John M Upton

Feel free to start one. As I mentioned all the info is here https://www.rmweb.co.uk/shows/ally-pally-2024/

Just a link to it on the menus

I did consider going but the rail ticket prices were enough to discourage me.

Someone will surely start an accompanying thread to argue about something though.

Is that what's known as "one day" delivery - it should get delivered "one day"?

Apparently they're for testing purposes only. I believe that they also include an auto-leak function, so they should be removed for disposal* within 24 hours, preferably sooner...

* It's better to dispose before use.

Agree with both of you. Nothing but a menace.

It appears to work for S*m's Tr**ns, although the actual source of income is the constant, repetitive, banal adverts that make you want to put your foot through the TV or computer.

We used to spend a lot of time money and effort training people to be pointless corporate drones whose main skill was dressing conventionally and neatly filling in paperwork whilst not picking their nose in front of the customer.

So eh.

Where I grew up, they shortcut all that and didn't bother training anyone for anything because you went down the mine at 16, but eh.  Times change.

Down mine at 16? Luxury, luxury, where I were we went down mine at 8 years old, worked 35 hours a day down pit, had handfull of gravel for meal, etc etc.  Tell these Youtube Influencer kids that and they won't believe you - (mind you I don't believe them either)  🙂

"(I was only there for the diesels but appreciate the steamers)" ...

"... but did smile overhearing someone at a sales stand at Broadway commenting by saying 'the proper engine is down that end' (referring to the steam engine) when I and many others were more interested in Deltic 55019 at the other end."

My earliest memory is from 1968 - when most of BR's "kettles" went the way of the dodo - so I've only been used to Diesel and electric. Personally, I've always associated steam with museum pieces - and some rusting hulks that scared the #@*&%$!! out of me every time I took a bus trip to Barry Island as a nipper the "strategic steam reserve".

I don't deny that I quite like seeing "kettles" (especially Panniers) - but I am a member of DEMU - so it should surprise nobody that I particularly like Diesels and electrics.

A steam hauled "Santa Special"? Fair enough, if it helps keep a preservation line going.

A class 25, 31, 37, 47, 52 or 55 pulling the Mk1 (or Mk2) coaches they were always expected to pull? Better still - a Class 101, or another Modernisation Plan DMU - complete with a clear view through the driver's cab? Now you're talking - that's what I call a proper train!

(It goes without saying that other people are entitled to their opinions ... .)

Blimey, its not even November and The Grinch is out already......

It's that time of year again - that's right - time for those "festive mints" - aka "Bah! Humbugs!"

(Before anyone asks, that one wasn't "stollen" from a cracker ... .)

"And greater queues have lesser queues

Waiting in line to feed them"...

Most satisfying!

I suppose those queueing will watch the live stream of the Lying In State on tablets or phones, at least until either their batteries or data allowance expires.

I read that someone is boasting they have 'been around' 7 times? It really is a bloody Theme Park.

Perhaps they had to circle the local roads that many times to find a car parking space - or am I talking about something else?

Bought my "Broadlands" on EBay about 15 years ago for I think, £22.  What made that even better was that the seller was only about 4 miles away so it was cheaper to collect it than have it posted.  It's one of a lot of things in my collection that I'm glad to have bought when I did.

Had a browse on ebay earlier, call it nostalgia if you like. Last time a few years now you could pick up a decent example for twenty five quid, now fifteen is wanted just for an empty box...

To get a livery that the "current" Hornby releases don't offer, perhaps. A body swap is simple and the Hornby chassis offers slightly more modern facilities. 

Cheer up, it could be worse...

I plan to be anything but jolly. No change there then....

I've copped someone else's night shifts Wednesday through Sunday so I can't be jolly and celebratory even if I wanted to. 

Paint it up to make it look like the Modlu scallies had set fire to it....

Let's guess - was the Playmobil bin made of polystyrene?

This might sound like a crazy question - but it isn't. In a past job, I needed to use sheet polystyrene to make a cover (basically an open box), to deter people from playing with controls on an electronic instrument.

There wasn't any branded styrene cement in the lab - but there was plenty of acetone (which is often used in nail varnish remover). The acetone dissolved the polystyrene - and was an effective "solvent cement".

I've since found that cellulose thinner has a similar effect - same goes for Lidl "universal / professional Paint thinner (much the same sort of stuff) ... .

When it comes to stripping paint, I'd be more likely to apply alcohol hand gel - leave it for a bit - then wipe off with a cloth, scraper, or  plastic scourer.

It's a train and it isn't, too?

This was an undecorated Proto 2000 SD9 (rare to find in the UK) and I am happy to report, it is complete, works a dream and all the bits are there.  Just baffled about the cellophane...

I went and had a look.  Sigh.  

It was indeed a thread I - ahem - Fell into shall we say....

Well we've had the halftime oranges ermm images, so now it is the second half.

"Bah! Humbug!"

Just cancel it yourself, then, no one's forcing it on you!

I suppose you feel the same about birthdays?

They work in mysterious ways, their wonders to perform.

It would help if sellers realised that those two plastic brackets that are always lying in the box doing nothing are supposed to be used, instead more often than not the loco slides backwards and forwards on its journey and I haven't had one delivered with couplings intact yet let along the usual horn knocked off, handrails wrecked, etc, etc.

