BMacdermott

Oh...yes! Haven't ever gone into that channel before! Brian

Hello Mike I believe there is a 'Yesterday+1' channel (ie runs one hour later). Might help? Brian

Hello everyone Well...the Parrot has also been done.🙂 Brian (Photo from Bachmann website)

Hello Robin Your wish is my command - Andy notified!🙂 Brian

Hello everyone Topic drift?? Brian

Hello everyone I had a case of 'primary source' documentation sending me 'up a garden path'. A large, grubby notebook entitled (something like) Bath Shed Coaling Stage Record came into the hands of the S&DRHT and I was asked to look at it. For a while, we thought we had struck gold. There were dates, loco numbers, driver names etc. I started to work a way through it...then anomalies started to accrue. And accrue... It wasn't long before it became evident that some of the entries were spot on while others were - shall we say - hypothetical (some of the locos could be proven to have been miles away or even in works!). Literally no-one in S&D circles - particularly surviving footplate staff of the era - had any knowledge of the book or any system of recording. A total mystery! Just shows that research is as easy as A, B, C... Assume nothing Believe nothing Check everything That's part of the fun but doesn't help a reviewer working against a deadline. Brian

Hello everyone Firstly – and I don’t intend this to sound ‘pompous/elitist’ etc – I tend to not read model railway reviews. The reason is purely that I have been modelling (and trainspotting the real thing) for 65 years and am really ‘a happy bunny’ in that if there is a model I want to buy, it will have been on my ‘wishlist’ since time immemorial and I will have researched it to some – or even great – extent. I don’t ‘impulse buy’. There is a standard mantra in the writing world: Write for your audience. I have just gone back through the recent BRM archive and randomly selected a number of reviews by the range of BRM reviewers. To my mind, they have been written perfectly for the BRM audience. They take a lot of work for not much reward – and I can say that from bitter experience (but clarifying that I haven't ever written any for BRM). It takes the reader maybe a second to read a sentence of the review; but that one sentence may have taken many minutes or hours to confirm as correct/accurate/appropriate. And they have to meet - often tight - deadlines. It’s very easy for someone sitting at home with a massive collection of books, photos and archive material to say: “Ah, but the reviewer didn’t note that the second loco of the class to come out of Doncerton Works in 1883 had the flange sprocket valve defibrillator on the left of the cab!” Or such like! Locos will have a different type of review in a ‘society magazine’; those publications tend to be more focussed on aspects typical modellers might not be interested in. There is such a thing as ‘too much detail’ for many. My disabled wife has a Motability car (I am the driver). The magazine regularly carries ‘reviews’ of cars on their lists – but those reviews are a world away from what you might read in What Car? or Top Gear magazines. Same car; different approach. Mike’s original point was: There has been some discussion recently in another thread about the degree of independence (from a 'manufacturer') of someone who posts reviews online. My view is that our reviewers are trustworthy; independent; and do a darn good job in difficult circumstances. Brian

Hello Mark I'll try. (The difficulty is that it might have been one that was in my possession when I was Assistant Editor of the SDRT Bulletin magazine and was returned after publication to the photographer. It's just that I have an abiding memory of the photo - but wasn't expecting to need to use it for this purpose maybe 35 years ago when I first saw it. 🙂) Brian

Hello Mark Exactly. I have a photo (somewhere) of an S&D 7F 2-8-0 in Prussian Blue where the colour on the tender is 'affected' by the coldness of the water. It looks like two different shades of blue between water tank and coal space! Brian

