Rob F

Yes, but I thought there was a standard area of yellow that must be met. Maybe it does and the standard area is smaller than I thought. ROB

With the nose cone retracted to reveal the coupling there is not a lot of yellow visible on the front end. Would it be allowed to run like that (forwards of course!)? ROB

The SET was in the run round loop at the very north end of the test track last night near Edwalton, with a GBRf class 66 running round it. The northern cab was on the bridge over the A52 as I drove under it. ROB

Discussion on this forum is not going to affect the status of the wall and its maintenance one jot, be it helpful or unhelpful. There is no slight intended against the men and women who battle to keep the wall serviceable year in year out. I believe they do the best they can possibly do and on many occasions go beyond what could reasonably be expected of them. However, I still believe that in the unequal battle with the sea there will inevitably be further setbacks. I also have no doubt that these setbacks will be overcome, one way or another. ROB

No insight but you'd have to be a VERY brave man to predict that this will not happen again. In battles between the sea and humankind we manage many glorious victories (and the amazing efforts to repair the wall this time around are one of those) but history tells us that the next defeat is always just around the corner. ROB

Until the sea blows a big hole in it somewhere else and the whole saga starts again! Sadly, it isn't a question of if this will happen but when. ROB

It is all subjective. I find the seats in the Mk4 after the Mallard refurb to be very uncomfortable and are the only seats on the network that reliably give me lower back pain every time I use them. All the eulogising about the Mk3 is a bit rich to me as well. Rather than regarding them as the last of the good coaches, I always think of them as the ones that initiated the decline in passenger standards as they were the first Intercity coach to break the all seats aligned with windows rule that had been the norm since the birth of the railways and all because BR would not go the expense of a 9 window standard class layout. However, I agree that things in that department have got a lot worse since the introduction of the Mk3. ROB

I don't know what it costs to make and neither, I suspect, do you. I choose not to take everything Bachmann say about pricing at face value, maybe you do? I think it is too expensive and won't buy one, you don't. Vive la différence! ROB

I refer the honourable gentleman to the answer I gave some time ago: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/95189-Bachmann-blue-circle-cement-presflo-price-hike/?p=1757110 ROB

Substitute Bachmann for the BBC in the following video and you get what a lot of people on here seem to believe!! ROB

I understand your point, but if people were being unnecessarily picky or dismissive of a fellow modeler's efforts then it would be a lot more valid. We are talking here of criticism (and I use the word in the sense of meaning analysis, rather than the pejorative sense) of the products of a multinational company. There are many models in my collection (in particular the ones I have worked on!) that are far from perfect but it hasn't prevented me from purchasing them and enjoying them. However, that doesn't mean that I am not interested to know that the lights are wrong place or the nose is too short or any other dimensional inaccuracies. There is a huge array of knowledgeable people on this forum with insights into the minutiae of a vast range of prototypes. It would be a shame if we were denied their knowledge because of constant accusations nit-picking. Also the line that is constantly peddled that we should be satisfied with whatever we are offered on the basis that the rails are too close together is very tiresome. If we accept that argument we should all be satisfied with the likes of the Lima Deltic or the Hornby 37 and I don't think that is a place where any of us want to be. ROB

This is a forum for the discussion of model railways and model railway products, not a manufacturers' fan club. People are interested in accuracy and like to discuss it, it doesn't mean that they think it is a terrible model or that they won't buy it. If in a place like this people are going to be criticized for reviewing the fidelity or otherwise of a model there really is no hope. ROB

With regard to Saturday's game, may I be permitted to just say one word: YYYYYYEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS! Thank you Rob PS To elaborate slightly, the joy of winning against Derby was further enhanced by the fact that I was seriously fearing another thumping, like last season!

Loving the double inverted commas, isn't it amazing that through simple punctuation you can almost hear the intended tone of voice. Rob (or """""ROB""""" if you prefer!)

