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Roy L S

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Everything posted by Roy L S

  1. A "Twin" will definitely be coming my way, I am gobsmacked, realistically I never thought we would see these produced RTR in N so I am delighted. They tick a lot of boxes in terms or route usage and also I would think as a "collector's" piece. Plus, with a replica one being recreated one could even be "creatively" justified on a preserved railway today. I think my choice will be 10001 sound fitted in the later livery with yellow panel but very hard to decide.... Roy
  2. From the video this new 31 looks to be a lovely model, and I personally I think there looks to be enough about it in terms of quality and features to find an enthusiastic following and adequate "space" in the admittedly somewhat crowded OO Class 31 Market. Many have commented on the lines of "oh no not another duplication" but there surely comes a point in any project (typically when steel starts to be cut) when a manufacturer passes a point of no return with a model financially and has to continue to production irrespective of what another manufacturer does or announces? Not being a OO modeller the whole thing is slightly academic from my perspective, but I can see this loco doing very well, and I am particularly interested in hearing the Mirrlees engine sounds, and it would be even nicer if the sound-file were made available so I can put it in my N Gauge golden ochre one, albeit Bachmann never have done that up to now I appreciate. Roy
  3. I had suggested etched handrails but Andy from Rapido didn't thing that possible. Were it to be, I would suggest that they need to be factory fitted and finished or there would be accusations of it being an "almost" ready to run model - people would (in my opinion) reasonably expect that. Personally, taking the 66 above as an example and reviewing my Farish Peak model I would say moulded on handrails would make for finer ones and if picked out in white would be perfectly acceptable in the case of this specific loco class. Roy
  4. I would expect that GDPR regulations would require it to be deleted, information has to be held for a specific purpose and for no longer that necessary.
  5. You missed nail-bars and men's barbers off the list, they seem to have grown exponentially in town centres in recent years 🤔
  6. Eeek! If it is that one then I have just changed my mind about Polly...
  7. That is correct, I was proud owner of a red "Polly" which I remember being bought from our village toy shop by my parents when I was about 8, if memory serves correctly it cost £2.00. At the time the "Nellie" was also available in blue, but my recollection is that "Connie" was not and may not have been available for as long as the ither two. Nostalgia would certainly "require" I buy a "Polly" even though I have not modelled in OO for 40 plus years 🤔
  8. Very sad news indeed, until their fallout with Bachmann they were my "go to" place for the purchase Farish items in particular and I had been going to them as a customer for over 40 years. Their range of stock has always been extensive and when it was all you could get (we forget how lucky we are now) I would regularly buy Langley steam loco kits and the required Farish chassis from them as one convenient "bundle". I will remember fondly the parcels arriving tied up with string and the paper price-lists always included with my purchases in that pre-digital age that seems so long ago now. As it is an orderly wind down with no issues of insolvency at least everyone will be paid in full so any "shockwaves" in the supply chain will be less painful, but of course like others, in particular, I feel so sorry for all the employees who will be impacted and hope they find new jobs quickly. So much more could be said, but my overwhelming feeling is one of sadness, Hattons will always have a legendary status in the British model railway world for me.
  9. But is a GW four cylinder loco's valve-gear truly conjugated Les? I am happy to stand corrected but my understanding of the term "conjugate" is to join together and in the case of Gresley valve-gear two sets are joined to provide valve movement to a third cylinder. A Castle (for example) has one set of valve gear operating two cylinders via a single rocking arm which is not the same thing mechanically. Regards Roy
  10. Or is it a case of a "pause" due to the number of 08s already delivered saturating the Market and only the blue and green ones selling quickly leaving a number of less popular/common ones on shelves? You can get some of the quirkier liveries at very keen prices currently without too much shopping around..
  11. I have been familiar with Met No.1 over many years and am very aware that it has been in steam on LT metals, however it is described by the centre as under overhaul, and last time I was at Bucks Railway Centre I am sure I saw parts of the disassembled loco out in the open - I will check next time I am there.
  12. If you class a sorry pile of parts (in the case of Met No.1) as being on public display 🤔
  13. Two specifically selected items doesn't really conclusively say anything one way or the other. Of those the Mk5 sleepers were only released in limited numbers to certain interested retailers so hardly likely to attract deep discounts and the TPE sets are not even in the shops yet. A very quick scope of the internet and I have easily found N Gauge Dapol 68s in Compass and DRS liveries at Jadlam Toys and Models which are two more modern ones for £134.89. To counter that claim about modern stuff currently running flying off shelves, I have also by way of just two examples very easily found a Dapol 66 in "Thank you NHS" livery for £79 at Rainbow Railways and a Farish "Biffa" one for £96 at the same shop.
