scottystitch

To give some perspective, this is a Code 55, basic double oval drawn on the size given.  Inside radius is 12" (305mm).  I personally don't build/plan any of my layouts with anything tighter.

The dark green line on the inner circuit at the bottom is a representation of the size of Kato's 800 series train.  Gaugemaster quote the overall length as 880mm.

The grid size is 100mm square.

Best

Scott

Outstanding work. An inspiration.

Best

Scott.

14 minutes ago, njee20 said:

A lot of naysayers here. I’m reminded of the N gauge layout “Deansmoor” which is built on a door; and therefore I assume a similar size to yours. Plenty of articles/videos of that about, and a detailed thread on the N gauge forum. That evokes the atmosphere of a mainline (WCML in that case) in a small space.  
 

I would advise that yes, if what you want is available then buying it now would make sense. The second hand market is buoyant and you’ll sell stuff easily if you change your mind. 

What he said.

Best

Scott.

Ah okay. Thanks for that. I’m sure I was in it this time last year, so that’s a shame.

an even bigger shame is I was in Scarborough yesterday and had no idea ☹️. 
 

ah well. Thanks again for the info. 
 

Best

Scott. 

Does anyone know what has happened to The Bookshop on Front Street, Grosmont?  It appears permanently closed in this location. 
 

haas it moved or has it ceased to trade entirely?

best

Scott. 

10 hours ago, Kris said:

For all of my cataloging I use numbers on my Mac, however I can then access it via the iPad or my phone. It free! That magic number. Built by Apple so it does work, compatible with other office programs. 

+1. 
 

And agreed, re the final sentence. 
 

Best

Scott. 

2 minutes ago, bmthtrains - David said:

...I don’t expect Bachmann to have huge N plans for every quarter.
 

David 

 

Agreed.  I'd suggest one or else two completely new tooling projects per year would be realistic.  Hopefully that is accompanied with re-releases as per the Black 5s, Ballast Hoppers, etc.

These last two quarters have been particularly pleasing for the scale because along with the MK1 and Thomson coaches, Farish have released something to haul them (Black 5) at the same time.

Best

Scott.

6 minutes ago, TomE said:

With the above in mind I’m sceptical that TT has had any baring on Bachmann deciding to produce trainsets in the Farish range, especially since they have been a feature of it for many years already, or that it has any link to the number of new Farish items now coming through, many of which will have been in the production pipeline since well before Hornby launched TT120. 

Tom. 

Agreed.  I don't think Bachman nor Kader are nimble enough to react so quickly to Hornby's TT announcements.  This just feels like Bachman catching up with previous announcements after a very lean spell and, with the 90, the first of the new models that are being developed quietly in line with their announcement philosophy coming through.

I've been quite critical of Bachman's Farish output in recent times, questioning whether they actually want to be in N gauge.  I was wrong, and I don't mind eating humble pie in that case.  But I don't think it's anything to do with TT.

Best

Scott.

1 hour ago, AY Mod said:

 

We can help with that; use the Contact Us form https://worldofrailways.hooluh.co.uk/contact/ with your original order details.

Hello Andy,

Is that process also appropriate if we ordered the initial 4 pack but no wish to have the new 4 pack all with large crosses?

best

Scott.

An excellent set of releases.  Between last quarter and this quarter I've now managed to complete my planned maroon rakes, the Thomson BSKs being the cherry on the cake.  I'm assuming the Thomson BG is the same tooling as the NGS model? 

Not my era, but good to see the 158s finally reach maturity.  Some Black fives to haul some of last quarters' Mk1s. It's encouraging to see train sets return and with the EFE Austerity elsewhere, an accomplished couple of quarters from Farish.

Best

Scott.

International Services have confirmed that NZ will make up any difference between the UK pension and the Superannuation.  I would qualify for NZ Superannuation through my working life in UK.  This would appear to cancel out any issue regarding the UK pension being frozen.

At present Superannuation is paid from age 65 compared to the UK's current retirement age of 67.

There are two payment options for people who qualify for a pension from the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Australia, Jersey, Guernsey, or the Republic of Ireland:

THE SPECIAL BANKING OPTION

• Your overseas pension is paid into a special bank account in New Zealand and we put this money towards paying you a New Zealand pension or benefit.

• New Zealand payments are made every two weeks for pensions, or every week for benefits.  With this option, payment isn't affected by exchange rates.

• This option isn't suitable if the overseas pension is more than the New Zealand pension or benefit (or is likely to become more if the exchange rate changes). This is because with the Special Banking Option we can't pay more than the New Zealand benefit or pension rate.

