NIK

Ditto. I laughed in an old episode where Endeavour visits a Private Investigators office and gets hit on the head - a Chandler Bing you could call it. I cringed at the episodes with a railway connection but budgets are not infinite - even the latest mission impossible film couldn't afford a custom made real steam locomotive. I suppose there is a small chance DI Thursday could get Sam a job overseas and then he retires and sets up a detective agency. I've found Roger Allam a revelation - have you heard him in Radio 4's Cabin Pressure as a suave pilot who always thinks outside the box and then steals from it?. However they seemed to say in the documentary that the project ends as a trilogy (M,L and E). Anyway I thought the last episode came good and made me cry despite of or because of the lack of opera music and was a good companion piece to the first episode. Regards Nik

If you get your drift wasn't the cameo scene similar to another a while ago?. I think Morse is a great tragic character. He seems to be an Oxford specialist, one of the few policemen with a foot in both camps being the son of a taxi driver and having studied greats in the University town. His talents hem him in and drink becomes his master. What makes him personally a great detective makes him a poor policeman and his humanity makes him struggle with politics and occasionally his colleagues. Regards Nik

Russell Lewis?. Regards Nik

Hopefully the following is not a spoiler alert. If found the final episode a stonker. I think Russell Lewis writing all Endeavour episodes was a tremendous achievement I suspect unlikely to be repeated although I was first amused and then annoyed about some episodes that were over stylised and in the case of one episode borrowing not just the plot of the greatest American novel and after that from a good film (not the Great Gatsby). I speculated there might be a spin off from Endeavour - Thursday, Private Investigator, Trewlove making her way through the Met, Strange but True, DeBryn but maybe not. Regards Nik

Hi, I managed to finally get in front of the JMRI driven monitor on the Collingwood layout. A chap in a MERG tee shirt was one of the operators. Our club finished the show with a higher number of tickets sold than last year despite the roadworks near to the show and the economic crisis. Food costs had doubled so maybe the refreshments which normally provide a surplus may make a loss. MERG stand very helpful. I may have picked up a project to do as I mentioned to our junior layout who wanted to paint a lightning bolt on a stormy backscene that projecting a lightning bolt from LED driven optics or similar might give a better effect. Lots of compliments from people leaving the show including waiting until the last minute to leave despite the forecast of approaching rain. Regards. Nik (member of the BNHMRS - club still looking for more members)

Hi, We finished the first day having sold the same number of tickets as last year despite the huge rise in household costs such as energy and food. Big surges in arrivals when the vintage bus shuttle delivered more enthusiasts. Mid afternoon saw Zimo, ESU Loksound and Lenz DCC decoders still available on trade stands. The MERG stand had lot of interest. The layouts looked good to me. Teas and coffees selling well on a cold day outside. Squires had their huge stand up on the stage. The club juniors were happy running their modular layout via their smartphones. Saw an ex club member with a NSE liveried coach body from a Replica Railways suburban coach shell that is intended to be a centre car for a Kernow/Bachmann 2H to make a 3H. One layout had a OO NSE 3H which I think used 2 EPB bodies to make one centre car. The Hornby Dublo layout also had a monorail which I hadn't seen before. Parking should be a lot better Sunday. Regards Nik (a BNHMRS member, club still looking for more members)

Hi, Most layouts and stands set up by 8pm this evening. Our junior modular modular layout is looking good as are the extensive prizes on the tombola stall. Good model railway exhibition weather for the weekend. The big traders bring a lot of stock to this show, Kernow have come up from Cornwall rather than from their store at Guildford. Railway Modeller stand being set up. I think Steve Flint is to judge best layout. Our 009 Lynton and Barnstaple layout is looking good and our club stand has some exciting news about our clubs future plans and facilities. Regards Nik (a BMHMRS member, the club is still looking for recruits)

Hi, Looking at the Black 5 part of the programme what I assume to be the electronic module that supplies the steam effect unit seemed quite chunky. It looked like it had quite a big inductor or transformer on the PCB. I was a bit worried that the Hornby engineers had added something to the water to make the steam more realistic - hopefully that something will have no ill effects on stock or humans, even iconic humans. Regards Nik

Hi, That's not what I said. I said the light electronics. Many modern models have circuitry so the lights can be powered from DC or DCC. This requires electronics to as a minimum rectify the DCC to DC (if the lights are LEDs as they often are on newer models). Regards Nick

Hi, I haven't got a Class 800 but the supply to the light electronics may be taken from the track pickups and the decoder(s) only control the lights turning on and off. If so perhaps someone can suggest how to add stay alive functionality to the lighting circuits. Regards Nik

Hi, I was out volunteering with the Canal and River Trust today and I was helping with a survey of Bruce canal tunnel near where the Savernake railway stations were. Beforehand a very helpful local gave us some historical background. While the survey was going on we also looked for a second mechanism for feeding water up from the canal to the railway (for the water cranes?). We found one mechanism about 123 metres in from the western end of the tunnel but found no others. Got some close up views of engineering trains when not in the tunnel as the Westbury to Theale part of the Berk and Hants has been closed for engineering works for a few weeks. There was a discussion about the new buildings blocking the trackbed of the old railways into Marlborough. Feeling a bit nostalgic now, must go and get my rose tinted spectacles. Regards Nik

I noticed when the baseboard was lifted up at one end to test the TT A4 the baseboard bowed so whatever slope was measured at the end of the layout would have been less steep away near the start of the curve. I guess the worst case is a long helix where the whole of the train is on an up gradient and on a curve. Maybe Hornby will then bring back traction tyres for the A4 if they get complaints. I guess the main thing is to get through the magazine reviews and initial online comments without a mauling although annual books on UK RTR may get to mention any introduction of traction tyres.

Some songs from the Lord of the Rings films: Jive Tolkein. Orc on the wild side.

The club I belong to now has a thriving junior group. Maybe in a few years time some of them will be lugging club layouts out to other shows.

A spokesperson for a US hotel that shredded the passports of 40 visitors from Walsall said they found out what Walsall was like and thought stopping them going home was the kindest thing to do.

I've been called a great wit many times.

News just in: A 3.7 magnitude quake in Wales was felt by people in Birmingham where it did thousands of pounds worth of improvements.

That's a handy hint. Long time ago I was very briefly involved in checking over an EP of a RTR EMU that failed to get to market due to a problem with moulding a tiny component. I'm still very nervous talking about it. Regards Nik

Hi, I was exhibiting at a show at Tolworth I think it was and there was a complex Z gauge layout with spring and rope at the front. After the show a youngster from one of the other layouts was larking about and fell over the rope. The layout was canted over by the weight and a lot of Z gauge overhead stock hit the floor. PS our own club has now made wooden barriers for our own exhibition (and to go with club layouts to other shows) that are bolted together to reduce visitors pushing them forward. They take up a lot of space and need maintenance but are lighter to move than steel barriers. Regards Nik

After the Brits awards Sam Smith over inflated his balloon suit and was shot down over North America.

After an ex Tory Party chairman says Dominic Raab should be suspended, Raab's former underlings debate what to suspend him by.

No classified documents have been found at President Joe Biden's beach house but the FBI did find the recipe for Werther's Originals.

Hi, 4 CIG in Blue Grey for me but not with a large Class 117 style inter coach coupler. Regards Nik

Hi, Same here but in a choice of liveries (probably BR Blue for me). Regards Nik

Hi, I'm waiting for Cadfael!. The top number could be peasants trying to shake off leeches by doing jazz hands and singing 'Don't bleed me this way, I can't survive and stay alive without my blood ....'