Phatbob

Bodmin Generally will be appearing at the York Show this weekend.  Do say hello.  We'll be at the North end of the second mezzanine floor, possibly sweltering in the heat in front of those big windows.  We shall see...................

Local model shop gets my £o££€¥.
Use it, or lose it!
I have an excellent model shop on my doorstep.  Plus a couple more within half hour's drive for anything they don't do.
Interweb box-shifters don't get anything out of me unless they're offering something unique, or it's a VERY special offer and out of stock locally.

It looks like Appledore may yet get its fifteen minutes of fame. 
I spent a few fun hours yesterday with some friends at the Warrington Model Railway Club's premises (thanks chaps, much appreciated) enjoying a mass layout photoshoot for a well known model railway magazine.

A word of caution when you take these things apart. It's very easy to snap off the roof vents when you have the bodes upside down on your worktop.
Ask me how I know.
Fortunately, MJT cast shell vents are a good match once you've repainted the whole roof.  Doh!

I'll be there.  Just not sure which day yet.  Always an excellent show.

I've picked up a few of these recently very cheap, as frankly, IMHO they're not worth the full RRP given the quality.  So I agree with the OP.
New roof vents, Vac pipes etc. and a repaint and they look the part, if you can live with the extra width (which I can).  NEM coupling box has to be glued in place too as it's horribly droopy.  Also, a better set of wheels helps the running too.  So a bit less effort than building the Parkside kit (which I've also done in the past), but definitely a "project" rather than just plonk it on the layout. 
 

On 27/11/2018 at 13:40, No Decorum said:

 

nor something else with a lot of 1s and 0s – It-which-must-not-be-named.

Well done No Decorum, you nearly 'Fell' into a nasty trap there.

Ditton Junction.  60s concrete sh1thole that closed for good back in 1994 as so few people were using it.  Cr@p station with cr@p trains (Pacers, even though it was on an electrified route).

So, if the funds aren't going to be needed for those, I can stretch to two sets of the Hornby short ones this year.

 

John

That's my plan as well.

Already ordered from Grimy Times, my local model shop.

With any luck Bachmann will announce a loose Bulleid BCK to Diagram 2406.
With even more luck, I might live long enough to eventually buy one!

So the "Bindenburgs" are back in the lime light?  Does anybody know if these the Dusty Bins that were expensively converted to A/C traction motors and what not for Anglia?  Or are they the original spec with DC traction motors?

Mk1 BFK would be nice, as nobody's ever done one RTR.
A "loose" Bulleid BCK (rather than the 2-set one) would also get multiple purchases from yours truly.
A working turntable and working level crossing are both an open goal in the market at the moment IMHO.

Apologies for repeating this from another thread;

Mystic Bob predicts....................................... DCC giraffe car!

Have a cool yule everybody,

Fantastic photo there Mr York.

Mystic Bob predicts....................................... DCC giraffe car!

Have a cool yule everybody,

Don't Miss Grimy Times Model Railways, Warrington's very own model shop.  http://www.grimytimes.co.uk/
Also The Warrington Transporter Bridge, the ONLY railway Transporter Bridge <Clarkson voice> "in the world".  http://www.warringtontransporterbridge.co.uk/
Also, as Mick says East Lancs not far away, plus Langollen Railway to too far away.  Preston Docks railway not far.
Or just get the train into Scousepool and grice the ChatMoss line, Liverpool Edge Hill, Lime Street and explore Williamson's tunnels.
Alternatively, Manchester's Museum of Science and Industry has a lot of good railway stuff.
Warrington's own most excellent Model Railway exhibition is mid-October BTW.

I emphasise that it's a service quality award Bob "Retailers Customer Service Award - nominate the retailer who has given you the best service this year" - the same as products should be voted for on appeal/accuracy/functionality/reliability etc rather than the volume sold. I can't see any accurate way of giving it any weighting unless we knew the turnover/customer headcount for every business nominated. It doesn't make it pointless if any a large retailer does have the highest number of satisfied customers and it makes a change from listening to some on here who would seem to rather have a Customer Dissatisfaction Award.

 

Any small retailer can be nominated and if they receive enough nominations they'll go through to the voting stage.