• With the Special Banking Option, we deduct tax before we pay you from the time your overseas pension starts going into the special bank account. You'll still need to pay tax for any overseas payments received before this date.

THE DIRECT DEBIT OPTION

• With the Direct Payment Option you ask the overseas social security agency to pay your overseas pension direct to you.

• If your overseas pension is less than a New Zealand benefit or pension you'd otherwise qualify for, we'll deduct the amount of your overseas pension (excluding any portion from voluntary contributions) and pay you the difference. Your overseas pension will vary because of the exchange rate and you'll need to pay tax on the pension in New Zealand.

• If you qualify for a New Zealand pension or benefit, and your overseas pension is less, we'll deduct the amount of your overseas pension and pay you the difference.

• New Zealand payments are made fortnightly for pensions or weekly for benefits. You won't get a payment from us if your overseas pension is more than the New Zealand pension or benefit.  We work out the New Zealand value of your overseas pension each month. This means the amount we pay to you is likely to vary due to exchange rate fluctuations.

• Although we deduct tax from any New Zealand pension or benefit before we pay you, you'll have to pay New Zealand income tax on your overseas pension and fill in a tax return each year. It's a good idea to keep your bank statements so you can work out what your tax bill will be at the end of the year.

Best

Scott.

3 hours ago, John M said:

The NZ state pension system operates on a different principal to the UK system.  NZ Superannuation or the old age pension is a universal benefit paid from general taxation rather than NI contributions, persons with a minimum 10 years residence are eligible for NZ Superannuation at the full rate from 65.

 

The controversial aspect of the system is that the NZ Government has a claw-back provision where overseas State Pension benefits (from countries with bi-lateral social-security agreements) are deducted from NZ Superannuation payments. While politicians from both the left and right of the political spectrum have agreed that the claw-back provision is unfair, there is little or no political will to eliminate the provision.

 

I qualified for NZ Super last year having resided in New Zealand since 2004 having previously lived and worked in Ireland and the UK.

 

I was required to apply for the Irish State Pension before I turned 66, as I spent the majority of my working life in Ireland and did not have sufficient UK contributions to qualify for a UK pension (1 year short!)

 

The NZ system is based on the principal that no one should receive less (or more) in a State Pension Benefit than the current NZ Superannuation rate.

 

Currently my Irish State Pension is deducted from my NZ Superannuation payment, the NZ Government makes up the difference between my Irish (Contributory) State Pension and NZ Superannuation.

 

The UK New State Pension of £203.85 approx. $424.83(NZ) appears to be less than the NZ Super $439.80 (NZ) gross individual rate for a Couple  (UK New State Pension and MSDS Benefit Rate Web sites).

 

At the end of the day I did fairly well in migrating to New Zealand, qualifying for Superannuation at 65 rather than waiting until 66 if I remained in Ireland or the UK was an additional bonus.

 

Work and Income Overseas Section have been helpful in responding to e-mail queries in connection with overseas pensions    international_services@msd.govt.nz.

 

 

 

Yes most of that I understand from a little bit of research this week.  I wrote to that email address on Tuesday to ascertain if my thinking is correct because as I understand it, although I have not lived in NZ nor contributed to the NZ economy since I left the country in 1979, aged 5, and I carry an NZ passport based on that, the "ten year" rule would be covered by my working life here in the UK and so I assume that my situation will be like yours whereby the UK pension is deducted and NZ govt. makes up the difference, should there be any.  What I'm not clear on is whether the situation allows for the fact that the UK pension would be frozen and the difference between super and Uk pension increases year on year (since the super would be subject to inflationary rises whilst teh UK pension would not.)

Best

Scott.

1 hour ago, pH said:

Scott, having dual citizenship is not relevant. Most Canadians affected by this have dual UK and Canadian citizenship - I do. What matters to the UK Department for Work and Pensions is where the pensioner lives.

 

I know we are not supposed to discuss politics here, but it is impossible to avoid political considerations in talking about the subject of ‘frozen’ UK pensions. They can be frozen because pensioners receiving them do not live in the UK and (after a certain time living abroad) cannot vote in UK elections at any level. There is therefore no political penalty to UK politicians in freezing these pensions and there is a financial advantage to the UK Treasury. Currently, there is a move possibly to allow UK citizens living abroad to vote in the UK for a longer time after emigrating, perhaps for life. That might have an effect on the frozen pension issue. (Personally, I don’t think it should be allowed. After 40+ years abroad, I don’t feel I should have the right to make decisions about matters which - with the single exception of a frozen pension - have no effect on me.)

