woodenhead

Without going into detail I would say there are people more in the know than us mere modellers who can see that perhaps SLW need to address how they fulfil their orders. I can see how some people are prepared to wait because they have confidence that the item will arrive and will have been thoroughly checked beforehand. But the success and feedback of the class 24 has elevated demand for SLW products and that will include a good many people with little or no experience of the people behind the product. So I can understand there may be tension amongst some people who’ve paid for their product and have no idea when that product will be delivered. Rather than insult people and drive them away, posters need to consider how they might encourage those concerned not to worry otherwise you’re just creating animosity that will ultimately be directed towards SLW.

The Trafford Centre also has a very posh car wash for those who can afford it, cars stink of 'cleanliness' once done and shine a bit too. Probably used by Selfridge shoppers so concierge parking too is available with free cleaning for between £60 and £190.

The 156 has sliding doors, it would look more like a New York Subway train, they see the door handles on the Mk3 and know that a door means luxurious.

Top & Tail - it's got a DBSO so it's just the solitary class 37 required - it's as if the Mk3 Push Pulls of 1980 and the post privatisation DRS Mk2 Cumbrian services got melded together with a 37 at the helm. I reckon if the main users of the service are American tourists they will appreciate the ambience of a Mk3 FO over an older Mk1. The engine at the head might not matter so much to them.

Samurai warriors were quite handy with a sharp implement, you never know.....

Derby Station AND Chaddesden sidings

It was sold to a Canadian Pension company and by the number of cars in the car park at weekends I think financially it is probably getting back on track. I am glad I can just walk to the place when I need to, I wouldn't want to have to try and park. Mind you yesterday I got a taste of what it must be like for the poor souls who have to drive there. Our local Sainsburys has been cut off from half of our town by gas work and we can only enter from one direction currently and it's the worse of the two directions. Yesterday popped out to the shops not realising this work was in existence. The car park was rammed - but not with parked cars but with cars trying to get out which in turn blocked lots of parking spaces and stopped people entering from being able to park adding to the queues. Apparently it will be like this for a week, so no Sainsburys for a bit unless on foot or I park on the nearest main road. Driving used to be fun....

Especially since the people who really care about their posh car currently park downstairs near Selfridges out of the elements and an elevator (probably wont use the escalator) away from the shop entrance.

Trafford Centre is looking to introduce paid for posh parking outside selfridges with ANPR tech. Bigger spaces for larger cars and families who use Selfridges. Says in the Upper Peel Car Park - do they mean outside.....in the rain lol

I'm on LinkedIn but not active - it has it's uses when between jobs. Some companies have incentive schemes linked to shared articles, original articles and views/likes to get their staff doing stuff. My profile pic no longer looks like me and dates back to when my children were actually children.

But they read the wish list threads?

The 57xx was Poole heritage was it not, the 64xx was a modern tooling to go up against a modern tooling Dapol 57xx.

😁😁😄

In terms of trade, if I want RTR I can look on the internet. I appreciated having specialist traders, I picked up bits for an overall roof for my railway and some track making components plus some books. I much prefer looking at a book before purchasing so having plenty to choose from helps. With York I know what to expect and I like it that way.

I actually thought it was an April Fool article when I first saw it on Reddit.

why does a roastie require gluten??? I cook anything Mrs W will eat gluten free - curries, roasts, casseroles and stir fries.

On Saturday we went for a walk and a meal. Whilst parking up Mrs W spied a rather lovely fluffy cat, it was very friendly and well up for some stroking and compliments. Then when Mrs W came back to the boot of the car to get her coat, the cat went to do what cats do in long grass. It took it's time to find the right spot, a couple of times it thought it had found it but changed it mind then it finally it found the perfect spot and let loose. After faux covering the area with animated front paw movements it came back to see us. Mrs W was sure it was looking to jump into the boot and low and behold it did landing on a shopping bag right next to our coats. I immediately ushered the feline back out and it went on it's way. But my god did it leave a foul smell, I could only describe it as the same smell as cat food itself which turns my stomach. Not only was it an awful stench but it seemed to hang around and no amount of wafting the air resolved it. Any chance of me letting a cat live in our house I think has now gone. I always saw cats as the clean smelling and tidy pets, how wrong I was. Used a disinfectant wipe on the shopping bag when I got home. 🤣

