Roy Langridge

I am not sure that is correct. I think the coaches are the same length, with only the TPE driving coach being slightly longer. CAF themselves list them both as 22,200 mm with the driving coach at 22, 370 mm. Roy

No need to do maths, the various marine tracking sites give you the eta - currently 29/7 at Rotterdam. Roy

Yes, but the point I was making is that I can well imagine that the Class 37 is likely to sell by several 100 x more than the Fell, with those costs being distributed across a very much higher number of model sales. Whatever the fascination is with the Fell, it is a niche model, the class 37 is a mainstream loco with a, so far, 61 year operating life. Roy

But I am sure that the 37 will sell more than the Fell many times over, making the additional tooling cost justifiable. Roy

And as discussed before, the two end coaches are identical and therefore "extra" tool costs are near zero. Further, the electrics could also be identical if correctly designed, negating any extra cost there. Bachmann Mk2F DCC coaches are £95 each rrp, for a BEP the complexity is less electrically than for a Mk2F as no decoder socket is needed in each coach, so that offsets the cost of the through power connection. Any which way you look at it, the price seems on the high side. Roy

I have just looked at the cost to reorder today what my last Shapeways order would have been and the difference is about 10%. It is below £135 so includes VAT. Given my last order was 14 months ago, not that bad. Roy

I want a BEP and it was a model that I wat seriously considering, but I have decided that I will not purchase it at full price. There is a cost / value factor in my head, and at £500 rrp the BEP has crossed that line by quite some margin. I have numerous EPBs, CEPs, VEPs, MLVs etc, and a BEP would have complemented those nicely This model seems to risk becoming a watershed moment for multiple units, probably those exceeding 2 cars. I suspect that few BEPs will sell at the initial price point. How many will then get discounted is probably going to depend upon how many the retailers ordered. If I were a retailer I would have been very nervous about ordering many for fear of being left with stock sitting on shelves, especially if I had already suffered that with much lower priced units. Maybe later when the price normalises... Roy

I have ordered a 56008 from Trains4U and I am trying to decide which other one to order. Torn between another plain blue and 56120 in large logo. In the meantime, am I the only one hoping that following this announcement,@Grimleygridrenames himself Grimleygoyle? Roy

You seem to be crediting a lot of the population with intelligence that they sadly lack. As an example (and leaving Covid aside) I went to an smaller exhibition whilst on crutches after dislocating my peroneal tendon (not recommended). All was fine apart from the one idiot that decided to lean a shed load of his weight on me whilst I was standing at a trade stand (so he could reach across me), pushing me over and putting all my weight on my non-weight bearing leg. When it was pointed out by somebody else what he had done, he shrugged and basically said so what (although not so politely) and said it was all my fault for being in his way. Despite all that you seem to complain about, I lost my Dad to Covid. Many people make judgement calls which are based on a risk assessment to themselves and not what risk their actions place upon others. It was frighteningly quick and this despite his having had his first vaccine and being in what was considered a highly protected environment. Somebody didn't do that they should have done. Roy

Anti-misting spray works well. Roy

My mother-in-law who is a retired medical professional would disagree. I used your argument with her the other day and her reply was the greatest threat now is long-Covid which can have debilitating affects for many months, impacting both the individual and society / the economy. Given that 1 in 20 people who have had Covid get the long form of it, that means of those 26,000 odd cases yesterday, 1,300 will suffer for an extended period. Multiply that by a few days and exponentially grow it as is happening, and we have another major issue. I had not considered that and didn't argue back to her... Roy

Only comment I would make is that 56093 was standard large logo when new, and I think Cavalex are giving it Tinsley's special paint job that it got in the mid-80s. Roy

My three have just arrived - no time to play yet as in a meeting :-( Roy

Still waiting too…

Lol, it is all relative. Danish boxes didn’t exist for me in the old days, it was red box, black box or Italian box. Roy