MikeB

I have had various items since Brexit and most have arrived smoothly, sometimes with charges, often not. One parcel in June was held at the local Parcelforce depot for a week, and having received no letter asking for a payment, I phoned Parcelforce and was given the reference number and the amount due. This seemed high, but with no details and no options, I paid and then received the parcel. Like Robert N Nm, I found duty had been charged despite the correct tariff code, so I posted off the BOR 286 form and associated paperwork to claim a refund. I heard nothing, so I phoned HMRC only last Thursday and after a 20 minute wait I was told that there is currently a delay of around three months in processing refund claims. So clearly, the systems are creaking and what may or may not be charged seems hit and miss at present.

I received an e-mail from Hatons today headed "Your Trunk will need to be shipped soon", which went on to say "Time is running out to ship your Trunk in time for our stock-take. We're anticipating a surge in shipments, so we recommend that you ship yours as soon as you can. Any unshipped Trunks will automatically be sent out to your default delivery address by Wednesday 25th August 2021." Have others received this? I was surprised as I have a few small items in my trunk that I don't need urgently and was planning to ship everything when a pre-ordered item arrives, which is likely to be in early September. It now looks as if I'll have to have two deliveries, and pay postage on one as the order value will not be high enough to qualify for free shipping. I 've since seen that when Hattons introduced the trunk service one of the FAQs says "During the Coronavirus outbreak, we will not be placing any limits to the holding time for items in your Trunk. It is anticipated that after everything has returned to normal, a nominal 6-8 week limit but this will be reviewed and announced prior to any time limits being put into place." It's clearly up to Hattons what time limits they impose, but 6-8 weeks appears rather limiting to me, especially given the current various supply shortages.

There is an extensive discussion on buying and selling between Great Britain and the EU on the German Railways section of RM Web - VAT, duties, carriers' charges and conformity assessment - if you want to become thoroughly frustrated or depressed...

I don't know the actual boundaries, but the Peco points I have clearly say on the packaging, in English, French, German and Spanish "THIS IS NOT A TOY" and there is no CE marking. So I assume they have a different customs code, and, since they are manufactured in the UK, they meet the rules of origin and don't attract any duties when sold into the EU. Whatever, it means manufacturers of model railway items have to understand a lot of rules.

The CE marking requirement to show conformity with safety requirements is not new for toys (which includes some model railway items). I have ten-year old models (eg Hornby, Bemo, Dapol) which have the CE marking on their boxes The need for an authorised representative in the EU is new, as this provides somebody to hold to account if the self-assessment of conformity is faulty. What is also new because of Brexit is that the CE marking is being phased out in the UK, being replaced by UKCA marking (for England, Scotland and Wales) and UKNI marking (for Northern Ireland).

It seems to depend on company and traffic levels. There are various layouts, from a simple Y (Lossie Jn, Fodderty Jn) to something akin to B (Long Melford Jn 1912) , on https://signalbox.org/track-layouts/by-railway-company/ The two points and a diamond seemed to be the favoured way for a branch by the time of nationalisation until simplification later in BR days. The trailing crossover may be useful is trains needed to reverse and go from one of the right hand single lines to the other one

Marks Models have a good range, although I have never used them online - only at exhibitions (Warley and Glasgow, I think) and I once visited their Dublin shop. Modellbahn Union in Germany also stock quite a wide range of British outline OO and have a good reputation as an online seller. Of course, you need to check if the Euro prices are similar to the Sterling ones.

The CE mark is not usually about design, it's to show that a product performs as required. In most cases the user cannot test this, so the manufacturer has the product tested and the manufacturer or a third party body certifies the product as fit for purpose. This applies to all sorts of things from seatbelts to hard hats to toys to electrical equipment. The reason why many model railway items (especially in Germany) are labelled as not suitable for children under 14 is because the items do not meet the requirements for safe toys - they have sharp edges or small parts that can be a choking hazard. While the tests and requirements may be the same, from next year the CE mark is still used in the EU but the UKCA mark in GB. For Northern Ireland it will be the CE or CE and UKNI marks. There's a guide at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/using-the-ukca-marking

Lots of useful information on this thread, as well as some misunderstandings. In my experience, German retailers can deduct German VAT. Two orders I placed last year have been sent in 2021 and for both I was charged ex-VAT prices. The retailers are presumably used to doing this when sending items outside the EU, such as to Switzerland. Because there could be no border on the island of Ireland, there is one in the Irish Sea and much of what has been written above only applies to trade between the EU and England, Scotland or Wales. Northern Ireland is effectively sort of still in the EU for some purposes. Exhibitions will be a problem. Traders and exhibitors will need paperwork to show what they take out is what they bring back in, and pay VAT on anything they sell. Divergence between GB and EU requirements will occur and some items, such as electrical equipment may need to be certified twice, for GB and EU, as the CE mark will not be accepted in GB. Also selling to consumers may require a work permit with the end of freedom of movement of people. What a shambles

Using auto-translate on the Bemo announcement there is only one new RhB model, the modern Geaf 2/2 shunter, and some new liveries, because of delays in the 2020 programme. Other new projects are under development and will be announced as part of the autumn innovations 2021 or innovations 2022 announcements, depending on progress. The reference to Allegra is to the old Chur commuter train in the previous and current "Allegra" liveries, nothing to do with the Allegra units themselves.

