Wright writes.....

[Michael Edge]

9 hours ago, Manxcat said:

Model Railway Engineer.com has published a list of the names of men most likely to be Model Railway Enthusiasts. It is as follows.

 

1. Michael

2. David

3. Mark

4. Chris

5. Robert

6. Andy

7. Matt

8, John

9. Brian

10. James

 

Our model railway club of 16 members has seven of the ten names listed as members. I do wonder how the list was compiled. 

 

Archie

I've no idea but I do have the first two myself......

[Tony Wright]

8 hours ago, St Enodoc said:

Where's Wally Tony?

My second name is John, John,

 

It was also my father's first name, my paternal grandfather's second name and it's our second son's name. A popular choice?

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

 

 

[grahame]

42 minutes ago, Tony Wright said:

My second name is John, John,

 

 

Ah, but is that John, Jon, Jonny, Jonathon, Jonty, . . . ?

;-)

 

[Dragonboy]

30 minutes ago, grahame said:

 

Ah, but is that John, Jon, Jonny, Jonathon, Jonty, . . . ?

;-)

 

Or Jonno for the guys down under.

 

Brian

[Chamby]

The three Steve’s in our club will be miffed that they haven’t made it onto the list!

 

Out of our twenty club members, only four individuals have names that appear on this list.  That either rubbishes the author’s research, or marks us out as a peculiar club.  Both are likely to be true...

[PJT]

43 minutes ago, Chamby said:

The three Steve’s in our club will be miffed that they haven’t made it onto the list!

 

Where I worked thirty years ago, I was one of five 'Petes' who worked together, four of whom were interested in railways and railway modelling.  The fifth, who wasn't really into railways, was always known as Pedro because otherwise he'd have a habit of answering every time when someone came in the door saying 'Hey, Pete', whereas the rest of us always knew instinctively which Pete was being spoken to.  Covid aside, after all these years we still have a Meeting of The Petes on a more or less annual basis.

 

Digressing a bit more (sorry!), it doesn't stop there... my partner's called Pam, her mother was Pam, my mother's Pam, and for many years I (genuinely by coincidence) had a car with a PAM registration.

 

Pete T.

[Tony Wright]

Just to let folk know.............

 

Having spent some time this morning sorting out the accounts for the locos sold (thanks Mo), I'll be sending a further cheque for over £300.00 to a widow and a first cheque to the daughters of the late guy whose collection of locos I've been selling of late, for well over £3,000.00 (rather more than the around £350.00 they were originally offered!). There'll be more to send as well when all the monies have come in. 

 

A big cheque will be going to CRUK as well. 

 

Once again, my most grateful thanks to all those who've bought the models. 

 

One of the unbuilt kits has gone (the original W1), but no others. Have I priced them too highly? Didn't someone say of late that un-built kits are more-desirable than built ones?

 

Please PM me if interested in any of the others. I'm open to offers...........

 

Would you believe I'm off to Bedfordshire tomorrow to see another widow's collection of model railways? Didn't I say I wasn't doing this any more? 

Edited August 25, 2021 by Tony Wright
to add something

[gr.king]

Would the world be a better place if the name of the shark(?) who offered only £350 for the collection were made widely known?

[Barclay]

1 hour ago, Tony Wright said:

Just to let folk know.............

 

Having spent some time this morning sorting out the accounts for the locos sold (thanks Mo), I'll be sending a further cheque for over £300.00 to a widow and a first cheque to the daughters of the late guy whose collection of locos I've been selling of late, for well over £3,000.00 (rather more than the around £350.00 they were originally offered!). There'll be more to send as well when all the monies have come in. 

 

A big cheque will be going to CRUK as well. 

 

Once again, my most grateful thanks to all those who've bought the models. 

 

One of the unbuilt kits has gone (the original W1), but no others. Have I priced them too highly? Didn't someone say of late that un-built kits are more-desirable than built ones?

 

Please PM me if interested in any of the others. I'm open to offers...........

 

Would you believe I'm off to Bedfordshire tomorrow to see another widow's collection of model railways? Didn't I say I wasn't doing this any more? 

I thought the prices for unbuilt kits were very reasonable - the wheels would cost that much.

 

[geoff west]

9 minutes ago, gr.king said:

Would the world be a better place if the name of the shark(?) who offered only £350 for the collection were made widely known?

They offered me £250 for my old collection of (in fairness) mainly Lima diesels, included in that were a heck of a lot of wagons,cariages etc from both Hornby and Bachmann.

