Kim

4 hours ago, PeterStiles said:

Fear? Surely these were men of iron, who coupled wagons with their bare hands and laughed in the face of falling off a moving train!

Not sure about fear. The MR built a one off special to a very similar design. The main difference was that it had a pair of side doors. It was based at Toton and was built and used to carry the men injured there passing between wagons to pin down the brakes on "the other side of the vehicle. Not sure they were laughing. It seems then that "duty of care" was to provide a vehicle to get them to hospital rather than stopping them being injured.  

2 hours ago, AY Mod said:

 

Please refer to the first post of the topic. 

I was referring to the post above mine in relation to referring to the UK as that poster is in the UK and was talking about emails.

As to the first post, I have messaged the author and offered to phone Jim on his behalf. 

1 hour ago, Crosland said:

 

To take on example from this thread, accepting payment months ago and then switching to silent running is simply not acceptable practice, no matter the size or nature of the business. IUf goods cannot be supplied then a refund should be offered. There should be no need for customers to resort to apyPal or credit card charge-backs.

 

Communication is key. A simple note on the website would go a long way. Similarly, a simple e-mail auto-response "Sorry orders may be delayed a few days whilst we are on holiday/ill/etc.,..."

 

I say this as the proprietor of a "cottage industry". 

 

Has anyone who has spoken to him recently mentioned this thread? He may be blissfully unaware of the bad feeling being created.

 

 

 In reply, a couple of comments. Firstly, communication is the key but it does work both ways. If you are in the UK, a telephone call costs most people nothing other than a small amount of their time. I do believe it is better to try and find a resolution with the supplier before airing any problems on social media. As to auto replies to emails etc, I have no idea how to do them. As I said before, I have never had any problem in contacting them by phone. It is quite clear from their website that if you are in the UK, they would prefer you phone rather than email. However if you do email to include a contact number so they can phone you as they only reply to overseas emails. Therefore I think it "unreasonable" if people start running them down because they haven't replied to an email.

At the end of the day, you are dealing with a person and hopefully we are all human beings and it is one of our traits to make mistakes. It feels as though many negative posts in threads like this one are based on "me, me, me" rather than being considerate of the person at the other end. We are in "exceptional times". I have had delays from many suppliers over the last 18 months or so. Not least due to the fact that the lockdowns have meant many more of us have been at home and placing many more orders than usual. Many suppliers have run short of stock and are having problems replenishing because their suppliers have had covid related problems. 

I spoke to Jim today. I had placed an order for some Dublo types plates earlier in the year. He could not have been more helpful and polite. There had been a long delay, mainly because there had been a huge delay in an order from the etchers. I have dealt with Modelmaster for quite some time and although it is sometimes not the quickest, it has always been reliable and the range contains many items including some specialist items like the "Dublo" size Coronation nameplates.

I believe it is important to remember that in our hobby, there are quite a few "cottage industry" suppliers. They produce items which would not be available if it were not for them. Yes, they are businesses but they also provide a service. They are not big companies with lots of staff, quite often just a single person with perhaps help from their partners. So illness, holidays and all the other vagaries of life will take a toll. They are not multi-national companies offering instant dispatch, next day delivery or even large model shops with a number of staff. It seems in these days of almost instant communication and  Amazon style delivery, that many fail to remember that there is a real person behind such suppliers and are quick to complain but slow to praise.

I will continue to deal with them with confidence. A few years ago, Jim did make a decision to retire but was persuaded to continue because of the service he supplies and the "loss" that many would feel if his products ere no longer available. Personally, I would not be happy if he reversed that decision because of certain comments in forums such as this. True there have been serious problems with a very small numbers of suppliers but there are very many more who make our hobby a better place. Modelmaster are one of the latter.

 

I cheated and used epoxy to glue the gas cylinder onto my brass coach floor. I don't trust myself with whitemetal yet, despite many years of soldering (mainly electronic circuits!).

The overwhelming benefit of a temperature controlled soldering iron.  

On health and safety, before dismissing elf n'safety gone mad it's worth remembering just how many people were killed, maimed or hurt in easily preventable accidents before elf'n safety went mad. I entered the work place in 1989 as a marine engineer cadet in the merchant navy. At that time people dying and getting crippled at work was part of life and basically accepted, although even in 1989 health and safety had advanced hugely and it was common for people who ended up dying in an easily preventable accident to be derided as Darwin award fodder.

Some examples that took place in the company I worked for (which was not big in terms of number of sea going employees) of my time at sea included an engineer being cut in half by a hydraulic water tight door, another one spraying himself with HFO at 130C and an electrician managing to mince himself in a lift incident (that one was particularly gruesome). The prevailing attitude was still that accidents happen in heavy industry and it was a cost of industry. Now such incidents are rare and when they happen there is rightly a demand for the causes to be clearly identified and measures put in place to prevent a repetition. And it was not just the MN, have a look at the HSE statistic digests, I know correlation in itself cannot be taken as causation but the statistics can be taken in the context of the huge effort to make things safer and do I think vindicate the efforts made to make the country a safer place.

Looking beyond work, I remember some of the accidents at school. One of my school friends was run over and killed walking home from school, a controlled crossing was put in place after his death (never miss an opportunity to close a stable door after the horse has bolted) but in hindsight it was blindingly obvious that there should have been a crossing there.

As some here know a large part of my job used to be investigating accidents on behalf of various governments, almost every one I got involved with was easily preventable, people should try looking at what was once a human being and which could still have been a human being if some pretty basic safety precautions (more often than not with negligible cost) had been in place and then see if elf'n safety has gone mad.

People keep talking about "common sense" in relation to health and safety. We'll put aside the obvious truth that common sense clearly isn't as common as some imagine it to be and flip the question, surely common sense is to implement measures to keep people safe?

