Andy Hayter

Recently BRM said that they would carry occasional articles on non-UK layouts and they have already included Pempoul.

I don't think anyone is expecting lots of foreign layouts but if say 5% of British modellers model railways outside the UK, you might reasonably expect one or two non-UK layouts at a big exhibition.   I don't know if 5% is accurate but I would bet it is not far off.  

A tank like that would need to be bunded.  Essentially a low wall around it so that in the event of a leak, the contents would not just flow everywhere.

Otherwise, I love that as a screen for the exit.

Difficult to say regarding France.   It is a smaller market with fewer model shops.  My nearest model shop is now around 150km away in Lyon following closure of a nearer shop a couple of years ago.   I mostly buy online as a consequence.

Many shows were every 2 years or even 3 years rather than annual - even some of the big ones and that before any perception of a downturn.  

We have lost our local big show - Montelirail - for very similar reasons to Warley pulling out of their show.

One of the three major model railway publishers (RMF) has moved from monthly to bimonthly publication.  Is that lack of readers, lack of advertisers and/or lack of material to publish?  I do not know.

Yet against that negativity, and like the UK, we have in the last few years had a raft of new model producers appear; and like the UK, some seem to be doing very well indeed.  While I do not have access to turnover figures, I would guess the REE are now up with or even ahead of the traditional Hornby Jouef.  

My feeling is that kit manufacturers are doing better than the UK and AMF87 took over the DJH Model Loco range of French models.

One big difference is perhaps the cost of models is significantly higher here than in the UK.  They may be a bit more complicated to make with lots of outdoor plumbing on show but a good quality Pacific in H0 will cost around €400 - £340 and little if any discounting in the shops.  

Edit to add to the last sentence:  but the squeals from some parts of the modelling community about those prices is just as in the UK.

4 hours ago, t-b-g said:

 

 

Edit to add that the Doncaster Show is billed as the "Festival of British Railway Modelling", so a lack of overseas layouts shouldn't be a total surprise.

I don't want to give anyone a lesson in the English language - and especially not Warners - but there is a difference between:

"Festival of British Railway Modelling"

and

"Festival of Modelling British Railways"

49 minutes ago, Nearholmer said:

Innocent questions, in an unthreatening way, to draw them into a long conversation, during which you lead them, ever-so-gently, to the deep contradictions within their own position, and within the utterances from their various front-benchers.

 

This uses-up loads of their time, reducing the number of people they can seek to influence, and hopefully saps their resilience. It’s like drilling lots of tiny holes in the bottom of a barrel, rather than trying to smash it apart with one blow.

 

If I were you, I’d start with something like social care, where they’re bound to say that they’re all in favour of it being done well, then lead on from that to the impact of Brexit on labour supply, the impact of cuts to local council budgets, how care staff can’t afford to live on what they get paid, how care home owners are shutting places down because they can’t make a living, moving in to how that is or isn’t consistent with cutting NI contributions, etc. Nothing confrontational, just an endless series of quizzical enquiries and “so, what you’re saying is ……”.

 

Don't legal chaps get ninja-training in this stuff?

It seems to me that while the population want even need an improved health and social care service, this is not compatible with promises to cut taxes (of whatever form).  At some stage we will have to get a smidgen of honesty from our politicians.  If you want x, then you will have to pay for it through increased taxes.  Not a vote winner though.   Especially when they are currently paying for services on the never-never and not being up front about that..

1 minute ago, Hroth said:

 

You've never seen the people who tuck small dogs under their arms?

 

Or in handbags - as seems to be the way with female Parisians of a certain age.

My experience of PD has been excellent, except as you have found communication.  Order accepted, then nada until a parcel arrives coupled with an email to say you can now claim x off your next order.

6 hours ago, Colin_McLeod said:

Why assume that the company will be wound up? It may or may not be the plan.

It is an assumption but why would you keep the company running apart from sentimental reasons?

You would still have to provide annual, audited accounts to companies house.

So you need a registered office at a cost

You need an auditor at least even if you do the accounts yourself.  I bet they will still charge a good sum even if the income side is zero.

8 hours ago, Darius43 said:

 

"Any pre-orders for forthcoming Hattons Originals projects will remain in place so they can be fulfilled once the items are delivered."

I’m curious as to how this can happen if, in the meantime, the company has been wound up?

 

Darius

 

 

It is easy.

The company has not been wound up - yet.

There is no indication of financial limitations so Hattons have taken the very proper decision to close the business in as orderly fashion as they can sensibly do.  

So (I assume) they are not buying new stock.  They are selling off existing stock.  Commissions that are advanced (and where they have probably already paid out most of the costs) are going ahead - indeed may already have been in the production cycle when the closure decision was announced. 

Other commissions not as far down the track to production are not being continued - with I know disappointment for many.   