Tony very kindly assisted me at a swap meet where I made over 6 times that. A cheque went to cancer research for Tony's help.

I've bought the odd item from said shark(?) in the past, but never again.

I wonder how many others would feel the same if they knew who they were? 

[Barry Ten]

1 hour ago, Tony Wright said:

Just to let folk know.............

 

Having spent some time this morning sorting out the accounts for the locos sold (thanks Mo), I'll be sending a further cheque for over £300.00 to a widow and a first cheque to the daughters of the late guy whose collection of locos I've been selling of late, for well over £3,000.00 (rather more than the around £350.00 they were originally offered!). There'll be more to send as well when all the monies have come in. 

 

 

 

 

Well done, Tony. That 350 pounds was certainly desultory. I wonder, though, how much of a value can be placed on the fact that you've brought your life's worth of expertise to these locos by being able to examine them, diagnose faults, and in some cases effect a repair that would be beyond the capability of any second-hand dealer or indeed mere mortal - they've been "touched by the hand of God" so to speak.

 

Al

[Chamby]

1 hour ago, Tony Wright said:

Just to let folk know.............

 

...I'll be sending a further cheque for over £300.00 to a widow

 

and a first cheque to the daughters of the late guy whose collection of locos I've been selling of late, for well over £3,000.00

 

There'll be more to send as well when all the monies have come in. 

 

A big cheque will be going to CRUK as well. 

 

...Would you believe I'm off to Bedfordshire tomorrow to see another widow's collection of model railways? Didn't I say I wasn't doing this any more? 

 

In the business world, it’s called diversification.  

 

You used to raise money for CRUK by loco-doctoring at exhibitions.  Now, instead you’re raising money for CRUK and helping widows, by utilising those same loco-doctoring skills but adapted to the current environment. 

 

It’s probably not as enjoyable without the social aspect of exhibitions, but it sounds to be at least as effective in terms of fund raising, it helps those families as well, gives those collections another lease of life, and benefits those purchasing said items.

 

10/10, Sir!

[polybear]

2 hours ago, Barclay said:

I thought the prices for unbuilt kits were very reasonable - the wheels would cost that much.

 

 

So did I - if it weren't for the fact that I have un-built examples in "The Mountain" I could very easily have succumbed.  The only example I don't have is the rebuilt W1 - so spent "some time" pondering.  However, having been "hypnotised" by Sir into buying the old built example over the past week or so I managed to somehow resist.....

 

1 hour ago, Barry Ten said:

 

Well done, Tony. That 350 pounds was certainly desultory. I wonder, though, how much of a value can be placed on the fact that you've brought your life's worth of expertise to these locos by being able to examine them, diagnose faults, and in some cases effect a repair that would be beyond the capability of any second-hand dealer or indeed mere mortal - they've been "touched by the hand of God" so to speak.

 

Al

 

I've certainly been happy to pay more than I would have, had they been listed on the 'bay (though I very rarely buy locos from there) knowing that (a) they have the certification of "Sir", and (b) money is being raised for CRUK in the process.

[Barry Ten]

I mentioned a while ago that I was having trouble with the HMRS S&D transfers (on the Midland sheet), which were very poorly printed. Jerry (Queensquare) very kindly sent me some unused transfers of his own from earlier sheets, and I was delighted to be able to complete the decals for this passenger luggage van:

 

 

Many thanks, Jerry.

 

In the long term I still need to source transfers of suitable quality to do the remaining vehicles, but at least it's nice to have this one done.

 

Incidentally I painted the droplights a sort of salmon/teak colour initially, but this looked hideous so I've tried the dark red I use on GWR coaches, even though a lighter shade may be more prototypical. Still deciding what to do with these. I think it may be a question of using a little artistic license for something that sits well on the model at this scale.

 

Al

[Tony Wright]

3 hours ago, gr.king said:

Would the world be a better place if the name of the shark(?) who offered only £350 for the collection were made widely known?

Good afternoon Graeme,

 

In fairness, the collection was so huge (rooms full in a bungalow) consisting of thousands of items, mainly RTR. I think the 'blanket' offer of £7.00 per box was made mainly with reference to these. 

 

How much time was spent examining the hundred odd kit-built locos, I don't know, but I rather got the impression the second-hand dealers were not all that interested. Had they really examined them, then perhaps more might have been offered (although £10.00 each seems to have been mentioned). Also in fairness, I doubt if they would have offered much more under the assumption (correctly?) that most didn't work very well. 'Correctly' would have been a right assumption. Fortunately, I have the time to be able to sort them out and I've managed to get between £25.00 and £200.00 for each loco. 