So now I understand this. If a non-UK based supplier sends goods directly to a customer in Great Britain (I'm not sure if the situation is different in Northern Ireland), the supplier has to be registered for UK VAT and charge UK VAT if the value of the consignment is not over £135. If the value is above this, VAT is charged on import through the shipping company . So what will suppliers in Germany etc do? One option is not to supply to the UK, or have a minimum order value of £135 for orders to UK. That will save them the need to register for UK VAT. What happens if they ignore the demand from a third-party country (the UK) and just send the goods anyway? UK law does not extend into the EU or the USA, and will it be worthwhile for HMRC to pursue this, especially smaller suppliers for relatively small sums of money? Interestingly, there is no minimum for UK VAT registration for non-EU companies, so a single sale would trigger the registration requirement, whereas a UK company only has to register for VAT if the annual turnover is above £85000 - hence many of the smallest suppliers do not have to add VAT.

The basic premise is that instead of buying from Germany and paying the German VAT, the German supplier will charge the price before tax and UK VAT will be applied, either by the seller or by the carrier. There are no duties as such within Europe, and this has always been the case when buying from Switzerland. One issue is that while the big carriers such as DHL and UPS have their own customs clearance facilities and all payments are included in the purchase + carriage price, if Royal Mail or Parcel Force are involved the items can vanish for days or weeks while the charges are calculated, and a £8 fee is added for the privilege, all to be paid before delivery. So this means that it's now more hassle to buy the 200 Euro loco from Germany at a discounted price of 180 Euros rather than paying £240 to the official UK distributor. Other tweaks are that there is a minimum value when it's not worthwhile to charge the VAT, as mentioned earlier in the chain and that if items were ordered and physically available before Dec 31 the old rules still apply, until the time reaches the end user. This is in the withdrawal agreement, so if something was ordered in 2019 and came into stock in December 2020 but wasn't shipped because of the chaos at Dover, the old rules still apply, ie German VAT and no extra paperwork.

The address format should never be a problem as most of the sorting is done by machine-read barcodes. If human sorters and delivery staff can't understand a label with an address in a different format, there's a problem in the education system. I've had exceptional service from Modellbahn Union recently, an order placed at 1326 Friday was delivered by DHL to me near Edinburgh at 1047 on Monday, and another order at 1155 Sunday arrived on Wednesday at 1158. My experience with other German suppliers (Lippe, Huenerbein, Modell Exclusiv, etc) has all been very good - quick service, good selection and better prices than the UK outlets. I've found mail order from Switzerland also works well, although the prices can be high and , if sent by post rather than courier, the UK customs clearance can be slow and expensive. Usual disclaimer, no connection with any of these companies other than as a satisfied customer.

I read somewhere that the heavier wires needed for DC are better suited to the peak currents needed on the steep climbs and generated by the braking going downhill. I don't know if that is true or not. The smaller clearances possible with 1000V DC may be less of a problem with the street running and the tunnels and galleries, although that did not stop the Arosa line being converted. AC has the advantage of less and lighter infrastructure, but given the DC system already exists from the time of the independent Bernina Bahn, the weather and the need for lots of masts on the sharp curves, perhaps the more robust DC system is preferred? Plus of course, the ABe 4/4/III and other DC shunting units are still in use. So overall, no case to replace what still works. The overhead switching is quite complex - here is the end of Platform 6 at St Moritz last year

Form the website, this was the Landquart - Chur - Filisur - Davos - Landquart round trip with 107. The Verein Dampffreunde der Rhätischen Bahn Facebook page says that "in order to take into account the tense situation regarding the dryness, the ′′ extinguishing train ′′ is preloaded in the critical sections, ie the Schyngorge, the Albula Valley and the Train Gorge (route Thusis - Filisur - Davos Platz)". There are also some more photos of the Croc manoeuvring yesterday on the Filisur webcam archive.

The line now appears to have opened, but how damaged is 602 and will it be repaired? It looks like this was the weekend Rhine Gorge tourist train, with open coaches and hauled by the "historic" Ge 4/4/I When looking at the RhB site I noticed that the Arosa tunnel is being replaced and the Litzirüti - Arosa part of the Arosa line will be closed and buses used on this section from 7 September to 29 November 2020 and from mid-April to the end of November 2021. Rail operations will be temporarily restored for the 2020-2021 winter season. Has this suddenly become urgent, as the geology in the area is apparently challenging? I ask because this closure is not in the published 2019-2020 timetable, although the special timetable for the one week closure in November between Pontresina and Poschiavo is included (as was the Scuol-Tarasp closure last year). https://www.rhb.ch/en/news-events/scheduled-railway-replacement/details/article/totalsperrung-litzirueti-arosa

The SEC is currently the NHS Louisa Jordan Hospital. AMRSS have this correct on their Facebook page, but their website refers to a Nightingale hospital, which doesn't exist in Scotland. Same result, nothing to lighten the winter gloom in February, so now hoping all is OK in time for Perth 2021.

