Godfrey Glyn

Once again this very special event is shaping up to be even better than the last one, what lucky folk we are to have this gathering once a year and not once in a lifetime! Alongside all the exhibits, demonstrations, fine food and hot drinks there lurks the famous BRING AND BUY sale where you happy punters have the opportunity to pick up that particular modelling treasure that somehow you managed to miss first time round but now jumps out at you, and at a very reasonable price. Of course these little treasures do not come to Taunton unless you decide to bring them. So now is the time to dig through your boxes, cupboards, storage rooms and vaults, and collect together those really good items that you no longer need but clutter up your environment and could be fully loved and appreciated in a new home. After helping on the BRING AND BUY STALL at SWAG for two years I have come to realise that there is no rhyme or reason as to why some things sell, whilst other things do not, life is indeed a gamble. But you never know, absolutely any good item that you bring may very well, at the right price be turned into hard cash to further feed your new modelling desires. So don't hold back, fill the car with all those kits, books and models that you no longer need and bring them to Taunton and experience the delight that a good bit of retail therapy can bring. We will sell any good items you bring and a paltry 10% of the sale price will go to supporting SWAG 25 and any excess will be donated to charity. Please come with your items marked and priced and the completed form attached. We will be accepting cash but there will also be card payments available. Keeping the prices simple would be most appreciated by the sales team, maths no longer a strong point, and please make sure you comply with the details on the form which have been designed to be a simple as possible. Please do not hesitate to do some advertising of items here you may wish to bring, nothing like free marketing to increase sales. If you have any questions do please PM me, but most importantly download the SWAG BRING AND BUY form attached and complete your listing. You could come away from Taunton a much richer/happier modeller! Looking forward to seeing you at SWAG '24! all the very best Godfrey SWAG2024%20Bring%20and%20Buy%20Form-Extremly%20Very%20Final%20Form%20%20Rev3.docx

Don't think Ian's response to the arrival of the banana after the war was unique, a colleague of mine remembered being given one when they started to arrive after the war, and perhaps due to the hype, was so disappointed that he didn't finish it and steered clear of them for many years! A pity though that we ended up with the journalist who invented the story about straight bananas in a position of some power. all the best Godfrey PS BTW the models are beautiful!

Mine arrived on Friday, very securely packaged and all complete. It's a magnificent model, another top notch model from Team Accurascale. Ran it around a test track on Saturday and it behaved perfectly from the first application of current. I am delighted with it and with the improvements that have been made on the original Hattons model. I think it is, at present, the ultimate 00 model of a class 66 and nobody should be concerned if they have one on order, I'm sure you will be delighted with your purchase. Thanks again to Accurascale all the best Godfrey

442, one or two will do nicely! All the best Godfrey

Picked up some of mine from Paul at Alton Model Centre this afternoon. Wow, wow and thrice wow, they are fantastic. The stay alive works so well that you can take it off the track and put it back into its beautiful box before the lights go off. IMHO the lighting is just right, not like some carnival procession that some manufacturers deliver. Well done Accurascale, I think its possible to say that if you normally deal with your local model shop you can have full confidence when you order an Accurascale model that it will arrive with a flourish. Looking forward to the next batch, hopefully some in the later NSE darker blue! all the best a very happy Godfrey

A good question, I saw the sample at Febex at the weekend and it looked very impressive - a friend said it looked to be of Accurascale quality! I couldn't find any mention of it this morning on a skim through the announcements video. Very strange. Perhaps its not as ready as they want it to be or otherwise they want to add some liveries that have not been outshopped yet. Did not one of the real locos enter the Eastleigh works recently to be painted? Nobody has died so not of any great importance in the scheme of things! all the best Godfrey

Many thanks ModelU Chris for your replies. One thing I love about the ModelU is that the proportion of head to body is correct (obviously!) whereas in many of the traditional white metal versions previously available the heads were far too large. The only factor which doesn't seem to apply to the figures is that once you go back in time before the '60s and '70s people were much smaller and many workers would have spent a childhood on such a poor diet that they had no chance of growing to the heights of their modern peers. Great products and great service, keep it up! all the best Godfrey

Thank you so much Fran for your questions which have clearly started an interesting discussion. That you did engage with us is what we have come to expect and appreciate as modellers and customers. I have always been a fan of the 5WES and in terms of design I consider them to be one of the very best designed EMUs that has been produced in this country. They looked good and were comfortable to ride in as a passenger. I hasten to add that I have absolutely no knowledge regarding their technical strengths or weaknesses! As mentioned by Dunsignalling above, I think there are just three types of coach in the five car set which could make its selection cheaper than five very different coaches ( happy or perhaps sad to be told that I am wrong!). Regarding price I think your Irish Multiple Units are very reasonably priced for what they are and I am making a totally uneducated guess that sales of a Southern EMU might even be greater than your Irish units . Very few of us can afford to buy dozens of 5WESs at those prices but looking at the numbers of your wagons running behind your Class 37s on YouTube videos and at exhibitions I suspect that there are more out there willing to pay for top notch models than most of us appreciate. You produce top notch models at prices that a lot of us consider to be fair prices, I have proved that to myself by the number of Class 55s and 37s that have arrived at my house, either direct from you or via my local excellent shop in Alton. So in short, if you produced the 5WES at the sort of proportional prices that you charge for your Irish units, I would be planning a new layout and saving the pounds in anticipation of their release! many thanks Fran Godfrey

Fran, its now a year since you informed us that you had seriously looked at the 5-WES and, as far as I know, nothing has emerged from the team who suggested that they were working on it. I really think you should go back to them and see if they are still committed to the idea. It's one of those very special EMUs that would really provide you with the opportunity to bring another stunning model to the hobby. all the best Godfrey

A very sad and indeed shocking development. It just goes to demonstrate the intensity of the economic changes that surround us, some of International and some of them self inflicted by us as a country. My very best wishes and condolences go to the management and staff at Hattons as they go through this very painful period and hope that they all come through it with as much positivity as they can muster. Hattons will be much missed by the hobby. Godfrey

Picked up my pre-ordered black one from Paul at Alton this afternoon. I was glad to have ordered the black version as Paul had already run out of that version, all the others were still available as of 4pm today! As per usual he always tests locos and it ran very smoothly around the test track at all speeds. It's a very impressive model and I think Muz and his colleagues have done a brilliant job, many thanks! All the best Godfrey

The video from HM is excellent and congratulations to Graham and the team for getting this fascinating model to the market. I am looking forward to picking up two of them from Paul at Alton on Tuesday, I gather they arrived on Saturday! all the best Godfrey

Great news Graham, and great that you and Kernow have done the Hornby in conjunction with Bachmann. I have ordered two of the first production versions from Paul at Alton Model Centre. I am old enough ( just) to remember seeing one on a level crossing somewhere near Newhaven in black and silver livery. At the time I was both disappointed (it wasn't a steam engine) and impressed (it was a very different type of loco and a bit of a revelation to a small boy). Thanks! All the best Godfrey

Saw the first engineering sample running at the Taunton Show today. It looks very nice. Godfrey

I went today with my five year old grandson and I totally agree with everything the good Captain said. Firstly there was a competition to engage the minds of young children and most importantly to me the quality of the layouts was excellent. The whole thing was very well organised, friendly and attentive helpers and the range of food and the service in the new dining area was outstanding. The venue is excellent and having had an overall responsibility for buildings in a state funded college I can only envy those who work in the private sector, they certainly make the most of their additional resources at Taunton School. Many thanks to all involved in putting on such an excellent show. all the best Godfrey