Pete the Elaner

The last photo definitely shows a broken pan so presumably the loco headed down the wrong track, the pan sprung up & struck something.

Compensatory? He did win in Austria too.

That's an obscure one. It seems scrutineers go into a lot of detail with their post-race examinations. A shame for Alfa to lose 2 good results but the rules are there for a reason & are not worth having if you can't or don't enforce them.

I never remember a Jubilee at Bressingham & I am fairly sure none ever visited. Royal Scot is a rebuilt Royal Scot, not a Jubilee. A few Scots were rebuilt in late LMS days (6115 was & it carried 1946 black) but this one was rebuilt as a BR loco so historically it is inaccurate in any LMS livery. A shame because I think Crimson Lake really suited it. The only rebuilt Scot to carry Crimson Lake was 6170 British Legion, which was a rebuild of 6399 Fury, about 10 years before the other Scots & therefore had a few differences. DoS was also a bit pink at Bressingham. They apparently matched the paint with a sample taken after it had been standing near the sea in Ayr for 10 years.

Which is a step shirt of being a fuse. The difference is that a fuse melts, shutting off the circuit.

Sorry, definitely a matter of opinion & not one I share.

I did once. 91 on the front with HST DVT at the rear. Never got it the other way around though. I remember it arriving with an HST set into King's X. Once my friend worked out that it was stopping at Stevenage on its outbound journey, we got tickets to get on it. What I remember is that we really got the sensation of being pulled all the way. We both lived in Colchester at the time so were used to being pulled by an 86, but this was different. It was several years before I travelled in a Mk4.

That would surprise me on this year's form. Hamilton has not taken many risks for a couple of years. Even when Vettel was looking stronger early last season, he didn't throw all his chances with one move. Verstappen would have gone for any gap last season. I think he now backs himself to get past without taking as bigger risks as he used to.

I remember that discussion & have never touched the momentum button since then. The incident reminded me to mention it This was someone else with the club's throttle. They were fairly new to using the PowerCab which is why we had the knowledge sharing session. They know about it now! I wonder what other 'forgotten knowledge' I will be reminded about next time?

Hamilton's restoration was only cosmetic anyway. It would need a complete rebuild before it could run. It would be nice to open the doors & see the smokebox door inside though. I agree to a point about static exhibits, but there are plenty of steam locos in service.

Looks like those ones are only really of use if opening the doors from platform height, the lower ones being more useful from the front. Maybe they just felt adding them was not worth it?

It is fine when used in appropriate situations by people who understand where & why they can use it, but how do they know the end user will understand? Many modellers do not know & have no interest in learning. As long as their trains run, they do not care. Instead of explaining what it is & where it can be used, it is much easier to recommend not to use it.

We had a 'DCC session' at the club recently with a view to knowledge share & eventually learn how to drive locos on our layout...when we finish it. I took along a couple of sound fitted locos, including an 08 with Paul's ActiveDrive. I had already set appropriate acceleration. Deceleration was adjusted for coasting, using F2 for braking. Someone else started to drive it & after seeing it pull away, immediately hit Momentum, 0 on the Powercab. (For those unfamiliar with an NCE throttle, this sets acceleration & deceleration to 0, but sound projects rely on gradual speed changes, not a sudden jump from stopped to flat out. I nearly cried... mainly because of the complete disregard of how a train actually moves. The settings themselves were no problem because I had previously backed them up with JMRI. I think more education is in order.

Which would of course have to be reversed in autumn before it all breaks when the cold weather makes it contract. Theoretically possible but who wants to pay for it? You also forgot enlarged & therefore heavier cooling systems.

Please could you explain your reasoning for the comment about solder?

You buy 100 models at £75 each from a producer to sell in your shop - cost £7500 The model has an RRP of £100 - potential income £10000 You sell 70 models at RRP - actual income £7000 You discount the remaining 30 by 30% and sell them all at £70 each - actual income £2100 Discounting models to £70 which cost £75 sounds like a loss to me. This has wandered from the original point though. If a manufacturer believed a good profit can be made from a new APT-P, I am sure they would do it.

Anything which is due for replacement gets the minimum of money spent on it, so instead of major overhauls, frequent minor repairs are necessary. Shortly before the Pendolinos were introduced on the WCML, the Mk3As were in a terrible state. Vestibule doors rarely worked, door windows rarely stayed up, seat cushions were so worn they barely existed at all. The HST Mk3s on the WCML were much more comfortable, presumably because they were expected to be used elsewhere. The 87s & 90s were very run down too. It makes sense really. If your car is getting old, would you replace engine, gearbox & suspension if they were all worn & creaking but still working & the seat fabric was wearing out? It makes sense to use the money to buy a replacement car in much better condition.

Apart from the few for the Blackpool services, is there any future for these?

Nickel silver is not a good choice for a conductor, although this should not become an issue with a 6' layout. Copper is a better alternative. Its electrical conductivity is about 16x that of NS & it is cheaper. NS is used for rails because it stays clean, allowing good contact between rail & wheels.

Lenz decoders are generally regarded as among the better ones out there. It should work fine with the Select & you should not need to replace it in the future.

You have not understood the scenario. A diode matrix requires 1 2-way switch per 2 sidings, or 1 stud on each. Any previous point in the throat gets thrown automatically by the diode matrix, requiring no switch. This last part is difficult to achieve with slow action motors. I am not arguing that a diode matrix is better, just different. Solenoids/diode matrix leave no indication as to which way the point was last thrown & require extra work to build the matrix itself.

I don't think you've visualised that correctly. If you have 4 sidings with 3 points feeding them, with solenoids motors & a diode matrix, you only need 1 button for each siding, which can throw 2 or 3 points the correct way to select the entire route. You would need something more complex with slow action motors to achieve the same because they rely on a constant current which needs to be reversed.

If you mean the PL-13 switch, I have heard several people complain that these are unreliable. I have had some fail on me too; 2 out of 8 on a layout when I first exhibited it. I felt this was an unacceptable failure rate. I have used Peco & Seep motors with external microswitches but these require careful setup. I can understand someone preferring to use something else with an internal switch that works.

I can see advantages with using each method. It is a matter of what works best for you on the layout you have in mind. Traditional control: Most of us are familiar with it, which can make it easier to troubleshoot. It costs less. Switches & connectors are cheaper than decoders. DCC control: More flexible. You do not have to plan everything in advance & wiring will not escalate out of control on a larger layout. Once the bus is in place, you can add extra features you never before thought of, such as signals, building lighting, adding additional pointwork. You can have a mixture of slow motion & solenoid accessories, so if you had some solenoid motors but wanted a slow action semaphore signal, you can program the decoder to operate them appropriately. You can create a macro which operates several points in sequence. You do not have to use a handset to operate points but this is always an option even if you do have a panel with an encoder. This would also allow you to have duplicate control panels (maybe 1 on a physical panel & another on a PC screen) in the same way that you can drive trains with multiple throttles.

Biff's Valenta does indeed do that. It also delays the engine start at one end, which is prototypical. I didn't think TTS supported advanced consists at all? If I am correct about this, only basic consists would be available & these are managed by the command system, not the decoders. Number of speed steps would therefore depend on the control system.