Earl of Pembroke

Could someone measure the depth of the pannier tank at the front of the locomotive and the distance from the footplate to the base of the tank?

I visited the ALSRM show in Reading yesterday. I very nearly gave in to buying a second-hand GWR Toad brake-van, but they were mostly old Lima efforts and were not, IMVHO, worth the £35 to £45 being asked. There were some good layouts on display and I particularly liked Harlyn Pier. It doesn't use DCC and sound, but was no less effective for its absence. Instead they played a background soundtrack of coastal sounds. The live steam was great and I found myself looking longingly at some Roundhouse specimens. However, I resisted, remembering that I have made an investment in the Parkside O gauge Toad kit. It was useful chatting to various manufacturers and traders and weighing up their wares. I would like to attend the Gauge O Guild's show in Doncaster next month, but it's a very long trek from Snostell where anything above the M4 is "oop North". Regards, Chris

Martyn, I have scrap brass and NS from old 4mm scale kits as the stuff seems to valuable to throw away. I'll see if I have any strips of suitable width and will experiment. Thanks for the suggestion. Charles

I plan to post on here from time-to-time about what I am up to, mostly, I suspect, requests for help and advice. I am new to 0 Gauge having moved up from 00 so please be nice. First up is the Parkside GWR Toad that I am trying to build. Does anyone have a suggestion for improving the attachment of the handrails. I am having trouble with the little plastic eyelets (?), which seem rather fragile, especially after I have opened them out a smidgeon. Regards, Charles

Thanks Grahame. It looks rather a wide gap. Hopefully, I will have the opportunity to see both models in order to make a decision. CT

I rather think we do since it is the potential customers that are being asked to bear the financial risk. I suppose I don't know enough about crowd-funding, but what happens if a project fails to come to fruition after customers' cash has been committed to design, tooling, procurement of parts etc? Obviously, we don't need to know how many units have been made when they are financed in the traditional way by the likes of Dapol, Heljan, Minerva etc. In those instances, one looks at the model, reads the reviews and then simply hands over the cash to receive the goodies straightaway. I suppose I just need to try to get comfortable with the crowd-funding business. CT

I'm still waiting to see one of these in the flesh before I decide whether to buy one. Is that a prominent gap between the footplate and the flared cover below the smokebox door? The moulded guard rails on the bunker spectacles also look like rather heavy plastic mouldings. Charles Trelawney

Jeff, May I ask again, how many locos have to be ordered for this - any - project to proceed? With a target price of £600, I think it must be a minimum of 500 and and possibly to to 1,000 locos. Regards, Charles

This whole layout brings back happy memories of diesel hydraulic locomotives in Devon and The Duchy. I started to watch trains seriously in 1970. Great work. Regards, Charles

Whose Pannier is that? Charles

A very good post asking pertinent questions. I too would like to know how many units must be sold for the project to proceed. Similarly, I joined a crowd-funded project for a non-railway item that is now very late on delivery. The excuses have become wearisome and I can't see how I can get my money back because the items - or at least one example - has been made and assembled. Definitely a case of "once bitten..." Regards, Charles

This seems to be a very rum way to do business. Your real name is Jeff Lynch, which is how you are registered as a director on Companies House. Your false name is Graham Jones. Graham Jones is the real name of the proprietor of the model railway firm NMRS Models located in Northampton just over one hour's drive from your registered and service addresses. NMRS Models specialises in O Gauge and does some Z Gauge. Hopefully, there will be no confusion, but it may be helpful for you to state clearly that you have no connection with NMRS Models. Charles Trelawney

Well, here is the actual RNS interim trading statement published by Hornby plc today. Hornby is not the only model railway business with a stretched balance sheet and Companies House is always worth looking at. Regards, Charles Hornby PLC ("Hornby" or the "Group") 3rd April 2018 Trading Update Hornby Plc, the international hobby products Group, provides an update to shareholders on the progress of the new strategy. 4th Quarter Trading We have continued to implement the strategy to support the long-term value of the brands rather than the use of discounting to drive short term sales. As reported in the January update, the lack of discounting coupled with late deliveries of product has continued to affect our sales rate. There was an improvement in sales towards the end of the financial year as some of the European product started to arrive, but as expected, the Group sales and profits were lower than last year. Lending Update The Board has now refined its strategy to enable the business to return to profitability. The investment needed to support this strategy will require a larger facility than the one currently available to the Group. Hornby is in the final stages of discussions regarding a new financing facility with new lenders and expects to have the facilities in place ahead of the Group's full year results, which are expected to be announced in mid-June 2018. To support these discussions, the Board has engaged with Barclays and it has been agreed that they will support the Group with a covenant waiver in relation to the Group's EBITDA covenant in respect of the quarter to 31 March 2018, which is required due to the reduced sales volumes. At the financial year end, the Group had a net cash position of c. £4m. Interim Chairman and CEO, Lyndon Davies, said: "As the dust settles on the changes to the strategy and we start to put together the line plans for 2019 and beyond, morale is starting to build in our hardworking staff and some trust is coming back with our retailers and customers; both in the UK and abroad. Whilst we have managed to make a lot of progress in the first few months, there is still much more to do in terms of reducing costs, streamlining processes and adding routes to market." More information on the progress of the strategy will be included in the full year results announcement in June.

7417 was photographed wearing "GWR" serif lettering at Aberystwyth in 1951 and, amazingly, 7428 was still wearing "GWR" in 1964, also at Aberystwyth. Both locos had the BR smokebox and shedcode plates.

I bought a Minerva 8750 in August last year and I am very pleased with it. I also have a Lionheart 64XX, but bought it ages ago when they first came out. Charles

Andrew, According to The Pannier Papers No 7, 7430-7449 were built from new with top-feed apparatus. The remaining 74XXs were and most of the 64XXs were retro-fitted with top-feed. However, you need to look at photographs. 6411 was photographed at Pontypridd in 1951 and 6410 in BR black with early BR crest without top-feeds. The smokebox numberplate is a British Railways fitting. Regards, Charles