Chris116

In the month after the central section opening I had a ride from Paddington to Abbey Wood and now that I find I can get to Reading on my Freedom Pass I will be doing a Paddington - Abbey Wood - Reading - Paddington trip.

I only joined on 28th October and had the email about the delays today. I am not worried about when it all arrives. If it is not with me by the end of January I will contact them but not going to chase before then as they have better things to do than answering my email.

You don't put sprouts 'on', you put them 'in', the rubbish bin. Horrible things.

We have been reading the same ones forever as well or so it seems.

The problem is that too much proof reading is done using the computer's spell check function or by the person who wrote the article. Proof reading your own work never works as you read what you wanted to appear and computers don't check that you have used the correct word, just that the word used is in the dictionary.

Those birds are brilliant but you need a few flying around their home as well as those who you pictured sitting on their perch. DCC controlled of course! Hat, coat and exit stage left at very high speed.

Does the mean my saying earlier that I would like them to produce all of the TT3 range of the 50s and 60s puts me on the naughty step?

Yes but the advertising says :- "A journey on a Pullman service would be regarded by many as the pinnacle of rail travel in the steam era. The LNER A1 4-6-2 locomotive and complementary Pullman coaches included in this set represent how the ‘Flying Scotsman’ may have looked in the LNER heyday of the 1930s, that being the Flying Scotsman service and not the somewhat famous locomotive named after it. This service would run non-stop between Edinburgh and London, departing at 10:00 in each direction." So Hornby consider the train they are selling is representing the Flying Scotsman train.

In the Hornby alternative reality the Flying Scotsman can be anything they dream up. It is called Rule 1 and used by many of us at times in need.

Having joined the TT:120 club I have studied what is planned more carefully. Brush Type 2 and Castle class 4-6-0 are both models I liked in my TT3 days. Then I find 92212 is planned, my preferred loco for hauling the RAT on the Mid Hants Railway when I am Guard on the service. I just hope later phases of their plans include a Jinty, a DMU, a 2-6-2T and a Merchant Navy to complete my old time TT3 recreation.

If the Pullman's in the set are not lit then why is the set with them in more expensive than the other one since from what I can see that is the only reason why one set costs more than the other.

Well I have just joined the Hornby TT:120 club and it said that the welcome pack would be mailed within six days. I have just been checking the sets they are advertising and note in the list of contents it say you get a 3rd radius oval plus track pack 1. Then further down in the specifications it says minimum radius is 2nd radius! Does this mean that the minimum radius the loco and stock will go round is 2nd radius but the supplied oval is 3rd radius or does it mean that they can't make up their minds what is in the set? I hope it is the former but will wait to hear reports from those who receive the first sets shipped. I have just updated my copy of AnyRail and will be having a little play with a few plans this afternoon and evening.

I made a comment early in this thread about my worry that the current Hornby organisation would treat TT:120 in the same way the Tri-ang did with TT3. Having followed this and other threads I am becoming more interested but my interest is in recreating my childhood layout with copies of the locos and rolling stock that were available (and I had at least one of every British model of the time). Once the range can do that then I will be very interested although the DMU had better run better than three of the four I owned!

The more I hear about how happy people are with these carriages the more I am looking forward to receiving my GNR and BR examples.

Metcalfe do a fire station kit although it is not one of their kits I have built.

The current economic situation will undoubtedly have an effect on all of us and therefore on our ability and willingness to make purchases of any model railway items. However, the people who I come into contact with who are screaming loudest about prices going up are the ones who have new mobile phones, laptops and 65" TVs they seem to replace every nine months. Having started work in 1972 I have seen what inflation can do to your wages. It is not fun but by keeping things for longer before buying replacements it is amazing what you can save. This means that £220 for the ES1 is a more likely purchase than replacing a 9f from one manufacturer with a new one from either the same or different manufacturers. If all the prices have gone up 20% then only have four locomotives instead of five on your new layout or find good quality secondhand ones instead of new ones. There are choices to get around the situation and if you find yourself in the position of having no funds for buying models then start improving the ones you already have with some modelling. If you don't know how to make the improvements you want then ask here and I am sure you will find lots of help.

With C3421 you have a superb example of how to make a backscene using the wall about half an inch in front of a painted hill with flats (or houses) on the hill. Definitely giving me ideas.

Don't you mean move the servants in?

The cat I had as a child, Sandy, had a collar put on him by my mother a couple of weeks after she collected him from the Blue Cross. She put it on him so if he got lost the name tag had his home address on. He played with it for a short time and then asked to go out. As usual he came back very quickly but without the collar. My father found it a couple of days later in a pile of leaves at the bottom of the garden. The collar was put back around Sandy's neck and he immediately asked to go out and we watched as he removed it and hid it further into the pile of leaves and then returned to the back door and asked to come back in. We didn't bother with the collar ever again.

Since Covid I have not been to any exhibitions although I had planned to go to three. The problem was the rail strikes which have also stopped me from volunteering on the Mid Hants Railway having had to give up three days when I was due to do a duty but with a rail strike it was not possible for me to get to Alton. This is not having a go at the rail unions who have to fight for what their members want. Hopefully I will get to a couple of exhibitions before next summer but if I don't I will just have to accept the situation. The price of admission to all except the largest exhibitions is still very reasonable compared to many other days entertainment but for those whose financial situation is suffering then add the cost of travel, entry and food for the day then some may sadly be unable to get to as many or any exhibitions for the foreseeable future which is a great shame.

Currently showing on NR Enquiries as trains running to Appleby with bus replacement to Carlisle which is expected to continue until at least Thursday 27th October.

The best running wagons in TT3 days were the Peco Wonderful Wagons which were very easy to build and looked good in a train even if some were not strictly prototypical. I wonder if Peco will produce any in TT:120?

It certainly is but that didn't stop the police only charging the motorist who killed an RHDR driver by jumping the red lights with careless driving instead of causing death by dangerous driving.

On-line forums don't normally do 'patient' very well.

I think the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway would have plenty to say about motorists who ignore flashing red lights!