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Headline news - new tooling items from Hornby for 2020. BR Thompson A2/2 Image - Ben Brooksbank LNER/BR Thompson A2/3 Image - Ben Brooksbank Gresley W1 4-6-4 "Hush-Hush" Images- lner.info BR Standard 2MT 2-6-0 2MT 78xxx Image - Ben Brooksbank BR Class 91 BR Class 370 Advanced Passenger Train–Prototype Image - Phil Sangwell LMS Coronation Scot coaches BR Mark1 RB Restaurant Buffet

You are being saved from yourself. Posting a bad tempered rant demanding people be sacked isn't a good start. Describing the Stephenson's Rocket pack as "stupid" when a number of forum members have expressed delight and pre-ordered just such a pack suggests that your opinion is out of step with the rest. That's fine, but getting angry about it won't change anything, nor will describing anything you don't like as "junk". It just winds up those people for whom those models are welcome and something they are looking froward to. Finally, you ask, "where are the Class 68's" - they are in boxes marked Dapol, the Mk5 coaches will be in boxes marked "Accurascale" and Class 70's are in blue boxes with Bachmann written on them. RMweb is a place for ALL politely expressed opinions. It's not like we don't have people who would have preferred a different set of announcements here after all. Now, back to Hornby.

Not half as angry as I am at reading rubbish like that; believe me. Think yourself fortunate that you are only on a final written warning for your forum conduct rather than being sacked yourself.

Back to work tomorrow now I am allowed to drive... Retirement earlier looks good despite the financial problems of doing so, better to retire before dying rather than after. First world problem I know. Goodnight Y'awl

You'll buy anything yellow, I have a week-old banana that I can do you a deal on.

Good morning everyone. Thanks for all the messages of support and advice to let go and howl at the moon. On my way home from dropping Dad at his house late last night I stopped at a quiet place and for about five minutes ranted, raved, shouted and screamed at all the unfairness and awfulness of it all, not just for my friends with cancer but what's happening to all those poor people and animals in Australia as well as the stupidity of politicians around the world. I even got on to my Mum's death two years ago. As I then drove home I realised that although the bad things hadn't gone away, it had to some extent been cathartic and I was later able to sleep, which was something I hadn't thought I would. It's at times like this that being a member of ERs is of inestimable value. Sorry about the self indulgence, I shall now finish my muggocoffee and try to do a Baz with my day. I hope that you can too. Dave

Surely this must be the shortest gap between a Poll and product announcement ever? When Mr Macdermott speaks, the manufacturers listen. Or else.

I cannot fathom the nay sayers who go onto this forum and say....nothing for me! We should congratulate Hornby on a colourful and ambitious programme that will appeal to all corners of the hobby, young, old and in between. I certainly will be making some purchases. Roll on the next 100 years.

Oh dear. Oh dear oh dear. Not only are Hornby risking a repeat of the 2012 disaster by ploughing a lot of effort into a range which might not sell, they're devaluing the Bassett-Lowke name in the process. The Bassett-Lowke name will mean nothing to Steampunk fans, and to use a name historically associated with well-engineered premium products on models derived from Smokey Joe and the Hornby 4 wheel coaches is somewhat akin to putting a Vanden Plas badge on an Austin Allegro....

Me too! Worked quite hard yesterday and should be tired. But sometimes insomnia can be a good thing. I have most of my best ideas while lying awake at night. I guess it is due to the lack of other distractions. And sometimes I remember things that I had forgotten. For the last couple of months I have known, during talks with my solicitor, that there was a "black hole" in the financial statements prepared for the divorce settlement - but I could not work out what it was. Now I know what it is and having done a search of the computer, I am owed £69,000 more than I thought.

Cheers all. Off to work in a few minutes but however belatedly, may I wish everyone all the very best for 2020. Most importantly, may everyone ailing or bereft see the light at the end of the tunnel. For others, the new year didn't start very well: A few minutes before 1 am on 3 January, three people aged 19 and 20 attempted to climb across the couplers between two units on a tram making a call. The third of their number didn't get across and fell before the tram started, the second unit of which eventually derailed due to the forces exerted by the body at a right angle turn a few hundred yards on. The bloke didn't survive, as you may imagine, leaving not just me to wonder just what possesses some people to put themselves in lethal danger like that... Anyway, I'll try saying hi again later!

