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Everything posted by John M Upton
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Not a listing but amusement for a quiet Sunday morning, I got a message from a seemingly long disused ebay account, apparently nobody is allowed to sell anything with Network SouthEast on it, copyright violation apparently and apparently this self appointed copyright ninja threats with "We monitor all social media". I have filed it in my Nutter folder...
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One thing about shows is popularity, no denying they are popular but that is now leading to another problem, severe overcrowding. I have just returned from the excellent Bognor Regis MRC show, I was there for doors opening and for the first twenty minutes/half an hour it was okay but after that it became tightly packed and busy which was a shame a there were some very good layouts and trade there which became near impossible to see. This seems to be a problem at most events I attend now, too much crammed into to far too small a space leading to being unable to see what it is I travelled to and paid to see! As a result I have decided to no longer to attend Ally Pally anymore (last year was just awful for seeing exhibits to the point where, a few bargains I acquired but only after easing myself through a impolite scrum to reach them) I saw hardly anything except the odd layout where nothing was moving and technical faults were aplenty. So, in addition to the growing issue of ageing volunteers, the shows as a whole need to start rethinking space, visibility and access if they are to continue to attract visitors.
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Highly unlikely, that's Ally Pally month!!!
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Yep, seemed to come back to life about half ten when I duly picked up a couple of bits that I had been thinking about for a while as it happens and was quite surprised to see still there.
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Was trying one last order, picking up some Athearn Blue Box stuff but the website is just unusable now.
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The fact remains that in this Internet age, high street retail is dead, we have become a nation of coffee shops and very little else. Ironically, Hattons moved to be an online retailer in preference to a high street bricks and mortar shop in the traditional sense and still wound up in its current impending fate which shows even online retail is not the be all and end all of everything. You see a lot of people in the local press complaining about high street shops closing and crying out in annoyance when yet another coffee shop/restaurant/takeaway announces they are opening but I have found those making the most noise are those who hardly ever use high street retail anyway!!! I really cannot see any way back for high street retailing as a whole, no amount of Government funding or social media support will revive the corpse now. On a side note, Hattons bought a US Railroad retailer last year, are they done for as well? No one seems to know the answer.
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Just had a last look through their stock, not a lot left! The vultures well and truly descended last night it seems and scooped up pretty much everything. They were still listing new preowned last night so I presume this will continue until stocks are exhausted and/or the shutters come down?
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Been a customer of Hattons since the string era, probably late 1980's. Huge shock and worrying. Lately they were my go to place of choice for reasonably priced second hand US outline HO stock.
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I do have Office 365 (soom to be renamed Microsoft 365 apparently) which I begrudgingly pay an annual fee for but still have copies of Office 2003 and 97 for a couple of older computers I still run (and which IMHO are still better than the current Office apps, I want Visio back though!). I point blank refuse to use Edge (Internet Explorer as was) though, dire unusable rubbish.
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Too many items coming through and not enough time to test them all perhaps? They need to lower their prices for untested "non runners" accordingly though, a very good box just doesn't cut it, especially as most boxes I get wind up in the recycling anyway.
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Class 26/27 photos
John M Upton replied to Alcanman's topic in UK Prototype Discussions (not questions!)
What does the CL on the corner of the Mk1 there mean? -
Ghosts in the Machine.
John M Upton replied to TheSignalEngineer's topic in UK Prototype Discussions (not questions!)
Looks like someone has tried to lever that off and failed. -
Just had a trawl through ebay for N scale stuff for the first time in a few months, no bargains anymore, excessive RRP+ pricing, hefty postal charges and lots of keyword spamming. I think I will contend myself with my existing fleet this year.
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Third-Rail EMU Photos
John M Upton replied to Claude_Dreyfus's topic in UK Prototype Discussions (not questions!)
Top of my list of wants from Graham Farish!!! -
Unknown H0 Freight Cars identification.
John M Upton replied to melmerby's topic in USA & Canadian Railroads
Some of the older legacy models are more tricky to convert, usually carving the whole coupling assembly off and replacing with a complete box is the only viable option. Fortunately, Athearn Blue Box ones tend to have the metal spring clip version which is a lot easier as long as the spring cover has not got too badly bent or the plastic tabs worn off. Despite their age (some wagon moulds date back to the 1950's) they are cheap to buy and with a little work, still brush up into a half decent model. -
Unknown H0 Freight Cars identification.
John M Upton replied to melmerby's topic in USA & Canadian Railroads
Horn hook couplers, fit only for the bin, should be banned really. -
And yet someone seems to have bought it!! Of course it could be the irresistible allure of the words 'Very good box' that did the trick... One born every minute as the old saying goes...
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CSX 5366 nice little livery oddity
John M Upton replied to w124bob's topic in USA & Canadian Railroads
I am guessing a bodyside long hood access door has at some point been damaged and swapped for one from another loco in a different livery. Actually happens quite a lot in US railroading, there was a photo of a Southern Pacific loco with some very odd spelling of its owners name on the side posted here a few months back.- 1 reply
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Ghosts in the Machine.
John M Upton replied to TheSignalEngineer's topic in UK Prototype Discussions (not questions!)
I think the word 'Tea' did some pretty heavy lifting with whatever was actually contained in those cups!!! -
Third-Rail EMU Photos
John M Upton replied to Claude_Dreyfus's topic in UK Prototype Discussions (not questions!)
Gatwick Airport, earlier this evening: