Andy Hayter

7 hours ago, Caley Jim said:

 Why aren't the French getting on top of the gangs? 

 

I'll tell you why, they're only too happy to see the back of the poor souls and don't give a sou what happens to them after they are out of their hair!

 

Jim

The flaw in your thinking Jim, as expressed in the second statement, is that there is more than a suspicion that many of the gangs that are exporting asylum seekers to the UK are also involved in importing them to France (and other countries on the Med).   Since as a rough number, for every 10 that arrive in France, 1 moves on to the UK, there is a strong incentive to get to the top of these organisations and cut off the heads.

Weren't Stephen's kits based on zinc?

4 hours ago, tigerburnie said:

There has been a change in our house, I was the family comedian, but SWMBO has just taken over the role, having just got out of the shower, I was told I was not going out to get the coal from the bunker with wet hair as it's -5 degrees "You've been told, I'm in charge, so just sit and do as you're told".................................Apparently me laughing so hard I was almost crying was not the required response, did make I laugh.......me doing as I'm told.........................

I agree with @Gwiwer.  My own experience was returning across the Yorkshire Moors at the end of a successful potholing trip.  Kitbag with ropes in it and a couple of ladders were slung across my shoulder as we plodded across the frozen moor, in the dark, and with a strong wind encouraging the snow to be horizontal.  On arrival back at the road and our parked cars, I found that the ladders had frozen to my wet hair.

5 hours ago, kevinlms said:

There's the answer. Jouef WERE potentially taking sales off them, by selling them to other retailers. When buyers should have been buying them as passengers!

Wonder why Jouef failed in presenting that argument in court?

That may seem the simple logic but does not change the fact that Jouef were using the trade marks without permission.

56 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

How sad is that, to be so reliant on the supermarket freezer cabinet that fresh meat is an oddity.

 

The last time I bought frozen meat was when. I bought veal kidney, as fresh couldn't be had for love nor money (however, rumour has it such things can be found at the various Turkish butchets in The Big City)

 

Oddly enough, fresh veal liver is easily found but VERY expensive.!

I agree but I probably would not have done 20 years ago and certainly not 30 years ago.  It is all about availability and if like your veal kidneys, only/mainly frozen is available then...............

duplicate post

Over the years I have been able to see the sometimes  extreme differences between national trends in providing the Xmas meal.

In Germany goose* (frozen from Hungary) was a favourite.  Relatively small (compared with fresh in the UK and also here in France) it was  ideal for 2 of us with a good Xmas meal with enough left over for subsequent snack and meals without eating the same thing for the whole week!   Frozen and fresh fowl available in equal measure.

* strictly goose was for St Martin's but plenty were happy to eat it at Christmas.  

We were eased into French Christmas with commuting down from Germany with a cold box full of German goodies.  However, other Brits have been horrified by by the lack of Xmas main meal goodies in the freezer cabinet.  No chicken, no goose, no turkey. I have heard of Brits panicking when 2 weeks before the big event still nothing in the freezer cabinets.   Then 5 days or so before the big event, the fresh meat counters are full of Capon, chicken (Bresse for the cognoscenti at 4-5 times normal price), a few turkey, plenty of guinea fowl and duck but all being sold fresh.   

1 hour ago, woodenhead said:

2 hours ago, Michael Hodgson said:

Why should they get all legalistic and  pernickety over the use of their logos

It's effectively free advertising for them. 

 

2 hours ago, Dungrange said:

 

That's the way you and I see it, but I understand that the legal teams at some companies don't see it the same way - they see someone trying to make a living off the use of their brand and they feel that they need to protect that brand.

It's probably never an issue when it comes to model trains as they are not likely to be ripping off the company through use of it's logo   But if someone malicously makes use of a logo they could potentially claim it was ok for them to use it without permission if they could demonstrate that the company was quite happy for a model train company to use it's logo without permission.

Sadly there is at least one example where that is not the case.

Accor hotel group, then owners of the CIWL trade mark and the logo and operators of the VSOE, took Jouef to court for the misuse of the trade mark (as displayed along the top of each coach) and the logo (in the middle of each side).  They won and shortly after Jouef went into receivership - possibly linked, possibly not.  

There could be no question of Jouef somehow degrading the worth of Accor's trade property, because on the VSEO itself, you could buy H0 models of the coaches in the train as souvenirs.  These were the Jouef models that infringed the trade marks!

If you are a member of a society, they may help with disposal of modelling assets.  It is important however to check first, since the work involved is considerable and some societies just do not have the resources.  They may well ask for a cut in the revenue generated and this should be specified in your will.  Some societies will handle the estate of members but only as donations - so taking 100% of the value but at least you know the models will have gone to those who appreciate them. 

I did have it explained to me once and thought I understood.

I think the objection to ring circuits is that if  a poor connection on the ring fails, it is likely to trip the circuit.  If you now reset the trip - which is what we all do isn't it - the now, no longer a ring main can go live with the possibility of now undersized cables drawing too much current.  

I assume this is based on unfortunate experience.