A few snaps from my phone taken last month. True to 1/76th scale the model is quite exquisite!

And that's fine, but just for clarity I'd like to point out that when we announced the Class 87, we stated that we'd been looking at the Class 91 then and looking back at my research files, it was 26 May 2016 when I first visited the National Archives for this project. Not every project starts and runs through to completion uninterrupted, for various reasons including changes of TOC. For us, matters were certainly helped by Hitachi taking over operations at Bounds Green.

I have, But I knew already! I've assisted Hornby in the development of the A2/2 and A2/3 models. Not in a major way; just meetings with the designer, poring over photographs, books and drawings and loaning models. I've also loaned books and documents. Am I the ultimate model railway hypocrite? What is one to do? I'm regularly approached by manufacturers for assistance in the research regarding new products. If it's an RTR manufacturer, do I say 'I'm a builder. If I help you (in a minor way), it'll mean the end of an equivalent kit?' No doubt it will, though I still have Thompson Pacific kits to build, and the W1! That's the irony, really. RTR Thompson Pacifics or the W1 will be of little use to me At least the A1/1 and A2/1s are still 'safe'. But for how long? Who would have thought it? RTR models of Thompson Pacifics! Models of locos like these..................... Please (all) observe copyright restrictions. Regards, Tony.

Some trains at Swayfield, on Stoke Bank, this afternoon. The seond photo was probably taken on a Saturday, I'm not sure about the others. Swayfield Class 55 9021 up Yorkshire Pullman Oct 71 J2780.jpg Swayfield Class 55 up June 74 C1621.jpg 55002. 1A32 was 17.00 Newcastle - KX (M-F, 16.10 SuO not listed for Saturdays) Swayfield Class 55 Edinburgh to Kings X Dec 74 C1835.jpg Swayfield Class 254 up July 81 C5448.jpg Swayfield Class 254 up Sept 81 J7578.jpg David

Well, who ever has the job within Hornby that gets to decide on what to release has not done a good job and needs sacking. Some of the stuff is alright, most of it is random "Sugar Honey Ice Tea" that quite frankly knowone wants. There is no new GWR Steam Loco's apart from one Star Class, the Class 20 looks like something you would get for free in a magazine from Lidl and then they are doing stupid things like the Stephensons Rocket Train Pack. I mean, where are the Class 68's, GWR IET's, Castle Set HST's, TPE and Caledonian Mk5's, GA 755's and 745's, Class 70's, full detail Class 20's, Manor Class, a decent GWR Panier tank and also a 3 car SWR Class 159. There are two good models in this years January announcments, and those are the GBRF Class 50's and the GBRF 47's, the rest is junk. If this is the standard are the class of model that Hornby are putting out, no wonder the company is basically bankrupt. They are appealing to the wrong people, old LMS and LNER steam is fine if you like that stuff, but don't forget the superior GWR stuff and of course modern image stuff that Hornby's future customer base are growing up with. Eventually Hornby need to realise that the kids of today don't give a toss about LMS coaches and their numbers, a stupid amount of old wagons and Stephensons Rocket. What they want is modern Sprinter units, pacers, aventras, CAF 195's. I am sorry if I come across angry, but I am.

We got kicked out of the local swimming pool after that article in the papers the other day. It's just not fair! Look at us, we were enjoying ourselves.

Glad your driving again Mick, I was made redundant at 60 and had my minor Stroke at 64, then the Heart Attack at 67, so glad to have enjoyed my early retirement time. My Dad worked to 65, then had 3 Heart Attacks at about 66 / 67, but finally went to the big C at 72, that to me is still NO retirement, I'm 70 in April and feel I have a lot more living to do yet, I hope. All the best.

