Broithe

This is the controller that I have in mind. We had two, one lasted much longer than the other would running the same load - so, I opened them up to see if there was a different component that could be 'improved', but they appeared to be identical. If I was confined to using them, then I might be tempted to short the cut-out out altogether, as it seemed to be operating well before there was any real overheating. If you are staying DC, then Gaugemaster is the way to go, I think. Save the Hornby power units for running lighting, etc. It's a long time ago, but I think the cut-out may have been in the plug-in transformer unit (it should be, anyway).

If it's the 'train set' controller, they have a thermal cut-out in and these can be very variable. Try just leaving it for a few minutes and see if it works again. Are you running anything else off it? Lighting, etc.? The larger engine may just be tipping it over the edge.

And, on the tarmac front, no two pieces of tarmac have ever existed that were the same colour. The variations in reality can even look a little false on a layout. It can be as light as an almost off-white colour. Trenches, patches and filled-in potholes very rarely blend in properly.

Perhaps a specialist feature, and they've gone recently, when the Guards had a new wall, but these stones that were just a bit too big and, so, were just tarmacked round, amused me for many years.

Possibly the origin of the phrase "Feeling a bit under the weather"....

Another one this morning.... Delays up to 15 minutes to DART & Commuter services due earlier anti-social behaviour at Donabate. And it's not swans...

The 'sport-based' disorder in the UK gave a good training ground for combating this sort of thing - much easier to organise against than random events. Going on a train on a Saturday, before football went 24-7, was not always a good idea. I used to try to be aware of football fixtures and attempt to avoid certain teams' matches, though the worst event of all (by far) was down to Australian rugby fans. Over the last 25 years, my rail travel has been fairly evenly split between UK and Ireland, with almost all the 'entertainment' here on the big island. Whenever coppers have eventually got involved, they have been whatever the local force in the area is. I've only ever seen BTP once in my life and they didn't seem to be on an emergency at the time. I did once have what turned out to be a copper jump on me from behind as I entered the station, only for his mate to shout "It's not him!", causing him to jump off and release me with a "Sorry, mate", before I could react at all...

It would be feasible to get an injunction banning rail travel and, if the person broke the injunction, either being recognised, or informed upon, then that could amount to contempt of court. In the UK, it's common enough to find such conditions in ASBOs and it is frequently applied in bail conditions, apparently, for rail-related transgressions. Enforcement and detection are the issues - though, face-recognition technology is improving all the time. Lifetime and temporary bans from football grounds are fairly common here, and suffer from the same difficulty of detection as a railway ban would, though the scenes and times are rather more restricted, I suppose.

Airlines can, and do, ban disruptive passengers, but they have the benefit of requiring identification for security purposes, even for 'internal' flights - railway travel hasn't entered that era yet. It would be difficult to detect a banned passenger in the current circumstances, unless he drew attention to himself. A friend of mine was banned from an entire supermarket chain because of his tendency to talk to the staff until they could stand no more.

There do appear to have been several others, not just the two I've mentioned above, though I'm a little confused as to which is which now and don't want to mention the same one twice. It just has looked like an epidemic of it today - let's see what tomorrow brings.... ..and that the consequences are sufficient to make it a less 'attractive' proposition in the future..

I just wonder if the current events are a sign of a less 'tolerant' approach - I do hope so.

There were two this morning. 07:05hrs Tralee/Heuston was delayed by 25mins due to anti-social behaviour on-board, expect knock-on delays at intermediate stations. 09:45 Westport Heuston is currently stopped at Monasterevin awaiting Gardai due to anti social behaviour. Update to follow Seems a bit of an early start for party time...

There appears to be a current rash of delays with this given as the reason. Is this an increasing problem, a simple, transient 'seasonal' upsurge or is it indicative of more solid response to these situations?

I hope to pop in and hassle you for one last time just before Christmas. All the best for the future.

I thought you would still be simmering over this. And I hope that you are gruntled again shortly.

An Advent Calendar with only three days..?

I remember hearing of a chap that made a big wooden thing like that once, but he used gopher wood. Never been sure what happened to it..

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7694255.stm

It's only a matter of time...

Electric - lit by Edison Swan light bulbs.

Don't encourage him, once he gets started on 'kettle' jokes, he's in his element.

Nice DART picture on Twitter today..

The sign says Speed Unrestricted - code for Give It All You've Got....

Have you considered a job in IÉ's PR department?