18 minutes ago, Philou said:

At least the modern electrics are very similar to UK domestic wiring (brown, blue and green/yellow) AND some socket manufacturers colour the inlets at the back so that everything SHOULD be the same. If I remember correctly, the phase is on the right hand side - same as the UK. Don't get me started on the safety guards inside the sockets, as unlike the UK earth pin being longer than the other two and also chamfered to depress the shutter inside, EU pins are round and there being no earth pin on the plug (the earth pin is part of the socket, if you didn't know) and a round-ended round pin isn't. the. easiest. to. PUSH. AGAINST. THE (straining now). SHUTTER! I have been known to take a persuader to the shutter (hammer and screwdriver) to force it or break it, and I'm not the only one - apparently.

 

 

Well yes - but definitely no.

I have a Legrande double socket where the internal connections on the socket means that on one side the right pin is live and on the other the live pin is left.

Further differences such as no ring mains  and very limited daisy chaining of supply lines makes French electrics a wholly different world apart from the cable colours and even there, after a switch you can (or could if the regs changed this week) use any coloured cable.  We have orange and purple as well as grey at various points in the house which was completely rewired some 12 years ago.

1 hour ago, CWJ said:

 

 

"The same applies to the pre-grouping era" - it does, but who can remember it? Modelling 1920 today is like modelling 1890 when I started 30 years ago.  It will always be a minority interest, albeit with some beautiful models. For anyone under 40, the privatisation era has filled their adult life, BR blue was 'old stuff', the popular steam-diesel transition era was 'when Dad was little' and anything before that is ancient history. I still hear people describingClass 150s as 'modern' just because they have internal combustion engines. This is equivalent to someone in 1990 calling a BR Standard steam loco 'modern'.  As depressing as it is for some of us, we need to get used to the fact that there are full-grown adults among us who have never known what it's like for the current year to begin with a '19'!

 

I chose pregrouping for 2 reasons.

1.  It is the area of UK modelling that interests me.   I am familiar with the shortcomings of the offerings.

2.  Rather inconveniently for your argument, from Andy York's last survey, there are as many people modelling Pregrouping as the contemporary scene.  9.2% PG vs 8.8% current scene.

The idea that I don't remember it so it is unimportant/doesn't deserve to exist does not hold water.  

And the problems highlighted are not restricted to modelling current practice.

Try modelling pregrouping 1900 - 1923.  There  have been a pleasing plethora of models released or promised in the last 10 years but try making a realistic train.

Quite a number of locomotives but fewer wagons, very few coaches and almost no goods brake vans to finish off that rake of wagons.

With the possible exception of the GWR where my knowledge is lacking we have

SECR with a passenger rake to run behind a variety of locos released.  Some open and closed goods vehicles plus a brake van.

LSWR just makes it to the list with EFE's just released cross country coaches but no goods brake van for the goods stock.

NER with a petrol railcar.

I exclude the generic offerings as not close enough to prototype.

The reasons are very much the same. 

Locomotives - especially in attractive liveries - sell.  

Coaches might sell but the cost of development is very similar to that of a locomotive but the sales price is around one third.  Liveries can be just as complicated as a locomotive so the opportunity for generating margin is severely  reduced.

Wagons sell in some number but you only need one brake van for perhaps every 5-10 wagons sold.

Your comment, "for a great many areas there is nothing available RTR" equally applies.

Assuming you mean a young kitten, which would be the easiest if your dogs are not aggressive, you won't get one early in the new year.  Cats mate from around Feb/March to July with kittens born May through to early September.

We get the bulk of our arrivals (stray kittens) from August to November after they have weaned at 4-6 weeks.

What we do to avoid cat on cat aggression is to place the newcomer in  a large cage  1m x 60cm x 35cm placed in the living area where the incumbents are regularly present.  They become accustomed to one anothers scent and potential aggression released through the bars of the cage

The decision to sell or retain shares is/was partly a personal one (financial circumstances) and a view on the stability of a company and the overall market.  In the days when I received shares as a bonus, it was from a "rock solid""bellweather" company (which no longer exists) and from the UK subsidiary of a major German manufacturer, so the extra bonus of 20% of paying no tax after 5 years ( as @Mike Bellamy  has said)   was a definite incentive to hold onto the shares.  And some of course saved 45% (now only 40%)  but times change.

Judging by the declared shareholdings of Hornby directors in the past it seems that they received shares as bonuses.  Just to get us back on subject.

7 hours ago, The Stationmaster said:

  The company is in the position of being able to buy its own shares back should it wish or have the wherewithal to do so and it is also ina position where it can sell off assets without shareholder approval and purely at the decision of its directors.  

This is a common situation where a company rewards its staff though bonuses based on shares rather than cash.  The company has to have the ability to top up its shareholding in order to make these payments - hence the authorisation to buy back shares.

Receiving the bonus as shares has an interesting psychological incentive.  Having done a good job and received a block of shares, the employee is then encouraged to do a good job ongoing - firstly the get another bonus next year and secondly to help keep the company healthy and keep or improve the share price which directly impacts the value of that share block when it is surrendered.  

