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adb968008

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Everything posted by adb968008

  1. Wheres your coaches coming from, and the crews, the paperwork etc ? Oxley carriage sidings doesnt have many mk2’s these days. if overhauling / reregistering youve not just got £30ks worth of cdl to fit, youve the same in CET toilets, and in a few years need internal handles, maybe hopper windows too… not much change from £150-200k a coach to bring back a wreck, plus the purchase cost, certification, insurance etc.. Railtours are being canceled as theres no stock, this operation uses 2 rakes, twice a day for six months, doesnt wcrc swap them mid season too.. so maybe 4 rakes needed, plus spares… so say 26-30 coaches to run a safe operation. (Wcrc has over 100). Then youve got time, who's going to overhaul them, and how long will it take ?… 2-3 years assuming order books have space ? Then you need a regular maintenace provision.. and a base… go on where are you going to put it ? Meanwhile you need to hire staff, professionals, train them, certify them, route learning, safety etc… Then marketing… lots of it, you need to create a new brand, distinct from the old, and convince people that a dead dog has returned to life, assuming they havent gone on to fill tours with alternative ideas that are waiting to steal that tourist tour space. Sorry but hiring a steam loco is the easy part, unless youve got wcrc on board, or a bunch of coaches hidden in strategic reserve you need time, patience and a ton of cash… hiring 3 black 5’s is the easy part. we can all play fantasy TOC, but model railways is the only way to dream this idea. The barrier to enter is too high, without wcrc, even for lsl. Best chance is adhoc tours or a limited program for the next few years, or you need wcrcs help, and why would they do that ? Bottom line is all the coaching stock operators have dragged their feet on spending on their stock, not just wcrc… they are all guilty. Unfortunately the clock ran out on wcrc and whl is a very big requirement, without a deal with the ORR this isnt going anywhere… looking online, most operators have been given 5 years from 2023 to do it… i’m surprised its that generous, but now ive read it, i’m surprised wcrc didnt go for that either, that kind of timeline with the facilities they have would probably put them in a stronger position than others.
  2. Oh it definitely happens today. try looking dishevelled in a black raincoat, trainers and tracksuit carrying some scruffy carrier bag on a train to Menton from Ventimiglia and see how far you get. On the other end of the scale, trains east of Tarnow in Poland, expect to see a heavy armed forces presence, dont try many pictures there !.. frustrating as they are using SBB panoramic stock on these services currently…. krakow has becomd quite interesting in rolling stock, your set to see DB, OBB, MAV, CD, ZSR, SBB even DSB and SNCB stock of late, even better as pkp keeps its newer faster locos west of Krakow, so plenty of loco changes.
  3. I think the lack of videos says it all myself. one thing you could do, for local sound is set up a dcc controller, wire it to a chip/harness / speaker next to your controller and output the motor wires to your track. It would eliminate loss from controller to chip, and send the 12v dc onwards. you only need 1 dcc chip, per dc output that way, ok everything will sound the same, unless you swap the chip. Alternatively ive bought a bluetooth speaker, and run sounds from my iphone before now. ive hidden it into a brakevan or a bsk. It has a mic built in and one occasion a friend called and thought i was on a real train. heres what it looked like whilst still in the box… and later once extracted from that blue case hidden in a bv. most of the recordings i used are from recording from carriage windows over the years between 5-10 mins long from start to stop (Midhants is a perfect line to record this length) and thats about what time I run a single loco on a layout. thats bluetooth is about a fiver on amazon… much cheaper than dcc sound.
  4. Indeed, he could be an unwanted smell in Margate. Frasers profit £300mn, their 10% in Hornby worth c£6m.. this is not even the after dinner drinks bar bill to them.
  5. The only thing worse, is a merger where they fire no one, parachute in a bunch of “experts” and “managers” from the new parent who know it all, listen to nowt and wonder why everyone quits and leaves. My best one was an acquisition where by the global head private jetted in to welcome us to the company but told us we all needed to cut back… A year later he, his jet and half our BU had gone, but only our BU left voluntarily… most to the same competitor… the customers followed. Companies are made by groups of people. No company has zero employees. They are therefore the biggest single asset of knowledge. But if you treat them wrong, they leave, that asset reduces to zero… Tech is worthless if collective minds dont know how to use it and get the best of it.
  6. How easy is it to see steam in Bosnia, outside a group ? (i’m a bit of a solo traveller), if I just turned up and started photographing are they going to care, call security or ask for a hand out ?
