Londoner

The oracle has spoken.

I just hope that KR's modelling accuracy of the Fell is better than their management of the arrangements for paying for it. Once again I've received a payment advice which appears to be incorrect, or at best inconsistent with what they've already stated.

The 'Ladykillers' is a true comic classic and a brilliant watch for anyone. It's also the best movie I know for a realistic reflection of central London in the mid fifties. Every time I see it I'm reminded of cycling after school from East Ham to Kings Cross to see Sir Nigel's beautiful engines and cycling up York Road to try to get into the shed. When I now, occasionally, come down from the Angel I'm amazed that this can be the place I used to visit so often, a different world, I still think in many ways, a much better time and place than today. I was looking at IMDB and saw a question about the strange steel structure in the centre of the roundabout O/S the station, where all the shack like buildings were, and wonder why I can't remember it or the roundabout. More peculiar, I can remember going into the station one Sunday morning and finding 'Kingfisher' from Haymarket standing there when she wasn't one of that year's non stop engines.

Worries about crime, I agree, is a given, but I don't remember anyone being really bothered about their personal safety. Levels of personal violence were small and usually not serious, (there's always been fights over arguments in pubs). What's new is drug fuelled extreme violence street crime and serious crime perpetrated by gangs. I live on the eastern edge of London and recently, a 17 year old girl was stabbed to death in a park by a drug dealer demonstrating how violent he could be. In the fifties, that crime would be national news and almost unbelievable. There wasn't much consumerism following WW2 for some time, & I can remember people complaining about 'utility' products.

That isn't my general perception of how things were then at all. Perhaps it depended where you lived, or how you were brought up, as it still does today. What was dreadful about the food? Immediately after the war perhaps, but within a few years food quality and range was back to normal. The range of food wasn't the same as it is now, but is that really significant, I don't remember people complaining about food once rationing ended. There was a fear of TB, but Terramycine and Streptomycine ended that soon after the war. 'Empire' attitudes weren't all bad, far from it, and engendered behavior which was beneficial for all British people, integrity, honesty, loyalty, good manners, respect for others etc. All pervading racism? Rubbish, there was no more racism then than there is now, what's changed is that laws and enforcement have driven expressions of racism underground, not "...…..no longer being accepted as part of societal norms" is meaningless, perhaps you've just stopped listening to the complaints of ethnic minorities. I'm afraid that, in spite of protestations from many, there's a racist undercurrent with most people, (less in the British than many), which is now suppressed. Perhaps you should take the Guardian or the Independent for a while. I agree that attitudes to homosexuals and women have changed for the better, but there's a way to go with both of them. I don't understand which stereotypical group you're referring to in your second sentence as having become marginalised and violent. Do you mean homosexuals, or unmarried mothers? You don't mention any of the undesirable things that have taken root. Fundamental schisms in society based on religion, creed and/or colour. Crime. Consumerism. Fossil fuel dependency. Disrespect for others. Victimhood. etc, etc.

Yes, BR class 72.

Robmcg, Even with that ugly chimney that sits on the smokebox with a huge gap under it? Reminds me of the issue with the BR7. A fabulous model for a while, then produced with a chimney with a lip of about a scale 3 inches deep. Then, back to a nice rendition of the chimney lip. The 6 always had a beautiful chimney, along with everything else.

The ex LNER engines have all been fabulous, but I still think the BR6 is the best Hornby engine ever. Perfect in every respect.

I agree entirely. There's supposedly elitist people on other threads pontificating about headlamps and headlamp codes and that they must always be strictly accurate, signal arms a few degrees off prototypical, exactly prototypical train formations etc. However, they ignore the blatantly obvious and self evident fact that the gauge is ridiculously narrow and the wheel flanges a scale six inches deep. They seem to have never heard of EM or even P4.

Isn't he a school teacher?

That's true, but is it really relevant? Surely it's unreasonable for modellers working to exact detail to expect the vast majority to pay the major extra cost of producing exact, fine scale models just to suite a minority. Just like any manufacturer, Oxford are going to target the market segment that suits them, one where the balance between sales volume and their costs gives them the volume and profit margin they require. It's like saying the Ford shouldn't produce a sports car because it makes it less likely that Aston Martin will.

That's true, but is it really relevant? Surely it's unreasonable for modellers working to exact detail to expect the vast majority to pay the major extra cost of producing exact, fine scale models just to suite a minority. Just like any manufacturer, Oxford are going to target the market segment that suits them, one where the balance between sales volume and their costs gives them the volume and profit margin they require. It's like saying the Ford shouldn't produce a sports car because it makes it less likely that Aston Martin will.

That's true, but is it really relevant? Surely it's unreasonable for modellers working to exact detail to expect the vast majority to pay the major extra cost of producing exact, fine scale models just to suite a minority. Just like any manufacturer, Oxford are going to target the market segment that suits them, one where the balance between sales volume and their costs gives them the volume and profit margin they require. It's like saying the Ford shouldn't produce a sports car because it makes it less likely that Aston Martin will.

Poor design, CAD, and/or poor tooling, and/or poor quality control may have been responsible. Without more background information it's impossible to know. Anyway, what difference does it make and what's the value of this speculation? These are not marketed as super scale top line models with the corresponding cost penalty, they're marketed, and priced, as budget models. I think they're good value for money. If you don't think they're worth the money, don't buy them. They're clearly targeting a mass market and not specialists who demand perfection whatever the cost. In any case, it seems to me the errors you mention, other perhaps than the Great Way Round engine, can be corrected by the purchaser with minimal effort or skill. I bought their N7, in two guises, for well under £100 each. I'm not completely without knowledge of LNER engines, but some of the criticism of them on this web site, over extremely minor, individual engine details, is extremely difficult to determine and ridiculous in an engine that costs less than £100.

Without further detailed knowledge of the research, design and tooling production on a per model basis, how's it possible to know any error is down to "poor research"?