Evening, the day started with a slight disaster ie DCC controller emitting smoke! On inspection its stuffed as they say, I do have a spare but will look to buy a replacement which I intended to do today. However this afternoon my first grandchild came into the world a healthy boy at 9lb, so looking for a replacement fell by the wayside. We are going up to London ( travelling by train) tomorrow, I thought of driving DOWN to London but decided to let the train take the strain. So will be in London for a couple of days which I am looking forward to. The arrival of my Grandson has more than compensated for todays disaster, though In fairness I have had the now stuffed controller for 11 years so I should not complain. Time to open a nice bottle of plonk now and toast the new arrival! Alan

Afternoon all, The Good Count's daughter has been visited but the quantity was a little short so it might upset the lab people. More usefully as regards quantity a vist to WHS meant I procured copies of various railway related magazines (no, none of them are railway modelling magazines although two now included a modelling supplement which I ignore. Then a little later a visit to Tesco and the pharmacy seeking advice about various supplements intended to deal mainly with cramp - it seems that both of them in the stated doses don't exactly sit cosy with my existing medication. A shame Mrs Stationmaster didn't do a comprehensive check with the pharmacist before buying me two months worth of the stuff however one of the supplements is magnesium tablets so they might go down well the next time we have a bonfire. And a nice touch of luxury - a pedicure administered by a lovely Indian lady who at least does a less dangerous version of the foot massage carried out by the Vietnamese bloke who works there. As to early retirement my advice is always to grab it if you can and if you can afford to. Alas a bash of ill-health spoilt my original plan to retire just after my 56th birthday (on a maximum pension) and I went at 52 although it was on redundancy which was most helpful because I could clear the mortgage with a part of the lump sum. Moreover being fairly clued up on the various rules virtually all of my redundancy money above the £30,000 tax free limit went straight into the pension fund so therefore wasn't taxable and I then took out the maximum possible lump sum from the pension fund and the maximum pension that the Inland Revenue rules allowed. (this is an area where retiring early can work to your financial advantage). The BR fund also had something called a 'Level Pension' which meant it was enhanced until I reached state pension age at which point it was sharply reduced, but the reduction was less than my (reduced) state pension so I had a slight increase. Plus when I left although the GP restricted my working hours to no more than three days a week I managed to get an 'occasional' (= zero hours contract in modern terms) job doing railway consultancy work and although it was nowhere near the best paid in that field it brought in a few bob and it came with a final salary pension - which started at 65 (which was about 8 years after I left due to lack of work). So I've got three pensions although the zero hours contract one is only £13 a week after tax - which is obviously much better than kick in the face. I suspect that if I hadn't packed it in as a full time job when I did I doubt I'd still be around but equally would the company have still employed me when limited to a three day week and barred from certain safety critical parts of my job? So leaving was a no-brainer but the redundancy made a big financial difference although any chance to get out early would have been welcome as long as I could still do a bit of work. Enjoy the rest of your day/evening everybody

I got chucked out of a local swimming pool as a kid for peeing the pool, when my mother said it seemed harsh as all kids pee in the pool. The reply was yes but they don't usually do it standing on the top diving board...……………………….(I'll get my coat)

Good afternoon. It's sunny but cool. We were up beford the sparrows had broken wind this morning and then had an hour's drive in the darkness to get Beth to hospital for her diabetic week. All went well and I was even found to be useful in doing some translation work. She's now ensconsed and I'm home alone till Friday. That could be dangerous. Off to the garage to have the Volvo front brakes looked at soon. That could diminish the modelling token pile. Dave, glad you gad a good scream. I did that the night my mother died. I was driving home from Barrow in Furness and saw Penyghent and decided to climb it in the dark. I then screamed at some rather bemused sheep. It did me a power of good. Not sure about how it effected the sheep. Mick, get retired you won't regret it. I got out at 49. Regards to all. Jamie

