Ouroborus

You've kind of answered your own question. The town I was raised in voted strongly for Brexit. It elected Blair under the mantra of "things can only get better", little realising that Blair was talking about himself and his friends. For that northern town, there was an influx of 'johnny foreigner' always willing to do things cheaper. Things did not get better, but they did get cheaper and that was great until long standing businesses closed down, people lost their skilled jobs and couldn't afford to buy the nice things they used to. People put two and two together and made five. The Brexit vote was their chance for their voice to be heard. So they spoke. Hope that answers your question - it wasn't an EU thing, just a general cheesed off with life and wanting someone to blame. The arguments are well rehearsed, but if you want something cheap, it generally means there was comparatively little cost in production, whether that be materials or labour. But always going after the cheaper option has the risk of putting all your eggs in one basket so that when things take a turn for the worse, as they did when the EU truck drivers returned to their former countries, or when the dash for gas resulted in an under-investment in nuclear fuels, you now find yourself paying a much higher price, even if you're able to find the thing you want. Living for the here and now is a high risk game, but sadly one which we seem unable to uncouple ourselves from. To echo a previous comment about 'doing the minimum work for the maximum pay', its very much this. Always living for the here and now, never thinking about the consequences of our actions for tomorrow.

Going off topic, i have been toying with the idea of a 'just for the hell of it' trip on the GWR sleeper. The overhauled cabins do look particularly nice.

IIRC, sometimes you can find the glue melts the plastic, but generally, the principle is fine.

No, it doesn't and i didn't notice many outlets there. It would seem to list what you might call 'traditional' model shops. I never saw the likes of Hobbycraft listed, thought Modelzone was. The number of model railway shops is actually fewer than i wrote down here - the Ukmodelshops directory now breaks down what each model shop sells/doesn't sell - trains, RC, etc. It didn't do that previously, but i kept them all in to allow a like for like comparison. So for example in Gwent, whilst there are two listed model shops, the shop in Risca is nearly all RC, whilst Blaenavon is all trains.

Absolutely correct, as i put in the caveat, for reasons of time, i just did the first counties. It may also be a different date range to that which you report.

There's comment previously about the number of model shops remaining. I can't remember exactly, but i think it referenced the model shops directory and that the number of shops was up in number. This seems a little at odds with what i see around where i live - just 2 shops in Gwent when not too long ago there were 7 i could think of. Using the wayback machine, i had a look at the current listings versus 2008. For time reasons, I picked the first six listed counties in England and the first listed counties in each of Scotland, Wales (2010) and Ireland. 2022. 2008 Avon. 2 6 Bedford. 1 3 Berkshire 4. 7 Bucks 4. 9 Cambs 3. 8 Ches 14 18 Aberdeenshire 1 1 North wales 6. 17 Co Antrim 1 3 Apologies if the formatting goes to pieces, not easy on a phone. Lots of choice in Cheshire! Some caveats - e&oe not every model shop is listed on the site; for time reasons, I didn't look at every county. (Others, feel free) Only Aberdeenshire didn't shrink in number, though the single shop listed is not the same.

I'm sorry to hear about your daughter's business. As i'm sure she's no doubt said, there is a perfect storm of supply restrictions, labour supply, escalating costs and reduced demand. The high street has had it bad but it looks like it'll get worse. Those coffee shops and others that sprung up left right and centre over the last decade must now be wondering about their future security. And despite comments otherwise, its hard to envisage model railways won't take a clout as well. We are all affected by commodity and fuel prices and rising house prices are only realised if the property is sold. There was a very well observed comment earlier in the thread about most of us now having what we want. I note that despite the forthcoming accurascale deltic being one of the cheapest RTR modern diesels, the highest spec and detail unlike we've seen before, the production run is not sold out. Peak rail?

Maybe i have more then one on order.......

The newer vallejo air are formulated with an acrylic resin which it is claimed make it tougher and better covering than any other acrylic paint

Perhaps Accurascale may allow you to bid for it, all proceeds to helping the Ukrainian refugees?

For those of us non-sound, is there a recommended dcc chip for these?

Gaugemaster didn't work on mine either. Reading the blurb, and perhaps i have misunderstood this, some of the lights were operating on f22. But even on f0, no lights lit on my Gaugemaster. Time to pull the chip out and check they're ok on DC

Thanks, I read that too. It would possibly be a breach of contract, but its not a breach of law. Its not my meter, its the property of the supply company, therefore the onus is on them that they ensure their equipment is fit for purpose. They can replace it it they want to. But there is nothing that compels me to report it as faulty, just that i risk a years worth of bills if they decide it is. Which, by the way, did happen to me in a rental property which had a smart meter. Green Star Energy (cowboys) decided the meter was faulty (the property was empty) and billed me. I had to take it to the ombudsman and supply the tenancy contracts, rental income and then wait for Green Star to have the meter tested. I won. I think the take home message from the Which? article was that if you notice your meter goes backward on a sunny day, perhaps think about keeping it to yourself.

-

What's the law being broken? The meter hasn't been tampered with, simply that on a sunny day, electricity may flow more in one direction than the other. The PV was professionally installed at a time before smart meters. I'm paying £3k a year at the moment for electricity, I'm really not worried about ever having a negative bill.

We had a bloke come through work moaning about the oil delivery man being able to turn off the pump on his tanker and in his words, "filling it right to the very top". A few weeks on and i suspect he might be glad of his misfortune.

I think the intention behind the hare brained idea about wood fires was to discourage use of log burners in cities where they make the room look pretty. Out in the sticks, for some its the way they heat their whole house and hot water. And they can get bent if they think it'll make any difference to what i burn. I let the logs dry that i cut because it makes them lighter to move and soots up the chimney less. I couldn't give two hoots about the diameter of them. You'd think the Police would have more things to be concerned about, but then again.....

If you had an old rotary meter, you'd get four times the rate as the surplus would drive the meter backwards. Doesn't work with smart meters.

Wow. Consider me stunned. Looking forward to these, I have four on order. Can't wait.

Is it the light or are those steps to the cab actually perforated like the real thing? Stunned if they are

Correct. But they don't have a "duty" to point anything out in regards accuracy. And I appreciate @McC's helpful further information on the PTA's. I was unaware of this. My point, which I should have made clearer, was that Accurascale are rightly held in high regard yet can sometimes make an error, in fact most if not all manufacturers have made livery errors in the last couple of years. Some mistakes are passable, others less so. Given the PTA's were in people's hands before anyone noticed suggests the former in this case. So the Fell has some issues. If its a deal breaker, don't buy it.

You see, I have a rake of Accurascale PTA's in British Steel. They are different on either side. One side is printed correctly, the other isn't and its quite a glaring error (though not obvious enough for most it seems). To my knowledge, people weren't offered the opportunity for replacement decals or to buy back the models. Page 34 to save you the time. It happens.

"Regardless of the financial implications, KRM have a duty to all signed-up customer to contact them, draw attention to the error, and offer a refund of any and all payment made." really?

You're right, but i think the main competition for the accurascale 31 is actually the Hornby railroad 31. The full fat Hornby is likely dead in the water. At a touch under £70 more expensive and with lesser specifications you really would have to like gsyp to buy one. 'infrastructure' and 'rtc' are two 31's missing from the announcement. I would almost bet my house that a retailer commissions one or both of these. Im quite sure gsyp will appear, just like tpe appeared on the Hornby Hitachi's. Funny to see a forum mirror life - patience and understanding seems to have long since vanished. All about me me me now

Hornby offered to take a look at both of my NDMs which derail and also the capacitor issue. Neither were bought from them. They ask for proof of purchase and the serial number of the box. Postage will be refunded.