Bernard Lamb

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

Steady on, that is far too sensible an approach. Such remarks will upset the vast majority of those who claim to model a gauge of 18.83mm. Another observation. For those not involved with engineering or material specifications. Take a look at the tolerance on steel thickness. It will show a sizeable difference in the potential total weight if you take enough material to build a locomotive. Bernard

Mary had a little lamb. She kept it in a bucket. Every time the lamb got out. Her dog tried to put it back in again. Bernard

How long do you expect a mass produced and built down to a price model locomotive to last? Three years ? Five years? In an age where computers are updated every year and a phone is nudging the £1k and is soon out of fashion, we can no longer expect the standard set by Hornby Dublo. Add £50 to the RRP and it might be possible,but would the market take it? Probably not going by general comments. As for spares, well going by the stock turnover that the business model requires, with particular reference to Hornby, then holding virtually any spares is not possible. Bernard

Yes and no. Back in my working days the arguments over the advantages versus the cost of having retail premises when the vast majority of your business was "trade" would go on continually. If you take into account a multitude of regulations and the perspective of certain customers, the probable conclusion is that a retail outlet might not actually generate a profit but is a cheap method of advertising and a massive generator of good will. You could probably do what Boris did before Brexit and write an article that said either option was superior to the other. However Hattons do seem to know what they are doing, so have set up an example of a business plan that works pretty well. Ironically rather better than some of their suppliers, so I can understand why they want a share of the action. Bernard

But in reality they try and force you into it, by putting up a message that you can only continue viewing if you sign in using your Facebook or Twitter accounts, or register for that particular site. The lesser of two evils is to keep a Facebook account open. This morning I received a request to join a group. I am already a member of that group. However I use a different email address so I am not recognized by Facebook while using that address. Bernard

Watford can barely cope with twenty people getting off a train let alone if you tried to get all the passengers off one and safely out off the station. You have to leave a fairly narrow platform, go through a set of doors and the turn at 90 degrees to go down a flight od steps, You then have to go through a passage to get out or up another flight of stairs to reach the Overground platforms. Bernard