Once the live commissions have been received and sent out to customers then we can expect the formal announcement of the company being wound up - probably a one liner from companys' house.

38 minutes ago, Free At Last said:

Did anyone received any notification from Hattons regarding their closure or cancellation of any pre-orders?
I have heard nothing and I've just looked at my account and my pre-order for 6 X Dapol Toplight Coaches plus other items are still active.

Rather confusingly I got two notifications.

The first said:

We’re contacting you today as you have outstanding pre-orders with us that we will no longer be able to fulfill due to our forthcoming closure.

Your pre-orders are currently still in place on our system but we intend to start removing these in the coming days.

Our friends at Rails of Sheffield are on-hand to accept pre-orders for any items that we will no longer be able to supply to you.

You can also find local or alternative stockists on most manufacturer websites:

Hornby - https://uk.Hornby.com/ 
Heljan - https://www.Heljan.co.uk/ 
Dapol - https://www.Dapol.co.uk/ 
Gaugemaster - https://www.gaugemasterretail.com/ 
Rapido - https://rapidotrains.co.uk/ 
Accurascale - https://www.accurascale.com/ 
Peco - https://peco-uk.com/ 
Oxford Diecast - https://www.oxforddiecast.co.uk/ 
Metcalfe - https://www.metcalfemodels.com/
Revolution Trains - https://revolutiontrains.com/ 

Any pre-orders for forthcoming Hattons Originals projects will remain in place so they can be fulfilled once the items are delivered.

my highlight

The second:

It is with immense sadness that we share news of the upcoming closure of Hattons Model Railways, an institution in the hobby since 1946.

Over the decades, we've been privileged to serve enthusiasts and share our passion for model railways with hundreds of thousands of customers.

You may have several questions about how this has come about and how this affects you directly in regards to pre-orders, the trunk, pre-owned and more.

We've put together a small FAQ which we hope answers most of these questions.

View our Full Update & FAQs →

@Gridiron

I like your analysis on shipping SE Asia to Europe and the ability of the shipping lines to take up slack.  

How do you see container availability in your analysis?  By my reckoning something like 20-25% additional containers are going to be needed going the long way round on this route.  Maybe other routes can make up some of the shortfall but not all.

I have been out of the business ten years now but after the 2009 banking crisis, the shipping lines resorted to slow steaming, which had the same impact as going via the Cape - an extra 10 to 14 days on the water.   The result was a year or more of struggling to get container availability plus augmented demurrage and detention charges.  

I have done a search on the Activate (tm) coating, which they say is an aluminium/zinc/magnesium blend (alloy?).  As such it would be a sacrificial coating - eroding/ corroding  in favour of protecting the steel but they also say that the coating has a degree of self protection.  I guess generating a protective oxide coating to prevent further degradation.  

This seems to be a higher tech version of simple zinc galvanisation.

@Gridiron

I am not sure that different labelling and regulations would apply within the EU.  The "CE" mark should cover the entire EU.  Other countries would however have different requirements.

I was not however aware that they had registered in 6 EU countries.  I thought it was just Ireland.  As I have previously posted registering a business in the EU was estimated at roughly €25,000 per country per year.  So  6 countries would mean around €150,000 per year - and those costs were based on 2010 prices, so have risen since.  That is one hell of a fixed cost to carry.  

Ut's not just Bachmann either.  Many years ago I bought the Jouef apartment block kit in H0.  N scale figures would not be able to get through the doors!

As well as materials costs for resin castings, you have to consider the shipping costs - much of which is the fresh air inside the casting.  Double the size of the model and the shipping cost goes up by a factor of 8.

10 hours ago, Hobby said:

On that basis if a kitten is given milk then it, too, won't be lactose intolerant? I have to admit that we've had several cats that loved milk and suffered no ill effects, present one included. I always find it strange that this instruction not to give cats milk has suddenly appeared whereas many old films show cats being given milk. I wonder if it's somehow linked with the seeming increase in more humans having food allergies, perhaps modern diets and additives have more to answer for than we realise.

I think the change in view is based on modern bio-chemistry.  If you search on lactose intolerance in mammals you will get a lot of information - provided you can understand all of the -oses (sugars) and -ases ( enzymes to break down the -oses so the mammalian body can use it).  As to giving a kitten milk from early on - and you need to start pre-weaning - maybe it will work and maybe not.  There are plenty of humans raised on milk who have been found to be lactose intolerant.  Lactose tolerance in Humans looks to be very first world centric as well, suggesting the suppression of intolerance is a relatively new event.  

One of our cats that we got as a kitten had been rescued and fed for several weeks on goats cheese* before we got him.  He still eats indeed demands cheese of all types with no ill effects.  Not so with others we have rescued.

When I was an ankle biter, if you had hedgehogs in the garden you put a saucer of milk and bread out for them.  Absolute no-no today.

