AY Mod

That's nothing to do with the migration. The ways to not get adverts has been done to death - go Gold or hold on into next week and I may have an update on Silver.

Whilst we were off air Phil and I were invited to preview Bachmann's new venture. Exciting new model and hobby store opening in Hinckley A new store with a difference is opening soon in Castle Street, Hinckley in Leicestershire. MCC Store is a subsidiary of Bachmann Europe, a local company who have been manufacturing and distributing high quality model and hobby products for over 30 years. With the support of Bachmann, MCC aims to bring hobbies back to the high street! In addition to the fantastic range of products, the store aims to engage with customers through workshops and demonstrations. These will be held throughout the year and details will be posted on the MCC Store Facebook page. Project Manager Jon Gibbs said “During the pandemic we have seen a huge surge in interest for modelling products, with people revisiting past hobbies and having more time to spare. The aim of the store is to get people to put down their screens and create something amazing using the products on offer and expert advice on hand. This is a store for all members of the family to enjoy, with products for all ages and abilities. Within the store, there is a fantastic range of materials to support school projects and encourage creativity. We have a great team here who can’t wait to welcome visitors”. There is a huge selection of products on display including plastic kits, model scenery, educational toys, model trains, collectables and flying toys. Younger visitors can also look forward to visiting the children’s craft and play table, which allows mum and dad the chance to browse the shop at their leisure. The 135sqm store has created 5 new jobs and is located on Castle Street in Hinckley.

Please see

Firstly, my apologies for the extended and unplanned absence of the site since Monday 21st March. It was evident that all was not well with site performance for a few weeks. I had been repeatedly advising and questioning the host’s (Dediserve) support since late January. Repeatedly they would push the blame back saying there was nothing wrong there so it must be software/configurations/heavy loads. Eventually on 3rd February they had to restart the drives due to an issue at their London data centre and they also replaced one of the drives; for a couple of weeks after this the performance was better but the issues gradually returned. Repeated contacts were made with the same rebuttals; regular intervention was required to tweak settings and clear caches which would return service for a few hours. Requests for a further restart were refused on the basis it would affect other clients. This reached intolerable levels during a supposed week off. Due to concerns over poor performance and support plans were already in hand and preparations largely completed before that week off. We had held discussions with the president of Invision (the software used for the site) about migrating the site to them as soon as practicable. Finally, on 21st March, everything started collapsing. Requests for information were met with vague responses about investigation. The following day a technical report was sent… So much for the successful drive replacement they reported to me on 4th March! At that stage we were looking at a total data loss by Dediserve as the backups were within that array. An earlier backup from around a year ago was found intact. We had taken the precaution of taking the sql database away from Dediserve onto an alternative platform (again due to performance issues) a year ago so we had all the user/post content safely separate so the drive failures related to the uploaded content such as images. The backup file was enormous, in website terms, which entailed logistical problems in transferring this to Invision. So what does this mean? The transfer to Invision means that the hosting will be with the software providers so that performance should be better integrated. Invision’s systems utilise Amazon’s cloud platforms for improved resilience with continual backups. Improved software support. The uploaded images from the last year could, sadly, not be recovered from Dediserve. Older images should be largely intact although further checks are being made. Users will be able to edit earlier posts and re-upload images if they wish. It’s far from ideal and I’m furious with Dediserve for their failings in this regard. It’s evident at this stage that some saved avatars haven’t been ported across so please re-upload up those when you get opportunity. If the navigations bar or other links do not appear to be working can you please clear any RMweb browsing history in your browser. Once again, I apologise for the interruption in service. Thank you for the emails, Facebook posts, phone calls, text and WhatsApp messages etc – although a distraction when trying to get things moving your support was seen and appreciated. Of course there will still some knobbers but I can’t cure everything. Other issues may be identified through the course of the coming days; your patience will be appreciated.

This weekend at Ally Pally the British Railway Modelling Award ceremony was the opportunity to present Dennis with a Lifetime Achievement Award recognising his service with Locomotion Models, Bachmann Europe and his many years before that within the railway industry with BR and Virgin. Thanks to @tc for the photo of Phil handing over his award.

