Bernard Lamb

Nothing to jest about. You have raised a very valid point. While it would be difficult to detect the amount of water left by looking at the ride height of the springs the amount of coal is a very visible feature. A shunting plank with a Pug pulling a tender where after every trip to the fiddle yard it comes back with a few pieces less would be interesting entertainment at an exhibition. The operators could even run a book on how many trips before the general public notice. Bernard

But before we do that may I remind people of a quote when it all kicked off. The UK will end up with about as much influence as Guernsey. So far we seem to be on course. Bernard

I must declare an interest regarding this painting and this artist. I have been involved with a book that was published last week entitled East End Vernacular by a chap who goes under the pen name of The Gentle Author. It features several artists who worked in the East End of London in the 20th century. Given the number of railway lines in the area they are quite prominent in many of the illustrations. Sometimes, as here, as a subject, at other times just glimpses in the landscape. Some of the scenes include buildings that would make interesting subjects for modelling. The artist in this case is Doreen Fletcher who has a particular interest in local vernacular buildings. Bernard

I think I will stick with my Sennheisers. Just thinking when I bought them. Must be around 1986. For value for money and hours of use they have done rather well. Bernard

Not just the hobby Tony. The real world is heading down that road in many ways. I have been more involved with welding than soldering and have seen a tendency for people to be replaced by robots. In many applications this works well but in others some changes in the design of the product have been made as the robot is often restricted in what it can do, It does what it can do exceedingly well I must add. At times the blinkers seem to go on with management and design teams and a simple operation is ignored and a complex robot based method introduced. In time you get a work force that has lost the traditional skills such as soldering and welding. When I attended the Welding Institute one of the first lessons for potential designers was to write your name with a welding rod on a piece of 25mm steel plate. It was an eye opener and did bring a few high flyers down to earth as it brought home just what was involved in welding. It did teach them to "design clever" to quote a phrase. Bernard

There is one floating about. I think it goes under the name of Tornado. Bernard

A major part of the franchise idea seems to rely on an ever expanding market. A similar business model to Ryan Air. Two economic downturns have led to two players pulling out of the ECML. At the same time, as you point out, commuter traffic has kept on increasing. Crossrail seems to be built with a massive increase in passenger numbers in mind. The funny thing is that in another report published last week several major employment sectors in London sais they are struggling to find enough people. An interesting point by jon regarding the increase in the use of Oyster. I have seen this in particular at Euston. In very busy periods they open the exit barriers to avoid a crush but with so many people now using Oyster and still having to touch out the crowd still builds up and to me seems at times to reach a dangerous level. The first off peak morning arrival can be particularly bad with an assortment of folding bikes, scooters and skateboards. Bernard

http://orr.gov.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/25719/passenger-rail-usage-2017-18-q1.pdf There was a report in The Times today that quoted some potentially alarming figures.It seems to have been based on the above. The report concluded, rather tongue in cheek as I read it,that Corbyn's renationalisation plans would actually come about by default if the trend continued. Any insiders able to comment? Bernard

David, I think you are correct with your comments on the history of Pendon track development. They were committed to EM when P4 started but have worked out their own variations where it is possible to have a dimension closer to scale without adding too much extra work as would be required for genuine P4. There are a few people who work to similar standards and they do seem to work for those that take the time and trouble to experiment. I have come across people who can see the difference in gauge but not the difference in clearances. Being used to measuring small parts in my day job I can probably pick up small differences by knowing what to look for. I could at one time pick up a variation of 5 thou using a combination of sight and feel but I doubt if I could do that now. Rather than go for P4 RTR there is a case for true scale gauge track with a reasonable tolerance using around a 2mm flange width and 0.6mm flange depth with track dimensions to suit. But what would be the minimum viable radius for turnouts? However seeing that Peco with their bull head track have catered for 30 year old wheels and they should know the market better than any one, I do not see any chance of this happening. It is like the man asking for directions. If you want to get there then don't start from here. Bernard

The Pendon locomotive wheel according to my information has a flange width of 2-2.25mm so is in no way near to P4 standards. So yes, the difference is very easily noticed with reasonable eyesight. Bernard

