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So another eventful trip but £20 coming my way care of a late arrival home. At midnight last night I got a message from Avanti - my return train was cancelled, I should get the one before (1853) or the one after (1933). You can guess what I and most other people who got that message did - we went for the earlier service. What did Avanti turn out for a train they knew was going to be busy, the first off peak to Manchester in the evening knowing the next one had been cancelled, a 9 coach Pendolino! They played games, said it was platform 14 (and there was a Pendo parked in 14 at 18:30) but decided to swap to the Pendo that had just arrived at platform 1 at 18:40 instead. So I had arrived at Euston from Euston Square at 18:28, I went to the loo (near platform 1) because I expected the train to be busy, so off to platform one for the loo, then returned to platform 14 for the train and joined a polite queue (barriers open, no Avanti staff manning it). After 5 minutes standing the platform changed, so back all the way to platform one again so really getting the steps in today. Got onto the train on the unreserved coach C and the train filled and filled, people crowding outside trying to get on. The guard politely suggests those standing might like to catch the 19:33 and when that doesn't work pulls a new stunt - if you don't get off then the train will have to go slowly to Manchester. Yes the guard actually tried to guilt standing passengers into getting off the train because it would be their fault sitting passengers will be late getting home - unbelievable. Me, I spy a partial refund voucher, there was already trouble at Tring, and the train though scheduled to depart at 18:53 actually left 15 minutes late, so I was looking at the positives. In the event it arrived 20 minutes late back at Manchester having got stuck behind a stopper I think between Colwich and Stockport, then held at Ardwick. Certainly I did not notice the train going 'slowly' as threatened by the guard. One pizza later, it's time for bed. Night all.

My late father started studying with the OU and tuned into BBC2 at those time appropriate to what ever he was studying. I forget the subject matter now. I do however remember him being very wary of the OU summer school at the University of Bath. Having never progressed beyond Public Elementary in his formal education thanks to the conditions of the time arising from the activities of a certain moustache-sporting German this was all very new to him but he was determined that he "could do something with his life". His concerns were not borne out. He was worried that it would be a case of "University - Big; OU - tiny and in a couple of rooms". It was very different on reality and he returned having thoroughly enjoyed himself. Not only was the OUSS given the run of the entire university but this included supervised visits to the greenhouse where "research" was being lawfully conducted into the cannabis plant. A heated glasshouse full of them! Visits were supervised and timed but hey. The only time my dad ever got up close and personal as a student with recreational substances! He didn't complete his course. As I remember he suffered one of several redundancies in his working life and found he could no longer afford the fees to continue whilst on the dole. To his admitted dismay he felt embarrassed and shamed that he was "unable to make anything of his life". And he went to his maker pleading much the same despite having been thought of by many who knew him as a good, kind, thoughtful and caring chap. He never wore a kipper tie either; dad was always a cravat man and could look dapper as you like when occasion required. Even when it didn't he often chose to sport a cravat just for sitting in the lounge doing crosswords, listening to music or reading the paper.

She nailed it, well done, I think I got something in my eye. Beth is safely in dock and I'now home after a few hours on the station watching trains. Jamie

I am very proud that I managed to convince our policy people that these were a plant pest and we could use our legislation to insist on eradication of an outbreak in a publicly accessible glass house, probably all of 30 years ago. The UK didn't have suitable legislation to protect people or animals, only plants! I don't remember where we thought they had originated, the glasshouse was in the habit of importing plants from many countries. I used an Australian quarantine service leaflet to convince our policy that action was required. Invasive pests are a difficult call - those lovely Rainbow Lorikeet are fabulous on the East coast, but are doing a good job of pushing out the locally native Australian Ringneck in Perth and surroundings on the West Coast. https://science.ebird.org/en/status-and-trends/species/railor5/range-map?week=1&static=true Paul

I feel I need to highlight that the Kernow bogies are fitted with heavy duty axle boxes. These axle boxes were designed heavy vehicles such as 70 ft Dreadnoughts, Concertinas rail motors, and bogie bolsters wagons etc that carried extra weight. They were not commonly used on siphons and shorter toplights, where the more common and familiar OK GWR OK axle boxes were used. Once the Collett heavy duty bogies started to appear many coaches were rebogied and the Fish belly and Americans with the heavy duty axle boxes were pooled and reused. I suggest you check photographs to see where they were redeployed. I only have only found two siphon images and a couple of toplights showing them being used. They were clearly being used but not in great numbers. Heavy duty axle box General service OK axle box This is the only image I have of an early siphon with the Heavy duty axle boxes. Note the rod truss underframe. Mike Wiltshire

