DavidLong

If I was more confident about our ability to beat Sweden I'd think that this was a good result as it is we may have to aim for five points and hope it's enough. This truly is an England team of no stars and Premier league journeyman players. Still prefer to see Defoe start as he knows where the goal is. Standout performance so far was by Russia but they may have to wait 'til the quarters to play a decent side. David

These comments about using 2mm ballast in 4mm applications are so common it makes me wonder a] does anyone buy ballast that is marked for 4mm use and b] if no-one does then why do manufacturers go on making it. Also if 4 millers are using 2mm ballast then what are we 2 millers supposed to use? One of life's mysteries I guess. David PS Enjoying the thread, Jason

For me it's not a question of how many times I take the chassis apart after final completion but being able to do the same during the assembly process. I (and I suspect others) are not such good or expert chassis constructors that we we can accomplish the whole process in one hit and the ability to break the chassis down into into its component parts is very valuable. This has been the basis of my complaint about the tightness of the muffs that we use to join the axles. Opening them out to a fit such as they will grip the axles sufficiently to test the quartering but also not so tight that said quartering can't be fine tuned due to over-tightness of the grip. I would always test the completed chassis under power on the track and, if satisfactory, dismantle it again for any painting or blackening to take place. Having had it running satisfactorily 'in the raw' then I can be reasonably confident that on re-assembly it will perform just as well. I think that Tim's contribution is very valuable and I intend to use a similar process in the chassis that I am currently building. Similar but not exactly the same as it is a different chassis. David

About the only good reason I would support for changing or abolishing the offside law would be to stop managers making interminable excuses for losing because the goal was offside (Bill Shankley once claimed all five were offside. . .). This when the opposition player may have been marginally offside but the reason he scored was because of poor marking. This is using the offside law as an excuse for your own teams deficiences. The trouble is there are people who think that lots of goals are a good thing but this takes a very superficial view of the game and is not one, I believe, that is generally taken by most people who watch it regularly. If you want to see a game with high scores go and watch basketball. . . By the way, anyone who appreciates the true art of defending as demonstrated by not exactly top-of-the-range players should watch Trapp's Irish at the upcoming championships. Three goals conceded in the qualifiers, now that's what I call defending. Tikka takka! Pah! David

I didn't think that Joe Hart covered himself in glory in this incident. Cahill was calling for Hart to come and collect the ball but he seemed to stay rooted on his line so a collision, with or without the rather petulant push, was pretty much inevitable. Tough on Cahill just as he had played himself into the starting line-up but the way this squad is going it will soon be a case of 'last man standing'. David

Sorry, can't agree with that one for three reasons. One is how boring to see the ball lumped forward to some lump of a goal hanger. No thanks. Second reason is that 0-0 draws aren't necessarily dull. Thirdly, defending and preventing goals is just as much an art as scoring them. Besides, recent changes in the interpretation of the offside law seem to have considerably reduced the number of teams who deliberately play an offside trap. David

Couldn't agree more, Colin. Brilliant, isn't it? David

Sorry, Kevin, I don't have a solution. It was just the unfortunate juxtaposition of the two events. Darlington supporters raising what are pitiful sums for a club like Chelsea and then, when they do, getting knocked back by officialdom. This is also not an arguement for clubs getting into financial difficulties and then being able to get off without any consequences. In the same breath I am not one of those who wrings his hands about the amount of money in the Premier League and the sort of players that it can attract. Despite not being a Chelsea fan I look forward to seeing the talents of Eden Hazard on a regular basis next season. David

Fine old club like Darlington FC beset on all sides by lack of money and officialdom. Chelsea spend £70m on two players. Sometimes I just despair. David

Nice work, Pete, but isn't it a bit 'mainstream' for you or are you just working your way towards the Bulleid/Paxman 11001? :-) David

It's the teams that finish second that I feel sorry for - the champions get a trophy, the team finishing 'third' get a trophy, runners-up get nothing! David

Agreed, Simon, (although they did push Southport out of the play-off places) but going back to some earlier posts I really feel for Wrexham. Runners-up and 98 points but still in the Conference. Oh and while everyone goes on about Manchester City 'buying' the league title can we, in the same breath, mention Fleetwood Town (and Crawley Town before them). It doesn't just happen in the Premier League you know. David

Agreed. All that stuff under the baseboard does seem a bit twentieth century. David