  14. Good to see nylon gears as opposed to plastic on the new chassis, and of course as well as being a lower profile it now has a coreless motor rather than the old can type. Roy
  15. Are all the recent releases "Crewe Cut"? The Rails "special" certainly appears to have the valance on the body side behind the buffer-beam, like the green one I have already - or am I showing my ignorance regarding these locos? Graham Farish 372-247ZSF Class 47 47628 'Sir Daniel Gooch' GWR 150th Anniversary Livery Diesel – Rails of Sheffield Roy
  16. That shows such unbelievable arrogance, it must have been tempting to name and shame and publish the said newsletter!
  17. Nice though they look, I can honestly say that even though they would fit my modelling era and region well, for some reason I am not the remotest bit interested in these, they just do not appeal 🤔
  18. I would be interested to know which retailers Ben, because that doesn't accord with ones I know and have spoken to, who say it is steam/diesel transition that sells best, and speaking specifically of diesels it is still always the green locos and DMUs that sell through first - just try finding them! However I would contend that the simple reality is that with erratic supply of anything in recent times it is pretty much impossible to draw any real conclusions. For example until very recently supply of Farish BR carmine and cream, maroon and blue/grey Mk1 coaches has been non-existent, and they are only just starting to appear in numbers now so too early to see what sells through first, and without the bread and butter Mk1 coach which was a feature of much of all of these eras how is it remotely possible to know? The transition modeller has also had Dapol Gresley coaches etc as a bit of a backup but for the BR blue modeller by comparison supply of a range of M2s from Farish has been to be generous very sketchy and Dapol loco hauled M3s only cover the later part of the period. An additional factor relating more specifically to steam is that there has been a long period where the main producer (Bachmann) wasn't producing much at all, and people can't buy what isn't on the shelves. Thankfully that situation is now improving and not just from Bachmann, we now have EFE, Sonic and Dapol with products coming through and in development. I would also challenge the assumption that it is generational and people typically model what they remember, it is far less simplistic than that, there are a whole host of different reasons why people choose to model eras and regions, often nothing to do with when and where they grew up. It certainly isn't the case for modelling colleagues at my Club whose ages range widely (as most do I suspect), many of barely remember steam, yet most model transition era and none of them model BR blue as their primary era in any scale. The 28 year old in our N gauge group's predominant interest is Great Western/BR WR and he wasn't born until after Privatisation. What I think can be said for certain is that the plethora of the more modern liveries are far less popular, you only have to look at what is in the bargain bins. You won't find BR much from the transition era or BR blue for that matter, it is much more often the more modern liveries you find heavily discounted - just look at the example of the most recent Farish 31 - BR green are long gone, but some of the more recent liveries like the RTC and "Network Rail" ones are still available and at heavy discounts, then there are the recently released Class 90s and upgraded 60s, already easily found discounted by getting on for 25%. Bringing this back to the subject of 175 and 180 (which both look fantastic thus far) I think given the lack of popularity of a fair number of modern liveries as demonstrated by slow sales of even some recent releases, the RevolutioN strategy of being very considered with livery choices, targeting fewer liveries and ones you are confident will sell, simply has to be the right approach. Regards Roy
  19. Me too in green. I have asked and been told that further 47s are included in Bachmann's future plans, but no more detail than that I'm afraid, so we can probably expect the blue and green ones at some as yet unspecified future date. Very odd not to include the blue and green ones in the initial run of sound upgraded models as they are always the first liveries to sell out, but then I gave up trying to understand Bachmann's priorities or sales strategy for their models a long time ago 🤔
  20. Hi Ben Thanks for clarifying, it does makes sense given that they can no longer be pre-ordered. Regards Roy
  21. Were there N gauge production or pre-production samples of these on display at Warley and have I inadvertently missed them?
  22. Yes, always best to have asked for a specific amount on the booking form so as to have seen and agreed an actual sum required by way of expenses in advance.
  23. Personally I would 100% agree with you, promoting a club or association with a demo stand is essentially "selling" your hobby or specific area of interest to a wider audience.
  24. And here I think you have hit the nail squarely on the head Chris, taking a layout to a show is an extension of the hobby and an enjoyable one at that (albeit transporting and setting up can have it's stresses), it is a chance to show our layout and talk to people about it, and that is why I and Club colleagues never seek to cover all our costs and very often decline taking any expenses at all. I also take the view that very often were I not exhibiting I would have travelled to the show in question anyway and bought an entry ticket and some lunch on top so would have incurred greater cost anyway. Roy
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