Clearwater

Hi Tony Whilst I suspect I may know the answer to this question, have you given any thought to setting up a "Justgiving" or similar page for your virtual loco clinics? Given the lack of exhibitions and inability therefore to put money into the tin, those of us who might want to contribute would be able to do so easily. It may also entice some of the overseas followers of this thread to be able to contribute as well! Kind regards David

I suspect a fairly broad definition of new to include any relivery as well as genuinely new tooling!

Hi Tony I think these issues are debated in depth in Dapol mogul thread (apologies but I'm not IT competent enough to link directly). Several commentators including Frank @Chuffer Davies, who's modelling I've admired on this thread, have had the battle in taking it apart as well. David

My new nu-cast one is glaring balefully me from the workbench next to me....

Looking at those pathe films, some of the demonstrators would have been around in pre-grouping times....

Ah, ok- but the Government's argument will be that individual shops are better placed to make that judgement than the person in Whitehall. That may be right but the consequence of that may be on those people who are not given an option as to whether they want to work the overnight shift.

I would far rather internet shop for certain things but searching for small, awful, stocking fillers for small children is much easier in a real shop as is the desperate searching / panic buying careful, tender choosing of gift for my wife! I'd expect overall retail spend won't vary much as people have a certain amount to spend and will do spend it come what may though I accept the overall internet share of shoppers' wallet will be higher. There's an element that the virus is merely accelerating trends that were already happening in a switch away from cash and high street shopping to delivery. Worth noting that some retailers did not have an online offering, notably Primark. How they fare and survive will be interesting. However, I can see that longer opening hours might spread the load on shops a little and help with social distancing. Whilst not a supporter of the Government, I do think they are between the proverbial a rock and a hard place here. Leave opening hours more restricted and run the risk that if the R rate increases, people saying "why oh why didn't you let the shops stay open longer and reduce crowding?." Now that particular genie is out of the bottle, they have to go with it and it fits with their general "let the market decide philosophy."

Yes, I think there is a revisionist movement regarding Chamberlain's position and motivations. Of course by dying in 1940, he never really got to put his side of the story and history got written by the victors of the Churchil/Eden faction. Stepping back for a moment, he may well have been in the early stages of cancer in the latter stages of his premiership.

I’ve not read that but it’s a familiar argument from his “Britain’s War Machine” where he argues, plausibly, against the rose tinted history of plucky ill-prepared Britain against the barbarian might of Nazi Germany that actually Britain had been remarkably organised through the mid late 30s with a planned response to the growing German threat. For example, the origins of the spitfire, hurricane, Lancaster etc can all be seen several years before the war. Equally, the organisation of the RAF allowed a rapid expansion with a core seeded from the permanents, short service commissions to boost the auxiliaries. Interestingly, the famous Britain alone cartoon published post Dunkirk was satirised at the time with a riposte published at the time saying “yes, just us and the billion people in the empire.” Modern spin on 1930-1960 across appeasement, World War Two, Attlee and the post has a lot to answer for. I think Overy argues that one of the reasons the Allies one wasn’t that their tech was better but their execution was more focused. Common designs with simple parts produced on masse compared to German designs which though more advanced relied on overly complex logistics chains to service. Exacerbated by each producer arguing directly to Hitler leading to a splintering of production and effort whereas the allies directed factories towards the successful designs of tanks/aircraft etc.

much as I’d like to see a GWR set from Hornby, I think that if the Coronation Scot is a commercial success that they will turn their attention East to either the Coronation or Silver Jubilee sets. Sadly more iconic than the mixed rakes prevalent, CRE excepted, on the GWR and tie well to the A4s they can knock out on largely amortised toolings. I’d expect Hornby already know the answer as to whether the Coronation Scot is a commercial success as they’ll have their own and retailer’s pre order data. If I were them, I’d go for the silver jubilee as can sell either silver or garter blue A4s to run with it. You could do versions of the coaches to run in the 50s as well with, oh, A2s...

For an alternative interpretation of Attlee’s government, worth reading Edgerton’s Rise and Fall of the British Nation (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rise-Fall-British-Nation-Twentieth-Century/dp/1846147751). He points out that socialism is only mentioned once in the 1945 manifesto. I think it’s fair to argue that much of what that Government achieved had its roots in earlier thinking notably Beveridge. Book, as are his others, are thought provoking. The descriptions of why Britain wanted an export led boom in the 50s are interesting and, in my view, give rise to some of the myths of going back to when Britain made stuff myths and how Britain won the war that we’ve seen reheated ad nauseam in recent election campaigns. David

Sorry, that’s incorrect. Whilst Disraeli’s father was Jewish, Disraeli converted to Anglicism aged 12. I do not think the UK has had a practicing Jew as PM.

