Nova Scotian

These are great photos. I ended up down a rabbit hole on livestock carriers a couple of years ago (after a spate of sinkings) and I can advise that if you want to remain calm this weekend not to fall down the same rabbit hole. Living in Halifax I love the working port here - my office window I get a good view (reflection, as chair faces the wrong way) as container, bulk (liquid and dry), and naval vessels come in. Couple of times I've even been on the waterfront as a submarine comes in. Grew up in Berkshire, I think the only way you could persuade me to move away from the coast would be the offer of mountains.

Typically if you're not including a link to a bargain the posts seem to disappear - trying to make it focus on the bargains. And to stay onside, and plug my favourite little model shop (no connection, just like them), here's a Bure Valley link for a Bachmann 2EBP at 160GBP. That's 30% off, down from 210 GBP. I can't find it cheaper than 170GBP anywhere else, and the box shifters no longer have any in stock http://www.burevalleymodels.com/p/8234/31-379---2-EPB-2-Car-EMU-BR-Green---Full-Green-Ends There's a green with full yellow ends and a blue/grey NSE.

Hornby mailing list had a few new "bundles". Some of them are... questionable.... However, Hogwarts for 100 GBP in scuffed packaging from their value bundle is pretty good https://uk.Hornby.com/products/scuffed-packaging-hogwarts-express-train-set-bunhhp13 Of their hobby bundles the King Arthur plus 4 (5 pictured?) Maunsell coaches for 250GBP seems like a great price https://uk.Hornby.com/products/arthurs-return-bundle-bundleh5 Same with a Royal Scot and 5 Stanier coaches at 265 GBP https://uk.Hornby.com/products/ranger-rover-bundleh8 Others are available, but I don't really "get" their mystery bundles, their Southern and Eastern bundles don't appear as good value. Actually, the mystery bundles are really bothering me - they state they're "selected to match", but... really? And then two modern traction for 250gbp... okay, but they could give me two railroad 66s and walk away with 100gbp of my money? Their other value packs (coach expansion packs) seem pretty decent, the LMS one in particular. https://uk.Hornby.com/products/ranger-plus-bundleh9 Six for 153 GBP

That birds eye maple with inlay is stunningly gorgeous. When my partner and I bought our first house we had a bit of cash leftover and had a frivolous day - bought a lovely serving platter out of the stuff. When oiled up it brings out the grain and it's just gorgeous. I want to build a furniture piece for our house in time out of it. Really glad you got some 1:1 pieces. That's a great story.

If anyone is interested this was the response to my inquiry re. cabins: "While equipment changes can happen at this time we only have the Renaissance equipment on this train which has the maximum two person cabins."

That's a very good point - I'm getting a faint memory that at one time there was only one loco in each formation with HEP and it had to be coupled on the inside (separate generator?), but can't imagine that's still the case? I had a look through instagram and a couple of other places for photos, didn't find any that were geotagged. I did find one video from today, shows the locos back to back, a number of budds, then the renaissance, but the video cuts before the end of the train (and any dome cars) can be seen. I'll give them a call later in the year when they're up to the full timetable and when the fall situation is a little better known. Also gives my credit card the chance to recover from a recent house purchase. A 3-person room would be great, and I might be able to persuade my partner to come with if there's the potential for a 4-person and she's feeling positively disposed to me at that time. Let me know if you'd like the link for the video I found. I'll go check through a few of the facebook groups here too. I'm only starting to get connected into groups here - haven't really had the opportunity to indulge my hobby in a decade plus. Edited to add a video link to youtube showing the deadhead move coming into Halifax. Clearly shows no dome car. 4 Budd, rest Renaissance. And not surprisingly mdvle is completely correct re. the locos.

Interested if anyone will be able to take photos of the departure on the 12th from Halifax. I won't be able to, am in meetings all day. Interested in what changes have been made to the formation. I hope to take some photos of arrival on the 16th, but they likely won't turn the locos for a bit? Assume they have a Y somewhere in the yard there to turn the locos, even though they're not turning the whole train in the loop at the port now? Looked at tickets and they don't seem to have the bigger sleeper cabins (for four) they used to, or maybe I'm imagining they used to. Anyway, not useful when I have two young kids - I would need two cabins (they don't let me book one and have the kids share), but then they also won't let me book two cabins as I can't leave a kid, or both kids, alone.

