cessna152towser

Since I bought a Hornby Loriot around a year ago from C & M Models I have been on the lookout for a suitable load. Yesterday while my wife was browsing Christmas decorations at a local garden centre I wandered into the toys section where I spotted this Siku Tractor with excavator attachment. As it was only £7.99 I took a gamble that it would fit. I got lucky as it is an exact fit in terms of both width and length. Being exact length is a particular bonus as it means that the load will not roll back and forth while the wagon is travelling and so the load does not need to be glued to the wagon. This means I can retain the packaging for the wagon and pack it away unladen when not in use on the layout.

I had an odd experience with Global Shipping recently. I had sold some 00 scale coaches to a buyer in Germany and sent them 48 hour tracked to the Global Shipping centre in Staffordshire. Post Office tracking confirmed delivery, however after a week eBay tracking still showing as "Item not yet received by first mile carrier or hub". The post office proof of delivery was a photo of a trolley load of parcels from which I could not identify the parcel which I had sent. I contacted eBay and a very helpful assistant confirmed that as the Post Office had confirmed delivery to GSP, I would not be held liable in event of an item not received claim as GSP insurance was factored into GSP fees and would cover any loss. The assistant promised to contact Global Shipping to look for the item and e-mailed to me a transcript of our discussion. The item was subsequently found at GSP and forwarded and I have now been notified that final delivery to the buyer in Germany took place today.

Hornby coaches in Hattons Black Friday sale - still showing more than 10 in stock of each as at midday Sunday 26th - Mk I RBR in Raspberry Ripple or SK in Ballast Cleaner Staff livery, £11 each and some Mk3s at £15 each. https://www.hattons.co.uk/stocklist/bargain_list?search/sources/New/scales/OO/product-types/Coaches/brands/Hornby/bargain/true/stockstatus/InStock/sort/4

I pre-ordered my Caley 812 class from Rails and currently have 2 x Class 66 on pre-order from Accurascale. I would NEVER again pre-order from Hornby as they have twice cancelled my pre-orders for locos. Luckily I was able to obtain both via retailers, in one case at a lower price than originally quoted by Hornby.

Curiously, this flashed up for a fraction of a second as I was opening a page yesterday, was it here on RMWeb or on Facebook? Either way, once the page opened I couldn't find it again - even looked all over for it on RMWeb, Facebook and Accurascale website - no trace of it, as if it was something which I had either imagined or sublime advertising or something I wasn't meant to see yet.

I acquired one of these coaches in a recent eBay job lot purchase. Actually Kitmaster sides and interior fitted to an old Tri-ang chassis. I had no immediate plans for it, but after fitting modern finer scale metal wheels it has proved a useful addition to an excursion rake. Curiously the Lima Kitchen/Restaurant vehicle which came with it is in blue and grey and I am unsure how accurate this combination would have been. I have also run it with a Mainline Kitchen/Restaurant car but the Mainline one has a noticeably darker shade of maroon than the Kitmaster version.

I haven't been able to access this feature but I recall at one time eBay imposed on me a new user name, which I promptly changed back to the original. This has resulted in my "About" being somewhat contradictory as to date of joining eBay:- "eBay member since 2004, with over 3,000 positive feedbacks. Location: United Kingdom Member since: 15 Feb, 2015"

Can't win either way. Some time ago I sold a used Hornby 47. Knowing it had been received and having heard nothing from the buyer, after a few weeks I left positive feedback. Buyer only then responded to ask for £7 discount to cover the cost of replacing the armature. I pointed out that he had already had the item several weeks, it was running fine at the time of sale and for all I knew he could have been running it continuously since he received it. I said it was unfair on other bidders to ask for a discount after the item had been sold at auction and invited him to return the loco, but he insisted on keeping it. Against my better judgement I grudgingly refunded the £7. Then he posted negative feedback "Unhelpful seller accused me of breaking the item". I'd be reluctant to be so soft again and would now insist on return and full refund, and I have blocked this guy from bidding on my items.

My one pack of MDW wagons also contained a wand.

My LDV arrived early Monday morning along with an MDW triple pack in a separate box. Very pleased with these Accurascale products but the DHL driver had dumped the boxes beside my rubbish bin, which in the meantime before I had seen the notification of delivery e-mail, had been taken by the bin man and emptied into his truck and the two parcels were also gone. Enquiries with neighbours had drawn a blank. Fortunately I discovered late Tuesday afternoon that the refuse collector had suspected that these two boxes might not have been intended for destruction and had kept them aside. So I have been able to retrieve my wagons undamaged. No thanks to DHL for their disgusting lack of care in the delivery.

It has been a while since I last bought a steam outline loco but living in Hawick where 78047 spent most of its working life this was a must have.

