RichardT

Yes it was and is, but whether that illustrates a general principle about mainline/heritage rail connections or whether it’s because the Middlesbrough-Whitby train service makes “vestigial” look like a synonym for “cornucopia” is very much up for debate. RichardT

And yes, major British influences on early Japanese railways. That’s why JR East offered a Shinkansen unit to the NRM. RT

Further down the description it says ”- Assembly instructions - Parts Sheet - 3D printed parts *We take great care in our manufacturing, but there may be some areas that are not laser cut properly. In that case, please make a cut with a utility knife or similar to fix it. ( This is a machine translation. Please allow for possible misinterpretations in the text. )” So I’m guessed you’re right that “paper” is a mistranslation for “card”. Sound like they’re laser-cut card plus 3D printed details. Laser-cut card can be quite robust. I’m also intrigued that the other illustration on the listing shows a single-arm version that looks hugely suitable for a British layout. RichardT

Oh b*gger. Sorry @MikuMatt81. They definitely did used to do printed Setrack point templates. (EDIT Just checked and they *do* templates for 9mm gauge Setrack points but not 16.5mm. How odd.) Mind you, all they consisted of were an overhead photo of a point. So just photocopy or scan a Setrack point at 100% to make a DIY template? Voila - that’ll sock it to The Man! RichardT

I wasn’t going to bother joining in this thread because there’s just too many errors and misunderstandings in it, and confusion between copyrights and trademarks, for me to be bothered to correct in my valuable spare time. But yes Steven, you are right to find the original statement hard to believe. Richard Taylor (Formerly Senior Curator at the NRM responsible for library archive, pictorial and poster/art collections and public access/licensing thereof.)

Yes. As others have said, the geometry is compromised WRT real track geometry but that’s not the point (no pun intended!) of your proposal. Templot is intended to draw models of real track, not toy train track (which is what Peco Setrack is, really) and would be overkill for your experiment. But later on…who knows where you’ll go? 😁 I did the same thing when I started in N gauge in the 1970s, using copper clad sleepers and secondhand Peco rail over a printed Peco setrack point template stuck to a block of wood. I used track pins with their heads cut off pushed into the wood to hold the rail ends over the template. (Copying what I’d seen Mike Cook do with SMP point kits on his South Devon layout.) They didn’t look “real” (but neither does Setrack) but they worked - running was a bit rough mind you until I realised I hadn’t filed the switch rail ends & stock rail joggles properly and the common crossings were always a bit of a bodge (I was using FB rail in my ignorance - it’ll be easier with BH) but it was fun and I was *so* chuffed - “look dad, I’ve made my own points!” *Then* I started learning about prototype track geometry… (but also about beer and girls, which slowed down the modelling a lot.) The Peco point templates (intended for track planning purposes) are downloadable from their website - find the point you need and the template should also be there. (We used to have to send off for printed ones by post enclosing two or three inlay strips from a length of Peco flex track!) As I said, good luck! Will be interested to see the results. RichardT

It probably is possible. Why not just have a go? It’ll only cost you a small amount in materials and time, and it’ll be a useful skill to develop. Then tell the forum how you got on. Good luck RichardT

Absolutely. The adult enthusiast community contains a fair proportion of special people and more often than not it’s they who have problems with concepts of personal space and respect for other peoples’ property. I particularly relish comments from these people about how they don’t like barriers or screens getting in the way of their expensive camera kit. And given that there have been articles and editorial comments about “finger-poking” adults in railway modelling magazines from at least the 1950s onwards, can we drop the inter-generational blame game? This isn’t the Daily Mail. As usual, the people who will read and respect a “please do not touch” notice are the ones who don’t need the notice. The others will ignore it. RichardT

So, I’ve just clicked on an announcement, about an announcement, about an announcement… 😵‍💫 RT

Old-school anti-slip material. Also to mitigate damage to the surface on which you’re using the cutting block, should you absent-mindedly be using your antique dining room table for track works… RichardT

Packed with modelling inspiration! £10 incl postage to UK address. Less for collection/handover in person: I can do Darlington, Durham localities or York city centre. PM me if interested. Richard Softcover, ISBN 9780901115430 Publisher: R.C.T.S., 1978 Detailed history of the Brampton Town branch and the colliery railways around Brampton, east of Carlisle, via Hallbankgate to Lambley on the Alston branch which originated from early tramroads and were finally operated by the NCB. 127pp, photos, drawings, maps etc. Very good condition - no fading.

