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Bernard Lamb

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Everything posted by Bernard Lamb

  1. 'I was told.......' When I started work, by the HR Director, that such an arrangement was in operation. There were several reasons. To protect against redundancy, to allow people to get their hands on quick money to buy a car or get married or similar, without the need to take out an expensive loan. There were also unwritten rules about taking time off in lieu. It suited just about everybody, but it was not the sort of thing to put in a contract of employment. Time off on full pay for personal reasons was another example. I had a close colleague who was off for six months, with a family situation. Alas on the railway and in many other paces all such mutual trust has long gone. Bernard
  2. I can't follow this. If it had been tried where I worked people would have jumped at the chance. They would then have taken a few sick days to retore their work/life balance. Bernard
  3. That opens a can of worms. I don't see it as the same at all. WCR are unable to use their path due to not being able to provide a legal train. I would see that as being in default of the contract. I see no valid reason why another operator could be allowed to use the path if they so wanted. WCR could of course sue. But that would make them look rather stupid. As things are that would presumably not bother them. If other people wanted the service to run, then I see no reason to be nice and coopertaive to WCR. Bernard
  4. There was a mention upthread of pooled stock in the east. This is the only picture I can locate showing the OPW markngs. Very poor quality as it is a blow up from a scan. I suppose that I am asking for trouble if I say that I have never seen a model in pool livery. Bernard
  5. The G10 van could turn up almost anywhere. One even got as far as Jerusalem. Is it still there? The Piko model from circa 1960 can still cut it alongside more modern items. With new wheels and couplings I still run them. Picked up for next to nothing a very long time ago. They were pretty good when compared to what Triang were making in the UK around that time. I don't know about the 1950s, but Bad Schandau was a busy place in the 1970s. I used to visit the sandstone rock outcrops. You could sit in a restaurant and look down on the freight trains from high up and they looked like models. Bernard
  6. They still think that they should be given an exemption certificate. If they had apologized for not being able to run the service until they had completed the work on a CDL system, I would have had a little more respect for them. Exemptions should only be for special cases and for a very limited time. At one time I carried out Quality Audits and I can assure every one that if a deviation had been reported on one occassion and not fixed by the next visit, they would have been shut down on the spot. Back then my boss would have backed me. If any company even thought about taking legal action that would have been the end of them. They seem to still be pushing their luck. Sadly it is setting a bad example to others. Bernard
  7. Destroying anything at the time was a very low priority. In the context of foreign layouts being attractive to UK audiences then yes. This discussion started on the UK punters' lack of interest in the railways of other countries. Foreign locations with Uk stock must surely be a help in getting folk to stop and take a look. The Dean goods must be the best known example of left behind motive power. It ended up in Vienna, via goodness knows where. The German crews loved it. One ex LMS set of coaches got as far as Hamburg. Bernard
  8. What is that supposed to mean? I would have thought that a model of a locomotive doing the job that it was built to do, would be anything but a cliche. With a choice of LMS. LNER and GWR coaches to haul, not to mention various pre grouping SR constituent companies, there would be a lot of interest. The modifications to RTR stock to replicate the actual conversions would be very interesting. An inspection saloon comes to mind. As for Austerities not being of much interest. Bachmann seem to have sold a few and the preserved machines seem to attract quite a bit of attention. Of even more interest would be a layout using UK stock that was left behind at Dunkirk. That should have a very wide appeal. Bernard
  9. The problem would be making a decision as to which scale to choose. Austerities are available in either scale. If you concentrate on the passenger workings, then 00 is easier but there is very little freight stock available. If you go for freight as the main theme then H0 would be better. One day I will get round to scratch building a German flat wagon with side stakes in 00 to run on my Scottish Borders lyout. They were used for transporting weaving equipment. Bernard
  10. I quite like the idea of a Dutch layout. Set around 1945 with Austerities hauling rakes of coaches from various UK companies. That would cause a problem with those who don't like foreign layouts. Through in an international mix of freight stock, including some of US origin and we satisfy or upset just about everybody. Bernard