Good evening everyone We’ve had another good day out today, lots of sunshine, even though there was a cool breeze. Disappointingly, the orchard area was closed, due to the ground being waterlogged, but we still managed to see some of the blossom. When we went to the cafe, it was closed for a refurbishment, but the did have a small temporary one in use, so we didn’t miss out on a drink or a slice, but FFS, it’s only 2 years old! We also came home with some more plants for the garden (and some more seeds), so, weather permitting, I think I’m going to be busy tomorrow. As anticipated, we spent the rest of the afternoon, relaxing and reading. We also did a spot of eyelid inspection too, I think all this fresh air is making us tired!

To be frank if you are going to suggest anyone is telling lies you may find the engagement and willingness to provide ‘best efforts’ honest answers withdrawn.

Evening all from Estuary-Land. I spoke to my sister a couple of days ago, my brother's estate has finally been sorted and his bungalow has been sold, that's over a year since he died. In fact although I say 'his' bungalow he only owned one fifth of it which he had inherited from his second wife who died a year before he did. She inherited it from her first partner who owned it with four of his cousins. He died over forty years ago and tracing those four cousins or their heirs has proven difficult.

Evening All! Bob's back! Jolly good 😀 As in "where to keep the frame" 🤔😉 Not as long as the smoked code that we had for dinner on Sunday .... Not another improvement for us customers. Their generosity knows no bounds. ION Well I was up and out relatively early (8:45 ish) this morning as I had to disappear up the M1 to the frozen North (well, Hinckley actually). A friend had invited me to join him on a Triumph Motorcycle factory tour. It would have been rude to refuse! And what an excellent day it was too. I won't pollute ERs with a whole load of old motorcycle photos (I'll do that later on the appropriate thread) but I thought this machine was so way-out and has an appropriate name for a model railway forum (that is technically banned from this thread) that I'd chuck these in as they may be of interest to a wider audience. All I can say is Guy Martin must have very, very large spheroids ........ Other than that not a lot to report. TTFN

A Cockney is doing well on "Who wants to be a Millionaire" and he's got £500,000. Chris Tarrant asks him the big question. " For £1million, who was the great train robber? Was it: A, Ronnie Barker... B, Ronnie O'Sullivan... C, Ronnie Corbett or D, Ronnie Biggs?" The Cockney says "I'll take the money please Chris." Chris reminds him that he still has his 3 life-lines left. Cockney replies "I'll just take the money Chris." "You don't want to phone a friend or ask the audience? Not even a fifty fifty?" asks Chris. "No thanks, I'll just take the money Chris" "OK" says Chris, looking bemused "Give him a round of applause ladies and gentlemen, he goes away with £500,000, however before you go you'll obviously want to know what the answer is." Cockney said "No thanks Chris. I knew the answer." "You knew it anyway! Are you mad? Why didn't you answer it?" asks Chris Cockney says, "I might be many things Chris....but I ain't no grass."

Afternoon all, Well after several years of working for Rapido Trains I’m finally off to Canada! Its is not a jolly (really) - we (Rapido UK) are sponsoring the Great British Train Show this weekend in Brampton (near Rapido Inc HQ). A box of samples has already winged its way across the pond and as I write this I’m sat waiting in Heathrow for my flight. Obviously I shall be calling in to the Canadian office, hopefully watching some passing trains and even visiting a local model railroad club. After the show I’m heading South to meet up with my family and see, what in my opinion, is one of the most interesting steam operations I know. The team are working hard while I’m away - there is so much cool stuff going on that we have yet to tell you about and I’m even hoping I will arrive back to some samples of yet un-announced projects. The team are under strict instructions not to start anything new in my absence 🤣. I shall post some updates during the trip for anyone that’s interested. For anyone near Toronto - why not come to the show and say hello!

But galaxies are receding from each other and they ain't coming back.

It seems to be a tradition in some quarters to celebrate birthdays and other events by socialising pictures taken when the subject was somewhat younger. In that vein, I offer a picture of a 'juvenile' D299 replete with end straps. Apologies for the shortcomings of the print cleaning evident in cruel closeup - this was a test print and so just gets a quick dunk! It is one of a number that will be available very shortly (and with samples off to @Compound2632 even sooner - they would have gone by now had I not decided to 'improve' my production process . . . . ). There should perhaps be a prize for the first person to successfully use the rope anchor points in prototypical fashion (although prototype practice seems to have been to ignore them and use buffers, brake hangers or anything else convenient!

