Philou

What @giz said - s'normal. Second engine starts up once on the move - just like the real thing. Cheers, Philip

I've already posted similar but worth repeating: To date, I've had no problems with parcels being sent out from a UK shop via RM/La Poste. All parcels were well over the €135 threshold. My supplier is not normally equipped to do the VAT deduction before onward posting (so little UK/EU business he has no EU registration) and therefore my parcels were valued and invoiced with UK VAT included. No request for EU-VAT has yet been made, but it's early days yet and I'm sure there will be confusion galore when the new intra-EU VAT rules are applied . I shall be trying again soon and I'll let you know what happens. It seems from the e-mails, that Spain and the Netherlands are being somewhat over-zealous? Cheers, Philip

As @Bernard Lamb has said, it may be worth having a chat with people, or if you're lucky to have one nearby - a local model shop. If they're worth their salt, they'll only be too happy to show some and let you hear them. They certainly worked their magic on me as I walked out with somewhat more in value than Bernard suggested above! As a PS: The bundle did include the Blue Pullman and ECoSII DCC controller - so it wasn't a huge amount of stock. Do I think it was money well spent? Most certainly!

As an add-on, most diesel or electric locos come with lights fitted - though Bachmann and Dapol (of the major players) seem to do a better job of it than Hornby. The only fitting that you may have to do yourself is the lighting in coaches or a wagon in the case of a rear tail-lamp. I have both these jobs waiting to be done.

Of those on your list I have the Heljan Class 17 (which was sound fitted for me) and a sound-fitted Dapol Class 121 (green + whiskers as it so happens). I don't know if the Class 17 is available now as a factory sound fiited model or not, but due to the limited space, the speaker in mine is too small and the sound can't get out from where it is and is therefore 'weak'. There is a thread somewhere on here where somebody did show a better option for placing the speaker - I shall be doing that - otherwise a very nice model that apparently works far better than the real thing! Insofar as the 121 is concerned, the speaker location is better and is quite loud. The sound file is good too as it replicated the changing of gears very effectively - again, a very nice model. I can't give you details of the sound set up (chip maker) or who's sound file as they're packed away for the time being - sorry. Cheers, Philip

Very interesting thread - almost a 'what if' there was no longer Hornby. However, one thing hasn't been really explored in detail: Is there enough spare cash to support the trade as is without a new entrant dipping his toe in the water? I don't know if I'm a 'typical' customer or not but due to Covid, my buying habits have changed - whether it will stay that way or not, I don't know. I thought that by not going out I would have had some extra cash to spend, but it hasn't turned out that way and my railway spending has gone to a few chosen suppliers, new or recent entrants to market, rather than the more well-established manufacturers. That's primarily because I like 'quirky' and modern block trains and there hasn't been much by way of other products that I 'need' rather than what I 'want'. Am I part of a changing demographic? Would I spend money on another new entrant? Do I need lesser detailed MkIs? I don't think so in respect of MkIs as I would not buy lesser detailed anything if it was avoidable AND I have enough of them anyway - as an example. I note that Joseph is back in France and would seem to me that there is a huge Euro-market of lesser-known locos waiting to be modelled. Perhaps that's where there is a market to be explored rather that what I perceive to be an already crowded UK market. Question though arises: Is there more railway modelling disposable income in Euro-land than in the UK? Just my thoughts. Cheers, Philip

I asked the very same question on another thread (can't remember which one, now) but the answer was DAS modelling putty, spread between sleepers and from track to track and then coloured using washes and powders. Haven't tried myself yet as the layout is not yet started but it did look very effective (why I asked originally). Cheers, Philip

@Rivercider That was the day I came across the thread! Ah well, such is life. However, the picture that you uploaded is good as it clearly shows how pedestrians gain access without ever crossing the grid itself. There aren't around here and asking Madame Philou, it would seem that Common Land is not a known thing - though when they show sheep on the Pyrenees (for example) they're free to roam BUT supervised by a shepherd and his dog (mostly Welsh sheep-dogs from what I've seen). Cattle grids seemingly are an unknown equation too. In these 'ere parts, I know of only one parcel of 'open' land and sheep are contained within it by a single strand electric fence. Cheers, Philip

Hi all especially those modelling in N, Just an update to let you know that Lord and Butler who are open, but with slightly restricted hours, have received stock of the new Kato GWR 800s and very nice they are too, apparently. There's also a near-full range of Hornby, Accurascale, Bachmann, Peco and all other favourite brands. @Alex TM I'm sorry it took so long to get back - time just whizzes by (and I forgot ) - the scale of the AFVs is 1:35th. Cheers, Philip

Hi, I've been following this thread with great interest - fascinating stuff especially all the nearly forgotten narrow and industrial railways. Here's my contribution and it's mine! It's an abandoned section of single track crossing a dual-carriageway at Talbot Green in S Wales. There are two links below showing the crossing in 2008 with working wig-wags and barriers and the other showing it in 2018 fenced off. The pictures are in the attached .doc as I don't know how to embed the pictures here. The reason why I say it's mine is because I did the preliminary design of the crossing when I and my colleagues worked in the highways department all of *gasp* 40 years ago designing the Talbot Green by-pass (now built). At the time, the single rail line was reasonably busy, linking a coal processing plant at Beddau to the SWML at Pontyclun - about a mile between the two. We had even interlinked the nearby traffic light controlled junction to the crossing so that vehicles couldn't be stuck on the crossing at an awkward moment! The road design was slightly complicated as the carriageway cross-fall had to be married to the cant of the track and the falls were not going the same way! Bit sad to see it all but gone now. A473 Talbotgreen.doc https://www.google.com/maps/@51.5328233,-3.3911092,3a,90y,280.03h,84.53t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1suCtd-ABhkznoAyrRwVb4OA!2e0!7i16384!8i8192 https://www.google.com/maps/@51.5328559,-3.391012,3a,75y,265.17h,79.38t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1syj_TKFV9hLwHU57tTm5eqg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656 Cheers, Philip

Ahh .... thank you for that. It's been some time since I was involved in highway matters. There were some other oddities of which I have forgotten. Cheers, Philip PS: I will correct it just in case.