 

Anyway, to return to the subject, I really think Trackmaster is a far better TTE toy than the sort of stuff sold by Hornby and Bachmann.

I'm not sure it is "Health and Safety" concerns. Your point is very valid and most of the current law is justified and good. However, H&S is about making sure employers keep their employees safe from harm as far as possible. It also works the other way and it is the employees responsibility to make use they work safely ie using hard hats, machine guards etc. However, it is not about manufacturers protecting their customers. A while ago, if we ordered a cup of tea or coffee, we "expected" it to be hot and in most cases would complain if it wasn't. For someone to be able to sue for damages because she, by her own fault spilt it and managed to claim damages because she was not warned it was hot is crazy. It has led to a culture where people "faking" or causing accidents to be able to claim damages. And in those cases, you are guilty until proven innocent. It's not H&S being talked about here, it is the litigation culture which I do believe has gone made.

I am not surprised even though it is a shame because TTTE just about saved Hornby from going under at one stage.

However, I do not agree that TTTE toy trains brought that many youngsters to the hobby as such. 20+ years ago, the thing that attracted my son was not the Hornby train sets but the TTTE series on the TV with Ringo Star. That and the series of books based on the TV series with audio cassettes which were based on the TV series rather than the original books. At the time many said that it was that TV series which kept the ailing (at the time) Hornby company going and got them over a bad patch. Once over it, mainly by closing the Margate production and out sourcing, they have become what they are today.

Yes my son wanted a trainset but it was or had to be to relive the TV series rather than the books. So it had to have the windmill, the nixells (signals) and other parts of the more common TV series. He also wanted to go to the preserved railways to see Thomas as he had seen him on TV. If Peppa Pig and or other more current children's TV characters can attract youngsters' and their parents to the preserved railways on "special" days, then that is probably more cost effective for those railways.


 

The issues with coreless motors on DCC were solved 15 years ago! Any decent decoder will have high frequency PWM that will not harm a coreless motor.

I defer to your knowledge. I haven't fully investigated it for the simple reason I have no wish to go DCC.

Well that will mean yet another hike in prices on a certain auction site.

I am not a fan of PWM or feedback controllers either. The main reason is that I use a lot of coreless motors and they do not like either in the same way they don't like digital.

I think this thread may well be creating the market and driving the prices

Not really. It may be a combination of the threads on all the forums but not just one thread on one forum with just a few members taking part.

Having seen this thread, I'm tempted to sell mine. Not long after I got it, I managed to get a very nice Escap powered DJH one.

The Mainly Trains rods are etched in nickel silver.

More info on Chris p Daves rods:

 

They are bowed, and are designed to sit on Romford coupling rods. They have the connection boss in the right direction (unlike the tri-ang version!), and being nickel silver will have the advantage over the Mainly Trains ones which are in brass.

 

Andy G

I must admit I do like the Jidenco/Falcon Brassworks kits and it is good to see that Dart Castings have taken them on. Whilst I agree with many of the comments above ( especially about the solebars), their website does say they are in the domain of experienced modellers. To me the effect, especially on earlier wagons is much finer and more pleasing than any of the "cast" wagons, be they in plastic or the rather crude white metal ones.

As to the chassis, I have found the best way is the use the MJT W irons with one fixed and one rocking.

This diagram was one of the gas lit series. The early ones would have had full lining but the later batches were turned out in plain crimson and by 1939, even the early ones were most likely be in plain crimson without lining. It is also often stated that it was not unusual in the later years for the non passenger coaching stock to be turned out with the varnish applied directly over the undercoat giving a "brownish" appearance. Though if the horseboxes were run in passenger trains, I suspect this was less likely than some of the other vans such as the fish ones which would be more likely run in express fitted freights.

I do have some pics and other details but for copyright reasons cannot post them here. If you would like them please message me and I could email them.

 

Hi all,

I want to know if the Stanier 2-6-4 tank engines ever ran in plain black without any lining during their stint with BR. I have found some pictures that look like they may have, Like this picture: by Ben Brooksbank,

But most of the pictures are so grainy and the engines so dirty that the lining may just have been masked by the dirt.

 

Many thanks

Not sure if they did though I suspect it is likely. From your photo, it may well be lined. Toward the end of steam, cleaning became almost non existent. All they did was to wipe the number and BR symbol which looks like it's been done in this pic.

I have been looking around to try and find some replacement rods for the Jinty having used the Mainly Trains ones in the past. Wizard models have taken over the old Mainly Trains produced items and so now sell them. The do them in both parallel and bowed patterns. As a matter of interest, they also do rods for the old B12. These will also fit the Wrenn/Dublo City, Duchess, Castle, A4 and West Country. There is also a set of rods for the Dublo/Wrenn R1

I have one of the LMS 4-6-0 kits. Well most of it actually. Some castings etc were robbed for other models. However all the basic "cut" pieces should be there. I will never build it or do anything with it so if someone wants to give it a good home, they are welcome to it.

Kim

What is the point of 'private bidder' when all bids are anonymous to other bidders? Am I missing something?

Even though the bids are "anonymous", you can get an outline of their bidding practice ot at least find out what percentage of their bids are with this seller. If it is a high figure it can set the alarm bells off. You can't do that with a private bidder.

Dealers often used it in the past. They would put lots of low ball offers in and then resell. With the way the fees have gone up and the postage cost, it has tended to kill that.

Kim

A few od mine.

Kim

I have no doubt I wil find a home for some of them.

However, I just wish Bachmann would adpt the NEM standard for their coupling. They can do it on the Liliput stock so why not tthe UK stock!

Kim