Cmax

Yes, I don't think the colour is wrong specifically, it's just something about the model, not even sure what it is, but it's just as bad in the flesh. Must be the particular plastic used.

 

Yes... the Hornby one retails for £120, and the DJM one is £130...?

But you can't buy a DJM one, can you.........

Tongue firmly in cheek.

Gary

Decades ago, what has since become Royal Mail was famous for its arrogance. If you wrote complaining about a delayed letter etc you would be most unlikely to get any response. It seemed that holding a monopoly made customer relations irrelevant. Little has changed, it seems. I also sense that it remains one of the last bastions of grumpy industrial relations, as a disaffected workforce watch white van man and the Internet erode their remaining business.

Its not White van man as such, its legislation that lets competitors use the network for a pittance then just deliver the final mile, much like most telecom company's using the BT network. It's not beyond possibility that Royal Mail as we all know it, could disappear, sooner than most people think, then see how much it's costs to post from one end of the country to the other.

Gary

Sometimes I wonder at those who eschew TV.  I realise that its not as good as it could be but in this day and age, what other options are there to get ones information of the worlds goings ons.  Similar problems with newspapers depending on their political coverage.  Fox news is a disgrace and serves republican interests in this country and is primarily viewed by those who like their presenters blonde with short skirts!

Luckily we can get the BBC.

 

Brian.

You're using the internet - that's one other means. Anyway there's a lot to be said about giving up on what's going on in the world, ignoring it, and hoping like hell it ignores you.

Unfortunately so can we.  Unusually I sympathise with E3109 - night after night these days I find literally nothing on any channel (we've got Freeview) that I want to watch, and best not mention the awful news coverage on all the main channels, particularly the government controlled one.   Presently I'm binge watching a box set of that 1960s cult classic, "The Prisoner".

 

DT

DT

 

I sort of agree with you as I tend to watch more on other channels than the BBC, having said this there are still some wonderful programs, last night the a Repair shop Christmas special was well worth watching on catch up (I was at the club last night) Panaroma looks promising about HS2.

 

I do disagree with your views about the news on the BBC, whilst sometimes I get a bit frustrated on some of their reporting, in my opinion the BBC news is the best around, all sides of the political spectrum complain about bias, so I guess they must be doing things right, even given that many in the industry have a very much left leading agenda. 

 

It does seem sometimes the BBC takes political/cultural/gender/religious correctness too extreems, however there is a diverse range of presenters rather than what was "white middle England" , just look at the alternatives the BBC is head and shoulders above them

Agreed - I get most of my news from the internet these days. I find it's good to use a news aggregator so I can read the same story from several different sources and thus cut through the bias they all have (the level of bias on the BBC in particular seems to have got a lot worse over the last couple of years). If anyone knows of a genuinely neutral news source I'd love to hear about it... Or for that matter a more reliable way of achieving the last part of your post!

Hi All, Can we get back on topic please, what's the above got to do with Royal Mail ? 

Gary

Hi Keith,

I would ring the delivery office number shown on the reverse of the card, At this time of year, There are lot's of underpaid Christmas Cards, hope this helps.

Cheers 

Gary

To All the team at BRM, well done!!  Credit where credits due, love the new layout, and the contents not bad either !! 

Gary 

The one I got from Tesco had a copy of garden rail and narrow gauge world bundled with it but no dvd and was 5.99

 Local Smith's in Pontefract, Magazine and DVD £4.75

Gary

Highly likely I'd say. The digital edition of the DVD is streamed from YouTube currently, but it's something that will be a necessity as the humble DVD player slowly dies. 

Thank You Howard, thats good to know.

Gary

Did you think the extra price was worth paying for the card kit?

If you don't model in the scale the kit is re-produced in, then No, like wise if you have moved on from using dvd to down-loading everything, that's a waste too.

I understand BRM are looking to get a head of the game, Any chance of Video content being available for down-loading in the future ? What do other's think of this ?

