Claude_Dreyfus

That, ultimately, is a business decision for you to take. It has little exposure here as it is not widely known about and therefore not requested, and by extension not readily available. As I said, it is highly regarded, and has a decent range so I suspect there will be a market here (which to an extent is born out by the feedback you have received). I am a strong advocate of the Japanese track systems, as their design principles are not too far removed from the situation in the UK; limited space, flexibility etc. I have always recommended the Unitrack system, mainly because it is available in the UK. If Tomix finetrack was to be available here as well, then I would certainly recommend that as well. For me buying from Japan is easy enough, but if I can get an item here I will do as a preference (I have used your shop (as well as your predecessor) a number of times over the years), but there are plenty of people for who buying from Japan is a negative (VAT, import duty etc). In the past I believe the Tomix supplier for Europe was Japan Model Trains (now part of Modelbahn Union). Others stock some items (Osborne Models for example). Personally speaking, I would not be in the market for Tomix finetrack, but I do have a reasonable Tomix/Tomytec collection, and would welcome a reliable supplier for their products in the UK (especially the vehicles!).

Although very highly regarded, Tomix finetrack has very little exposure in the UK, so you may struggle to get many takers unless you really persevere with it. Tomytec on the other hand (especially the vehicle collections and structures) may well prove popular. Likewise for their trains, there are some excellent offerings out there. I wish you luck in your diversifying.

We did think about trying the model shop in Wuppertal, but the weather was pretty rubbish so we went back to Cologne to visit a couple of shops there. Sadly the large second-hand shop of Lindenberg had gone and the remaining main shop, whilst with a reasonable range, did not really fire the enthusiasm. Far more to our taste was Donnerbüchse, which had moved a couple of streets from its previous location in the north of the city and now specialises in second-hand. A few Euros were parted with there... As mentioned in my main post, the exhibition was rather light on layouts, which was a shame. That said our trips involve more than just the exhibition, and the ability to get there by rail definitely adds to the appeal (flying is a necessary evil, not something I would be keen on for one of these shorter trips). It is our intention to make the journey again, either in 2026 or 2027.

A couple of pictures taken at Dollands Moor back on 20th April. 66002 waits its next duties. 66143 outside of the maintenance shed. A class 92 (not sure which one, but suspect it is 92011) joins an unidentified 66 (I cannot zoom in enough to see the number!).

A number have been sent off for scrapping, 90030 and 90033 being the first with 90025 and 90031 expected to follow on. Here is 90025 back in happier days (when it was 90125) at Carlisle back in 1994.