Why do you care? ROB

This is not an economic model that I recognise. Companies get bigger and more successful by exploiting economies of scale, keeping their costs down and increasing their margins. If it were true that big companies inevitably have large overheads and charge more for their products then market forces would quickly ensure that there weren't any large companies. If Realtrack can be succesful at their price point and with their level of detail then the future looks pretty bleak for the likes of Hornby and Bachmann as the logical conclusion is that more small concerns will appear and undercut them on price and exceed their quality. Bachmann must be either very inefficient or are trying to take a much larger margin if the price of their fGW class 150 can be justified against the price of the far more difficult to produce Realtrack 143. I know this discussing a long running topic and it is not one that the powers that be in this forum seem comfortable with when the staus quo is questioned but I did not feel I could let Chris Leigh's post go unchallenged, sincere as it may be, particularly as it comes from a trade standpoint. Rob

I agree, it looks fantastic and I have ordered one. I think that this sort of quality also gives the lie to oft repeated sentiment that the recent price rises from Hornby and Bachmann are unavoidable and that we shouldn't complain about them. These units are made in smaller numbers than the big 2 will order yet the price is extremely reasonable for the quality on offer. I am sure that Charlie is still making a profit on these (at least I hope he is!) which leads to the inevitable question as to why the big 2 felt the need for the recent large increases. Compare the VFM of Bachmann's recent pipe wagon and the 143/144 and there can only be one winner. ROB

Does anyone know when the single line was extended from the point shown in these shots to its current length? Did this involve the removal of a span over the LSWR mainline and was this the primary reason for doing it? ROB PS Great pics, as always!

Dave J4676 is really an image of my childhood. The bus stop for buses to West Bridgford was on the Carrington St bridge where this shot was taken from so this view was very familiar on the way home after arriving at the station. I remember wishing that I could have seen trains on both of the visible railway bridges! In winter it was a freezing place to wait for a bus as the wind howled along the canal. Rob

Here is 243 (or possibly 248) at Crewe in early summer 1974, without the D prefix. ROB

Had a chat with one of the Project Miller volunteers whilst cabbing the prototype at the Etches Park open day. He said there were absolutely no plans for mainline running due to the difficulty and expense of fitting all the required modern safety systems. I did wonder if an itinerary could be devised where the prototype was always the trailing power car but he thought that was highly unlikely! Rob

I'd go for over engineered, every time. ROB

I think you will find if read the PM correspondence that I absolutely did NOT question the your right to remove posts. What I did do was question your criticism of my use of the Agree/Disagree buttons under the context of why provide them if don't want people to use them. I have no desire to reopen this tiresome debate, but to paraphrase your last post, it is only fair to correct a misrepresentation. ROB

Fantastic photos, as usual. Do you have any shots of where the Belvoir branch crossed the Grantham Canal, just past the Dirty Duck (sorry Rutland Arms!) pub? ROB

I can see absolutely no merit in a post such as this, it is rude and ill mannered and yet it does not seem to bring down the wrath of the admins. It seems to me that we are in danger of becoming a forum where accuracy is frowned upon and knowledge is something to be sneered at. Adrian seems to have vast experience and he is willing to share it with us and for that I am grateful. OK, his tone may not be to everyone's taste but I believe his motives are entirely sincere and all he wants to achieve are the most accurate possible models for all us all to enjoy. If you don't like his posts, don't read them, but the forum as a whole would be a much poorer place if he were to be driven away. Any number of frothing "isn't it wonderful, I'll buy 10" or "We've never had it so good" posts are allowed but as soon as someone dares to stick their head above the parapet and question whether something we are being offered is as good as it could be then the flak starts to fly. We have already lost modellers of the calibre of Jim S-W from this forum and if we are not very careful we are going to evolve into a discussion group that bangs on about how wonderful everything is with little or no critical appraisal of the products that are actually on the market. That is the road that most of the published magazines seem to be heading down and it would be a very great shame if RMWEB were to go the same way. This will possibly be my last post, through no choice of my own. You will see on the left that my status is "Moderated". From what I can remember, this was because I asked a question that the admin team did not want to be asked and I agreed or disagreed with a number of posts that it was felt I should not have done. I have never been rude or discourteous to any other forum member which, to my mind, is a far greater offence. ROB PS I should add that I have never met or had contact with adrianbs or jim s-w but I hugely value (or valued) their contributions.