 

There have been suggestions that the Canadian government should include the matter of frozen pensions in the discussions about a Canada-UK post-Brexit trade agreement. There currently is an ongoing cost to the Canadian government of supporting some “frozen” UK pensioners, the value of whose frozen pension is now not sufficient to live on in Canada. So far, the Canadian government has not included the subject of pensions in the trade discussions.

 

So I think you would have to consider, if all you would have as income would be a UK government pension, whether it would be sufficient to live on into the future in NZ as its value erodes. Private and occupational pensions can be different - I have an occupational pension from working in the UK which is quite regularly increased. You may or may not be entitled to some support from the NZ government as a citizen and resident - that you would have to check, as you say. 

Thank you, that's very helpful.

The government pension would not be the sole means of income, both myself and my significant other have what appear to be decent private pensions and anything the state pension provided would be a bonus.

That said, I will start making enquiries with regard, in particular to the NZ position.

Best

Scott.

On 17/07/2023 at 19:07, pH said:

 

 

As far as I know, there is no legal way round this. Some people we know, living in Canada and getting UK pensions, have looked into ways of getting annual increases - nobody I know of has managed to do it.
 

The value of the regular payments of your UK government pension depends on your place of residence. Yes, you can have it paid into a UK bank account. However, if the DWP has a non-UK address for you, I would imagine (though I don’t know for sure) that you would still get the reduced rate.

 

And the address matters. Every so often, sent to the address the DWP have on file for you, you get a request for “proof of life”. This has to be signed by someone in an official capacity (we ask our bank manager), saying you’re still alive and therefore entitled to continue receiving your UK government pension. You could give DWP a UK address, but then you’re opening yourself up to penalties if they find out that you aren’t a UK resident.

 

Finally, if you transfer money paid into a UK account to an account in a ‘foreign’ country (i.e. where you’re living) you will get a lower conversion rate than DWP get when transferring large amounts to pay thousands of pensioners in that country.

 

There is a quirk to this. If as a ‘frozen’ pensioner, you visit an ‘unfrozen’ country, you can have your pension uprated to the current value for the time you spend in that country. There are (of course!) exceptions to this, the most significant being the USA. Guess which is the ‘foreign’ country most visited by Canadians, including Canadians receiving frozen UK pensions?

 

To sum up - if you are thinking of emigrating from the UK, especially after you have retired, check what your entitlement to your UK government pension will be, on an ongoing basis. As far as I know, private and occupational pensions are not treated differently based on place of residence of the pensioner.

Thank you for this interesting and thought provoking post.

I will have to speak to both the UK and NZ governments to ascertain the situation, most importantly if me being a New Zealand and UK citizen changes things.

Best

Scott. 

3 minutes ago, John M Upton said:

When are the next set of announcements due?

It should be beginning of August

Best

Scott.

After browsing through quickly with an afternoon cuppa, I have to say it looks like an excellent issue.  The Getting Practical section is very good, particularly Jesse's weathering notes.  

Well done to all involved.

Best

Scott.

48 minutes ago, AndyB said:

In talking about living with dignity in retirement we've focused a lot on the financial aspect; after all that was where the OP came in on.

 

With a handful of years to go before retirement I'm also focusing on physical fitness. Having previously been responsible for elderly parents I believe that a major part of staying independent - and out of care homes - is fitness and core body strength. And for me a definition of living in dignity would be to postpone entry into a care home till the last possible moment. Ideally I'd avoid a care home all together! 

 100% agree.  

Quote

Absolutely! I've always followed the mantra 'use it or lose it'. Muscle loss is harder to counter the older you get and eventually it becomes unavoidable. I've always planned to start off with more than I need so that toward the end I still hopefully have enough.

 

That's one of the reasons I took up golf. It's not the most physically demanding of sports but if you walk rather than ride you're getting a lot of benefits. Today I'm playing a course that is officially 6,300 yards from the normal tees and with my usual amateur's standard of play I'll probably end up walking nearer to 7,000 yards including up a couple of steep hilly sections. I won't even be out of breath at the end of it.

 

It's sad to see that most people riding buggies are young people. The older generation only use them if they are injured or frail.

 Also, 100% agree.

I too play golf, deciding to take it up seriously about 3 years ago after dabbling in and out for a couple of decades, and at my current level (21HCP) I end up walking 6+ miles per round, over undulating terrain, burning circa 1000 calories.  Excellent for the legs, for the heart rate and the core. And that fresh air just can't be beaten!  Do that twice a week and the benefits stack up.