Gary

Equally I don't need to get up off the sofa to hunt down that magazine I need buried in amongst the hundreds stored out in a cold dark workshop, Also I cant lug a suitcase full of magazines on holiday with me to do some research for a project (SWMBO needs all that room for clothes apparently) but I can take my tablet with me and wifi permitting, view any digital content I have access to and bookmark relevent pages for when I want them ? I think this discussion can run and run and run lol, all arguments are equally valid in there own way and in the end it all comes down to personal preference to use what medium is available

Think you have hit the nail on the head, "Wifi permitting" if the file was downloaded, you wouldn't need wifi think that's what most people are getting at.

Gary

Talking about the merits of Paper v Digital, would the digital version survive without the printed magazine, and more importantly how long would Rmweb survive in its present format, without having to have a subscription ?

Do Warmers have just a digital version of any magazine ? or if duel media, any that outsell the printed copy, I understand this is commercial information, this is a very interesting discussion.

Gary

Hi Gary,

 

"a miss" for not including the loco number in a caption? if the number isn't known to the writer, unless it legible in the pic, it leaves a writer a little stumped..? seems a trivial reason not to buy an otherwise well researched piece of work?

Hi, I understand if something is passing you at speed and you're talking photo's, it's not always possible to get the number, but when its stood in a station, in a clearly accessible location, what's difficult in walking a few extra yards to record the Loco number ? there's a photo of a western region Named 47, nameplate visible and even the caption gives a list of possible identities, but you could have had the correct loco number by walking a few extra yards.

I have no problem with the Photo's they are to Tony's excellent standard, but reading captions that say an un-identified 47 on a Mk 1 set or Mk 2 set, As I said not for me.

Gary

Agree, the photography is excellent, However too many captions give details of the train, but don't give the loco number, so on this occasion, a miss from me.

Gary

Keith,

Thank you, appreciated.

Gary

And what exactly do you do when they mess up?

You contact them but often get the feeling it isn't considered particularly important or has any urgency. Not what I expect. Maybe you do?

 

IMHO A better customer relations set up would be a good idea.

If you have sent something 24h or 48h tracked & signed for, it would be nice to get some sort of human response fairly soon, to at least give the impression somebody is concerned about your undelivered item.

Maybe something along the lines of "Hello this is AN other. Your enquiry/problem/complaint has been allocated case number xxx and is being investigated" etc.

And never accuse the customer of being at fault because of RMs own confusion. That is unforgivable and leaves a bitter taste.

 

I know it's not all bad but the system doesn't do it any favours.

 

Keith

Keith,

I fully understand how you feel, bad service is bad service, i make no exuses for that, as for what would i have done, the same as you, complain, go through customer services, give them all the information you have, tracking number, poster etc, let them make their enquiries, on average it takes about ten days, hopefully in that time you have have received a satisfactory answer and outcome.

If you feel the customer sevice team have fobbed you off, or not taken you seriously, ask to speak to their customer service manager, I can assure you they do take this Seriously.

Regards

Gary

Keith,

I am sure most forum members have had instances of bad service in the past, Royal Mail is not perfect, no organisation is, what causes offence is the following:-

"They are nothing but crooks, lying to cover their *rses"

Then you follow it up with this

"I could give you a list of my gripes with Royal Mail most of which have been due to obsfucation and deviousness."

By all means, highlight bad service, but go through the proper channels, and just take a few minutes to think before you post.

Gary

Hi all

 

Yet again I'm having trouble with Royal Mail

 

A week Monday gone I ordered some items from Gaugemaster.

Friday morning I got an email to say that the parcel was out for delivery.

I waited in vain for a delivery even watching the postman walk straight past my house.

Later that day the tracking site said that the postman had called (he hadn't) and left a "something for you card" (he hadn't)

As there was to be no one guaranteed to be in for a few days I thought I would collect from the depot which isn't too far away.

But No card, No collection.

So I e-mailed Royal Mail on the Friday,one week later I have heard nothing.

 

How do I get my parcel when I have no card?

This is not the first time this has happened and RM always deny the claim that they didn't call. They are nothing but crooks, lying to cover their *rses.