Another shout out for Antics. Having been let down by Hornby over my long awaited pre-order for the BR Standard 2MT, I trawled the internet and found it advertised by Anticsonline for pre-order at a price within my budget last Saturday morning and I placed an order. Lady from Antics phoned on Wednesday to confirm my address and loco 78047 arrived safely this morning and very well packed.

That usually works nowadays when most of us have high speed internet. I remember my early days on eBay almost 20 years ago when I was still on a dial-up modem. I would bid on something two or three minutes before the end of the auction and then wait patiently to see if I won. Occasionally the response which eventually came back from eBay would be "item no longer available" and I would find that it sold to someone else for less than I had bid.

If I recall correctly the Weardale Railway had three 141s, one of which was never operated but was stripped for spares and eventually scrapped by them. As far as I know there are no plans to run steam at Whitrope. When the heritage centre was first being set up around the turn of the millenium I recall there was some talk about possibly bringing in a Black 5 which around that time was said to be in storage near Morpeth, but I don't think it ever reached the stage of serious discussion.

The 141s had their uses on the Weardale Railway. I can recall a standing room only trip on a New Year's Day because a large group of hikers chose to ride one way between Wolsingham and Stanhope and then walk back. Conversely another trip from Stanhope to Bishop Auckland on an August "commuter rail" service I was one of only three passengers so I can understand why this service no longer runs. I do some volunteering at Waverley Route Heritage Association where I am an associate member. The guys at Whitrope started out with RB004 which didn't really cut the mustard either with the public or enthusiasts as it was basically just a bus. As there was the spectre of the owner possibly removing RB004, they took the opportunity to acquire Pacers 142 019 and 142 020 when these became available. With one more open day remaining this season, running 142 019, they are on course for their best ever season. Partly because the Pacer is seen as a real train by families from the surrounding area who will bring their children for the novelty of a train ride. Also, from an enthusiast point of view, while a Pacer might not have been their choice of train, enthusiasts have visited from all over the British Isles and a few from mainland Europe, simply for the novelty of rail travel over a short section of the Waverley Route. Steam is not an option at Whitrope as the trackbed is leased from the Forestry Commission and it is a condition of the lease that steam is not run due to the potential fire risk.

Latest update on Strathspey Facebook page says Royal Scotsman stock being moved to depot for inspection, freeing up the platform so that they will be able to run trains with the Ivatt 2-6-0 later in the day. Updated again at 1:15pm they are not running today after all.

From the top photo on the BBC link it looks more like a rough shunt when buffering up to the stock, rather than a crash or collision, media over-sensationalisation perhaps?

That's what appears to have happened to my order for R3836. When I queried it with Hornby they claim my order was cancelled because payment was declined. Hardly surprising, really, since the card details which I gave them were current at the time of ordering which was over three years ago. They said I should have received an e-mail asking me to contact them to update card details, and that 78047 was now out of stock. Mysteriously, it is now back in stock but they now want 38 quid more than the price quoted when I originally ordered. That's not on, Hornby, much as I would like a 78047 as I live just up the hill from the site of Hawick shed where the full size loco was based, I have already waited three years, I can wait longer until I find one in the bargain bin or second-hand. Edited to add:- Looks like I'm now sorted for obtaining this model.

A different "Wolf of Badenoch" https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/255022413208 The same seller also has a few more unusual liveries. I have to admire the optimism as to their value.😄

That was a quick 20 years - I've still got one of the Monk Bar 40th Anniversary Dapol wagons.

Just a query re battery life. My pair of Accurascale FNAs arrived on 12th July and I installed the recommended batteries for the flashing tail light. Everything worked perfectly and after running the wagons on my small layout a couple of times I switched off the flashing light and packed the wagons away again shortly afterwards. I brought the wagons out for another run today but could not get the tail light to illuminate. I fitted fresh batteries and hey presto the light was working again. I had wondered why the batteries came in a ten pack when I only needed to install two. Are these small batteries intended for single use only, like the old battery powered model 'planes which only gave you one short flight from the battery? Or could the light inadvertently have started flashing while the wagons were packed in their box and thus drained the original batteries?

I also run DC Analogue using the Gaugemaster D controller. I have 3 x Accurascale class 37s, all of which, so far, run smoothly. The locomotives do tend to slow down the further away they travel from the power feed but I would put this down to voltage drop across track fishplates rather than any specific problem with the locos. Indeed the same slowing down effect occurs with other "heavy" diesel outline models such as the Dapol class 68 or the Hattons class 66.

and also bought the kit minus the instructions for thirty quid and also left positive feedback. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/186057933965 https://www.ebay.co.uk/fdbk/feedback_profile/randylabinski?user_context=BUYER

The wagon came to us from another heritage centre and we do not know its full history so it will be restored "as is".

I am assuming this is your wording. It tells a potential buyer a lot more information about the actual item, rather than the load of generalistic waffle provided by Artificial Inadequacy.