  11. The end of an era. At one time various organizations provided these facilities. There was one in Gilsland near Carlisle that was run by the Co-op. Around 1944, when I was very young and so don't remember anything about it, I was sent there with my mother to be away from the London area. There was also a Hetfordshire home on the south coast. If you paid a small subscription you were entitled to a stay there. I think that scheme closed in the 1980s. Bernard
  12. That last photo is a familiar scene. I was searching for graves of men from the Beds and Herts a few years ago. Over to the front left I think. While the railway would make a good model would you want to include scenes like the first two photos. Sadly Germany can be discussed openly these days but much about Japan and Asia in general is still taboo. Bernard
  13. A coloured print from a linocut, after an original drawing by John Mennie. Thailand May 1943. A photograph by me, November 2018. Not far from the location of the original drawing . It was difficult to find the exact spot. Colour certainly can vary. Bernard
  14. You and me seem to have very similar views regarding this layout. We both appear to be trying hard to be polite.😃 I think it is a shame that such an amount of effort is let down by the lack of knowledge. There was a GDR period layout at a local show some time ago. I was collared by a very well known expert modeller of matters UK andd German and taken to meet the people behind the layout. I was asked to be open with any comments as they were willing to learn. They were very happy when I could only point out that there was too great a variety of stock and that things were a little bit too clean. Bernard
  15. About 15 years ago the late Jacq Damen brought his layout Dreimuhlentalbahn to Warley. It won an award and also received a lot of favouable comments. There might be some footage of it on line. Jacq died a few years ago so I cannot contact him for details. The layout was, is I shoud say as the last thing I heard it had found a new home, around 50' long from memory and represents a valley with three mills. Industrial grot at its finest. The funny thing is that the viewing public admired the scenery and the running. Proof that foreign stuff can hold the attention of a UK audience.Little did they know that for the first hour at Warley I was under the basebord holding a lamp while Jacq wielded a soldering iron trying to get power to more than just one circuit of track, while the operators worked hard to keep at least some trains running. Bernard
  16. That is one layout that does not do anything for me. Yes, the bridge is a super model. But I find the general impression rather sanitized, in respect of both scenery and stock for the period. I have probbly spent far too long in some of the more grotty parts of Germany.😃 Bernard
  17. Not a problem these days. As far as the legal situation goes. But it can still be a sensitive topic in some quarters. I have posted photographs on the forum and never had a complaint. It depends on the situation. The Gilbert and George work did cause some comments as a lot of people were not aware of the extreme nature of it and it was a long time ago and people were more sensitive back then. Bernard
  18. I have never seen a WW2 model of a German scene. But I have seen an art work by Gilbert and George on the subject. Days of future past. It was in Germany and a good few years ago and caused quite a stir. There was a time when UK based Swiss layouts were popular, but that was back in the period when Switzerland was a popular second home to many military types. I was allowed to run my German stock on one of these super layouts at one time, as the owner of the layout lived near to me and was a good friend of a neighbour. It was featured in the CM and very firmly fixed in place, so never exhibited. Bernard
  19. I would go with diesel power. As rekoboy says, far more common. Bernard
  20. Well done Simon. A very positive start. I find it mentally very satisfying just to be able to run trains up and down a simple layout. Far better than to start a major project that takes ages to get to a running stage. Bernard
  21. Indeed. But which pressure group should get what they want? Too late now, but I do thinkthat a dual road and rail route would have been a good option. Bernard
  22. All very true. But what price do you put on pacifying the local population? It might well have been quicker and cheaper to have continued the Bletchley flyover all the way to Bedford. Built at the same time as the A421 trains could have been running by now. Various vested interests seem to be doing all thay can to delay this project. Bernard
  23. What is wrong with putting the roads under the railway rather than over it? Bernard
  24. Try this one. A cafe somewhere in the mountains near the border between Argentina and Chile. Severe gales are not uncommon in the area and with a 60mph plus wind it rocked alarmingly from side to side. Bernard
  25. The ME 262 reproduction must have been on one of its first public outings given the date. Fasinating stuff. Bernard
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