RP 25 Wheels and Tillig Elite Tracks

You might want to compare the NMRA's track standards against the European standards. I think that you will find that the RP-25 wheels will work just fine on the European track. The big problem will be gaps at the frog and so forth where the wide flangeway will allow the wheel to drop down a bit but then the turnouts made by all the manufacturers are using a very wide gauge on the track through the frog and thus the flangeways are abysmally wide even on the American track.

-- Why isn't there an Ozone Hole at the NORTH Pole?

"Michael Kreiser" asked:

On our club layout and our exhibition modules we are using Tillig Elite track and we have no problems with RP25 wheels.. DCC friendly out of the box and very good looking.. If the new Peco US style code 83 track had been available when we started building I think that would have been our choice, though. Kind regards Tonm Larsen Holte, Denmark

Bob May wrote: [...]

There is.

For an interesting romp through some environmental topics, read Michael Crichton's "State of Fear." It is a well researched thriller with a strong point of view about eco-terrorism and the "science" behind environmental catastrophes.

I'm not advocating its point of view, since it is a novel designed to sell books, and Mr. Crichton has as much an ax to grind as anyone, but it is an interesting look at that political world.

Ed

in article JGKAd.26123$ snipped-for-privacy@news20.bellglobal.com, Wolf Kirchmeir at snipped-for-privacy@sympatico.ca wrote on 12/29/04 7:35 PM:

Actually, there isn't. There is a thinning of the Ozone but not a full hole like the South Pole has each year. Now go figure out why! It will suprise you.

-- Why isn't there an Ozone Hole at the NORTH Pole?

There is no "hole" at the south pole either - just a thinning. The "hole" is a media invention - you know, real scientific talk is "too difficult" for the Ordinary Person, so we'll talk down to him (or her.)

The thinning is greater at the south pole, AFAIK (that's why it was discovered there first), but I don't know why.

Now, how in heck would anyone know that!

So they could have been there for many millions of years?

Paul

The Flintstones might be knocking on your front door right now! The change in the amount of ozone is the worrying point. As I live in one of the few reasonably densely populated* countries in the lower part of the southern hemisphere, I can assure you that the incidence of skin cancer and eye problems related to reduced atmosphere is increasing rapidly.

*densely populated to a level where each such individual event has a minimal effect on the average.

Regards, Greg.P.

Ah, but is the incidence of skin cancer and eye problems really related to reduced atmosphere or is it related to 1. people living longer than they did in the past or 2. people having more leisure time and spending more hours at the beach (particularly when they were younger 1950s) or

1. Better medical detection ?

When I was a kid, we didn't hear much about skin cancer, cataracts, or such, but people living into their 80s and 90s were also rare. Many of the older folks never had time to spend on the beach when they were young, and if they did, the customs of the times called for them to be much, much more covered up. Many were shielded from the sun by a constant cloud of coal smoke :).

Not to say that the global climatic condition is not suspect; it is. Proving cause and effect is another thing altogether.

Regards,

DAve

Our sheep now get skin cancers and eye problems, and their life span is greatly reduced because everyone wants lamb rather than mutton.

Many more people worked outside in the past - a bulldozer replaces about 100 labourers - a farmer on a bike replaces about 6 men on horses - a farmer in a helicopter replaces a hundred men on horses - a fork-lift replaces a dozen men loading railway wagons etc etc.

The global warming condition is suspect??? It's here now and it's going to worsen year by year for the next century even if we cut carbon dioxide emissions by 50% right now and hold that level.

It's not so difficult in NZ because we don't dry-clean our sheep! We can measure the warming effect just by sticking a thermometer in the sea.

Exactly. All we know for certain is when we started finding them; there is no way to know when they began (though people with an axe to grind either way will insist differently).

Greg, it's up everywhere, even in the states. Why? Well, everyone seems to be spending more time outdoors.

Take a look at the way they dressed, though. We have a series of photographs taken over an 80 year period on farms in the southeastern United States. Back in the Thirties, men wore hats with brims and long-sleeved shirts when they worked outdoors, just as doctors recommend today for protection from the effects of solar radiation.

Obviously, before they were discovered.....

WRT increased skin cancer rates in NZ: peer reviewed article reference, please. Oh, and correlation does not imply cause and effect. Do you have a peer reviewed reference for that, too?

I'm not saying such references don't exist, but I am implying that may assertions of fact are only that: assertions. Environmentalists are neither immune nor exempt. It would be even better if the research funding were blind, too (funding source and researcher don't know about each other, and especially the researcher is not aware of the funding source and it's purpose), but that pretty much does not exist.

Termites, cows, and yes, sheep, emit a great deal more ozone depleting gasses (specifically, methane) than humans produce carbon dioxide. So maybe we should re-legalize DDT and go kill the termites.

Ed

in article snipped-for-privacy@ihug.co.nz, Gregory Procter at snipped-for-privacy@ihug.co.nz wrote on 1/2/05 7:23 PM:

Actually, the discovery was that the ozone levels in the upper atmosphere were decreasing, compared to earlier measurements. IIRC, the first evidence of decreasing ozone levels in the upper atmosphere was found ca. 1970. By that time, there were about a decade's worth of measurements, so the rather steep (and seasonal, BTW) decline noted over the next decade or so raised the alarm.

It was a surprise - no one had expected to see anything like this. Subsequent research found the mechanism for the depletion of ozone, namely fluorocarbons used in airconditioners and as propellants in spray cans. As I understand it, in the presence of UV and fluorocarbons, O3 is split into O2 and O (which almost immediately combines with another O to form O2.) O3 is formed by UV acting on O2. O3 is relatively unstable, and splits after some time. In the past, the rate of O3 formation balancedthe rate of O3 destruction to form the O3 layer that protects us from too much UV. There is some seasonal variation because of varying intensity of UV from the sun. Fluorocarbons tipped the balance, so that O3 destruction increased until a new balance, with much lower O3 levels, was reached. That's the "hole".

Why there should be a greater effect at the S Pole, I don't knoe - haven't read about this in quite a while.

BTW, there have been research stations in the Antarctic for over 100 years - there is an immense amount of data, including indirect evidence of UV at ground level via trapped air in ice cores. This is indirect evidence of O# levels in the upper atmosphere. "Indirect" does not "uncertain" - it just means that one use measuremenst to calculate other quantities.

So, for all we know thinner, fluctuating "holes" could be a good thing. Perhaps a necessary thing.

Weathier people spend more so spend, spend, spend.

Paul