What About The Bee

The deeper answer is that all locomotives can be live on track, all the time. You do not need to isolate tracks, like DC. Locomotives only move when you command them to do so, by address

Yes, of course!

Hi @Tim Allen From that description, it sounds like you have definitive knowledge. That the panel is representative of actual regional railway history. Is the locomotive in the panel evocative of the actual locomotives that were utilized there? Do you happen to have an image of a locomotive that "matches" the panel? Presumably with a cow catcher, of course. I think it is terrific that the panel isn't just a piece of art. Bee

Hi @Dave the Busker Move the engine away from the firehouse a bit. Won't be so noticeable. If it is coming back to the firehouse, no lights would be on. Or away, if you do want them on! Bee

Hi @BritInVanCA It was locked because it veered well off topic. The thread shifted to a discussion that attempted to cast a negative light on Hornby marketing practices. If I may be frank, there should have been more than just locking the thread. Use your imagination. Of course, if I am to be frank, I'll need a name change 😁 Bee

Your picture is fine Rana. My ability to see an abstract locomotive isn't so fine. Perhaps this art is better in person. Bee

Ha! I spent many minutes searching in the background for the locomotive Rana was talking about. Was it that smudge, that blob? I just couldn't see the locomotive. Check the text, check the image. Why couldn't I see it???? What is he talking about??? I finally realized, the buffers were right there, in plain view. Very, very sneaky!! Bee

I can move the demarcation line. In the 1984, Hornby Track Plans 6th Edition, the radii of the curves are given While it is a bit hard to see, R606 is denoted "2nd Radius 17¼, 438 mm". Apologies, but the image is scraped from the internet. This likely isn't the terminal date of the conflicted reference , as there were many more track plan editions after the 6th. Bee

Here is an early type of cow catcher, if you will. 1842, Francis Whishaw illustration of a London and Birmingham Railway passenger locomotive. An obvious Edmund Bury locomotive. Simple to see how it worked, it just picked stuff off the rails to prevent derailment. Bee

Wow! Very nice indeed! With this material selection, who needs cut outs, you can see right in. Presumably better with a bright back light. I note the footplate / tender floor height issue seems resolved. Very fetching @81FWell done Bee

Speaking as a USA based engineer, with what was an international clientele, being ambidextrous is a benefit. Surely it teaches the value of writing down the units! With System 6 identified as the decoupling from imperial units, is there someone with a System 6 track geometry specification from Hornby? Hopefully with a date!?!? I would still very much like to resolve the conundrum raised by @Gordonvale. Is it 438 mm or 438.15 mm? At this moment, I believe that as Roco produced metric track for Hornby, starting 50 or so years ago, the imperial units no longer apply and the standard is 438 mm. I can always be convinced otherwise..... Bee

Hi @96RAF I do not claim to understand why a broadcast e-Stop would result in writing to a configuration variable, presumably stored in non-volatile memory. My sole purpose here was to insure that you received the data you requested. LT&SR_NSE suggested to OP that it may be CV19. That triggered an association in my mind with your request. So if you want OP's data, as it relates to CV19, just say so. If you don't, just say so. I remain strictly on the sidelines, as an interested observer Bee

Austria adopted the metric system in 1875, so it is completely logical that any Roco track produced a century later would also be exclusively metric Bee

@SteveM6 I didn't catch that the team already had the fix in hand. 96RAF reports this, which I missed. If its a checksum problem, then pressing e-stop will not be related to CV19 as there is no deliberate writing to CVs. Bee

Hi @mightyllama Please do tell us if you find success with altering CV19. Hornby is currently chasing this https://community.hornbyhobbies.com/forums/topic/35896-cv19-reverting-to-a-value-other-than-default/?do=findComment&comment=385596 Thank you! Bee

Correction to above. The Series 3 track, large radius curve is specified as 17⅛" (43.5 cm). My apologies for mangling the data point. The question of when Hornby switched to a metric specification only remains. Should be post Super 4 track, so the 70's or 80's. Bee

