PenrithBeacon

So have I. Thanks for the 'heads up'. Regards

Dave, Thanks for the reply and apologies for the delayed response. I think it's the second one you mentioned, see the attached photo. All the best David

That answers a question I was going too ask. I suppose that the gearbox suppliers will decide between themselves which motor is the best for modellers and that motor will become the effective standard. Regards

Really nice photo! Not being an expert in these matters, what are the TOPS codes of the other vehicles in the train? Regards

I didn't know Ian Allan in Manchester had closed. A pity, it was useful for books and DVDs. Regards

Gee whizz £600! And I thought, earlier this week, that buying a kit from LRM was an extravagance! Still it wouldn't do if we were all the same.

When did the MSC change from an all black livery to that nice shade of grey? Or was it the other way around? My recollection is of all MSC locos in an overall black. Regards

Yes, agree with this but I won't buy one unless the issues with the side grills are resolved too. Regards

A major reason why there aren't any model shops nearby is the cost of rents. This means that a retailer has to maximise the return on every square inch of shelf space. This is why the only model shops that still exist, as far as can see, are those that cater for the RC enthusiast. The product costs a fortune (at least to my eyes) but the return on shelf space is enough to keep the shop going and pay the owner's mortgage. The general run of railway modelling, RTR or kits, just doesn't retail a at high enough price to pay the rent compared with the size of the shop. A know that this doesn't apply to firms like Hattons but they have the space and the volume of sales to keep their head above water. But, having said that, even they moved out of their Liverpool premises and I wouldn't mind betting it was because the rent on their previous site went up to the point where the survival of the business was at stake. Liverpool is booming right now and it's about time too. In addition, the sheer volume of products available on the net gives it an enormous advantage, and, it is available on a screen just front of you. My experience, and I do most dealings on the net or at exhibitions, that the net is more expensive because of postage mostly, but it is so much more convenient than ringing round trying to get a supplier for a must have item. I case in point is when I wanted a lens hood. No more photographic shops in Harrow for the same reason, rents are too high. So I took myself off to Tottenham Court Road and found that not one shop had one. Again, the reason is that shelf space is at a premium because of sky-high rents. I came home, switched on the computer, called up Amazon and within a few minutes I had one, bought from an agent of Amazon in Germany. But, the article was made in China and shipped from Hong Kong. All for a 52mm lens hood! If traders want to thrive they have to get an internet presence, a good internet presence, and put in the hard work at model railway exhibitions. In addition, the organisers of model railway exhibitions have to do their part and invite layouts which will attract modellers who will buy from traders. Too many layouts are simply a showcase for RTR and the traders who sell stuff to make a model railway lose out. A shame perhaps, but there's no other way. Regards

Sorry Bill, this is a little too cryptic for me.

Where they used by the pre-nationalisation companies? Regards

I have a GW gear puller, but I can't work out how to apply it. I'd be grateful for a 'GW Gear Puller for Tiny Tots' explanation. Regards

Sorry a typo. Should read Mitsumi

It's interesting that both LRM and High Level are still quoting Mashima motors on their websites. I know that LRM don't have any because I've had an email conversation with John Redrup on this matter. I wonder why the kit manufacturers aren't going over to Mashima. Regards

That I can understand. It's one thing to buy a house next to a line where you can have a reasonable expectation that trains come and go, it's another altogether to have the trains parked up outside your house with the engines running. Seems to me that Chiltern were being unreasonable neighbours.

OK, accepting that the Kato power bogie cannot be used for standard gauge applications, but is there an alternative to both the Bachmann and Kato solutions for the standard gauge? Regards

My experience of watching one of the Bluebell's Wickhams pass was just this, barely discernible. Other noises around and about just drowned out the Wickham's engine, in fact the noise of the machine rolling along the track was greater than the noise from the engine. The Bluebell's example has a horn that is a funny squeaky thing that can be difficult to hear when linesiding. The local blackbirds are a lot noisier! Regards

And, by extension(!) to EM/P4. Regards

I spoke to Branchlines at a recent show and they are planning to do a number of the Nu-Cast range including the 7F 0-8-0 and the Midland 0-4-0. They are not planning to correct any weaknesses the original kits had. Regards

Why?

Brilliant! I wasn't going to buy one because of issues converting it to P4, but now I will and store it for a future 009 layout. Next month I think. Regards

And why should I be obliged to agree with the Shaw Report?

With respect, you are saddling me with opinions here that I didn't express. For what it is worth, I don't like nationalisation and you won't come across many avowed socialists who will say that. I have never come across another one! My view is that the TOCs are absolutely ideal subjects for mutualisation, that the season ticket and railcard holders should own the service provider. That way the management of the TOCs will have no choice to pay regard to the people who actually use and pay for the railway, not to mention managerial salaries and pensions. And while I'm setting the world to rights ... I would enlarge the TOCs so they equate approximately to the grouping companies so their size is about right for economies of scale. I would have a specific TOC for Scotland. These enlarged TOCs would merge together local, inter-urban and mainline services. Therefore there would be an LNE, LM, S, W and Sc TOCs. Should stop the TOCs from being so parochial. The TOCs should take responsibility for the infrastructure in their geographic area. The compensation culture must stop. In order to get compensation a TOC must get a judgement in a court or tribunal that their business was harmed either wilfully or due to incompetence on the part of the owner of the infrastructure. As most changes to the infrastructure are intended to improve the service and those day-to-day incidents that do occur are just that, incidents with no wilful intent to harm a TOCs business this should improve matters.

No I'm not a railwayman, I'm just one of the many millions of passenger/taxpayers who are utterly fed up with paying through the nose for the extravagant, incompetent and greedy ways of the current British railway. As for your reference to 'The Stationmasters' statement that all could be solved by adding more resources to the already gigantic bill for the railway, well, that is just risible. Grayling has the right analysis so far. The problem is in the way the railway was de-nationalised, that the current structure just builds in un-necessary costs which the passenger/taxpayer has to fund. Whether that means that he will come up with a solution that will resolve the problem without re-nationalising the railway is another matter. Personally I doubt it.

Sorry, but I disagree. I think that this is something that should have happened a long time ago. There are too many fingers in the pie and all wanting to make a profit. It's time some of the digits were extracted.