Hello everyone Wagon Help Needed! As some of you will be aware, we tried this year to list more individual Pre-Grouping items as opposed to generic company listings in Category 15 Freight Stock: Pre-1923 (excluding Scottish Companies). For 2024, we want to move into individual listings for those which were generic this year. GER is already 'in hand', but we are looking for one or two people who have an 'expert knowledge' of freight vehicles of some or all of the following companies: GCR; GNR; LNWR; LYR; and MR. Ideally, the person(s) might be such as the wagon representative for the relevant company society or club. If the person is not actually you, but you know someone with such knowledge, then we'd be grateful for you to forward this note or put us in touch via the email below. We will be looking for just two - maybe three - vehicles from each of those companies. We do not have room to list more, so it might come down to a 'typical open' or a 'typical van'. We are not seeking 'esoterics'! What we are looking for is: vehicles that no GCR/GNR/LNWR/LYR/MR layout can live without. Please do not 'apply' or reply on this thread or via a PM to me. Rather, email The Poll Team direct at the address below. You can expect at least an acknowledgement within 24 hours but we may need to 'sort' any replies over a few days before finally coming back to firm up any plans. Please note: we will be looking for people who can give an unbiased view of example freight stock for those companies and not to use this offer as a way of trying to get 'a favourite' listed! You will need to be able to 'take no' for an answer without getting upset as we as The Team have to do our best to present a 'balanced list' to the voters. Many thanks Brian (on behalf of The 00 Poll Team: thepollteam@gmail.com)

Hello everyone We are starting to drift off topic - can we please return to the subject matter? Results - The 00 Wishlist Poll 2022. Many thanks Brian (on behalf of The 00 Poll Team)

Hello PM47079 The Class 81 has been High Polling since 2013 and was in The Top 50 in 2016 and 2018 (Poll didn't run 2017). In 2019, it was only just outside The Top 50 and - this year - has gone back in and higher than ever before. Brian (on behalf of The 00 Poll Team)

Thanks John Yes, that's correct. This year, we excluded anything made after 2005 from The Poll (except the 14xx where we thought it was 'acceptable' to list it due to the demise of the maker). Brian

Hello everyone Following on from 'the limited appeal of large express passenger locos'... Let's say such is 4-6-0 and above from items in The Poll. GWR The Saint and County are in The Top 50. Great Bear has slipped down the ladder a little but still High Polling. The Grange is Low Polling (made in 2005). SR The WC/BB is in The Top 50 (made in 2001). The Rebuilt Merchant Navy is High Polling (made in 2000). The LSWR T1 'Paddlebox' is High Polling. LMS Bowen Cooke Claughton, Caprotti Black 5 and Long Firebox Jubilee are High Polling. LNER B16/1 - arguably not an 'express loco' per se but used on such - is Top 50. B17/5 - High Polling. B2 - Low Polling and has been for years. GNR A1 - Low Polling (new entry in 2022). A1/1 60113 - Low Polling but always is. A1 - Low Polling (made in 2001) A2/1 - Low Polling A3 - Low Polling (made in 2005). A4 - Low Polling (made in 2004). BR Caprotti Std 5 - High Polling Std Class 5 - Middle Polling (made in 2002) Brian (on behalf of The 00 Poll Team)

Thanks for writing, Chris - your support is valued.😀 The 517 has been gradually - but steadily - climbing up the ladder and this is the highest it has ever been within GWR Locos. The Dean stock is also upward. Brian (on behalf of The 00 Poll Team)

Thanks David The A4 is in this year (as is Caprotti Black 5) but the King and Castle aren't as they were made from 2015 and 2010 respectively. They are therefore outside our cut-off date of 2005. Brian (on behalf of The 00 Poll Team)

Hello John and Stephen And I was going to say what about pilot engines on and off? Or where to change crews? The whole 'dynamic' of the area would change. Brian

Hello again David The statement above got me thinking. I watch hundreds of votes as they come in and I prepare dummy results at various time points. I looked at rolling stock (ie stuff that is not in any way 'self-propelled') and found the following: 2019 13 items in Top 50 127 in High Polling 2022 11 items in Top 50 92 items in High Polling So, rolling stock has actually gone down - not up. Or do you interpret 'stock' differently? Brian (on behalf of The 00 Poll Team)