Goodnight all

Does that help?

Fan window update I have used a Citadel Colour Zandri Dust spray can for a base 'stone' colour for the wall. It was applied without primer and it covered the white details spot on - I can definitely recommend this paint! before... and after Thanks for looking Simon

Goodnight all.

Scratch built testing dolly - almost complete. Cheers Darius

Museum quality brass RTR goes for big money on the used market. If you need to ask the price you can't afford it! German 1:87 Meta-Microkit photographed by Fitz Osterthun

Evening all. The Moderna vaccine after effects have gone now and I feel normal (well, normal for me) again. I went out and gave the garage another sweep so that the solar power system technician doesn’t get bits of pink foam on his clothes. He will only be here for 30 minutes checking everything is ok. The pink foam was from some scenic carving for the model railway layout in the garage. It doesn’t spread as much as the bobbly expanded polystyrene but it can still be messy. Access to the batteries and inverter was still as it was when we had another battery fitted recently so I didn’t need to move much and there is nothing stored near the inverter and batteries . As the inspection is only 30 minutes I don’t think the roof panels get inspected. I assume if they haven’t fallen off and are generating the correct voltage they are ok. Tony

... The Open University was 55 yesterday. Many of us early adopters will remember the broadcast programmes on BBC2. And the kipper ties. ... https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2024/04/24/pandemic-affected-education-turning-up-would-be-good/

Motorcycle we did. Too far we went, I ache like nothing on earth now. Cause? Well we like to ride light little lanes, and look for ones we haven't previously been down. As you may imagine after 22 years on a small rock there's not many left, but we found one today. However, after a couple of miles of increasingly difficult riding, we came across a ford that was too deep and too slippery to risk - a hundred yards from the end. So we had to turn around and go back!"#sigh# The footbridge steps were too steep to get my cruiser up, although the Guzzi would have made it, and maybe the Hunter. Pah. The Neb river doesn't look much from there, but it was certainly too deep for those bikes!

Bear here..... Another day at the Hospice Warehouse - busy but pretty uneventful; unfortunately there was a distinct lack of Donuts or cake today 😢 but the Manageress dashed to a nearby shop for some emergency choccy bikkies, so all was not lost. The book man had also managed to locate a travel guide to Malta for Bear, and an electronic crossword "helper" for a neighbour & friend of Bear's was also located by one of the Superstar Ladies working in the sorting room**; my friend was so pleased with it when I gave it to her I thought she was going to cry - she's notgottalot and living on a very limited income so it was a real result. Bear will naturally make suitable financial redress to the Charity accordingly..... **Not a job I could do - some people donate, well, cr@p (or unsuitable stuff such as knives) that has no chance of being sold whatsoever (or the money it was raise just doesn't justify the shop space or time taken to list on Ebay) - I think they do it just to save a trip to the local dump. Bear gone.....

The A1 has now nearly passed through the station. and we are back to rationing, as most days recently have featured lovely early sun, but cloud filling in before it shines into my windows. It comes out again mid afternoon, too late to be of use to me.

The second one; does it have access to a communal garden - or is there a public one very close by? Private Gardens need maintenance, which may get more difficult with age - meaning getting someone to do it. The design design of the first one is very boxy and a bit weird. No doubt they're on a better earner with commission etc.

Indeed it could - especially as the nearby Stowe Magna locoshed had also suffered bomb damage as reported back in about 2018, when it's entire west wall was demolished: Locally, however, this is referred to as 'bum damage' as it was the result of an impact with a large ar$e - subsequently perspex screens were installed along this strtch to protect the layout and its buildings from such incursions! Tony

DUH!!! NBA of course 🤣

The one of the spider, reminds me of a late friend. If she saw one of those, she'd empty a whole can of spray on it, because she reckoned it was still moving - yes the blast of gas from the can, made it appear to move!

That's the problem, a lot of invasive pests have been brought in deliberately to 'solve' another problem and end up being worse than the original problem - although this isn't true of Fire Ants, they've sneaked in on containers, apparently. I'd rather the snakes, because most of the worst, are safely up in Queensland! The European Wasps are another nasty one, I was stung multiple times a few years ago and they are spreading too. Invasive too and their biggest problem, is that they can sting multiple times each, unlike natives and bees.

