The Wind and Beyond: Claude Steps In

Last week John sent me the link to this video of a flow visualization simulation created by Claude. It's quite impressive. I have no idea how Claude was used to create it, but it did remind me of my old, physical flow visualization windtunnel I built with Dave back in the late 80s. How times have changed.

So, intrigued, I decided to poke around the Claude YouTube channel and I stumbled across the above video. It's a very slick marketing style video, but it looks like the clue about what Claude is doing starts around the 25 second mark. Basically, Claude can take uploaded pictures of objects, dimension them, and produce plans of the various elevations. I found it interesting as last November when Vince and I were creating speculative E. L. Moore buildings with Gemini, Gemini had a hard time producing a consistent set of elevations. Maybe I should give Claude a go and see how it does. 

Drink Milk Love Life

Every time I drop by the Havelock yard I keep an eye out for the Space Hopper. Given how long ago I first saw it, it's unlikely to reappear.....but, one never knows :-)

The story so far...

A check on element placement as the story develops.

At this stage of construction I'm adding in scenic details I have in mind, and am checking fit, spacing, and composition as I go along. The layout's so small I don't want a surprise near the end where I find I can't fit in things I want without doing some crazy squeezing here and there. 

I should note I haven't finished the electronics on this thing, and that might come back to bite me later (!), but scenery is what I feel like doing right now. This is a life pursuit, not a job, so I do what I like.

Return of the Happy Minimum Test

From left to right: 6", 5" (the HO equivalent of the tightest TTC curve), and 7" radius curves.

I'm having some trouble settling on a design for my Taronna layout. There are numerous problems. One significant one is figuring out what the minimum radius curve I can use that will not cause a problem for streetcars, and be reminiscent of the older, tighter curves in the TTC streetcar system.

I decided to revisit some tests I did back in 2017, but this time with an eye to making vehicle modifications, if possible, to allow tighter curves to be traversed.

Test results to follow, but until then this little video will give you an idea about what's bouncing around in my mind - I remember this well:

Mount Lowe Micro-Layout in Voie Libre #126!

The Mount Lowe Railway is featured in the latest issue of Voie Libre, #126, July / August / September 2026. I've only seen what you see over there on the left, which I saw in an ad that popped into my Inbox today. I submitted 46 photos - photos not seen here ! - so I'm curious as to which ones appear. I anxiously await its arrival in my mailbox! 

As they say on tv: Don't delay, get yours today! Quantities are limited! French and English editions are available!

Ok, so much for shameless self promotion. For penance it looks like the ! key on my keyboard may need repair :-(