Broithe

I think they anticipate that everybody is going to the terminus (possibly, whether they want to or not). I love the professionalism of it - the special white gloves - and the enthusiasm of the one lad who runs to the next door to shove one more in....

You might struggle to get a container on one, even if there was space left.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwbPdF5dIgQ "There is a small number of suburban "liner" trains on the JR network, e.g. Home Liner, which require a special "liner ticket" and are not covered by the Japan Rail Pass. However, since these trains are targeted at suburban commuters, foreign tourists are unlikely to use them. Confusingly, there are also a few trains that contain "Liner" in their names, but do not require a liner ticket, such as the Marine Liner, Seaside Liner and Ishikari Liner. These trains are fully covered by the Japan Rail Pass." http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2361.html

Irish Times article, with further pictures - http://www.irishtimes.com/business/transport-and-tourism/orient-express-company-belmond-jumps-tracks-to-ireland-1.2184166 .

On RTÉ's Nationwide at 7pm tonight - http://www.rte.ie/tv/programmes/nationwide.html .

It will be interesting to see what actually happens in the end.

Mmm, it may just be 'promotional', to keep the project in the news, so to speak - but, who knows...?

Irish Rail has retweeted this picture just now.

Well, nothing, other than the train on the track that is now being fed from the 'reversed' controller will go the other way, as was required. All that matters to any loco is the difference between the two rails that it's on.

You would get steadily faster at it, though....

Very eco-friendly, Minister. This, in an animated form, is the Google Doodle for today, that I referred to above.

Excellent advice - it's worked for this chap. On other matters, I've not found Pritt to be an adhesive with good long-term adhesion, things can come adrift after a while..

Today's Google Doodle is a pedal powered submarine - this data-mining is getting out-of-hand.

The Gaugemaster has the centre-off direction switch, the Hornby doesn't, which can cause issues. Gaugemaster will basically fix it, should it go wrong, for the rest of time, even if you bought it second-hand (because they very rarely do fail). I've never had direct experience of one failing, anyway..

A quick look on eBay finds a good few, but at more than the Hattons price!

Marks carry Gaugemaster - and Hattons do. The 'dual' is a good device - The Model D.

For a DC controller, the Gaugemaster is hard to beat. Available in single, double and quadruple housings. You can always put two singles together, but you can't move a double apart.... If a single dies, you still have one that works. A double will be cheaper than two singles. It's up to you and you requirements...

Centre-off is almost always preferable, you don't have to use the 'off', but you can. These Hornby controllers don't have a centre-off for the direction switch, like the Gaugemaster ones do, and this can cause strange issues requiring cuts in the track that aren't necessary if you use a Gaugemaster.

That's what I would do. There's usually little or nothing in the cost and the centre-off position can be useful - just don't accidentally leave it there and confuse yourself, but you'll only do that once...

That's right - an DPDT switch is really just two SPDT switches that move together - in the diagram, the top part is one SPDT switch and the bottom is another, the fact that they move together is what makes them a DPDT switch. You don't (usually) need both poles in this sort of situation, but it does no harm to have both, and costs little extra in materials or effort. It can be a matter of preference whether you have the centre-off position or not - it does no harm and can be useful, too.

This is the DPDT situation you mention, I think. The SPDT is like one half of the DPDT switch. You can have three-position centre-off switch or just a two-position switch, which has no 'off' position.

I'm not really into the Northern stuff, but that is bloody lovely.

Maybe there's more of a problem on the "Mainland", with some lines at quite an altitude ( over 1,000' in places ) and lines way up North into Scotland?

If you do build your own, remember that both sets of gates 'point' uphill when shut - the right-hand, lower, gates on this lock wouldn't work, if the water was real...

A bit of re-working and you've got the start of a great song there - let's hope we don't get caught in a landslide...?

It's only ten on a Saturday night, there's time yet....