Something about that process doesn't augur well....

I found this topic so interesting I ended up registering so I can comment. Warning: You can tell this is written by an accountant. If you have a problem with beancounting you may want to skip this one... TL:DR version - main points are the sentences in bold. Looking at both the recent stock market update and the previous financial statements, there are some pretty clear problems at Hornby, but comments such as those by Simon Kohler in Railway Modeller actually don't touch them, they focus on the wrong problem. In fact the final Outlook section of the trading update Hornby issued does a much better job at actually telling us what the issues are - high stock and high overhead costs. It's not about the competition or the innovation from smaller entrants or any of that. It's not about firebox lighting or headlamps or detailed underframes. Sure those drive up the cost of the product and the sales price, but they do that for all manufacturers equally. They're not why Hornby is in trouble. Yes, there are newer, smaller, entrants to the market. Normally smaller entrants are more agile, but the larger incumbent players have a massive advantage, which is simply size. Being larger simply allows Hornby to do everything more efficiently and therefore more profitably. To blame new entrants into the market for changing the focus of the market, whether it's quality features, wider liveries or larger rakes of wagons, whatever, none of that is really the point. Hornby can make the exact same moves and do it more cheaply due to their ability to scale up. Ultimately all of the companies are playing the same game, there's no secret advantage, no technology that can't be copied, no significant exclusive product that makes them unique, no monopoly on the market. They're not Microsoft or Apple with a product you can't live without. Whether large or small, the products and the processes are pretty much identical. Research -> Design -> Engineering Models -> Tooling -> Production -> Sales (and repeat). With few exceptions (Dapol and PECO) that production is largely happening in India and China, so costs should be expected to be broadly similar regardless of which company is making the model. The only advantage the smaller companies have that the market has different expectations, they can rely more heavily on a pre-order funding model that reduces their need for costly stock holdings. That's their agility in play, and it's much needed as they simply don't have the cash that Hornby has to invest in production runs that clear the shelves more slowly. Of course recently Hornby don't have they money either which is why they're struggling (it is happening somewhat though and I think the TT120 market is probably a good example of this shift happening with Hornby simply not having the excess stock on hand, though whether that's by design or by mistake is a matter of opinion). So if all the players in the game are broadly selling the same goods for the same prices with the same underlying costs, how is it Hornby are struggling so much? Hornby should have the advantage, they can make larger batches, more product, have more efficient distribution, wider marketing and other theoretically more efficient overheads, so they should be making more profit than the smaller competitors, not less. Fundamentally Hornby are left with two problems then, which are exactly as Hornby have disclosed in their statement. 1. Their higher stock position is costing them money. This one is all about cashflow. When you have spent all your money buying stock that's sat in a warehouse, that money isn't doing anything useful, like buying more tooling or paying more designers. Instead Hornby are borrowing more money to pay for that, and borrowing costs interest, so it's a double whammy, your own money is doing nothing and it's costing you to use someone else's. In fact Hornby have a huge and persistent stock problem caused by what I can only assume are bad decisions in their past (railways or other brands, I don't know for sure). The latest statement indicates their stock level is around £20m (down £3m from previous disclosure which was £23m). Based on their 2023 account they had £21.3m of stock and turnover of £55.1m that means they have a stock ratio of about 39%. That means they have effectively about 4 months worth of sales value held in stock doing nothing for the business, not generating a penny. This is a level so bad that they have removed the Inventory graph from the 2023 annual accounts. If you look back over past accounts this used to be reported with a pretty graph every year. In fact between 2004 and 2018 the average stock level was closer to 22% of sales. And this was with a business model that Hornby acknowledged was on the princple of selling things more slowly over time (the opposite of the current market trend). So you'd expect Hornby to be reducing stock in line with market trends, not increasing it. In fact Hornby have doubled their stock level since 2019. To even get back to their previously levels of efficiency in stock, Hornby need to offload about £9m of stock. It's no coincidence that the level of bank debt has increased by £14m in the same time period and it's clear that the naysayers can't just blame that on tooling up for TT120. It's caused by stock not selling. We've all seen the fly on the wall documentary with Simon K and Montana at a fete trying desperately to offload unwanted garbage steampunk sets and the like. Think of this as at kind of problem but on a massive scale. It's simply stuff no one wants. Whether it's bad or just expensive I don't know. But it's costing Hornby money in bank interest (nearly £700k in bank and loan interest in 2023 when that debt was less than half what it is now). 2. Their overheads are out of control. Hornby should be making the most profit out of the players in the market because they can do things more cheaply when they do them on a larger scale. Partly this seems to be driven by the obession with online direct sales. We know from the announcement that around 18% of all sales are online direct sales. These should be making the most profit out of all sales because they're selling direct at RRP and not having to sell them at wholesale prices to retailers. Even the points discount is barely a dent in their profitability here as it's only the same as Retailers discount at and those retailers must still make something out of the deal or they wouldn't buy the products. On average Hornby have around a 48-49% profit margin on the actual cost of the product that covers these overheads. In the 2023 accounts digital sales were £8.5m, which was 15% of total sales. So those digital sales contributed about £4.3m of profit margin towards the overhead costs of the company. At the same time the cost of winning those digital sales in overheads went up by £1.9m, so actually those digital sales only contributed £2.4m toward the rest of the overheads - a little over half what they would have done if those sales had simply come from retailers instead. Yes, this is longer term investment for the future, but between 2023 and 2024 the digital sales share of the total has only moved from 15% to 18% of total sales. That 3% is around £1.6m of extra sales. Yet total sales are pretty flat at only 2% growth (around £1.1m), so quite a lot of those new digital sales have come from taking market share off of retailers, not from growing new sales/new customers. And because of this massive investment in digital, they are actually making Hornby less money, not more. Ignoring the one off exceptional costs (writing off bad investments and refurbishing the visitor centre) then these two things alone would have been the difference between turning a profit and the loss they actually made. Also, for what it's worth, last year when Hornby lost all that money, their departing CEO's pay went up from £241k to £617k. So that's a £375k pay off to someone they wanted out. Who says you need to make a profit to get rewarded eh?