My SO and I realised that we weren't in the best shape and whilst discussing the prospect of early retirement we decided we wanted to give ourselves the best chance of a decent quality of life in later life (as well as in the immediate term) and that meant improving our physical fitness.   So she invested in a Peleton. We both do at least 30 minute classes on it every morning, and again it does wonders for heart rate, general fitness and weight loss.  It really has been a good investment.

As AndreuC suggests, lifestyle choices/changes can make a big difference as well; always walking to the local shop instead of taking the car, taking stairs instead of lifts, etc.

As Billy Bragg suggests "..try to keep trim by living my life."

Mental faculties, of course, of another matter, and I'm not sure if there are any guarantees in that regard.  I've seen studies proclaiming exercising the brain with puzzles, reading, etc., as beneficial but equally I've seen studies saying it makes little difference, and there are different factors at play.  That said, what have we got to lose by exercising our brain regardless?

Best

Scott.

9 hours ago, stovepipe said:

There may be legal ways around it, but that’s what the Gov.uk website says. Search for !

’State Pension if you retire abroad’.
I had reason to look for what happens in the EU recently (inflation is paid), but noticed it was not true everywhere else.

Thanks for raising that, I wasn’t aware. 
 

I shall need to research that too. it is EnZed we are heading to;  I wonder if the fact that I am a dual citizen will make a difference, although I haven’t contributed to the New Zealand economy in a working sense. 
 

much more research required. 
 

Best

Scott. 

7 minutes ago, stovepipe said:

Be aware that the UK state pension is not increased by inflation each year in Canada, or New Zealand.  The value remains fixed at the point when you leave the UK. 

I didn’t know that.
 

Does that remain true if it is paid into a U.K. bank account?

Best

Scott. 

11 minutes ago, hayfield said:

 

 

We both have drawdown pensions and until recently have not used them, but just dipped into one to pay for our holiday, but no plans as of yet for regular payments. Our thoughts are the opposite to yours and are to top up our other pension income in later life.  

I am hoping that we can live off of mine initially and the my SO's can be used later.  We only have the two personal pensions (the General Accident one is effectively worthless - it might buy us a meal out now and then!) and then our state pensions, and so there is no other income.  That said, I could possibly see us working (very) part-time initially.

This thread is a very interesting discussion.

Best

Scott.

6 minutes ago, hayfield said:

 

Scott

 

Plus you can do far more with your pension funds these days, annuities are dead in the water owing to the historic low interest rates,

 

The other thing is that you will also give yourselves options/choices where you live and what you live in. We have moved from inside to outside the M25 into a nice semi rural village

Hello,

Yes that is true.  I'm afraid I made a bit of a fool of myself.  I don't think I could do the job I do if I was stupid, but I felt very stupid speaking to a finance person about pensions as I had thought buying an annuity was the only option, albeit wit the option of 25% being drawn tax free.  I didn't know a thing about draw down pensions, for instance, and it forced me to go and look at things properly.  Our plan is to move to another country (one of the ex-colonies) and downsize at the same time (although a 10m by 5m railway building is non-negotiable) and remain mortgage free, hopefully with some cash left over from the house sale.  From what I can see, the draw down type arrangement means you can take a bit more out regularly in those first retirement years, when you are fit and able to "see the world" and then when things slow down you a) need less, and b) will be receiving the state pension to help things along.  I realise there is a bit more care and consideration required, but that is my basic understanding of it.

Best

Scott.

In a similar vein to the thread on RMWeb regarding prostate checks for the over 50s, I must commend the OP for starting this discussion.  It has been timely.  I'd also like to thank the contributor who...contributed the link to the Which? calculator.  Having put my details into said calculator, I'm now in the quandary of not believing it.  It does seem too good to be true ( in respect of a draw down pension) so I will need to get that verified by someone in the know.

I place myself firmly into the group of those who, if we had our time again, would ensure that from day one of my working life, I would contribute as much as I could reasonably afford into my pension.  With my first job (starting in 1992), with General Accident (insurance), whilst I did at least have the sense to join the company scheme, I neglected to save any more than the bare minimum, retirement being "too far off to think about" then.  Ten years later, a period out of work studying for a degree did nothing to improve the situation and it wasn't until 2006 when I joined my current employer that I started to take pensions seriously.  Initially Bristow Helicopters matched employee contributions up to 7%, so almost from day one I sacrificed 13% (mainly because I like round, even numbers with things like this).  Subsequently, a few years ago, the company increased their contribution to match 9.7%*, and so with my love of round numbers, I increased my share to...17%.  Having just received a meagre pay rise, I'll be adding a percentage point to that now.  According to the projections, it seems that the saving strategy over the last 17 years will pay off, after my neglecting pension saving for so long.  But I would certainly do things differently if I could go back in time!

