Hobby

Well, we have a problem with Trixie, which made itself known at 5am this morning when I only got in at nearly midnight last night!

It concerns the cat flap, which is in our bedroom, she likes going outside but won't use it without "assistance", i.e. we can push her through, headfirst and let her go as soon as her head starts to push it open and she'll carry on going but she won't make that initial step to headbutt the flap! Instead she sits there and "paws" it making a lot of racket until one of us comes over and shoves here through! Any ideas? (BTW it's a bit cold to leave it open as suggested online! She's not as flighty as she was earlier and I do wonder if it's connected to what happened in her first home.)

It gives the fantasy footballers something else to get points from! ;)

19 minutes ago, Jeff Smith said:

Seems like a popular combination.  I did order the blue 08 but cancelled - wouldn't have done if it had been green to shunt the Mk1 coaches.......

Mines early preservation era with BR still working a pick up goods over the same line. Unlikely but who cares!

Another who has ordered the 08 and Easterner! Though I do have the baseboards and will be building a layout! 

I thought the opposite! They spoilt a nice looking car!! ;)

https://carsthatnevermadeitetc.tumblr.com/post/615498130632343552/rover-p6-coupé-by-graber-1968-the-swiss

Doubt it's that one, but there were others, but it could be as it looks like it's left hand drive...

Yes, there's a separate thread on the Lincoln locos, personally I'm happy to wait, most of the stuff I want is scheduled for the next couple of years so plenty of time to build the layout once I have an Easterner set to play with!

2 minutes ago, PaulRhB said:

It’s in my post you quoted I never mentioned Hornby! 

 

So speculation from someone else, note the word "likely"! No wonder stuff gets twisted so easily on the internet!

3 minutes ago, Pmorgancym said:

So they held back mass marketing because they knew they'd screw up the launch :)

Or to look at it from a different perspective, they took the sensible option... 😉

5 minutes ago, PaulRhB said:

No they said one palate 😇 

 

Which is why I quoted the relevant post that did and put 😉 at the end!

Where did they say that, I've not seen anything from Hornby to say that, but for what it's worth, a rather pointless discussion anyhow as the stuff's here and that's all that matters, sorry for daring to question things!

7 hours ago, PaulRhB said:

It’ll be a hell of a tall single pallet with 828 or 1102 of those boxes on them! I reckon without my set box to hand you’d be lucky to get 6-8 on each layer so you’d be talking 100 plus layers. At 50mm deep you’d be talking 5m tall and that isn’t going to fit in a 9ft 6in container let alone a plane 😉 

They didn't say it was "one" pallet, though, that's come from speculation on here, all Simon said was that they were trying to get space to get them airlifted, I suppose what we got was the maximum they could get at an acceptable price. Come to that I've not seen anything in writing saying that they did airlift the sets, though it's a reasonable assumption in view of the known timescales, though could they have been airlifted to another European country and transferred here in view of the comments made about customs? Yet another thing for people to speculate on!! 

2 hours ago, andrewshimmin said:

I understand that, but I am really hoping the "Winter 2024-25" dates are a typo for "Winter 2023-24" - otherwise there's nothing expected between first half of 2024 and second half of 2024 which seems odd.

Simon said the HST is well advanced, but the Duchess will take longer (which makes sense given what we've seen so far).

We're all guessing anyhow, but I suspect that the problems they've had with the wheels on the steamers that caused the initial delay has made them revisit the estimated dates and now they are playing safe. I'd be surprised if he tells you any different, but we'll wait and see...

1 hour ago, andrewshimmin said:

By the way I emailed Simon Kohler about the discrepancies in the expected availability dates on the website compared to the magazine (. am hoping Winter 24-25 is a typo!).

Someone's already asked him, the reply was basically that they don't want to be overoptimistic (as, I suspect, they have been so far!), the 50 and 66 are all but designed and will go for tooling quotes after Christmas so he hopes those dates can be improved on but cannot guarantee that. He points out that there are many versions of both classes, especially the 66 and it won't be a quick job. He signs off by saying that we will be updated when there is progress. I really don't know what else he can say!

Someone on FB has just got a Scotsman set number 2/1011... So 828 in the first batch and onto batch 2?

4 minutes ago, F-UnitMad said:

The UK "confusion equivalent" is the mini-roundabout, with 3 cars arriving at once, none knowing who should go first. 🙄🤣

The one that moves (reacts!) first! ;)

The thing with the 850 Mini is that it felt quick even at low speeds due to its ability to corner quickly, unlike the Micra! Back in those days, though, most cars were slow by todays standards (early/mid 70s).

6 minutes ago, Dunsignalling said:

You obviously never sampled the "delights" of an immaculate, one-lady-owner Mk2 Fiesta "Popular Plus" (1.1) which would go almost as "fast" in third as could eventually be wrung out of it in top gear on a level road!  (I was barely ten stone at the time).

I'll raise you with  Micra 1.0l, rice pudding skins have always been safe around them!

3 hours ago, Jol Wilkinson said:

Brand image is probably the most important buying factor as status is now increasingly indicated by what people own rather than what they do, so for many an Audi beats a Kia

Maybe, as SUVs are popular across the brands indicate that its the car's type that is the status rather than the brand and that over rides any other considerations such as interior space, etc..

Perhaps we need to go back on subject, I'll never be convinced that SUVs are a good idea or are anything more than the manufacturer's way of increasing profits and are the work of tge devil! 😈

1 hour ago, Ian J. said:

One, would be the higher ride height allows better visibility over lower height cars;

Two, would be (and this applies to me) where trying to get down into a lower height car when you have a back problem can be very uncomfortable. The higher ride height allows for more comfortable access into the vehicle, especially when doing so from a pavement.

Yes we've had this discussion before and both your points can be turned on their head...

1. Where do you stop? Higher and higher vehicles?!! Up until recently the only vehicles which obstructed vision for normal cars were commercial and 4x4s, SUVs have made this much worse. Also less aerodynamic...

2. Some people can't climb into them, though, my wife is one, an extra inch or two ride height is OK (such as the old "Scout" range of cars by Skoda based on their ordinary car range) but we tried a Tiguan last time we changed and she couldn't get in the thing or any of the other SUVs that looked a possibility!

It's a never ending discussion, but my comment was a genuine concern that they are concentrating more on SUVs than ordinary cars (for profit judging by the comments) but in the main they are less space efficient than the equivalent car, their only advantage seems to be height, but only if that is acceptable to the individual buying.

I love the phrase "what the market wants", it's actually what the manufacturer wants and the marketing people can sell to gullible punters...

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32 minutes ago, Ron Ron Ron said:

 

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Yet another SUV, don't manufacturers know how to make ordinary cars these days... Sooner this SUV bubble bursts the better...

I was looking for the cat in the tree before I scrolled down!! 😄

Looking at the photo if you use Hornby fishplates it should be possible to couple Peco and Tillig track ok.

2 hours ago, jjb1970 said:

, the ballast lists the track away from the floor and shields trains from the vagaries of whatever's on the floor (very handy if you have carpet) 

It's TT so isn't supposed to be on the floor but on the table!! 😄