Sorry that didn't work in that case Al. I've run a manual fix on it now.

Al, could you try to login in here https://www.world-of-railways.co.uk/account/login?ref=%2Fmy-account%2Fmy-membership%2F with your World of Railways account please? That *should* re-synch everything.

They have nothing to gain by doing so either, they are not a public service.

You are talking rot again, there is nothing outstanding there https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/12195781/filing-history , HMRC is a different issue which you cannot possibly know to be true. Please stop making things up. I have no time for Canns but neither will I permit unfounded accusations.

Got it in one! As it's a virtual machine on a larger drive they just will not spool it down and do the restart I need doing as it would affect other users. If only I knew who the others were I'd seek to find what problems they're having. 5 weeks ago the whole machine put itself into an emergency restart and the problems we had before that were cured within minutes. Funny that. They just carry on pointing the finger back at software that was running perfectly well up to 2 weeks ago. The migration process is underway but it's a huge project due to the need to create a file of almost 1TB of images.

It wouldn't have been doing anything at all if I hadn't intervened at 3.30 this morning. Truly racked off with Dediserve at the mo.

Yes, spent the morning nursing it. We're aware and the hosts are absolutely no help in resolving issues that sit with them.

The hunt is on for the four purchasers to carry out testing to do with the loss of taste.

Bump

I won't be there but my thanks to Lawrence for hosting the first time we're announcing the winners live and handing out the awards. Turn up for 12 to find out the results and watch the elation or deflation in the eyes of the manufacturers who did us proud in 2021.

It doesn't need to be printed but don't lose your phone!

It's not really for mothers, it's just a topical title to get recipients to open it out of curiosity and buy themselves something.

Looks like an album cover from Kit and the Tiltpacks.

This has been done to death in numerous other topics. If you are a Gold member you don't get the ads or video.

KMRC announce Exclusive Graham Farish N gauge Class 03 in Network SouthEast livery as 03179 ‘Slug’. The Kernow Model Rail Centre announce an Exclusive N Gauge Class 03 number 03179 in its colourful light blue Network SouthEast livery unofficially nicknamed ‘Slug’ on the Isle of Wight, is in stock and available to purchase. The Class 03 diesel shunters were introduced between 1957 and 1962 and with 230 built, the type was one of BR's most successful small 0-6-0 diesel-mechanical shunters and was adopted as BR’s standard small shunter. Weighing in at 30 Tons, some 18 Tons less than the Class 08 diesel shunter, the Class 03’s were fitted with Gardner engines and their distinctive jackshaft drive arrangement gave the locomotives a top speed of 28½ mph. Despite their usefulness, a downturn in shunting requirements meant that withdrawals began in 1968, although the last remained in service on mainland Britain until 1987. Number 03179 operated on the Isle of Wight on 30th June 1988, where she gained the Network South East livery, and remained in traffic on the island until 1993. She was later resurrected by West Anglia Great Northern in 1998 to shunt their Hornsey Depot and named ‘Clive’. Subsequently operated by First Capital Connect, the loco was finally withdrawn in 2008 after which the locomotive was preserved, at Rushden, Higham and Wellingborough Railway, the bringing the total number of surviving examples to 56. The Kernow Model Rail Centre Exclusive highly detailed model in N Gauge is being produced for KMRC by Graham Farish. The model is the latest chassis design with a powerful coreless motor and easy decoder fitting via a 6 pin dcc socket. The highly detailed body shell incorporating many separate components includes the ‘flower pot’ exhaust, lamp brackets and metal handrails. The KMRC Exclusive model is completed by the exquisite Network SouthEast livery application. The recommended decoder is the new Bachmann 6 pin micro decoder 36-571 to ensure that the decoder will fit into the limited space available. The Exclusive model is priced at £129.99 for DCC ready (371-064Z) and is in stock and available to purchase online and from both KMRC shops.

It may take until next week to show up as the previous month's print issue is still on sale. Patience dear chap. I was trying to pinch that for a Gold/Silver prize but I've been done over.

