John M Upton

What is with the coach/van on the left? The body seems to be shorter than the frame it is sitting on.. And as for that thing on the right....

A lot of the problems stem from the lack of experience in managing in the industry now, many of the old hands of the BR era are gone, pensioned off and took a lot of knowledge and skills with them. Then we have the vast swathes of money that is being wasted left, right and centre especially with rolling stock. The 442 refurbishment debacle on SWR, the Class 701 introduction (or rather, lack thereof) fiasco, the GWR 769's for the Reading/Redhill/Gatwick route converted at a cost of millions and now destined for scrap without ever carrying a passenger, the re-engineering of traction packages on SWT 455's only for them to be announced as going for scrap almost as soon as the programme was completed and then there is the huge amounts of money wasted on seemingly ever increasing numbers of middle managers and completely irrelevant to the core business of running trains non jobs. Sort out the waste, get in place people who actually know what they are doing. It's not rocket science...

In my recent experience, Humbrol (when you can get it) has been mediocre at best, I only use two specific colours from their range now, both old stock that I bought a number of, most recent production is fit only for the bin. Revell is better but still not as good as it once was, Tamiya I am starting to use more now, their rattle cans are good but again only if you can find someone with them in stock and matching up the jar and rattle can codes seems to be impossible without an advanced PHD. Railmatch I avoid like the plague and I haven't used Phoenix Precision in a long time because they stopped attending shows and their postal charges are (in my opinion) a bit on the steep side.

It turned up at Barnham earlier this week and apparently is spending the night in Brighton Wall Sidings!!

Trust me, I speak from experience (i.e. being suddenly plunged into a ghostly silent darkness) that the batteries on the 313's were absolutely knackered, the best one lasted maybe a minute before the charge gave up.

Arrrggghhh!!!! Despite clearing stating on all my auctions that successful buyers are required to pay within twenty four hours of auction ending, I get a grumpily worded "I will pay you when I get paid on Saturday" message this morning. Odds on I never hear from the buyer ever again, may as well relist it now... EDIT - Checked the buyer's feedback, 100% positive of which over half are "negative" about non payment!!!!

Network Rail 313121 and The Blue One 313201 plus Arlington barrier set just showed up as Rails of Sheffield exclusives: https://railsofsheffield.com/collections/revolution-class-313-t7-exclusive-packs?utm_source=Klaviyo&utm_medium=campaign&utm_campaign=Class 313 T7&utm_id=01H5MRG2DZKS7ENF19RVN4GYR9&_kx=okhsnj6pSeieMrMHTNf7qmCFfLqr92JPfqZERw2v9Dw%3D.RXkVMS

...or indeed, a decent burial...

Anywhere is nicer than Margate. Brighton has a Lego shop but apart from that, the place really has gone seriously downhill in recent years, the place is an absolute mess and best avoided. Eastbourne is better, it has Train Times near the seafront.

...and after turning up at Littlehampton Shed in the middle of what should have been a twelve car formation and some early morning shunting later, 377302 is now tucked up for the night at the back of the shed: Whilst 377312 with 320 for company gets to spend the night out in the wind and rain.

Bognor shut all day yet again (not having much luck lately) meant stock all over the place being scrounged to run those trains which would have worked by those trains stuck down Bognor. So here we have a three car 377 going from Victoria to Southampton Central!

The Class 313 parts insanity continues... https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/285367814458 Considering that there are four of these per unit times nineteen scrapped or about to be scrapped 313's, that means there is another 75 of these to come so hopefully by the time the initial lunacy has died down and the competition has spent all their pocket money for the next ten years, I can pick one up for a song... Mind you, some suspicious bidding and then retractions have occured on all four lots now. Can't help thinking there will be some non paying bidders on these.

Yet the corridor connections are factory fresh pristine!

Ah, but it does come with a signed Salvage Or Scrap thank you card!!!! Presumably this sort of "celebrity" nonsense attracts the same more money than sense loons who are going bat poo crazy bidding on bits of class 313 this weekend.

"Excellent boxed condition" apparently: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/134645507907? Looks like it lost a fight with a nest full of angry spiders to me....

Well, the mad box seller is in Bridgend which is the right part of the country and the attitude (allowing for behavioural inflation) is pretty much on the mark so I think it may well be the same guy or at least one cut from the same cloth.

...and not many east of Plymouth by 2025 either....

I just checked out our box selling loony's negative feedback: https://www.ebay.co.uk/fdbk/feedback_profile/modelrailwaysales?commentType=NEGATIVE&user_context=BUYER Either this guy has some serious personal issues or not all his dogs are barking.... I have now added him to my Blocked Bidders list too!!

When are the next set of announcements due?

They definitely from 313's, it is Arlington at Eastleigh who are scrapping them who are selling the bits. Can't help thinking there is a lot of fake bids going in here with no intention of paying. I'll wait a few years until the buyers are desperate for cash and will take a tenner for them....

Want to buy a bit of 313? You will need deep pockets and have to fight you way through the scrum: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/285367814458?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=nLOBWGNKQFy&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=NiGtNyCuSh2&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/285367810344?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=nLOBWGNKQFy&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=NiGtNyCuSh2&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/285367821613?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=nLOBWGNKQFy&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=NiGtNyCuSh2&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

We have had drivers on Annual Leave get rostered work which has led to some amusing phone calls but to roster one who has actually retired is definitely a new one!

Thameslink services on the Brighton main line are now 100% self dispatch by the driver using DOO cameras, no involvement by platform dispatch staff whatsoever. Southern and Gatwick Express are still dispatched by platform staff at the usual key locations though.

They just finished spending five million quid on a brand new ticket office for Crawley. The paint isn't even dry and the poster has gone up announcing it's closure.... They tried the ticket office staff roaming the concourse with mobile equipment thing at some stations down here a few years ago with a proviso that they could return to the ticket office if needed, needless to say it lasted about a week... All the industrial action quite frankly is pointless now, they are just going to do it anyway.