Mine’s been hauling 6 bogie coaches around our 6 by 4, second radius, happily enough. No slipping. Nice model, I like it... David

My wife keeps saying really unhelpful things like “one in one out” referring to books particularly. I try and limit my purchases to stuff that’s relevant to my interests. On non-railway books, Wisden each year is a must. For reference, I’d also buy a GCR book particularly if focused on the GW joint line. I already have a couple of tomes but that wouldn’t stop me getting another. I’d probably also invest, wisely, in any GW photo album particularly if well presented and annotated. David

We had a spate of thefts of deliveries on our street in Lockdown 1.0. We'd set up a street WhatsApp group and as most people were working from home and several people have ringo doorbells, it became obvious when a van showed up. Whilst vigilante action didnt happen, it did help people get down and go and get their delivery boxes straight away. Some people did inform the police. I suspected a scam as the theft incidences were higher around one particular delivery company...

My book says no as well but I wouldn’t take that as an independent confirmation as if @Harlequinis using RCTS, my book is quoting that in its bibliography so probably the same underlying information. David

Hi Phil no expert but my GW moguls book says it didn’t. cheers david

I've similarly researched a tree on ancestry. I did their DNA test which was surprisingly informative as you could sometimes see where trees would join. That gave me more confidence in some of the reserch. My particular interest is that my great grandfather was clearly illegitimate, and noone named on birth certificate. Therefore I'm curious to try and work through a DNA elimination process to see if I can work out his parentage. There was a great read on the BBC along these lines recently: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/stories-53447901. I also enjoyed "A house through time" - great programme. I found certain lines easy to trace however where there are common names and periods of population movement, tracking "John Smith" for example becomes extremely challenging and often leads you to a dead end so to speak. Of course, many people changed their names when they were moving for whatever reason. What partially surprised me is that some branches seems almost rooted to the sport whereas some move all over the shop! Have fun! David

well “from” not “to”

Hi Phil good to see you posting. My book says 6373 didn’t get outside steam pipes. Neither did 6320. Book doesn’t lost shed allocations but happy to look up others for you! cheers David

Hi i can’t find my manual. The symbols in the pic have appeared on the top left. The battery symbol and the electric power symbol (think that’s a short.). Could someone explain what they are? I know I have a short circuit somewhere on the track that I’m separately investigating. thanks in advance! David

I think there’s a more nuanced view on coaching stock. The relatively frequent discussions on stock such as GWR toplights suggest that some purchasers are unwilling to contemplate buying because of the perceived complexity and changes to the stock over the years. Yet, it looks like generic ranges such as the Hattons Genesis coaches will be a commercial success despite the inherent inaccuracies their approach entails. I don’t think knowledge of prototype coaching stock is any less than that of loco stock. Nor do I think that the majority of purchasers of locos are put off by the odd inaccuracy. However, what you see on forums (fora?) such as this is the criticisms of a vocal minority. Unless you can build, paint to a high standard or are willing to pay up to four figures, you have to adopt a FIFO principle to both loco and stock purchase. Personally, I think it comes down to the level of compromise you’re prepared to accept. To me it jars far more to see a Class 66 diesel hauling private owner wagons or a shirt button GWR loco hauling blue/grey mark ones where the error is obvious as opposed to seeing a garter blue A4 with Hornby teak coaches. With the latter, if the presentation is acknowledging the errors, then at least it is showing the presence of error rather than wilful ignorance. However, at a top level exhibition like Warley or Railex/other ones at Stoke Mandeville, my expectations as to what is an acceptable level of compromise will be higher than on a thread on here or the show at the local village hall. David

can’t see many huge rucksacks though?

She's not going to get far on based on the load in her tender!

Sorry to be pendantic, but shirtbutton livery was introduced in 1934 so if the pipes were fitted in 1932, it would be highly unlikely to be seen as they've produced it. Even though the pipes were added in 1932, it would be more plausible to show the loco in 1906-34 unlined livery for a period post 1934 depending on the dates it was subsequently shopped and repainted nevermind any tender exchanges!