Pete the Elaner

So nothing more than a Chinese whisper then. No idea what it is or what truth there is behind it. Back to business & if anything does become of it, we will hear in due course.

If so, it is reminiscent of when Ferrari squeezed out Jean Todt in 2007. Their last driver's world title was in....2007.

So it says nothing about what the allegations actually were, but that a Dutch newspaper asked about them. Sounds like the typical F1 rumours to replace genuine news.

It is certainly like this with a factory fitted sound model: The fans spool up independently from each other according to settings determined by the manufacturers, but can be individually isolated with functions.

Quite likely considering its reputation of falling apart in a light breeze.

Never going to happen. He may want to go there, but the team would not want him & I am sure neither would Verstappen. When 2 team mates fight for the title, it gets nasty. The only exception I can think of is Lauda & Prost, although I am too young to remember that properly: Mansell & Piquet Senna & Prost Hamilton & Alonso Vettel & Webber Hamilton & Rosberg As watchers we may not like it, but a clear No1 & 2 is the best way to secure the drivers title. McLaren would have walked it in 2007 if they had adopted this, but Ferrari snatched it by supporting Raikkonen.

It was entirely down to him. Todt built the team. It took him 7 years to turn them from a shambles to winners. He persuaded Ferrari management to sign Schumacher, Brawn & other key people. They would have formed a winning team with whoever wanted them most & Todt made sure it was his team. He then sheltered them from blame when things went wrong, which is another thing we have not seen since he left. The management felt he had too much power so forced him out & changed there structure to stop any principal having the same power How many drivers titles have they had this structure brought them? They seem to be good at finishing second.

I am not mistaken. I urge you to not be blinded by their not so recent history. Their last 6 titles were due to 1 man: Jean Todt. Many credit Schumacher for building the team but if Todt had not been there, Schumacher would never have signed for them. If you remove Todt's influence, the last of their other 9 titles was in 1980. That is over 40 years ago. Todt was pushed out the season Raikkonen won his title, He & the team he built were driven out by their management's desire for control, That management structure is still there & they have not won anything since. More pertinently, it is why they have not won anything since & therefore why it is the wrong team to be at to win a driver's title. Constructors title is of little concern to a driver considering switching teams.

Why would he want to do that? He has nothing to gain. He has plenty of money & should know by now that Ferrari is never the place to be for a world title. Their management structure has been incapable of supporting a winning team since Jean Todt left & shows no sign of improving in the near future. Mercedes finished above Ferrari in 2023 & he finished above both of their drivers, even though the general feeling is that Mercedes had a bad year. There has ben a constant stream of F1 trash in the media this winter. It seems to be getting worse each year, with many stories being repeated from years ago without acknowledging they are recycled. I will not believe anything until I see pre-season testing & even then, there will be updates before the first race.

I really don't understand some drivers. I have just driven home from the club, along the A421 between the A1 & M1. For those unfamiliar, it is 70mph dual carriageway & I was in my car, so 70 was the limit for me. I was in the overtaking lane & accelerated to 70 but had to back off because the car in front was doing just over 60. A car pulled up on my left because he did not want to pass on the left, so I tried to stay slightly in front but not closer than about 2 seconds behind the car in front of me. The car in front was a little slower than those in front of them, but backed their speed off to around 56 & matched their speed with a lorry in the left lane, remaining in their blind spot. They even dabbed their brakes a couple of times to stay there & maintained this position (yes, in the blind spot) for a minute or 2. I was not sure if they were trying to brake check me, even though I was still a couple of seconds back. I began to wonder if there was a car in front of them which I could not see, but it was clear. Eventually they got past the lorry & pulled over. I see many on dual carriageways/motorways who are completely oblivious to others' blind spots. Lorry drivers are usually pretty good, but not invulnerable to mistakes, so I try not to leave myself vulnerable.

I know some who would be put off by learning to drive a model train properly & like the direct feel of a DC control knob. But you can adjust acceleration/deceleration really easily, so you can set it up exactly how you want it. I find it much more interesting to bring the train to a controlled stop rather than have an instant reaction. I had never previously used the coast feature quite as described in the manual but after having given it a try, I like it.

Not hard, impossible. The fussier ones among us will have learned how to re-map functions or, more likely, use software which makes this easier.

Sound is 1 delay but when I spoke to a member of staff at Warley, I was told that they wanted to improve on the design of the pantograph because it does not park low enough on the 92. So the whole lot is not being delayed in order to make a good recording of the sounds. I thought the same when I installed sound on my first electric, but the addition of sound still adds character in the same way as it does with diesel or steam.

