Ryde-on-time

I was a member of the GOG for a few years, 30 odd years ago. At the time the only rtr models were from Lima, there was no internet and many of the small trader only advertised in the guild magazine I have bought a few O gauge items over the last few months and there are some new items announced that interest me that I hope to purchase, but I haven't really thought about joining the GOG again. It is now possible to but a wide range of rtr locos and stock, track, buildings, working signals and scenic items simply from a 'box-shifters' website. Mainstream magazine advertise a wide variety of those products as well as carrying reviews of many of them. They also regularly feature O gauge layouts. The internet can be used to fill any product knowledge gaps. Forums such as RMweb have a wealth of information and people knowledgeable about almost all aspects of modelling who can step in and give guidance if sort. Someone mentioned G1MRA who I belonged to about 20 years ago which was a great source of information. I found the people within G1MRA, without exception, to be friendly and welcoming . I feel the area groups and local meetups were a particularly valuable part of the membership To sum up, I don't think most OO gauge models belong to a specific OO gauge society/guild and I'm not sure why O gauge modelers would want or need to join the GOG for similar reasons. For the GOG to grow and flourish it needs a USP which is sufficiently attractive to appeal both to help keep existing members, and attract new one?

Thank you for going to the effort of doing this. Have really enjoyed today, especially the shear variety of different things to look at . The interview with Tim Dunn & the layout ‘Penmaenpool’ have been particular highlights for me

The main picture shown on the Hornby Pre-order page here: https://www.Hornby.com/uk-en/l-mr-open-third-class-carriage-era-1.html This is also shown on the 'Engine shed' after the following paragraph 'The arrival of the engineering samples is always a watershed moment in a project, representing the point that a model leaves the ‘drawing board’ and takes on a physical, tactile form and even though the development team were prepared for the moment, the diminutive size of the models still surprised everyone.' This does indicate it is a physical model, not a computer generated image

Found this list of preserved railways and their plans regarding reopening, looking forward to when I can visit somewhere : https://www.railadvent.co.uk/2020/06/coronavirus-the-full-list-of-when-railways-are-reopening-wednesday-24th-june-2020.html

The Great Central Railway is giving a provisional date for its first passenger services as Saturday 25th and Sunday 26th July 2020. Details here http://www.gcrailway.co.uk/coronavirus/ Details from the Dartmouth railway (including a picture of the screens they have fitted between the seats) for its opening on 7th July are here https://www.dartmouthrailriver.co.uk/reopening-plans

The closure notice posted by 1E BoY a few posts above states that the Temporary Order 'will take effect at times during the closure period only when works are required' I take that to mean that the road will be closed at times during the 6 month period but only when necessary and with advance warning? Not for the whole 6 months?

Sorry but the first post on this thread, the press release announcing the class 45, contains the statement 'Detailed design work was completed earlier this year and tooling is in progress and first releases planned in the third quarter of 2020' So no feedback was sort before tooling began. I can't think of a Heljan model where a fundamental flaw has been pointed out at the CAD stage and they have bothered to do anything about it? To me, Heljan still seem to have a 'that'll do' attitude to the models they produce, the reason I don't buy them

Not quite the same i know, but West Coast Railways have announced the Jacobite will hopefully commence running again in mid July. It perhaps bodes well for preserved lines being able to running again in the not too distant future https://westcoastrailways.co.uk/jacobite/steam-train-trip

This video shows the current situation. It shows the new access road being made off Water Eaton Road leading to a concrete area at the top. Not sure what that’s going to be for?

And another one ! https://forums.airshows.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=72461

Evidence of another nice holiday (although the zenpholio online album referred to is no longer available) https://forums.airshows.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=80675

This 60 minute program, dating from 1980, is available to view on BBC iplayer

Another shop & website, not often mentioned, is 'Topslots 'n' Trains' in Fleetwood, Lancashire (website www.topslotsntrains.com ) Ordered a Piko G scale coach yesterday morning and it's just turned up. Excellent service by them and DHL

Nice to watch. I aways enjoy seeing trains in the garden getting a good run.

Thanks for saying about the increased quantity. Tried again after clapping and was successful. Wanted to order one for SWIMBO who is a teacher. She started a model train club at her school using one of the Hornby Family packs, she fancied her own loco and this one really appealed

Glad to see the update above, the announcement on World of Railways didn’t look quite right on my phone!

Not able to order because of the site crashing as well Shame they were only making 500, Hornby have made many limited editions with far more - meaning they could have raised a far larger donation

Royal Mail post to where I work, from the Leighton Buzzard sorting office, doesn't seem to be suffering any delays. (Also no issues sending or receiving by any of the couriers) Post to home from one of the large sorting offices in Milton Keynes is very delayed. The recent issue of Garden Rail magazine reached me a week after it was available in the shops, usually I receive it a week before. Other letters and bills are similarly late I therefore think problems are localized with some offices suffering with staff shortages

Considering that range anxiety is a stumbling block for some people, this story is interesting (perhaps helped by the Tesla charging network being so good) https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/tesla/352144/tesla-drivers-cover-higher-annual-mileages-owners-any-other-car

Best round for me, but that does make me feel a bit old!

Glad i at least got Ryde correct

Rails are offering the Heljan 0 gauge 25 for £345 as its deal of the day https://railsofsheffield.com/groups/3055/deal-of-the-day-o-gauge-class-25s

Brilliant, great opportunity to donate. Thanks for organising and to all those donating the prizes

Been working on a couple of things. Wanting to extend my layout a couple of feet, I have built up a Grainge & Hodder baseboard kit but built up into 2 separate boards (one for the front of the layout and one for the back) Have also been working on a couple of Swift Sixteen 16mm (45mm gauge) War Department Light Railway Wagons - starting the D bogie wagon and painting the H bogie water tank, just need to find some tranfers

That is certainly my experience at work where I run the servicing and calibration lab and I'm one of a handful of staff still in work (I can't work from home). Before things kicked off we would receive 10-25 royal mail parcels and 10-25 courier parcels a day. This week we have received a total of 1 or 2 parcels each day. Chatting with our postie and courier drivers they all feel that overall there are far fewer parcels going through the system at the moment. I therefore will not hesitate to order things online as I need them. I feel that the as well as shops appreciating the business, RM & couriers will too