Les1952

There are three different lengths. Alternatively try the N-gauge Hunt couplings, where the pocket is slightly smaller. Use a little Pritt adhesive to make sure they don't pull out, or squeeze the jaws of the pocket slightly with small pliers. If satisfactory and to be a permanent addition you could then use a small drop of a stronger adhesive. I do this on some stock with Easi-shunts which I use for stock that is shunted in the goods yard. Les

I don't have that many pics of 14" Hawthorns in the collection taken by me- though I could get a generous few dozen more from the books in the other room. Looking at my own collection (about 10 or so images of different locos) I can confidently say this about the details on these. No two were the same. Not only that, but one Durham County NCB loco seems to have swapped its saddle tank between the two pics I took of it.... Errors and omissions? These are industrial locos, which with very few exceptions never went back to their place of manufacture for an overhaul and didn't take long to gain embellishments or lose bits. A class of 50 identical locos leaving works would become 50 individuals before they were ten years old. Les

I suspect the answer to that is hidden in the depths of the contract they have with the website provider- how many years ago, what length of contract and what flexibility there is in that contract to add in a shopping cart. Also most management teams aren't that computer literate so may not understand the need for it. Think bad systems- think Horizon. There are plenty of other sub standard systems out there that were bought because those purchasing at the time didn't have adequate IT knowledge- if any knowledge at all..... Les

Its that time of year again- or soon will be. Les

My gut feeling (and only that- no evidence) is that they've shipped as many as are ready in order to get them to market and the rest of the batch are on the high seas or still being made, and that we will see them in a "few" weeks... It would make sense, but sense and people's perception of Hornby's actions don't always occupy the same planet. Les

A lot of the errors will be the result of those in the publicity and advertising dept (who do catalogues as well as adverts) being non-specialists. These errors occur elsewhere- I used to work as a GCSE examiner. One year every candidate doing our paper gained a "free" mark. Why? Because between being signed off by the Chief Examiner's committee and the paper appearing in print one multiple choice question had lost answer E- the correct one. Lost somewhere in typesetting - which in those days wasn't done by the examiners themselves. Les

Panama canal is closed to larger ships due to a lack of water. Cape Horn? Les

We'll have to wait until April as Hornby have said. Les

The only incidents of stuff going from baseboards I know of locally involved an adult removing and pocketing stuff from layouts (at more than one show). He was eventually handed over to the police... Les

that might have been my layout.... Les

I've never had problems with children close to the layout except at the Great Central show in the marquee where the floor was bouncy and two young lads clomped past (their normal gait) bouncing the floor enough for every item of rolling stock on Furtwangen Ost to fall off the track... On the other hand I've had to grab the layout to stop it going over when it got bashed fairly heavily by a mobility scooter. Driver of said scooter was completely unapologetic and inferred my layout shouldn't have been in his way. Les

I think it is a bit of both. Youngsters will ask if they see someone there, but are reluctant to but into something that looks complicated. We always try to keep one operator doing less than the other, and when nobody is off for a break or a wander we keep an operator to engage with the punters. There is a significant number of parents who jab their kids with "don't touch" or "don't break it" etc, which I find is as offputting to kids as us not talking. Les

The year I went with Jim Ross and his layout (201x) we had to brush snow off the car at the hotel in Tamworth before setting off back to the NEC, and there was a thin covering on the ground when we got to the NEC. I can't remember whether it was the Saturday or Sunday or both. You did manage to avoid snow like the Beast from the East, which effectively wiped out big Nottingham shows. That Sunday morning I came out at 6.30am to start the van to go back, and couldn't get in as the lock had frozen. It took 45 minutes to get into the van, and having slithered across rural Nottinghamshire to pick up one of the other operators, we decided to leave the van unlocked in the car park. I had visions of the show closing and our layout (Rise Park) being stuck in the Harvey Haddon Centre until we could get another van to go and collect it on Monday..... Les

One thing that has occurred to me - the "not getting any younger" comments. I spent 37 years as a teacher. When I first started I had the ability to find one evening a week to go to a folk club (and sing), and another to go to the local model railway club. As I got older the job didn't become easier, plus the arrival of Mr Simon and his younger sister also took time out. I continued to make one evening a week for singing (plus show week, though that later became Easter week) but didn't join a railway club after moving to the East Midlands in 1980. It was only when both offspring had gone off to University that I got time to join a model railway club again- and couldn't even think of becoming a committee member until I retired. With other (music) groups I belong to the same effect is prevalent. Those of working age don't belong to as many groups, and if they do sing/perform they certainly don't have time to be on the committee or be an organiser. That tends to come with retirement. I spent six years as show manager for South Notts show, and am now club chairman. There is no way I could have found time to do that job while I was teaching- the paid job took too much of my time. I appreciate just how much effort goes in to organising a show- and the increase isn't double the show size and double the effort- it is nearer square the effort. I take my hat off to the members of Warley club and express the hope that in the future there will be another Warley club show, but of a smaller and less stressful level to organise. Les

I remember calling into Hattons bigger Smithsdown Rd shop just before Christmas one year when I was picking my daughter up at the end of term- the year she lived on Penny Lane (she moved a couple of streets away for the next couple of years). The doorway was piled high with mail sacks- several dozen of them. I commented "You must be expecting a collection" to be told "These are the ones they couldn't get in the van" Les Just as an aside, when she graduated the country was moving into recession (2009 ish). She wanted to stay in Liverpool but needed a job. What do you do for a job at the start of a depression? She became a bailiff's court clerk.......