Presumably aimed at travellers on the Glacier Express and not more experienced modellers given the choice and incorrect signs for the stations, three of the four being MGB rather than RhB!

I went on Friday and would like to reiterate what others have said. This was an excellent show - not just the big layouts such as Remagen, Shap, Alloa, Towcester, Whithorn and Hornsey Broadway but also the various smaller layouts which provided inspiration for what can be achieved in a small space. The selection of traders was also very good - not too much overlap, but a wide selection and by shopping around I managed to obtain all the bits and pieces I needed and some advice. As usual, ScotRail's premier service from Waverley to Queen St was unreliable for reasons outwith their control. In the two previous years it's been delays due to a trespasser and a bridge strike, this year it was flooding. Quiz for Network Rail engineers - if you lower the tracks to fit the overhead into Winchburgh tunnel, where do you think the water goes when it rains heavily?

Jamie Many thanks for taking the time to reply. Despite my criticisms, I really liked your article, and am surprised that it was your first, as it was packed full of useful tips and explanations. Please keep up the good work. The concept was first class and it showed how much variety can be included in a small area. That's why I read it through thoroughly, to understand what you had done and see what I could learn from it. That's when I realised that the way it was presented in the (written) magazine was confusing me. Some while ago I edited a specialist scientific magazine and while contributors all had and were allowed their own style (within reason), as the editor one thing I did was to read through each article to check that the content and presentation meant that readers could understand it. That's also what I do when I write articles myself. This is where I feel (and it's only my opinion) that BRM's lack of an editor to provide this review and checking mechanism beyond proof-reading means that some good items could have been even better. Best wishes Mike

Last month Howard asked for comments and feedback. Well, the December issue has the headline "Turning Point" on its cover, and it is a turning point for me. After several months swithering I have decided not to renew my subscription. I have become used to the errors, lack of layout plans, multiple shop / subscription / online versions and the relentless promotion of other Warners products. I am sure Warners know what they are doing and I have praise for the editorial team (Phil's comparison of the three Billy Bookcase layouts was an interesting finale to this series) , but since the loss two or three years ago of an editor who was an experienced railway modeller (I see there is now a product brand manager, whatever that is) the contents have become mostly adverts, either directly or as promotional editorial features, with little hard factual information. BRM seems to have become a railway modelling magazine for people who are not railway modellers. If I may give three examples: Greenside Vale looks interesting, but how can I relate it to what I may build? It says it is 18 ft long, and the pictures suggest that this includes the fiddle yard, but this in not clear since there is no layout plan. The text is more philosophical than factual constructional details, which seems to be the current BRM style. It says and looks OO in the magazine but is described as N at the top of this thread! The replacement bus diorama could be a good article, but it needed editing. The Harburn item is not in the "shopping list". Picture 7 shows the walls in place while the plaster is painted, but construction and placement of the walls is then shown in pictures 8-11. Some glues do not melt polystyrene, they dissolve them... The Market Deeping article- I do not need five uninformative pictures of men drilling, hammering and gluing. Was there excess space to fill in the magazine? This is intended as constructive criticism as to why BRM has lost a subscriber. I may still buy an occasional copy of BRM but it's clear that it has evolved in a way that does not appeal to me.

One of these point motors was on display at the Peco event at Harburn Hobbbies in Edinburgh today. It looks much as described - a template is provided to drill three holes from the top of a baseboard - pins are then put in the outer two, the centre hole is for the rod connecting the motor to the point tie-bar and then the motor is twisted and locks onto the other two pins. Electrical connection is through three pre-fitted wires that are connected to a momentary switch or an accessory decoder for solenoid point motors. According to Peco, they should be in the shops during November (but with no guarantee that they will be on sale at Warley), and suitable for N to O gauge. So they look very convenient if you don't want to crawl under a baseboard to fit and adjust a PL-10 motor or similar, although the basic Pl-1000 is more expensive, with a RRP of £12,00.

Paul, many thanks for all the photos

Interesting how they switch the coaches. A leaflet I picked up described a typical formation as having four-wheeler A 1102 as the first class accommodation, but when I went on it, Pullman As 1143 (as in your other photo) was provided and I noticed A1102 sitting alone at Klosters Platz, with tape across the end balcony. The schedule seems padded. The normal trains are allowed 25 min from Filisur to Davos, but I rode with 415 one afternoon which did it in 31 minutes against the allowed 44 minutes. The train stated 14 minutes late, waiting for the train from St Moritz, which was 16 minutes late to Filisur due to delays at Spinas and Preda waiting to cross trains. This is the Krok on the same morning:

Many thanks, great pictures! I spent a week in Switzerland earlier this month and like you, went on the DFB, except I went eastwards from Oberwald to Realp. The loco was HG 3/4 No 9, with Tm 506 on the rear as insurance up the grade through the Furka tunnel. Not a cheap journey (what is in Switzerland?) but hugely enjoyable with great scenery and a very professional railway with friendly staff - encouraged to get off and watch activities at the station and to ride on the coach balcony (at own risk and not through the tunnels) if desired.