Hello everyone Many congratulations to Hornby on the 2020 announcements today! Excellent news for many! This is how the new tooling items fared in The 00 Wishlist Poll 2019 Results... Top 50 374 votes - BR Std Class 2 2-6-0 (78xxx). Overall position 3rd. 287 votes - LNER Hush Hush. Overall position 10th. High Polling 186 votes - BR Diag.24 Restaurant Buffet (RB) 182 votes - APT-P 182 votes - W1 60700 149 votes - A2/3 Middle Polling 116 votes - A2/2. (This score places it nicely above the overall halfway mark.) Low Polling 86 votes - Coronation Scot Coaches. (These were only just in Low Polling. We believe they have much potential for the BR modeller in the future if Hornby has made sensible provisions.) As something of a notable aside, we recently ran The Quirky Poll. Rocket was overall top-voted item there. Brian (on behalf of The 00 Poll Team)

Right, I'm going to settle down now. By sheer coincidence, this morning's first locomotive is....... a Thompson Pacific. This is a horrible image, but it genuinely is the next one in the store. Not the sub class Hornby have just announced, hardly surprisingly. This is what I get as reward for trying to take pictures when I know there isn't enough light, and it is no more than I deserve. Meanwhile, it is time for the Flying Scotsman, which has diesel (under)power this morning.

Dave - shout it out.......... Work was worked. A quiet day on the phones/email (no daft customer calls!) , so much catching up of small tasks was undertaken. Hockey was then watched. End of P1 and we're 1-2 down against the Solihull Barons. Couldn't fault the work effort of the lads, but 15 minutes into P2 and it's 1-4 with the usual defensive errors being punished. That's when they really start to get it together and 2-4 going into the end of P2 with it nearly being a "one-goal game" (a phrase oft-used by hockey coommentators) at the end of P2 4 minutes into P3 and it's 4-4 after a penalty shot. Nerve wracking to watch as the player's Mum was sat a few seats away..... 6 minutes to go and it's 5-4 to set up an exciting finish with Solihull pulling their goalie for the extra player with 90 seconds to go. Empty net goal for 6-4 and 20 seconds on the clock.. Well done lads! Our netminder won the MVP award for his efforts. A fitting way to end his week after being called up for the GB under-18 squad earlier 4 of 7 days work tomorrow. Have a good week folks. Cheers, Mick

Now we must visit more serious matters: Who from the ER community intend to visit the Stafford model railway show this coming February? If so, is there any thoughts about having a small get together? I will be attending, along with elements of the OFMC, and I know the bloke with the too short ladder will be there, so no doubt there will be much cat calling and general inter-service one-upmanship. (Apparently this gets worse the longer you've been retired.)

Peeing in the pool is bad enough but 100kg. of poo is overding it a bit.

Failing that, you could always emulate me:

Back from the doctor and the good news is that my BP is down to 141/83 which is a great improvement on what it was a couple of weeks ago. Postponed opticians until tomorrow but have now made an appointment for another bathroom quote next week from a guy who's highly recommended by a friend of my son. Coffee now and then I need to do a bit of money laundering move some money around.

Good morning, dull and noisy here as CowboysRUs return to what passes as them for work - when I was a lad etc, etc, etc... Depression is something I suspect we all suffer to varying degrees and frequency - I know I have bouts. It certainly does help to have sympathetic ears around and this place is good for that - long may it continue. As for retirement, I have written before about how lucky I was to be made redundant early and to have been able to "occupy" myself doing exactly what my employers felt they no longer needed - often for them too . That allowed me to defer drawing my pension until it could be done without any deduction so it was a win. win scenario for this old git and I haven't looked back - although now SWMBO has retired, the pressure on bank accounts to be diminished has risen rapidly. It is often suggested that one should divide your pension savings into thirds, spending one third in the first five years of retirement when you are still able to enjoy it, spending the next tranche in years six to 15 and using the last portion to live when your costs, energy and ambitions are at their lowest. It certainly works for some and now I am over the first five years, I am into a less expansive lifestyle, although my waistline doesn't listen. SWMBO clearly isn't there yet although she retired in 2009! Today will see some "unacceptable" gifts bought for Her Highness returned to the suppliers - yes, I was wrong yet again - and further tidying of the garage. In terms of gifts, the run up to that recent period of extravagance saw various discussions with SWMBO along the lines of: Your iPad/iPhone is so old that it is no longer supported and will cease to do what you want in the not to distant, would you like to replace it? She - NO. Daughter then asks "Are you getting Mum a new iPad or iPhone for Xmas? My answer being in the negative. Guess what SWMBO now wants???? As for tidying the garage, this will make access to unmentionables easier was never in my plan ( again). Please take none of what I say as having any bearing on reality - clearly my boss doesn't think so and I could be easily confused... I honestly believe however that the doctrine according to Baz should be adopted and to those who are struggling for whatever reason, all the best.