Does RMWeb have a future given the negative attitudes expressed often seem at odds with the real world? Plenty of toy trains being sold. You just need to talk to youngsters at shows (easier to do when manning a desk or a layout....) Les

One risk was identified by the proprietor of one of my closer model shops. He's noted for some time that a number of his older customers over the years have been suffering from dementia. On working out which customers were affected he found it was collectors who tended to dementia while active modellers kept their marbles long enough to drop dead from something else. I may not be the world's best modeller but I keep on working things out....... Les

In a way I hope so- I want a set of originals. Good bodies for new chassis might be the way forward. I did suggest that this trio would be done (though not in the newer bodyshell) I also mooted Locomotion No.1 (but with2025 in mind) Not only that but my list of three "not going to be done" aren't going to be done..... Maybe an odd loco this year, including a Locomotion. More than last year.... Les

About 15 years ago I bought quite a lot of stuff at Hattons. At the time I was living (as now) near Newark on Trent, so I got a lot of comments of "Why not use your local model shop?". However, my daughter had gone to Liverpool to University and stayed there for three years afterwards. That made a minimum of 6 visits a year- where were her digs? On Penny Lane about 5 minutes walk from the shop making Hattons the shop with the shortest walk to get to it. Since then I've bought quite a lot of items, though nothing since the Class P came out. As others said the prices of the secondhand (and the descriptions) were a bit idiosyncratic in the early days, but at that time I also picked up three secondhand BNSF N-gauge diesels from Rails that were cheap and described as "non runners" to find they were DCC fitted and worked perfectly- Hattons weren't the only ones who had a learning curve when moving into secondhand in a big way. I wonder how many are like me and just not buying the kind of stuff Hattons (and Rails etc) stock any more? I have nothing whatever on pre-order from anyone at the moment, though there are a couple of locos that might just tempt me. I'm saddened that they are going, though not really a current customer. Les

Many Continental manufacturers issue catalogues then a seperate new items catalogue- last year's Fleischmann "Neuheiten" catalogue was over 70 pages, in N gauge only..... Les

I don't know who it was I was talking to, but I think it was when talking about J94s at Gaydon. I mentioned that a J94 would be good with 21 ton hoppers to play with and got the reply that they're on the list "somewhere". Les

He actually sorted out frame alignment issues that were affecting the stability of the 2 to 1 lever in the conjugated valve gear- note that conjugated valve gear is what Castles had, but that drove the opposite way (valve gear in the inaccessible part of the engine driving outside cylinders) and only one gear per 2 cyls making it a bit simpler. The GWR needed good alignment tools to make it work, and this is what was brought to Doncaster- together with intermediate piston and valve examinations, allowing the Gresley Pacifics to run over 100,000 miles between major overhauls- the A1s already were doing this sort of mileage. Much of the issue of the middle big ends had been sorted by then but keeping the middle cylinder from doing too much work finished the job. It is worth noting that the two guys were swapped by Headquarters at Crewe to put people without the appropriate background in charge of engineering for the two regions in the expectation that each would succeed in reducing the effectiveness of the power on those regions allowing Crewe and its products to shine. They were already having problems with B1s being cheaper to run and maintain than Black 5s (though not as robust) and the most cost effective express loco they had being the Peppercon A1. Both men then made improvements that weren't expected by higher authority.... Back to wish listing- a retooled B1 would be nice as would a double chimney Castle. I don't need any more A3s (and if I did they would be TT or N- OO ones take up too much space). Les

The Class 66 will be in Hornby's April announcements, so I would expect that there would be nothing from Arnold about their version of it this side of the Nurnberg Toy Fair. Hornby Hobbies are there, on stands B31 and C30 in Hall 7A. Dates are 30th January to 3rd February. Les

As little as that? FLYING FOX's recorded mileage at 31st Dec 1962 was 2,594,865. It continued in service for another 24 months, giving an estimated lifetime mileage of a little over 2.7 million miles. I underestimated- FLYING FOX ran almost a million miles more than the Castle that beat it..... Of the 78 Gresley non-streamlined Pacifics only 14 failed to beat Pendennis Castle's service mileage as measured up to 31/12/62, of which ten were built in 1934, and thus had ten years less in service. Even GREAT NORTHERN managed 2,078,700 miles in service to withdrawal in November 1962, and this was a comparative failure after rebuild, mostly due to spending longer periods in works each overhaul.... Les

If they announce stuff together and one part of the announcement gets held up more than another they get negative comments. If they only announce stuff when it is ready to ship they get negative comments about not taking pre-orders so not knowing what they might sell.. If they hold stuff back until everything that belongs together is in stock before releasing it they get it in the neck for having too much capital tied up in unsold stock in the warehouse.......... Heads they lose, tails they lose. Les