JohnR

Quite agree. If these models never see the light of day I will be disappointed, naturally, but it will have cost me nothing. This is a highly unusual situation - maybe unique, so lets give them time to sort things out.

It's clear that the packaging was inadequate to protect the etches when sent by RM. Thats surely Brassmaster's fault. I didnt get a clear sight of the packaging in the original picture, but it didnt look like it was marked "DO NOT BEND" or similar, in a way I've had things such as photos sent via RM in the past. Brassmasters should replace this, and improve their packaging and/or use an RM service that includes higher value compensation.

I think I caught that TMC are going to be bring back the Hattons 'Trunk' service as well. That was a much missed facility.

Yes, I dont know whether he is keeping his pre-order pricing, but Hornby on their website do.

Just had a notification from a model shop that there will be a price rise from Hornby on 1st September - so get those pre-orders in now!

Already referred to upthread.

My wife watches a lot of health related content, and shared with me a podcast with a GP, discussing mental health and how it impacts on physical health. The GP described how when we do things that we love, it improves our mental and physical health. He used the example of a man who came to him, feeling low, lacking energy, etc. After a short discussion, he asked him if there was anything he enjoyed doing. On being told there wasn't, he further asked was there anything you did when you were younger? He said he used to enjoy playing with his train set, but it had been in his parents loft for years. "Well, get that out then". He didn't see him again, but when 3 months later spoke to the mans wife, she told him that her husband was a changed man, he had got out his train set, and was now building a proper set, tinkering with it several nights a week, his mood had improved and he had much more energy more generally.

I'd also add, that your typical SGE seems to take up as much space on the train as a family of 4, and wernt spending money in the cafe or shop. There didnt even seem to be much interest in the barrow with back issues of railway magazines! The railway (like any other heritage railway) is in the business of earning money. That means it needs to cater for the largest market, providing them with what they want, and doing things that will extract more money from them. Catering to SGEs who dont spend money isnt going to be their priority. The Paignton & Dartmouth take this to extremes, but they are very successful at what they do - but you can also see it at the neighbouring South Devon Railway. I bet there are SGEs complaining "But I dont want to ticket to see the Butterfly farm!"

Apologies! All I know is it provides a bit more oomph and is highly recommended!

I think a lot of people here are missing that the fact is that this is aimed at families. Combine the £49 ticket with a kids go free (not something widely done elsewhere), and suddenly its worth while. For me, and it appears many others, £49 for a ticket covering an adult and 2 kids was reasonable value. On the trains we were on, there were a lot of families taking advantage of it. Yeah, I get it, if you're a single grumpy enthusiast, its not cheap. But the railway isnt marketed at you.

And I saw with my own eyes that trains were all busy. One of which was so busy we had trouble finding a seat! No one was being turned away.

Are they running empty trains though? Not on the evidence of my recent visit.

Exactly. The standard NCE transformer just provides 1.8A. The DCC Concepts provides (iirc) 2.5A so still within specification but providing a bit more power that is useful for running more locos, especially sound.

Another vote for the DCC Concepts version. It provides a little more power than the original NCE one too, which is handy.

I've got some professional experience in this area, as an Energy Manager for a large Scottish health board. Firstly, we probably pay less than most people for our grid electricity, as it is purchased as part of a giant public sector contract. It's certainly less than what I'm paying at home. One of our buildings has recently been vacated by the University, and as part of moving our staff into it, I commissioned studies into making it net zero, including solar panels. We're going to use it as an office building, occupied from 8am-6pm Monday - Friday. Based on the amount our panels would generate, I estimate we'd used everything within those hours of occupation. I didn't make any allowance for excess consumption we might spill back to the grid, eg at weekends or outside work hours. The panel design is an 85kW design (so much larger than a domestic set up, but the principle is the same) on the corrugated metal roof. The cost will be £140k, and has a payback of 9 years. The reality will be that it will payback sooner, as there will be some consumption outside of work hours, and we'll get something for our export (just not very much in comparison to what we pay). Hope this gives some real world figures to help the decision.