Morning All, I am back in the office this morning - which was a bit of a shock to the system after the break! The weather is relatively chilly, (around freezing) and the drive to work was very foggy. Sorry to hear about your friend, Dave. Have a good day everyone...

Good morning all. Dave, very sorry to hear about your friend. Still dark but it is dry outside at the moment although we may get some rain later. Rugby duly watched and a very enjoyable game it was too. I have to visit the doc first thing to find out if the new BP meds are working. After that I need to go to the optician as my glasses are in need of a small repair as a bit has gone missing. I have offered to take The Boss out for a pub lunch but as "we" are supposed to be trying to lose some weight this probably won't happen. We'll see. Mick, I retired early and although, certainly initially, it caused a few financial hiccups, I've never regretted it. As you say retirement after death is not a good option. Have a good one, Bob.

Good morning Back to a more normal routine - been in the shed already varnishing decals. All track laid last night and preparing to start wiring. Other half getting ready to go to work. Xmas tree to go back in the loft today. No beer since Saturday and might be Wednesday before any more is consumed if even then.

Tomorrow MrsID is going to her Handy Doc to have an op to remove a little bone at the base of her thumb, at least she's supposed to. Unfortunately she started getting a head cold yesterday. We don't know if they will want to do the op now or not.

Why am I awake? Grrrr!

I had a few Ford Fiestas for driving school use. Those that were fitted with hill start assist had it disabled with a couple of button presses in the vehicle settings. And yes- hill starts are still in driving tests, and hill start assist is allowed to be used. (I usually didn't tell my pupils about HSA until we were on the way home after the test.................)

Ha, I am going skiing with an ex-RAF type, and ex-WREN type, a serving Army type and his spouse. I can see me hiding away and chuntering about my many years astern of the mast I shall not be venturing further up north, I may loose the bridgehead I have been assiduously working to create in The South.

Beast broke the car wash!! He is too heavy apparently...so I had to drive through (I would normally have done a handwash myself but I wanted the salt off the underside of the car.. Baz

Morning all from Estuary-Land. I didn't sleep well last night, not from the usual things such as Arthur Itis but because of the eczema decided to try to drive me mad by itching. After countless applications of moisturiser I was able to beat it into submission and get some sleep. My advice is to go for retirement ASAP. I took early retirement nearly twelve years ago when I was 59 and I realised that I would be no worse off by doing so. Working in the payroll department and with an estimate of what I will receive as pension I calculated it thus. The pension would be a little under half pay but there would be no deductions for NI and pension. Tax would still be payable depending on the pension paid but a lot less than half of what you would be paying if you carried on working. I also deducted the costs of travelling to and from work although I travelled by car which in my circumstances was the cheapest it was also the most difficult to compute, though in the end it turned out that I had underestimated it. My calculation showed that I would be slightly better off if I retired and that is how it worked out.

Well, I did actually suggest they might do something like this, so I'm now feeling a little smug However, while the rolling stock looks the part, the buildings, well. Reminds me a lot of this song.