  7. Ditto… Sound on DC is a bit of a dud. i find a high start up amps is required to kick sound in, you really only have loco running noise, which is low responsive and you sacrifice a lot of top speed. When you reverse you have to be careful not to turn power down too much otherwise it shuts down, then restarts up etc… if you flick the direction switch quickly you can sometimes mitigate that and leave the engines running. I did find on some locos unexpectedly if the loco is underpower but you flick direction forward and back again very rapidly it can generate a horn, ymmv but be quick as you can get unexpected motion consequences!
  8. I asked chatgpt why Mike Ashley would buy Hornby…
  9. Hmm, High street fashion… Corgi Jumper Lima Tracksuit Hornby jeans Airfix trainers strong underwear, yes you need designer Rivarossi Y fronts to keep those budgies in and of course matching Electrotren sunglasses Bassett lowke hoodies for the dark and scary types
  10. maybe he’s mates with Jools, Pete or Rod and theyve convinced him to build a layout in one of his stores next year ? He’s had enough waiting for an Electrostar and sent his consultants in to go look for it ?
  11. Of course anyone can take over a highly marketable successful operation run for over 30 years, without paying the previous business owner for it… Just needs a few million in mainline certified steam locomotives, of the right size for the line, a few million for a few rakes of suitably certified coaches, to the right safety spec, a few million in staffing and admin to process all the required paperwork and set up all the industry requirements… Then do it all in 3 weeks, whilst not expecting the orr to take 4 months and question any of it... oh and magically have all the staffing ready, available and trained to do it. if wcrc steps back, the whl steam isnt returning as it was, for at least 5 years, if ever, and even then only likely if wcrc shares some of its stock and staff. No one has sufficient stock, staff available to step in, even if lsl has a B1 and a Black5, and decided to cut all there other businesses to service this with their stock…it would still need at minimum a few million £ commitment to get even a basic summer time only once a day working, and I doubt that would even be ready for next year… look at Steam Dreams and their Tuesday night surrey hills, windsor express... as soon as LSL took over it died, as only wcrc had “suitable”* stock, staff and back up locos to the B1… it may just make it back this summer for one night a week over six weeks. They are a business, and incumbent, if they cant make this financially work, then no one else can. They have options, the option they chose, regardless of fault or blame, was to cancel. Whilst they may seek public sympathy and local business reaction, it is equally possible they just get platitudes of “well that was fun whilst it lasted”. People might want wcrc to go away, but theres no one able to replace them… and in the interim nothing prevents Scotrail seeking the slots either, then its game over. * suitable now being unsuitable to the orr.
  12. Thats called business. they all do it, push the limits and occasionally get caught out… https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68607823 You wouldnt find this confusion between SWR and LNWR, as they are simply train companies, running as businesses... and despite best efforts of OA operators, the rail industry is a narrow protective closed shop with a very high barrier to entry… I suspect thats why operators like virgin trains, lumo etc attract such ire from those inside the industry, who don't like being challenged by free market forces, and those businesses have sales, marketing and legals that are so much better at it.. the industry hated virgin “anybody but virgin”, because as a commercial business they were basically excellent at it… for those in the industry it was a horrific glimpse of what the rest of the real world lives with everyday… its ironic that even their exit was a perfectly timed escape before the covid fiasco.
  13. Probably need to retrofit them with compartments too. The product is the harry potter experience.. not just any old train. going cheap and chucking out any old product rarely goes well, especially in Scotland. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/feb/27/glasgow-willy-wonka-experience-slammed-as-farce-as-tickets-refunded This went globally viral too… USA https://edition.cnn.com/videos/us/2024/02/28/willy-wonka-experience-scam-scotland-hunt-foster-ctm-vpx.cnn Australia https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/travel-stories/farce-willy-wonka-event-shut-down-hours-after-launch-amid-complaints/news-story/c2ab49cc0a3000d6251bf68f045d09a9 etc etc For the same reason suggesting a preserved railway as an alternate to Glenfinnan will also be seen as a “cheap substitute”.
