Robin2

When you find yourself in a hole the first thing to do is stop digging It is neither more nor less sensible to like railways or doll's houses - just different things of equal value. ...R

It was going really great until you got to that bit ...R

Your clarification is very welcome. I have no doubt that the finished model will be the envy of most of us. ...R

I was foolishly under the impression that if I avoided all references to nudity and under-garments that would have been sufficient not to upset the delicate English psyche. ...R

I did not get any other impression from her on-screen appearances. ...R

I recently got EverBuild Instant Bond Textile Adhesive. It seems to be the same as Copydex but cheaper. I've been using it to stick foam to card and I am planning to use it to stick some timber facing the the raw edge of Celotex - worked fine in a test. I don't think Copydex "grabs" as strongly as regular Evostik. I have not tried the solvent-free version. ...R

I agree completely. But it is not a sufficiently important error to justify mentioning it on this Forum. ...R

Evo Stik Impact adhesive seems to stick most things together firmly. And it has the added advantage that you can usually take the things apart if you really need to - unlike superglue or solvent adhesives. ...R

What utter poppy cock. The "perfectionists" - by whom the writer probably meant those that model in 2mmFS, EM, P4 or S7, probably have very little, if any, regular interaction with newcomers. I think both of these statements are true. The finescale folk may work to very high standards but I don't think any of them would consider him/herself a perfectionist and I have not read anything from any of them that denigrates someone who is content with lesser standards. And at any of the exhibitions where I have seen a "finescale" stand they have been very welcoming. The "killer perfectionists" are the folk who like to think they are experts and convince themselves by finding fault with everything in sight - "we don't do it that way here" ...R

Battery powered radio control would make the track laying much easier. ...R

That sort of mispronunciation is very common. Get over it. Think how the Americans pronounce aluminium and solder. And how some US Presidents (not the current one, I think) pronounce nuclear. ...R

Interesting. Are they impermeable to hydrogen? What are they made from? How much energy does it take to make the tank? ...R

Another problem with hydrogen is storing it. The molecules are so small they can migrate through a steel tank. ...R

I'm beginning to think that "incompetent" really means anything that you don't agree with. ...R

The real "pig's ear" of electrification was doing it at all when diesel traction would have been a far more sensible option. Electrification was an expensive option even in the early part of the 20th century when the only alternative was inefficient and dirty coal fired trains. Once reliable diesel traction became available (in the late 30's in the USA, IIRC) then the economic justification for electrification went out the window. ...R

Those two statements seems to contradict each other. How much of the castigation is based on ill-informed prejudice? If you are going to put yourself forward as an expert then please provide the evidence. ...R

I have no knowledge of the details underlying that (and I suspect few people outside the system do). However I would be surprised if the problems are as directly the responsibility of the civil service as you imply. If I told your friend that the shop he was looking for was on the other side of the street and he got killed crossing the street you would hardly blame me for his death. By the way I am not suggesting that the civil service never makes mistakes - just that they are no more prone to doing so than any other big organization. ...R

As a retired civil servant I resent that slur on my profession. ...R

They always have the option of resigning. ...R

Now there's an idea. Make it illegal ...R

Unless someone I have not heard about has tried selling attractive starter end-to-end layouts and failed then how can you know what "most want". Children love things that fly around quickly and the only practical way to deliver that is with a circle or oval that repeats itself - otherwise the toy runs off into the next county. I'm talking about a starter kit aimed at adult customers who, at least to start with, might wish to give the impression that they have bought a serious model train rather than a toy. ...R PS ... when you consider all the recent model railway products produced in limited quantities for very small niche markets the concept of what "most" want seems a bit irrelevant.

If a business is not working it is ALWAYS the fault of the management. In the excellent motor museum in Coventry there is (I assume it is still there) a large space given over to the demise of the British motor industry in the British Leyland days. Lots of press cuttings and photos from the times. However no attempt has been made to identify the causes of the problems or show that anyone has learned anything or can learn anything from the experience. ...R

That's much the same as saying "lots of people eat cornflakes". As a statement it says nothing at all about the people who don't like cornflakes (or who don't have space for an oval layout). Nobody is saying "stop making oval starter layouts". But IMHO the genre needs to be broadened to include other types of starter layout to appeal to people with different tastes or different constraints. ...R

Won't each team be making a completely new model? ...R

That is certainly an option but I reckon that a straight length of track with a nice scenic effect (including something to give the impression of the train going off-scene) could be an effective starter kit. Something that people would be comfortable showing to friends. Then there is endless scope for selling add-ons to extend it. ...R PS ... Battery powered trains with remote control would avoid all the hassle of wiring. Why aren't model trains as simple as a quadcopter?