One of our club's (Liphook & District MRC) occasional activities in the past has been to visit a show in Germany. Previously it was the Modellbau Koln; however that was one of a number of casualties post-Covid, so we looked around for an alternative. The obvious candidate was the big show at Dortmund, itself only about an hour away from Cologne on a local train. Cologne made a logical base of operations as we were familiar with the city and its hotels, as well as the convenience of its station (direct trains to Brussels etc.). Our usual MO for these trips to to take the Eurostar from London to Brussels, with a two-hour gap, before continuing on to Cologne using the ICE. The journey is normally pretty smooth (it also includes the connection to London, which in my case was a combination of Southern and Thameslink), and fortunately that was the case this time. We arrived at St Pancras at about 7:30 and waited around outside the Betjeman Arms until 8:00 for breakfast - a good way to start the journey proper. Then to our steed, for this leg of the journey 374007/008. Note one of the remaining 373s in the background. The layover at Brussels is enough time for lunch (at one of the cafe/bars opposite the Eurostar entrance) and a dash into Carrefour to get some Belgium beer for home. I also managed to get a few snaps at Midi station. And thence to Cologne, using the Brussels - Frankfurt ICE service. For these trips we now tend to use the Kommerzhotel Köln, fairly basic but right next to the station, convenient for the city and very clean. Once luggage was deposited we went into the city on the hunt for beer and Currywurst. Cologne station has always been an interesting place, with plenty of activity and interest. Sadly, and inevitably, there is less variety there now to even 12 years ago when we made our first club visit; but it is still a worthwhile place to wile away a couple of hours. There is also a bookshop at the station with a decent railway section. It is still a photogenetic place, especially with the cathedral next door... Our first full day in Germany was our trip to the show at Dortmund. I have heard much about it over the years, but this was our first visit. The journey to the show was very straight-forwards, helped by a day pass for up to 5 people which cost €52.00. Pretty good value as it included the Dortmund trams, plus other local trains in the area. At Dortmund station itself was my first sight of one of the BR147s used on the more middle-distance ICE services. The Dortmund show was certainly large, and not just limited to railways, with model cars, boats, planes and other things on display. There was also a large Lego display. The show had a sizable trade showing, although perhaps unsurprisingly Marklin featured heavily...most stalls had half of their space devoted to Marklin. Those that didn't were Marklin specialists and therefore had all of their space devoted to Marklin! A fair few manufacturers were also present. There were less layouts than I expected, although there were some excellent examples. For me the best layouts were French, I will admit to being a little disappointed with the German offerings. A few of the layouts are below... In my humble opinion, the layout featured in the first three pictures was the best in show. Quite exquisite. I met the editor of Continental Modeller photographing this pretty French layout! The show was certainly worth the visit, but by all accounts not as good as previous years. I did not indulge much with the trade stands, although I am very taken with the PCX range of H0 road vehicles - some of the best quality H0 cars I have seen. Our journey to and from Dortmund was on one of the semi double-decker BR462 EMUs. An extremely pleasant environment to travel in - it was also noted that Modellbahn Union are producing a version of this unit in H0; there was a pre-production sample on display at the show. Once back in Cologne, we were off out for schnitzel (with a fantastic paprika sauce) and more beer. Day three involved a day-trip out to near by Wuppertal, to have a play on the Wuppertaler Schwebebahn. This is a 40 minute train ride from Cologne on one of the National Express 9442 'Talent 2' units - seen here on the left with one of its DB cousins. The town of Wuppertal has attractive parts, however its main draw is the suspended railway, which is not only a popular visitor attraction but also acts as a key part of the local transport infrastructure. The vehicles themselves are quite modern, although the infrastructure still has the air of fin de siècle design. Those units also have a pretty rapid acceleration! The suspended railway was a real treat and well recommended if anyone is in the neck of the weeks. The following day was our return home, with our train due to leave Cologne at just before midday, so we had morning to wander around the city and see what was passing through the station. Despite the reduced number of loco hauled services, there was still plenty of interest in and around the station. The next few pictures show the variety of what we saw. Once on the train, our journey back - again via Brussels - was equally uneventful; which is what you want from a return journey. The homebound highlight? One of the original class 373s as our steed home!

Maybe so, but the interesting variation that turned up at Three Bridges from Brighton at about 7:00am last week was not appreciated! Got a little cosy by East Croydon...

You jest, but that sort of thing happens a lot in Japan. A large percentage of tourist trains are rebuilt examples of JNR DMUs and EMUs (KiHa40/48 being probably the most common), which are known by the fantastic term 'Joyful Trains'. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joyful_Train Many are adapted for specific routes (big windows in scenic areas, local craftsmanship in the interiors), and prove popular. Rebuilding a couple of 156s when the time comes to run specific WHL tourist services may not he such a mad idea.

Sadly I suspect you will have a long wait. The line closed following a landslide and there is, so far, neither the money nor the appetite (at least from Transnet) is there to reinstate it. Private operators have been approached, but the view of the local guide when I visited in 2019 was that a potent blend of corruption and incompetence meant he did not expect to see trains running along the route again. I'd love for him to be wrong...but suspect he isn't...

This one was quite amusing...

There has been a further announcement from WCR regarding the Jacobite bookings... https://westcoastrailways.co.uk/news/important-announcement-the-jacobite An interesting take on the matter, and one I suspect the ORR may not fully agree with!

Great to see a new overseas focussed exhibition planned, I wish it well. Annoyingly I'm not around that weekend, or I would certainly have visited. Here's hoping it is a success; I certainly like the idea of the various overseas groups getting together to help with the organisation and running.

The suggestion (from an Actuary I was talking to yesterday) is this could be a bigger total loss than the Costa Concordia. If so it could be the largest marine-linked loss on record.

Quite possibly, it often leads to 'where is this set' type questions. That was my way of getting around it. Didn't stop all of the questions, some still didn't see the full-sized Japanese flag at the front. More frightening were those who did not recognise the flag itself!