I'm very lucky that I get paid pretty well for what I do, and whilst, due to my shovelling of funds into the pension, and us overpaying the mortgage as much as we can (due to my significant other's desire to be mortgage free by 55), we don't have nearly as much disposable income as some of my colleagues, it should mean we can both retire at 60 reasonably comfortably.  We can then, using the draw down type pension, hopefully have a good ten to fifteen years before we start to physically slow down and have less use for currency beyond day to day needs. At least that's the plan.

As far as having a strategy for retirement, I can honestly say that if I retired tomorrow I still wouldn't have time to do all the things Id like to, so boredom shouldn't come into it!

Best

Scott.

I’m very much an enthusiast of the IOM railways. 
 

Following with great interest.

Best

Scott. 

10 hours ago, adb968008 said:

what is there to knock… ?

they are self sustaining, profitable, good margin and increasing headcount.

in the best of British tradition, pat on the back and carry on the good work.

 

You are right however, we should celebrate success more in the UK than we do.

Flip side we do focus more on problem children under the microscope more than other countries and analysis whats going wrong.

 

What it does show, is that despite being at the upper end of price range, and without a direct to customer channel, and with on the ground sales teams.. Bachmann can be consistently profitable.

 

Bachmann dont seem to flood the market with as much stuff, and the quality and attention to detail draws far less issues than Hornby stuff.

in that sense, Quality over Quantity seems to be winning.

 

They have under 70 coaches “arrived”, but thats not an instock indicator, so may well be less, compared to Hornbys 266 available to buy now for example… and Bachmanns report indicated a desire to reduce stock levels further. (Hornbys report does not explicitly say this, it just blames poor sales).

 

if you look at the accounts of Gaugemaster, Peco, Accurascale, Dapol they are also reporting profits.

 

What could be asked is if Bachmann are doing good on nearly 70 staff, and Hornby is heading 4x in turnover larger on 3x (c200) staff.. it might by comparison suggest Hornbys issues aren't down to staff productivity.

 

A good sales coach once said to me sales performance is down to three things.. Skills, Activity and Results.

If the results are bad, you look at the other two.

Its clear on headcount the activity is a better ratio of staff to earnings at Hornby than Bachmann.

Both are executing at similar margins.

 

so that brings us to skills…is this the problem ?

Do Hornby have a sales guy anymore  ?

Sales guys dont just sell… they guide direction by feeding back what the market wants, and more importantly… strategy.

Bachmann has 7 ?

 I repeat this line…

 

Bachmann don't seem to flood the market with as much stuff, and the quality and attention to detail draws far less issues than Hornby stuff in that sense, Quality over Quantity seems to be winning.

so Bachmanns sales…

 

A good example, is the 37, its £70 more than its competitor, theyve still produced a wide range, they are in all retailers, they got the timing right. It is discounted in some retailers, but I assume this is a retailer decision not a manufacturer one and maybe down to subject choice as well as competition (some room for improvement). Theyve gone for different angles from the competitor, but stepping on toes will be inevitable. What it has done is dampened demand pricing on the competitor (unlike deltics the competitors model is not going to ebays heavens !), meaning the table is still level for both models, they found a competing niche, and with a higher price point they are maintaining margin but perhaps (speculation) in differing volumes.. and maintained a non direct channel… theres quite some skill in that.

 

Ask yourself, if this was Hornby making a super detailed 37 instead of Bachmann, what would this look like in terms of Quality, Detail, Accuracy, Variety, Availability ?.. I dont know about you but i’m cringing at that thought, and would guess Accurascale would have the 37 market sown up.. (so now think about class 31 and class 50 and they are £50 above the competitors too)

 

So coming back to the OP comment…

unlike Bachmann, Hornby is the front door to the hobby, and those knocking it, might actually be passionate about that… especially when exposed to simple, trivial avoidable mistakes.
 

Its frustrating watching the flagship of our hobby being consistently navigate its way to calmer waters, especially if anything untoward happen it could impact all of us who practice the hobby in this country…

It seems anyone showing concern is open to abuse, just like anyone dissenting Brexit was (remoaner etc)...

Thats also a British trait.

Is that the difference between those who care, and those who don't ?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Excellent post. 
 

Best

Scott. 

I was in Dolphin Antiques today and they had some OO older Bachman and Hornby locomotives and Mainline coaches, amongst other things, that may be of interest to some. No idea if they are priced keenly or not but thought I’d share:

Best

Scott.