GeoffAlan

I've ordered one, but don't expect to see it until 2021! Slippage is a fact of life on these things.

Well, much against my Yorkshire parsimony, and my LNER based interest, I've ordered one. Now it's a case of will I live long enough to see it.

As a Yorkshireman, I find those wastrels over the border to be profligate in the extreme.

I've been told the exact same thing by an insider in one of the supply companies. Unless you're too stupid to read your own meter and know that switching something on uses power, there's no benefit to the consumer.

I volunteer at our Wargames Show every year. It really is very easy to put a few extra bodies at the door at opening time. Give your customers, and that's what they are, easy access and they come back, after spreading the word th\t the show is well run.

I had an O gauge clockwork train set as a nipper, at 5 I got a Hornby Dublo set, and after an adolescent lay off got back into Railway modelling via N gauge. I'm now in my late 60s and still N gauge mad. I don't belong to a club but attend several exhibitions over the year. It seems to me that, like many years ago, the older modeller is more in evidence than the young ones, but their are several younger people represented in exhibition running. I'm also a wargamer and, since I joined a club, 30 odd yrs ago, they too have been predicting the extinction of the hobby due to old age. 'Where are the new generation' they say. But strangely our club of 50 members is still seeing younger members joining up. I suspect the same is true in Model Railway clubs.

A friend who organises a Wargames show confirmed to me that it's insurance that dictates opening time, If you need to pay for an extra half hour then that adds to costs. I can see the issue with selling tickets to the waiting queue but why Oh why! Do we then get in to find two duffers selling tickets and trying to flog programmes at a single table, all the while chatting to friends either in the queue or behind them. Put 6 or 8 people on the door for the first half hour taking money as fast as they can and another table further in selling programmes.

Looks like a desperation move to get it stopped. Thankfully only metal hurt, and nobody killed/injured.

Not so much a strike as a jam. https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/16605633.tesco-delivery-van-stuck-in-rail-tunnel-in-darlington/

Thanks for the heads up MartinWales, sadly all I can find is Bob's blog, now very out of date.

I've just blagged an 03from Graham Farish. Good price and one I'd been umming and arring about for a month or more.

My main interest is LNER from pre-grouping to British Railways days. I model in N gauge, and have done since 1975. A few years ago two manufacturers announced a J72, and of course many years ago Grafar had the J69, not much of a model by modern standards, but running good examples command eye-watering prices on eBay. Understandably one of the manufacturers pulled out of J72 development early on, at which point little encouraging has been heard from the other, it's not on their 2019 releases list. Rant over.

When it closes for good there'll be people bemoaning another local shop lost. I'm a cyclist and local cycle shops were the same, odd good ones and many rude beggars. These days there are far fewer and mostly belonging to a chain.

Great, I've managed to pick up a Warskip for Xmas.

No J72! I've cancelled my pre-orders for the two I wanted. At my age IF they ever come out I'll be to feeble to open the boxes.

I'm a 40+ yr N gauge modeller, I use pins to fix track position. I've used it with Peco, Setrack and Flexi, Fleischmann and now Kato. It holds the track firmly [you can adjust how firmly it's held down] and allows movement and replacement.

At last a realistic looking winner. Fawley looked great.

My layout, Sunnisyde, is L shaped, the main part is 34"wide and 99" long with the short side 15" by 45". there are stations on the short side, a terminus, and on either side of the triple lines at the front. There's a foot or so missing on the right and 9" or so on the left in the photo.

WEC series sports cars have tyres that can last far longer than in F1, they have in the LMP1 class up to 1000bhp available, albeit on a 50-50 split between axles and power source, rear wheels by i/c engine front by electric power. They weigh more than an F1 car and have for many races proved the tyres will last 2 hrs if need be. As they refuel approximately every hour and don't always change tyres it seems to me that F1 could have a race tyre to last the distance. I suspect if they did an ever stretching procession would be the normal race, even more than we see now.

Absolutely. I'm now into year 5 of waiting for a J72! On the fact that N isn't included in the wish list, I would have hoped the list would have included all scales. However as it's up to the people organising the poll. However I note my wish list is unwelcome.

I model N gauge so my searches always start N gauge, N scale or similar. After looking at several items in my chosen category, invariably an OO, HO or other scale crops up. Similarly after making a purchase 'other people who bought xxxxxx also bought these items' comes up and it's always chock full of other scales, often with no N gauge items at all in there. Ebay really do need to change their search criteria.

As an N gauge modeller for the last 43 yrs I know what you mean, quite often one of the magazines comes out without an N gauve model in sight. However I do enjoy seeing other scales. The LNWR layout [in OO] this issues is inspirational.

A word about past Ferrari 'tactics'. Back in the 60s the Ferraris were almost always much faster in a straight line at Monza than at any other track. Remember in those days scrutineering was more of a locally sourced thing than these days under the more powerful FIA of the 21st century. An acquaintance, worked for them for a time and as he owned a hillclimb car thought it would go a lot faster with an F1 engine in it. Used engines were dumped in a skip to be securely melted down and late one evening he climb up to see that was there. The next day Mr Ferrari sent for him to inquire why he'd been spotted looking in the skip, and after several 'hot' minutes just managed to keep his job. His direct manager explained to him, over a few drinks that those used engines were always melted down, and went on to point out that some of Mr Ferrari's Racing Sports cars used a bored out F1 block and 'one or two of them 'may' have been put there 'by mistake'. Said acquaintance inferred that the reason the cars had been so fast at Monza a couple of weeks ago could possibly be that one or two of the bored out blocks may have found their way on to the circuit. The next day the meltdown skip disappeared only to be replaced by a locked lid skip, placed near the security office. I doubt any team could get away with anything so blatant these days, but any advantage is an advantage, until the FIA find out.