Still, only paid fifteen notes for it so can't complain too much...

So its the sellers fault then, not Royal Mails?

Time for a ritual barefoot dance around the room. 

You need to feed it more often!

Unfortunately, some things never seem to change.

Well, after Br*x*t - with all the accompanying "pleasantries" - did anyone seriously GB to get any points? Doesn't matter which songs (if any) are any good, there's bad blood, so other countries are likely to be out to punish GB.

If GB must enter Eurovision each year, I get the impression that the only real hope would involve entering a "tone deaf" comedy act - called "Null Points" - with a tuneless "song" and nonsense "lyrics". (I'm sure that some of the jokers that come up with those insufferably tuneless "songs" used in TV adverts would be more than capable of inflicting suitable $h*t on the Eurovision juries.)

You could almost imagine a number of EU countries being so intent on "punishing" GB that they'd award some points, just to "prove us wrong".

To be brutally honest, I don't know why this country bothers entering Eurovision - I certainly haven't bothered watching it for a very long time (if ever). I wish they'd just put it out of its misery - and stop wasting money on it.

I'm not attacking anyone who actually chooses to watch Eurovision - everyone's entitled to their own opinions - but I suspect some Freeview channel might be able to be persuaded to take it, perhaps as part of a package deal ... .

Ever since Eurovision started expanding membership of Eurovision itself, first with the former Warsaw pact European countries and then with "non-european" states, the considerably enlarged pool of countries entitled to enter, and the associated clannish voting habits of a large number of the new entrants has made the contest a completely different beast to what it was. 

As the BBC is responsible for organising the UK entry, in these straitened times I'm betting that there is an unwillingness to send any performer(s) with a song that has more than a snowballs chance of winning.  It's bad enough paying our Eurovision membership fees, and providing an entry, without the chance of having to present the next years contest!

Given the quality of our recent entries, it's possible that Project LaLaLaNullPoints has been in operation for some time...

Long may it continue!

I reckon that voting has been "politically charged" for decades - even if GB were to enter something that anyone would actually want to have playing on their car audio, total votes for the GB would almost certainly be able to be counted on the fingers of one hand.

This might explain my suggestion of the sort of fare GB should be entering.

Of course, there's nothing to stop "going all out", with a properly calibrated entry - some rap act, using a stage name like "Cat and the Waulers" - sampling a well known funeral march and "The Sound of Music" ("So long - farewell.").

Throw in some "lyrics" that simultaneously take a "pop" at both the architects of Br*x*t and the upper echelons of EU hierarchy (to keep things politically neutral) - then call the entry "Null Points" - and wait for the fireworks.

The moment they reach an inevitable crescendo, just announce GB's permanent withdrawal from the whole circus - and the job's a good 'un!

Seriously though, the current fiasco is an irritating waste of everyone's time and money - that probably pleases nobody.

Similarly, the more entrenched individuals on both sides of the Br*x*t "debate" seem to have succeeded only in wasting everyone's time and money - and antagonising just about everyone.

I can't help wondering what it would take to highlight just how ridiculous it's all got - without pushing any specific political agenda.

Although I suspect that both the Br*x*t "debate" and the Eurovision malarkey are likely to rumble on for many years to come, I reckon a sane end to both (or even either) might well have some people "Walking on Sunshine".

Enough is enough.

Nope. All good here. 

Computer seemed to have slowed down a while ago, but on checking I think it was the AV doing a sneaky update...

Was very slow for me as well this morning. (I'm on vermin.)  Sneaky AV update is plausible.

Same problem around here. Like many traffic regulations imposed nationally enforcement is always the problem. Although there are a few random days of enforcement far too few Traffic Wardens (can't remember their current proper designation) to make getting ticketed regularly a likely prospect so motorists don't bother. Even with the urban 30mph speed limit I guess most of the time nominal observance that there is a limit is the low 30s not 29mph. The counter is would I want to pay more council tax for more traffic enforcement officers? 

I didn't realise that enforcement was a priority. Which is why numnuts can still drive while using a mobile phone.

Double red lines are even prettier! My workplace has those in the roadways and no-one knows what they mean!!!

My last purchase from Rails:

Cost of item+shipping: CHF 166.41 (GBP 128.90)

Confirmation, value clarification, storage: CHF 13.00

Customs clearance: CHF 21.00
Import tax: CHF 15.40 (charged on all of the above)

Total charges: CHF 49.40 (38%)

Havin' a laugh......Vectis Auctions...30% commission and then £13 postage bringing the cost of what I thought were a couple of bargain loco's to about £100 each! Not like I really needed them either. Pah!

I’m guessing they are people who are defending products that cause great division among railway modellers. I don’t really mind what Hornby do or do not produce, but just wish that their products wouldn’t cause so many arguments. 

They tend to be the ones that insist proper model rail products only come in red boxes and immediately jump on anyone who even suggests the slightest possibility that Hornby just might have got something wrong...

All rather amusing!

You’ve got to love a bun fight....

35018 on its' way to Kings Lynn if you were on the ECML?

These were down Portsmouth with a Class 47 either end!

I have done a bit with a Lima Class 33. The results are pretty good!

Another reason not to bother with "social media"!