - https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.458707,-1.4838371,3a,15y,65.55h,96.71t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sO5KIgLKC4b5rsPMhfx-aHQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

Bachmann have done quite a lot of the work already with the 170...

One went by on Look East this evening - not sure where they filmed it though.

The regulator will need more than 5V to provide 3V to the internal electronics. Shorting one of the yellow wires to the black wire will reduce the voltage requirement by about half a volt on DC, (don't do it on AC!) but you will have to find out which one yourself.

Perhaps a move to LED lighting and local domestic solar generation in the sunniest place in Great Britain may have made more 33KV available from the grid. This has happened in places like Orkney where the mainland connector is overloaded exporting wind power to the mainland!

An interesting pylon in Greenwich. I guess it did not travel far to get there...

While the motor bit runs on a 3V regulator, the LED does not so you need sufficient voltage to light the LED via its 820R series resistor - about 8V DC should be as bright as Dapol intend it to be.

Must have been about 06:30 ish.

Saw something new looking heading north from Witham this morning very slowly - presumably a new delivery in the loop.

Your model pylons don't have to go far - there appears to be a short horseshoe shaped run of pylons from that old substation to the new one just down the A2 that is not connected at either end.

Fake SG90s are digital - the proper ones are analogue. If you need some of the features of an analogue servo (variable torque, low power consumption, or no 'stepping') then you are going to be stumped with a fake. Fakes have poor gears. If you are expecting a SG92R with indestructible carbon fibre gears and you get a fake - don't expect the gears to be able to handle the torque. If you get a fake SG90 that is digital - don't be surprised that the extra torque breaks the gears. Fakes have poor splines - don't expect the horns to be easy to fit on the splines. The fakes are best avoided.

If the primary requirement is computer control then a Sprog could possibly be the command station of choice as a simple command station that will probably control all the trains you are likely to have running in 2' x 4'. The driving force of your choice will be what software do you want to use, and which command stations and feedback options does that software support. I suspect you will want to look at Rairoad & Co and Rocrail as probably the best software to automatically run trains, but other software like JMRI will also do it. Command stations vary in price a lot and have a variety of features. Some include a feedback system, others do not and you will need a separate feedback system.

Zimo MX633 is a PluX-22 decoder that is small enough to fit in a PluX-16 space for a sound decoder. Zimo MX645 is PluX-22 and almost fits in a PluX-16 space - it is 2mm too long (but they make it as PluX-16 anyway!)

Yes

The main issue is going to be space. If there is room to fit a full size PluX-22 decoder then there will be room to fit a 22-pin socket. PluX-16 sockets are likely to be found in narrow bodied locos (N-gauge for example) where a larger decoder cannot be accommodated. Some manufacturers (Zimo for example) make decoders that are much smaller than the allowed space, so for example they will supply some 22-pin decoders with just 16-pins because they are small enough to fit the 16-pin space - one of these in 22-pin guise will most likely fit in a 16-pin socket. Motor only decoders are smaller than sound decoders so you may be able to get away with fitting a 22-pin motor only decoder in a 16-pin socket intended for a sound decoder.

I have been trying to work out the age of pylons by their style. I guess that the ones with the middle arms longer are newer?

60KV DC should be possible now given that 50KV AC has been used in a few places around the world. The lower currents should preclude a lot of the interference problems normally associated with DC, and the higher voltage without transformers should make it really cheap to install.

Now, just supposing that DC electrification had remained king (as in parts of Europe) I wonder if we would be seeing 60KV DC electrification proposed here for main lines now that there is no need for transformers and things in the power transmission network if it is all DC, and the on-train bits become a bit lighter with no need for a transformer. Would locos and stock look any different? Perhaps more compact 10000HP locos? Electrification being a bit cheaper with fewer substations making it more widespread on longer branch lines (60 miles between substations?

I think you might be right, I have both!

It looks good with a set of matching Anglia liveried aircon Mk2s

Ipswich had a wagon repair depot so that might account for some short trains like the one above. Lima produced 37379 named 'Ipswich WRD' which would be ideal. The other alternative of course for short trains is a pair of class 20s hauling a couple of nuclear flasks between a pair of barrier wagons from Sizewell or Bradwell.

Hornby did one too and got to market first, so a lot of people will have something already sitting in a siding waiting for Thunderbird duty.