A point totally misunderstood by Brexit supporters is that the EU would rather be financially worse of as long as they maintain the moral high ground. Certainly the view in Germany and they seem to be leading the way. As for governments knowing or not knowing what is going to happen I give you the following score. Personal information form the UK authorities since the referendum zero. Personal information from the German authorities. Every couple of months. Post Brexit arrangements on pensions, national insurance, taxation and banking are being prepared in Germany for people living in the UK with German connections. That reminds me, there are another couple of forms to fill in that came in the post yesterday. The UK government might well be working behind the scenes, but they are doing naff all in public to put peoples minds at ease in respect of a rapidly approaching deadline. Hornby do seem to be acting with a sense of urgency to put their house in order. I do feel sympathy for the people on the board who are trying to plan for the future with one hand tied behind their back. Bernard

I agree with just about every point you make in your post with the exception of this one. I would change shaking to pruning. Bernard

Probably with just about the same number of errors. Bernard, swiftly ducking under the table. .

Not by the standards of what people write in social media. Dave has tried to tell people what he is intending to produce. Those with any grain of sense and/or social skills accept these helpful comments for what they are. The world has changed and is changing at a rapid pace. Brexit, May, Trump. Who could have forecast any of those events. Who today can say what changes are soon to come following on from the fallout from these events? There was one instance of a model that received enthusiastic greetings on here and in other places and when the model appeared about 50% of the interest evaporated. You cannot blame Dave for that I can understand that an event like that can lead to a change of both attitude and action by Dave. I would rather take what the messenger has to say with a big pinch of salt, rather than shoot him and then hear nothing. Bernard

You make me feel old. It must have been the early 1990s when I was last there and rail traffic was running at that time. Some of the warehousing was brand new at that time and was the most modern around APR system, incorporating the very latest in stock control and stock movement. Where I was working handled pet food. It came in from Scotland in rail vans and was the moved into stock for despatch by road to local distribution centres. I have no idea when the rail traffic finished and thus no idea if this is modern enough. Bernard

All things bright and beautiful including the banned verse. That should upset the PC people and the modern church goers. Bob Dylan, If not for you. That will have some relatives wondering if they should take it seriously or not. Finally as my remains depart, as happened at the funeral of the wife of a friend last year. The Seekers, The carnival is over. Then, in full, the last movement of Mahler 3. What did a critic say about that. If heaven has a national anthem then this is it. Bernard

At work we had a design manual. A few pages were headed with a topic and a comment on the lines of "do not proceed without consulting xyz". Two pages had the comment "don't even think about it". I think, given the traditional reluctance of the RTR suppliers, your idea falls into that area. Bernard

Very much as previous comments. Whitby had Cowans, Sheldon No 759 a 50 ft version and N0 2830 a 60 footer. The name Ianson also appears in my information from a vey much earlier date. Bernard

It will depend on exactly which work it is. There are a couple on eBay at present and there are a couple In the Tate Gallery collection. I am sure that the value of one of these is very different to the value of the other. You would need to get a person with some in depth knowledge to give you accurate information. Ironically I have recently come across examples of posters by another artist, that are worth many times what a print of the same subject by the same artist would fetch. In one case a poster fetched almost the same price as the original painting. To any body who has any mint condition old railway posters, dig them out and gat a valuation. You might get a surprise. Bernard

That issue is non existent if you work to the sequence as per the original instructions. The components are designed for building both plain track and point work in situ. It is not surely any fault of C & L if people don't assemble the items correctly. In that respect C & L and Peco are aimed at very different markets. Bernard

A pharmacist walked into his shop to find a man leaning against a wall. " What's wrong with him ?" he asked his assistant. "He came in for some cough syrup, but I could not find any so I gave him some laxatives." "You idiot" said the chemist. "You can't cure a cough with laxatives." "Of course you can" said the assistant. "Look at him, he is not coughing now." Bernard

Just straying a bit further. I vaguely remember Blunt's also having a shop in WGC. I am sure I once bought some PC Models Gresley coach kits there. Bernard

It all comes back to the principle that cost and price bear no relationship to each other. It might well come down to what will the market bear, rather than can we make our usual margin. I would agree that your price band is in the right area to satisfy all requirements. Bernard

You are a very naughty man. My first thoughts are to sell up everything and buy an A4 and a dozen of those and build a line round the garden, Bernard