MikeB

The loco workings show that the typical summer schedule uses four Ge 4/4II locos for the GEX For tomorrow: 623 works 901 CH-DIS, 900 DIS-CH, 907 CH-DIS, 906 DIS-CH. So this runs round the Zermatt - Chur return working at Chur and hauls the St Moritz - Brig trains between Disentis and Chur. As described above, the coaches are attached to regular Chur -St Moritz trains for the Albula leg. The two Zermatt / St Moritz trains change locos at Chur; 632 903 SMOR-CH, 905 CH-DIS, 904 DIS-CH 614 905 SMOR-CH, 902 CH-SMOR 611 903 CH-DIS. 902 DIS-CH, 904 CH-MOR All three locos start and finish at Chur. 614 and 632 double head the 0509 Chur- Samedan mixed while 611 hauls 614 on 1172, the 2002 SMOR-CH passenger service.

I've a couple of D+R items and agree that they are OK, although not quite to Bemo standards. I don't know if D+R is still active; they have a website, www.dr-modellbahn.de, are listed in a number of German trade directories and some of their items are available from the specialist European HOm retailers. I've purchased various Bemo items from Modellexclusiv and found them very good on price, availability and service. It seems to be a one-man company specialising in Swiss NG. The major drawback is that don't take credit cards, so payment is by Paypal with a surcharge or by direct bank transfer through online banking. To TTDB, I'd suggest sending Modellexclusiv an e-mail expressing your doubts and asking if they can confirm that D+R is still in business and able to supply the items listed.

I don't disagree. The large and/or successful online retailers have invested in, for example, IT which works, packaging that protects items in transit and experienced / trained staff who actually answer emails and phone calls and can sort out enquiries, changes or problems. A public company such as Hornby may be driven more by the short term financial results of the business compared with a private company owned by individuals prepared to invest time, thought and money to provide excellent customer service and a longer term future.

I agree that Hornby drastically cutting orders from retailers is unacceptable and there should either be a cut-off date for pre-orders, which helps determine the number of items manufactured, or retailers are given a first allocation for pre-orders with the proviso that more may or may not be available later. However, I've been thinking about pre-orders and retailers. Why pre-order from a retailer and not the manufacturer? What added value does the retailer offer the customer? The traditional role of a shop having inventory and providing the opportunity to discover, see and possibly try before purchase is not relevant for many people since the lack of local model shops in many areas means mail order is the norm. In any case, pre-orders are by definition purchases with the item unseen, except as CAD impressions or pictures during development. A retailer may offer a lower price, better packaging and delivery options or a smoother ordering system. Individuals may want to support a favourite and trusted retailer. In the event of problems, will a retailer be more helpful or will the item need to go back to the manufacturer anyway for repair or replacement? Manufacturers and distributors do not sell at less than RRP so as to not undercut their dealers, but an online only manufacturer could sell for less and still make a reasonable return. On line and direct sales are growing everywhere (books, groceries, clothes, cars, e-Bay) where customers know what they want and are prepared to buy items without seeing the physical item first, why are model railways different? I have no answers just some thoughts...

It's at least three as I also had Malwarebytes blocking the integration page due to a trojan, using Chrome on my PC. I had to whitelist rmweb.co,uk and then Malwarebytes let me progress, so since Wednesday I'm a happy Premium subscriber.

Since it's the RhB anything could happen, but a Ge 4/4 III to Arosa seems unlikely. After conversion to AC, Ge 4/4 IIs were the regular power, later replaced by Allegras. The Ge 4/4 IIs continued on the peak weekend expresses for a while; last year these were worked by the valley Be 4/4 511 series but this winter these were also worked by Allegras. A shunter is stationed at Arosa and the conditional freights from Chur to St Peter-Molinis or Langwies are also normally worked by a shunter.

Is it just me, or are the prices of the Scenecraft items even more excessive? The ones which have been reintroduced seem to cost a lot more than when they were in the range not that many years ago. Some of the designs seem rather crude and despite their ready to plant nature, even the old Dapol kits, never mind the the various options from the plastic, wood or card model building specialists, all seem to offer much better value for money and are much easier to modify to create something unique.

