Littlethorpe

18 hours ago, The Stationmaster said:

Simon Kohler is the 'Marketing and Development Director' at Hornby.  He is one of the two people with the title 'director' who are not a member of the Board of Directors but judging by his title he presumably has some executive responsibility and the posts are referred to (indirectly) in the fFinancial Report as 'senior executives'.  

 

In the past both of these posts shared, with the two executive directors (who are both board membersI in the share based performance payments and that still appears to be the case.  The size of their holdings in the company and any shares obtained under the PSP scheme are openly declared in the public arena should anybody care to look.

Hornby Hobbies are wholly owned by Hornby plc & SK is not listed as a Director of either Company.

My knowledge of this area is from several years back so things may have changed but I was always led to believe that, for example, the title "Marketing Director" could only be applied to someone who was listed with Companies House as a Director of the Company with all the legal implications & responsibilities of being a Director. Whereas "Director of Marketing" is simply a job title reflecting someone's role but who is not a Company Director, or Board Member, in the legal sense.

I'll get me coat except it's too hot.

I see that Hattons have already sold outof  their initial delivery of flexi-track, RH Point & country station.

Don't suppose they will review their decision not to offer an N Gauge version? Just the standard livery would be fine.

The obvious (to me) choice of steam loco for any manufacturer looking to dip a toe in  the water of TT:120 would be the LMS 4F; wide geographic spread, long-lived (so multiple eras), no valve gear etc. It would definitely convince me to try TT:120.

Unsurprisingly TT:120 features heavily in the latest issue of RM which just arrived in the post. Plan of the month is for TT:120 & the scale loco drawing is of a '2251' at 1:120 scale.

I switched to N Gauge from OO several years ago because of space issues. I would certainly give this a try if RTR transition-era rolling stock becomes available.

Was planning to travel by train but may now drive. Any advice regarding car parking?

David

52 minutes ago, Legend said:

China is still the cheapest option for manufacturing . But we (the West) are far too dependent on China for our manufacturing .  There is the political aspect . Taiwan, South China Sea , human rights . Alarmist? Possibly , but then last year who would have imagined the Russians would have invaded Ukraine! The world is a different place now . 
 

We have got to start investing in manufacturing industry . Highly automated , productivity increases so that it’s competitive .  To be honest this has been the story in the Uk since the 50s , but successive governments have failed , and in the last 30 years it’s been all too easy to get materials from China and do even less at home , so we have basically given up . This needs to be corrected .Not an instant answer but it needs to happen .  Frankly model railways will be the least of our concerns . 

Totally agree & this links back to my original post that started the discussion.

Peco & their brands are successful & have recently invested in new/additional moulding equipment etc. Admittedly the one item they don't manufacture is locos.

Start-up opportunity for someone to manufacture in the UK on a subcontract basis? Start small with wagons etc? A local manufacturer might be of interest to model railway "manufacturers" who currently sub-contract to China (with the exception of Bachmann who are Chinese-owned).

In the current economic/business/political climate this will be the way forward in lots of industries I think.

I imagine this has been raised before & I expect I'll get shot down PDQ as I'm sure there are a lot of reasons against as well as some obvious reasons for.

I have always thought that it would be interesting to know the voting figures. I did email this suggestion to them once but got no response. I would also like to have more than 3 votes.

Called into the shop yesterday & chatted to a member of staff. The model railway side is very low key as the main focus seems to be plastic kits. I hope it proves to be a success.

A secondary reason for visiting was that this was my first visit to Hinckley since spending 5 years at school there in the mid 1950s. My old school had been demolished & replaced by a block of flats!

I get the following using Firefox...

Did Not Connect: Potential Security Issue

Firefox detected a potential security threat and did not continue to peco-uk.com because this web site requires a secure connection.

What can you do about it?

peco-uk.com has a security policy called HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS), which means that Firefox can only connect to it securely. You can’t add an exception to visit this site.

The issue is most likely with the web site, and there is nothing you can do to resolve it. You can notify the web site’s administrator about the problem.

Learn more…

I watched last night's repeat showing & was very impressed. Look forward to seeing the remaining episodes. I remember the lady from Invicta Models from her time at the Signal Box model shop in Rochester.

My 6 arrived this morning. Superb. Many thanks to all involved in producing these.

My February copy arrived this morning approx 10 days late. The address was hand-written on PECO headed paper. All in a cellophane wrapper. Appears that PECO must have had a problem somewhere with labels/distribution etc. My January copy never arrived.

Shark & Mermaid availability is now listed as Jan/Feb on the Bachmann website.

My January copy never arrived. Still waiting for February copy. I did view the January copy online but it's not the same as browsing a physical magazine.

Since they reverted to paper wrappers (following the short interlude of the compostable version) most issues have been delivered in a torn/battered state.

1 hour ago, Ben A said:

The new product we are announcing is a Revolution model, and not something that has been previously offered, or proposed to my knowledge, by any other N manufacturer.

 

 

Must be a Class 28 at last.

Some candidates based on previous models. Updated V2 and/or Crab. Updated Class 25. Loco drive Jubilee/Scot/Black 5.

Wishlist - Class 28 and Unrebuilt Patriot.

On 31/10/2020 at 09:32, walrus said:

I find Humbrol 73 Wine enamel or Vallejo 70.946 Dark Red, which are both matt, particularly good for buildings. I know colour is a very subjective topic but these seem to convey the slightly faded shade that I remember on buildings which differed from the more shiny maroon on coaches and locos.

Excellent suggestion, thank you. Have purchased the last 2 tins of Humbrol 73 from our local Hobbycraft. Will try these out during the forthcoming lockdown.

I am planning to paint some buildings in BR Maroon & Cream. Looking at the Humbrol paint Chart they don't have BR Maroon in the list of Rail Paints although they do have BR Cream (RC424). Can anyone advise if any other Humbrol Paint is a close match?

David

More pictures here, notably on pages 2 & 3...

https://www.railwayarchive.org.uk/archive-search?query=whetstone

And here...

http://www.vintagecalculators.com/gcrleicester/html/trip_to_nottingham_-_rugby.html

I grew up on the farm many of whose fields disappeared under the M1 between this overbridge and the river Soar. Lots of lorries etc and muddy roads. I spent many hours trainspotting by the Warwick Road Bridge. There are pictures in several books as already noted.

David

PS. I'm currently constructing an N Gauge layout of Ashby Magna.

Perhaps if Hattons & Bachmann can kiss & make up then Bachmann could offer the Hattons Garratt as part of the EFE range as this range appears to comprise largely of third-party products.

Once arrived I hope that it might generate renewed interest in a potential N Gauge version.

There are some obvious gaps for us N Gauge modellers...