 

I took the best 50. There were at least the same number which I left, but many of these were very poor (I'd have struggled to get a tenner each for some of them, to be fair). I think some might just be junked, such was their parlous state. If these were considered in the overall offers, then the prices seem fairer. 

 

In a way, it's really none of my business. It's not my intention to adopt a 'tell and shame' policy. The dealers are well-respected, have businesses to run, staff to pay and premises to rent. I very much doubt if they have the resources (personnel and expertise) to ensure the kit-built locomotives all work, and those resources would have to be paid for, anyway. Their main business is RTR, and they probably offered 'fair' prices for those.

 

I can only make my assumptions on what I was told.

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[Tony Wright]

2 hours ago, Barry Ten said:

 

Well done, Tony. That 350 pounds was certainly desultory. I wonder, though, how much of a value can be placed on the fact that you've brought your life's worth of expertise to these locos by being able to examine them, diagnose faults, and in some cases effect a repair that would be beyond the capability of any second-hand dealer or indeed mere mortal - they've been "touched by the hand of God" so to speak.

 

Al

Thanks Al,

 

However, as an atheist, the 'hand of the Almighty', so to speak, might not be much help (judging by what's happening around the world right now, God's 'helping hand' isn't much use at anything!). That said, I've no wish to offend the superstitious (or have I, by just stating that?). 

 

Anyway, I've no wish to dig myself an even greater hole. 

 

I've mentioned in my previous post how some of the offers might have come about. I hope that makes things more clear. 

 

You've been a great help in buying loads of things off me over the last few months. I have a big box of your stuff here ready for collection. You've paid for it all. When would you like to come over?

 

Best regards,

 

Tony. 

[Tony Wright]

Happy to report that the kit for the SEF rebuilt W1 has sold, and the kit for the Crownline A1. 

 

Just the Crownline D16/3 and the Nu-Cast K1 now. Surely someone must be interested..................

[Tony Wright]

Thanks to all those who've informed me of the safe arrival of their locos; and for the expressions of delight. I can only conclude that my ministrations have been successful and that I've just about priced the locos dead right, or (though I don't think so) too cheaply.

 

A big thank you to the PO as well for their excellent service. The postmaster at Thurlby is brilliant; efficiency epitomised.

 

I used to use our mobile PO in the form of a travelling van (in use since most local POs disappeared). I used to grow a beard waiting. Talk about an old gits meeting place! Though it's much closer to us than Thurlby, the car has depreciated much more in value by the time I've been served than the cost of any petrol I might use....................

[t-b-g]

2 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

Thanks Al,

 

However, as an atheist, the 'hand of the Almighty', so to speak, might not be much help (judging by what's happening around the world right now, God's 'helping hand' isn't much use at anything!). That said, I've no wish to offend the superstitious (or have I, by just stating that?). 

 

Anyway, I've no wish to dig myself an even greater hole. 

 

I've mentioned in my previous post how some of the offers might have come about. I hope that makes things more clear. 

 

You've been a great help in buying loads of things off me over the last few months. I have a big box of your stuff here ready for collection. You've paid for it all. When would you like to come over?

 

Best regards,

 

Tony. 

 

I have always thought that there must be some sort of divine intervention in the hobby. More likely from some ancient pagan deities. Like the great old god "Logistic" who ensures that when you want a particular size of metal or plastic, the one you need is the only one that you don't have in stock. Or the "Carpet God" who manages to make even large objects appear invisible when they drop by your feet.

 

Then there is "Misplacia" responsible for the tool which you put down on your workbench and which you know is right in front of your eyes but you cannot see it.

 

Some are more benign, like the one responsible when you try some really unlikely soldering job, which would go wrong 99 times out of a 100 yet it goes perfectly first time.

 

I invoke them from time to time!

 

 

[Northmoor]

15 hours ago, t-b-g said:

 

I have always thought that there must be some sort of divine intervention in the hobby. More likely from some ancient pagan deities. Like the great old god "Logistic" who ensures that when you want a particular size of metal or plastic, the one you need is the only one that you don't have in stock. Or the "Carpet God" who manages to make even large objects appear invisible when they drop by your feet.

 

Then there is "Misplacia" responsible for the tool which you put down on your workbench and which you know is right in front of your eyes but you cannot see it.

 

Some are more benign, like the one responsible when you try some really unlikely soldering job, which would go wrong 99 times out of a 100 yet it goes perfectly first time.

 

I invoke them from time to time!