I have just checked a recipe for Flammkuechen which confirms in part what I thought:  It suggests the base can be bread dough or unleavened pastry.  It is the latter that I have always had.  I have to confess that the ones I make are with pre-prepared bases but the results ate certainly of the yeast free variety.

https://www.theguardian.com/food/2020/jun/24/how-to-make-the-perfect-flammekueche-recipe-felicity-cloake

2 hours ago, The White Rabbit said:

 

The Waitrose ones I started out with (and which have since been dropped from their range) were thin but I wouldn't say extremely thin. Yes, depending on taste (and with a reduction in cooking time) you could easily halve the pastry thickness - though rolling pastry too thin does risk creating holes in the tarte. 

 

I haven't tried it but do wonder how filo pastry would work. It might be an easy way to get a very thin layer but wonder how the unleavened aspect would affect the taste. Any ideas anyone? 

Definite thumbs down on filo.   That is going too thin and muktiple layers would give a very different result.

21 minutes ago, jjb1970 said:

What is this thing 'cold'? Is it what happens if you have the air conditioning set too high?

No it's what happens if you go into an industrial freezer.  I am led to believe that a former UK prime minister knows all about it.

Had both eyes done one year apart and went from strongly myopic with astigmatism to near perfect vision.  I do now need glasses for reading.

As has been noted, the down side for a modeller is that you cannot do the close work.  Solved with 2 pairs of cheap reading glasses (as opposed to the prescribed pair at 1.5 in both eyes).  One pair is 2.5 and does for most close work and the second is 3.5 for really close work

Hi Keith,

regarding "B" I think this a Pfalzbahn wagon recently brought into the Bavaria, state railway.

A bit of history:  The Pfalz, located on the west bank of the Rhine just above Alsace, was part of the Bavarian State and was nicknamed Bavarian Siberia.  The bad guys got sent there to eke out a tough existence.  Railways came in the name if the Pfalzbahn which operated as an independent company into the start of the 20th century when it was incorporated into the Bavarian State Railways even though there was no direct connection between the two parts of the system with the Badische and Wuerttemburgische State railway systems between.

Ludwigshafen (shown on the side of the wagon) was a major city in the Pfalz.  

4 minutes ago, Andy Hayter said:

 

You are of course very perceptive and the meal failed to include any of those vital food elements, which probably accounts for the fact that a mere 8 hours later I had a sudden urge to partake of a slice of pork pie - or paté en croute as it is known here.

 

To make amends this lunchtime I had pizza - or the Alsace/Pfalz equivalent which might not meet PB's demanding definition.  A very thin base but with no tomato topping.  Instead the base is covered with a sour cream and yoghurt mix and topped with finely chopped onion and lardons - but like traditional pizza then topped off with flavouring items of your choice.  In my case soft goats cheese, which is traditional, and black olives*, which is not.

The whole is called Tarte au Flame, Flammkuchen or tarte flambée 

4 minutes ago, Andy Hayter said:

* proper ones with the stone in - not the destoned ones which are actually green olives dyed black.

15 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

Ah, but did the meal involve baked beans, curly fries or pizza? A certain Bear wants to know (and if it didn’t, then it’s not “proper food” is it?🤣)

You are of course very perceptive and the meal failed to include any of those vital food elements, which probably accounts for the fact that a mere 8 hours later I had a sudden urge to partake of a slice of pork pie - or paté en croute as it is known here.

To make amends this lunchtime I had pizza - or the Alsace/Pfalz equivalent which might not meet PB's demanding definition.  A very thin base but with no tomato topping.  Instead the base is covered with a sour cream and yoghurt mix and topped with finely chopped onion and lardons - but like traditional pizza then topped off with flavouring items of your choice.  In my case soft goats cheese, which is traditional, and black olives*, which is not.

* proper ones with the stone in - not the destoned ones which are actually green olives dyed black.

I have to fully agree about the brands  @jjb1970.

I have only experience with Arnold and Jouef but I think the my observations would extend to the other brands as well.

While Arnold are a long way from being the major brand in Germany (That is Maerklin), they are widely regarded in the smaller scales and until Fleischmann became solely an N gauge brand Arnold were certainly a leader in N.   Germans will tend to buy German products.  Rename Arnold as  Hornby International and regardless that there has been no other change, in the minds of the public it ceases to be German.

Jouef was (and in the minds of the public still is) the French model railway company, in much the same way that Hornby is the British equivalent.   In fact Jouef is officially marketed as Hornby Jouef, which works because Hornby used to have its own branding and manufacture in France as Hornby Acho.   There are still folk around that remember that.  Nevertheless I have yet to hear anyone talk about Hornby Jouef.  They just refer to the company as Jouef.  

Assuming that you did go ahead and rename the brands under one umbrella brand, what would you do with the old brands.  The brand names have value.  You would then probably want/need to maintain their trade  registration to avoid a competitor from taking the names (names only) over.  But if you are going to protect the names what are you going to do with the brands?  Selling the brand name to a competitor seems like a poor strategy.