FAB

You are not alone, I'm happy either way, nearly all the damage has happened during setting up/ taking down and transporting, as for people leaning on the layout or touching that is just ignorant, I do tolerate children touching if they are careful, most parents are good at controlling them. Not a great believer in signs, but this one caught my eye.

Looking forward to it.

A guess. And even if the infected container left a US port, it could just as easily have been earlier infected in any central American port before hand. It's not like those things get fumigated with each use.

I took some pictures with a different camera and no flash - it makes a difference: ^ This is the colour I should have liked for the print-your-own as it reminds me of Raglan stone, but it wasn't to be. Looks less like bark in this shade! Cheers, Philip

I think fitting the Couplings could become a trendy phrase. Ar$£

The formation of the 8.00 Leeds/Bradford. Mk1s to start with.BSO CK. MK1 SK, two compartments reserved for passengers joining at Hitchin, who back then would almost certainly those compartments empty, whereas now they would be full of sullen looking interlopers, who would refuse to move. Then an all door Gresley SK. Another all door SK and a BSK, these two and the previous SK to be secured by KX. FO and RK, the latter one of the few to be seen in 1958. These came off the previous days 1145 Up Leeds. Now the Bradford portion. CK, again one compartment reserved for those joining at Hithchin, and a BG. Finally, MK1 TSO. For some reason on Bradford portions these were often placed outside the brake vehicle. Bonus J6 as well.

We are regaining confidence. It grows every week. An unscheduled visit from the Sales Director who spent a considerable amount of time listening to the difficulties we had to try and deal with. Straight talking as opposed to the masquerade we had been subjected to. The abolition of the Tier System, how ridiculous was that? We wanted to spend and weren’t allowed to. Sadly this came too late for one particular retailer. Hornby had rebuilt bridges and had made a confidence building approach. This is very much appreciated and hopefully will continue. TT120 rolled out to any retailers who wanted to stock the product. Our Airfix orders and preorders are the highest they have been for many, many years. On a personal note, the Sales Staff, Accounts, etc, all seem happier, that’s got to be good. One thing hasn’t changed, their After Sales Service. It’s way, way above any other suppliers. Problem? Resolved with the minimum of contact. As a small retailer that’s always a big confidence booster.

"Hello, is that the cricket club?" "Yes." "Could I speak to Mike please?" "I'm afraid he's in at the moment. I'll get him to call you back when he's out."

As someone with an interest in TT120 I'm rather concerned that the loss making 00 models might damage my preferred scale...

The things motor mechanics find in cars. https://www.boredpanda.com/interesting-car-mechanic-finds/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Newsletter_April&utm_term=April_21