But how can the RAIB make recommendations to this sector whilst the ORR allows WCRC to operate on the mainline in the manner it does. Clearly simple CDL may not have stopped the incident on the GCR but perhaps a set of safety rules that first required the driver to indicate he is stopped in the correct location followed by release of door locks would. If there is a known risk that trains might overshoot due to dragging brakes then there needs to be controls in place to manage and mitigate the risk .Simply saying nothing can be done is not the answer and that is what the RAIB will have been asking of the GCR when it comes to looking at safety protocols when running trains. Getting working CDL in WCRC mark 1 coaches would also be a template for the heritage railway sector and perhaps as indicated something for an engineering company to produce a kit for so that those railways can begin to fit to their stock. But for the heritage lines there is the additional complication of Mk1 suburbans and the abundance of pre BR coaching stock to contend with as well. So in reality universal CDL on heritage lines is likely to be very difficult and perhaps cost prohibitive and it may then be that pre BR coaching stock is subject to the sort of rules used previously by WCRC with bolts and stewards. I think change is coming but the mainline railway has to have it's house in order first. link to @John Besley's reference https://www.southdevonrailway.co.uk/special-services/engineering/

I think perhaps the ORR are minded to consider what happened on the GCR last year when it is dealing with WCRC and it's approach to keeping it's doors secure. https://www.gov.uk/raib-reports/report-13-slash-2023-serious-injury-to-a-passenger-alighting-from-a-train-at-loughborough-central-station With the local press reporting that other incidents had been uncovered during the investigation: https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/local-news/disabled-passenger-seriously-injured-after-8871782 The ORR cannot force changes on the preservation movement with regards door control and safety if it is allowing mainline companies to still operate Mk1 coaches without sufficient safety protocols in place. Dealing with WCRC might be the first step towards changes on non mainline operations.

Mrs W needed a brandy before going out for our Easter meal at her parents. So only polite that I had one too, and then a beer. Back at home because we forgot the gluten free gravy granules. Empty house and beer in the fridge…… Only got the dreaded flavour haven’t I. warning rude words about

Good show as per usual, came away with a pile of plasticard, some roof timbers for an overall roof, a couple of books and a code 40 N gauge track gauge. Lots of good layouts though there seemed to be less Narrow Gauge than usual.

Yes, for modellers it means you need at least two engines to operate it. I seem to recall Manchester Central had rather nice run round lines between platforms, but by the early 1960s were redundant, Manchester Piccadilly (not London Rd) only had one set of points I think for running round on one platform and generally the loco sat at the blocks till the train departed again. London Euston - trains would back out ECS to the coach sidings or even be pushed in to avoid too many trapped locos. So beyond a branchline I don't think you need run rounds but they are nice to have perhaps one somewhere in the station.

There was someone ordering a class 25 today on the stand and he was simply asked to put his card number etc onto the back of the order note that just looked like some scribble. Something rather non PCI compliant if you ask me - if they are about to deliver 1000s of locomotives then they are out of the 'smaller supplier' category and need to address card payment handling and fulfilment.

Easter Day - what does that mean to me - well I'm atheist and am careful with chocolate to keep the weight off. But what better thing to do on Easter Sunday than to drive over the Pennines on the M62 from Manchester to York. Set off from sunny Manchester bright and early, hit the Yorkshire border and fog descended, so bad I even had to put on the rear foglight at times and drove carefully. The number of drivers though with no lights on whom I was quickly losing sight of as they speeded past me. On the other side of the hills it was cloudy and from here onwards (and back) it was idiot motorists. The first was just before the A64 turn off from the A1M, joining from the A1 they decided to launch themselves over the hatched lines to my lane and then got stuck in no mans land between my car and the car on the other side of them nearly taking my car out at 70mph. Then on the way back near Ikea in Leeds another car did the same thing launched themselves over two lanes towards my car at the M621 instersection, again at 70. Then the Hiace Commuter idiot whom I had been trailing for some miles, he couldn't drive in a straight line, weaving from side to side and then finally at the Brighouse turn off he attempted to drive between the diverging junction and straight on - i.e. he simply drove onto the hatched lines between the junction and the motorway before again veering towards me, I could see the driver and his mate laughing, so I imagine under the influence of something. Also my sunglasses snapped whilst removing them as I went from sunshine to fog and at the grass car parking at York I managed to find a green beer bottle in the grass with my front wheel - I heard a popping sound, luckily just the bottle going (and sinking into the soft muddy surface) and not my tyre. I need tomorrow off to recover lol.

Did somebody mention pussy?