Grosvenor

At the beginning of this year I completed some kit built coaches which I wanted to fit Bachmann short couplings to. I can't fit NEM pockets because the bogie design wont allow it. I looked for the 36-025 short screw on couplings and all the usual stockists said 'out of stock/on order'. I ordered with one of the bigger dealers after looking at the Bachmann website which said 'arriving April/May', expecting that by June I should be in possession of some couplings. Around the beginning of June the Bachmann website changed to saying 'arrived' for the couplings so I foolishly thought they might arrive soon. No, still no sign at end of June, so emailed Bachmann at the beginning of July and received what can only be described as a rather useless reply as follows. "Thank you for taking the time to contact us. This item is currently out of stock however we do have further supplies on order with our supplier. Once we have a projected date for these to be released our website will be updated to reflect this. " I went back saying their website said they had arrived and received the following "Sorry for any confusion regarding this. Our website has actually been showing this item as Arrived for some time, which is correct as the item has indeed ‘Arrived’, however it has been out of stock in our warehouse for a while now too. Once we have a projected date for these to be released our website will be updated to reflect this." Can anyone explain how they can have arrived and yet be out of stock in their warehouse and no stocks have reached any dealers.

I would prefer the London and Croydon atmospheric railway rather than the johny come lately Brunel version.

Jol Thank you for your efforts on my behalf. John made contact before I could try and we are now in communication.:-) Regards George

Thanks for the reassuring reply. I’ll ping John R an email to see whether I can discover what happened. George

Do London Road models reply to messages sent from their contact us page. I sent a message trying to place an order some time in November/December and didn't receive a reply sent another message a week or so ago and still no reply. And it now appears that the item I was trying to order is no longer available or the web page link for Metropolitan carriages is broken. Since the contact us page is the only way of making contact this is a bit of a failure in customer relations. George Ray

My 30064 arrived yesterday, I fortunately was able to retain it although like Edge it is my Christmas present from management. What a gem, well worth the 4 1/2 year wait. Had a session on the rolling road today, it was very quiet and steady. With the slight side to side motion so characteristic of the prototype when running on the Bluebell.

Those are not little aerials but hand holds to enable the crew to climb onto the top of the tanks. I am getting jealous because I have not heard of any progress on my order for 30064 which I placed back in 2012 it still shows as pending on the Model Rail site. I'll continue to be patient and hope it turns up soon.