Hello David Thanks for this and you are entitled to an opinion but much of it doesn't match mine, I'm sorry to say. As I hoped I had made clear in my long post above, there are so many 'conflicting factors' that it isn't possible to draw firm conclusions and any comments can only be taken as conjecture and speculation. This is not 'professional market research' where respondents are specifically selected to be representative - we rely on supporters to 'pass the word' via our Poll poster etc. But how many see it, how many react to it etc etc is all a mystery. All I can say is the results have had a tendency to be fairly focussed when balanced over the years. Brian (on behalf of The 00 Poll Team)

Hello John Not that I am aware of. Empty coal maybe but not worth building a chord for that. Brian

Hello tlm Many thanks for the kind words. In category 08, Railbuses, Railcars & DMUs, we listed: Class 205 Hampshire/Berkshire 3H which came in within The Top 50. Looking at the Class 205 entry in Pat Hammond's book, Ramsay's Catalogue of British Trains, he says (quote): ...tooling allows for backdating this model to 'as built' condition and a centre coach will be added during later production runs. Perhaps see what Kernow say? Brian

Hello everyone I have just spoken with S&D author Mike Arlett - who has probably undertaken more research of the S&D in the Bath area than many - tells me that he has yet to come across any evidence of any plans etc to build this chord. Brian

Thanks Tom If anyone has any comments, could you raise a thread? Or direct to some appropriate point? We don't want to get N discussion mixed up with 00 here as it would only confuse matters. Brian (on behalf of The 00 Poll Team)

Hello Mark Robin might correct me here, but I think he was referring to the 6-wheeled SDJR Goods Brake & Mail Van - arguably distinctly different to many Brake Vans, Brian (speaking personally)

Hello David Many thanks. Firstly, The Poll Team requests that all discussions are conducted as ‘Officers & Gentleman’.🙂 The Poll Team has – since the very start – used the bands of Top 50, High Polling, Middle Polling and Low Polling to measure how items fare each year, no matter whether we have a 1000 voters or 10000. We first listed NER Non-gangwayed stock as two types in 2018. Both were Middle although the 49/52ft types were at the lower end. We listed them again in 2019. This time, the 52ft types had risen to the bottom of High and the 49/52ft types had climbed within Middle. This year we combined the two – as we had done with certain other locos and stock – and they have gone to the top of High within the category…but so did the three types of SR Tavern Cars when we combined them this year We will need to see if they stay there over a number of Polls to see the trend. One swallow makes not a summer.🙂 We have this year listed some Pre-Grouping company freight stock as individual items – previously listed generically as, say, SECR Wagons, Vans & Brake Vans. But that has had the effect of elevating all the generic listings to the top of category 15! We didn’t have room this year, but we will no doubt list individual items for LNWR, GER, NER etc etc and that will no doubt swing the pendulum again. Another fact to take into account is that Middle Polling is always ‘compressed’ with its number of votes. It would have taken a club of just 25 people to take a Low Polling item straight up to High Polling this year. In 2018, it would have needed a club of 35 people. In other words, what might seem ‘an incredible rise’ needs to be seen in context with how it was listed. We have also had some good interaction this year with a number of ‘eastern side’ groups which might have affected the positioning. Hence, my note about seeing how items fare over a number of years. It would be impossible for us to present a perfectly ‘balanced content’ Poll with, say, an equal number of locos or wagons of each company in each relevant category. Therefore, there are bound to be some areas that look more – or less – ‘popular’ than others. We do our best to ‘balance’ matters but we know we’d have to list thousands of items to get anywhere near that goal. We always have the problem of whether a loco is, say, Pre-Group or Grouping design. Sounds easy to solve but we can assure you it isn’t! David alludes to this with GWR. The Poll Team has never given its views on why an item or a railway company’s stock might go up or down etc. That is all a matter of conjecture and speculation...for many reasons! Brian (on behalf of The 00 Poll Team)