  14. Thats the thing I suspect many are missing. WCRC isnt a train company. its a business running trains. It is in an industry of train companies that are running as businesses. As such it will always be a misfit. tocs dont get much latitude to choose their timetables and routes with ease, but wcrc can choose what it wants and does not want to run on a whim. Wcrc have chosen to not run fw. ( they have other options), but reached a business decision not to. I would guess the maths aren't stacking up on the other options. Lets not keep saying wcrc arent sensible, they just flipped a Hall to Japan, for what is suggested a very good roi, they have several prior very savvy business decisions, indeed retaining the number 5972 on the Hall was probably its best decision. Have we actually seen any other charter company produce a vb cdl fitted rake yet, they are just commiting to do it.. commitment and delivery isnt the same thing, they too maybe postponing the inevitable… ask any business for a roadmap and how much they deliver. Fw-mallaig might be a prize asset, but just like Hattons winding down, if wcrc arent seeing a way through this, they arent going to operate at a loss… has anyone actually seen a mk1 vac brake with cdl yet ?.. whilst fitting air to steam loco is possible, or cdl to air might be “cheap and easy”.. if the economics arent there, they arent there.… berating wcrc for not doing it is pointless, they arent a train company, they are a business and if numbers dont stack up, playing the jv game maybe there only economic chance of prolonging the inevitable end… they might be compelled to fit cdl, but they arent compelled to run trains… Blaming them wont change anything if the economics dont make sense… they arent a charity. Is it not a possibility that we just need to accept its beyond business reach for them ?
  15. That would have all the appeal of going to Wolsztyn to ride a DMU. if I had a Polish holiday planned and knew the steam was a DMU, i’d probably look to postpone and go elsewhere like Harz. i’d imagine similar logic would apply to tourists of other states, as FW isnt London, and vacation time is precious. A trip to the highlands isnt a day out, its a multi day adventure that needs some planning… and if the ride is seen as a focal point, then the whole vacations value diminishes to competing alternatives… Croatia is seemingly very popular with Americans this year. I couldnt imagime many Scottish adventures for foreign tourists not also taking in Edinburgh or Glasgow, as well as a few distilleries etc… c600 a day on 180 day operation takes out 100k tourists plans, circa 700k hotel nights.. thats before those who just go to watch it at the viaduct… its very easy to get to big numbers. Its probably not revenue lost, but vacations deferred to “next year” and go somewhere else instead…. I’ve postponed a holiday to several places because of local issues, but its not stopped me going on vacation… theres plenty of choice. though tbh the Uk has done so much to damage its tourist industry globally the last few years this may be a drop in the ocean. With the Olympics and Euros this summer the EU is the big winner on global tourism this year, were the add on for the hardy few, its hard enough getting tourists out of London, this is one more reason not to do it.
  16. Its just a fishing trip. A chance to see whats in the cupboards. They have to be careful showing too much interest, as theres so few shares in the wild, any speculation brings double digit share price moves, and obviously the impact on their investment, just as we saw with their entry, it could do the same if they exit too.
  17. Ive had this one in my collection nigh on 30 years now… A little age worn but i can get it back in shape.
  18. About a decade ago, my then 3 year old wanted an art project ..
  19. My little one has nicked mine for her art supplies.
  20. I’m awaiting the news of the Harry Potter train hiting being banned by the cold hand of government in the US media, just as its prime time for Americans to be planning their summer holidays. The tourist board are going to need strong gonads if they hold back on getting involved, especially if it risks a dip in travel demand to the UK. Our politicians run scared of US bad news. of course if the US media don't care, then wcrcs stunt is all for nowt. It all comes down to the power of potter in the media, and the US is quite anti-UK at the moment, Potter has more magic than Flying Scotsman and i’d wager wcrc are well hooked into Warner Brothers better than the ORR, and media would always see news like this as newsworthy as badnews sells well. i’m sure they have all their cards lined up. lets see what transpires.
  21. Theres a game of chess here. The statement by wcrc is the contingency. The passengers are pawns. The people of FW are pawns The American tourists on the news are pawns. The Scottish tourism industry is a pawn And unfortunately in the eyes of public opinion, government agencies never do well, even if they are right. They could have run a diesel and mk2’s, but the PR backlash would goto WCRC. By canceling publically, it sets up another us vs them fight. I watch for the next moves. The GBR tour of Britain is up soon… i remember the last time that turned to farce. is this going to be the Tangmere tour of Britain ?
  22. So predictable. so which politician will roll up first ? que next the hardluck business stories from FW. Sensibly the nrm kept 4472 out of service, otherwise that would be linked to this news story as well. The article does highlight the low of both parties toward each other.
  23. Yeah I got hit with nearly £2.5k of orders.. everything in my list 31,50,66,89 everything except a single 31 ordered the other week. 🙂 good job its a quiet month on the credit card, looks like it didnt hit it though.
  24. so whats still unknown.. RHTT Beilhack 10000/1 Class28 14xx ICI Hopper
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