 

Keith

As an employee of Royal Mail, thanks for branding us all CROOKS.

Gary

Peter,

Just tried again and the links work, I have a Ad blocker enabled, which seemes to be the problem, Sorry for any confusion caused.

Gary

Good promotion by the bus company

https://twitter.com/yorkbus/status/980005440066064385

Its Very Good, Not sure if anybody at the club  knows, but cliicking on any of the show links for layouts,Traders or Demo's, shows no infomation at all.

Gary

No connection with the Yeovil Club, but this is from the clubs website, explains it all.

Following on from the success of South Junction there were moves in the group to produce an ‘O’ gauge layout of exhibition standard that kept trains running (a group philosophy!) and most of all could accommodate the ever increasing number of big O gauge locos being built by members.

It was difficult to find a suitable location to base the layout on but eventually the Summit on the Settle to Carlisle line was chosen.  As with South Junction it had no station where trains could stand for hours at an exhibition! but did have sufficient interest with some sidings and provision for a banker…

Building the layout was no quick and easy task!  Track was laid and then pulled up to enable a better curvature to accommodate the intended traffic.  The build did not seem to progress much for weeks or even months then there would be a great leaps forward.  On the first night that trains ran around both main tracks a film was produced and a copy given to each member for a souvenir.

The track is laid on a set of curved layout boards with minimum scenery that form a backbone to the layout.   The scenery is of lightweight construction and attaches to the layout boards.   It was intended that the scenery would be dramatic and its construction was a huge task in itself.  Tall sections tower behind the track and wide sections at the front drop down, which together with a viaduct, tunnel and bridge give the layout the intended ‘wow’ impact at exhibitions.

The Summit at Guildex Telford 2015

This layout was exhibited at Guildex in 2015, Taunton Railex and Warley NEC in 2016 and has won awards at every appearance.  It can only just be squeezed into a 7.5 tonne lorry and requires a team of ten to erect, operate and break down the layout.  During exhibitions we try to have two members (in addition to the signalman) in front of the layout to answer questions and generally engage with the viewing public.  The Summit is available for exhibitions and further details can be found here.   In 2016 to cap a very successful year The Summit  won the Railway Modeller Cup for layout features as voted for by their readers.

Operationally the layout is DC, with clever circuits to automatically control the fiddle yard.  Points and signals are interlocked and operated from the front of the layout using a Modratec lever frame.

Gary

If Hornby or Bachmann are reading this, they must wonder, why they bother ! 

In the 70s & 80's when Hornby just had the Mk1 range and a "generic" range of big four coaches, modellers were asking for detailed specific models.....moving on today you have a fantastic range of coaches from both Hornby & Bachmann, and what are you asking for...a basic coach, separate detailing packs or somebody else to do aftermaket add on pack(s).......

i accept we all have different opinions, but design clever was'nt one of Hornby's better Ideas.

Gary 

Just spotted this, and while not relevent to the S & C, i wondered if this might be of interest.

Its the track layout and siding length for Normanton Station, West Yorkshire drawn by the North Eastern Railway as of August 1901, appologies for the photo quility, its from my phone.

Gary

Gordon & Mike

No not a typing error on my part, i am an active Beta user of OSX, i should have explained, so sorry for any confusion, I will say yes to leaving well alone, as the old saying goes, if it ain't broke....etc, it was just when Gordon said it wasnt working with Safari.

So once again, appologies on my part.

Gary

Hi Gordon, Just to let you know, it works on Safari Version 11.0.3 shows the pages of the book o.k. 

What a great collection of Photographs, Thank you for sharing.

Gary

All the best Gordon, sad to hear you're leaving, but not surprised, when a social media thread starts to take over your life, and what you want to do, its time to stand back, re-charge your batteries and start to enjoy YOUR layout.

Look forward to the up-dates, and thank you for your inspiration.

All the best.

Gary

None left in Ian Allan at Waterloo today. Not sure where to find one...

2 copies left in WHS in Pontefract, West Yorks