Hawthorn Leslie and Company was formed by the merger of the shipbuilder A. Leslie and Company in Hebburn with the locomotive works of R. and W. Hawthorn at St.Peter’s in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1886. The company manufactured locomotives to order for main line companies and later had a number of standard designs including 0-4-0 saddle tanks and fireless locomotives. In 1937 Robert Stephenson of Darlington amalgamated with the locomotive works at Forth Banks to form Robert Stephenson and Hawthorns Ltd. By this time Hawthorn Leslie had built 2,783 locomotives. The newly formed Robert Stephenson and Hawthorns became a subsidiary of the Vulcan Foundry in 1943 and Hawthorn’s 137-year connection with Forth Banks ended. The Dapol model is based on the 0-4-0 saddle tanks built between 1899 and 1924. They were produced in large numbers and continued in a variety of industrial uses (included Iron works, collieries and power stations) until the early to mid 1970’s. Over 10 locomotives have made it into various states of preservation. The Dapol Hawthorn Leslie will feature: • Finely moulded body with many separately added fine details • DCC ready with NEXT-18 socket included—accessed via the lift off diecast saddle tanks • DCC fitted models available • Cast wheels with fine relief and appropriate colouring • Die-cast compensated chassis and all wheel pick up • NEM pockets as standard • Powerful 5 pole skew wound motor • Accessory bag with spares and other optional detail Proposed liveries 4S-024-001 Hawthorn Leslie 0-4-0 Green Lined Yellow `Asbestos' 4S-024-002 Hawthorn Leslie 0-4-0 Black Lined Red `Henry' 4S-024-003 Hawthorn Leslie 0-4-0 Maroon Lined Straw `Invincible 4S-024-004 Hawthorn Leslie 0-4-0 Blue Lined Yellow Port of London Authority 56 4S-024-005 Hawthorn Leslie 0-4-0 Blue Lined Straw NCB 4S-024-006 Hawthorn Leslie 0-4-0 Green `Faraday' 4S-024-007 Hawthorn Leslie 0-4-0 Green `Spider' Black Park Colliery 4S-024-008 Hawthorn Leslie 0-4-0 Yellow Chevrons Newcastle Electric Supply 13 4S-024-009 Hawthorne Leslie 040 Lt Blue `Wallaby' Australian Iron & Steel Co. The model is approaching the tooling stage. RRP: DCC Ready - £117.00 DCC Fitted - £152.00

No but you are taking people's time up, unreasonably, including several reports of you howling at the moon today. Everyone is busy this weekend so I'm removing your access to the topic.

CHANGES AT LOCOMOTION MODELS Locomotion Models, which is part of the Science Museum Group, is undergoing reorganisation. As a result, Dennis Lovett*, Exclusive Models Marketing Executive, is stepping down from his part time role which will be incorporated into a full-time role covering marketing for Locomotion Models & Science Museum Ecommerce. These changes come into effect on 31st March 2022. Dennis has agreed to continue to provide some on-going support to the team as an advisor in a voluntary capacity. Tom Mackie, Science Museum Group’s Group Retail Operations Manager said “with the transfer to a new full time Marketing role, Dennis felt it was right time to step down. We thank Dennis for his contribution over the past 3½ years during what has been a challenging time. We are delighted that he has agreed to continue in a voluntary advisory role as we build up to major events which are being planned for the 200th Anniversary of the Stockton & Darlington Railway in 2025”. Dennis Lovett said “after retiring from Bachmann in 2018, I was invited to take a part time role with Locomotion Models and to assist in developing and promoting some exciting new models. With the business requiring a full-time Marketing position, now is the time to step back and finally retire from day-to-day involvement. I will remain as a volunteer to assist the Locomotion Models team in researching and developing new models with its manufacturing partners. I will of course still be involved in the hobby and may even now have the time to finish some of my own projects”. Now go and put your feet up Dennis after your great work there!

Limited edition = a specified quantity run with or without certificate. Exclusive edition = only available from a specified source, certificate irrelevant. Special edition = not restricted in any way but may be outside a catalogue or main range.