RJS1977

If that's the gentleman I'm thinking of, he's a regular trader at my own show and naturally I have no qualms about him whatsoever! I'm don't know that he really poses a threat to the bricks and mortar traders though - there aren't many of those around (Marlow Donkey, the Dolls House shop in Twyford - neither of which are particularly easy to get to - and Church Street Models in Basingstoke are the only ones I can think of). Most of the local shops closed before he came on the scene, so I don't think he can really be blamed for their demise. (And I don't really think he's undercutting anyone very much with his prices - he doesn't overcharge but he doesn't generally seem to offer 'silly price' bargains either). But by trading at shows he makes model railway purchases physically accessible to the public attending the shows, especially of course the newcomers who've just popped in for something to do, think 'I could do that' and want something to take away with them. (In the first few years of my show, I rang round the local shops but most weren't interested in bringing a trade stand - the Twyford shop wasn't around then - but none were interested as it would mean closing their shop for a day). Provided they trade honestly, I have a great deal of respect for anyone who gives up their weekend to turn out to run a trade stand at an exhibition - particularly if they have a 'day job' as well. It can be just as long a day running a trade stand as it is taking a layout - the gentleman in question is usually waiting to be let in when I open the hall up at 7:30am and he's often one of the last to leave.

Whilst I wouldn't say exposure to the prototype and model shops are necessary requirements to generate new entrants to the hobby, they certainly help. And arguably we do have a problem in that the majority of modellers seem to be in the 60+ age bracket - unless new entrants are generated there will be serious issues not just for Hornby,but Bachmann, Dapol, PECO and all the smaller suppliers as well in the years to come. If anything the model shops are more important to the smaller suppliers than they are the big boys, simply because postage on a £5 scenic item can cost nearly as much as the item itself so most people buy these either in shops or at exhibitions.

Though to be fair, Bachmann have missed their way a bit too in this regard - there have been three new liveries for Class 165s on the Thames Valley lines since Bachmann last made models of them!

40mph may not be all that fast, but it's still above the speed limit for most urban roads, and on a lot of minor country roads you'd be foolish to do any more than that, even though the 'Notional Speed Limit' applies.

There are some models not currently listed for release this year (re-liveries of existing models) which Hornby could release quite easily without massive capital expenditure. The green GWR HST or a VTEC HST come to mind... And I don't think I'd complain very loudly if they were to release a Class 08 in Guinness colours...

I was quite surprised to be passed by a Morris Minor in full police livery whilst I was walking to church on Sunday morning and wondered where it was off to (unfortunately I didn't manage to get a photo). The mystery was solved when I saw some photos of the Brooklands Morris & Austin day on the Museum's website.

It was there in 1955 as well...

And of course Bachmann came into the UK market by acquiring a Chinese factory which owned many of the old Mainline tools.

Well done so far! I've been working on a similar project myself (with the assistance of 2nd Reading Boys' Brigade). The Cholsey & Wallingford Railway asked me to rebuild a layout that had been in their store shed for years. The track all needed replacing and so did the scenery. Still a bit to do, but it was sufficiently advanced to make its debut at the Kenavon show last month: No prizes for identifying the classic (model) road van visible in these photos!

In answer to my own question, the other two are now at Tanfield.

I took a look at some of what had been going on at Cholsey during a rather quiet shift today (obviously owing to the possession, we weren't getting any passengers arriving by train). My thunder has been stolen slightly but here goes: The mast base I referred to a while back as having been planted on the embankment behind Platform 4 has now sprouted: A gantry has now appeared rooted in Platforms 1 and 2/3, and interestingly cantilevered across to the Up Relief rather than having a further upright in Platform 4/5. A further upright has appeared also in Platforms 2/3,presumably as part of the next gantry, whilst, heading towards Didcot a number of cantilever brackets have appeared over the Mains and Reliefs, masts to the Down side of the line. Interestingly - whether by accident or design, this has ensured that there are no mast posts anywhere between the Up Relief and the C&WR (and yes,I know in places the clearance is too tight even to put a fence between the two lines!),meaning that if ever anyone feels iike leaving us a few million in their will, it would still be possible to reinstate the connection:

Not to mention that some of us like to see what we're buying before we buy it (even if it's seeing one that belongs to a friend,on a layout at a show, or even a video review on RMWeb!)

On the other hand, there may be other potential bidders who aren't bidding for the stuff on Ebay either because they don't know it's there or it's gone out of their price bracket. Conversely if the manufacturers don't make another run of something, they won't sell any... There might also be a case for leaving it a few years before doing a re-run of a certain model, in order to pick up people who either weren't in the hobby first time round or were modelling something different at the time. It should also be remembered that if originally only one run was planned, and it has sold out without discounting, then the tooling and development costs should have been paid for,which means that even if the manufacturers have to offer the second run at a reduced price, they won't necessarily be making a loss on them.