Bachmann don’t just make things in 00, and as always the plural of anecdote isn’t data. 😉 RichardT

Looking good. Plausible deniability: the pseudo-GWR livery unit has obviously been transferred to Stratford depot to cover an urgent motive power shortage so they’ve not had time to repaint it yet. As for the bridge at the LH end of the layout, if it’s running between two warehouses why not make it a pipe bridge/covered conveyor rather than a foot/road bridge. Can be a bit more complex (to distract the viewer), and perhaps a bit lower, closer to track level (having been installed after the line was truncated) so as to mask the blank end of the cameo? But great anyway. RichardT

Lots to debate about this, but I just want to point out that the one thing oil-firing steam locos *isn’t* is inauthentic, both here and in the USA. RichardT

https://www.trains.com/mrr/news-reviews/news/in-memoriam-kirk-reddie/ Perhaps not so well-known in the UK, but his N Scale Railroading magazine was a very useful source of tips and inspiration, and he was a talented modeller (should probably say “modeler”) in his own right. Thought he should be remembered here as RMWeb is fast becoming the model railway journal of record. RichardT

“FTFY”, as I believe the young shavers say nowadays 😉 RichardT

Beat me to it - I was going to say A Stringency of Auterities.

Congratulations to an excellent model shop. Always a port of call when I’m in Edinburgh. And now I finally know where the name “Harburn” comes from - saves me fruitlessly poring over Edinburgh maps looking for a local small stream called the Har Burn… RichardT

Hi Pilotman You don’t need to restrict your potential buyers in this way. The restriction on selling NGS kits only to NGS members only applies to sales by the NGS: it allows the society more favourable tax treatment from HMRC because they are trading with members only, not the public. These kits are now your property: you can sell them as secondhand goods to whoever you like. You never know - the person who buys them may become inspired to join the NGS to get access to the other kits! Good luck with the sale. (Not my period I’m afraid 🥲) Cheers, RichardT (NGS member)

Oh bless. The whole point was that the factory management - well, the shop floor supervisory grades at the very least - were in on the fiddle. RichardT

Oh yes, and there’s absolutely no doubt that these are illegal products (or in breach of contract.). My point about the use of “counterfeit”, as meaning “a physical fake” was a more philosophical one. RichardT

Tried to reply to the other topic but it’s been deleted. On the thin evidence available this sounds like a revival of the old “third-shift counterfeiting” trick: the contract manufacturer runs the two main shifts for the benefit of their Western client, and then runs a shadow third shift producing the same items for “local” benefit. To what degree these third-shift items are “counterfeit” is a nice semantic question, depending on whether the third shift uses the same quality of materials and assembly techniques as the two other legit shifts, but they won’t be covered by any manufacturer’s (or should I say commissioner’s) warranty. It’s the risk you run contracting out your manufacturing to plants where you can’t supervise them on the ground. But hey, we wanted cheap stuff. RichardT

It’s a brand new item, announced to members in the last Newsletter, so possibly hasn’t made it into the online shop yet. (Planning to pick up a copy at the NERA AGM on the 13th!) Richard

You must speak as you find but I thought there were lots of traders selling rtr items, both new & second-hand, including some attractive show discounts from Locomotion Models, and the excellent local trader Monk Bar Model Shop. If what you mean was “no box shifters offering stuff at mega discounts” then yes, you’re correct. But they’re available all the time on the internet. Whereas it can be very useful to see the small specialist suppliers’ items in the flesh, and chat to the owners about their products and plans. And ditto the various scale societies and railway historical groups. That’s the value of shows like York. But YMMV as our US cousins say. Richard

I believe that this was the sense intended - if only because when I attended yesterday I noted a very large number of specialist traders. (But then again, I also noted a lot of stands selling core rtr stock in all scales, so I think all bases were covered.) An excellent day out all round. I do enjoy seeing a variety of scales and both UK & non-UK prototypes modelled, rather than the over-domination of “BR transition-era”. Seeing Grantham working a full sequence in grand LNER 1930’s style was worth the price of admission alone. So many excellent layouts it’s invidious to name all my favourites. But especial thanks to @queensquare for patiently staying around answering my questions about Iain Rice’s models, even though Mick Simpson had just taken over from him on Trerice specifically so Jerry could go off and see the rest of the show. It was a joy to see “Hercules”, “Pioneer” and the rest in reality, evoking cover photos of “Model Railways” past. Nick Freezer joining the conversation was incredibly serendipitous! Well done @John of York61 and the team. Sorry not to catch you, but I suspect that you were busy… Richard