Please sir! Please sir!! I have a topic for you - especially for those in rural areas particularly places like the wilds of Wales - cattle grids! I can't supply any photos as I'm a tad removed from the UK, but I do know they vary from place to place and are very rarely modelled. Of interest would be the arrangement for pedestrains to get around them. I know proper Welsh sheep aren't bothered by grids as they just roll over them! Ooh! Ooh! And another topic - gated roads. I have never been on a gated road so I haven't the foggiest of what the gate part would look like. There were a few gated roads south(?) of the A41 between Waddesdon and Bicester (possibly Brill/Piddington area). I never got to see them in the flesh due to rushing between Chelmsford and Ledbury. Photos of the Permissive Paths reminded me of this: When is a Bridleway not a Bridleway? When it's a BOAT (Bridleway Byway Open to All Traffic). You do see sometimes off-roaders on Bridleways and unfortunately if it's a BOAT, they may have a right to be there. There are also RUPPs (Road Used as a Public Path), but I don't remember now if wheeled traffic was allowed or not. Cheers, Philip

Shades of Lilley the Pink there, methinks.

Ummmm ... can I ask why you should wish to do that? It seems to me reading other threads on here regarding split chassis, the consensus seems to be this is 'Not a Good Idea' (TM). I have some old split chassis stock that I bought years ago that seem to work at the moment, but I've been looking at ideas to replace the wheels on them with insulated ones instead - just curious. Cheers, Philip

Hello chaps, Even though I live miles away from any UK railway line, I've been following this with great interest. The good news, according to Realtime Trains, is that at least two GWR units left Swansea on time this morning London-bound at 0528 and 0628, though the first one had picked up a 7 minute delay in the Bridgend area - not specified why. Swansea-bound, the first to leave was going via Bristol TM - I don't know if this is 'normal', but the second service (already left as I write this) is booked via Bristol Parkway. I don't know if all the GWR 80X services will be up and running today. Cheers, Philip

@Titan Thanks for the reply - I hadn't realised that there was a difference in types of 'diamond/cross-arms' arms or even that the Stone-Faiveley (as on my Trix E3001) had been superseded by the Brecknell-Willis though I had of course seen B-W mentioned many times. There you go, and as they say over here 'I'll go to bed less stupid than when I got up!' Cheers, Philip

I'm very late to the party - only on page 37 at the mo'. I have a question regarding pantos on the Class 87s: Why did they carry cross-arm ones instead of single arms? I thought cross-arms were from some prehistoric period concerning DC operations? An enquiring mind should like to know (apologies if the question has been raised elsewhere). Cheers, Philip

Interesting regarding diversification as Lord and Butler are diversifying into model tanks and other AFVs - not too far removed from railway modelling really. It used to be Peter's hobby all those years ago and Covid rekindled his interest - he hasn't lost his touch either! Cheers, Philip

I just hope that no scrotes will try and visit his garage that it's now had wider media coverage. Nice to see railway modelling being given air-time. Cheers, Philip

Nah, you don't need instructions .... they're for wimps........................ On a serious note, the Aberdare was the one kit I should have liked to have. Hope you have fun with it. Cheers, Philip

Well .... I'm sold. They do look very good. I will say this: Had I not known that they were generic, I would have accepted them as pukka and would have been none the wiser. Well done Hatton's for taking on board the very many comments expressed here on RMWeb and coming up with what could possibly be the defintive generic coach. Now, where do I sign up ..................... Cheers, Philip

Oh dear .... I like quirky/one offs ...... and I missed the first issue ...... nice to have ..... not my region .............. oh what to do .......

@The Stationmaster Mmmmm ...... nonclere. Not having seen the word before I WOULD have prononced it as 'non-claire' (without light = dark/sombre). I wonder if clear/clere-storey may have been originally pronounced 'claire' as it seems to have originated from the gothic structures that came from France ...... claire = light. Anyway, back to the coaches ..........................

@The Stationmaster Fly-shunting - that's what the big hand in the sky does - doesn't it? @Compound2632 Sorry about the duplication, though I thought I had read all the items regarding the Hattons coaches - I must have missed or skimmed your comment. Brain of a gnat unfortunately for me ........ Cheers, Philip

Well - yes, sales of the 4/6 wheelers notwithstanding - clerestories or not? Ideally could there be a mix? Perhaps more company related? I understand that there would be tooling issues and I am simply speculating. Having now seen the decorated samples of the 4/6 wheelers, I would really be interested in someGWR/LNWR bogie stock, generic would be quite satisfactory for me. I've just been re-cataloguing my collection of stock for insurance purposes and looking at what I did years ago when my eyesight was better and my hands steadier, quite frankly the painting and lining I did then, leaves a lot to be desired! Cheers, Philip