The Sommerfeldt Manual has a trackplan for Swiss N. It shows item 396 for double track, For multiple tracks it shows a cross beam (395?) with a basic span width of 167 mm, which is shortened in most cases to fit the tracks; spans of 132, 147, 122, 142 and 92 mm are shown. The tracks can be more or less anywhere under the beam as each vertical element of the cross span has a possible point for attaching the overhead wire. The diagrams also show a case where there are six tracks, The beam is shortened to 142 mm and is over tracks 2 to 5, tracks 1 and 6 being 18 mm from the posts which have outriggers to hold the overhead for these outermost tracks

"Cheap" and "Swiss" are words not often seen together. Some specific Swiss buildings are available from specialist manufacturers, but these are expensive, see for example, https://www.mbapiro.ch Many generic HO buildings are German outline, although Kibri and Faller have some Swiss models, including some only available, in theory, in Switzerland. See for example the Faller 190xxx buildings at https://www.modellbauland.ch/en. As DGO said, there is no single style, depending on the company, size of station and the materials available -wood, stone, plaster, concrete. There is an earlier thread on this,

Peter Paye's book on the Waveney Valley Railway (GER, Beccles- Tivetshall) describes operations in WW1 and WW2 on this country branch line. Pulham airfield was served by a one-mile branch constructed in 1915 for the Admiralty and remained in use by the RAF until 1957. The base itself had a network of 2 ft lines. In WW2 the 19-mile WVR also served 6 USAAF airfields and this resulted in vastly increased traffic at six of the stations for the construction and subsequent supply of these bases, while additional sidings and junctions were established. Lorries conveyed goods from the stations to the airfields. As an example, the Air Ministry spent £2369 in 1944 on a new siding at Earsham, which handled 625 special trains formed of 21038 wagons carrying over 200000 tonnes of freight and earning £359100 revenue for the LNER. The siding was formally approved by the BOT for use in 1948! Typical passenger receipts at this station in the 1920s were under £900 pa, so this was one of many minor lines that had their busiest ever time during WW2.

Yes, the whole idea is that changes in classification are only implemented a year or two after the decision is made, to allow time for manufacturers to make changes and old products to work their way through the supply chain. To be fair to Hornby, as a model railway company they may not be an expert on chemical classification and labelling, but somebody at Humbrol or whoever formulates, buys the raw materials and manufactures the paints should have been aware of this.

No. butanone oxime (MEKO) and butanone (methyl ethyl ketone / MEK), are similar but different - like a Britannia and a standard class 5. MEK is not classified as a likely human carcinogen, only as flammable, an eye irritant and likely to cause drowsiness or dizziness if inhaled.

As somebody who worked on chemical classification, there really is no excuse for the suddenness of the withdrawal of these paints. MEKO (2-butanone-oxime) is classified as carcinogenic category 1B, i.e. a substance which is presumed to be a human carcinogen based on evidence from animal studies. This means that it cannot be supplied to consumers. The first formal proposals for such a classification in the EU were made in February 2016. After various proposals, public consultations and expert reviews, this decision to classify as a carcinogen was published on 11 August 2020 and applies from 1 March 2022. Since this new mandatory EU classification was adopted before 31 December 31 2020, the end of the Brexit transition period, it was carried over into GB legislation. Hence the new classification and ban on sale to the general public applies in both the EU and UK.

I went to MRS yesterday from 11 to 4 and congratulations to the organisers for putting on the show. It was the furthest I've been for two years (since MRS 2020) and I drove rather than take the bus + 2 trains option, having arranged a route that avoided the congestion through the roadworks on the M8 and an alternative to the expensive and badly organised official SEC parking. The wider aisles made the show seem less busy and I hope it is a commercial success. Covid precautions seemed effective and well observed (except for two large traders, now on my blacklist, whose staff were maskless - seems to be a Yorkshire thing). Some of the usual traders were missing and it seems odd that Hornby, as one of the show's sponsors, were not there. but I thought that there was a good mix. Enough traders to avoid too much duplication but a chance to compare offerings and prices. For manufacturers, I assume a good way of advertising and getting comments from potential customers and a chance for modellers to look at what is /will be available and ask questions. The various small O gauge layouts keep fanning the smouldering embers for me to do something in 7mm, while the highlights for me were three "trains in the landscape " ones - Blair Atholl towards Drumochter, Bron Hebog and Montague Field. The latter was the most evocative portrayal of industrial decay and the recent magazine article did not really capture how the layout oozes (grimy) atmosphere.

Thanks to Craig and Arran for posting this information. Given the typical age profile of railway modellers, I suspect that I am not alone in weighing up the risks of attending. Given that the SEC will apply the national (Scottish) requirements for visitors - vaccine passport and masks - my personal decision was that it would be sufficiently safe to attend this event, despite it being the most busy/crowded place that I will have been for the last two years. However, if a significant minority of those present - traders, exhibitors and stewards - are exempted, do I still want to attend? The current requirements say that "workers or volunteers or otherwise engaged in carrying out a service at the venue or event" are exempted from the requirements, but also that event organisers must have a compliance plan. Could AMRSS confirm that stewards and traders etc will also follow the passport / mask requirements? That will make the situation clearer for everybody well in advance and also mean that more people are likely to decide to attend.

