Bucoops

I last ordered from SW 30th Nov 2020. Just for grins, I thought I would try and make the same order again today.

Only 1 item available - Guy Rixon has removed his products due to the spiralling costs. Don't blame him.

Prices are before tax and  the 10% discount that was offered last year and today.

So, if I were to order the one item - last year it was EUR20.14

Shipping for that one item and 3 other items - EUR8.54

Today - the one item EUR27.42 and the shipping on JUST that one item - EUR17.99

To coin a phrase, I don't believe it! They add the 20% tax at the point of sale so the shippers won't be charging a brokerage fee - so the product has increased by over 30% and shipping a little over 200%.

I think I'll pass.

44 minutes ago, Michael Hodgson said:

Leningrad isn't there any more.  You'll have to settle for Санкт-Петербур

I assume that's St. Petersburg?  Watched the death of Stalin earlier so still trying to get back into this century.

52 minutes ago, Pebbles said:

When it comes to longevity the B52H has already seen almost 60 years service with the expectation of a further 30 years.

Indeed - Rolls Royce's US branch has just won the contract to supply replacement engines for them. 

I think I read somewhere that the BBMF are planning on flying their Lancaster until it is 100 years old. Whether it continues after that, I guess we will find out in about 20 years.

50 minutes ago, No Decorum said:

Compromise, the way it was done in Ireland, giving rise to the 5' 3" gauge. Regauge all of Europe to something between 5' 3" and 4' 8½". Let’s say 5' 0". Then we could climb on a train in, say, Galway and chunter all the way to Vladivostok. Finland and the Baltics wouldn’t have to change. Europe could mess them up by doing something radical to the loading gauge.

 

I’m warming to this idea. Let’s rejoin Europe on condition that they all convert to driving on the left. Shake off the chains of Napoleon! Oh yes, and dump metric and convert Europe to Imperial. Now that we have lost an empire, we need a new one.

Not sure why you got a laugh for that - I think you're on to something. It's just the kind of idea that politicians thrive on. Let's all march on Leningrad!

11 hours ago, ERIC ALLTORQUE said:

Do you keep a list of the not so lovely you give to Santa Claus,thats got us all sweating now.

It's easy to tell which list you are on - if you only get charged the deposit for an item then you're on the good list.

Try here

https://www.gersociety.org.uk/index.php/files-emporium-home/lg-scale-drawings-by-john-gardner

9 minutes ago, Tony Wright said:

I wonder how old we'll all be before the W1's number is coincidental with these pages?

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

Who knows, by that time I may have actually finished something...!

1 hour ago, grob1234 said:

 

Yes it was all to do with that photobucket thing. 

 

I have added a 'job lot' as I cant be bothered to insert them in the right place!

 

 

Oh yes, forgot about that. Nope that's perfect, I couldn't expect you to go through and edit the lot back in  very much appreciated and a reminder of just how good a job you did with it.

Ooh, appropriate for discussing LNER days - page 2509.

55 minutes ago, Headstock said:

 

I quite agree, the LNER colour schemes were wonderfully organic and naturalistic, even all the fog grey wagons, or should that be mist grey?

 

 

GWR, the colour of a box of After eight mints.

Oh gawd, not the foggy-misty debate - you're not my wife are you?

Thank you Tom, you superstar

@grob1234 (I'll tag you, not quote that huge post!)

1 minute ago, grob1234 said:

As my chosen modelling period is represented in recent photographs, I cannot get enough of them.

 

Thank you for sharing, it looked like a fantastic weekend.

Glad to see you posting, Tom. As it happens I read your build thread on your Coronation set last night - I don't suppose you still have the photos as none of them are showing

I know many, including Tony, prefer to model British Railways days as that is what they remember - but the colours, even weathered, of pre-nationalisation are sublime. Even with boring companies like the LMS and Southern.

GWR has always been super dull green, brown and cream of course

I shall now retreat

These panels were all soldered in using my RSU and there's be no cleaning up afterwards (the marks you can see are where I cleaned the brass before applying the solder cream).

Do you have a Resistance Soldering Unit (RSU)? They're a bit pricey but the amount of solder you use is tiny so cleaning up is much reduced.