It's easy to miscalculate demand for coaches - a friend who runs a well-known firm manufacturing brass kits told me that when he first started out, he realised he could fir three coaches on to one etch - so he did a brake, a composite and a restaurant car. Of course, he wound up with loads of restaurant cars left over! He never made that mistake again!

Wasn't it "We're not just here for the bad thing in life - like a blocked drain or a broken window - we're here for the nice things too"?

I suspect there is probably some regional bias, though not an absolute one. For example, I suspect the H&P liveried Peckett may well sell better in the Reading area than the Manchester Ship Canal one and vice versa. Maybe there ought to be some sort of umbrella organisation for independent model shops so Waltons of Altrincham can ring up Alton Model Shop. "Hey, Alton - it's Waltons.You got any of those MSC Pecketts left? They're selling like hot cakes up here and I'm running out." "Not selling so many here, Waltons. How are you off for H&Ps? We're getting through them like nobody's business." "Still plenty left up here, Alton." "OK, I'll do you a swap." Now, I know the logistics of swapping locos around like that would take some sorting out, but with traders and clubs attending shows around the country on a regular basis, I'm sure something could be sorted out. Likewise, maybe if a group of independent retailers could put an order in together, they might be able to command the same sort of discounts Hattons does.

Until Railway Modeller announced that Hornby were no longer giving them review samples, I'd always assumed the samples were loaned to the magazine. When Mike Martin was helping me order the HW Snow wagons from Dapol, he told me that RM returned his wagons to him after they'd reviewed them. Though with the increase in pre-ordering and limited runs, I should think that in many cases the models would be almost sold out by the time the review hits the shelves anyway. We never did send a Snow wagon to RM for review - we sold the first 20 so quickly we realised they'd be pretty much all gone by the time the magazine came out.

I'm not sure about that - according to post 5819 he must be at least 89!

But would Bachmann have been allowed to produce a Talyllyn for the UK market first, and then a Skarloey for the US market?

But what's needed is enough to enable children to progress from the toy which provides a few hours entertainment over several months, to the hobby of a lifetime. So yes, the vague blob mentioned is a starting point - but if Hornby want sales they have to have more which children/parents (and hard-up adult modellers) can buy after the initial set. In my case, my first train was a 101 tank, three 4-wheel coaches and a few wagons. Then after that I was looking out for other GWR locos and rolling stock to go with them.

1) "However, I don't imagine for one moment that anybody interested in the current prototype scene who purchases a Javelin is also in the market for a "Smokey Joe"." Absolutely - that's my point. There isn't enough in the range for a discerning junior (or cash-starved adult) modeller to make a decent collection of any era/region. 2) "Not sure why you cite the King as it is clearly not a Railroad product." It came up when I did a search on the Hornby website for Railroad. However even ignoring the King - the Crosti 9F is £130 and many of the tender locos and even some of the diesels aren't far off three figures.

Indeed - I've just been on the Hornby website to see what's currently in the Railroad range. Very little is the short answer, and actually in stock, even less. Apart from the 'Blue Rapier' (Javelin) - there is nothing in the range which is currently in front-line service on the national network. Even most of the tender locos in the range are now 'out of ticket'. So not much that's of interest to young modellers wanting to model what they can see today. And (apart from Smokey Joe and the 101) only one small tank engine - the Jinty. And some of the prices are still on the high side (£160 for a King class!). I'm afraid the Railroad range is little more than lip-service.

Well,he owns a BMW...

Of course there's a place for secondhand (I've built up quite a fleet that way) - but that doesn't mean there isn't also a place for more budget-priced locos and rolling stock as well. There are however a number of downsides: 1) Depending on the source, it's not always guaranteed that the model works well/is complete. Particularly on e-bay it isn't always easy to tell if a loco works, or if the other side of it is damaged. Most non-runners can probably be repaired but it's not necessarily a job for the novice,particularly if spares have to be sought out. Not really the sort of thing to put under the tree for little Johnny on Christmas morning. 2) Second-hand models by nature are usually at least a few years old, often 20, 30 or even more. This obviously limits the range that can be obtained, making it harder for Johnny to obtain a model of the train that goes past his school every day. 3) Prices of new models generally acts as a lid on the second hand prices. As new prices have risen, secondhand prices have gone up too. I certainly don't believe we shouldn't have any super-detailed models, but I can't help thinking the pendulum has swung a little too far in that direction.

I don't think he's saying that. But Hornby have not one but two budget-priced HSTs in their back catalogues and neither are currently available! As I've said several times, if we want to encourage youngsters into the hobby, it helps if they can obtain models of the trains they see every day at a price they (or their paremts/aunts/uncles) can afford. How about a version in the new GWR green?