 

 

What is the name of the deity who ensures that, regardless of the colour of the small parts you are working on and the colour of your carpet, when you drop one on the other, they are indistinguishable? 

Edited August 26, 2021 by Northmoor

[t-b-g]

12 minutes ago, Northmoor said:

What is the name of the deity who, regardless of the colour of the small parts you are working on and the colour of your carpet, when you drop one on the other, they are indistinguishable? 

 

Camoflagia?

[gr.king]

All relatively minor gods, subservient to the great Sod.

[robmcg]

Dear Tony,

 

With reference to your recent ;

 

"However, as an atheist, the 'hand of the Almighty', so to speak, might not be much help (judging by what's happening around the world right now, God's 'helping hand' isn't much use at anything!). That said, I've no wish to offend the superstitious (or have I, by just stating that?). 

 

Anyway, I've no wish to dig myself an even greater hole. "

 

I have followed the repair and sale of these lovely models with interest and admiration, all power to you. 

 

It occurs to me that Little Bytham is such a fine model of the ECML of 1958 that I cannot help but speculate on how that line might have developed if someone like Gresley had continued after the war.  Certainly the depredations of war and the work of the BR team took precedence, but Gresley and Bulleid both had good relations with Andre Chapelon, whose 242A1 showed that albeit with in a larger loading gauge 4-5,000hp was practical for steam.

 

Thus instead of A4s and A3s wheezing past, you might have have had compound three-cylinder engines with thermic syphons, feedwater heaters and all kinds of 'improvements'.  Imagine.  No need for Deltics. At least until coal ran out...

 

Alas the SNCF chose electric traction over steam, and 242A1 was quietly scrapped in 1960, but imagine if the P2 had been developed.....

 

Here is my photo-montage of Chapelon's 1946 engine, and one might note that aesthetically it varies somewhat from British practice.  In a world of 'what ifs...' I do like to imagine things.

 

Perhaps it is I who have dug myself a hole.... 

 

 

 

[jrg1]

3 hours ago, robmcg said:

Dear Tony,

 

With reference to your recent ;

 

"However, as an atheist, the 'hand of the Almighty', so to speak, might not be much help (judging by what's happening around the world right now, God's 'helping hand' isn't much use at anything!). That said, I've no wish to offend the superstitious (or have I, by just stating that?). 

 

Anyway, I've no wish to dig myself an even greater hole. "

 

I have followed the repair and sale of these lovely models with interest and admiration, all power to you. 

 

It occurs to me that Little Bytham is such a fine model of the ECML of 1958 that I cannot help but speculate on how that line might have developed if someone like Gresley had continued after the war.  Certainly the depredations of war and the work of the BR team took precedence, but Gresley and Bulleid both had good relations with Andre Chapelon, whose 242A1 showed that albeit with in a larger loading gauge 4-5,000hp was practical for steam.

 

Thus instead of A4s and A3s wheezing past, you might have have had compound three-cylinder engines with thermic syphons, feedwater heaters and all kinds of 'improvements'.  Imagine.  No need for Deltics. At least until coal ran out...

 

Alas the SNCF chose electric traction over steam, and 242A1 was quietly scrapped in 1960, but imagine if the P2 had been developed.....

 

Here is my photo-montage of Chapelon's 1946 engine, and one might note that aesthetically it varies somewhat from British practice.  In a world of 'what ifs...' I do like to imagine things.

 

Perhaps it is I who have dug myself a hole.... 

 

 

 

I am always intrigued by What Ifs?

What if WW2 had not happened, and the electrification of various lines had gone ahead on the LNER?

What if the LMS had introduced a fleet of Turbomotives?

What if the LMS and LNER had co-operated on diesel development?

What if the GWR had decided to import German hydraulic locomotives?

What if BR had developed a Standard version of the GWR 47xx class?

What if BR had been allowed to import proven American diesel locomotives, instead of the duds they were lumbered with under the Modernisation plan? 

What if the ECML was electrified after completion of the the WCML?

[Steamport Southport]

23 minutes ago, jrg1 said:

I am always intrigued by What Ifs?

 

What if the ECML was electrified after completion of the the WCML?

 

It virtually was. Any delays were purely political/financial and due to major infrastructure work.

 

WCML electrification started in 1959 and wasn't completed until 1974. Then they started planning the ECML, starting in 1976 with Kings Cross to Hitchin. Then recommenced in the 1980s and was finished about 1991. So about 15 years each.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Coast_Main_Line

 

 

However you probably wouldn't have got the HSTs, certainly not in the numbers we did get. 

 

 

Jason