Can't believe nobody has posted this yet?

https://fb.watch/9y94EmH_Iq/ 

1 hour ago, big jim said:

Picked up a Bachmann Shakespeare express train pack for £144 earlier during eBay/nectar power hour which between 12 and 1 have you 50x nectar points, buying through TopCashback have another 6% cashback

 

i got £36 worth of nectar points and £8.64 cash back so it’s taken it to below £100 for a Bachmann hall, 2 pullman and a MK1 brake coach as well as an open top bus, really pleased with that

 

to top it off the seller is on my cycle route between wolves and bescot so I’ll be collecting it later this evening on my way in, gonna be fun carrying it though, bought my big backpack along with me

Nice use of it - I struggled to find anything I wanted but only ended up spending about £30 so not a huge amount of nectar.

Wow!

2 hours ago, melmerby said:

Still OT

Of course in reality the GWR was somewhat different to the other "groups" in that rather than several large and a lot of small companies were amalgamated to make one large new company, the GWR effectively just 'hoovered up' the other companies in it's area.

See, I always said the GWR sucked - I was right

I shall now outrun you with my buckeye equipped A4  With it's lovely blue coat.

I can't give a comparison, as I haven't come across the Swanage Models one, but I can say without hesitation that I don't regret buying the LRM one even for a minute. Superb piece of kit.

55 minutes ago, RedgateModels said:

 

Hope mine isn't - we've got warm air heating 

Ditto - sort of - boiler/warmer in the loft, then big pipes down to where the warm air unit used to be, now we have a heat exchanger with a hoofing great fan on it. Lovely and warm, and hardly uses any gas.

Why people ditch warm air I do not know

9 minutes ago, Nearholmer said:

Aesthetics are a very personal thing: I like the look of the A4 without valances, because it has a “leaping forward” feel about it, very reminiscent of the Jaguar bonnet mascot. With the valances, it seems to lack energy and dynamism. But then, I’m no fan of the look of heavily streamlined steam locos - they all look a bit like upturned bathtubs and/or jelly-moulds to me, and some are frankly weird.

 

 

That's why I didn't mention the LMS

1 minute ago, njee20 said:

I’ve no idea if they wind tunnel tested 442s (or 90s or 91s), but just because we’re not talking about something honed to within an inch of its life that doesn’t mean there isn’t a consideration for aerodynamics. As Nearholmer says, it’ll massively reduce turbulent air around the bottom of the unit/loco, where it’ll be most pronounced. Partially the same reason mk3/4 coaches have all the underframe equipment in boxes, rather than exposed.  

I always find it strange that valances were fitted to the fastest trains in the 1930s - but this stopped happening and were in fact removed from those it was fitted to post-war (I'm thinking of the LNER Coronation/West Riding Limited sets specifically) - no doubt to reduce maintenance time and costs - but at what cost to fuel efficiency I wonder?

Didn't do anything for the looks either. I can totally understand the streamlined A4s having their valances removed during the war to aid maintenance and speeds weren't nearly so high - it's a shame they were never replaced afterwards though.

I was trying to think why I knew his name - I don't have an LMS or constituent interest - but I realised he wrote the book I own about operating a model railway to mimic the real railway.

It's a very good book, clearly written by someone with a wealth of knowledge behind them. I have no doubt all the other works he has done either by himself or as a collaboration are a fitting legacy.

1 hour ago, ERIC ALLTORQUE said:

Its the latest thing instead of a stayalive too,the lights are on in the box when its delivered,the trick is getting them to go out.....

They'll be half as bright in about 4.5 billion years. 

Here to help

42 minutes ago, hayfield said:

 

Given that most of the items  sent via the Royal Mail are taking 4 to 5 days to arrive, the GEM Watford tank arrived this morning. Everything still wrapped up by the manufacturer. This one will be built. I think these chassis now are very expensive if bought separately, in fact nearly £20 more than I pad for the complete kit. Clearly there are still a few bargains left on eBay  

Not here - I got some bits last week postmarked 25th October, I'm still missing several items that are well over 10 days overdue. I've had a couple of refunds on ebay items now.

One arrived the next day after a refund was issued which was awkward, but they sent a paypal invoice when I told them I had it and still wanted it.

I just hope the other senders who have refunded are able to claim compensation.