I think that you may well be right, David, and why I suspect that the sort of solution offered by Tam Valley Depot may have more of a future as it can be used with existing systems. It may require a European company to develop it for this side of the Atlantic as it would ensure the use of acceptable radio frequencies. David

Thanks for the link to A1 Micromotive as I'd 'lost' them. I had a previous URL which stopped working so I hadn't realised that they had pushed on with the system. I would see Red Arrow as a more basic system than some of the others that are being developed and I think that this is reflected in the prices. I would see the Tam Valley Depot system as being along similar lines to Protocab in as much as the chip or Loco Control Unit is expected to be able to provide features such as sound and lighting as well adjustment to running characteristics. I'm not sure that I go along with the 'old hat' assessment. I think the fact that new systems are being developed which are, as TVD define them, wireless DCC in the true sense i.e. no layout wiring required. I'm sure that there are many 4mm and 7mm modellers who have three link couplings and mechanical point and signal control who could well do without all that excess knitting under the layout. I'm not sure it is such a hardship to have locos charged up when you haven't had to do all that wiring and then spend time afterwards keeping all the rails and wheels clean. David

Bill, The Ring Engineering system isn't quite the same as it still uses track power as part of the operation and I think may have been discussed in the DCC area. Railflyer seems to be similar to Protocab although they imply that you would have to use their Android-based Tablet PC as part of the operating system. I understood from the Protocab guys that an app, downloadable to any Android device, could be used for their system. I was unsure where to put this thread in RM Web to generate discussion and only decided on this section as it is clearly both electrics and non-DCC, even though it has strong similarity to DCC in that the LCUs have much in common with DCC chips. I have been a little disappointed that nearly 100 views have brought forth only two responses as it does seem to be a system with possibilities and it would be interesting to read more opinions of it. Just to emphasise, by the way, that I've no connection with them and, as I said prevously, it won't work for me in 2mm scale. David

I'm a bit surprised that there doesn't seem to have been any discussion about this new form of control that was launched at Scalefour North last month. To find out more about Protocab and to save me a lot of typing the website is here: http://protocab.com/ From chatting to the proprietors it seems that this is an updated version of Exactoscale's Red Arrow system but uses a form of radio control rather than the vaguries of infra red. Control can be via iphones, android phones and tablets. I was very taken with the Red Arrow system that I think was developed by Bernard Weller (correct me if I'm wrong) but the new owners of Exactoscale decided that it wasn't part of the core business so it never got developed. In scales 4mm and above it does hold out the prospect of being almost wire free if used in conjunction with 3 link/screw couplings and mechanical control of points and signals. I say almost wire free as the charging points would need to have some sort of feed attached to them. Charging uses inductive technology so the loco only has to be positioned over the charging point to receive the charge. As the infromation provided about the system alludes to facilities for lights and sound then it would appear that the Locomotive Control Units are akin to DCC chips but which take their power and instructions via batteries and r/c rather than from the track. I realise that such a system will not be to everybody's taste but it does have a certain appeal. Sadly, working as I do in 2mm Finescale, there will have to be some fairly revolutionary developments in battery technology for me to be able to use it.

Part of the statement said: "We would like to assure supporters that any decisions will include the long-term interests of our supporters, our community and the survival and development of Cardiff City Football Club in a highly competitive and modern sporting industry. As a club we... fully recognise the legitimate interests of the fans, supporters and media in the affairs of the club and their right to information in respect of the same. Blah, blah, blah. Do they really care about what the fans think? No. 'Sports Direct Arena' anyone? David

I take your point, Simon, but I don't necessarily believe that you have to suffer to be classified as a supporter. I'm full of admiration for what the supporters of Charlton and other clubs have done to pull their teams back from the brink but it doesn't invalidate the experience of other supporters who have not been through that process. My appreciation of football is very like my appreciation of railways in that I mostly like all of it whilst having some particular favourites. In football these are Arsenal, Bolton Wanderers, Southport and Waterford United but along the way I've spent some time with the likes of Queens Park Rangers, Bristol Rovers and Crystal Palace for reasons which it's not necessary to go into here. Congratulations on the season, Simon. Really pleased for Chris Powell who seems like a real gentleman and I hope that you have another good season in the Championship (2nd Division!). Any chance that you'll do a Norwich or Southampton? As you may imagine, Sunday afternoon is going to be a bit tense 'chez Long'. David