Hi @Gordonvale You pose a valid and quite interesting point. It speaks to standards and specification. For the purposes of the lateral compliance computation, there is little appreciable difference. For OO Experiment, using 438 mm, Y' is 1.306997 mm [rounded up to 1.307 mm in the equations above]. Using 438.15 mm as the track radius, Y' is 1.306507 mm. This makes sense, of course, a slightly larger radius requires slightly less lateral compliance. The delta is 400 nanometers or less than 20 millionths of an inch. My cutoff for model railway computations is typically 1 micron, making this below notice. Yet, in the interests of mathematical rigor, the point must be pursued. I think this conversation must begin with what Hornby themselves state https://support.hornby.com/hc/en-gb/articles/10406079411612-00-Gauge-Track-Geometry Hornby specifies a 2nd radius curve as 438 mm. There is no imperial conversion, no indication of inches, anywhere. Just metric. Peco also sells 2nd radius curves. Here's one https://peco-uk.com/products/double-curve-2nd-radius-2?variant=7435751620642 Peco specifies a 2nd radius curve as 438 mm. There is no imperial conversion, no indication of inches, anywhere. Just metric. Here is the support I could find for a 17¼" specification, but these specs are all very old and superceded https://www.brightontoymuseum.co.uk/index/Category:Hornby_Dublo_two-rail_system States 17¼" for Hornby Dublo 2 Rail. https://www.classiccollectmodels.co.uk/category/model-railway-history/ Series 3 track, 17¼". Super 4 track, 17¼" (43.8 cm). Both metric and imperial units are displayed. Apparently the root cause, the sloppy unit conversion starts at the inception of Super 4. I would like to know when Hornby only states metric. Those with old catalogs can best tell us this. Bee

Hi @SteveM6 I agree that which ever way gets Deem to a working controller is good. Cleaning the contact, swapping keyboards, swapping displays? It matters not, he just needs a controller. As the ebay offering is an auction, we will just have to wait and see. Fingers crossed Deem wins. As to Hornby? We must consider that Hornby is a business, not a benevolent public institution. If it is no longer commercially viable to perform a service, then they should not perform it. I would prefer, personally, that Hornby remain in business, rather than to go bankrupt attempting to salvage old kit. A 2007 unit is 17 years old. How long do we expect it to last? Bee

Hi @Rallymatt Thank you for your kind compliment. I used the illustrations to confirm the equations I wrote for myself. All mistakes in the equations are my own. I thought to share the equations and diagrams so that other modelers could chime in with additions and questions. It is a fantastic topic! For the enthusiasts attempting to make their own, the equations are design considerations. Hornby, or indeed any manufacturer, is unlikely to make the more obscure locomotives, carriages or waggons. If an enthusiast wants those, there is but one choice. Make them yourself. Why wait? Understanding the system comprised of wheels, points and curves is a pre-requisite to making them yourself without a tremendous trial and error effort. Turning to your discussion about the B2B. I agree that making the B2B smaller helps in curves. It increases Track Gap (Q in chapter 1) and mathematically relaxes requirements. There is a caveat to reducing the B2B, to wit: points. With the wheel near the stock rail constrained by the check rail, the B2B controls precisely where the other wheel will be, as it rolls through the wing and frog rails. I recognize that you understand this, but state the obvious for a somewhat more casual reader. Making the B2B smaller does help in turns, but we must stay within a fairly small range of values. Our community has an extremely broad span. I do not expect even the most experienced modelers to know everything. Further, experience, in and of itself, is a poor substitute for actual understanding of theoretical aspects. And so, if an enthusiast does not understand the reasons why a model can wobble, its forgivable. I also recognize that the vast bulk of the people visiting the Forum are looking for a basic answer to basic questions, and that simple technical help is all they require. Practical experience, especially if it is decades of that, will provide the quick answer to their queries. Its a valuable commodity and the reason why the experienced correspondent is so treasured. None need to understand why that thing is so, it just must be. Do this, don't do that. The equations presented in this thread are far beyond what is needed to "make a layout work". However, for those who wish to know why that thing is so, the insight is extraordinary. Bee

@Deem Perhaps this auction is of interest https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/296596276863 The person claims it works, except for the "9" key. Maybe strip the display and keep the rest for parts? Bee

Hi JJ That's an interesting panel. Did UK outline locomotives get fitted with cow catchers? Bee

It stands to reason that of all the ultrasonic water droplets expelled upwards from the chimney, a handful may drop back down onto the boiler. The LMR had this issue as well. What went up through the chimney came down on the passengers. Canopies were installed to keep the cinders off of passengers. Bee

But @threelink, why would you want a book? A book is a static store of information, there is no spirited conversation. Books are great. But conversation is better. Here, we can trade ideas. There, its the world according to some nutter named Bee and no, thank you, the world does not need that diktat. Bee