That looks spectacular. I hope @AY Mod can find the time in his day to drop the link in the Bachmann 47 thread, as it was quite categorically stated there that there would not EVER be another EFE product Adding one of these to my wishlist. The liveries look brilliant; top notch paintwork.

Spotted on Instagram, but now almost a day old. NCE powercab for 160GBP. Rails of Sheffield.

I know this would be cynical, but I think Hornby could have the option to move some of their own products over to the Oxford Rail brand. Few different ways you could do this, but the easiest would be to either can "Railroad" entirely, or move some of the better products out of it. You'd segment your brand, railroad being the toughest and lowest fidelity, followed by Oxford Rail taking over some of the better railroad products plus incorporating their own. - Railroad by Hornby - Oxford Rail by Hornby - Hornby - Hornby Dublo What's fun about this is that with the emerging diecast capabilities of factories used by Hornby, we could see a Dean Goods with a diecast boiler under the Dublo range? Wonder if there's a way to combine the best of the two adams radials models, although quite possible they'll just pick one.

Rails advertising some 57s on a flash sale Prices seem pretty decent https://railsofsheffield.com/collections/Bachmann/class_class-57+scale_oo-gauge+availability_in-stock?mc_cid=b03467bfb7&mc_eid=24f8e8e809

Not surprised, supply chains still severely distressed, commodity prices way up, which is driving up components, shipping as per someone above is much more expensive than it was. For example, here's copper 3yr (from marketwatch): Drops when the pandemic hits, then everyone tries to catch up, demand is up, prices over twice what they were pre-pandemic.

Buy it with one of these, do and engine swap and you've got yourself your very own Class 69 https://www.hattons.co.uk/stocklist/preownedbargains.aspx

E-mail from Hattons re. warehouse clearance https://manage.kmail-lists.com/subscriptions/web-view?a=JGQeXh&c=MnyT4p&k=9774ff3a36cc1e7bb7ed12b94e8926fe&m=W8pjs2&r=ADdnE8Z The best prices (for condition) appear to be Heljan diesel, dmu, electric (not steam). Some of the prices are pretty eyewatering for poor runners, non-runners etc, but I guess that's the second hand market situation at the moment. Might still be the ability for someone to bag a noisy runner of a special edition they've been waiting on and fix it up. Some older Bachmann steam locos at good prices without anything stated as being wrong with them....

For n gauge fans, 50% off weathered Arriva Wales 57 by Farish https://www.themodelcentre.com/371-659-graham-farish-n-gauge-class-57-3-57315-arriva-trains-wales-revised-with-value-weathering-by-tmc Farish Western Pullman at 300 GBP is at least 20 GBP cheaper than other major retailers, and 100 GBP off RRP https://www.themodelcentre.com/371-742-graham-farish-n-gauge-br-western-pullman-6-car-demu-br-grey-blue Some GWR Hawksworths at 21 GBP, example: https://www.themodelcentre.com/374-512-graham-farish-n-gauge-gwr-hawksworth-brake-second-corridor-br-maroon Triple pack of SE&CR birdcages at 75GBP is pretty good! https://www.themodelcentre.com/374-910-graham-farish-n-gauge-se-cr-60ft-birdcage-3-coach-pack-se-cr-wellington-brown Some farish wagons 50% off, example: https://www.themodelcentre.com/377-089-graham-farish-n-gauge-7-plank-fixed-end-wagon-sr-brown

