5 C

Starting price was £15. If auctioned, the far more accurate Bachmann/NRM versions appear to go for around the £150 mark. Buy It Now sellers seem to ask in excess of £200.

Not really madness but with 9 hours to go could well be. It's a very well made Kitmaster/Dapol Prototype Deltic that someone has motorised with a Lima DCC chassis and by he look of it, finished with Fox transfers and etched plates. 21 bids at £116. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/126274703845?

That's really interesting and useful, thank you. Looking at the shed of my RMWeb username, it shows both 9F's and WD's on dates in the 1960's. Plenty of 8F's and ex-LNWR G2's as I would have expected. I have numerous reference book photographs of the area but apart from a polished up 9F on a railtour on the Shropshire Union Line, I've no other picture reference of those types in the area.

In fairness that's remarkably complete compared to some of what's on offer, although it does look like it's been unearthed in an archaeological dig. In the past 12 months I've sold a Hornby A1 cab (just the cab), another Hornby A1 body that was minus a substantial chunk of the firebox and boiler and a Duke of Gloucester body with a crushed smokebox. All surplus job lot purchases. What the buyers intended to do with them I neither know nor care. If they think it's of use and they're happy with the price, that's fine by me.

What's likely to be my final purchase from Hattons. Maybe. Ordered shortly after Monday's announcement and arrived yesterday without any fuss. It was a reminder of just how easy (too easy) the site is to navigate and what a slick ordering process Hattons provided. A great service to the end. Sad to see them go.

Like others on here, I greeted the Facebook post with a certain amount of scepticism and disbelief but with the gradual realisation that it was, sadly, genuine. I've probably spent more with Hattons over the years than any other model railway retailer, most recently just before Christmas with some genuine bargains in their Black Friday sale. I'm absolutely staggered at the news. Their constant innovations marked them out as more than just another retailer and it's a sad and worrying loss to the hobby. My thoughts and best wishes to all those affected.

BBC reporting the Chief Fire Officer as suggesting there was no sprinkler system. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-67075159?ns_mchannel=social&ns_source=twitter&ns_campaign=bbc_live&ns_linkname=6526517e364b3f1612ec45a1%26'No sprinklers in the car park'%262023-10-11T07%3A47%3A46.289Z&ns_fee=0&pinned_post_locator=urn:asset:63dafd8a-4039-4b49-9040-0f324c4e75d6&pinned_post_asset_id=6526517e364b3f1612ec45a1&pinned_post_type=share

Living just four miles from Luton airport, that's a very local news story. The car park is relatively new and right next to the terminal building, so it will cause major disruption. It will be interesting to see how they sort it all out. Watching Flight Radar 24, diversions started going to Stansted and Gatwick but as the night progressed, some ended up as far away as Manchester.

Reminds me of an alleged Tech Log entry: Pilot entry: "Autoland does not work" Maintenance entry: "Aircraft does not have Autoland".

Sad news that Harris Mann designer of the Allegro, Princess, TR7 and many more, passed away yesterday at the age of 85. https://www.aronline.co.uk/people/harris-mann-1938-2023

eBay's Packlink system auto fills the consignment number (very handy) and therefore marks it as dispatched. Clearly if that's 10.30 on a Saturday night - which happens sometimes - the earliest the carrier will collect is Monday. My stated dispatch window is three working days but I usually manage same or next day - under promise, over deliver. I'm fortunate in having a Post Office, drop off points and lockers all within a 15 minute walk. Like @cessna152towser , I email the buyer but only when the parcel has actually been dropped off, including a photo of the parcel as added proof. It also helps the search if the parcel goes astray which has proved useful on more than one occasion. My email advises them to check the relevant carrier's app, as they often contain different or more detail than the feed to eBay, including delivery confirmation photos or GPS locations.

Fast forward to 17:38 and you'll see what I mean. It's a Midland Red D9 if I'm not mistaken and even has its number destination blinds wound up to route 325. In later years Midland Red painted over the rear number boxes on the D9 but this shows the front blinds and upper deck windows all receiving a coat of red round the edges. Very odd.

At 17:38: "... a double decker can be repainted in less than a quarter of an hour..." Very good, but how long to remove the overspray from the windows?

It is possible to take realism too far you know.

I suspect Immigration Officer attitude has much to do with the type of "customer" they deal with on a daily basis. I've entered the US through a number of different points and attitudes can vary wildly. The most memorable was entering the US from Canada at Bar Harbour in Maine, on board a cruise ship. The ship's crew had done a huge expectation management job on us passengers with dire warnings about the potential delays and pitfalls of the process, including how we might treated. In the end, it was all remarkably swift and conducted in a good natured way. The mood was definitely lightened when an elderly lady in front of me nervously approached the desk and handed over her passport, at which point the officer looked up and said in a rather loud voice "Is this your first time in The Colonies ma'am?".

Interesting choice of backdrop... https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/166183296560

Apparently there are three in Aylesbury but on the opposite side of town to the stadium. Living only 40 minutes away, I stopped off en route for a bacon roll and coffee, picking up a baguette at the same time to go into my cool box.

Another excellent Railex and well worth the four year wait. Congratulations and thank you to the Risborough team for making sure the show went ahead in the face of much adversity. Yes the venue was warm and cosy but as we know, not the fault of the club, so by all accounts going on the Sunday was the right decision. As for the catering, I wasn't troubled as I'd made my own arrangements courtesy of Greggs. As I've come to expect with Railex, not a duff layout to be seen and all of them saw repeat visits. The excellent trade support meant I got everything on my shopping list. All in all, five hours well spent and I'm already looking forward to next year.

Can confirm they had several Stevenson TPO kits and others on the Squires stand yesterday at Railex.

Maybe we could get Penny Mordaunt to carry it for us?

That is quite a shock. It was only a couple of weeks ago that I enjoyed watching Canada Street at ExpoEM in Bracknell. There was always quite a crowd and it was a real treat to see one of the layouts featured on the EM Gauge 70's website. RIP Pete.

They were definitely the bus of my childhood. My first sight of them was lined up outside Stafford station, en route to see my grandparents nearby. The futuristic design and distinctive pod marked them out as something newer and radically different from the home grown Midland Red products that plied the roads in the area. A move to the North West at the end of 1978 and they took me to and from school and later college, courtesy of Ribble and local independent Fishwicks with their attractive two-tone green livery. The sound of that 510 engine and other uniquely National noises were my 80's soundtrack.

A fascinating and wonderfully 1970's video of the design, development and building of the Leyland National.

There have been numerous advances in the area of rustproofing by vehicle manufacturers. Dipping of the entire steel shell rather than spraying undercoat, galvanising metal, use of seam sealers and waxing in voids that might trap moisture are just some of the treatments employed. Anti-corrosion warranties are the norm on new vehicles. Some parts are still susceptible to rot though. The use of plastic covers and trays on the underside and in wheel arches protect those areas but exposed subframes, suspension arms etc. are still vulnerable, especially when the powder coating flakes off. The used car trade will be wary of vehicles registered or used in Scotland due to the greater use of salt in the winter. It's probably less common for vehicles to require the extensive welding and patching that was commonplace in years gone by but it's not unheard of. The cost of such repairs can be enough to send a car to the scrapyard but it's just as likely the cost of repairing or replacing a mechanical or increasingly, electronic component can spell the end of a vehicle with an otherwise sound shell.

Winter? It's early Spring (I think) and I'm still getting them, the latest only yesterday. I've been plagued with them for months and it's irritating in more ways than one. Fortunately, I have some of Wilko's finest cheapest in my glues and fillers box..