Maybe you could borrow one? I don't use mine a great deal because JMRI does everything except firmware updates & re-blows.

It happens elsewhere too. I've travelled first on a Pendolino before because it was cheaper than standard. I think this was because they mis-judged accommodation a few years ago. When Pendolinos were introduced, the first batch were 8 coaches, 4 of which were firsts. The kitchen & luggage areas took around 1/3 of a coach each, kitchen being in 1st & luggage in standard. The shop was also in a standard coach, leaving more floor space for first class than standard. The split between passengers meant that first was never very busy, leaving standard wedged. All sets got extended fairly quickly, thankfully with standard class. Some of the firsts were also re-built into standards too.

I am not sure that 140mph running will happen any time soon. All trains needing to use the line will need to be compliant. Some sections are only 2 tracks. Others are 4 but you cannot just ban non-compliant stock from the fast lines because there may be an issue of some kind on the slow: points or signal failure, land slip, failed train, engineering works. All trains would then need to use the fast lines. While that is possible, what will it really gain? On 4 track sections, the slow lines are too full to take everything but the fastest trains, so allowing a higher top speed would only allow them to catch up with slower trains more quickly, causing them to get checked by double yellows. For a passenger, going slow in a fast train is highly irritating. I expect drivers are equally irritated. It only takes the slightest thing to go wrong & several trains then get delayed. Planners have to conduct an investigation into most delays, so they do not like it either. Running at 140mph puts 25% more energy through the running gear (energy increasing with the square of speed), so increases the wear on trains & rail by 25%. Increasing maximum speed to 140mph on existing lines therefore requires a lot of investment. Is it really worthwhile? Only the last part about increased energy & therefore maintenance applies to a dedicated line.

They can be variable. If you get a good one, then great. If you get a poor one, then spares may not be the easiest to get hold of. But they cost barely any more than just the compressor & you will learn a lot about what you want from an airbrush. Knowing what I know now, this is definitely the path I would recommend. I started with a Badger 200 & upgraded to an Iwata Revolution. The Iwata feels nice to use & is easier to clean, but the Badger gave perfectly good results whether for re-spraying stock or fine, light weathering. The limit with my setup is the user.

It is indeed very easy to re-map functions using JMRI. It looks pretty similar to LokProgrammer. I have looked at the manual with regard to doing this manually, but it seems very complicated, especially compared to JMRI. The pre-loaded feature list looks very reasonable. I like the idea of having switchable modes via a high numbered function & it is obvious somebody has put a lot of thought into this. I'll probably do something similar to what you suggest, but will familiarise myself with the model first.

3. Old resistance mat controllers provide very poor slow speed control. I have heard others claim otherwise, but when I have seen their layouts run, it is clear that they have no concept of how a train really accelerates.

ABC braking with DCC will do a lot of that & is supported by many decoders (I think even the Zimo MX600 series). It is really a subject for & covered elsewhere instead of drifting away from the conversation's original suggestion of a cheap old controller being unsuitable for a modern motor.

I can do way beyond what I want to do with it too, but it makes the easier things really easy. It turns CV settings into well labelled check boxes or values. I do not know the CV for master volume, but I don't need to. JMRI takes care of that & I just move a slider labelled Volume. It also stores your CVs in files, so once you have read them in, you can see what they are without having to re-read them. I have not seen the specs for your system but expect an LN90 will have a USB or serial port. It is free to install & use. You only need a cable & compatible computer to run it, It runs on Windows, Mac or Linux. There is very little to lose & a lot to gain from trying it out.

That was "the lap" when he dropped from 4th to 5th at the start then made his way to first before the last corner. Surely the best lap in F1 history? So it is quite amazing to have a photo of him on his own!

Another vital thing you have missed: At low speed with DC, there is a low voltage between wheel & rail, which is the weakest part of the circuit & susceptible to dirt. DCC has a constant higher voltage, which pushes the current across this boundary. This is a huge help with slow speed running.

But that is way beyond what any DC system can do, so how can it be a downside? DCC is a gateway to achieve so much more than DC could ever possibly offer.

I have got a couple of Gaugemaster ones with the simulator, but have also tried others. The driving experience provided by these is nowhere near as good as active/dynamic braking on a Loksound or Zimo. Loksound v5's dynamic brake is a huge upgrade from a v4 too. But I agree that a DC controller with brake/inertia is a more sophisticated unit than the intended subject of this thread.