Good morning one and all, though how good it will be depends on so many things. Dave, feel free to scream. It can help but you won't know until you have tried it. I did not set foot outside the front door yesterday save to top up the recycling bin. Instead, I dealt with some correspondence, though some still remains, and caught up with much of the TV backlog. This reminded me again that I spend too much time watching TV. Lunch was a little late and was with typical lack of imagination a lump of sirloin steak and modest trimmings. Still to be done is the feedback on the Swiss trip. It will be mostly favourable except when it comes to the subject of travelling to and from that wonderful country. Apart from an outbreak of the wrong kind of snow, we have always used Eurostar to cross the Channel. The national rail systems of France and Germany have their flaws and frailties and over the years we have suffered from most of them. The route preferred by the travel company embraces Brussels, Cologne and the Rhine Valley, takes the best part of two days and bores me senseless. If the French are not on strike, and that was a big if this year, it is quite possible to reach Interlaken in a day. Once in a while some imagination breaks out. A few years ago we left Chur by bus through the San Bernardino Pass and picked up the train at Bellinzona. That was the stroke of genius that can only be done once. I am sure that other bright ideas are available. There is not much in the diary for this week. Perhaps it is just as well. Best wishes to all Chris

I'm awake too! Mind you it's only 8:20 here. (And sleeting.)

Being Twelfth Night, I made an effort to remove my Christmas decorations today. The outside decorations were still damp from the rain so they are air drying in places where I am unlikely to step on them. Going up and down a small stepladder I have aggravated the muscle tear in my leg. Hopefully this is not a big setback. With the swelling finally receding I was hoping I had turned a corner. Sensibly the Golden Globe awards had to wait until playoff football concluded for the day. I watched them until I couldn't put up with any more, which didn't take very long. Ricky Gervais (as promised) did his very best to be obnoxious but the whole pious nonsense of celebrities congratulating each other had me change the channel before very long.

Only 100 kg? Do you think I'm on a diet?

Mooring Awl Inner Temple Hare, 1063/664. As you can see 1063 days till my planned retirement, which is one year early on the Governments Idea. Every day it gets closer, it gets harder to come in. It would not need much to make me give up.. Especially with mornings like today, at one point I was working on 3 major systems and a 1 G ohm resistor. It's slightly easier now now I have dispatched the resistor and got approval for use to one of the major systems.. Time to wander down to the other end of the lab and change a lead turn a knob etc.. When I was house hunting in Norfolk 2 of the most favoured houses on the possibles list were discounted, one because it was up hill to the nearest waterway less than 100 yards away, the other because it backed onto the sand dunes and stood at at 0ft ASl. My only worry really is every third or fourth year they grow wheat or barley all around us , should that go up. we would be in trouble..I've seen fires in such fields within a few miles of us.. Further thoughts have been made on the tool box, which is residing between the radiator and the stove in the hope of it drying. I'm just wondering how much black and white fur it will catch as it's sitting on top of Ben the scaredy dog Collie's hide away cage. The thoughts are to do with the handle, I've gone back to having a straps round the box, simple and easy to make.. Time... for the next wander down the lab..

Evening all from Estuary-Land. There are very good reasons for human beings occupying 'dangerous' regions. The first were probably the Egyptians who occupied the *Lower Nile. The annual Nile floods could cause a lot of devastation yet the advantages outweighed the disadvantages with the annual delivery of new fertile mud. The same applies to volcanic regions, volcanic ash is also very fertile. (*It is 'Lower' though on most maps it is above the 'Upper Nile'.) Very sorry to hear of your friend Dave but that brings to mind a former colleague who also had liver cancer and was given a similar life expectancy. In her case the surgeons removed most of her liver and packed her off to the hospice. But she didn't die! It turned out that the tiny piece of her liver that remained was not cancerous and had regrown. She went on to live into her 80's becoming a major fundraiser for the hospice. Not much more news of my brother except that he is progressing well which is good news.

Awesome. Six days in and I think we have "2020 Post of the Year".

Morning all. There is more blue sky than grey cloud now. Aditi has decided it is a gardening day, lots of plants are showing signs of new growth. I haven’t been given any tasks. Tony

Not feeling very chipper at the moment. Just heard that our dear friend the Dutch lady who was recently diagnosed with spine and liver cancer has been told that she probably has between two weeks and two months to live. Her liver is so shot that the consultant said he couldn't risk a biopsy so his assessment was based on the scans that they did and he could be out by a bit but he thought it was realistic. She's only 58 and one of the most caring and generous people you could ever wish to meet. And tomorrow another great friend is having a major operation as a result of bowel cancer. I feel like screaming. Dave