Andy,

IIRC, if they're a limited company their accounts filed at Companies House will include a turnover figure for the previous tax year.

Not the ideal metric, as what's required is the actual number of individuals who are customers, and how many businesses know that?

But this might not be an unreasonable basis for weighting the results, given the lack of anything better?

Anyway, I'll leave that with you and stop nagging about it now.  The point has been made.

As for a customer dissatisfaction award, I have to say that for me, one of the many pleasures of this hobby is that my experience of the specialist businesses in it has been one of decent, honest people who are trying to be helpful.  I have have made a few very good "friends in the trade" over the years.  Long may that continue.

Cheers!

Bob.

Andy, is there going to be some kind statistical weighting in the annual Hattons award (also known as the Retailers customer service award)?
Perception of service quality is a qualitative measure, not a quantitative one.  Given that the voting is currently done on a straight head count, the retailer with highest number of happy customers is going to win.  This gives those with the highest turnover an unfair advantage and frankly, IMHO, makes this award pretty pointless.
Smaller retailers have not got a cat in hell's chance of getting their efforts recognised.
Cheers,
Bob.

Starts tomorrow folks!
Always a good show and well worth the journey.
Do pop-in and say hello.

Last minute panic.com presents, in association with Emergency Substitutions Ltd;
APPLEDORE.
Due to circumstances beyond his control, Mike can no longer bring the Tri-ang layout.
So I'll be bringing Roundhouse's "Appledore" layout in its place.  We'll be using my rolling stock.
Sorry if anybody's disappointed at missing the Tri-ang layout.
Maybe next year instead?

Will be there with Chris Hewitt’s Sandon goods yard. Not on the list above but assured we are attending.

Tell Chris not to through those bl00dy spears at me.   

(Sorry folks, that's an 'in' joke).

See you there.

Yellow, are you bringing one of New Bryford's old layouts?

 

Just cleaned the last of my wheels ready for Coppell's trip to Oustende this weekend. Then I'll have to do them all again for ours!!!! Kev.

The idea behind the Tri-ang layout is to have yellow baseboard tops with the edging and drapes etc in red, so as to be reminiscent of the old Tri-ang packaging.

Looks better than it sounds, trust me.

I shall be off to Poynton this afternoon to set up Bodmin Generally (http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/127251-bodmin-generally/&do=findComment&comment=3296421http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/127251-bodmin-generally/&do=findComment&comment=3296421).
Looking forward to it.
Always a great show and I go every year.  Nice to not have to pay to get in this time.
Do pop in and say hello.

Bodmin Generally will be appearing at The Model Show in Poynton, Cheshire this weekend.
http://www.themodelshow.co.uk/?page_id=1271
Do pop in and say hello.
Always a great event.  Now only plenty of layouts, but also boats (in a pool!  ), planes, the whole spectrum of model making.

Does the shoe beams on this version sit just above main rail height (like the HALs and BILs) or slightly higher just above the 3rd rail height like the VEPs and class 71.

 

Note: on the HALs and BILs, they are just below 3rd rail height like as if in completely dropped position but as they are correctly spaced width wise, they sit just outside my 3rd rails. I had to remove some 3rd rail sections where it curved off for point work though. The 71 sits above 3rd rail height but is also at correct width and sits outside the 3rd rail. The VEP (and Bachmann's EMUs) sit directly above the 3rd rail at OO gauge width. Dapol and Lima 73s  seem to have the shoes in raised/retracted position.

There is no third rail in the fiddleyard, so that's not the cause of the problem.

for the record, the only rolling stock that has given issues with shoe / third rail interface on Star Lane is the Bachmann EPBs.  Filing a slight chamfer on the  leading edges of the shoe solves the problem.  Interestingly, the Bachmann 4CEPs have neaver had any issues.

I’m fairly thick skinned but your tone is unacceptable. I sympathise but can see why Hornby are holding back on any easy fixes. I sorted mine for less than 50p and an hour of my time but am blowed if am going to share that. I also respect that you shouldn’t need to implement on a new model however cheap or expensive.1.

Sincere apologies for any offence.  That was never my intention.  It's Hornby I'm annoyed with, not you Sir.