Some really good deals in here as per previous comments. Some that stood out to me: - Bachmann Station Pilot set, 137 GBP https://www.themodelcentre.com/30-180-Bachmann-oo-gauge-station-pilot-train-set - A few Golden Valley Janus 50-55GBP, these hung around a long time at other retailers, but now seem out, so if you missed you chance... example (there are 4, one ncb, one bp, one port london, one... other): https://www.themodelcentre.com/gv2012-golden-valley-oo-scale-ncb-janus-0-6-0-diesel - Oxford Rail LNER N7 for 57 GBP https://www.themodelcentre.com/or76n7002-oxford-rail-oo-gauge-n7-0-6-2-steam-locomotive-lner-8011 - Hornby H class for 65 GBP https://www.themodelcentre.com/r3631-Hornby-oo-gauge-br-h-class-0-4-4t-31265-era-4 - Heljan 07 at what appears to be an amazing price, BR blue 70 GBP https://www.themodelcentre.com/2907-Heljan-oo-gauge-class-07-v1-as-built-br-blue-d2998 - Heljan dutch 33 at 70 GBP https://www.themodelcentre.com/3439-Heljan-oo-gauge-class-33-0-33009-dutch-engineers - Bachmann 4-CEP at 225 GBP https://www.themodelcentre.com/31-427c-Bachmann-oo-gauge-class-411-4-cep-4-car-emu-7106-br-blue-grey-weathered On rolling stock there's some Hornby coaches 50% off including: - Some BR Collet at 22.50 GBP, example:https://www.themodelcentre.com/r4687-Hornby-oo-gauge-br-collett-coach-corridor-composite-lh-crimson-and-cream - BR 57' maroon at 23GBP, example: https://www.themodelcentre.com/r4689-Hornby-oo-gauge-br-non-corridor-57-composite-coach-br-maroon - SR Bulleid 24 GBP, example: https://www.themodelcentre.com/r4884c-Hornby-oo-gauge-sr-bulleid-59-corridor-brake-third-2862-era-3 - Some Dapol trucks at 6GBP each, example: https://www.themodelcentre.com/4f-040-002-Dapol-oo-gauge-4-plank-b-w-co-1100-weathered - Bachmann shunters truck at 8.50 GBP https://www.themodelcentre.com/38-677-Bachmann-oo-gauge-gwr-shunters-truck-gwr-grey-old-oak-common - Bachmann 14t tank wagon https://www.themodelcentre.com/38-775-Bachmann-oo-gauge-class-a-14-ton-anchor-mounted-tank-wagon-benzene Lots of others, but those are all at a significant reduction on new RRP and as cheap as I've seen elsewhere (but I am not omnipresent)

We have some of the Nightstar MK4s to sell back to you

There's a couple of chaps in New Brunswick with fantastic multiple level layouts. With big basements they tend to be able to get some decent height on an acceptable grade without a helix, and it allows a very complex layout. You can follow the train through multiple scenic breaks (eg. Port, lumber town, grain elevator, etc), very sinuous, and then before you realise it you're above or below one of the other scenes. I do find many of the layouts I dream up in my head to be flat. A run of 10m will give you 20cm of clearance at a 2% grade.

How on earth did you manage to buy drywall in Canada in 2021? I had to buy some recently to patch a wall - more than 80% of places here were sold out, the remaining 20% had purchase limits. That said, contractors seemed to be finding it (but complaining about paying through the nose for it).

They really do look fantastic - and run well. I have some KATO HO models (and "atlas, powered by KATO" HO) and they too run brilliantly. I wonder if there could be a tie-in with an existing manufacturer that would make sense. On a side note - what a lovely voice you have! (comment from my partner)

I used to be on a search and rescue team on Canada's east coast. Invariably people get lost in the middle of nowhere... Fellow volunteers were always a bit surprised when my Mazda5 turned up at the bottom of a rutted logging road they'd driven their pickups and Wranglers down. Had to be careful though, it had one of the lowest ground clearances of any car I've driven. It even towed out another vehicle that was stuck! A FWD vehicle that's front heavy and on blocky touring type tyres can have surprising grip.

Doesn't sound quite right, does it?

Ah, my apologies - didn't know it was available separately.

Looks like a cheap (and decent) chassis for an n gauge (or OO-9) bash https://railsofsheffield.com/products/44470/gaugemaster-collection-gm2260201-n-gauge-es-1-style-electric-locomotive-br-e3682

Right, and I think this is where some nuance has been lost. The vibe that I picked up on here (and I might be wrong) is that Hornby should have been able to make much greater net income due to increased demand. That sentence makes it clear they had supply chain challenges, but they worked through *most* of them. That suggests to me there were covid related effects that had opportunity cost. It's not like their business ground to a halt, but not all their requirements were met (and remember "requirements" is a pretty strong term - as it's possible they also missed out on "wants" or "nice to haves" as a result of these challenges). It is impressive that they managed to maintain/grow their gross profit margin. My wild guess is that while their shipping/logistics costs would have increased, they were not needing to discount stock as much to get it to move due to the increased demand. How much of that was luck and how much was judgement, who knows! I'm an avid follower of Bargain Hunters 2 on here - it is my impression, not supported by any facts or data, that there are less "bargains" to be had in recent months, especially the December - March period. There have still been unpopular products needing discounts to be moved, but newer product lines, more common liveries etc all seem to have held their pricing better (20% off rrp rather than 40-50%).