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Here are the highlights: But remember this: The above could be described as an anagram of this.

These were all taken at Shildon on 16/08/2021 - I've gone through my photos to pick out the scruffy ones. I suspect a number of the items are simply awaiting restoration, but I would imagine that some (such as the EWS hopper in the car park and the Ellington mining loco inside) are reasonably close to the condition you describe.

I would guess because its easier to sell merchandise (in most cases) for an established brand. On the other hand, I would probably be quite annoyed if I were responsible for marketing Bachman's Thomas products. The appearance is clearly based on TV series locos rather than the prototypes Awdry was writing about, and so is probably aimed at children and their parents rather than, for instance, your typical RMWeb user. However, Mattel seem to be gradually moving the franchise to target younger and younger children - and the proportion of children for whom a 00 gauge railway would be appropriate reduces every time they do this.

I would suggest that anything which promotes an appreciation of public transport is probably a good thing - irrespective of the motive power depicted. If you decide to journey from A to B by train, you don't normally choose the motive power, you just get on whatever turns up (which, whether diesel or electric*, will be more environmentally friendly than the equivalent road journey). We might derail the thread if we continue with this discussion though (fortunately, the animators seem to have found a way to return derailed trains to the line by magic). * I'm not sure how the sums would work out for steam but instinctively I would say they will still favour rail

Did I see a train doing a handbrake turn in there? And how heavy must that wagon be for them to need a banker? Admittedly, the steepness of the hill may have something to do with that. Presumably Thomas is a geared locomotive now as well. I also chuckled at the 'you need to be fast to win the Sodor Cup' line. I think a new E2 should be built and the people responsible for this forced to have a footplate ride on it at high speed. You might think that they have simply given Thomas 'headlights' which are fixed, yet in the trailer above he can be seen with a mineral headcode. I'm sure I have read on here that they once released a Thomas book which included a sheet on the meanings of lamp headcodes.

Searching for positives, your signature seems very appropriate.

WARNING: This thread is not suitable for readers of a sensitive disposition. I haven't yet come across an RMWeb thread about the new Thomas reboot - consisting of a TV series entitled 'All Engines Go' and a film called 'Race for the Sodor Cup'. The titles would suggest a continuation of the trend of marketing Thomas towards a younger audience, which isn't surprising. A lot of the 'mature fans' will have had little interest in the later series, following the transition away from Awdry's stories and physical models to new creations and CGI. Some of these changes needed to happen and probably did the series less harm than good. The general rule of male locos and female coaches was very much a product of the time at which the books were written - and we all know that those few locomotives featured in the books would have been nowhere near able to meet Sodor's traffic requirements on their own. The cost of using physical models would probably be prohibitive nowadays when most other animated programmes are CGI. Foreign locomotives on Sodor are a slightly strange concept given British loading gauge restrictions, but the concept in itself is not inherently flawed. A visit to the Nene Valley railway could have credibly seen Thomas meet Swedish, Polish, Danish, and German locomotives, while any episode where a locomotive vists the mainland could introduce MU characters from across the world. Nevertheless, it was not managed so well, and the end product lacked authenticity and contirubted to the alienation of older fans. It seems that the latest reboot has also alientated older viewers - specifically those aged three and over, as this article explains. Most other tabloids have run a similar story. And what are they all so upset about? Brace yourselves everybody, and remember the content warning. This is the new Thomas. I can only assume that it is intended to discourage railway tresspass: stay away, or the monster might come down the tracks to get you!

If you post the very long link, it embeds automatically. Then we can see the photo immediately, or click on the photo to follow the link and see the original caption.

Yes. Look at the Google info panel on the right here: https://www.google.com/search?q=lupine+travel&rlz=1C1CHBF_en-GBGB819GB819&oq=lupin&aqs=chrome.0.69i59j69i57j0i271l2j69i60l4.1967j0j1&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

I doubt they could finish in Pyongyang as tourists are kept under constant supervision - far easier if they all arrive and depart at the same time and place than expecting them to make their own way back. I guess that the tour is probably one-way so that it is equally convenient wherever you live in the world - unless you are from the UK it is probably just as easy to get yourself back from Beijing (one of the largest cities in the world) as it is to get yourself back home from a town in Lancashire.

They also do a version which includes tickets to watch Atherton Collieries AFC (maybe). https://lupinetravel.co.uk/all-tours/atherton-to-pyongyang-tour-2022/

Have you been asking those people from Nasa about the feline that was run over by their Mars rover? No? Good - because Curiosity killed the cat.

Why would this be? Presumably there was some sort of advantage gained if it was done to all of them.

Except for the implications it would have for the size of the ashpan, and hence the range of the locomotive?

Flat wagons?

Perhaps it's overkill, given that racks are often used for gradients in excess of 10%, far steeper than any of the inclines named. Given the associated infrastructure costs, I can't see any railway using a rack unless absolutely essential. Wikipedia suggests that 15mph is a typical top speed, and 25mph on the fastest systems.

If Wikipedia is to be believed (I'm often hesitant about trusting it for technical matters - especially for what is perhaps best described as a niche area of interest) then the Heislers were often the fastest of the geared locos. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heisler_locomotive

On the perennial favourite subject of banking locomotives, could an articulated geared steam locomotive have been of use in this or any other role in Britain? They seem to have been more popular in North America, which might indicate that operating conditions or loading gauge prevented their effective use elsewhere, although I believe Avonside built a few narrow gauge examples for export (and Kirklees Light Railway/Whistlestop Valley have a 15inch gauge loco based on the Avonside them).

Honest question: would this need to be extended into an 0-8-0 in order to ensure that there's enough space for all of the internal bits?

No it wasn't. When it runs it's excellent, but it's been having a little trouble with short circuits (decoder touching PCB - my fault) and pickups recently (they're an odd design too - but at least all the same as each other). It was only on taking it apart that I noticed the strange flange.

The bottom right of the top photo, which is bottom left in the middle photo.

I have been trying to sort out a few problems with my ViTrains 37 this morning. It is a traction tyred version bought second hand from Hattons. I have noticed that one of the wheels has a very different flange to the other 11 (and indeed to any other wheels I have seen before). Can anyone suggest why?

It's possible that these are the by-products of other projects. It's quite common to use the Dowlais loco's firebox door to convert a Hornby Thomas into an E2 model.