Interesting. I had a parcel from Germany delivered by Fedex last month and I had an e-mail from them requesting payment of tax etc once the parcel had cleared UK customs, which I paid online, and the parcel was then delivered. So much better than Parcel Force who delay delivery by several days as they send the request for payment by post. I then received a letter from Fedex last week asking for the tax to be paid. I binned the letter as I assume that they send that as standard, useful for those who need a formal invoice for tax purposes. And yes, I have the email confirming the payment has been made and it is a genuine Fedex account.

Does anyone know how long it is taking parcels to clear customs coming into the country from the EU (Denmark to be precise)? "I have had a parcel (of Lego as it happens!) that was ordered on the 1st of Jan, on the 3rd of Jan it was "Awaiting Customs Clearance" and on the 4th of January it was "Order information has been transmitted to DPD" since when nothing, not a thing and yet was supposed to be delivered in three to four business days. What's going on?" My experience is that there are two issues at play. Customs clearance takes time, often one to two days, although it can be a few hours or at an extreme, three weeks. Secondly, the delivery companies' tracking systems are far from perfect. They have a few set messages which may not reflect reality and there can be gaps. If a parcel is scanned leaving an airport on Germany, the next scan may be several days later when it is received by the company's depot at an English airport, after it has been through customs. In some cases a different company may be involved in Britain to that on the European mainland. The two tracking systems connect, but not seamlessly. What seems clear is that Brexit has ended the 2-4 day delivery of items from the EU to GB - one to two weeks now seems the norm. If nothing changes on the tracking after a week, I'd make enquiries.

Isn't it about time that somebody produced a class 31 to modern standards? The current Hornby model is very old, and a 31 would fit with Hornby's ECML and GER interests. Other Type 2 locos which were less successful, or had more limited geographical ranges or shorter lifetimes, have been produced, but not the Class 31. If Bachmann can produce a modern Brush Type 4, why can't Hornby do the same for the Brush Type 2?

From yesterday (26 December) until 11 January, attendance at large events in Scotland has been limited to 100 people for indoor standing events. I don't envy the decisions the organisers have to make as nobody knows what the situation will be at the end of February.

I now have one of these. My first thoughts are that they are a solid design, as expected from Peco, and will do the job. However, the concept of having an item that works for N through to EM seems to me to be mistaken and the end result is a poor compromise. The basic unit is very short (15 cm length overall, 13 cm with shutters down) so only suitable for very small items in the larger scales. The previous locolift was a foot long, so a new double unit is comparable to the old one. Of course, having a double unit means that there is a lot more complexity and duplication compared to having a single long unit. The unit has to be tall enough for a 1/76 loco, but that means it's too high to fit under the catenary on my HOm layout so, although it could never be lifted vertically, it can't even be positioned from the side under the wires. Also, there is an error in the plastic moulding for the end shutters where the cut lines for HOm/TT and HOn3 are juxtaposed. Fortunately, the instructions include information on how to make replacement slides if any 12mm modellers follow the markings and cut off too much. (I didn't, so not a moan but a warning)

I also feel really sorry for Andy as he created and has nurtured this site. But I'm b****y furious with Warners. The mess that is now RM Web is not the result of a malicious cyberattack by a hacker. It is happening because somebody at Warners decided to swamp the site with ads and videos and despite the overwhelming negative feedback this mess, apparently caused by testing on the live site, has been allowed to persist for several weeks. Maximising profits is one thing, but destroying the product in the process is not good business.

Yes, not totally hidden but not as helpful or clear as it could be. A Bemo ABe 4/4 III is 196mm long - will that fit on a single unit? What about a 168 mm ABe 4/4 I? If Peco gave an actual track length, I would know, rather than having to guess from working out the length of a N gauge diesel and guessing how tight the fit from a picture.

No, unusually for Peco they do not seem to have provided basic information such as how long these are, in cm or even inches, but merely say that a single unit will accept an OO 0-6-0T or a N scale pacific. Are they trying to hide the fact that the basic single unit is much shorter than the old loco-lift?

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As an update, I have now received a refund from HMRC of £14.94 for the duty that they incorrectly charged and the VAT on the duty. Given the effort needed and the cost of posting the paperwork to them, hardly worthwhile in monetary terms, but a moral victory. So ,if you are overcharged and prepared to go through the BOR 286 form process, and wait, the system does apparently work.