* There is a belief that goats cheese is good for the lactose intolerant but it contains about 80% of the lactose of cows milk cheese so is far from lactose free.

Moyse locotracteurs have coupling both ends.  

If REE have shown just one it's to minimise the impact of the rather ugly European coupling.  A second can certainly be fitted:

10 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

 

 

In the same way Australia actually ends at Norfolk Island to the east. Its part of NSW and votes in the electorate of Canberra in federal elections, despite being 1500km offshore.  ...  (also possibly holds up for adding Hawaii into any calculations of USA width!)  🤔

Well if we are going to play the big boy version of my dad is bigger than yours and using voting rights as the basis for physical geography, I will raise your Norfolk Island  with Madeira and the Azores (Portuguese autonomous states), French Guyana, Guadalupe, Mayotte, Martinique and Reunion (French departements overseas -DOM).  Not only with voting rights within Europe but also appear on the map of the EU as printed on bank notes.  😁

24 minutes ago, monkeysarefun said:

 

The comparison still holds pretty well: 

 

Distance as the crow flies - London to Lviv  1700km approx.

                                             - Perth to Sydney - 3400km approx.

Well it would hold well if London was anywhere close to the westernmost point in Europe.  As it is from London you can go much of the width of England westwards, then the Irish sea, then Ireland and the most western part of Ireland is about as far west as Madrid - half way across Spain.  So add in half of Spain and then add a bit of Portugal.  It is at least half as much again on your 1700km.  

1 hour ago, Metr0Land said:

Is it ok to give a cat camembert cheese?   The larger of my two is always pestering for whatever I'm preparing for myself.  Often I tell her "you don't eat <foodstuff>" and usually I'm right.

 

Tonight she asked for camembert and I told her she wouldn't like it and she ate a few small pieces.  It was fairly ripe so had an attractive smell and I felt sure she'd spit it out, but she asked for more.

Generally not a good idea to give a cat cheese or any dairy product.  They are generally lactose intolerant* and while they may well wolf down such products the results can be violent vomiting or ejection from the other end.  Both lead to potential dehydration.

* As are  most mammals excepting humans.  It is suggested that the intolerance develops during weaning but because humans tend to wean off the breast and onto bottled milk, the intolerance cannot/does not develop. 

4 minutes ago, Gypsy said:

 

 

The one one the right shows something either went bang inside or went straight through it. But the shrapnel holes don't fit with a fuel explosion so I would go with the latter.

 

 

 This one possibly is due to an internal blast of the vapour in an empty tank maybe pierced with an incendiary or tracer  munition.  Empty tanks can be very much more dangerous than full ones for the reasons you say.

17 minutes ago, The Johnster said:

Except that that's a very incomplete map of Europe, which includes Scanidnavia, Iceland, the Baltic States, Belorus, The Ukraine, and Russia as far as the Ural watershed.  When I worked on the railway back in the 70s, I was allowed one Europe-wide free pass annually (an alternative to three within the UK) as a consequence of BR's membership of the UIC, which was valid on any trans-Ural route as far as the geographical watershed, regarded as the boundary with Siberia, which is in Asia.

 

Not sure what paperwork and visas would have been needed to go east of the curtain, only went to Paris, once.  But one of my colleagues did it one year just for what the Irish call the feck of it, the fact that he was a card-carrying and proudly committed Party member possibly greasing some of the wheels.  There were, apparently, some questions from our own authorities, he thought probably Special Branch, both before and after his journey.

Indeed and to put it into context, I was a bit gobsmacked when I found out which city was the geographic centre of Europe - defined as on the mid point of the furthest north and south intersecting with the mid point of the furthest east and west.  That city was Lvov - today Lviv - in the Ukraine  just off the east of the map round about the Polish SE border.  

I think vets are well versed at reading the owners alongside the condition of the animal.  Afterall it is we who speak the vets language and they then have to interpret the pets' symptoms.

4 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

Good evening Tony,

 

I wonder when Ellis Clark will announce that they've taken over the DJH kits - not just OO, but the HO and O ones as well, or so I was told earlier. 

 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

Regarding the French H0 kits, these have been in the hands of AMF87* for quite some time and AFAIK, they have been producing new kits from the moulds since 2018** with new chassis.

*AMF87.fr

** https://www.amf87.fr/prestashop/93-kits-model-loco-france

"Kits Model Loco France

A partir d'octobre 2018, AMF87 reprend les outillages des kits de locomotives Françaises en HO de la célèbre marque Anglaise rebaptisée pour l'occasion Model Loco France, ces modèles reprennent intégralement les kits Model Loco initiaux améliorés à la sauce AMF87 avec notamment de nouveaux châssis avec motorisation moderne par moteur RSF, train de roues AMF, embiellages à visser... Ces kits vont ressortir progressivement, à terme, les 26 références seront remises en production et de nouvelles déclinaisons des modèles existants seront proposés."